Alpha 3: Q & A

Classic Fighting Games Street Fighter Alpha Anthology
1421

Just use wildcards, e.g. gen.

1422

OK red flash stuff. There’s a question mark at the end of the header at the top of the page, which is sort of a bad sign.

But basically it says it’s super armor. I can read essentially nothing on this page, btw, so thank God there are pictures and charts. Picture of Cody doing a medium Ruffian Kick vs Rolento’s crouching medium kick, and the next pic is Rolento being hit, and Cody flashing red.

Basically there are numerical values placed on I guess all attacks which hit.

Normals:
Light: 0
medium: 1
heavy: 2

Specials:
light: 2
medium: 3
heavy: 4

Zero/Alpha Counter: 4

Supers:
level 1: 5
Level 2: 6
Level 3: 7
X-ISM: 7

I guess anything with a value above 2 can flash on stuff, but I can’t be certain about that. You can flash on stuff with a lower numerical value. There’s another chart here, which I can’t read, but it says
O - 0%
1 - 25%
3 - 75
4 (“and larger?”) - 100%

From my own experience: I have by and large seen medium attacks get flashed on more than any other, pretty much to the point of exclusivity. And I think some of these are hypothetical…I’ve never seen a Level 2/3/X-ISM super flash on anything, nor an Alpha Counter, because they don’t need to. Red flashes are specific, by the way…they happen in certain situations, and can be recreated.

They specificaly mention Sodom’s jumping heavy punch, but I’m not sure what they say about it… there’s another chart here, which shows Chun Li doing a far standing heavy puch in the first pic, a standing medium punch in the scond, and a close staning heavy punch in the third.

–

The character sections in the book are sorta crazy…they list move names for NORMAL moves and stuff… So if you ever wanted to know that Bison’s crouching heavy punch is caled a “Psycho Upper,” there you go.

Anyway, they seem to show here that hit dectection boxes are solid, which is something I’ve always wondered about. Like for Zangief’s Banashing Flat (the glowinghand move), there’s one big blue-outlined box for his body as he turns around with his hand out, and one red-outined box which his hand is in, which is obviously much smaller, and is rectangular (it ends at the end of his hand, but doesn’t end inward until about his shoulder. They only show hit detection boxes for most of the specials and supers though, and throws for the throw section.

For anyone else getting the book, the timing chart is a long number line with blue, yellow, and pink sections in it which is above/next to all special and super moves shown. There’s also one in the normal moves section, but without the blue. The first yellow part is start-up animation. The pink part (usually in the center) is when/how long the move will actually hit/do damage for, and the yellow at the end is recovery time. I think Buktooth(?) did a feature article on this whole principle over at video-opera, but I think the site is still down. The blue part is under the pink/yellow bar, and I used to think it was stopped time (the part after you activate a super or start a VC where the screen is frozen and nothing moves), but I think it may be invincibility frames or something. There’s a thin red line which I believe indicates stopped time. All of these parts (sans the red line) have a number in them, which indicates frame time, in 60ths of seconds. Bad ascii examples (subbing white for yellow, as it’s easier):

Number line at the top that looks something like
0/60 20 40 60 80 (etc but longer and actually applicable to examples below)

Example #1:
–4--|------12-----{-3—3–}--------17---------
------------24------------

Example #2:
–4--|-2-------------------------------47----------------------9-----
—7----

Example #3:
–4--|-2-
–5—

Ok, super #1 is Ryu’s hurricane kick super. The part in the brackets is actually repeated again and again about 23 times, always with 3 frames in it. Stuff like A-Dhalsim’s Yoga Inferno look much the same (only his has 4s, etc). So, 4 frames after the input until the screen stops. 12 frames (which again, is maybe a quarter of a second) as Ryu reels back, and lifts into the air and is able to hit something. And then he can hit for 3 frames. And then he spins around, and can hit for 3 frames again, and then he spins around, and then he can hit for 3 frames again, etc. Finally, after the last cycle, he he spends 17 frames spinning and landing on the ground after the super is done.

#2 is Shun Goku Satsu. Startup is 4 before the screen freezes, and there’s only 2 frames before he can grab something (keep in mind SGS moves forward slow, which is why you don’t see it being used as often as in other games… There are FORTY-SEVEN frames where you can grab something, and then 9 frames where he can no longer grab, or do anything ele before he recovers.

