The Grinding begins

[Frenzy]

Hey, guys, new player here! Just picked up AE yesterday and the game was a blast to play casually right away, which is of course what I did since that is the way I’ve played games for years - casually. That, however, isn’t my intent with this beast. I want to learn this game and be as competitive at it as humanly possible for me! So here is the deal, I’m ass. The first thing I did when I got the game was jump into training mode with Ryu and learned his normals and specials and all that. After I felt comfortable with the limited amount of knowledge I gained I headed to arcade.I played on whatever the default difficulty setting was (medium) so I didn’t really expect much of a challenge, but I wasn’t really looking for one either. I’m an idiot. Match one and two were easy enough and I got through them pretty much unscathed as it pertained to life. Usually, losing at the most 25% of my health. And then…match three. Adon, I believe it was, absolutely bodied me. Not just once, but repteadly. About eight times before I finally squeezed out a victory against him. I was so demoralized after this; medium is only like the third difficulty setting from very easy.

So after getting past Adon I went two more matches and did fairly well doing nearly exactly the same as I did with the first two matches. And then…match five. Match five was like match three, only ten times worse; I wish I could remember the character I got bodied by and I want to say it was Fei Long, but I honestly can’t remember. And you know what? Maybe it’s because I erased it from my memory. I was getting more and more dimoralized and it made the matches progressively get worse. After aborting from that out of shame I basically sit in my salt bath for about ten minutes while a horrible rage educing headache sent me into a frenzy (hence the name) of frustration, anger and finally apathy. I wanted to just quit right there and then it was like running into the wall; I asked myself “Are you really going to let this stop you from enjoying yourself and doing what you want?” I refused this notion and decided to tread on. I put the difficulty on hardest and jumped back in.

The match was Ibuki and I played Fei Long (who I had also messed around with a bit in arcade) and after about ten-fifteen losses I finally beat her. All of the matches were close and this gave me some confidence that maybe the whole “losing on medium difficulty the first time you play the game” thing wasn’t so much of a big deal to me, but it was clear I had a lot of work to do. Later that night my dad and cousin (who I was hanging out with) wanted to play some casuals so I said why not - this is when I discovered Zangief. I’m playing on a pad and I found this character much more manageable with the pad as well as my playstyle. I noticed I had bad habits of jumping in too much and relying too heavily on command grabs, but I also recognized I genuinely had fun playing Gief. Even when my dad would frustratingly beat me by bashing his controller, I felt like “Wow! Maybe I can play this game!” So it ended on a pretty good note. That was the last I touched it today except for some tinkering around with Sakura, but that was more or less because I found Chris G’s play with her entertaining.

I have a long way to go, SRK, but I would love to hear your guys’ opinions on whatever you feel I should need to know. I know these threads must pop up all the time and I’ve read all of the sticky’s, but generally, how should I feel about my first experiences with this game? Anyone have any similar tough times? Is this indicative of me being a good or bad player in the future? Also, should I give Gief a real shot or should I learn more about the game before I decide on a main character? Answers to any of these questions would be appreciated and as I said, any general advice you want to offer, I’m more than willing to listen.

Inb4tl;dr.

[pherai]

Not trying to be a jerk at all, but you should try to get to your point on here in a less verbose way. That’s an overbearing amount of detail to say you have a hard time against the computer. As for that, there’s no better tip for someone at your level than to just play, play and play some more.

The only other tip I’d say is I think you’re super overthinking everything. Just have fun with the game right now. You don’t need to be thinking about whether your struggles with the computer AI are indicative of your long term success in fighting games.

As far as a main, people pick their main characters for any number of arbitrary reasons, so there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t pick one now. I picked my main mainly because I thought he looked the coolest, and 6 years later I still play him in every game. The decisions you make at this point are inconsequential comapred to the number of hours you put into the game.

[Crimson]

Dude, try to get local comp. Learn some combos and strategies in your character’s forum. Don’t play vs computer.

[Frenzy]

Not trying to be a jerk at all, but you should try to get to your point on here in a less verbose way. That’s an overbearing amount of detail to say you have a hard time against the computer. As for that, there’s no better tip for someone at your level than to just play, play and play some more.

The only other tip I’d say is I think you’re super overthinking everything. Just have fun with the game right now. You don’t need to be thinking about whether your struggles with the computer AI are indicative of your long term success in fighting games.

As far as a main, people pick their main characters for any number of arbitrary reasons, so there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t pick one now. I picked my main mainly because I thought he looked the coolest, and 6 years later I still play him in every game. The decisions you make at this point are inconsequential comapred to the number of hours you put into the game.

Thanks for the advice and sorry for all of the wordiness - I’m used to writing a lot and sometimes I can be a bit overbearing while trying to get my point across.

[bitbna1]

Playing against the computer is really a waste of time. They always do set things are don’t act like a human opponent at all. Finding local competition and grinding it out with them is the easiest way to become good.

Until you can do that you’re going to have to go to SRK character forums and play online. As for internet advice try Maj’s footsie guide, Crosscounter Ryu Guide, and Sirlin’s playing to win (google these), both provide invaluable education. Also watch videos of top players with your character and notice some overall patterns in normals, jumps, anti-airs, etc.

