Hello everyone. So, I used to play SF4 casually a few years ago when it originally released. I never took the game seriously and ended up quitting after a few weeks. Just recently, I got back into it and now I intend to play the game seriously and not give up. So, I primarily play with Ryu because apparently he is the best character to start learning with. I’ve been playing some offline matches with a buddy of mine. We are not very good. I also played a lot of online matches. I tend to lose a lot. I’m guessing just mindlessly playing online won’t help me improve? Should I just stick to offline-training mode? Should I practice combo’s? I’m not really sure what I should be doing to learn the game/mechanics better. Thank you.
First things first: Don’t post. Everything you’re asking about is somewhere in this subforum. Read through the combo thread, read through the match up thread and just basically read through all the resources that are already here.
30 mins training mode practicing combos, 30 mins of online play. But for the most part, you have a lot of reading to do.
Thank you! Can you direct me to some threads that you recommend I read so that I can start right away?
Also, 30 mins training mode/online per day? Or how often should I do that?
They are stickied right above you. As for how often you should play, depends on how seriously you want to take it. Execution varies per person, a good 30-45 minutes of training mode practicing your basic combos will go along way to you enjoying the game. Really though, just read up on all the things in the subforum.
Welcome to SRK. Glad you decided to give the game another chance. More players the better. First thing you want to do is look up Youtube vids of the basics for USFIV. That’ll give you a basic understanding of the game. You’ll never improve if you don’t know what you’re suppose to improve on. After that go in training mode with your character and familiarise yourself with everything they can do. See which normals do what and in what ways they’re effective, character’s walk speed, specials etc. Practice their moves until you can perform them with a lil consistency so you aren’t just mashing. These basics are what you want to learn first, because combo’s and more advance stuff is worthless without the fundamentals to utilize them ( I.E Practicing a awesome combo in training, only to go on-line and have no idea how to set it up on a decent opponent. ) Lastly continue asking for advice when you need it.
Thanks for the advice guys! I was also wondering, is it bad to play online against people who are way stronger than me that I simply cannot beat? Like I’ve been playing the same guy for the past 20 minutes, and I haven’t beat him even once. Should I just stop trying and go fight someone weaker, closer to my level? I don’t know. I practiced offline for 1 hour but I still can’t seem to beat this guy. Like I get really nervous when I play online. My hands get really sweaty and it’s a little unnerving.
If someone is consistently stomping you like that, then yeah they’re out of your league. Look for an opponent who can provide a challenge, but not one that’s impossible for you. That’s someone you can learn with. Face players and if you come across a player that could make for a good rival. Message them saying so a add them to your friend list so you can play them often.
I would say have fun with the game first. Just play a couple rounds with someone new (your friend is actually a pretty good start imo, along with random online games, especially helpful if you can get in better contact with them by being friends) or (going to get hate on this) even against some cpu opponents. Training mode should come after you feel what the neutral game has to offer.
Using the training room is only good once you figure out theories/questions on how you can work and enhance those moments you know as a player can improve on. This can include what normals you keep seeing taking the game away from you, execution errors, having the opponents DP stop everything you were wanting to do on knockdown, etc. All these negative (or positive) thoughts should help you explore what you want to clear up about in the training room.
Know the differences between stuffing someone and whiff punishing later on after you put a lot of time in the game. You probably won’t apply this early on, but it’s definitely important once you get a good grasp of fighting game fundamentals. Very likely you will have a habit early on where you just hit buttons because it’s a good button. This will change overtime, and it’s fine if it takes a long time to fully utilize this. It can take some people years to fully understand footsies.
At this point, videos and information in the forums should help out. Some tech people apply to help improve their game includes:
[list]
[*] Safe-jumps
[*] Option selects
[*] Input priority (ever thought what would happen if two buttons press together and which one comes out? This comes into play when it comes to both option selects and plinking.)
