New guy with questions.......

[zeththedarkmage]

Hello all, I'm Zeth and I've played fighting games on and off casually since I first played Super Street Fighter 2 turbo back on the sega. I want to get into more serious and possibly competitive gaming but I have some questions, seeing as I have been one to jump to thing when others are jumping off.

1.I have recently acquired SFAC and CVS2. And I'm wondering if I should bother getting really good at them seeing as how Street Fighter IV is coming out soon and both games are decently old, as well as other games I wanted to play like Guilty gear(since I heard it would be replaced by Blazblue) and MVC2 since it decently old as well.

2. Would I be stretching myself too thin by trying to pick up more than one fighter to begin with?

Open to all opinions, suggestions, and snide remarks............

[shoo]

Play them so you can get used to the mechanics of a street fighter game.

Learn techniques, practice execution, etc.

[OJ4]

first learn the basics and mechanics. if you don't have anyone teaching you how to play then i suggest just focusing on one game until you understand the basics and mechanics. pretty much the same thing the person above me said.

[zeththedarkmage]

I've watched thongboy Bebops instructional video and I've been trying to learn some of the more advanced techniques and intermediate techniques. I was pretty decent at CVS1, and by that I mean I could play through arcade mode using terry and ken and not lose both of them. No real experience with other players, cept my brother who hates SF3 but is willing to try MVC2.

I suppose I should also get a Joystick huh? I've heard from here the cheap ones aren't worth buying, but money is tight for now and It's really hard to work on harder techniques on a regular controller.

Another question I have is should I invest in an expensive PS2 controller now when the next gen games are going to be coming soon, but this one seems easier cause I already have CVS2, SF3, GGXXACP, and I'm working on getting Melty Blood Act Cadenza.

[Hatred Edge]

I heard there was one really great PS2 controller. Costs around 40 bucks. About getting a stick though, while expensive and difficult to get good at, it offers a lot more precision and solves what I call "controller crisis". Controller crisis is when you play somewhere else and your execution is off because you get a bad/shitty pad. Unless you get a really good PS2 controller and carry that around with you.

As for playing other games, I'm fairly certain you can still play whatever you want since a lot of people do anyway. SF4 being released isn't a surefire lock on other SF related games. But yeah like said before, it will help you get down the mechanics and basics. Hell I just started learning ST over 10 years later since it came out.

[rukawa_kaede]

you just need a little of SNK love on your list

[SaBrE]

i dont think cvs2 will be worth playing for much longer. CVS2 has been dying out. Even moreso once sf4 hits. It's also going to get removed from evo next year, which is a pretty big deal. I say learn 3rd strike, or super turbo(preferrably HD remix when it finally releases) for now. since 3s is not going anywhere anytime soon, and there will always be a sf2 scene available always

[tataki]

focus on the common basics of the fighting games, rather than the nuances of each game. that will give you important experience for the upcoming games.

i dont think cvs2 will be worth playing for much longer. CVS2 has been dying out. Even moreso once sf4 hits. It's also going to get removed from evo next year, which is a pretty big deal. I say learn 3rd strike, or super turbo(preferrably HD remix when it finally releases) for now. since 3s is not going anywhere anytime soon, and there will always be a sf2 scene available always

new players shouldn't start with 3S IMO. it's too unique and fucks up your view of every aspect of street fighter.
ofcourse veterans of other games can play 3S well if they want, but this game is a pitfall for new players.

[zeththedarkmage]

I think the sad part is I played CVS2 for the first time today and I love it. As far as SNK games go I have 2 KOF games 98, 99 I think. Also XI was $15 at gamestop today.

SF3 seems a lot different than most other fighters.

Apparently Gamestop carries the Wii Hori fighting sticks but not the Ps2 ones, that is disheartening.

I think I might pick up the mayflash controller since it is cheap and can be upgraded fairly easy. Playing on a regular controller just seems akward now that I'm trying to play better, I used to use it and didn't think anything of it but some techniques and stuff seem better suited for the stick and the six button layout, Guilty Gear especially.

Also what kind of basics should I be picking up that is common amongst most fighting games?

[OJ4]

I think the sad part is I played CVS2 for the first time today and I love it. As far as SNK games go I have 2 KOF games 98, 99 I think. Also XI was $15 at gamestop today.

SF3 seems a lot different than most other fighters.

