1

Sorry if this has been discussed before in another thread (I searched, found nothing).

Does anyone else have a problem maintaining their skills when playing more than one game at a time? I first found this out when I started learning Third Strike a few years ago, when I tried playing Guilty Gear X2#R (my first serious fighting game) again, I had found that my skills had deteriorated greatly. It was an okay sacrifice in my eyes though, since I was really loving 3S at the time.

I’m having the same problem now with Street Fighter IV. I’ve played nothing but IV for the last week or so now (>5 hours/day), and my years worth of 3S skills has gone down tremendously. I know that if I just get back into it again for a while, it’ll all come back, but the next thing you know my SFIV skills will be back to garbage. :arazz:

How can I overcome this problem, and does anyone else have these issues as well? Thanks!

2

What I do is pick similar characters in each game such as Remy, Guile, and DeeJay, or Yang, and Freemen, etc… Or you can pick the highest tier characters, and roll with them.

werd

3

It’s like riding a bicycle, you never truly forget.Sure, you might pick up the controller and be lost for a bit, but if you hit up training mode or play a few casuals I’m sure it’d all come back to you.

I have this issue all the time, I play a game, get somewhat decent, get bored, play another game, pick up the first game weeks or months later and have to play it for a few hours again before I get back in the groove.

4

when your natural at fighting games, you never forget like me, I can pick up any fighting game no problems:nunchuck::cool::woot:

I had a friend who always complained to me that he kept getting worse as time passed by I never really understood and though he was joking but it seems more dudes are having this problem interesting.

5

If you’re good enough with fighting games ,you’ll pretty much get teh basics down, but as far as systems and specific playstyles, that requires a little more. Always why I have trouble going from SF to KOF.

6

Develop strong fundamentals.

7

You gotta make a note of what tactics you use are effective, so that when you come back, you can remember them.

8

I’m only playing 4 games right now: KOF 98 (still practicing at this), Garou, Samurai Shodown V Special, and SF 3. My skills are pretty consistent on all titles… except for KOF, I tend to get destroyed by the pros on there, whereas on the others I can put up a good fight and sometimes win against pros.

9

First thing, know the nature of your beast.
GG isn’t going to require the same physical input style as sf, etc.

For some, it takes a bit of time to readjust their internal sense of timing to the game they’re playing, too. To the rhythm of it.

If you’ve forgotten how to ride the bike, fully…
First thing, readjust yourself to your input device.
Recall/don’t forget how your movements flowed on your controller.

Then try to look for your memory aids. What helps you remember what to do in order to follow up whatever sensory input you’re receiving. (much like seeing a jumping cross up mk from a ken in sf4, you can draw from a pool of what’s possibly coming next with relative success)
Once you get your memory aids back in swing (visual/auditory/tacticle cues, etc) it’s usually gravy, unless your motor skills are lacking since you’ve last played.

One step after that is to readjust your motor controls to that internal timing or rhythm.
To get your wrists/fingers working in concert with your thoughts.

If you’re just slow on the input…
Radial movements on the wrist can be exercised easily enough, stamina and strength can also be worked on, so you don’t get slower after fatigue.

You’ll also probably do fine with some sort of forearm exercise that maximizes the pronation and supination of your forearm (basically the flexing).
That will also result in quickening of the wrist, too. Drummers swear by it.
Then just practice your rotations/movements on whatever input device you prefer.

If you’re just forgetting the moves or theory, play a better, more memorable game :stuck_out_tongue:

(personally, if I can keep on top of rhythm, my motor function, and theory… it doesn’t matter what game I’m playing as long as I remember what the moves are, and what every attacks look like in my head. It definitely pieces together from there. I keep this shit in mind when going back and forth from fighters)

Good Luck.

10

ask Justin Wong. I don’t think anyone who regularly posts in FGD is top tier in any game, and definitely not multiple games.

11

:wasted:

if only every top player would post strategies…

12

I’m not gonna lie, I have a few of the same problems you do, but not to the extent you seem to say. You describe it that when you play one game a bit, you will forget MOST of the stuff you were once able to do. That seems pretty weird imo. I think maybe your just in a certain mind set and think about one game while playing the other. There is a significant difference in each fighting game, obviously, that makes you learn different systems and play styles of many different games and characters. Me for example, I play Dudley and Makoto in 3s, but I play Blanka and Claw in 4. In TvC, I play Roll and Casshern, and play KoF with Leona and a few others. So as you can see, I play a lot of different games and I can be a pretty decent challenge in each game. But then that doesn’t really help you, I just rattled on about me. I’m sorry:wgrin:

13

It is one thing to be rusty, and another if you just sucked from the very beginning. You don’t just “forget”.

14

It can be considered an important skill for anyone seriously trying to compete in more than one game at a tournament. I’m always impressed with players who can play many different games at a competent level.

You can get better with this by practicing those things, the same way you’d get better at anything in any one game: switch between games often, and you will become better at switching without it being detrimental to your play in either/any of those games.

As far as I can tell, this is closely tied to one’s ability to learn new games; that is to say, the people who can hop from game to game seamlessly are the ones who are also able to pick up new games faster and better.

I also think that being able to break down a game’s mechanics in your own mind (in terms of the actual “rules” of the engine itself, as well as feel and flow), and really trying to understand them, will also help you with both of those things.

15

There’s an old Gootecks podcast with Justin Wong where he actually talks about how he’s able to play at such a high level in so many games. Of course he’s much more talented than any of us, but he does bring up some important tips.

16

oh, I remember that podcast conversation. That’s the one where he talks about marvel aiding him in the rest of the SF games.

17

I feel like I had that problem switching from the VS games back to regular SF, as well as with Soul Calibur’s sequels. Back on the Dreamcast I got pretty comfortable, but after a break, by the time I got to SCII on the PS2 I felt quite rusty (of course, any gameplay tweaks they made offsets your comfort level by default). And I still feel very unnatural with SFIII’s roster. Argh.

18

you gotta be multi-play-cial! yea dude it really is like a bike, you just go to training mode or play a couple matches and it all comes back.

Like yesterday i was playing tvc (and you know the buttons are pretty weird) me and my friend were just landing all these insane combos on instinct. Sometimes your hands just go on auto pilot

19

It’s largely a mental boundary you’ve got to tear down, but to stay really competitive at more than one game, remembering what to do on what frame in which situation on what part of the zone against which character, gets exponentially daunting. It’s doable, 'just requires a high level of mental capacity and articulation to successfully follow through with it.

Anakron has a point, develop good system/game fundamentals, the right way, and you at least have a ground for what to do any time you switch up.

I’d recommend reading more and trying mind puzzles/games to expand your brain in other ways than just reaction and numbers, i.e. fighting games.

20

The Fundamentals are key.

Repent13 and the guy that said strong fundamentals are key hit the nail on the head.

Getting intimately familiar with the nuts and bolts of all the fighting games you play is key. You can just use your fundamentals to win against a lot of opponents up to a point. This is why I can step to a new fighting game I’ve never played and beast on new players. The basic rules still apply. The engine is similar.

As far as your skills deteriorating due to lack of play, if your serious about being able to play them all at a competitive level you need to give each game equal time. The more diverse and skill your opponents the better of you’ll be.

That, and don’t run straight for the top tier characters. I made the mistake of just copying/pasting all the strats and combos I saw the pros using without understanding why they were doing it.

Your fundamentals are the foundation upon which you build, so if they are weak it will all come crashing down. I had weak basic skills, but loaded a bunch of advanced knowledge on top of it. It all came crashing down when my advanced strats didn’t work anymore and I had nothing else to draw from.