#3 is Rose’s Soul Illusion super (the “friends” super). 4 frames before screen freezes, no hitting time (as it doesn’t hit on it’s own), and 2 frames of recovery.

edit: Yaay it posted. Can’t copy/paste at the moment, so yah…

Edit Jr: Buktooth article: http://www.video-opera.com/features/f0009.php

1423

Character sections are all pretty much the same way…

There’s a picture of the character they’re talking about and their name in katakana (and their name again in English on the tab of the page, like letters in a dictionary), and you get character info for the game (why they’re fighting, etc…like when you pick your character in A3). Then it has info below that, like their height, blood type, 3-size, where they’re from, fighting style, likes, etc. Then it talks more about their fighting style, and then below that is a paragrpah called “fashion style” about their character design.

Second page is a shot of their background stage and an explanation of where it is (ie Gen fights at Victoria Harbor (Hong Kong), Ken fights at “Hotel Masters,” etc). Then a whole page full of more stuff about them, which I generally can’t read, so moving on.

Page 3 is screen shots of all of their normal moves, in a grid-type pattern (usually five across and six down). From left to right: standing close, standing far,crouching, jumping straight up, jumping towards/away. from top to bottom: Jab, Strong, Fierce, Short, Forward, and Roundhouse, if you were using the old SF2 names. To the left of these pics are the move names, sometiems generic (“low kick” for shoto standing Short), sometimes not (“Wild Dance” for Blanka standing Roundhouse). below this are any command moves which the characters may have (Ryu’s hopkick, , Blanka d/f+FP slide, etc. Below this are Alpha Counters, and normal throws.

Fourth page is normal move data. They are, top to bottom, Standing close, standing far, crouching, jumping straight up, and jumping towards/away, with command moves and Alpha Counters in the sections under those, and throws at he bottom. Top to bottom, Stregths are JSF, SFR in that order, like with the pictures (though it sometimes depends on if the character has ISM-specific moves…).

Going across, theres a box that notes which ISM the move can be done in, and then the next one is points of damage it does. This column may have more than one number in it if the attack hits more than once, or does different damage from different disances. Third column is points of dizzy, and has some queer name.

Fourth column is made up of two smaller columns and is the amount of Super gauge meter you get for doing said move. The second column is the “hit bonus,” which is the addtionnal points of meter you get if you actually HIT someone with the move. Note that in this column there is an additional number for X/V-ISM, as they gain meter at a faster rate than A. There’s no such indicator for the damage column, but there’s a formula later in the book fo telling you how much damage you give/is recived depnding on the opponents ISM.

Fifth is what cancels, and is broken up into 3 smaller columns. If it has an “X” for the corresponding attack, it can’t be canceled, if it has an “O” it can. First section is whetherr it can chain into itself (ie rapid fire shoto jabs), seond is if it will cancel into specials, and third is if it will cancel into supers.

Sixth column tells you what happens on a Counter Hit, and seventh is how to block it (high, low, or if you can block while jumping). Final column is the “Time Chart,” which has yeow and pink bars as described in the previous post (only no blue bars or red lines this time).

Throw section at the bottom has columns which are, from left to right, ISM, Damage, points of dizzy, super gauge gain and “Hit Bonus,” throw range in pixels (first across, and then vertically), some wierd property I can’t figure out (results are either “X” or “O” again_, and then the Time Chart. From top to bottom throws are listed punch and kick ground throws first, and then air throws. In between them would be command ground throws (ie R. Mika’s d/f+PP).

Balrog has all the stuff from his third and fourth pages on one page, since all his attacks are the same.

Section for special moves is mostly the same. It will have the name of the move and the columns from left to right are damage, dizzy points , amount of meter it gives you and Hit Bonus, what happens on counter hit, and how it can be blocked. Down the sie are the stregths th attack can be done in. Below ths is the Time Chart, which is in 3 sections for the varied stregths of the attack you can use. Hitboxes are usually shown, but not always- blue is the area where the character is vulnerable, and red is the area which hits things. They overlap pretty often, though one tends to not be entirely inside of the other. Supers are set up the same way, but with levels instead of button strengths.

Edit: There might also be a space for throw range if the move is a throw. It’ll be in the second-to-last column, after the Hit Bonus stuff.

1424

Thank you guys for all the answers, especially the generel Shun Goku Satsu Info from TS.:cool:

1425

TS, maybe that final property(with O or X) is possibilty of juggle after throw???

1426

wow… i didn’t know that. that’s awesome. thanks man! :smiley:

Xenozip: yeah it works now… who would’ve thought that the timer could affect crossups? :stuck_out_tongue:

TS: I would bet money on the blue line being invincibility. Thanks for the breakdown btw. I knew the red flash had something to do with numbers.

Any chance you scan random books into jpg’s on the side as a hobby? Didn’t think so… :smiley:

1427

Well it’s like, 90% of my SRK posts are made from a Dreamcast. So…not looking like that’s gonna happen any time soon.

acho site updated with vids from the 11th…

http://www.a-cho.com

Not as good as the last update IMO, but there are some interesting matches, like that Sak vs Gen one, since Gen is supposed to get squashed by Sak.

