THE SF4 BEGINNERS Thread! NEW? POST HERE FIRST!

Classic Fighting Games Street Fighter IV
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After more than 10 years, a true sequel has drummed up interest in new players and drawn nostaglic warriors back the world of Street Fighter, and many of you have wound up here.
Welcome to Shoryuken.com and enjoy your time spent.
These boards are great resource for a range of topics related to 2D fighting games, and dozens of players have begun with these boards and progressed to elite status. Despite the wealth of information and numerous minds with which to discuss it, without certain fundamentals neither resource can be used efficiently. A lot of this information has been said elsewhere on these boards, but it’s totally unrealistic to expect every new player to find that stuff, and this is a great opportunity to reach the people who want to find it anyway… so now there’s this.
** If you are very new to fighting games, new to srk, new to sf4, or new in whatever way, This Is Your Thread.**

The purpose of this thread is to specifically avoid repeat posts such as this

PLEASE, try not to clutter this board with questions that sound as though they can be answered in one sentence. Chances are, it has been answered already. If it hasn’t post it here. I’ll periodically check it, and I hope a few other knowledgeable players will help out as well.

For rules for the forum, see the stick/rules thread (http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=174791).
If you tried use the search button and couldn’t find what FADC means, this thread is for.
If you can’t figure out the difference between a chain and a link, this thread is for you.
If you don’t know what a Fake Kick is, this thread is for you.
If you don’t know what a 2in1 post here.
If you can’t land an ultra, cancel a special into a super, etc, post here first.

Basically, this is the thread where you (might) get a pass on breaking the forum rules in some way. Ask the most basic questions here first.
AND NOT ELSEWHERE. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

In closing,

PLEASE Don’t forget to at least CHECK a character’s thread in the specific sub-forum. I realize that sometimes info is hard to find there… but come here only after you’ve done so.
PLEASE Don’t forget to check at least CHECK a characters wiki page on the shoryuken wiki ( http://www.shoryuken.com/wiki/index.php/Street_Fighter_IV ). I realize right now it is lacking… post up some info you find! Its a wiki… people fix it! And have patience, it will fill out soon.

Finally, I’ll try to list some resources that will help with some of topics with which you may have difficulty:

Resources (attempted in order of difficulty):
Maj’s Guide to Street Fighter Notation Check here if you have any trouble reading combos. This nice guide explains most traditional american combo notations, and a bonus key on that tricky “Jap” (numpad) notation. Check it out!
SF Combo System Interpretation An incredibly relevant article with a brand new SF release, read this to gain perspective and good basic knowledge on how combos DEVELOP in street fighter, as a game ages.
Maj’s Encyclopedia of Street Fighter Terminology What is footsies? How would you define “block stun”? Can’t figure out what is a RTSD? Check here for great definitions on many of the most common competitive Street Fighter related terminology
Maj’s Guide to Combo Construction A quick guide that discusses what one should think about when developing combos. Understand this and you’ll be ramping up that damage output, building the most meter, putting yourself in the best okizeme positions in no time!
Buktooth’s Frame Data Trainer - This is an INVALUABLE resource. Frame Data exists for all 17 playable arcade characters. Read this short guide and you will be ready to start utilizing it to make some true 50/50s, and you may never view the term “mix up” the same.
The SF4 Faq Thread Frequently Asked questions. Ask there if you can’t find it here.
Misconceptions about the Mechanics of Sf4 This thread is an AWESOME read that has pulled some of the myths and widely spread mistaken concepts into one place to debunk them. Great for anyone at any level.

I hope these things help. More will be added later.

** 05/22/2009 ** For now I’ll make additions at the end of this post, formalization may follows. Anyway:
Useful suggestions from players!

  • For those new to arcade sticks it may be a good idea to play other games with your stick. For instance if you’ve got some old PC games that you’d normally use a pad with use your arcade stick instead. This will help you get used to playing with it.
  • Hotobu
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Alright I need some help here too.

What exactly is FADC? I’m pretty sure it’s charge a focus attack, and then simply dash. Is this correct? Also, how beneficial is it knowing that it uses up two bars of super.

All thanks in advance.

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A block string is a series of tightly spaced attacks that are meant to keep your opponent in block-stun. These have various purposes in various games, but generally they are used for two reasons, 1 obvious, 1 not-so.

1.) If your opponent blocks your attack, you get super meter! If he blocks a series of attacks, with seemingly no room to move or counter, you get more meter! Yay!

2.) If you do the same block string a lot, your opponent may become conditioned to the idea that when you land the first hit in your block-string, you will automatically go for the rest. Take this opportunity to try a mixup or a throw! Yay!

In games with a guard bar, they can be used to lower someone’s guard meter for a guard crush. But that isnt SF4.

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Thanks. I’m starting to get it now, but I’ll probably need to use it to understand it.

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How do I shot fireball?

Good thread.

excitebike: You can FADC forwards or backwards. FADC backwards (double tap away on the stick) to avoid punishment or FADC foward to move in on someone.

I don’t know if there is a different label between these FADC moments, but allow me to explain the different opportunities that you will have to use FADC:

A;) Hold :mp:+:mk: to start up a Focus Attack, then dash foward or backward to cancel the animation (no Super bar used)

This allows you to regain mobility so that you’re not forced to follow through with the Focus Attack after pressing the buttons to initiate it. However, at times you can be punished when you finish your dash, so use with caution.

