Hey guys! I’ve had a few things on my mind and finally wanted to write a little something to get some answers, advice, and etc.
I was 10 years old when SF2WW came out. I live in So-Cal and so had easy access to an arcade machine at my local 7-11. Being a little kid I mostly thought the game revolved around special moves and at that time it seemed if you knew how to do them you told no-one else and if you didn't you spent most of your time trying to figure them out. I played this way for about 18 months until the game became available on the SNES in '92. I learned the special moves at home and was happy I could do more than just jab, jump kick, sweep, and mash out the random special. Later that year my family moved to NJ and I didn't know anyone, where a machine might be, & definitely didn't have easy access to an arcade since I was so young. So, I played SS2T on my Sega Genesis against the computer all the time. When I finally made some friends I quit playing much and eventually my family moved to FL when I was 15. By the time I was 17 I hadn't really played in years. One day I was at a game store and saw a used copy of SFA3 for PS so I bought it. I was back in love, but still didn't know anyone who played. I just played the world tour mode a lot and was happy with that. When I got to college my roommate found the game, decided he liked it, and we began to play. Eventually, he found the world tour mode and we wasted a lot of time beating it with every character to get these buffed up level 32 characters. After that our matches just became this weird bushido style play where we used our souped up characters with combo gauge plus and some other BS and just tried to be the first to hit the other with a a killing super move. Finally, I left school, got married yadayadayada...
When SF4 came out I got kinda hype for SF again. It was the first time in my life I was going to be able to play against LOTS of people. So my wife got me the game and a TE stick for my birthday that month it came out. After that first day of matches I realized all my previous playing experience was trash. I would have to start from scratch with a bunch habits to break. I didn't know there was a community or SRK or anything until February 2009. I didn't know ANYTHING.
Here I am nearly two years later still working on my game which, sucks but, is seeing improvement. I am still learning the nuances of a stick (I used a six button pad my entire life before I got the stick). I am still having trouble with links and larger combos. I just the other day did my first FADC to ultra (I haven't been able to replicate it). In short, I'm basically a noob who has been enjoying this franchise for nearly twenty years now.
I recently read the tips from 7 pros and enjoyed the articles which got me thinking about some stuff. I've read Domination, Maj's footsie handbook, and I watch all the streams and videos I can find. I am excellent at the research side (I have degrees in Literature and Philosophy). I'm still curious about some things though.
How important at my current level is having a main? I like playing with few characters (everyone actually though I’ve been concentrating more effort towards Rose, Ryu, Guy, and Honda) but understand that to really get good is to get good with one character. The way I see it right now is I am not some badass so as long as I am working on the basics no matter who I use then what’s the difference?
Picking a main. What’s the deal? I’m really indecisive so if anyone could tell me how they settled on one that’d be appreciated. Especially, since I am at a place where the decision always changes depending on how I perceive my play with certain characters.
Training. The things I’ve read have been helpful but, what I would really like to know is how much/hard do pros practice? What do they practice? What should I be practicing to increase my game? What should be the stages of progression I am looking for?
That’s it for now I guess. I’m 30, I’ve got a wife, a home, a dog, and job. I know I’ll never be a pro or anything but I’ve loved 2D fighters my whole life and want to be better than I am now, which is admittedly, better than I was the Tuesday Vanilla hit. I’d like to get a little more competitive and would truly appreciate any help anyone has to give me with the issues I listed above.
^Irrelevant. The only issue with this post is that it probably belongs in the newbie section in the introduce yourself thread. A lot of the questions asked could be answered in that section as well.
It’s hard to say. A main character is something that usually ends up developing naturally for most players because you just start finding that character more fun to use. Nothing wrong with learning the basic controls for several characters, but there really is an ocean of techniques and matchup nuances for each character. Just play whoever you like for now, but try to use one character at a time – like dont switch it up every other match. Use Character A for a period of time, focus on them and try applying new techniques, then switch it up and concentrate on another if you like. A main usually develops when you start spending more time on a particular character simply because you are having a little more fun with them. You realize that that character is now at a higher level than your others, so you start relying on that character for all your hardest fights.
