I'm In Lesbians With Skullgirls... But Should I Quit?

Classic Fighting Games Skullgirls
1

(Sorry for the title, but I’m also in lesbians with Scott Pilgrim)

I’m in love with the game, and I knew it from the very first moment I saw it. Before it was playable, I knew I was going to like it. When I saw it in action for the first time with only Cerebella and Fillia, I knew it was going to be huge. I remember the person interviewing Mike Z wasn’t sure, he thought it was just going to be about girls with head related fighting styles, but I knew better. I could tell, just by the the way they moved and the way everything looked, the finer details on the characters, that a lot of lesbians… I mean love was put into the game, and it was going to be magnificent. But, now that I have the game, I think I should quit.

I didn’t like any of the versus games I’ve played before, mainly the recent ones, so I’ve never had much experience with really fast paced fighters. Thing is, I have fine motor skill problems due to my mental disability. That means two things for playing fighting games.

ONE: I can’t really do combo’s, even the BnB’s people post, as my fingers start spazzing out and doing the same thing at the same time (On a controller, I’ll hit the corresponding direction to whatever attack I hit) or doing 360’s for no reason if I try to throw a special move in there after the combos has been going on for a while (It helps if there are breaks in the combo, like a long (2 seconds) special, or a grab, or a super).

TWO: If I fight someone who rushes me down, I lock up and have a hard time counterattacking. I can block everything they do, but I can’t throw out a competant counterattack, and end up using very unsafe moves in a rush to stop getting block raped. This also means that the humble combos I CAN learn in training mode mean next to nothing if they aren’t being cautious. Yes, I do better against a smart cautious fighter than a rushdown reckless one.

I’ve been playing nearly every day since release day, and I did fine at the beginning when no one knew how to play. At the same skill level, I can outsmart most people in fighting games. But as the days go by, more and more people are abusing rushdown tactics, or using competant combos that take too much from me when I start to spazz. It’s frustrating, ridiculously so, because I’ve spent THREE DAYS (a great majority of the first 48 hours, and a good chunk of the next 24) in training mode after others started picking up combos. I practiced and mastered combos I would have thought impossible for me before (I can get up around 4-6k with each person on my team with no meter and no assists), but I lock up when getting rushed down and can not use anything I have learned.

I blew my shit the yesterday after nearly three hours of online matches, losing most of them. If I didn’t have a punching bag in my apartment, I would have broken the controller, a wall, some furniture, or maybe even my hand punching something. I’ve NEVER done anything like that before. It’s so frustrating because I desperately want to be good at this game, more so than any game I have ever encountered (not just fighting games). It’s like someone who wants to be a writer but has dyslexia, or someone who wants to play basketball but can’t cordinate dribbling and moving. This game is right for me, I know it. This game just connects on a level I haven’t experienced before, and even when I’m losing and know I should stop, I can’t help but start another match. I have no idea what to do.

For referrence, I’m using Cerebella, Ms.Fortune, and Filia. I can either use them on their own, or two/all together, depending on my mood. I have no problem with juggling multiple characters. Without my problem, I’m confident I could win many matches using everyone except Painwheel (I like her, but we don’t click).

2

I don’t really know what disability you have, but:

[media=youtube]83nSodg-HTU[/media]

If you love something, just do it.

3

You just need more practice against people. Will take hundreds, even thousands of matches, you should also play locally if possible. Applying training room stuff to real matches takes time and dedication. You will get blown up at first since you won’t know how to react to most things, this changes with experience.

4

Ultradavid has something that same problem, and he still competes. Honestly if you love it never give it up.

5

I just came here to give props for the Scott Pilgrim reference.

Note avatar.

6

Maybe switching to a stick would help? The movements you do handling a stick are quite different from using a controller, and probably less “fine-motory”. I am no stick player, though.

Ever tried one before?

7

When I was starting MvC2 which was pretty much my first fighting game I would panic and drop my very simple combos(launch LP LM HP MK HP lol) in matches. I feel like that’s just something that takes time.

My advice is to stick with one character until you feel quite confident with them. You should be able to train yourself to combo properly through sheer familiarity with the character and through extreme repetition. Trying to learn the whole cast at once or even three characters at once is over-burdensome IMO.

8

Stick with one character, and try to master it. Find shortcuts in the game to help you out; Broly abuses SF4 option selects to make his Chun work.