Muskau- I thought that at first, but it doesn’t fit. It’s a yes for weird throws like Adon’s air throw or Balrog’s throws. And it doesn’t seem to be whether you can mash the throws for more damage or OTG after them (hypothetically) either. I’m thinking it’s whether you can throw them in either direction.

1428

I certainly wouldn’t have, and still don’t.

I blame the emulator. :expressionless:

1429

i was playing against a Vism-Ryu Fella the battle was okay but then they guy begun to jump an he kicked me with a jumping forward mk, i couldn’t block because i didn’t know how… can you tell if these cross ups are blockable or not? do i have to block from the other direction ?

1430

Is the formatting screwed up for you? I used to have really weird browser issues on forums, especially this one.

N - DC Diehard.

1431

Cross-ups are blockable, and yes you do have to block the other direction.

Problem is, against a good player it can be diffacult to tell weather it is going to be a cross-up or not.

This is why most players will intentionally do a special move right before getting hit. This will cause a high counter and you can tech flip to safety.

1432

Do you get the Frame Data table? I have the book too and I can’t read shit T_T Any help on the frame advantage data (or anything) would be of great help.

1433

**

Then you get the crazy crossups which you have to block on the front anyways for some reason. You can recognize them sometimes… but other times it seems 50/50 or something… :confused: Gotta hate that.

But they’re in every game so it’s no big deal.

**

I know this is a good idea sometimes… but if they’re looking for it, they can still stop you from flipping and juggle you.

It’s good to get away, especially if you’ve got no meter, and they might mess you up with unblockable or guard crush or something if you just block. Or if you don’t want to chance trying to block the crazy 50/50 crossup. Just trying to point out that this isn’t exactly safe all the time.

TS: Is there any frame info on VC activation? You mentioned before that Rose has a really quick startup or something… I didn’t know they were different. Is there any “freeze” time that speeds up your attacks?

1434

Man the CVS2 Guide has a much better Frame Data table. Actually it differs in only one thing, but the most important thing: the block and hit dis/advantages. Telling me how much recovery frames a move has doesn’t help me! The CVS2 Book gave both recovery frames AND dis/advantage. ARGGGGH

1435

Never on SRK, but I know what you’re talking about…

neo- There’s frame data for like every move in the game, so I’m not sure which table you mean. Ryu1999 is right though, there doesn’t seem to be any data in here about hitstun or blockstun (correction; may be be at the top of page 253 in the chart on the right), at least that I’ve found yet. They do tell you how many frames a move is able to hit for, which is nice.

Drunken Master- yeah, all characters have a 5-frame VC startup time before the screen goes dark (for 30 frames), except for Chun Li and Sakura who’s startup is 3 frames, and Rose’s who’s startup is 1 frame. I don’t know if this is all the same in the air, But Rose’s VC startup time while jumping is 4 frames. This is on page 232 for anyone else who has the book. If you activate at 100%, you have 12-18 frames of invincibility afterwards, and if you have less than 100%, you get anywhere from 6 to 10, depending on how much meter you have. There’s actually a math formula which determines how many frames of invulnerability you have. there’s actually two, which is sort of confusing. (amount of meter you have divided by 16)plus 8. And the one below it is the same thing, only plus 2. I guess the lowest y you can have is 6 frames (right at 50% I guess?) ad the most is 18 (at 100%) The gauge is measured in “dots.” You need 72 dots for 50% meter. Yeah. so in summary, I don’t know.

How much time you get, however, is much easier to figure out. (amount of meter multiplied by 3). So for example 72x3 = 216, so 216 frames. When you reach 100% you seem to get a time bonus for having a full meter, since you get 464 frames instead of 432.

VC1= shadows of attacks come out 15 frames after the inital attack. VC2 is 48, and VC3 is 81.

1436

cool… thanks man. I wonder why there’s 2 formulas?

Anything in the book on why Rose says something different when you activate in the air?? :slight_smile: Suprised me at first…

I assume it translates to “Drop-thru!” or “You’d best cancel that normal into super!!” or something to that effect… :slight_smile:

1437

ts i still have the question about charlies knee bazzoka and if u can link flip kick after it counter hits someone or activate into vc?
or if its just a cpu only :slight_smile: combo. also is charlies punch air grab hit box a bit above his shoulders?

1438

Drunken Master: Don’t tell me, tell “Chunster01”.

I didn’t wanna overload him/her with TMI since the question was a pretty simple and strait-forward one. :expressionless:

TS: You are my hero.

1439

ZING!! :slight_smile:

1440

I just wanna say, thanks for the posts TS, these help us to get closer to having all the information that the Japanese have always had access to. :slight_smile: