Little of both, I’d say.
Yes, experience is important.
If you can find someone who’s so above your level that you can’t even begin to understand why you’re losing, use them as a benchmark. Play people closer to your level, and as you improve, fight them again to see how far you’ve gotten. The better you get, and the more you play them, the more you’ll be able to dissect and understand what they’re doing and what you’re not.
Here’s what I do when i pick up a new character
I DON’T LEARN THEIR SPECIAL MOVES. When HDR dropped 2 days ago (seems like a week) I focused on learning T. Hawk. I knew his motions and super but I just blanked it all out. I was gonna play with just his normals till I knew what worked when. IT SUCKED. But after about three or four hours I picked up when is it safe to c.MP and what is my best standing anti-air. Nothing can help you out more (sans being teached by Valle or GOD) then stop worrying about when should I dp or fb because the answer is just c.HP.
Don’t try to learn a little of everything. When you know your normals you’ll quickly understand footies. Once you understand footies you’ll slowly get a ton better at them. Then you’re off to the races kid.
Sounds like sound advice… gonna try this out tonight. Can’t wait for all of the abuse like “You suck! Stop playing the game!” while I learn this way 
If I’m using Ryu though is this a good way to start… as his specials are such a massive part of how he plays and controls the space?
Reason I’m using Ryu is because his basic motions havent changed, and I’m wanting to take what I learn into SF IV
The thing about ST is that even after you’ve learned some basic combos and can consistently do all your moves, you can’t play it braindead against people who are better and more experienced than you. This is especially common for new Ryu players, myself included. You can’t always spam fireball and shoryuken on jump ins because people will pick up on your pattern. When you see that you keep losing, try to pick on certain things that you keep screwing up and try something else until you learn and get better.
As long as you don’t give up and at some point, learn why you’re messing up, you’ll get better over time. Always always remember that ST is a thinking game.
Getting good at SF2 is much easier than it was when I was a kid because of the wealth of information on the internet. Frame data and things like that didn’t exist in the early '90s. It was mostly trial and error and learning techniques from people who were better than you. Now you can load up the strategy section on this site and learn everything there is to know about a character. The downside is you can burn out quickly on all of the information and never be able to put it into action.
I think the best way to get good is to take a measured approach. Read up on your favorite character and bite off small chunks of information at a time rather than trying to learn everything at once. Incorporate those bite-sized chunks of data into your play style until, after some months, you’ve learned everything inside and out. Don’t try to do it all at once. You’ll just end up overwhelming yourself. Remember that the best older players learned the old school way before the internet existed: by playing a lot. There’s a lot to be said for simply playing the game.
I would be surprised if i heard that… i didnt think kiddies or squeakers played this game. I supposes assholes are everywhere, young or not.
i’m in the same boat as the OP trying to learn Ryu and Dictator, my Ryu has improved alot but its still pretty scrubby in my opinion. My dictator is garbage, i cannot even do his moves to save my life. If you want we can learn off each other i play on Xlive tag is army of nu6s, i don’t have a headset since i am using a stick so we’ll have to gtalk. Anyone else who wants to learn feel free to join. I just want to get to point where i can consistently beat this caucajun guy on xlive.
It means you are trying to hard to get out of pressure after your knocked down. Just block and look at what they are doing and see what gets you out of that pressure using trial and error.
Bullshit, alot of the best players don’t bother learning this shit and still do fine.
If anything, that’s the one thing ST isn’t about. Barring things like knowing who can be safe-jumped, it doesn’t apply much.
Im up for playing anyone, my GT is Tin2k6, feel free to add me. I should be on in a cpl of hrs, then all day tommorow (UK time)
Pretty much, Although I can play very well in Tekken 5 and 6 (Dpads makes me so much stronger due to years with it then sticks) but I don’t really know everything about frame data for every character. I know what frames are, how to read them and crap but I didn’t go crazy on that shit and I still play very well. It’s useful to tell how strong or weak or how much it got buffed or nerfed (For example in Tekken 5 Jin’s cds4 his sweeping kick from the crouching demon stance. In T5DR it was 36frames fast, pretty bad until T6 which is like 14~17frames fast? that’s a pretty damn good buff.) but it’s very bad to the mind if your going “okay okay he went for <insert attack> I should go for <insert this attack> because <insert attack> is <insert frame number> on block and my <insert attack> is <insert frame difference> faster!” something like that. It all comes into second nature and you can grab a feel for it and just do it without any frame data. I can’t punish a certain attack unless I have a feel for it, not the frame data. Once I have the feel for it, pretty much I know what to do now
if you want a combo dummy on xbox live, im here! lol
Would prefer a record mode :rolleyes:
This might seem a little crazy, but I would go a step further and say at first limit yourself to exactly one normal. You will almost certainly lose, but this is a great way to learn poking and zoning. It will force you learn how to play ST without leaning on special moves or combos. You will have to fight for every pixel of space and opportunity to hit an opponent. It will also let you more easily recognize patterns that people may use with characters and let you play the game in a more observant fashion. You don’t have to worry about move choices, combos, or exectution, you only have to worry about getting in and getting that single hit that matters.
Once you feel you have a good understanding of the core gameplay of ST, then you can move on to using just normals.
The whole “play, play, play, and then play some more” mentality is flawed. Yes, you will probably get better over time. But you can accelerate this process 100x if you just step back and analyze exactly what you are doing wrong. The best approach is a combination of both.
I think I played you last night, I was using a whole lotta Guile if that rings a bell, send me a FR and i’ll happily give you some tips for starting out HDR/ST.
(Im no pro, but I have been playing a while and have some level of competency.):wgrin:
Starting to get a feel for it now I think… but im still totally n00b. Decided to start learning Cammy, loving that back knuckle past fireballs, a good way to get inside. Also easy cross-up that can get a throw and keep the offensive
cool i shall add you, do you have gtalk?
This just isnt true. Most if not all of SRK’s highest level players are super nice and willing to offer you tips while playing.
this is so true; why do low-level players have that misconception?
because the high level players they are thinking of are not really high level but intermediate, and thats where the elitist attitude comes from. The intermediates who think they are high level.