Apparently Gamestop carries the Wii Hori fighting sticks but not the Ps2 ones, that is disheartening.

I think I might pick up the mayflash controller since it is cheap and can be upgraded fairly easy. Playing on a regular controller just seems akward now that I'm trying to play better, I used to use it and didn't think anything of it but some techniques and stuff seem better suited for the stick and the six button layout, Guilty Gear especially.

Also what kind of basics should I be picking up that is common amongst most fighting games?

know your character advantages/disadvantages, matchups, moves and moves execution. watch match videos

[EndLeSS8]

Also what kind of basics should I be picking up that is common amongst most fighting games?

Controlling space, understanding character distances (eg. most Capcom grapplers cannot play a long-range distance game, so use that to your advantage if you are fighting them), footsies, mixup (high/low/overheads), pokes.

[SaBrE]

that is true, 3s is different. i was rushed when i posted earlier, but i meant to also say, that playing ST(or hd remix when it comes out) wil lprobably help you the most when it comes to execution, spacing, zoning, footsies, and how to disect matchups. Nothing provides fundamentals better than learning to play a sf2 game. the skills learned in that game, carry over to EVERYTHING

[EvilSamurai]

watch sirlin's tutorials on youtube.

[pdk]

as a general rule the only time when older fighters just get dropped like a rock in favor of newer ones is when the newer ones are direct sequels/updates to the older; even then, it usually turns out the older ones usually will still stick around if they managed to get a following before the newer ones came along

for example street fighter 2 and 3 are both still big today (as far as fighters go these days at least), while a new guilty gear game tends to more or less entirely replace the one before it (though it's doubtful if this'll happen with blazblue)

if you stick to one fighter while you're starting out you might get bored and just say fuck it; the big thing you need to learn them and improve is access to a number of decent/good people to play against, face to face or on something like XBL

CVS2 is slowing down but still seems to be pretty big, might as well go for it; there's some combos and stuff that might be frustrating to learn the timing and execution for (i'll leave someone more knowledgable to elaborate here) but overall the game should teach you all the basics and then some pretty well

as for SFAC you'll be fine learning the ropes on that as well until you start going to tourneys, since peeps are particular about which console version of SF2 is closest to arcade so they won't stick with a particular one for long if someone finds a flaw in it; right now it seems the dreamcast version is where it's at for the purists, but since HD remix is around the corner this issue should become moot soon with any luck

[zeththedarkmage]

Thanks all for the help. There seems to be a decent following for guilty gear, but is there much of a following for games like melty blood and arcana heart, cause I have heard they are both great games but I wonder if they are worth getting into.

[COUM]

play st online

[nekohime]

Thanks all for the help. There seems to be a decent following for guilty gear, but is there much of a following for games like melty blood and arcana heart, cause I have heard they are both great games but I wonder if they are worth getting into.

I say Arcana Heart is a good game but depending on where you live you may have to be willing to travel to get good competition or convince your friends to play and make your own scene. It's only been widely available for 3 months and some people are turned off by the all-girl cast, so there's not as much of a following as there is for Street Fighter and such. There is some tournament play and the sequel is already out in Japanese arcade so it's possible there will be more of a following in the future.

I can't say anything about Melty Blood since I've never played it.

[MannyKal]

If you're aim is to get better, a serious aim should be fighting opponents better than you
also, dont get discouraged by repeated losses.

I would also say play 'cheap'. I think there seems to be a general conception among non-fighting game enthusiasts that some things are 'cheap'. I dont mean things like infinites and unblockables, i simply mean play with what's available and play to win. Throw someone who is open, sweep them if they keep falling for it, cross them over if they dotn know how to block, etc.

I'm no tourney level player, (mostly lack of motivation :() but i was quite scrubby until i played for almost a year against competition who would almost NEVER lose. By the end of the year, I turned the tables, using what i've learned from them and vids and faqs and message boards like srk. just keep at it.

Lastly, enjoy the game :)

[Violent By Design]

Any competitive game that you find fun just play it. It'll help you find the basics.

[zeththedarkmage]

I know a friend of mine plays Arcana Heart so I could always hit that up with him, but I'm not really aware of there being a fighting game scene anywhere around me. I know a local arcade has MVC2, SF3, T5DR, and Guilty Gear XX Slash but I'm not sure how many good players go there.

The main thing my friends like to play is brawl, and as much as I love the game I'm more of a 2d fighter kind of person, and the main thing I just don't want to get good at a game that no one plays, been there before and it's no fun.

