If you were to teach SF4 newbs to SFxT, what would you point out for them if they were already familiar with SF4? What is different for the untrained and unexperienced fighter as well?
GIve me your list
- The tag mechanics (cross arts, cross rush, cross cancel, launcher, cross assault)
- The gem system (except assist gems*)
- The dial-a-combos (Tekken strings and boost combos*)
- Rolling recoveries
- Pandora system
- Quick combos* (although this is only a guideline to give completely newbie players an idea which combos are possible in this game, and then let them execute the combos manually and even make a modified version of those combos)
I could define an untrained player as a guy who probably knows how the fighting genre works and has a broad knowledge of fighting game fundamentals but lacks knowledge of the mechanics in a particular game, in our case would be SFxT. Because of this, untrained players tend to use their basic knowledge of the fighting game genre when they fight for the first time in SFxT. The downside of being untrained is that they’re unable to fully realize the game’s potential.
Inexperienced players, on the other hand, are those who have probably known SFxT inside and out, but has less knowledge of how the fighting genre works in general, and therefore lacks the basic skills needed in every fighting game.
Here’s an example:
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The inexperienced player knows all of SFxT’s game mechanics and knows a lot of combos for each character, but lacks the smarts needed on how to effectively land the combos. By the time he moves on another game, he will be completely demolished as his knowledge of SFxT will be useless there.
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The untrained player knows the fighting game basics (yomi, okizeme, wake-up, etc.) but lacks the knowledge of SFxT’s mechanics, so what he’ll do when playing the game for the first time is that he’ll use his basic fighting game knowledge he got from other games, thus helping him hold his own in matches for a bit.
My statements are opinion-based, so I might be wrong here.
*these should be eschewed as the player’s skill progresses
[LIST]
[]Maximizing damage (abc combos when they’re bad, gray life, etc.)
[]Anti-airing. Adjusting form anti-airing in SF4 to SFxT takes some time. Although jumps are strong, they’re not free and adjustments have to be made from SF4 despite how much they look alike.
[]Combo choice has a lot of things to consider the (the life bar of the character that’s out, meter, positioning, time on the clock, current health of your opponent, etc.)
[]Options on wakeup (both as defender and attacker).
[*]Tag cancelling and punishing tag cancels.
[/LIST]
I think these two are extremely important for the “untrained” player who may need to break some SF4 habits (eg. punishing with sweep for the hard knockdown/vortex). Meter management also needs some focused discussion for anybody unfamiliar with all the different options that having meter brings to the table.
I would tell a veteran SF4 player that in SFxT, you are almost rewarded for being knocked down and that to maintain pressure you need to keep your opponent standing as much as possible.
I would tell him that fishing for a special move xx switch or an EX move that ground/wall bounces is often better than fishing for a cross-rush. But that fishing for a cross-rush is better than fishing for a Hadoken or Sweep.
I would tell him that frame traps and throws are still good, but that many characters can’t afford to walk up to their opponent due to the universally slow walkspeed so you need to use CADC which is the equivalent of an FADC that costs no meter but leaves you with less frame advantage.
I would tell him that raw launcher crushes 99% of crouching attacks no matter if they hit low or special mid.
I would tell him that alpha counter is like a blockstring, pressure and mixup breaker that allows you to raw tag safely and doubles as an option-select vs jumping attacks/empty jump low. And consequently makes safe jumps a lot less effective.
I would tell him that EX fireballs and Supers are often a waste of meter. That Cross-Art removes grey health completely. That cross-assault is broken and you don’t need a human partner to take advantage of it. And that Pandora can be used to punish a lot of things on reaction.
I would tell him that gems is better than no gems but that it won’t make a big difference in practice.
I would tell him that using 2 top tier characters doesn’t matter if your team has no synergy.
Agreed on all fronts but that stands out to me. Team synergy is so important in this game - most of the people I’ve played that beat me consistently (that aren’t like 3 tiers above me in skill mind you 
) have a team that gives them an option in every situation, can switch freely, gets great damage in footsies for as little meter as possible and can punish hard… and other things I’m likely forgetting. :razzy:
Just picking who works in SF4 or who is considered top tier to make a team really won’t net you that; you have to think about the situations you’ll find yourself in and how your team can handle all those scenarios. For a new player coming from SF4 to SFxT, I’d say they have to be willing to experiment.
The jab button and how to stall for time.
Oh shit sorry, thought I was on EventHubs.
I’m looking to pick this game back up closer to when the update comes around, which is when I’ll actually have time to put some thought into video games again. Would any of the older resources such as the Ultrachen tutorial videos still be relevant as a baseline or the game evolved a bit more to where there are better basic resources to look over before playing again?
Most of the fundamental stuff still applies. Empty jump low is even more powerful (especially online lololol).
I remember watching a vid where James Chen was talking about “attack vectors”. That stuff still applies.
Basically, the stuff that doesn’t apply anymore is all the stuff about how its better to always go for a knockdown into a vortex, the stuff about safe jumps and most option-selects (you can still safe jump OS but it’s just less effective because of tech roll and cross-cancel. And because of the chain system, some OS are no longer possible). SFxT is about the neutral and mid-range game and knockdowns often reset to neutral even if there’s still a lot of oki possible.
Also frame trapping is kinda different now because of the slower walkspeed and shorter/slower throws. With Yoshimitsu for example, there’s no way I can walk in for a throw (like Cammy) because he walks super slow. But he has one of the fastest dashes and CADCs in the game so he can still do really good frame traps because of this. The addition of raw launcher (which crushes crouching lows+special mids) also gives a universal frametrap and low-crush tool.
And because you are now able to buffer a chain and switch cancel a special move, it means even characters with bad footsies can play footsies against stronger mid-range characters like Ryu. This is a big difference from AE where characters with bad pokes would just get eaten by Adon if they tried to play his footsie game.
For SFxT tech, combo or tutorial vids, you can always check the media thread. There’s a lot of good videos in there by Tatsu, Ryan, Jibbo, Desk, myself and others who have contributed. Also make sure to check Jibbo’s stream and my thread on Resets and Oki.
I would tell them that meter lead is just as important as life lead(even more so in 2013) and that if you can’t beat your opponent in the first round then focus on gaining meter and forcing them to spend theirs.
I would also go over the importance of team building and how one seemingly unviable character could be paired with another to make a complete unit that can be strong against teams with really powerful characters but less team synergy. And to try not to pick characters that lose to the same people. In addition, that not every character is compatible with one another and that teams with little synergy or multiple bad match ups per character are not competitive teams.
Most importantly, combo choice and how in this game you cannot auto pilot combos; a strategic thought process must occur and that every hit confirm should lead into something bigger than damage(oki, meter build, time management, spacial control, order control)
And that the players that stuck with this game since launch are the ones you wanna consult for leveling up your game.