I just got the game two days ago and enjoyed playing arcade mode for awhile. When I entered Online battles I accepted the reality that I will lose a lot at first and gradually improve overtime. I started playing as cody for the most part. After losing for the 10th time I decided to hit the training mode to learn some stuff. After learning some things like connecting HP To Criminal upper and HRK to his super I returned to ranked battles expecting to win a little more, But after losing to the same fireball spamming ryu I learned that all that time in training mode was wasted. I’m completely lost right now, what I’m doing wrong? I’m I missing something? What should I be doing at training mode? should I look up online for combos?
You just need time to learn the fundamentals…provided this isn’t a troll job. Just stick with it. Tech for this game has been building for years so give yourself time. You’re doing fine by working on links, specials, and finding out what you’re character can do. But like I said a lot of players have played for years, to the point of knowing which normals or specials to throw out w/o much thought, it comes naturally at that point. You also should keep in mind nothing truly simulates playing another person so more than anything you need to learn from your losses. Don’t worry so much about winning yet, learning is more important. Figure out WHY you’re losing. The winning will come with time.
What you learned in training isn’t necessarily wasted, but you now know you need to work on applying those techniques in the fight. Getting yourself in proper position. For example you’ll have to discover ways around the fireball spam so you can get in to do damage…like Cody’s Ex kicks…I believe the sliding version goes through projectiles? You can practice combos all day but if you can’t control the neutral game it doesn’t really matter. Not sure if you’re on psn or live…if psn feel free to add me and we can spar a bit. Blaq_acid.
Here’s a write-up i wrote a year ago for a younger friend completely new to fighting games. Hope some of the stuff might help with a logical learning progression
Preface: You don’t need to follow any of the information to have fun playing street fighter. Your welcome to plug in, fire up the xbox, and slam your thumbs on buttons randomly hoping to beat your opponent.
However, I think its more fun to beat your opponent when you know what you’re doing, after you’ve practiced, so you can read your opponent perfectly, shut his move down, and win in satisfying faction.
Additionally, if you choose to button mash and don’t learn HOW to play street fighter, you will LOSE. A LOT. The only other people you’ll beat will be other button mashers. People will know what your doing, and counter it perfectly, and you might throw your controller into the tv. Which won’t be very fun.
You wouldn’t play COD by just running around shooting randomly, you’d never win. Instead, you not only learn the games mechanics, the best players learn to UNDERSTAND AND PREDICT their opponents moves, and shut them down before they can execute their plan. Street fighter is no different, except instead of bullets and grenades for offense, you have punches and kicks. Instead of using cover for defense, you have to block. Instead of playing for 30 minutes on a huge map, you have a small 2-d plane. But the key to winning is the same: do attacks that your opponent can’t stop or doesn’t see coming to stop it, and stop your opponent from doing damage, or stopping them before they can attack.
I’m listing out some resources you can check out, to telll you what to do, and how to do it. First, read a few more things to take into account:
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[]internet: make sure if at all possible, use a wired connection. Wireless is slower, and will have more lag than a wired connection. Doesn’t make a difference in call of duty, however in street fighter, 30 milliseconds could be the difference between blocking an attack, and getting hit to get KO’ed.
[]tv: again, same thought on lag. The difference is, if your tv has significant lag, its on YOUR END ONLY and gives your opponent a huge advantage. Most all hdtv’s have image processing, which makes the image appear on the screen later than the signal is sent. How do you know if you have lag? Test it out. Use a calibration test in guitar hero or rock band. The best is rock band 2, which has an automatic calibration. If you can’t figure that out heres some steps to take:
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[]turn on game mode on your tv, it cuts down the post processing, and therefore reduces lag significantly.
[]Try getting a vga adapter to plug into your xbox. Only $20, on most newer hdtv’s the vga input doesn’t have post-processing. If it doesn’t do the trick, you can always return it for all your $$ back.
[*]Just use an old tv. Crt tv’s (the big ones) have zero lag.
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Again, this is only as important as you want to research, but since I got my tv lag situation figured out, ive had SIGNIFICANTLY more wins.