I didn’t deliberately decide to use Vega forever. In one earlier game my opponent yelled at me for the claw being cheap and to take it off. I threw it off into the air as Vega chuckled. He had no idea I could take it off and because of his amazement we both laughed really hard for the rest of the match. At that point I was thinking I wanted to keep playing Vega that day, and I just never stopped using him for a very long time.
Thats a tough question. At your point I think the best thing to do is to just play. When someone attacks you in a way you can’t deal with (or would like to deal with better), watch the replay and identify exactly what the situation was. Post about it in the Q&A section on that character’s forum here, or replicate the situation in training mode if you can by telling the cpu what to do (record), and then exploring your options. Oh, AND TRY TO FIGHT THAT PERSON SOME MORE! Also, playing sets of mirror matches vs better players will show you new techniques to try using.
Lastly, just a word of advice – there are going to be LOTS of frustrating points as you play the game. I’m not just talking about losing a match severely, but getting stuck at points where you aren’t progressing at all no matter what and many days it will seem like you still struggle against people half your experience. Two years down the line and there will still probably be many people who could laugh at your style of play and get rid of you as easily as a simple itch. The better you get the more you’ll realize how much you’ve always sucked and how much further off the best players really are. If you can stare those moments in the face, and in spite still press on, you will do very well… eventually.
Thanks for the answers. Especially Meteo2, you clearly took some time and put in some thought :). I see I made a mistake posting up here, but how do I get a mod to move it? I don’t do much posting so I am unfamiliar with anything more than the basics. If someone would be kind enough to tell me how to get it moved I would do so expeditiously.
I have a Wife, a kid, no dog, live in an apartment and currently looking for a house. I got a B.S. degree from DeVry but that paid off nicely in terms of a career, go figure. I’m 28 and am hispanic male born in Los Angeles, CA and both my parents are from Guatemala. If you saw me I look as if I sell oranges on a street corner. I gained about 50 lbs easily after graduating from high school. I don’t smile, not because I don’t want to but because I can’t, my facial expressions are lacking. I have had tinnitus for the past 3 years and will continue to have it for life, sucks. I am right handed and am trouble closing my right hand when it is cold because I play street fighter and plink or double tap too much.
No but seriously, I only have a main, I just have one character to worry about and take it from me you can still balance a job, wife, kid and still be good at the game even when people counter-pick. Once you settle on a main, having multiple characters can be overkill and at that point you are spending way too much time playing street fighter and losing focus on other areas not street fighter. Can you believe that there are actually people that spend 40+ hours a week playing street fighter? <- The funny thing is that I still whoop their ass. Happy Gaming
Good thread, relevent to my interests since I’m currently in the process of switching my main character. The best aspect of having a main for me was that I was inspired to sit down and learn how to use this character, in doing so I learnt a shit load about SF, not just specific to the character I was learning with. As mentioned above, if you spread your playing time across a few characters you might just end up with 4 mediocre fighters instead of one polished fighter. Regarding how much time pros put into training, well, I’ll let you know when I’m a pro
Just as a side note, I picked Cammy because she seemed easier with stick than Ryu/Akuma (I was wrong at the time), but after seeing Sanford play her in Vanilla, I was blown away by how flashy she really is. I mean Cannon Spike FADCB Ultra made me cry when I first saw it.
All the guys there are super cool and do not live far from you. If you want to get good at the game, hook up with peeps on that thread. They will make you a better player. Tell them G-Mike says wut up
I am in the same boat as you 30, wife, house, job, but a kid instead of a dog. Finding time to be good at fighters is hard but you have to set aside time and treat it like any other hobby.