It’ll be a tough road, but keep at it. You’ll get way more props for winning at locals than anyone else, believe me.

9

Just take it step by step and dont try to hard

…work on one thing every match, and if you succeed at that ONE THING, then you “won” the match and can move on to the next thing.

At the end you put them all together and start winning after a few months or so. Expect to lose every match until then.

10

Without really knowing your disability its hard to give advice, but i think the broly story is pretty fucking relevant. If you’re physically able to develop muscle memory then you should be fine, as once you have all the combos on auto pilot you can focus much more on the opponent rather than yourself.

You can also cater your style to help mask things you may lack in, for example if you have the worst reactions ever pick a rush down character. Force the opponent to guess and use matchup knowledge to make sure the guesses are in your favor.

Pretty vague but hopefully you get the idea.

11

Play with friends, I guess. get comfortable playing with other people without the stress of trying to prove something, then go back to taking on those crazy online warriors. Also, it seems more like nerves than an execution problem, so I’d like to remind you, it’s a game. the game allows for a few mistakes here and there. it’s not the end of the world.

Really, I don’t get why people stress over fighters, when the goal is to have fun :P.

12

Uhhh… Probably all that competition “not being a loser” thing? O_o

13

Start with some simpler combos, actually hitting someone with them and not dropping the combo is the important part.
I’ve been scrubbing it up with Filia using [c.MK (looong time to notice it hitting and cancel), s.HP, shoryuken] and [hairball, qcb-kick-super, hairball, shoryu-super]. I’ll learn better BnBs later, but for now I’m just getting a feel for the character, learning what’s safe/good, what to anti-air with, what to cross up with, doing instant air dashes etc. Advanced combos are of no use if you can’t hit anyone with them.

As for forgetting what you practiced in training mode when the heat is on in a real match… Perfectly normal. Just keep at it.

And playing online with unknown people with rank on the line and possible lag can be extra intimidating/frustrating. Try getting someone to play offline with you, as others have said.

14

I’m just here for the thread title.

15

I had/have the same problem as you. I’m starting to overcome it I feel like I’m progressing. What did I do?

First I chose a cheap “GET OFF ME” assist using a character/combination. as a crutch my weakness against people who* really do* rushdown mindlessly. Once I did that I started winning 90% of my games online.

Now my next problem is people who do “smart” rushdowns and people with armor (always ending in safe attacks and using their armor to get in). doing constant mixups and resets. Sometimes I still feel hopeless and can’t get out of the situation. But what do I do? I invite these people to a private match.

The sets go like 25/5 in their favour (Darn you SoupySwan! on XBL!) But I grind it out experimenting with options. finding out what works/what doesn’t. People say grapplers (cerebella) will be strong at the beginning because nobody knows their normals and keep away strategies yet. I feel that’s something you should keep in mind as you approach this. (that’s how I approached my matches) This dude can do seemingly mindless rushdown because I don’t know enough to stop it yet. It’s semi mindless because he doesn’t pay attention to my meter, and If i do something invincible I hit him every time. But then he learns and he starts thinking (a bit) I just have to grind it out and figure something out I KNOW what his strategy is I just have to find a way to get out.

Everytime I did this learned something new about the matchup and better use my normals.

Another thing I want to mention is something a local OG told me recently about MvC2. I asked him what he thought of the game (I was trying to prepare for skullgirls) He said he doesn’t get the game much, but he did his best to confront the situations and concerns I had described to him and he said: It’s like ST (that’s the main game I play) There are just situations where you’re screwed if they happen (Claw’s wall dive BS, Honda’s ochio loop, Hawk’s OS BS) You just have to know how they get in that situation and prevent it from happening in the first place instead of trying to get out afterward. That’s why in MvC2’s top tier there’s so many zoners, and the best characters all have flight and mobility. All they’re doing is flying around controlling space, not letting that Magneto trijump BS happen, because they’re sure as hell not going to block it every time once he gets in.

Sorry for the wall of text. Normally I try to format it better but… I started having more and more things I wanted to say as I went on… my priority while typing it up was to get everything down I wanted to say before I forgot… Maybe I’ll fix it later… I don’t know.

edit: fixed it as much as I could in 5 minutes, might do another pass later

16

Id just like to say that if you want someone to go at it with on xbl I totally support you sticking at this game.

