Fighting Games

[Bobinator]

I'm in a real weird spot with fighting games, as of late. I like them a lot, but the games I like most aren't what other people like the most, so I haven't really gotten invested yet.

Street Fighter 6 is... pretty all right, but it's a little bit slow for my tastes, and I'm not as good as it as I'd like to be, so it leaves me a little frustrated.

I think the only modern game I'm really currently into is Strive, which I'd call my favorite modern active fighting game. There's things about it I'm not super fond of, like figuring gatlings, but it does a lot I like. The one thing is I'm always hesitant to get back into it because I'm kind of worried I'm gonna get hacked playing it. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but it feels like every time I consider going for it again, something weird happens.

My all time favorite fighting game is, no doubt, Killer Instinct 2013. I absolutely adore this game -- the characters, the sense of speed, the intensity that ensures you never, ever get to let go of the buttons. I'm always struggling to find people to play KI with, and that bums me out deeply.

Also, hot take nobody asked for: Marvel VS Capcom Infinite deserved better and the only thing wrong with it is the roster kinda sucked.

If we're talking older fighting games, I'd probably shoutout Jackie Chan, both for being utterly stupid but having that same constant intensity that I really like in fighting games. Vampire Savior hits in a lot of the same ways KI does for me. And Akatsuki Blitzkampf is really easy to get into, and makes it feel like a genius when I do well at it.

Unless I'm fighting Frisk. Fighting Frisk never makes me feel like a genius. ...I fight Frisk a lot.

[Ivy-IV]

FIGHTING GAME THREAD WOOO
I'm in a similar boat to Enby, I love all kinds of fighting games so it's hard for me to knuckle all the way down on any one game. Although I lean towards your Street Fighters and King of Fighters especially, I love messing around in funny old arcade fighters on Fightcade.

I'm down to give most anything a shot but currently I've been trying to learn Blazblue Centralfiction. I always thought it was a cool series but I've bounced off a few times in the past. This time around has been going well! I'm playing Hazama and I think if i play 468 more match I'll have gotten the hang of things

How do you recommend a beginner to start getting good?

If you're a beginner I wouldn't worry about getting good as such: naturally you'll want to try and improve but the most important thing is just to play and have fun! This might seem like a non-answer but it's actually step 1: you're not gonna get better without playing a lot and you're not gonna play a lot if you're not enjoying it.


As for actually improving:

Hidden text.

Different people learn in different ways and part of any skill-based hobby is figuring out what works for you in that regard but here are a few pointers:

1. Pick a character: generally it's easier to get better if you focus on a single character at first. How to pick is up to you: some people go out of their way to play easy/strong characters; some pick on aesthetic/vibe; some people pick on more abstract things like what buttons feel good to press. No matter your choice your character should make you want to keep playing.

2. Learn the basics: Every fighting game has its common situations that call for different tools and it pays to have simple answers to them. Some examples in 2d fighters include:

• What is my furthest ranged button?how far away can I hit my opponent from?

• What is my fastest button? What can I press when I'm very close

• What can I press when my opponent is in the air? Do I have something that hits above me?

Whatever else you you're doing, if you have those in mind you'll at least have an idea of what to do in a match at any given point.

3. Practice your inputs often, but you don't have to practice for long: practice doesn't necessarily mean spending hours in training mode trying to do special moves, but it can helpful to spend 10 minutes or so at the start of a session working on execution before you get into matches. If you're having trouble with a motion input try to do it slowly first and get the feel of the motion in your hands, you'd be surprised how lenient many games are about that.

4. Play to learn before you play to win: The results of a match are like 1% of everything that happened in it. Don't worry about losing, it doesn't do anything; don't worry about winning, that's just a consequence of improving. Instead, focus on trying some of the stuff you've been learning/practicing. Even if you don't succeed it's a win to have the idea, to make the attempt, even to recognize what you could have done after the fact if you didn't catch it in time.

[CherryPixelBun]

Fighting game thread you say?
Who else enjoys lurking Fightcade for the old and/or weird obscure games?

[Lolo De Puzlo]

Fighting game thread you say?
Who else enjoys lurking Fightcade for the old and/or weird obscure games?

When me and July were playing Hippodrome, there was someone in the lobby who was looking for a fight and I've never been more terrified of someone online in my life.

You just see certain flags in Neo-Geo game rooms and just feel your bones crush.

[Ratttz]

fighting games are very good and i am on fightcade at least once a day!!

i'm usually chillin in the lobby for toy fighter, but i especially enjoy some of the danker picks like jackie chan, survival arts...lately i've been playing karnov's revenge, which has been a hoot

i'm looking forward to playing nen impact, which i can technically play right now, but i just haven't gotten the moment to do so just yet

[Lolo De Puzlo]

fighting games are very good and i am on fightcade at least once a day!!

i'm usually chillin in the lobby for toy fighter, but i especially enjoy some of the danker picks like jackie chan, survival arts...lately i've been playing karnov's revenge, which has been a hoot

i'm looking forward to playing nen impact, which i can technically play right now, but i just haven't gotten the moment to do so just yet

Did someone say Toy Fighter?