[pherai]

I'm surprised there isn't the obligatory post by someone who plays 20 different games incompetently suggesting all 20 of them regardless of the lack of scene for 16 of them.

[Hitaro0]

I know a friend of mine plays Arcana Heart so I could always hit that up with him, but I'm not really aware of there being a fighting game scene anywhere around me. I know a local arcade has MVC2, SF3, T5DR, and Guilty Gear XX Slash but I'm not sure how many good players go there.
I'd guess the best way to learn how large the scene is would be to go there every day and talking to random guys and see how much the players vary (whether it's just the same 5 dudes or a cycle of 20 different guys per day or something).

And of course there are going to be more people who play Brawl. The question is if they're actually "serious" about it.

[zeththedarkmage]

As far as brawl goes, one of my friends is a very good player and some of the others are better than I am, but none of them pursue it seriously, they pretty much do pursue much seriously....

[Emil]

Nothing provides fundamentals better than learning to play a sf2 game. the skills learned in that game, carry over to EVERYTHING

I don't agree with this. SF players tend to pick up the fact that reversal dps/supers are great (they are needed to get out of many traps in SF2) but this habit does not transfer over well to other fighting games, especially kof, cvs2, guilty gear, third strike, etc, where it is not only easier to punish such moves but also you can punish for a lot more damage.

Also, SF2 offensive traps generally work because the opponent has very few options in such a situation. Same goes for tick throw setups. This style of play does not carry over well in other games...main thing that carries over well in SF2 would be poking/spacing but that's about it.

I'm surprised there isn't the obligatory post by someone who plays 20 different games incompetently suggesting all 20 of them regardless of the lack of scene for 16 of them.

Dark Geese will come, don't worry.

[Syxx573]

you should look in the region sections to see if there is any comp in your area... post around a bit

[Violent By Design]

I'd guess the best way to learn how large the scene is would be to go there every day and talking to random guys and see how much the players vary (whether it's just the same 5 dudes or a cycle of 20 different guys per day or something).

And of course there are going to be more people who play Brawl. The question is if they're actually "serious" about it.

Wait till the SNK boys enter the thread.

[EndLeSS8]

I don't agree with this. SF players tend to pick up the fact that reversal dps/supers are great (they are needed to get out of many traps in SF2) but this habit does not transfer over well to other fighting games, especially kof, cvs2, guilty gear, third strike, etc, where it is not only easier to punish such moves but also you can punish for a lot more damage.

.

I have to agree with Emil.

Almost all SNK players (KOF, SS, FF, MOTW) can play SF games decently.

SF players have a much harder time picking up and playing SNK games like KOF, due to the speed of the play, and also because in most KOF games, there is no super-high-priority DP.

[Emil]

I have to agree with Emil.

Almost all SNK players (KOF, SS, FF, MOTW) can play SF games decently.

SF players have a much harder time picking up and playing SNK games like KOF, due to the speed of the play, and also because in most KOF games, there is no super-high-priority DP.

Well the thing is, if you play SF like you would play kof, you will also lose because someone trained well in kof will probably not want to dp much so they will be stuck in almost every tick throw situation. Also, people that play kof will probably get too accustomed to jumping which is not a good thing in SF due to lack of low jumps and an abundance of high priority dps.

In the end, you just need to the distinct differences between the games and play accordingly, most SF gameplay will not transfer over to Kof and vice versa.

[grokslam]

ok well i have a suggestion because this is what has really made me improve decently over the last half year or more. I've always been a SF fan playing 3rd strike,cvs2,svc chaos, mvc series etc. BUT the one game that really got me back into the fighting scene was a japanese game called melty blood: act cadenza.

This game is fast, easy for anyone to pick up, has decent online playability, easy to acquire(pc game), great to play with others, unique, and the blood heat activation makes for some intense fights. I found once i learned the system it was easier to get great at alot of other fighters, because the air recovery system mixed with air dashing/clashes/airgrabs makes you think on your feet really fast.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CCVUi0OP6XM

i am not as good as these 2, but heres a pretty awesome match with 2 of the few characters i use. That brings me to another point: it is really easy to pick up any character(tbh there are no bad characters). All in all an awesome fighter game for the pc.

[zeththedarkmage]

I picked up Act Cadenza because a friend of mine won't shut up about it. It seems good, but I just don't know how to get good with it, I suppose I need to play it more than 10 minutes and play all the characters.

