How is WPM calculated in this game?

[𝔸𝕣𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝟙]

So for context, I am not a great typist but I have made a concerted effort to learn my keyboard and get faster in the last year and I've gone from 30 wpm and finger tapping to a typical 50-55 wpm with touch typing. Not great but it's getting better.

The reason I am curious how its calculated is because, as I said, I average about 50-55 and yet I can't seem to get even 45 WPM according to the steam achievement (Have 44.85 something something) I know the solution is get faster, but why the huge discrepancy between this game and other sites like 10fastfingers and monkeytype? How am I 5 to 10 words less per minute in Epistory? I suppose I really could just be slower but, like, do the monsters just...not spawn fast enough? How does fire and spark factor into the calculation? Should I by using ice and wind to ensure every word is typed? How do incorrect spellings factor?

I'm going to keep giving it my all and getting better, but I do want a bit more detail on how the mechanics and game design effect your speed. I want to get this achievement the real way because I want to earn it- not with the mod many use to cheese it.

[VirginRedemption]

Hello!

What we call "word per minute" is exactly the number of words you type in average in a minute in the game (with an average word length of 5 letters).
In the game, you type separate words (not full sentences) and you need to care about gameplay stuff. That's why the result is quite different than the score you can get with an official test.

That score is used in adaptive difficulty (when it's turned on), so we need to know your actual typing speed within the game.

[𝔸𝕣𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝟙]

Hmmm, well in that case according to the game, its even lower. A 37ish WPM. I can admit I am a bit inconsistent, but yikes.

So in short:

1. "with an average word length of 5 letters" so the sections were only numerous single letters and 3 word snakes appear basically resets your WPM to nill.
   
2. Enemy spawn rate does negatively effect your WPM as sections were nothing spawns for a few moments causes you WPM to fall and the above mentioned sections.
   
3. Ice and wind should be used unless massive swarms require spark and fire large/unreasonable words as letting the words burn for for free with either is detrimental to your WPM (less surprised about this one).

So in short- get faster because you need to be like 70 wpm to get 50-60 wpm as you need to be able to thrive at the faster enemy speeds when opponents are abundant. Anyway-

Can you explain a bit more about adaptive's use of the score? I'm fine with the result being it is a "me" problem, but I'm still quite curious about these particular details.

[TheThibz]

Originally posted by Wan₫erlust ☄:

1. "with an average word length of 5 letters" so the sections were only numerous single letters and 3 word snakes appear basically resets your WPM to nill.
   
2. Enemy spawn rate does negatively effect your WPM as sections were nothing spawns for a few moments causes you WPM to fall and the above mentioned sections.
   
3. Ice and wind should be used unless massive swarms require spark and fire large/unreasonable words as letting the words burn for for free with either is detrimental to your WPM (less surprised about this one).

1.: no, the timer only ticks when there's something to type (I'd have to check the code bt I'm pretty sure)
2.: yes, tough if no enemies are present on screen, the (hidden wpm) timer should stop. But having a word appear out of nowhere will drastically lower your time reaction & wpm compared to a sentence that makes sense and that you can parse at a glance. And then type from memory, like you see in online tests. If they (the tests) were presenting a word at a time, you'd get a result closer to what the game is calculating.
3.: yes, it you aim for pure WPM letting the magics do their work will lower your average.

Adaptive difficulty is based on a hidden "score". It's not only affected by WPM (calculated over a few seconds, not after five minutes) and several other factors like losing a battle.

[Gamrage]

This feels awkward for me because I tend to read ahead when I'm typing most of the time. I'll be 1-2 words ahead when I'm typing something. As a result there are a lot of situations and scenarios in this game where I'm unable to type at full speed like when I'm using a regular typing software. My eyes have to scan all over the screen and it feels weird to use peripheral vision to type in the game. It's fine to play like this, but to have my WPM measured with such an inconvenient crutch doesn't feel right. The other problem is that my spelling and vocabulary kind of sucks, but I feel that's somewhat my fault.