A More General Guide to learning fighting games

This is kind of a follow up to my previous post on how to learn a new character.
I say kind of because:

1.) It covers more of the general stuff that you need to play fighting games. I know the play online part is pretty hard in our part of the world but hey, the advice written here is what I did when I started out myself.


2.) This article isn't by me, it's a link to Shoryuken.com's

So you want to learn how to play fighting games…

http://shoryuken.com/2013/07/23/so-you-want-to-learn-to-play-a-fighting-game/

I was gonna write one myself but you know, hehe...This one came out first. (*Reasons*)

Peace out.

-Chady

Revisiting SF4:AE Part 2: Learning Sakura (and a new character in general)

As I continue my training with Sakura, I would like to post some of my thoughts and insights:
First...
WHY SAKURA?
Honestly, Sakura wasn't really my first choice. Looking at forums, tier lists and tourney results, the most logical choice would be to learn top tier mofos like Akuma/Cammy(vortex heavy with godlike combos), Fei Long (Rekkas, A dependable focus attack and amazing normals) or even Seth (just about everyone's good normal and specialmoves but with a minimum health bar/stun meter tradeoff) but the feisty schoolgirl has always had a special place in my heart ever since her introduction in SFAlpha2.

When I first got a hold of a copy of Super Street Fighter 4 and tried Sakura for the first time, I immediately came to one conclusion: THIS BITCH SUCKS. Sucky normals, high execution requirement with no payoff and no damage. Mind you that was around 3 years ago and much has changed...except the high execution requirement part which is fine because that was one of the reasons I chose her. Sakura is one of those unique characters that have combos that require your execution to be always spot on.

When you do get the hang of her combos, the potential mixups and crossups you can do after knockdowns can lead to yet another combo that often leads to dizzy...which hopefully leads to a win. This is the second reason why I chose Sakura. Setups. I've never really played a setup heavy character (outside of Venom from Guilty Gear) and it would be really interesting to see if I could pull them off in actual matches and see how people would react to Sakura setups. Street Fighter has always been a game that needed research and reading and I'd like to see if I could effectively apply them  in actual matches. This is the first part you have to undergo if you've chosen and try to learn a new character:

PART 1: HIT THE BOOKS
Visit sites like eventhubs and shoryuken read up on their forums. Watch match vids of top players. Take note of tutorials. Ask around. We are living in the age of the internet where information can be accessed with a click of a button. Back then it was impossible to learn new stuff if you didn't go to arcades or ask the usual arcade people about what 'advanced' stuff they were doing. Take advantage that you have the internet.

By practice I am a Marvel player and combos mean everything in that game. A drop could mean the game for you and that's something you always try to avoid. After defeating an opponent, you now have to plan and execute mixups that will obliterate the opponent's incoming character. That concept is heavily imprinted into anyone's Mahvel game and if I could adapt the same mindset whenever I play SF with Sakura, I should be
fine. More or less...as long as I hit those execution-heavy, ridiculously long, 1 frame link plink combos.

Execution heavy means plink combos...and I like me some plinking.
One of the things I've noticed ever since I started playing Street Fighter 4 is plinking is hard as fuck in this game. For the uninitiated, Plinking or priority linking is tapping the buttons in rapid succession to allow 1 frame links to turn into 2 frame links. Plinking applies FOR EVERY effective COMBO Sakura has. The amount of practice it takes to perfect this combo is amazingly high and practice always makes perfect.

That's the second thing for people learning new characters.
PART 2: PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND MORE PRACTICE: After you've gathered the necessary intel, Go into training mode and take the time to repeat again and again the things that you will keep repeating in actual matches like setup situations and long combos. It's that simple.

