Skill Block in MX Sim. HELP !!!

[Tiago Freitas #23]

Have you ever hit a skill block in MX Sim?
I play this game for several years, but in January 2020 I got to a certain skill that allowed me to play the game casually, crash just a few times, clear all the jumps.
But I never had total control of the bike.
I never was able to jump and take the bike to anywhere I wanted.

If you want to skip to the point of this talk look for the emoji

Then I decided to race 250 novice SX in 2020, I was able to get into the first 5 rounds, some of them I got to the night but none of them I got to a main event. Then my GPU broke and I didn't play for the rest of the year. It was in December 2020 that I got a new GPU and started playing Sim again. I took me about a week to get back to where I left in terms of skill.
Then I started practicing for 2021 250 Amateur SX.
I felt I was getting a little better but nothing game changing. The Rd.1 dropped and I tried all week to run a qualifier laptime and I couldn't. The first triple after the whoop section and the first double at the last rhythm section I couldn't hit them.
In 100 laps that I did I was able to hit the triple 6 times and the double 2 times.
I downloaded the 250 main demo to see at what gear and speed they were carrying on the corner for those respective rhythm sections. Surprisingly I was going the same speed as they were before the take off.
Then I thought I wasn't with the right suspension setup, I changed stuff that I don't really know what they do. I changed my shock spring rate to 100, thinking it was going to make the bike launch me high enough to clear the triple and double.
Still couldn't clear it.
Then I tried getting more speed, shifted quickly to get that torque and speed, without losing traction on the rear tire, but it was so much speed that the bike wouldn't turn enough to align with the rhythm section, it was throwing me out of the track. If I went slower I wouldn't clear the triple.
Then just as I was changing suspension setup I went to advanced stability setup and started tweaking stuff I don't know what they do, lowered my roll limit angle thinking it was going to make me lean more and not get thrown out of the track.
Didn't work as well.
At this point I was at maybe 150 tries and was getting demotivated.
Then I read a topic on the forums about what dab speed do, I thought they were the maximum bike speed so I had them on 60, and they actually are how fast the bike has to be before getting the legs up on the foot pegs.
So I lowered them to around 20 - 25 and ran about 20 laps and didn't work either.
Then I gave up on Rd.1 since to get qualified I had to run a 52 seconds lap when my best was a 56.
I tried a lot of techniques and different setups and after 170 tries my skills didn't improve , 0% improvement.

The point where I'm trying to get is that what makes us hit a skill block and how you break it?
Did any of this happened to you before? If so what did you do to break it?
Do you think a bike setup could change completely how good a person is at the game?
A perfectly setup of Advanced stability can give total control of the bike to the rider?

That's all I got, sorry for the long read but I had to speak it out and maybe get some help, because I want to get good at this game( who doesn't? )

Thanks and have a good one

[Quinten]

Hey buddy,

I am in no way in any position to say I'm crazy fast but can speak from experience of breaking "skill block." Skill block in the terms of which you speak is a point in the game where you feel like you cannot climb the hurdle of getting faster or more comfortable on the bike. Here are some points I have learned throughout the game from numerous pros and things you don't just learn from playing the game within the first few months of playing.

• Max dab speed can help you become faster if you become comfortable at which speed your leg will return to the pegs. The higher the dab speed, the more stable you may feel at higher speeds, and is easier to maneuver at lower speeds while avoiding the chance of tipping over. Many pros are starting to use higher max dab speed compared to the old coined 20-30 dab speed prior to erode. That does not mean you cannot ride it at the low, in fact, some top pros still ride at lower dab speeds (One I believe is Alexis Leclair, correct me if I'm wrong). The more common dab speeds you will see from setup to setup currently is either 40-60.

• Constintency, consistency, and did I forget to mention, consistency. I am a firm believer that consistency brings speed. Not speed over consistency. It is a simplistic theory I have that as you become more comfortable not falling down, the faster you will become. Your mind will come with terms of the normality of hitting corners smoother and faster.