Thoughts on joysticks:
If you really really like street fighter, and want to really get better, I fully recommend switching to a joystick. Why??? Here’s a few reasons:
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Precision – the joystick allows for much more precise controller motions than a pad, even the highly superior madcatz SF pad -
Button pressing – the Tournament edition fightstick has extremely sensitive buttons, that are really responsive, which gives you a slight edge. Also, with a pad you only have your thumb to press buttons, while with a stick, you have all 5 fingers to press buttons, allowing you to switch between buttons instantaneously -
Value: ok, so your trying to encourage me to buy something that costs over $100, and talking about value? Let me break it down: the stick costs the same as maybe 2 full price games, that you’ll spend between 8-10 hours playing, maybe more with multiplayer. With street fighter, I’m up to 280 hours of gameplay time, with no signs of stopping, and I LOVE my fightstick. Its ridiculously high quality, and can be used for fighting games for years and years to come. With Christmas here, and $$$ floating around, if you think its something your gonna play, why not learn the right way from the start?
OK SO THAT’S TAKEN CARE OF, HOW DO I START?
You might want to just jump in and start learning how to do a 15 hit combo into ultra. Patience, you need to walk before you can run. Even if you can learn how to do it, if you can never land it in a match, it does no good. However, if you develop solid fundamentals, you’ll be able to get your opponent to do what you want him to, and can land some damaging combos.
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[*]LEARN GAME MECHANICS: you can do this before you get the game. Some guys have a great set of youtube tutorial videos. Things you can understand: using regular and special moves, using ex moves, using canceling combos, focus attacks & hyper armor, BLOCKING & throwing. This is totally worth your time.
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“Basic Video Tutorial/Guide for total Beginners” by TBird
Part 1: Move overview and Basic Combo Theory 9:57
[media=youtube]Qa4GJQFYM1s[/media]
Part 2: EX-Moves 7:48
[media=youtube]cX0p4cEJ9W0[/media]
Part 3: Super & Gauge Management 8:42
[media=youtube]a8Mu4sdCc58[/media]
Part 4: The Power of Buffering 9:56
[media=youtube]MlkbbtFrw_0[/media]
Part 5: Understanding Hyperarmor 7:04
[media=youtube]rCBLAfb7GUQ[/media]
Part 6: Focus Attack Secrets 9:42
[media=youtube]IhLKL_47bYU[/media]
Part 7: FADC - The Ultimate Tool 9:47
[media=youtube]jMJ18Eo-q1o[/media]
Part 8: Training Mode & Execution 9:29
[media=youtube]OGWBOGIItgg[/media]
Part 9: Defense & Blocking 9:59
[media=youtube]F2NGZOBGjBc[/media]
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[*]PRACTICE YOUR EXECUTION: find a character that you like, and you need to learn their moves (how fast they are, what they do standing vs jumping vs ducking), and special moves. Go to training mode and practice special moves. Its tough at first but once you learn the basic motions (fireball motion, dragon punch motion, charge moves, and rapid button press moves), you can transfer them to any character. You need to be able to do your special moves on demand from both sides, so practice, and don’t get discouraged!!! They WILL get easier.
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FIND YOUR CHARACTER INFO by going to the link below, clicking on the character, and at the top of your character thread, it should have a post about your characters combos to learn.
http://shoryuken.com/f315/
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[*]LEARN IMPORTANT MOVES: each character has a few moves you need to know, figure them out!
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[]Anti-air: jumping attacks if landed can lead to big combos and lots of damage. Give your opponent a reason to stay on the ground. Your character has an anti air attack, that will hit your opponent when they jump in. Learn it and be ready to use it when they jump at you!
[]Reversal move: if you get knocked down, your character is at a severe disadvantage. If your opponent trys to do a ‘meaty’ attack (an attack that hits you right when you are standing), many characters have a ‘reversal’ move, that is invincible when it starts, so you can hit the guy trying to hit you when your getting up and you don’t take any damage. Example: ryu’s dragon punch
[]Overhead attack: your opponent might start ‘turtling’, where they are doing very little offensively, and trying to counter any attacks you have. If they block high, they are still vulnerable to low attacks, however if they block low, it blocks both standing and crouching attacks. You can use a jump attack to hurt low blocks, but jump attacks can be countered with an anti-air attack. Heres an important tip: characters have an overhead attack, that does damage to low blocking opponents. Know this, sometimes your enemies don’t even see it coming.