Speaking of actual matches, that's the next thing you need to do.
PART 3: SEE (AND SUPPORT) YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY:
Once you are confident in your execution, time to see if you're ready. Play with local players and share what you can. You can develop faster if the competition around you develops as well. Help them to help you. I've noticed in our little community that only a few apply the use of plink combos, especially the few Sakura's I've heard of. Now I'm not forcing anyone to adapt and learn plinking but they are not maximizing the potential they have and their characters. I want to showcase Sakura because not only do I want to show the proper usage of the character, but to show them the rewards for optimal plink combos.

And finally,
PART 4: BEGIN THE ROAD OF THE WORLD WARRIOR
(or maybe you know, a national warrior first before the world). In order for you to fully develop your game and make you realize where you stand and what you need to do, you have to travel outside your local comfort zone and fight everyone. You'd be surprised how different communities have different perspectives and playstyles. When you go into other territory, your ability to adapt and apply your own tactics will make (or break) you. It is pretty challenging and along the way, you'll get new friends/rivals/enemies, respect (or hate) and even more technology to use and be familiar with.  By far, this is the most rewarding part of fighting games and I think this is what makes it special. The camaraderie.

That's what I think are the most important things I would like to point out.
Peace out
-Chady

Life with Imaginary Power Ups #20: The Lazy Celebratory Edition

Heeey guys, so as you know (or may not know), I'm reviving this series and it has come to my attention that I've already made 20 of this posts. That is quite an achievement for me. 
CLAP FOR ME, DAMMIT. 
Anywaaay...
So what do I do to celebrate this achievement? Review them and pick out my favorites.  You are welcome to pick your own as well (Shameless attempt to make you read through my blog lolz) and if that doesn't work, you can share your own...jerk.

Now some of this are edited to fit with the times and to correct some grammatical errors. I hope you all enjoy this shit as much as I do. Here's to hoping I don't forget about this again or run of material...again.

*You will know you're hanging out with someone young when you sing the Pokemon Cartoon Show Theme Song and they don't recognize it. It also makes you feel very old.

*When I was ten, I tried ordering an official strategy guide for Final Fantasy VII on the phone. FROM THE USA. I almost bought one... if I had access to a credit card. All because I couldn't get a Gold Chocobo. Kid frustrations.

*During my senior year of high school, we get to do our final exams first before anyone in the school does so that we can practice our graduation rites. Now after the exams, teachers would mostly leave us alone to sing songs and do pointless shit. Me, on the other hand, would skip most of the graduation rites practices and go home or not go to school at all. Most of my classmates thought I was getting sick or I was avoiding someone but all I did was finish a bunch of RPGs. Twas time well spent.

*Of all the retro RPGs I could remember, one always stands out and that's Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu for the PS1. Nothing beats playing a little more manly version of Pokemon.

*I had this friend who borrowed Disc 4 of my Legend of Dragoon because his disc was broken. Now bear in mind, I still haven't reached that part of the game as I was still stuck at Disc 2 but I lent it to him anyway because I "trusted" him. When I was done with Disc 2 (and 3) I asked for my disc back but he broke it as well. To this day, I have not finished Legend of Dragoon and I don't know how Legend of Dragoon ends. Even now, I refuse to look at Youtube playthrough's because it's too painful to remember. And yes, we're not friends anymore.

*When I was old enough and started to grow a beard, I bought my first pack of cigarettes. Now I don't smoke. I just bought them for a friend and I wanted to see if I looked old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes.

*While I was working at Cebu, I blow off steam from a hard day's work by playing at an arcade. Problem was, this said arcade was located 20 minutes away from my workplace and 30 minutes away from my home. That's almost five hours of lost sleep (estimated overall time) but I didn't care. I usually end up going to work a little drowsy by the next day.

*Last time I checked my original FFVII save file, I logged in at almost 198 hours. It took me that long (I was 13...I think.) because I went through all the trouble to level up all my characters above 90 and collect all the game's materia, items and weapons. That's almost 8 days. So if you have a week and day off, THIS is what you should do.