B:) Hold :mp:+:mk: to start up a Focus Attack, then either release both buttons or let it charge all the way for a Level 3 Focus Attack. After the hit connects, dash forward or backward to cancel the rest of the FA animation. It doesn’t matter if the FA is blocked or hit. (does not use any Super bar)

If your FA hits, doing FADC allows you to regain mobility and move in closer to attack the opponent. Afterwards, you can follow up with an attack. This is especially useful if your FA hits causes the opponent to go down in a crumple stun.

If it’s blocked, sometimes you can dash forward to apply more pressure while they’re still in block stun. Or, you can dash backward to reset your offense. Block stun after a blocked FA differs from character and I believe it also differs depending on the level of FA that was blocked (Level 1 and Level 2 only, Level 3 is unblockable).

C:) Hit with a normal or special move, hold :mp:+:mk: to cancel hit animation to Focus Attack, dash forward or backward to escape or resume mobility (takes up 1/2 a super bar)

As mentioned before, this can bail you out of a normal attack or special move that usually would leave you wide open after the opponent blocks. Sometimes, players will utilize this to get a throw attempt in by forcing an opponent to block a normal or special move, FADC, then throw while they’re still blocking. It helps to do a move that has a lot of block stun, or to have a character with a fast dash to recover from FA quickly and throw the opponent while they aren’t expecting it.

NOTE: Not all normal attacks and special moves can be canceled with FADC. Also keep in mind that you cannot FADC if you are too far off the ground. Example: You cannot FADC a Fierce Shoryuken if you hit the opponent in the air and you are well off the ground.

Another reason method C is good, because it can prolong combos and link attacks you couldn’t normally link.

An example of very effective usage of FADC is Ryu’s jump-in HK, WK, WK, jab Shoryuken, FADC into Ultra Combo.

Method C is probably the most common usage of FADC and is vital to learn to succeed with any character in SFIV. Practice this hard.

Hope this helps.

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Yo.

I intend to get an arcade stick for SFIV eventually, but not in the near future. So my question to people with the game already is, is it really that hard to play it with just a normal controller, to the point that it isnt fun or you’re just button-mashing?

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The Xbox360 d-pad is trash and the PS3 one isn’t as bad but that’s not really saying much. That said I think you can still learn a lot with a pad until you get that stick.

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I played console last night at a friends and I had to use 360 controller. To be honest, the analog actually worked really. Obviously not even close to a stick but I had an easier time playing sf4 with 360 analog than playing HDRemix with ps3 pad.

To anyone about to pull the fanboy card on me, I don’t even own a 360 so save your ammo.

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The 360 controller isn’t bad, except for when you have to use 3 buttons at the same time (Ex: For an ultra).

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That’s why PPP and KKK are mapped to their own bumper/trigger buttons.

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what about your lp+lk (throw) and mp+mk (FA) ? Game pads FTL.

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Just use your thumb to hit both lp+lk or mp+mk. I use this in 3s for throws. Though I’ve never played SFIV on pad so I don’t know how well FAs are gonna work on a pad.

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Just use your thumbs for FAs. It’s really not as bad as people make it out to be. Yeah, if you’re gonna get competitive you’re gonna need a stick but a pad does not an unplayable game make.

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Why come blanka dont go thru fireballs? why come?

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Oh I got some nub questions…

1.Can you still do special cancels into super like in 3s? I.E. Hadouken -> super?

2.FA cancels on specials and normals: can you preform this like a roman cancel? Or do you have to do it in a particular frame/frame range like a False roman cancel?

3.Does Ken still have his MP HP chain combo?

sorry if I’m using the wrong terminology.

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Special cancels to super work great. They are uncommon for many characters, as many chars will opt to save a stock for EX moves. This kind of combo is often used as a finisher though.

Ken does have his mp-hp chain combo, still cancellable.

Dont forget the wiki and the character threads for character specifics!

Rather than being the spoonfeed a noob thread, I hope this can become the thread to teach a noob how to hold a spoon

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First off thanks for answering my questions Skisonic =)

but I don’t get what you mean by “spoonfeed a noob thread”. IF this thread was not intended to be a “spoonfeed a noob thread” why not just list links to other threads that has vital information (which you did) , have an FAQ on the OP, and close the thread? I’m sure you didn’t open this thread to keep telling noobs to use the search button or wiki all day.

I’m very sorry if I came off as sounding defensive, but that last comment you added on that post seemed somewhat derogatory to me. :sad:

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So is Sagat’s fake kick just hitting hk twice and really quickly? I saw a few peeps arguing that on another thread.

Edit: And tips for facing Seth are always welcome. 7 hours into the game and still can’t beat Seth on medium -_-

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Look I have the spoon, I have the food.

I’m not trying to sit here forever, shoveling it in your face.

There’s a difference between wanting to learn, and wanting to be told everything.

I said “I hope this can become thread to teach a noob how to hold a spoon” (minus the typo). The statement implies that I understand that you must feed a noob, but at some point you are going to have to fend for yourself. We’re going to be answering tons of questions, but it’s probably not going to last forever. Yours was the first very simple, easily answerable question which I mentioned in my first post, so I very respectfully pointed out what my intention was.

I would like this thread to grow players. I don’t expect it to be instant, but I did say in my original post to at least please look around before asking. The VERY FIRST post in the Ken thread says he still has the chain.

Just pick up the goddamned spoon and don’t take it personally, please, this thread was off to such a good start.

Do not derail this thread.

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Fake Kick is done by hitting HK itwice within about 1/20th of a second. Yes it’s hard.