Such a good game that gets slept on a lot. I'm really wishing someday that there's a way to play Fighter's Destiny 1 and 2 online...

[EdenCoven]

Wish so much there was some kind of way to properly train/lab Toy Fighter just want to figure out some moves. Great game though. If someone says wanna play Toy Fighter we are going to say yes

[Ratttz]

In order to practice, I map the p2 controls to my keyboard, select the character I wanna play, and then save a state at round start.

That said, the game isn't really about big combos, and all the moves are, for the most part, documented in an okayish manner on the mizuumi wiki for the game.

[Weasel]

Also, hot take nobody asked for: Marvel VS Capcom Infinite deserved better and the only thing wrong with it is the roster kinda sucked.

In case you weren't aware of it, there's a big fan mod project that aims to update and spruce up the game, that came out 6 months ago.

Sadly the playerbase spike it created dipped back down again, but the mod is still in active development and people are playing the game.

[Weasel]

Hidden text.

A Tekken tournament for the elderly was recently hosted in Japan, with competitors ranging from the 60s up to 93 years old

Yoshi Murabe, a 73-year-old Panda main, won the event

[sunlightFrequency]

In case you weren't aware of it, there's a big fan mod project that aims to update and spruce up the game, that came out 6 months ago.

god I love it when a passionate community keeps a perfectly fine game alive via mods. the devs don't always deserve it, but I will always and forever support the fans taking it upon themselves to make the game they want out of the shit they were served

[FoxyBeatnik]

Oh man I love me some fighties, but as much as I love them going up against actual people online reminds me of how not great at them I am. Still love to get the old heart pumping with some KoF or Guilty Gear.

I've also got a fondness for odd ones on consoles like Battle Monsters on Saturn or Tuff E Nuff on SNES. Maybe I should focus on one and actually try learning some strategy or actually take in some of the meta. XD

[VickiViper]

FIGHTING GAME THREAD YAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

I love fighting games a lot! Growing up I only got to play some like the Soul Caliburs and the DBZ Budokais but BBCT back in 09 was like my first big step not just into like legit 2D fighters (like idk I had TMNT:TF and Might Morphin Power Rangers on the Genesis growing up but nothin like Street Fighter or Guilty Gear or such) but like the community at large as well got me hooked to the genre and all the craft that goes into playing them.

About a year later I ventured onto GGPO which gave me the chance to get into all the arcade games and stuff I missed out on growing up due to my parents not really giving me many chances to go to the arcades. Starting with Vampire Savior and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo I basically went on a bit of a sightseeing quest to just experience as many games as I could and learn stuff about them cuz I was just so goddamn FASCINATED!!! >w<

Had no expectations to ever amount to anything as a player cuz I was so used to my big brother beating my ass in EVERYTHING, but somehow I kinda just happened to end up becoming a pretty good player and met a lot of people in the process! Hell even got the respect of and even became friends with people I looked up to gettin into this shit. Fighting games can be a pretty insane adventure! >w<

When it comes to what I'm up to right now FG wise, I'm on a little bit of a soft hiatus my graphics card blowing up gave me a really good excuse to take cuz uuuuuuuuuh my mental had been crumbling real bad for a while and emotions were getting out of hand the burnout got crazy, but when I get back in the ring for real I'm down to play mostly whatever! SF6, COTW, KOF, HxH, UNI2, VSav, SFA2, CvS2, ST, HF, SFTM, you name it, I probably play or dabbled in it. I love fighting games hehehe >w<

[VickiViper]

And remember, if you want to play a fighting game, you just need to convince 2 other people and you have a mini scene ready.

You're spittin so hard with this btw, it really only takes two to tango, and training partners are an incredibly valuable asset

Back in like 2015, my partner at the time and I made a thing of playing Super Turbo and Alpha 2 soon after and Alpha 2 kinda just became our thing. We'd grind it a bunch against each other like everyday my Sakura vs his Ryu and next time I went down to a retro tournament in my state where a bunch of the OGs played they were all blown away by how much better I got. Felt absolutely surreal considering he was basically the only player I played A2 with lol

[Ivy-IV]

Since we've had multiple calls for a scheduled game night: What times are people free? Weekends would probably be best for this but I'm free most evenings from about 8pm GMT/5pm EST. Let's work something out!

[Enbyeon]

I'd be down for some Fightcading with the gang.

[Weasel]

Since we've had multiple calls for a scheduled game night: What times are people free? Weekends would probably be best for this but I'm free most evenings from about 8pm GMT/5pm EST. Let's work something out!

I'm good 7pm GMT most weekdays (sans Tuesday, that's VR night), and any non-sleep UK/EU time on the weekends (excluding when out being social)!