*When I was a kid, I broke my leg due to a freak biking accident. At the hospital, I was told to take a break to let it heal. Everyone was telling me that everything's gonna be alright. All I could ever think about was that I can now finish Final Fantasy 9 for sure. Sweet.

*The PS3 currently has some of the most best games in terms of graphics and gameplay. Games like Killzone in 3D and Call of Duty:Black Ops. Right now, I'm playing...a remake of Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. Nothing beats the classics. "Big Apple, 3AM!"

*A few years back, I was playing Pokemon Blue on Gameboy Color. I got a Master Ball and used it on a Fearow to "test" if it worked. Six days later, I realized I needed the same freakin ball to catch MewTwo. It was also the day I saw a Gameboy fly.

*I never realized how much of a dick I could be until one time, a fight broke out between two of my closest friends over a game of Tekken 6. Friend1 got a lucky counter hit that obliterated Friend2's health. Blind with rage, Friend1 threw the controller at Friend2's chest and it almost turned into a fistfight. During those tense moments, all I could think about was "My God...Is my controller alright?!"

-Chady

Life with Imaginary Power-Ups #19!

*Whenever anyone says "Behold!" (especially with grand often unnecessary hand gestures) The follow up my head subconsciously hears is "Optic Blast!"

*You can always tell what recent (or favorite) third person action-adventure video game a person has played when a group of this people hang out together and they play a new action adventure video game. For example, the new Tomb Raider game. Whenever someone suggests to the player that he should use
Lara's 'Survival Instinct' attribute, that person will call it by the corresponding name of said attribute in the game they've played.

Scenario 1:
Bro: Dude, you should use Eagle Eye to find out where the salvage is!
Dude: The what, bro?
Bro: EAGLE EYE Baaa..you know, like the one from AC...

Scenario 2:
Bro: Duuuude! Use Instinct, use Instinct.
Dude: You mean 'Survival Instinct', right?
Bro: Same thing, bro...*rolls eyes*
(Note: Instinct comes from the Hitman: Absolution game)

*As a follow up to the post above, it's amazing how many action adventure games (and a few First person shooters) employ the "eagle eye" button from Assassin's Creed. on the top of my head there's Batman: Arkham series, the new Tomb Raider, the new Hitman and Red Dead Redemption to name a few. Wonder how much use it would be in other games like puzzlers or fighting games...

*I admit I am only familiar with the original 151 Pokemon. I would also like to admit that those 151 are the only that matters to me. Bulbasaur for life yo.


-Chady

Revisiting (with a commitment): Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition ver. 2012 Part 1

Street fighter is FINALLY getting the attention it deserves around our community and I'm very happy with the steady flux of new people joining in. New people means more money lolz but seriously, new faces can mean a lot of good things for the community.

What I like to talk about now is the appearance of new characters.

At first, Shotos were the only ones that keep appearing and naturally, it became boring pretty quick because nothing but Hado,Shoryu, FADC>Ultra all day. Nowadays, there are Dictators (whew...), Fei Longs, some Abels, a Claw...Warms my heart everytime the Character select screen appears and I don't hear "RYU!". Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I hate Ryu as a character (You can't hate on the original world warrior lolz) but facing four Ryu's in a row with little to no change in playstyle can kinda get repetetive. Sure, there are still those who are loyal to Ryu but I'm happy that they've learned to use him efficiently. A good Ryu always leads to a good match of Street Fighter.

I've been playing Rufus for SF4 since Vanilla (Fun Fact: I also had a Dee Jay in Super because I was a fan of Dee Jay in the Turbo days and after a few weeks with him, I remembered "Oh shit, I can't do charge characters) and honestly, I am in no way in the same level of Justin wong, Ricky O, chobixinco or Sir Mael Creampie. In fact, these are the people I look up to and most of my Rufus tech is copied from them. I have only recently reviewed my safe jumps, option selects and advanced combos that I can say my Rufus is somewhat competetive now, albeit a little better than before. I have always enjoyed and felt comfortable using Rufus because he has a divekick, a good selection of combos that are relatively easy
to do in an actual match and he can be a bit of a crowd pleaser. (U1 yooo.)

