Fighting games had lost their imagination.
This is what I thought after playing SF4 for a year. I wasn't even close to the fighting caliber that I am today, when I was half my age, but even I knew we were living in a golden age of fighters during the reign of the Playstation and Playstation 2.
We had the Marvel vs. games, the SNK vs. games, familiar characters were tweaked in small and large ways (from Ryu's knife kick in SF3 to Akuma's demon flip in CvS2 [credible?]), and many new franchises waiting to happen. We had Rival Schools, Vampire Savior, Darkstalkers, Guilty Gear and many others. These games received their chance during this renaissance. But what happened was what normally happens, a status quo is established and trends set in.
So for the past decade we've been stuck with the "Safe" releases. More versions of the same Guilty Gear XX, more incarnations of Tekken (which ended up "Breaking" in the most recent version) and a long drought of any kind of Street Fighter.
Enter Street Fighter 4. Street Fighter 4 explodes and brings competitive fighting to the casual player. Anybody can become "an expert" of the game if he wants to learn. While Arcsys was innovating with HD sprites in their new venture, "Blazblue", the complexity often mistaken for "button mashing" nearly dammed the river that was soon to burst forth in a torrent.
Thankfully it didn't stop with SF4, and the current version, Super is born and thriving. With such a vibrant cast it is much the better game in so many regards (though some skeptics remain). Capcom is buzzing with activity, with rumors of a TVC port, MVC3 coming out with crispy 2.5 D action, and more fighting news around the corner. Arcsys has news too, and with Continuum Shift, Blazblue's "fixed" newest version, one can only hope it will be Guilty Gear's big jump to the current generation of consoles.
Imaginations running wild, it is once again looking like it did a decade ago. Who will be added in the arcade version of SSF4? A trial mode for Blazblue to teach people the nuances of this complicated fighting game, with their own DLC characters. One thing I leave with you, dear readers. If your characters are not in MVC3, so what? If Rolento gets snubbed in the SSF4 arcade version, so what? Look beyond "what is safe". Even if MVC3 is full of movie tie-ins that feel shoe-horned, it's new content to be explored and enjoyed. Don't boycott a game because your team isn't in it, you should support it because it's new and different and you don't want the same ol' same ol' every time. (cough) dynasty warriors (cough)_
Friday, July 16, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Playing to Win vs. Anything to Win
I am a big fan of Sirlin's Playing to Win article. He's got a lot of things right in it. you can check out the blog here: http://www.sirlin.net/ptw
I want to take a new stance on this topic and subdivide things a bit. Playing to Win's idea is that no tactic is scrub, if it beats you, it's up to you to overcome it. Many "scrub tactics" are actually well calculated, and should you break it, they have a deeper game then you'd think. That is what Sirlin of hints at in parts of his article. I want to divide the Playing to Win group into 2 catagories. Playing to Win and Doing ANything to Win.
Doing Anything to Win is the most common strategy for competitive online play for Super/Vanilla Street Fighter 4. It can be as simple as exploiting difficult to counter tactics (such as Blanka balls or dhalsim "yoga sniper") to as complex as polished shenanigan tactics. This is the type of stuff Sirlin says is not scrub, and I am with him on this. These people have their specific game down, and even though in tournament play it wouldn't work, they can win some points with it online. These people will do anything to win, even if it includes making their game two-dimensional in the process. This is not in the spirit of Playing to Win.
Playing to win is using every tool, glitch, combo, mixup, shenanigans etc in your characters arsenal (within tournament guidelines) to win. Sometimes it can overlap "Anything to Win" but never coincides with it. If you favor a tactic for extensive amounts of time, you will eventually find yourself in that rut when you most need to back up and change your play style. Playing to Win conflicts with Anything to Win in this spirit. Unfortunately, online you will find yourself fighting opponents that do the same thing over and over, which may, in some cases, force you to do the same thing over and over. But this is usually only a few matches here and there.
By the same token, I come across players that like to "teach me" how to counter something, so they do something over and over again till I am so furious I am yelling at the screen. This private lesson does nothing but aggrivate me (I'm trying to play to win, versus an opponent who is not) and hurt the other persons game in the long term. It's up to me to figure out the way around the tactic, i will do that on my own time not while I'm fighting to win.
