Plinking / Tsuji-Style: KARA BUFFER Inputs for Easier Links and More!

[Dannkk]

I am talking about not using the technique and use just the timing and rhythm of the links. I am trying not to mash or use tricks.

I’m not sure this would be to useful, but a video talking about how to learn links might. There’s tricks to learning them. Ryu’s biggest damage no meter combo is f+hp, c.hp, srk. That’s a one frame link, though, so when people are starting out with ryu they’ll stick a c.lp in there and do f+hp, c.lp, c.hp x srk/tatsu. The combos have the same “rhythm,” the first just has less margin for error. After you’ve got the characters 2 and 3 frame links down, you start working on the one frame links.

[kangstakangsta]

Thank you for spending the time to write this all out for me. I learn so much that… I think I love you? Seriously though so many shortcuts in SFIV that I’m surprised that we can’t win matches with our eyes closed playing with our feet.

[NDRWPNDY]

One of Sim’s really tricky links is “c.b+Jab, s.b+Short”.

Is there a way to plink something like that, or is double tapping all I’ve got in this situation?

[Twist]

You can’t plink s.LK because the only lower priority button is LP and if you press st.LP+LK you’ll get a throw…

[littlesushi]

Wow, I can’t believe how late I picked up on this. I was definitely not using any methods to link combos together, just tried to memorize the timing.

I’ve been messing around in training mode for about an hour and already see how this makes these links a lot easier. A super late, but not any less effective big thanks for posting this.

[ZanaOyakata]

I think if i memorized the timing I would be good. It like muscle memory. I just need a good place to start.
A lot of Japanese players seem to not use that many tricks if at all. You don’t here the button mash like here in the states.

[Warahk]

I promise you many top japanese players use plinking and double tapping. Neither of these methods should be referred to as “mashing”.

Japan also has the luxury of playing on the same screen wherever they go, US has a lot of console tourneys with different TV’s and monitors with different latency rates.

[System_1]

Sorry if this has been answered in the thread already, however I was wondering if it was possible to p-link an input to get 3 of the original inputs. for instance on my main’s (ryu) f+hp follow up I’ve been using hp~mp then jab, since all of these can be linked off the rush punch, and I plan on canceling it anyways.

I always seem to register 2 hp inputs (hp and hp+mp) then the lp, is it possible to get plinking to read hp+mp+lp by doing hp~mp~lp for 3 hp inputs? Basically I want the inputs to register as hp…hp+mp…hp+mp+lp. if so is it a different input than hp~mp~ then lp?

[System_1]

a very basic question. you say 1 frame, 4 frames, etc. how exactly does anybody know the # of frames??? as in…i need to hit on frame 1 and link on 1 frame, well, how do i know how many frames have passed? can i see it? or it is purely “do it quickly” and practice.

[MesTiz0]

Joined SRK today and I learned few things now to put’em in practice. Thanks.

[Warahk]

a very basic question. you say 1 frame, 4 frames, etc. how exactly does anybody know the # of frames??? as in…i need to hit on frame 1 and link on 1 frame, well, how do i know how many frames have passed? can i see it? or it is purely “do it quickly” and practice.

http://shoryuken.com/wiki/index.php/Street_Fighter_IV
for frame data

u learn link timing through practice

[System_1]

Bison links

i main bison and his hardest link is his cr lk x3 to knee press is there a buffer for that link i can link it about 70%

[brightfame]

yo i don’t do either plinking or double tap…i just learn the timing of links and do my combos most of the time. There is no excuse for your whining if you can’t link. Practice makes perfect.

[Cyberfrost849]

Sooo um, can someone explain to me in more detail of how to do this? i keep reading the first post over and over but it just doesnt click like, idk what exactly im supposed to press during the plink like 2 buttons or ??? im like sure that the inputs supposed to show you pressin 2 buttons at the same time or something

i dont know im just really confused so i was hoping someone on srk could help me figure it out…i’d appreciate any help that i would be able to get =)

[RoboKrikit]

Sooo um, can someone explain to me in more detail of how to do this?

It is easier if you understand how it works, then figure out how you want to do it.