I’d also say don’t under estimate online play. Yea it lags and isn’t as good as playing offline, but it’s still fun and you can reliably get good matches out of it. And the beauty is that you can play for 30 minutes at a time when you get the chance and get some practice in. If you’re playing for fun then online play will accomplish this.
at your current level? not sure how good you are. anyway, i think anyone can succeed with a main just as well as they can without one so long as they have everything planned out. it’s kinda like asking which weapon you should use. any weapon you damn well choose
sounds like you don’t know any one char better than any other. in such a case, Ryu would be a good pick till you decide you want something else. if you want to go the route of a main, all you need to know is what chars suit you, how to exploit their strengths and hide their weaknesses
progression in training isn’t by stages. it’s more like building a city. Spot a specific problem and build a specific solution. it has to be complete, or at least as far as the info you have right now can carry you. it has to be precise as well, leaving nothing to chance. you’ll find many different problems and there’s ALWAYS something you can do about them. you’ll have to do the same thing for each one of them. when you flawlessly squash all of the common problems, that’s when you’ll find yourself being good. start squashing enough of the uncommon ones, you’ll be at pro level. squash the secret ones, that’s when you’ll start to dominate pro players.
how long this will take? if you had every problem laid out in front of you right now and you sat down and built solid answers to each of them, you could be the “pro dominator” in as little as 2 weeks if you can solve problems quickly and flawlessly (a month if you have flaws). however the fact of the matter is finding the problems can be just as hard as finding solutions for them. just finding all of the common problems alone could take a few weeks. nevermind how long it will take to find all the rest of the problems (secret problems SERIOUSLY hard to find, it’s why there’s only a select few placing consistently at the top) and do everything else
Having a main character doesn’t really mean much. Take for example Juicebox Abel, he is very well known for playing Abel. However he also knows combos for pretty much the whole cast and has the basics down. If you can’t do the basics or the things that universally apply to all characters than what good is having a main character.
Just play whoever you want. Look at a player such as Henry Cen, he doesn’t really have a main character. Sure he plays E.Honda a lot, but he is more than capable of winning with other characters.
Practice combos, never drop a combo you could’ve done on an opponent. Practice reaction (record the CPU doing stuff) and muscle memory.
Check out all the stickies and have fun. When you feel confident enough go participate in tournaments (even if you don’t feel ‘ready’ go anyway, they’re a lot of fun) and play in your local community.
Pick Cody because he so freaking badass. He throws rocks, stabs people right in their face, pulls a wrench out of who knows where, and kicks dust in your face if you get too close to him. This guy is the epitomy of “Street Fighter”. I mean, doesn’t your topic say “Becoming a Street Fighter”?
I’m a total scrub so not much help there but I never thought I’d see another fernandinian on here I agree that jacksonville seems like it has a nice ‘scene’ that I’d like to be a part of once I learn2play
You can’t learn 10 things at once and give each your full attention. To maximize your knowledge pick only 1 character. No matter the skill level this almost always applies. Until it’s the match up that’s giving you trouble not the skill gap then there is no reason to counter pick. You just have to practice.
Pick whoever you want, whatever. Just don’t pick dan.
As long as you learn the BnB and punish combos and never miss an opportunity to apply them you’re fine. They need to be automatic or “second nature”. You shouldn’t have to think about how to do it as you’re doing it. This comes from training mode.
Anti-Air everything, learn what anti-airs your character has for which ranges. This comes from character forums and playing a lot of matches.
The rest just comes with experience. The more you see a certain situation the more you know how to handle it.
WOW! Thanks for the outpouring of answers, suggestions, and advice. I appreciate everyone trying to help out! Also, thank you to the mod who moved my thread. If it were still over in the SSF4 I don’t think I’d be getting this level of response.
ComeAtMeBro: If you live in town you should PM me and we can talk about getting together for some session play.
Again, thanks everyone. Also, please keep the posts coming!
Pick a Main. After you learn the basics, you HAVE to learn the specific matchup situations for each character. For example if you use Abel, you have to approach T. Hawk or Zangief more defensively than say rushing down Dhalsim or Guile.
For example on Guile on knockdown, I think you can cross him up for free until he learns to forward dash, because his flash kick loses to cross up.
That is one specific example, and you have about a million possible situations to learn that can only come from sticking to a main for a while.
I suggest that you play no more than 5 characters and settle into your main from there.
I agree that jacksonville seems like it has a nice ‘scene’ that I’d like to be a part of once I learn2play