• Speaking of corners, you don't need to be on the gas all the time in every single corner. However, throttle control is something that everyone should learn to understand and is a common frustration of people losing traction especially if you start shifting down.

• Utilize shifting to your advantage. Not only to make it around the track faster but also to help with seat bounces by shifting up a gear or two on the takeoff of jumps.

• Shift up and panic rev your bike if you feel yourself going over the bars.

• Advanced stability is one of the most, if not, the most important setting you will change when playing sim. The correct stability that suits your play style is critical. Most top pros have migrated from loose setups to stiffer setups with the first few numbers being something like; leveling: 20-25, roll damping: 50-65, roll limit angle: 55-65, roll limit factor: 3-10. This does not mean this is standard for the entire MX Simulator community just what I have seen over the recent years.

Hopefully, these tips help you and anybody else that is reading this. Again, I am no expert at playing sim and would encourage any other pro to share information to help newer players. We all were that person when we bought the game, curiously wondering what we could do to improve.

[Tiago Freitas #23]

Hey buddy,

I am in no way in any position to say I'm crazy fast but can speak from experience of breaking "skill block." Skill block in the terms of which you speak is a point in the game where you feel like you cannot climb the hurdle of getting faster or more comfortable on the bike. Here are some points I have learned throughout the game from numerous pros and things you don't just learn from playing the game within the first few months of playing.

• Max dab speed can help you become faster if you become comfortable at which speed your leg will return to the pegs. The higher the dab speed, the more stable you may feel at higher speeds, and is easier to maneuver at lower speeds while avoiding the chance of tipping over. Many pros are starting to use higher max dab speed compared to the old coined 20-30 dab speed prior to erode. That does not mean you cannot ride it at the low, in fact, some top pros still ride at lower dab speeds (One I believe is Alexis Leclair, correct me if I'm wrong). The more common dab speeds you will see from setup to setup currently is either 40-60.

• Constintency, consistency, and did I forget to mention, consistency. I am a firm believer that consistency brings speed. Not speed over consistency. It is a simplistic theory I have that as you become more comfortable not falling down, the faster you will become. Your mind will come with terms of the normality of hitting corners smoother and faster.

• Speaking of corners, you don't need to be on the gas all the time in every single corner. However, throttle control is something that everyone should learn to understand and is a common frustration of people losing traction especially if you start shifting down.

• Utilize shifting to your advantage. Not only to make it around the track faster but also to help with seat bounces by shifting up a gear or two on the takeoff of jumps.

• Shift up and panic rev your bike if you feel yourself going over the bars.

• Advanced stability is one of the most, if not, the most important setting you will change when playing sim. The correct stability that suits your play style is critical. Most top pros have migrated from loose setups to stiffer setups with the first few numbers being something like; leveling: 20-25, roll damping: 50-65, roll limit angle: 55-65, roll limit factor: 3-10. This does not mean this is standard for the entire MX Simulator community just what I have seen over the recent years.

Hopefully, these tips help you and anybody else that is reading this. Again, I am no expert at playing sim and would encourage any other pro to share information to help newer players. We all were that person when we bought the game, curiously wondering what we could do to improve.

Thanks mate, but like I said I seat bounce, shift up a couple of times and still can't clear the jump.
Then your topic of throttle control comes in place, I can really see the difference in traction. Maybe I'll practice more and not worry too much on qualifying but actually making the second fastest line choice comparable to the pro lines and eventually do their lines.
I saw a topic on advanced stability setup and what they mean, but no explanation on what I should change if my bike is doing x , y and z things to make my riding better
So I'll start messing around with them and figure out a good setup, maybe later write a post to help people on setting up their bikes
Thanks

[Quinten]

Thanks mate, but like I said I seat bounce, shift up a couple of times and still can't clear the jump.
Then your topic of throttle control comes in place, I can really see the difference in traction. Maybe I'll practice more and not worry too much on qualifying but actually making the second fastest line choice comparable to the pro lines and eventually do their lines.
I saw a topic on advanced stability setup and what they mean, but no explanation on what I should change if my bike is doing x , y and z things to make my riding better
So I'll start messing around with them and figure out a good setup, maybe later write a post to help people on setting up their bikes
Thanks

Sounds like what you need to work on is corner speed.

[Quinten]

Thanks mate, but like I said I seat bounce, shift up a couple of times and still can't clear the jump.
Then your topic of throttle control comes in place, I can really see the difference in traction. Maybe I'll practice more and not worry too much on qualifying but actually making the second fastest line choice comparable to the pro lines and eventually do their lines.
I saw a topic on advanced stability setup and what they mean, but no explanation on what I should change if my bike is doing x , y and z things to make my riding better
So I'll start messing around with them and figure out a good setup, maybe later write a post to help people on setting up their bikes
Thanks

Sounds like what you need to work on is corner speed.

In supercross remember to ride the entire corner to carry your momentum. That's what helped me.

[Lim Jahey]

When i was in novice i didnt even know how to properly seatbounce the bike til like round 10 lol, so if any of u guys are struggling seatbouncing a lot of it is suspension but also compress ur forks a lil and go back n foward on the stick without goin otb

[Tiago Freitas #23]

In supercross remember to ride the entire corner to carry your momentum. That's what helped me.

When I do that, the bike throws me off the track, thats why I was trying to tweak stability setup to avoid that from happening

[Tiago Freitas #23]

When i was in novice i didnt even know how to properly seatbounce the bike til like round 10 lol, so if any of u guys are struggling seatbouncing a lot of it is suspension but also compress ur forks a lil and go back n foward on the stick without goin otb

I'm messing around with setups and trying to figure it out which gives me more bouncy shock and fork so the bike launches me really high to clear the triple

[Jrife548]

try to step out of your comfort zone and go faster than you normally would until it feels casual

[ryanmx25]

You shouldnt focus on dialing in your setup for one specific obstacle on the track, doing so it will likely work great in the one area but suffer everywhere else etc.. A good setup works well in all areas but wont be the greatest in one certain area.
As for advanced stability the key settings to keep in mind that are being used and effecting the stability at all times are
Leveling
Roll damping
steering damping
steering strength
max steering force
Direct steering
Roll limit angle/factor only comes into play when the rider reaches the designated lean angle, at the point extra 'roll damping' kicks in which will tighten up the stability, the amount of extra roll damping is set by the roll limit factor.
Slow damping speed/factor come in when the rider is traveling at or slower than the set slow damping speed, a higher factor will give you more 'roll damping at low speed
Landing damping falloff/factor only occur when landing off an obstacle, the factor is again extra 'roll damping' where the falloff is the amount of time after landing that the factor is in affect

Rider foward/vertical spring/damping and rider mass distribution can also make a huge difference

[Tiago Freitas #23]

Thanks

[ryanmx25]

It’s tough to say “if your bike is doing this, change that”
because everyone will interpret what it’s doing differently and likely lead you in the wrong direction. It’s best if you can get a good feel yourself, and understand the settings enough to adjust accordingly

[Tiago Freitas #23]

It’s tough to say “if your bike is doing this, change that”
because everyone will interpret what it’s doing differently and likely lead you in the wrong direction. It’s best if you can get a good feel yourself, and understand the settings enough to adjust accordingly

Hopefully I'll eventually learn how to setup and troubleshoot my bike

[SKlein]

Hopefully I'll eventually learn how to setup and troubleshoot my bike

I spent a good chunk of time doing long moto's (Outdoors) tweaking each setting in chunks (move up/down by 20, etc.) just to "feel" what difference it made. If you have that kind of time I would advise it, you'll learn a good bit about setups that way.

[Tiago Freitas #23]

I spent a good chunk of time doing long moto's (Outdoors) tweaking each setting in chunks (move up/down by 20, etc.) just to "feel" what difference it made. If you have that kind of time I would advise it, you'll learn a good bit about setups that way.

That's a good idea