When you hit buttons, their inputs queue up into a buffer to be read. SFIV reads all queued up inputs every frame (every 1/60 of a second), so if you hit multiple buttons between frames, it has to decide which action to perform. If you give it a LK and MK on the same frame read, it has to figure out which of those it will actually do.

SFIV prioritizes button inputs by strength, so LK < MK < HK. If you give it a LK and MK on the same frame, and LK + MK doesn’t evaluate to something special (e.g. an EX special) it will execute a MK, and ignore the LK.

The exact priority order of inputs was posted by JiBbo:

[Lower]     LP < LK < MP < MK < HP < HK     [Higher]

The idea of plinking is to help you execute links by exploiting this input system.

Without plinking, you might have only a 1-frame window in which make your next input. You would have to hit MK alone with precise 1/60 second timing.

With plinking, the idea is to still hit MK, but then to hit LK+MK on the next frame. The end result is an MK on the first frame, then another MK on the second frame, without actually pressing MK two times.

Physically what you are doing is pressing down multiple buttons at the same time, but barely pressing the target button first (e.g. MK). If you did it right, you had MK pressed down on the first frame, then LK and MK pressed down on the next frame.

Technically, you could also use LP, since it is also lower priority than MK.

[Cyberfrost849]

wow, that makes ALOT of sense thanks alot! =)

[jaymoozoo]

I was wondering if there is a good video showing the speed/technique required to do this. I realize it’s not the hardest thing in the world, and it doesn’t by any means require a video to be made, but none the less I think it would be nice.

I’ve gotten my links up from around 15%-20% to probably close to 50%, which for me is pretty good, but I’m still having a bit of trouble getting the execution I’d like. Any new tips would be appreciated.

And if there’s been a video posted in this thread already that I missed, my bad. I confess that I didn’t go through all 16 pages before making my reply.

[Lord_Gemma]

I’m an Akuma player, and over the past few days I’ve been testing out this alternative way of hitting my links.

For instance, for the following BnB combo:
Jump-in, cr.LK, cr.LP, cr.LP, cr.MK xx EX Gohadouken
Note: the link from cr.LP to cr.MK is a one-frame link.

Instead of double-tapping the MK in the above example, what you can do is:
Jump-in, cr.LK, cr.LP, cr.LP, cr.MK+LK (MK~LK input) xx EX Gohadouken

By MK~LK input I mean, you almost-simultaneously press LK and MK buttons with your index and middle fingers, but hit the MK button with your middle finger slightly earlier (1 frame) before the LK button.

If done right, in the training mode with input display on, you should see this:

(second frame) down+LK+MK
(first frame) down+MK
Note: if you didn’t do it right, the second frame input would have been down+LK only.

I’ve found this method to work more than 90% of the time for me - whereas double-tapping (perhaps due to my poor technique) works maybe half the time.

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The same thing can be done for MP, HP, HK links:

MP links = MP~LP (or LK, but obviously LP is easier to hit)
HP links = HP~MP (or MP or LK or LP, but obviously MP is easier to hit)
HK links = HK~MK (see above)
(Remember: you have to press both buttons almost simultaneously, but with the stronger-strength button a split-second earlier than the weaker-strength one)

It also works for cr.LK, BUT ONLY IF your character’s cr.LK is not chain-cancellable.

cr.LK links = (while crouching) LK~LP

This method will not work with cr.LP, due to the fact that down+cr.LP+cr.LK is always interpreted as cr.LK. It will also not work with standing LP or LK because then it becomes a kara throw.

In summary, for p-linking to work, you have to understand two things:

(1) When you do a slide input (press the second button one frame after the first button) like AA~BB, the first input (AA) will be repeated in the second frame (AA+BB).

(2) Whenever the game detects an AA+BB simultaneous input, it will always give you the strongest attack button in the following order:

LP (weakest), LK, MP, MK, HP, HK (strongest).

Therefore HK+HP is executed as HK.

If you were to enter HK~HP, the game would read it as HK (one frame later) HP+HK, and execute it as HK (one frame later) HK.

However, if you were to enter HP~HK, the game would read it as HP (one frame later) HP+HK, and execute it as HP (one frame later) HK.