Playing to Win is the most fun prospect in gaming I have come across, but only after I started really thinking about it.
I want to take a new stance on this topic and subdivide things a bit. Playing to Win's idea is that no tactic is scrub, if it beats you, it's up to you to overcome it. Many "scrub tactics" are actually well calculated, and should you break it, they have a deeper game then you'd think. That is what Sirlin of hints at in parts of his article. I want to divide the Playing to Win group into 2 catagories. Playing to Win and Doing ANything to Win.
Doing Anything to Win is the most common strategy for competitive online play for Super/Vanilla Street Fighter 4. It can be as simple as exploiting difficult to counter tactics (such as Blanka balls or dhalsim "yoga sniper") to as complex as polished shenanigan tactics. This is the type of stuff Sirlin says is not scrub, and I am with him on this. These people have their specific game down, and even though in tournament play it wouldn't work, they can win some points with it online. These people will do anything to win, even if it includes making their game two-dimensional in the process. This is not in the spirit of Playing to Win.
Playing to win is using every tool, glitch, combo, mixup, shenanigans etc in your characters arsenal (within tournament guidelines) to win. Sometimes it can overlap "Anything to Win" but never coincides with it. If you favor a tactic for extensive amounts of time, you will eventually find yourself in that rut when you most need to back up and change your play style. Playing to Win conflicts with Anything to Win in this spirit. Unfortunately, online you will find yourself fighting opponents that do the same thing over and over, which may, in some cases, force you to do the same thing over and over. But this is usually only a few matches here and there.
By the same token, I come across players that like to "teach me" how to counter something, so they do something over and over again till I am so furious I am yelling at the screen. This private lesson does nothing but aggrivate me (I'm trying to play to win, versus an opponent who is not) and hurt the other persons game in the long term. It's up to me to figure out the way around the tactic, i will do that on my own time not while I'm fighting to win.
Playing to Win is the most fun prospect in gaming I have come across, but only after I started really thinking about it.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Fighting to Win vs. R&D
A thought occured to me today, that in online battles, such as ranked, endless, etc., you are taken out of the action far too much to get proper R&D in. In fact, it is very difficult to glean any sort of wisdom or experience from the 2-3 minutes (on average) spent actually fighting against your opponent. Not to say you cannot learn anything, however it is quite hard to gain that which you'd hope to from such online matches.
In offline matches, you have the rematch option. This option does not take to a point where it must reload, instantly you are back, sparring with the same opponent. Not even arcade mode has this option! To remedy this shortcoming, there are some suggestions I can make of myself, and in turn, may help anyone who should read this.
1. Use what little time you have in game to do some R&D
This is taking a page from Sirlin's "Playing to Win" article, which you can find easily enough on the internet. Sirlin makes a point of R&D, which is research and development. What stops this move? What works against this tactic? Often times, finding the answers to these questions means losing pressure life bar in trial and fail tactics. While some of this can be remedied by using the record function of the training dummy, strats and tactics that are as unique as the people playing can be hard to nail down. So don't be afraid to lose HP and perhaps the match, if it means gaining that all important piece to your SF game.
2. Abuse the Replay function
Did you lose? Can't figure out why? Perhaps you know why you lost, yet you felt you couldn't do anything. WE have all been there, and thanks to Capcom, we have a wonderful replay feature to use at our disposal. While finding other's replays is a bit more involved (i.e. finding good Juri replays specifically) your own will teach you the most in the long run. It may help to step away from the console for a bit before you do, it'll refresh your mind and make it more likely to see something different.
3. Play offline as much as you can, even if you have to travel outside your house to do so.
Playing in a group setting, as long as it is offline, can help you get a lot of hands-on time with match-ups and in turn a lot of chances to R&D. With casuals you can always ask your friend/brother/acquaintence/strainger to play a certain character in a certain way, or if they main 1 guy, just take as much as you can from upping your knowledge on that match-up. R&D is important, but playing to win conflicts with R&D. It requires balance, which I've not quite struck yet. I can't find much in the way of offline but when my acquaintences have tournies I participate because the casuals before and after can help you learn a lot about your char.