[]Armor break move: focus attack can be frustrating to beginners, they try and jump in, the opponent’s hyperarmor absorbs the first hit, and crumples them for another big combo. Or, as you get knocked down, your opponent charges up a focus attack to hit you when you get up, and you instinctively sweep, only to get hit again, what to do? Each character has an armor break move, that shatters focus armor for damage, without absorbing the hit. Learn it, recognize when your opponent is charging up for a focus attack, and unleash it to make him think twice!!!
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[*]LEARN COMBOS IN THE RIGHT ORDER.
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Once you have your character picked you need to learn combos!!! However learn them in the right order:
Punish combo- quick, easy and damaging. Its exactly what the title says: your opponent does something dumb, you punish him. Example: ryu throws a shoryuken (jumping uppercut), if he misses or you block, you get free hits on the way down! You can do a throw, or a hard punch, or a special move of your own, but wouldn’t you want to do the most damage? Use your punish combo to get some reliable, larger damage when your opponent makes mistakes.
Hit confirm – to understand the thoughts behind a hit confirm combo, go here:
[media=youtube]eDMboPnznJc[/media]
long story short: you can try a combo that is high risk, high reward: you hit it, damage gets done, but if its blocked, your gonna take a lot of damage. Hit confirm combos allow you to do a low risk – high reward combo: the initial hits give you time to see if they connect or not: if they are blocked, you stop the combo and are safe to defend. If they hit, you go thru with combo for big damage.
Combo into ultra: each character has a way to combo into their ultra. For some characters its as simple as moving from a special move into ultra (example: balrog’s headbutt into buffalo charge), some might require a FADC (focus attack dash cancel), which takes a lot more practice to consistently land. Learning this will allow you to more easily land your highly damaging ultra move, which gives you huge comback potential.
RANDOM TIPS
Some stuff to read and implement into your game as you see fit!!!
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STOP JUMPING: why is jumping bad? Once you leave the ground, you have no control of your character. You can’t block, all you can do is one of your attacks, while your opponent has many more options. Learn how to jump safely. if you jump all the time, your opponent will time your jump, and use their anti-air move to keep you out. Worst thing you can do: be in a close match, do a predictable jump, and give your opponent a free ultra for the win.
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STOP DOING RANDOM ULTRAS; if your down in life, its tempting to use your ultra and get an instant comeback. Your opponent knows this too, and is ready to block something that obvious, and often times when you have your huge recoverty time, ultra you right back. Win with your skills, and make your own opening. -
BE OK DOING NOTHING; you don’t have to always be pressing buttons. If your opponent is really inexperienced, just sit back and block. Let them do an unsafe move (dragon punch, etc) then counter attack. -
STAY OUT OF CORNER, AND KEEP YOUR OPPONENT IN THE CORNER; if you get cornered you’re at a big disadvantage. Safely get out of there, but realize your opponent wants to keep you there. -
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CHEAP MOVES/CHARACTERS: for every move, there is something that beats it. Everybody loses, but the more important question is, are you going to figure out why you lost so you don’t get beat like that again? Do some research, do some practice, and play smart!
More resources for beginners:
Top 5 tips for beginners
http://www.option-select.com/blog/entry/?id=76
5 tips from veteran players newbies need to know
http://shoryuken.com/f322/ssf4-vets-post-your-top-5-tips-pointers-beginners-sub-par-players-244956/
More advanced techniques/strategies:
“Advanced/Pro Strategy” by Systran
Part 0: Frames, Cancels, Links 7:12
[media=youtube]E27R8EFLLSQ[/media]
Part 1: Zoning 4:16
[media=youtube]HFTvXXoDNRA[/media]
Part 2: Knockdown & Wakeup 8:02
[media=youtube]Wx6Z5VGsBw4[/media]
Part 3: Adapting and playing solid 9:59
[media=youtube]aXB8xHLA0To[/media]
Part 4: Basic Mix-up Ryu 4:33
[media=youtube]jIsHUaFroJE[/media]
“3-Minute-Fundamentals” by Lord of Ultima
Part 1: Hit Confirming 3:17
[media=youtube]eDMboPnznJc[/media]
Part 2: Option Selects 3:45
[media=youtube]aHHoG…eature=related[/media]
two final tips:
-Pay even more attention to your opponent’s game than your own.
