Fighting Games

[JackieTheJackie]

The Oxford English Dictionary defines fighting games as Cool, Dope and chiefly, Hip.

I've always been fascinated with fighting games, however having grown up a PC gamer the picks were slim, and chance to learn stick inputs slimmer (though I'll go bat for One Must Fall 2027 any time!), however I've put more of an effort to get better at them lately, starting with Pokken and then moving on to Tekken 7 (and now 8).



Am I any good? Heck no, but I'm having fun. The proliferation of leverless controllers has really helped me, because I am absolutely terrible with stick inputs.

So come nerd out about your faves, show us your stick, heck, maybe find some new rivals!

Oh no
What have you done to me

I booted up Tekken 7 and I'm having fun *just* labbing and seeing how the neurons fire. WHAT HAVE YOU INFLICTED UPON ME AAAA
Decided Imma main Kazumi, she seems neat, and appearently she's great for learning the fundamentals

[Lilium Mortem]

maybe this is just me being a socially awkward gimboid but like. whenever i think about doing any competitive thing online i instantly because a sweaty anxious wreck lmao. so i just play arcade a bunch and look at online as a thing that would be really fun to try out if i could get my head around it

Same tbh.

I was talking with the friend that got me GG and said I was doing exclusively training and mission mode and he was like 'dude, play some actual matches, or at least arcade mode, if you want to learn'. And I mean, yeah, that makes sense. You're not going to get any good at a game about fighting people if you don't fight people. But I'm scared and I suuuuuck.

RE your discord idea: I'd love a space for people getting into fighting games. Any kind of fighting game discord is so intimidating because you have all these big shot players that have been at it forever. Even if they have a space on that server for newbies it's still really intimidating.

[Weasel]

Hidden text.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines fighting games as Cool, Dope and chiefly, Hip.

I've always been fascinated with fighting games, however having grown up a PC gamer the picks were slim, and chance to learn stick inputs slimmer (though I'll go bat for One Must Fall 2027 any time!), however I've put more of an effort to get better at them lately, starting with Pokken and then moving on to Tekken 7 (and now 8).



Am I any good? Heck no, but I'm having fun. The proliferation of leverless controllers has really helped me, because I am absolutely terrible with stick inputs.

So come nerd out about your faves, show us your stick, heck, maybe find some new rivals!

Oh no
What have you done to me

I booted up Tekken 7 and I'm having fun *just* labbing and seeing how the neurons fire. WHAT HAVE YOU INFLICTED UPON ME AAAA
Decided Imma main Kazumi, she seems neat, and appearently she's great for learning the fundamentals

Glad you're having fun!

Tekken has really good-feeling animations, some of the meatier moves just look brutal when they land. And sometimes *cough often cough* I'll fatfinger some move I'd never seen before and just be in awe of how cool it would have been if I had done it on purpose.

[batsodas]

Yeah, being able to play with people locally is truly something else. Playing with friends online is also Fine, but lordy, playing with randos online is just... so different.

Even ignoring the comradery and banter of playing with someone in person, for some reason my anxiety just peaks when playing with strangers online (which doesn't help with getting better at the game!).

godddd i feel you on that, i really wanna get back into fightin and banterin but randos is like terrifying... i'm in like a server for fighting gamers but it's still daunting to just hop in randomly as someone who's still pretty on the ground floor ahaha

[Ivy-IV]

Truth be told I still get anxious about soliciting matches! I've actually had a little bit of a regression on that recently but ultimately it's something you get more used to and better at dealing with the more you do it. Of course "if you're anxious about doing the thing then do the thing anxiously" is easier said than done but there really is no trick to it, you just have to push through and do it.

But I'm scared and I suuuuuck.

This is such a common sentiment and I've definitely felt it myself. It's important to bear in mind: you're supposed to suck! You just got started, it'd be weird if you came out of the gate playing perfectly! Most people just want to play the video game; there isn't a skill floor you need to clear before you're allowed to take part, and anyone who says says otherwise wasn't worth talking to in the first place.

Hidden text.

Also people like winning so naturally they won't mind

You don't need to answer this out loud or publicly but it's worth interrogating: can you pin down something specific you're scared of when it comes to playing other people? Is there a result/scenario you don't want to happen, or is it just brain alarms go off at the thought?