This is important to note if you want to p-link specials, like Ryu’s forward+MP -> Shoryuken.
You can’t p-link SRK with two punch buttons because you’d get the EX. So you’d have to p-link it with either MP~LK, or HP~MK.
(Disclaimer: not sure if you can p-link specials. At the very least, I couldn’t pull off Ryu’s forward+MP -> SRK)

Disclaimer: this linking method will not automatically make you a link combo god - you still have to get the timing right and everything. Like double-tapping, this essentially turns a one-frame link into a two-frame link by giving you two chances to nail the input window.

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If you haven’t figured it out yet, here’s why it works:

A couple of days ago I was practising my Kara throws in training mode with Akuma (HP~LP+LK) when I noticed something - the game recognises my kara throw input as:

(second frame) LP+LK+HP
(first frame) HP
Note: The first input repeats itself when you do HP~LP+LK

And as we all know, whenever two or more attack buttons of different strengths are pressed, the game will give you the strongest strength attack i.e. if you press LP+MP+HP, you’ll see that the game executes that as a s.HP.

In other words, if you were crouching, essentially the above input could be interpreted by the game as:

(2nd frame) down+HP+LP+LK (you’re stuck in animation, but if you were not, this would have been executed as cr.HP)
(1st frame) down+HP (executed as a cr.HP)

So what happens when you’re in the recovery frames of some other move, like, say, Akuma’s cr.LP? You now have two chances to nail the one-frame window required for cr.LP to cr.HP link, depending on if you hit the down+HP squarely on the window, or one frame before that. One-frame links become two-frames. Two-frame links become three, etc, etc.

This is effectively a double-tap HP. Only thing is, you don’t have to cram both of your fingers on a single button, which surely takes some level of finesse to pull off, especially under pressure. It should make link combos, in general, a lot easier. Personally I can hit cr.LP to cr.MK about 90% of the time.

Some other examples you can try:
Ryu’s cr.MP, cr.MP, cr.HK
Sagat’s cr.LK x3 xx Tiger Knee

But of course, if you’re very good at double-tapping then you may find double-tapping to be better/easier.

EDIT: rewrote a few things. Special thanks to everyone who’s helped clarify things.

Guys i dont get this, its really burnin my brain out tryin 2 figure out this thing. I need it breaking down. Ive tried the 2 imput plinking method for the demon (jab~strong~fierce - b, short, fierce) and it works some of the time for me, but i dont have a clue about the advantage you get out of it with links and bnbs, can sum1 plz private msg me or break the shit down so i can start buttin it in2 proper practice. Ive had my t e stick for a lil while but i still suck at it. I cry out to my pad everytime i get beat cuz i feel like samson with a ceasar without my pad. someone plz help a brotha out!

[Dannkk]

I was wondering if there is a good video showing the speed/technique required to do this. I realize it’s not the hardest thing in the world, and it doesn’t by any means require a video to be made, but none the less I think it would be nice.

I’ve gotten my links up from around 15%-20% to probably close to 50%, which for me is pretty good, but I’m still having a bit of trouble getting the execution I’d like. Any new tips would be appreciated.

And if there’s been a video posted in this thread already that I missed, my bad. I confess that I didn’t go through all 16 pages before making my reply.

It just looks like you’re hitting two buttons at the same time. It’s fast enough that you can’t really see a difference, but you can hear it. Slap the two buttons with the finger for the higher priority button a bit lower than the next. It’s that fast.

Sometimes the on screen inputs aren’t all that good at telling you that you did it right. I’d suggest learning to kara something because you have a visual cue that you did it correctly and the technique is the same. I learned Ken’s kara throw before this was discovered and was able to plink as soon as I read this thread because it’s the same thing.

[jaymoozoo]

It just looks like you’re hitting two buttons at the same time. It’s fast enough that you can’t really see a difference, but you can hear it. Slap the two buttons with the finger for the higher priority button a bit lower than the next. It’s that fast.

Sometimes the on screen inputs aren’t all that good at telling you that you did it right. I’d suggest learning to kara something because you have a visual cue that you did it correctly and the technique is the same. I learned Ken’s kara throw before this was discovered and was able to plink as soon as I read this thread because it’s the same thing.

Thanks for the tip!