[*] Plinking (different usage compared to other fighting games. In SFIV’s case, it’s similar to a kara-cancel in which you press a button a frame after another button. Think of that stereotype office worker or boss who does this hand movement on the table, where they strum the table with the tips of their fingers in a sequence fast. On a side note, if you can plink, you can kara-cancel. The same can be said the other way around.)
[*] Kara-cancel (ideally same concept as plinking, but it’s usually brought up in relation with distance)
[*] Negative edge (not necessary to take advantage, but useful to know for execution errors from my experience)
[/list]
etc.
Try to get friends online who are below, at, and above your skill level too if you can. Switching around from these level of play should help prepare you from unorthodox playstyles all the way through well-balanced playstayles.
Thank you greatly for this advice. So far, I’ve been doing just that. I’ve been playing online and I have added a few people that I now play against in Endless mode, and it really helps out because we are all equally skilled. So that is awesome. I’ve also been utilizing the training mode as well. I’ve recently realized that mashing buttons in SF4 is completely wrong. I now learned that it is all about the timing and precision of your inputs. Not about mashing buttons. I guess it’s just bad habits I developed from previous fighting games that I played. (Naruto for example) But I am enjoying SF4 so much. I ordered a Hori arcade stick (still waiting to get it) and I can’t wait to start using it. I really feel that it will help me. I’ve also been trying to learn the various SF terminology. There are a lot of words/concepts to learn and understand, but so far I feel like I’m doing ok! I fully intend to continue learning and growing as a player! Thanks again 
Learn you normals and special moves.
Anti-Air:
st.HK for anti-airing people jumping at you from 3/4 screen away.
cr. HP or MP SRK for people jumping in on you from the front.
st. LP or st. LK against divekicks from Yun/Yang or Rufus.
Pokes:
cr. MKxxHadoken your most basic poke. Great range, great speed, decent damage. Don’t always finish with Hadoken. This string is not a true blockstring which means when you get predictable on this one, people can use invincible moves to bust through it (with a SRK for example) and punish you for it.
cr. MP has great priority and is very fast and can also be cancelled into special moves
cr. HK you don’t want to throw out recklessly and preferably from max distance because it’s easy to punish from close up. Some character can punish you for it on every distance you use it if it’s blocked.
Hadoken
Armor breakers:
F+HP you can use this on people who like to focus at specific distances. There’s tons of players who focus everytime you push block them out of range with a fireball. If you notice shit like that just use this move and cancel into SRK. It’s also you most basic punish combo.
cr.MKxxHP Tatsu you can also just simply use the tatsu if that’s easier for you
Punish combos:
F+HPxxHP SRK Basic punish combo with good damage
cr.HPxxHP SRK Same as above in scenarios where you need a faster punish
HP SRK on unsafe moves
cr.MK/cr.MPxxTatsu less damage than HPxxSRK but carries further across the screen so you can corner people or get out of the corner
Easy Ultra 1 setups:
LP SRK> Ultra 1 when you got a read on someone jumping at you. You have to get the SRK in early and then get a free meterless Ultra 1 combo in
EX Hadoken> Ultra 1 this one only works in the corner. The timing can be awkward so you might want to practice this properly.
EX Tatsumaki> Ultra 1 also only works in the corner but the benefit of this one is that the EX Tatsu blows up crouch techs. So if you notice someone you cornered teching every throw attempt on you, use this one and get nice damage in.
This here is very basic stuff but also very difficult stuff to do.
If you’re new to Street Fighter IV you might get overwhelmed by all the stuff about option selects/one-frame-links/FADC’s and whatever else you hear.
People who are good at these games often forgot how they actually started and might give you advice that totally overwhelms you. For now practice some of the shit I mentioned and practice movement including dashes and the range of you moves. You gotta be able to dash in your sleep and tell exactly how close you have to be to you opponent to hit him with cr. MK and how far you dashes reach.
This video is a good place to start:
Keep it simple for yourself and absorb new knowledge as you get comfortable with what you learned previously.
I actually learned most of this already but thanks, still great advice 