Making decisions in Poker are based on three things:
- What you think he has.
- What he thinks you have.
- What he thinks you think he has.
As you can see, two of the three aspects are based on your opponent’s thought process, and only one is based on your own. Street Fighter works the same way. If your thought process focuses entirely on what YOUR situation is, what options YOU have at a given moment, and how YOU will plan your attack, you are only playing Street Fighter at 33%. Following your opponent’s thought processes, noticing their patterns and tendencies, and knowing their state of mind are things that you should be basing your decisions on. This is what separates the top players from the rest and is the most difficult aspect to improve upon.
.Do not be a scrub
Let me explain what a scrub means, at least to me:
A scrub is a player who is bad, but won’t actually take time to learn the game and figure out what beats what. In other words, the people who complain about you using a certain tactic and calling it cheap or broken is a scrub. Losing this thought process is the best way to becoming a better player because you can begin learning from your experience and start building strategies. Remember: Nothing is cheap in Street Fighter. You do what you gotta do to win.
HAVE FUN
Street fighter and fighting games in general are a blast, and you’ll have hours of competitive fun both online and with your friends. If you get too frustrated, walk away for a bit, and remember, everyone loses sometimes. Clear your head, learn from your mistakes, and let your losses drive you to improve.
Jebus!
All I’ll say is what I think the correct direction to go is:
- Pick a character you like, understand what notation do what moves. (Check)
- Train some basic combos. (Check)
- I like to go into Arcade mode on **Medium **to test things, then Hard to get used to things.
(We all know as soon as you fight someone you have to block against you forget everything) - Go online and fight some lower level players.
- Evaluate (If they’re throwing fireballs a lot, as Cody, EX Ruffian Kick will sort them out, Jumping a lot, HP Ruffian Kick.)
(Fundamentals are not things you can really learn in a training mode: grab teching, other characters playstyles… etc)
Then just remain online, figure out what a problem area was from a particular fight, and head into training to figure out what you can do to solve it.
Normal attacks are usually the least noticed to begin with but when you ‘know’ (I mean KNOW) your normals uses by heart, everything gets easier.
Everyone has its uses, Cody has a great Anti Air normal, can’t remember which, cr.MP maybe or perhaps just st.MP, he does a little fist in the air.
Good Luck
Don’t use arcade mode unless you’re trying to practice hit confirms.
Part if your problem is that you learned one punish combo. That isn’t really enough. You should learn a hit confirm as well; a good one for cody is crouching lp x 2 (see if they hit), link crouching mp, cancel into the hp tornado upper thingy.
Cody relies heavily on hit confirms and frame traps to win. You need to practice those.
The combo into super is probably a bad use of meter in a lot of circumstances. You’ll want the meter for ex bingo/ex er, ruffian kicks? To get in, and fadc > ultra. When in doubt for combos, check the sf4 character sub forums.
If I had to guess, you defense and spacing is probably horrible. This is true of most all new players. Blocking with your face is a tried and true way of losing matches. When in doubt, block. Don’t hit buttons for no reason.
If I had to guess, you probably don’t have a gameplay either. No plan basically means you’re just playing random.
If you posted videos, we could give you more specific advice.
I will be more than happy to post a video, only one issue. How do I upload? (again I’m a noob)
Probably the easiest thing to do is use a camera/camera phone, record on of your replays with it, then upload it to YouTube. If you need more specific instructions, google should set you straight.
here is a video of me getting my ass kicked by a cammy (im the cody) sorry about the piss poor quality
[media=youtube]krDAggUG130[/media]
Some thoughts:
- don’t jump so much
- block more
- work on hit confirm combos a bit more
- when punishing with Cody try cr.:HP: xx CU
Cammy is a tough match up for Cody IMO so don’t feel too bad. You can add me on PSN (if you play PSN) if you want and we can spar.
Agreed with above. Try jumping less and working on anti airs. Cammy is a tough matchup for Cody due to her pressure and Cody’s so-so gtfoff me game. Once he’s knocked down Cammy can sort of run all over him until she makes a mistake. Blocked spiral arrows lead to chunks of health coming off Cammys health bar. Punish with c. Hp xx criminal upper. Or hit confirms from a couple LP into mp xx CU. Cody has great hit confirms so once you notice your jabs connecting just calm down a finish the rest of the combo.
I’d say one of Cody’s better get off me moves is EX Zonk punch because of all of the invincibility so keep that in mind.
thanks for the advice guys, sadly I have live so I can’t spar with psn users. but thanks anyways. I currently have 21 wins and 60 something losses but im not giving up. I would also like to give a very special thanks for hell box for that extremely helpful post.
Don’t worry about losses. When I got back into FG’s with SFIV I probably lost 75 games in a row to begin with. Discouraging to say the least.
Post a bit in the Cody forum if you’re thinking of sticking with him (I would, but he’s my main so I may be a bit biased). Put your matches there and some of the awesome Cody players will be sure to offer advice.
Set simple goals for yourself (ie: I’ll anti-air every jump in this match with a HK Ruffian Kick, punish every whiffed special with cr. :HP: xx Criminal upper, etc). Once you start doing simple things all the time, the more complicated ones will start to fall into place.
Another Cody tip: He has one of the easiest FADC’s in the game (HK Ruffian Kick xx U1). Learn it and use it as it’s super easy to land and you’ll have plenty of chances to do it in a real match.
cheese, none of the information that these guys have offered you are going to be of much use at your current condition.
Your spirit has been broken and you’re seeking justification for all the time that you’ve spent with the game.
Staying in the training room will no longer keep your hopes up and facing online opponents is practically going to destroy any faith you have in yourself.
I walked out on the game and I certainly don’t regret it. However, if you still have a shred of dignity left, ask yourself "Am I better than all of these pathetic fireball tossing motherfucken scrubs?
If you screamed yes out loud, then you have chosen the path of the lone warrior. From then on, you must adhere to this saying, "“Whoever wins, our battle does not end. The loser is free from the battlefield, but the winner must remain there and the survivor must live his life as the warrior until he dies”-The Boss(Metal Gear Solid 3:Snake Eater) This means that you have to devote your life to the game… I hope that this brought back your spirit.
@hellbox9 you might as well bring a huge box of chocolates to the OP…
Out of everyone that’s posted, clearly you should be listening to the quitter. Clearly.
^As opposed to reading a butt load of worthless information that everyone think is going to console his hopeless state? I don’t think so.
You would be deluded to think that the OP created this thread just for common fundamental advice and strategy, especially when it comes to information on character match-ups.
I doubt he would want to hit the training room once more without some sort of motivation, which i gave in my previous post.
I’m not a fucken quitter, you ignorant buffoon. What I said has the potential to apply to just about any competitive activity in life.
Ok, stop jumping esp at the start of the round. Only jump when u have a reason. As far as fireball wars, learn how to absorb them with Focus attacks (this also gives you free ultra meter) and cody has some great tools to get around fireballs. Part of the trick is position, Ryu has a range where it is hard to deal with his fireballs and you want to stay inside or outside that range. One way to learn that range is play on line with ryu and spam fireballs to see how other people react to it. Also, in your video it looks like you got caught pushing buttons when you should have been blocking a few times.
Simmer down and use your nice kid voice this is the Newbie section. Though you mean well with the motivational stuff, the post was clearly asking for advice on how to play SF 4.
I really need to work on my blocking, it feels like I should be attacking at all times (umvc3 taught me this and it screwed me up in SF4) but I need to shift offense to defense and back to offense at the right time.