[c_rakestraw]

The anxiety is real and hard to get past for sure. Was a huge barrier to get through when I got into fighting games. I still get anxious when trying out a new game, even when there's people I know and play with in other games learning it alongside me. It sucks!

Playing arcade or against bots is definitely a good option to at least get a little comfortable with the game. Playing in any capacity is better than not doing so at all. I did that a lot before trying to hop online when I picked up UNI and it helped me a bit when I finally started playing online.

[Lilium Mortem]

You don't need to answer this out loud or publicly but it's worth interrogating: can you pin down something specific you're scared of when it comes to playing other people? Is there a result/scenario you don't want to happen, or is it just brain alarms go off at the thought?

It's not that deep. I'm scared of a lot of things. I'll get there. I think I'll feel a lot more comfortable online when I just feel more comfortable with the game in general. And that means training mode and arcade. And those are fun! I don't feel like I have to rush to online matches even though that's where I wanna be eventually.

[Weasel]

With Armor King teased I've been itching to try something new in Tekken, so I've started labbing the bears (Panda specifically). Cute, silly big bear that beats you up, what's not to love.



And man, trying to learn combos on a new character really puts in perspective how one takes their existing experience for granted. "Why is this so easy to do with King, but when I do it with Panda it's so specific!"
'Cause it wasn't easy with the others either, you've just put in the work.

[Moot]

RE your discord idea: I'd love a space for people getting into fighting games. Any kind of fighting game discord is so intimidating because you have all these big shot players that have been at it forever. Even if they have a space on that server for newbies it's still really intimidating.

occasionally i do think about trying to bring it back but then i also think "do i really want to do community management" and i hear a kill bill siren going off. like maybe you wouldn't learn that much from playing with people who have trouble doing QCFs (hi) but i just want low stakes lol

maybe one day

[scratchingway]

After a life spent avoiding them, I played Tekken 8 almost daily from May of last year to May or so of this year. I played some ranked but mostly I ended up playing in lobbies in a FGC Discord (the RTVS FightZone) that sprung up around a LGBTQ-friendly community.

And I got kinda lucky with the scheduling; most people were able to pop in at a regular time. It wasn't like eight people showing up every day at 3pm sharp, but there were usually two to four who would filter in and out throughout the afternoon.

It was super cool. I don't want to say it was life-changing, but... I get it now. I get why these games are so cool, I get why people love them, I get why people wanna play them 24/7. I made a lot of friends, I learned a lot, I learned how to learn, I got my ass beat by players who have been grinding Tekken for years, I got my ass a little less beat week over week as I improved, I started holding my own vs. players who were around my skill level... it was awesome.

Definitely recommend finding groups to play with if you can, even if it can be nerve-wracking at first to meet new people, even if you feel like you're "not good enough" to play in lobbies. I know someone who insists on being a ranked grinder for what is otherwise a Discord game (VF5 REVO) and she always seems miserable about it... imo you lose out on so much social growth and personal skill development if you stick to ranked instead of sometimes fighting people in a place where you can talk to them and get/give direct feedback on what is going on.

[Lilium Mortem]

occasionally i do think about trying to bring it back but then i also think "do i really want to do community management" and i hear a kill bill siren going off. like maybe you wouldn't learn that much from playing with people who have trouble doing QCFs (hi) but i just want low stakes lol

Fair enough. Not everyone is cut our for community management and it's a big commitment either way.

Definitely recommend finding groups to play with if you can, even if it can be nerve-wracking at first to meet new people, even if you feel like you're "not good enough" to play in lobbies.

Also fair, and something I've heard echoed a lot. Having people to play with that you can talk to, that you know, seems to be the strat. Even if you've got to get over the hurdle of actually getting to know them.

[Weasel]

After a life spent avoiding them, I played Tekken 8 almost daily from May of last year to May or so of this year. I played some ranked but mostly I ended up playing in lobbies in a FGC Discord (the RTVS FightZone) that sprung up around a LGBTQ-friendly community.

And I got kinda lucky with the scheduling; most people were able to pop in at a regular time. It wasn't like eight people showing up every day at 3pm sharp, but there were usually two to four who would filter in and out throughout the afternoon.

Man, that sounds delightful.