But since everyone is starting up on their own I'd like to follow suit. So I'm learning a new character too! Now, I haven't settled for anyone yet because I have been jumping around all the characters but I think I'm going for the fiesty schoolgirl Sakura.

This ends Part 1.

Part 2 is where I explain why I chose Sakura (community reasons, personal reasons, a show of respect, a challenge for myself, etc.) and hopefully I can follow up soon.

P.S. I am not dropping Rufus. I still love em Bobo combos lolz

Peace out
-Chady

I should be "Revisiting" this and Getting another "Life with Imaginary 1-ups"

I've been reviewing my blog recently and I have forgotten I have two perfectly good write ups that I should continue... namely "Revisiting" and "Life with Imaginary 1-ups".

In the next few days, I should have one (or two) for each segment.

I just hope I just don't run out of material aga....




-Chady

DO NOT MASH LE BUTTONS: A Ruleset for Bohol Arcadium.

PLEASE DO NOT MASH THE BUTTONS

By Chady Araneta and the staff of Bohol Arcadium....but mostly, Chady Araneta

REASONS:

1.)SANWA parts do not come cheap and when they get broken, replacements have to be ordered from Japan and delivery could take awhile and they do not come cheap. I cannot stress enough how important this fact is. Have a little consideration. (NOTE: THEY DO NOT COME CHEAP.)

2.)To avoid unneccesary return-to-menu complications. When you’ve chosen your character, wait patiently, check your phone/notes/dick/etc., talk to your friends/enemies/self, change the music on your mp3 player...ANYTHING  just don’t press the damn buttons.

3.)As you might have noticed, SANWA parts are very sensitive, will react to your slightest touch and they give you the best arcade experience possible.  With that being said, do not get angry and ham out at the buttons/stick when the move you want didn’t come out. I can understand this frustration (We’ve all been there.) but please refer to rule #1 and the first sentence of this reason. I would like to write down suggestions though on what to think about when you, the player, is put in this situation:
• Maybe it’s an off night for you and you just didn’t do the move correctly.
• Blame the console/tv/monitor. Lag issues man. They exist.
• You can also blame your friends and your surroundings. Outside factors can be very annoying.
• Maybe it was a setup you weren’t familiar with and your reversal didn’t come out. Good tech is good tech. You can’t beat that.
• Maybe God/destiny/karma/whatever your religious and superstitious belief may be (We don't judge hehe) didn’t want you to win that match.
And by far, the best reason I can think of:
• Maybe you just suck and you’re being a whiny little bitch. Stay free and get bodied all the time.

But if you bring your own controller/ arcade stick...then by all means, MASH AWAY.
I'd be happy to fix anything you break...for a price :D

4.) This maybe the most out of context reason ever but as you all know, the Arcadium was made to provide not only as a place to play games but it’s also the place to develop and improve the Bohol Fighting Game Community (FGC).  Basically, we try to emulate what made the arcade scene so successful before the explosion of the internet and online games and that was the unique atmosphere it gave out and the sense of camaraderie that develops among players. Mashing not only makes you look like a scrub (Unless it’s Mahvel and you need those extra hits) but it just shows you’re just play for the heck of it (which is wrong), you make us look like morons for spending hours learning any fighting game and you just press all the buttons to make “something happen” and those hollow victories don’t mean anything to you because most of the time, you have no idea what’s going on. That’s just sad. We try our best to teach the neophytes of fighting games, the do’s and the don’ts,  and we tend to discourage mashing because “it ain’t right.”  
Do your part.   

IF THE MANAGEMENT FINDS OUT YOU BROKE SOMETHING, WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK YOU A “DAFUQ MAN...” FEE TO REPLACE THE BROKEN PART. 

Peace out
-Chady