I know what its like to really want something and have to overcome a physical barrier to reach it. I respect you for it.

Anyways id love to help you out. Peace.

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk

17

I can’t really tell you much here that hasn’t already been said. What I can tell you is what you said reminds me a lot of myself a few years ago. I do understand the frustration as well, since you seem set on getting good at Skullgirls. I’ve gone through that cycle with many games before. As far as the cracking-under-pressure thing you mentioned, I think the only way you’re going to get past it is by just continuing to play. There isn’t really a catch-all solution or strategy, it’s just going to come from hard-earned experience. Although if I could offer up an idea, I’d tell you to try and find people to play with locally. I’ve had an amazing opportunity to improve by playing some experienced players nearly everyday at my job for the past year or so. Or otherwise, finding someone online could work as well considering that Skullgirls is looking pretty damn good with its netcode. Just find someone you can play with regularly, preferably someone who’s rushdown oriented.

Well that’s what I think, anyway. Maybe I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. I’ve only been playing FGs seriously since 2010, after all.

Edit: Also this

18

When I was in college a couple of years ago there was this guy who played MVC2. His right had had some kind of nerve damage, making it almost completely useless for pressing buttons. That guy eventually figured out how to compete at a high level by using a combination of using his left hand to jump from stick to buttons, using what little control he did have over his right hand, and actually using his right foot to press buttons on his stick. It looked really weird and spastic, but he made it work. If that dude could play MVC2, you can play SG.

19

If you can do 4-6k meterless combos in training mode, then you simply seem to be problematic at being under pressure and having to respond instantaneously to all the match stimuli. Because hell, I can barely squeeze out a combo that branches 4k, and I’ve been winning against 70% of the individuals I fight.

If you find yourself dropping basic BnBs, just stop trying them. Really, stop using that 4-6k combo, do something that does only 2-3k but that at least ends with you being safe and the pressure still on your opponent.

Training mode helps with execution, but you can’t unleash that execution unless you have the flow and tempo of combat down first. So focus on that, and start attempting bigger an bigger combos progressively. For example, my Valentine which I think may be the 3rd member of my team is complete trash at doing combos in and out of training mode. So I just settled for the easiest thing I could do which was (adding jH or cLK cMK/cMP or what have you prior) launcher to bodybag IAD bodybag QCF-H. It’s short as hell, but it is something I can do 90%+ of the time without dropping or giving the pace back to my opponent, and still does squeeze in a little over 3k in damage.This game is nice in that very short combos can still do an acceptable amount of damage, so stick to those initially.

At least I can learn how to hit confirm, get attacks in, avoid attacks, and etc with Valentine despite doing crap damage. Then training mode now and then can help you expand your combos and learn new ones that you can eventually apply in a real match, but take it slow and stick with what you can do. When you get your ability to preform a certain combo in the heat of battle above 40% or so, that’s when I say go for using it. If you’re dropping it almost every time, hold off and practice something easier.

As for being cornered and rushdown-ed, really, all you can do is take a breather. Relax, and look for the pattern in your opponent’s attacks and see if you can find an escape route. I know the answer to “How do I not clam up?” being “Don’t clam up.” doesn’t help much, but that’s really all it comes down to. Controlling your jumpy nerves via practice.

EDIT: And really, PLAY FOR FUN. If you’re forcing yourself to play in a way that isn’t fun, cut it out. Of course if you don’t have fun unless you win then you’re fucked, nobody can help you. You have to love loosing before you can love winning.

20

I dunno if I have the same thing, I just have a nerve issue that makes communication between my brain and my hands less than stellar. Sometimes when I tell my hands to do something, they don’t do it, and sometimes when I don’t tell them anything, they decide to do something instead. Also, I don’t really compete. I play casually so I can stay on top of games well enough to commentate. I mean I can still get through a few rounds in tournament if I try, and if I’m having a good day hands-wise I can get reasonably far, but I still can’t compete at anything like the level I used to. There’s just a level beyond which you cannot realistically compete if you can’t get your brain to hands accuracy past a certain threshold.

As much fun as Skullgirls is for me, I know I won’t be able to really compete in it. But I’m gonna keep playing it casually and watching a lot of it so I can commentate on it well.

Best of luck, OP, sounds pretty frustrating.