My Tekken options these days are a personal friend (I can maybe get her to play once a week), a queer furry group I've been introduced to recently (only plays Saturdays after 9pm, I get one hour of play before needing to quit screen time for the night) and ranked.
And ranked suuuucks. I want to keep rematching someone of a similar skill level as we both learn each other's tricks, not play the game of "do you know THIS character's 2-3 gimmicks? You'd better or you'll lose" over and over.

[scratchingway]

Man, that sounds delightful.

If you want I can send you an invite. Even though the server was an outgrowth of another community, there's a ton of people in there now who have no real ties to it. So it's not uncommon for someone to get an invite and be like... "what the hell is RTVS?"

Tekken 8 lobbies have slowed a bit since season 2, but it's still close to daily that someone will ping the role and get a few responses (usually somewhere between 3pm and like 10pm CST). SF6 is also pretty active there (maybe other games too, IDK), and there's a rotation of weekly brackets including those games, plus Skullgirls, Strive, UNI, +R.

There is/was a mentor system, but it's kinda slowed down or stopped. But there's still a pretty broad skill range of players for some games and in my experience most people there are down to help newbies or are chill with skill mismatches, since most people get that you can still learn or hone things even in a 10-0 or 0-10 set.

[Araphel]

My Tekken options these days are a personal friend (I can maybe get her to play once a week), a queer furry group I've been introduced to recently (only plays Saturdays after 9pm, I get one hour of play before needing to quit screen time for the night) and ranked.
And ranked suuuucks. I want to keep rematching someone of a similar skill level as we both learn each other's tricks, not play the game of "do you know THIS character's 2-3 gimmicks? You'd better or you'll lose" over and over.

if ur looking for queer furries to play tekken 8 with i hover around the red ranks, so im like low intermediate, and would be very happy to play! my discord is linked on my profile just tell me ur from here!!!

[Bobinator]

So I've been getting back into Strive with a friend of mine, and I still like Strive a lot, even if the blockstrings tend to be so nuts I can't keep up. I'd really love to get better at Strive, because it's the only major fighting game of this generation I think I really enjoy, but it feels like, even as cut down from Xrd as people claim it is, there's still so much to keep up with at all times.

That said, I've been losing a lot, and I'd like to think I don't get salty, but I have to wonder: Does anybody else get this weird doubt when it comes to fighting games, where you're worried a friend is going to get so tired of winning against you that they don't want to play with you anymore? I dunno, maybe it's genuinely just me.

[Araphel]

So I've been getting back into Strive with a friend of mine, and I still like Strive a lot, even if the blockstrings tend to be so nuts I can't keep up. I'd really love to get better at Strive, because it's the only major fighting game of this generation I think I really enjoy, but it feels like, even as cut down from Xrd as people claim it is, there's still so much to keep up with at all times.

That said, I've been losing a lot, and I'd like to think I don't get salty, but I have to wonder: Does anybody else get this weird doubt when it comes to fighting games, where you're worried a friend is going to get so tired of winning against you that they don't want to play with you anymore? I dunno, maybe it's genuinely just me.

Fighting games are a tricky genre due to their one v one nature. Its why they are so hard to get into, people want people at their skill level but that can often come down to luck. That said I have plenty of hours against people better, and worse than me, and I can assure I find both experience fun, or educational in their own ways. I have felt the same insecurity, but I think at the end of the day I remind myself that im happy to just play with others regardless of skill level.
The beginning of the journey in any game is the most punishing you have to look for small goals and little personal victories over concerning yourself with match outcomes. The beginning is rough but as long as you have fun learning and then applying new things every time you play the results will come. Just try to take something away big or small every time, and be fascinated with the info even if it is admittedly information overlaod!!
Strive is so rad I love it myself I'm always down to play!!! :3

[Weasel]

Man, that sounds delightful.

If you want I can send you an invite. Even though the server was an outgrowth of another community, there's a ton of people in there now who have no real ties to it. So it's not uncommon for someone to get an invite and be like... "what the hell is RTVS?"

Tekken 8 lobbies have slowed a bit since season 2, but it's still close to daily that someone will ping the role and get a few responses (usually somewhere between 3pm and like 10pm CST). SF6 is also pretty active there (maybe other games too, IDK), and there's a rotation of weekly brackets including those games, plus Skullgirls, Strive, UNI, +R.

There is/was a mentor system, but it's kinda slowed down or stopped. But there's still a pretty broad skill range of players for some games and in my experience most people there are down to help newbies or are chill with skill mismatches, since most people get that you can still learn or hone things even in a 10-0 or 0-10 set.

I would love that, thanks! Hopefully there are some folks around whose timezones align.

My Tekken options these days are a personal friend (I can maybe get her to play once a week), a queer furry group I've been introduced to recently (only plays Saturdays after 9pm, I get one hour of play before needing to quit screen time for the night) and ranked.
And ranked suuuucks. I want to keep rematching someone of a similar skill level as we both learn each other's tricks, not play the game of "do you know THIS character's 2-3 gimmicks? You'd better or you'll lose" over and over.

if ur looking for queer furries to play tekken 8 with i hover around the red ranks, so im like low intermediate, and would be very happy to play! my discord is linked on my profile just tell me ur from here!!!

I'll ping you a message!

[scratchingway]

I would love that, thanks! Hopefully there are some folks around whose timezones align.

Sure thing! I sent a DM with the invite.

[Weasel]

Thank you, joined!

Also, Tekken is a serious game.

[Sugar Meowth]

I got my first character (Lily) to Master rank in Street Fighter 6 last night in the most incredible way imaginable!

I started the session at Diamond 4, and got on a double-digit win streak just as I finally got my promotion to Diamond 5. The game has a mechanic for 10+ win streaks where you get a ton of bonus points for winning so people who have improved at the game a lot with another character aren't stuck dunking on lower ranked players because they tried a character for a week when the game was new and got put in silver.

I fought and 2-0ed a JP, and that was enough to immediately get put into Master.



It was a 12 minute speedrun of Diamond 5.

[EcoHound]

I want to share some videos on what I find to be one of the most interesting topics of Fighting Games
The animations

How to express character through actions alone, all while being fast and readable

Hidden text.

And for contrast, he also has a number of videos on Mortal Kombat/Injustice/Netherrealm games and how they fail in their animations. It's important to see bad example to understand what not to do after all

Hidden text.

[Weasel]

Not gotten around to the videos yet, but I was discussing this with Jennifer a while ago, I hadn't seen MK for a long time and after tuning into a tournament ('cause Sonic Fox), boy, the animations look rough.
They look like they purposefully tried to model them after the clunky motion captures of the originals, which... is a choice, if so.

[EcoHound]

Not gotten around to the videos yet, but I was discussing this with Jennifer a while ago, I hadn't seen MK for a long time and after tuning into a tournament ('cause Sonic Fox), boy, the animations look rough.
They look like they purposefully tried to model them after the clunky motion captures of the originals, which... is a choice, if so.

I would argue the original digitized scans of the arcade releases are better than the modern stuff because the limited sprites meant that each move had to have actual proper key frames and put the character back to facing the camera

Also Ed Boon still defends the animations of modern Netherealm games, saying that they're perfectly realistic and people who say they look bad are "too used to cartoons"
So I would say it's not a purposeful "legacy art" choice

[Araphel]

Not gotten around to the videos yet, but I was discussing this with Jennifer a while ago, I hadn't seen MK for a long time and after tuning into a tournament ('cause Sonic Fox), boy, the animations look rough.
They look like they purposefully tried to model them after the clunky motion captures of the originals, which... is a choice, if so.

I would argue the original digitized scans of the arcade releases are better than the modern stuff because the limited sprites meant that each move had to have actual proper key frames and put the character back to facing the camera

Also Ed Boon still defends the animations of modern Netherealm games, saying that they're perfectly realistic and people who say they look bad are "too used to cartoons"
So I would say it's not a purposeful "legacy art" choice

I feel like what makes fighting game animations cool or impactful is that they look unrealistic. Characters don’t move like humans so naturally they have to move in ways that are more about feeling right to a player and for gameplay. Realism should take a back seat to game feel imo. Real people punch too slow for the speed of videogames it’s why mk looks so choppy.
One of my favorite looking games is marvel vs capcom 2 where all the characters feel more like they’re comic book posing than moving and it makes the game feel so fluid despite its age!

[Moot]

Also Ed Boon still defends the animations of modern Netherealm games, saying that they're perfectly realistic and people who say they look bad are "too used to cartoons"
So I would say it's not a purposeful "legacy art" choice

i don't think we can take ed boon seriously