4. Loosen up.
Athletes stretch, debators read, and you need to do the equivelant when it comes to Street Fighter. While the parallel I draw seems abstract, we all can relate to a time when we stressed and strained over something, and the minute we stopped obsessing over it, the thought/idea/etc came to us. If you are getting salty, take a breather, hit training mode for a bit, step away if you have to, but the reason you are getting salty is usually because of your own inadequacy. Not just that, but an inadequacy you can't figure out how to overcome. The Anger and resentment is equivelant to obsessing over a thought you can't remember.
Before you start your online play (as i assume of any SF player this will be the lionshare of their time spent in the game), limber up, relax, do whatever you have to in order to disuade the anxiety you might feel entering the arena. It will keep your mind more open to the myriads of play styles, and allow you to absorb more. Things that take you out of this state are the mind clenching like a fist, unable to grasp anything.
5. Remember why you play.
I will say this, I believe 60 percent (and I am somewhat conservative) of the SSF4 installed userbase desires to play casually competitive to competitive. That is to say, their win/loss record, points, rep etc mean something to them. of that 60 percent, i'd say 1 out of every 10 want to be a Youtube celeb or a Daigo/JWong player. For people like JWong and Daigo, it's their bread and butter (no pun intended). They will play differently than any of us might. Just remember why you picked up the game in the first place, you wanted to have fun. Fighting people, overcoming hurdles and learning my main is all about fun. I still have to remind myself of this, though. I want to be competitive with those I know offline. However, my progression is my responsibility alone, and it is within myself to decide whether the overall cost of that improvement is worth losing some fun value.
My theory is, there is a way to work smarter, not harder. That is why I wrote this, and why I will post future entries. I'm always going to be casual. I'm not going to be Daigo, I'm not even sure I'll make it to any tournaments. Keeping that in perspective, What I can and can't do, I think I can make the strides I want without burning myself out. Thats what work is for :-)
In offline matches, you have the rematch option. This option does not take to a point where it must reload, instantly you are back, sparring with the same opponent. Not even arcade mode has this option! To remedy this shortcoming, there are some suggestions I can make of myself, and in turn, may help anyone who should read this.
1. Use what little time you have in game to do some R&D
This is taking a page from Sirlin's "Playing to Win" article, which you can find easily enough on the internet. Sirlin makes a point of R&D, which is research and development. What stops this move? What works against this tactic? Often times, finding the answers to these questions means losing pressure life bar in trial and fail tactics. While some of this can be remedied by using the record function of the training dummy, strats and tactics that are as unique as the people playing can be hard to nail down. So don't be afraid to lose HP and perhaps the match, if it means gaining that all important piece to your SF game.
2. Abuse the Replay function
Did you lose? Can't figure out why? Perhaps you know why you lost, yet you felt you couldn't do anything. WE have all been there, and thanks to Capcom, we have a wonderful replay feature to use at our disposal. While finding other's replays is a bit more involved (i.e. finding good Juri replays specifically) your own will teach you the most in the long run. It may help to step away from the console for a bit before you do, it'll refresh your mind and make it more likely to see something different.
3. Play offline as much as you can, even if you have to travel outside your house to do so.
Playing in a group setting, as long as it is offline, can help you get a lot of hands-on time with match-ups and in turn a lot of chances to R&D. With casuals you can always ask your friend/brother/acquaintence/strainger to play a certain character in a certain way, or if they main 1 guy, just take as much as you can from upping your knowledge on that match-up. R&D is important, but playing to win conflicts with R&D. It requires balance, which I've not quite struck yet. I can't find much in the way of offline but when my acquaintences have tournies I participate because the casuals before and after can help you learn a lot about your char.
4. Loosen up.
Athletes stretch, debators read, and you need to do the equivelant when it comes to Street Fighter. While the parallel I draw seems abstract, we all can relate to a time when we stressed and strained over something, and the minute we stopped obsessing over it, the thought/idea/etc came to us. If you are getting salty, take a breather, hit training mode for a bit, step away if you have to, but the reason you are getting salty is usually because of your own inadequacy. Not just that, but an inadequacy you can't figure out how to overcome. The Anger and resentment is equivelant to obsessing over a thought you can't remember.
Before you start your online play (as i assume of any SF player this will be the lionshare of their time spent in the game), limber up, relax, do whatever you have to in order to disuade the anxiety you might feel entering the arena. It will keep your mind more open to the myriads of play styles, and allow you to absorb more. Things that take you out of this state are the mind clenching like a fist, unable to grasp anything.
5. Remember why you play.
I will say this, I believe 60 percent (and I am somewhat conservative) of the SSF4 installed userbase desires to play casually competitive to competitive. That is to say, their win/loss record, points, rep etc mean something to them. of that 60 percent, i'd say 1 out of every 10 want to be a Youtube celeb or a Daigo/JWong player. For people like JWong and Daigo, it's their bread and butter (no pun intended). They will play differently than any of us might. Just remember why you picked up the game in the first place, you wanted to have fun. Fighting people, overcoming hurdles and learning my main is all about fun. I still have to remind myself of this, though. I want to be competitive with those I know offline. However, my progression is my responsibility alone, and it is within myself to decide whether the overall cost of that improvement is worth losing some fun value.
My theory is, there is a way to work smarter, not harder. That is why I wrote this, and why I will post future entries. I'm always going to be casual. I'm not going to be Daigo, I'm not even sure I'll make it to any tournaments. Keeping that in perspective, What I can and can't do, I think I can make the strides I want without burning myself out. Thats what work is for :-)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Episode 1: The basics
Super Street Fighter 4 dropped last tuesday and it was everything my brother, my acquaintances and I had hoped for. After the initial oogling and proverbial dust settling, some imperfections are showing themselves.
Such imperfections are not in the balance but in the entertainment value of fighting match-ups. For example, it is quite hard for Juri to be involved in a boring match, as a player whom mains her. However, fighting against certain characters have been a bit taxing.
Let us take Guy for example. He was one of my personal highly anticipated character, but after fighting against him I have no desire to play him. At a glance, with a week under the community's belt, it seems his best techniques are shenanigans. Run guessing games, slide spamming and predictable yet difficult to punish air grapples when you try to gain momentum. Suffice to say, neither character seems to be dominating yet it seems apparent this is where guy is best at home. PErhaps as weeks go on, we will see if this tactic gets eaten alive and guy changes.
My next matchup that I find to be boring and frustrating is ken, but this is a general complaint. All the successful Kens I've fought rely on similar hijinx as Guy. Step kicks, random overheads, and light shoryuken baits that have tremendous options. Most kens won't use combos, at least the ones that can beat me. To call him a "Scrub" character like some do is a misnomer, because I agree with Sirlin, it's not a tactic you can really emulate and "Exploit". To an extent, it is a talent in and of itself and in that way I can respect it. But I don't enjoy it either.
Lastly, and surprisingly, my old main Vega rounds off this short list. My Vega was combo heavy and very "fluid". I've been called out on "mindlessly poking" and tic throwing but if that is true, all the Vega's I've fought online (this is Claw I'm referring to) "mindlessly poke". They also do not do any combos. While I'm not saying you have to be doing combos to be considered good, for me to feel like I've really been beaten, for me to be satisfied with a loss, I have to feel like I was outclassed or outwitted. So in essence, while I acknowledge such tactics above take a degree of talent, I also am unsatisfied that I lose.
Now, mindless poking as it were is highly punishable by someone skilled in Focus Attacking, which I am not. I know people that can crumple off of a predicted poke with a FA, so I have no excuse but my own shortcomings. I simply refer to this match-ups as boring and frustrating based on how I enjoy playing SF. I will need to know the match-ups to round off my Juri training.
Overall, I've had my bouts with disgruntlement. I am picking up someone brand new, never been in a game before, and everyone plays a character they've polished and honed. It's selfish to say as many people want to see what their mains got, but With all the new options and scaling I'm disappointed that the community is still favoring Ryu and Sagat. Going into week 2, I'm seeing less of those 2 and more of the rest of the cast. But how much of this is Trophy/Achievement hunters going for the C level trophy? We will see as time goes on.
Current projects:
Continuing my Juri Training
Working on my Juri concept art
Modding my SE stick (art and buttons) when lizardlick's package comes
Such imperfections are not in the balance but in the entertainment value of fighting match-ups. For example, it is quite hard for Juri to be involved in a boring match, as a player whom mains her. However, fighting against certain characters have been a bit taxing.
Let us take Guy for example. He was one of my personal highly anticipated character, but after fighting against him I have no desire to play him. At a glance, with a week under the community's belt, it seems his best techniques are shenanigans. Run guessing games, slide spamming and predictable yet difficult to punish air grapples when you try to gain momentum. Suffice to say, neither character seems to be dominating yet it seems apparent this is where guy is best at home. PErhaps as weeks go on, we will see if this tactic gets eaten alive and guy changes.
My next matchup that I find to be boring and frustrating is ken, but this is a general complaint. All the successful Kens I've fought rely on similar hijinx as Guy. Step kicks, random overheads, and light shoryuken baits that have tremendous options. Most kens won't use combos, at least the ones that can beat me. To call him a "Scrub" character like some do is a misnomer, because I agree with Sirlin, it's not a tactic you can really emulate and "Exploit". To an extent, it is a talent in and of itself and in that way I can respect it. But I don't enjoy it either.
Lastly, and surprisingly, my old main Vega rounds off this short list. My Vega was combo heavy and very "fluid". I've been called out on "mindlessly poking" and tic throwing but if that is true, all the Vega's I've fought online (this is Claw I'm referring to) "mindlessly poke". They also do not do any combos. While I'm not saying you have to be doing combos to be considered good, for me to feel like I've really been beaten, for me to be satisfied with a loss, I have to feel like I was outclassed or outwitted. So in essence, while I acknowledge such tactics above take a degree of talent, I also am unsatisfied that I lose.
Now, mindless poking as it were is highly punishable by someone skilled in Focus Attacking, which I am not. I know people that can crumple off of a predicted poke with a FA, so I have no excuse but my own shortcomings. I simply refer to this match-ups as boring and frustrating based on how I enjoy playing SF. I will need to know the match-ups to round off my Juri training.
Overall, I've had my bouts with disgruntlement. I am picking up someone brand new, never been in a game before, and everyone plays a character they've polished and honed. It's selfish to say as many people want to see what their mains got, but With all the new options and scaling I'm disappointed that the community is still favoring Ryu and Sagat. Going into week 2, I'm seeing less of those 2 and more of the rest of the cast. But how much of this is Trophy/Achievement hunters going for the C level trophy? We will see as time goes on.
Current projects:
Continuing my Juri Training
Working on my Juri concept art
Modding my SE stick (art and buttons) when lizardlick's package comes
Inaugeral Address
Predominantly, this blog is for self betterment as well as an attempt to help others in similar situations become better. It is for anyone to comment and leave ideas and thoughts, and i do encourage open-mindedness within this blog's "walls"
I enjoy all forms of Street Fighter, but I've finally found my niche with Super Street Fighter 4. In Vanilla (Street Fighter 4) I kicked around with Vega, who was my main, and fei long, among others, but with Super I've finally found where I belong with Juri. As such, while I am open to all forms of Street Fighter, this blog will most likely be consumed soley by SSF4, and a majority will be about my woes and triumphs with Juri. I hope to touch on other characters, like my secondary, Hakan, and some of my tougher match-ups.
With that mission statement out of the way, I'll post this and put up my first actual entry.
I enjoy all forms of Street Fighter, but I've finally found my niche with Super Street Fighter 4. In Vanilla (Street Fighter 4) I kicked around with Vega, who was my main, and fei long, among others, but with Super I've finally found where I belong with Juri. As such, while I am open to all forms of Street Fighter, this blog will most likely be consumed soley by SSF4, and a majority will be about my woes and triumphs with Juri. I hope to touch on other characters, like my secondary, Hakan, and some of my tougher match-ups.
With that mission statement out of the way, I'll post this and put up my first actual entry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)