Also I love SNK games, Terry being my favorite character, and I have realized that SNK plays a lot different and I need to pick up KOF XI so I can get back into the swing of SNK.

Luckily I have quite a few fighters laying around I can jump from, the only thing I'm worried about is progressing a little in all of them and getting know where in any of them X_X. But I think playing each of them will give me better insights to all of them and what can and can't be done in each.

Seems practice is what I need to be doing most and getting a stick when I get the funds.....


Also, is SVC chaos worth picking up? It looks good from what I have seen but I don't know how it plays since it's SNK.

[Emil]

I picked up Act Cadenza because a friend of mine won't shut up about it. It seems good, but I just don't know how to get good with it, I suppose I need to play it more than 10 minutes and play all the characters.

Well, I'd recommend trying out all of the characters but a better suggestion is to look up Japanese matches of every character and see how they play. If you like the playstyle, then focus on that character and try to learn everything about that character. GEnerally the best players out there will only focus on 1-2 characters or one team as opposed to learning everything about eveyr character (of course, you should still be aware of what other characters are capable of, that should be acquired from match/video experience or if you have enough time).

Also, is SVC chaos worth picking up?

No. Stick with Kof (preferably kof98/2k2/XI).

[grokslam]

I picked up Act Cadenza because a friend of mine won't shut up about it. It seems good, but I just don't know how to get good with it, I suppose I need to play it more than 10 minutes and play all the characters.



i love melty blood because there is more than 1 way to combo/air combo, and theres nothing like finishing a combo with a stylish grab. or shielding into a grab :wgrin:

to emphasize on what emil posted, it is very important to start off with 1-2 chars... learn their moves. spend a good amount of time in training mode learning some combos figuring out how to link stuff. start off with simple stuff, then replicate that against ai. improve those combos, rinse repeat.

and for video footage do a youtube search for some west toast matches, there seems to be a big melty blood scene there, and theres alot of other stuff on meltybread.com forums.

anyways hope that helps :D

[BRPXQZME]

I picked up Act Cadenza because a friend of mine won't shut up about it. It seems good, but I just don't know how to get good with it, I suppose I need to play it more than 10 minutes and play all the characters.To play Melty Blood at a basic level, you pick a character and practice enough to get at least halfway through a BnB on demand. In fact, if you can do that, it’s not that hard to 1CC the arcade version (of course, the AI is utter crap, but...).

It’s great if you’ve never had combo experience before (MB has a very loose buffer and that counts a lot for easily turning pokes into combos, and that’s not even looking at attack chaining). However, when you get past the combos, some techniques get downright GG-esque in the “err... so when the hell do I use this?” department.

Melty Blood is constructed so that crossup basically doesn’t happen if the blocking player is awake. Crossup is a very important aspect of playing most other fighting games... so don’t get too used to it.

[zeththedarkmage]

So I'm noticing that most of the characters from GG and MB are pretty creepy....

[Hecatom]

So I'm noticing that most of the characters from GG and MB are pretty creepy....

creepy in what way? if you let me ask

[zeththedarkmage]

vampires, demon posession, things that go bump in the night that you don't see in the average stateside fighter.

Well I guess if you include darkstalkers there is vampires and werewolfs and such.

Maybe there not that uncommon after all.....

[Sosage]

that is true, 3s is different. i was rushed when i posted earlier, but i meant to also say, that playing ST(or hd remix when it comes out) wil lprobably help you the most when it comes to execution, spacing, zoning, footsies, and how to disect matchups. Nothing provides fundamentals better than learning to play a sf2 game. the skills learned in that game, carry over to EVERYTHING

I wish HF had a larger scene going...and some GGPO style netcode. This is purely a preference thing, but I *feel* that HF is the better game to learn the basics off of. The spacing game is slightly simpler and much more direct in nature. ST has some situations that are not as black and white "you really shouldn't do that" when compared to HF. The match ups are also much easier to wrap your head around after a couple of weeks of play. Where the other titles will take months...or even years to really learn (some of us are still dissecting match ups for our mains in ST).

That's just my 2 cents. If the HF scene was really jumping, it would be a fantastic starting point for anyone eyeballing SF2 and how serious they want to get. IMO of course.

So yeah...in reality...go play ST. It's the money SF. Everything else is bullshit. :arazz: