Why are the walkspeeds so SLOW?

Let’s be clear: SF4 was already bad enough in this regard. The slow walkspeeds in that game are my #1 complaint with it. But in SFxT it got even worse by virtue of the introduction of a bunch of new characters who walk unbelievably slow. What are Capcom/Dimps thinking here? Look at footage of older games…

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You walk fucking fast. Combined with small stages and non-dogshit throws (SFxTs two other major problems, also problems with SF4 to a lesser degree) this served to make the footsie game fast-paced and exciting. You had to hit buttons because not doing so would leave you quickly walk-up-thrown and tossed into the corner. Your capacity to play footsies is also improved by walking faster; the ability to quickly move in and out of range of pokes rewards skill and requires players have extremely good spacing and reading abilities.

The counterargument that “well, some characters need to walk slower than others because they’re stronger when they get close” is a fair point, but I’d firstly argue that the discrepancy between the fastest and slowest walking characters is way too big, and more importantly, even if differences in walk speed are fine (and obviously they are), the walk speeds are across the board way, way too slow. You could increase everyone’s walk speed by 30% and retain character differences while vastly improving the game, and it’s worth noting that even the fastest walking characters would still only be approaching the crazy speeds of the fastest characters in the Alpha games.

Another argument is “well, we have all these extra movement options now so walking doesn’t need to be as good” which is a total nonsense argument. For one thing dashes in SFxT absolutely suck compared to dashes in other games, but more importantly walking fulfills a completely different purpose to other movement options.. The beauty of walking is that it’s so analogue; you can walk a step, two step, three steps and then do whatever you want. This cannot be replicated by other movement options. When you dash, you always dash the same distance. It’s the ability to make very fine, precise movements that makes walking such a complex and powerful tool.

To anyone who immediately thinks something like “you want to make walk jabs even better?”: Please don’t make the mistake of thinking about how these changes would affect the game in a vacuum. Obviously other changes would be required to account for how faster walking would change the game.

I think this change, combined with better throws and smaller stages, could actually go a long way to fixing what people see as the biggest problem with SFxT right now: the timer. As UltraDavid has observed, the timer itself isn’t the problem, it’s a bunch of other gameplay factors that are causing it to be a problem. When you can’t force the opponent to hit buttons becase you walk so slow it takes forever to make your way into a range where your mixups are actually threatening, when you can’t threaten walking back to make a poke whiff because you walk back so slow that nobody will ever be fooled by that, when your throws are so shitty that walkup throw is essentially a non-factor…blocking is going to be really, really good. And blocking a lot means time outs. I’m sure older players know how badly sitting there and blocking for 30 seconds would get you blown up in older games…in SFxT it’s a viable strategy. That shows a problem with the game, not the timer.

So the takeaway from this is please harass Capcom about this issue since I really believe it’s the #1 problem holding this game back.

It’s mostly likely due to probably how Capcom figures a SF game with dashes + fast walk speeds would make some characters too strong. Which I don’t really agree with since in 3S characters like Ken and Ibuki had fast walk speed, great dashes (Ibuki’s could pass through you and cross you up) and great normals and didn’t break the game or anything.

I agree…I’m done with the new SF games cuz the footsies in them are really boring due to this. I remember watching Fanatiq’s stream one time and he was going “omg I didn’t know SF was like that” when he was talking about how he learned how footsies worked after watching J.Wong play Rufus in SFIV. I was saying to myself like “WTF…this shit is so boring compared to the old shit…whatever”.

Plus how they purposely gimp the normals of anybody with high flying/mix up styles so you’re forced to play them gimmicky. I’d rather just play Marvel 3 where I can just get a unique experience that isn’t in too many other games with the 3 on 3 and the assists.

The huge stages piss me off too.

why are the stages so big?

I wish it was faster too.
I feel like this affects the tall characters the most, because it’s like you can’t walk under jumps any more(?). It feels even slower than SF4 to me, but I can’t tell if it is or not. Haven’t really been playing that much, but I do plan on playing over the weekend.

Watching these matches, I think any new-school player would be alarmed by just how many buttons they press. SF4/SFxT footsies = walking back and forth staring each other down (assuming no stupid anti-footsies “jump around doing whatever I want” character is involved). Remember when CvS2 was a “turtle game”? Lol.

I don’t think they are really that all the slow…sure slower than something like ST heh…

The stage being so f’n big, makes it feel like you move slower than you actually are!

LOL to bring up Sagat…fuck it’s not even his height. Who cares how tall he is. He could be the size of Gen and he wouldn’t get under shit because his walk speed is BUTT ASS in SFIV/Cross Money.

Re: Sagat… When jumping across the stage is like twice as fast as walking across it you know you have a problem. I don’t think that was true for even the very slowest characters in any previous game… well other than Makoto I guess.

You can’t have faster walkspeed with low pushback + high blockstun. But yeah, this game’s walkspeeds are retarded.

paul is fast as fack. he walks so fast, he is dead before the round has even started.

Answer: Cross Tekkin is a bad game made by bad developers played by bad people.

Serious answer?

I think Capcom designed the stages so big so that some characters can reset to neutral much easier, so as to protect against rushdown and make that ranged/zoning game a lot stronger. I have an easier time playing Law when I reset into neutral rather than stay in the entire time. It means I have to be aggressive with him but I don’t have to deal with getting poked to death or getting rushed down hard because I don’t have a magic anti-air that fits every situation.

slow walkspeed means you need to use the speed up gem.

This game is meant for gems.

Because it’s SFIV with changes. Which means slow as shit walk speeds. Akuma walks backwards faster than people walking forward.

Well, at least you didn’t compare this to KoF…

^^

Dhalsim says no.

Dhalsim is top tier in ST and arguably A3 which both have extremely fast walk speeds.

Walking is extremely powerful in this game. More so than SF4 but most people haven’t figured out why yet.

Basically, if characters had faster walkspeed you would be complaining about how you can’t zone or play keep away. How you are always stucked in constant walk jab pressure and how cross-ups are completely useless.

Please read the OP:

Fix the walk speeds, then fix any issues that arise from that. Above all else it just feels bad to have movement be so slow.

I agree. Footsie feels more challengin/rewarding/right at faster walk speed to me.