In character forums be sure to try out everything you can in training mode (record function) and try and get people to critique videos of your play. Personally I try to answer most of the questions in the Gief forum if you decide on him. Finding decent players online and then playing long sets will also help to condition you to not jump, anti-air, etc.

I recommend starting with Ryu to help master the fundamental skills required to win at most levels in fighting games.

My gt. is bitbna on XBL and Steam if you ever want to play and get some advice, also don’t take things too seriously when you start and good luck.

[Frenzy]

Thanks a lot @bitbna****1 and the offer is really great and I would gladly accept, but sadly I’m playing on PSN. If you by chance have a PS3 as well I’d love some help, but if not thanks again for all of that, I’ve seen some of the Ryu guide before as I’ve watched Gootecks and Mike’s show for awhile now, but the other guides I was completely unaware of and I’ll give them a look asap.

[rcorporon]

My PSN is Yewni. Add me and we can spar sometime.

[bitbna1]

Thanks a lot @bitbna****1 and the offer is really great and I would gladly accept, but sadly I’m playing on PSN. If you by chance have a PS3 as well I’d love some help, but if not thanks again for all of that, I’ve seen some of the Ryu guide before as I’ve watched Gootecks and Mike’s show for awhile now, but the other guides I was completely unaware of and I’ll give them a look asap.

Don’t have PSN sorry, but try to hook up with some of the players from SRK. Most of us have been playing for at least 3 years now and have some good experience. As for the guides, yeah they are really helpful. The footsie guide might be a little over your head if you are really new, but it’s good to read and watch the examples. I suggest you go back and reread it once you become more solid and acclimated with at least SF4.

[Kano]

My advice is to not take it seriously right now. You just got the game and you shouldn’t be upset about things that you don’t know yet. For example, your encounter with Adon. Play, learn, and have fun with the game. You’ll have a much more enjoyable experience that way.

[eltrouble]

Hey, guys, new player here! Just picked up AE yesterday and the game was a blast to play casually right away, which is of course what I did since that is the way I’ve played games for years - casually. That, however, isn’t my intent with this beast. I want to learn this game and be as competitive at it as humanly possible for me! So here is the deal, I’m ass. The first thing I did when I got the game was jump into training mode with Ryu and learned his normals and specials and all that. After I felt comfortable with the limited amount of knowledge I gained I headed to arcade.I played on whatever the default difficulty setting was (medium) so I didn’t really expect much of a challenge, but I wasn’t really looking for one either. I’m an idiot. Match one and two were easy enough and I got through them pretty much unscathed as it pertained to life. Usually, losing at the most 25% of my health. And then…match three. Adon, I believe it was, absolutely bodied me. Not just once, but repteadly. About eight times before I finally squeezed out a victory against him. I was so demoralized after this; medium is only like the third difficulty setting from very easy.

So after getting past Adon I went two more matches and did fairly well doing nearly exactly the same as I did with the first two matches. And then…match five. Match five was like match three, only ten times worse; I wish I could remember the character I got bodied by and I want to say it was Fei Long, but I honestly can’t remember. And you know what? Maybe it’s because I erased it from my memory. I was getting more and more dimoralized and it made the matches progressively get worse. After aborting from that out of shame I basically sit in my salt bath for about ten minutes while a horrible rage educing headache sent me into a frenzy (hence the name) of frustration, anger and finally apathy. I wanted to just quit right there and then it was like running into the wall; I asked myself “Are you really going to let this stop you from enjoying yourself and doing what you want?” I refused this notion and decided to tread on. I put the difficulty on hardest and jumped back in.

The match was Ibuki and I played Fei Long (who I had also messed around with a bit in arcade) and after about ten-fifteen losses I finally beat her. All of the matches were close and this gave me some confidence that maybe the whole “losing on medium difficulty the first time you play the game” thing wasn’t so much of a big deal to me, but it was clear I had a lot of work to do. Later that night my dad and cousin (who I was hanging out with) wanted to play some casuals so I said why not - this is when I discovered Zangief. I’m playing on a pad and I found this character much more manageable with the pad as well as my playstyle. I noticed I had bad habits of jumping in too much and relying too heavily on command grabs, but I also recognized I genuinely had fun playing Gief. Even when my dad would frustratingly beat me by bashing his controller, I felt like “Wow! Maybe I can play this game!” So it ended on a pretty good note. That was the last I touched it today except for some tinkering around with Sakura, but that was more or less because I found Chris G’s play with her entertaining.

I have a long way to go, SRK, but I would love to hear your guys’ opinions on whatever you feel I should need to know. I know these threads must pop up all the time and I’ve read all of the sticky’s, but generally, how should I feel about my first experiences with this game? Anyone have any similar tough times? Is this indicative of me being a good or bad player in the future? Also, should I give Gief a real shot or should I learn more about the game before I decide on a main character? Answers to any of these questions would be appreciated and as I said, any general advice you want to offer, I’m more than willing to listen.

Inb4tl;dr.

Fighting games have one of the highest learning curves in competitive gaming, next to RTS games. Don’t feel so bad about your loss, take your time with it, enjoy it, but try and understand why you lost each of the matches you did. Don’t just write off the loss as “oh it’s just how it should be when I start” and then continue to do the same mistakes over and over and over again. You really have to pay attention and figure out where you made minor mistakes, and where you made MAJOR mistakes that costed you the round, the game, or even a significant life lead.