[kissesfingers]

How do you recommend a beginner to start getting good?

my genuine answer to this question, and it’s going to sound like a joke, is to find a character that you think is hot and learn how to get good with them. my group of friends played a lot of guilty gear: strive over the last few years, and a friend picked it up because their favourite voice actor, yū kobayashi, voices testament. i started playing because i adore goldlewis dickinson, and one of my friends permanently had her brain chemistry altered by elphelt valentine (both outfits). so i would find somebody in a roster who inspires you and just go from there.

anyway guilty gear: strive is extremely fun and i always have a good time with it. i’ve picked up jack-o relatively recently, it’s fun to play a different game entirely to what everyone else is doing. i wanna spend more time with tekken 8 as well, nobody has been clicking for me there yet though . . .

[Ribbon]

Since we've had multiple calls for a scheduled game night: What times are people free? Weekends would probably be best for this but I'm free most evenings from about 8pm GMT/5pm EST. Let's work something out!

Wednesdays & Thursdays ~ 8PM EDT (00:00 GMT)
Saturdays & Sundays ~ 2PM EDT (18:00 GMT) onward.

[Weasel]

How do you recommend a beginner to start getting good?

my genuine answer to this question, and it’s going to sound like a joke, is to find a character that you think is hot and learn how to get good with them. my group of friends played a lot of guilty gear: strive over the last few years, and a friend picked it up because their favourite voice actor, yū kobayashi, voices testament. i started playing because i adore goldlewis dickinson, and one of my friends permanently had her brain chemistry altered by elphelt valentine (both outfits). so i would find somebody in a roster who inspires you and just go from there.

I'll second this, looking at a character and wanting to play them is the first step.

In Strive I was messing with Giovanna, because she has a cute spirit puppy and pawpad boots. And in Tekken 8 I play King, because he's a cool, jaguar-man wrestler with pawpad boots.

Maybe I just like the pawpad boots.

[Ratttz]

How do you recommend a beginner to start getting good?

Modern training modes are much better than they used to be, a lot of them let you program the dummy to do things on block or wakeup now, which you should turn on when you're first learning what your buttons and specials do. You're literally just going to hit the dummy with your buttons for a bit, and see what happens: do you get hit if they block? can you block their counter attack? can you counterattack?.

Now you know what moves are punishable, and which ones aren't, which is huge strategy-wise, because if every time your opponent blocks something and the following situation is even or even advantageous for you, then your offense gets to continue, right? Not only that, but you might periodically get some counterhits from the dummy mashing...This usually happens because you're learning two fundamental pieces of offense: frame traps, and spacing traps.

A frame trap occurs when a move leaves you so advantageous that your next move comes out before your opponent's, no matter what they choose (other than block or w/e), so it's a trap that they fall into by pressing buttons. A spacing trap is similar: it happens when a blocked move puts you at a distance where fast moves land before your next one does, but the fast moves can't reach you, while your slower, longer move whiff punishes them. These two tools are really important, and they point the way to the basic RPS of fighting games:

if your opponent "respects" what you're doing, by blocking, by not pressing, then it's your job to find a counter strategy to continue pressing your offense, by following up with a run-up grab, or jumping in to cross them up while they're turtling, but most of the proper responses to these situations...also fall prey to your traps. Adjusting your approach with respect to your opponent's choices is key to success here.

Learning these basics through structured practice is often more productive than simply slamming games, though you should be playing against a wide variety of people for longer sets whenever possible, and I want to emphasize that point:

You will learn a lot more going 0-20 with your strong friends than you will from the ranked grind. It's not that playing ranked online is always bad, but a friend is capable of telling you "oh, you have a few options here, you could hold up, backdash, whatever, but that changes the situation to rps instead of free damage" but your online ranked opponents are basically faceless ghouls that you're only going to remember when they make you mad.

If your friends are really cool, there's even another training mode feature you can use: if your friend is hitting you with a scary mixup or gimmick, you can have them record their routine into the dummy, and they can go get a soda or whatever while you practice defending against it; some games even let you store the recording, so they might be able to just do the thing for you and then go back to playing.

[Weasel]

You will learn a lot more going 0-20 with your strong friends than you will from the ranked grind. It's not that playing ranked online is always bad, but a friend is capable of telling you "oh, you have a few options here, you could hold up, backdash, whatever, but that changes the situation to rps instead of free damage" but your online ranked opponents are basically faceless ghouls that you're only going to remember when they make you mad.

You would think so.

*stares pointedly at JenniferSkunk*

[EmmyPup]

oh I'd be down for some random fightin' games, I used to play BlazBlue (Makoto and Noel my GIRLS), and would like to get into Strive

[Ivy-IV]

Alright! Tomorrow (Saturday, 18 July) at 8pm GMT I'll be around for Blazblue/SF6/whatever on Fightcade (Toy Fighter perhaps? But I'm down for most things), I'll post my various deets a bit closer to time.

Though if we wanna chat while playing how should we handle that actually

[Enbyeon]

Though if we wanna chat while playing how should we handle that actually

If you have 10 people or less participating, you can make a Discord group chat for those who wanna chat? Otherwise you post game and place here and host a room.