Guile: Starting a log journal

Classic Fighting Games Ultra Street Fighter IV
1

Does anybody use a log journal to keep track of their moves and such?

I want to take my game to the next level, meaning I want to place top 10 in local tourneys. . I want to make it to EVO next year and get out of the 1st match, maybe even deeper into the tourney.

I’ve started using a notepad but I’m not really sure what should be in it. So far I’ve written down simple moves that I want to incorporate into my game and put tally marks as I do them in matches.

Example:
I use tally marks but just so you get an idea of how my journal looks like

I write combos down that I nail in a match. I have a separate list of just Guile combos that I’ve confirmed (pulled off in training) and as I play a match and say I nail a combo, I write that combo in my notepad and put a tally mark next to it.

Or teching throws, I’ll write in my notepad whether or not I teched a throw. So far I’ve been getting thrown a lot, even if I know the throw is coming, but I don’t want to eat a 4-5 hit combo…so I eat the fucking throw.

But my notepad feels really empty like if it’s missing more depth. Or maybe my concept just needs to be scrapped and I need to start over with a more detailed journal. I don’t know, hopefully I’ll get positive feedback.

Can anybody give suggestions?

If you have a log journal, what do you put in it?

How do you have it set up?

What do you write in it?

Anyway, thanks for your help.

EDIT:^^^I scrapped my old system of keeping track of the moves or combos that I land in matches and switched it with character specific matchups. This is mainly for the matchup that I don’t see often, if I keep track of what beat me or what set up they used, hopefully I’ll be able to avoid it in future matches.

But if you have any other suggestions leave your post; or if you’ve been thinking of keeping a SF4 journal, maybe this will help you.

EDIT 2: ^^^This is some stuff that I notated so far that I read before every match.

Stepping up your (my) game

  1. Double tap as much as possible
  2. Build meter when possible
  3. Bait out moves
  4. Learn the match up
  5. Break bad habits and tech more throws

**Questions to ask yourself (myself) **

  1. How did you lose?
  2. How did you play? aggressive/defensive
  3. Did you get baited, and how?
  4. What are your weaknesses?
  5. Did you punish a mistake?
2

I dunno I don’t keep a log journal of my matches or anything but from what I can see of yours, it seems you’re focusing a lot on your own moves. Maybe you should take more match notes about what your opponent and their character did against you.

3

Thanks for the feedback. I’m gonna scrap what I had and start a new one.

I’m gonna make a section for each character and write how I got beat or what move or setup they did that made me fuck up. I’m also gonna track the wins and losses for each character. Still thinking of what else to include.

I’m still gonna stick with my combo section, of combos that I actually landed in a match. Still not sure how to format it.

More suggestions are welcomed, thanks.

4

Eh, I’ve always kept a notepad on me just for everyday life. The only thing I have in it right now street fighter related are the character specific FA followups off of b.hk… since all that is a bit hard to remember.

Honestly dude, your dedicated to getting better, but your really nuking it. I mean, you already know whats good and whats bad, you already know not to c.hk much, you already know c.hp is a good anti-air, you already know that character “x” beats you down with move “y” very often… it really doesn’t change anything by writing it down.

My advice, just focus on the screen in front of your face. If your in the middle of a match and your asking yourself “is that the 2nd or 3rd time i’ve landed c.mp xx flashkick this fight?” then that means your not thinking about what’s really important here… the match!

Just play.

IMO

5

What do you plan to gain from jotting these things down in a notepad? Like Slinkun said, you probably already know what you are doing well and what you need to work on. Other than the usual ways of leveling up, like playing good players consistently, I would try to record as many of my matches as possible. That way you can go back and look at the match, w/o worrying about winning or losing and be able to take a different perspective on the match. It would also help if you had more eyes look at it and have them help critique your game.

6

That’s the thing, I know what beats me by certain characters and I still get caught by it. Or I don’t see the matchup that often and when I do, I have no idea how to get out of certain shit. Even after reading the match up thread.

But in regards to -

I’m not thinking about stuff like that during a match. I would write down whether I pulled off a move or a combo after the match, not during. But you guys are right, I already know to drop my bad habits (c.hk), or read the jump in and c.hp.

Well, I scrapped my old system of just tracking my moves and what I pull off in a match and switched it with character matchups, similar to what’s here on SRK. Just more personalized instead of going through 10 pages to find what I’m looking for.

Whether you guys critique my system or give suggestions, your opinions are welcomed.

Painless opened my mind to do character matchups. Slinkun basically said the same thing, to focus on the match, and to just use the knowledge I already have about Guile and his moveset. Blitz made me re-evaluate what I’m really trying to achieve by keeping a notepad/journal.

Thanks fellas. Any other suggestions are welcomed.

7

I wish I could pen and paper this game like I did pacman in the early 80’s, but street fighter just isn’t that sort of beast.

Yer gonna go through a lot of paper and ink.

My suggestion would be to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and the experience of some truly fantastic Guiles on this forum and a few that have actually been at Evo.

I mean its what ever you want to do. Myself I am watching a ton of vids, reviewing Gilliey’s tutorials, taking advice from the fellas here just trying to get good instincts for the game itself.

You can pen and paper so much, but not to the letter of what the other guy is gonna really do.

8

The first I look at is the character my opponent chooses. With enough knowledge and understanding of the match up and move set of that particular character, you should have a good chance of winning the match.

From here i just have play by instinct without thinking too much. One example of instinct is if you trade projectiles up close with Ryu , then it is usually second nature for me to whack him in the face with a F+HP.

Lastly, a word of advice to myself is to stick to your roots and play in accordance to your opponent. in other words (KISS) or simply"keep it simple stupid" is what i tell myself. This may not gaurantee that you will win every match, but it will at least nets you a decent win ratio

9

training training training… i tried notes too but found it more cumbersome…i try to spend an hour a day doing 1 frame links before i jump online to do random tactics.

10

Just record your matches. Then you can look back at and analyze your mistakes and what you could have done instead.

That’s how NBA stars/ athletes get better, they watches previous matchup or game and see how we can improve on it.

11

I don’t have the capability to record my matches yet.

12

Can’t you plug your PS3 into a VCR, or DVD recorder?