Tell me if you've heard a story such as this

Newbie Saikyo Dojo
1

Ugh.

Well I bought SFIV at launch at pretty much threw myself into it, however never really felt I picked up on the mechanics of it. Even with sources such as this website, the Internet in general and youtube, I’ve found my skills are that of someone who has never played before in their life!

I find the challenge trials incredibly difficult, I can spend 15-20 mins on the top end of normal trials just to push out ONE MOVE, then think “Well damn, how the heck will I ever be able to pull this off in the heat of battle!?”

I am playing on a PS3 pad, and don’t really have the money to invest in a stick that could do little or a lot for my playing ability (don’t really wanna take an $200 risk, I’m an Aussie).

For example, Guile’s normal 4 trial where he needs to hit hk, hp then sonic boom - JESUS TAP DANCING CHRIST. The amount of times I’ve had a crack at that and just ended up looking like a tool are countless.

Outside of ‘um, don’t play this game anymore please, just step away…now’, what advice do you guys have? My attention span is like that of a six year old, so do I really need to intensively stick to one character and go hard until it ‘clicks’? Did it all ‘click’ for you guys one day?

I’ve even seen vids of Ken dash cancelling his uppercut to dash forward and hit his super - you’d laugh if you saw me try and recreate this!

The timing and technique of this game really blows my mind. I am frustrated by Capcoms lackluster training mode, which really could be better for beginners, but then I know a big part of the blame lies in my ‘skills’.

Advice? Thanks so much for your help, in advance.

UYI

2

'um, don’t play this game anymore please, just step away…now

If you want us to help, you should at-least tell us your main

3

Vega. Tend to use him the most.

Although, as mentioned, I like El Fuerte and Guile too.

4

helps to stick to one character

I’m curious to know what shortfalls you see in the SF4 training mode too.

5

Use Ryu, learn the basics first I would say. Walk before you run.

6

I do not believe the SF training system is completely accomodating to beginners getting the feel for moves nor do I think it even remotely considers visual learners. There is no ‘Step back a second, this is how it looks’ such as like, in Virtua Fighter. And reliance on others to make youtube really isn’t that much of an excuse. I’m not faulting the excellence of the overall package, I just think they could’ve thrown a few more baby steps in there to assist beginners in picking up skills quicker with less trial and error - or in some cases huge amounts of time taken up by trial and error.

7

Yeah, Ryu probably is a good idea - I do seem to love the designs of (at least at first) seemingly complicated characters. Also makese sense why there are twenty million shotos online.

8

use zangief … since you are using a pad

9

Ok, ya the training mode could be better, but completely lackluster is a bit extreme

10

high five on the Vega, pad playing too :smiley: friend! noticed you used one of my favourite phrases too XD

On a topical note, it can take time to get used to the mechanics especially if SFIV is your first fighter, you just need to take it slow, hell don’t even look at high end stuff to begin with because you’ll be put off.

Stick to one character to begin with, you’ll branch out when you feel comfortable on your main. (Hell, I can only use Vega and Bison, anyone else, forget about it) Sometimes, one character is all you need to play.
I personally have never picked up a shoto character in my life (Except to do their trials), but in the long run, it may have helped me learn a lot quicker with the baby steps and it may help you, so try picking one up just to get a grasp on timing since they run through basic elements quite quickly.

Just learn to walk before you run, you’ll never get anywhere if you try it the other way.

And the most important thing is practice practice practice.

11

hmmm guess i hadn’t thought about different types of learning… training mode seems to be completely catered to kinesthetic learners, which is fairly good for me as i’m mainly a kinesthetic learner with a bit of visual learning thrown in.

12

Thank you so much, that was really reassuring! It’s comforting to know a lot of the great players sometimes don’t venture far from one or two characters. I guess Bison and Vega’s playing styles do compliment each other reasonably well.

13

And yeah, lackluster was a bit much - got a little carried away!

SSFIV’s training mode looks identical too, and I so love the look of that game, but fear the same results. Time to get serious and see where it really takes me.

14

Are you familiar with the aussie fighting game community(Ozhadou)? Have you ever played sf4 at the arcade? It helps if you surround yourself with people who share the same passion as you. Also you can try out a stick this way without spending much. Certain moves may be easier for some people on a stick than on pad.

As for the timing and execution barrier of this game, it would be best to start small. Don’t worry about fancy FADC combo’s. Learn your fundamentals first and everything should come together in time.

15

It doesnt sound like fight games are for you

If you don’t even have the patience to use 1 character then you can’t be helped

16

Constructive way to put that: Stick to one character relentlessly if you want results.

Thanks Mr Skelter!

17

Finding patients to stick with one character is very hard to do. I basically bounced around the entire character list since I’ve gotten SF4 on release ray and only at the beginning of 2010 did I realize viper was a character that fit me perfectly.

Also how much time are you investing in the game? If you are only playing like 2 hours a week then you really shouldn’t be expecting a lot of improvements, while if you are practicing over 20 hours a week and still going no where then you need to change your practice methods.

Do you every play on XBL/PSN? Do you have local friends to play with? Training mode can definatly help you, but some people learn a lot better from in game experience. There are just little thing that you can only figure out in game. Things like tick throwing, not doing a reversal every wakeup, effective combos, safe cross ups, safe moves, and spacing properly are things you need to learn from in game experience. I really had trouble with the game for a while, but one day things did just click for me and I felt more confident when I played, which let to more wins. If can never have confidence that you will beat your opponent, you never will beat them.

18

You’re looking at it to negatively.

It’s not about “sticking to one character” it’s about how each character is complex and has a lot of things to learn with them. If you expect to be a good player you have to know and be able to do everything the character is capable of.

You can’t expect to win if you only know 1/4 to 1/2 of the options every character has to offer. You need to have a “main” a character you know the most about and can do the most with.

19

Thank you both for the above two posts, really puts things into perspective. And yeah, it wasn’t really intensive training - few hours a week max, so when I get some spare time, I’m hittin’ SFIV.

Great advice all round, this is the sort of thing noobs need to reassure them to stick with the product!

Owe you both a drink.

20

Hehe, I know where you’re coming from. I started out last years summer with SF4 as my first figting game since Mortal Kombat 1 on the PC and nothing worked. I seriously considered selling my TE stick after a few days, because I could neither reliable Tiger Shot nor do a single Ultra. In the beginning, it took me 30 minutes just to complete Sagat’s normal trial 4. :wtf:

My advice for you:

  1. Consider if your input device feels right. To me the most important thing is my TE stick. While it took time to get used to, I can not imagine to have to play with that PS3 pad and it definitely payed off in the long run investing in a good stick.

  2. Practice regularly. It takes you 30 minutes to complete a trial ? Doesn’t matter, do it every day and the time will go down.

  3. Break down longer combos and learn fundamentals first. If you can’t sonic boom reliably 30 times in a row, it makes no sense to practice that fancy 5-move-combo. If you have problems with a combo, identify where your problem lies and practice only that part (i.e. “jump hk - cmp - shoryuken - super” practice only the “shoryuken->super” part if you have problems with it). :karate:

  4. Check if you really use the easiest input motion, at least in the beginning. For example, I found out very late that certain moves can be buffered, such as Sagat’s tiger shot ->super, where you can do just one qcf for the super instead of two.

  5. 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration. The more you practice the better you get, don’t expect to get a lot out of 1-2 hours a week. But if you put time into one character, it will eventually pay off. :tup: