Featured post

Footsies Resources

It’s been like 12 years since i wrote the Footsies Handbook, but it still comes up in FGC threads sometimes. In retrospect, i indulged in way too much thesaurus creativity for what should’ve been a clear guide. I prefer simpler writing now.

They weren’t my ideas to begin with, and a lot of them have been developed further and expressed more clearly since then. We just have better words for things, like saying hitbox vs hurtbox, instead of calling everything a hitbox. Someone had to be clever enough to find a precise term that stuck, which is an ongoing process that takes time and effort. So here are a few articles and videos that have done a better job of capturing and expanding the concepts i tried to convey. I’ll keep adding to this list from time to time.

Footsies Trilemma by HiFight
  – Simplified rundown of the most common fundamentals of footsies: hit attack (advancing attack), cover attack (preemptive poke), and whiff punish attack

The Art of Footsies, Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 by Johnny Worms
  – Concise and eloquent breakdown of the “footsies triangle” as whiff punishment, approaching, and poking – along with feinting as a half-layer for each option

The Rules of Footsies by Celia Wagar
  – An expanded overview of the various rock-paper-scissors triangles involved in footsies, with detailed examples of ground-run-centric anime fighting game interactions

Continue reading

Time for a Change?

I’ve helped produce combo videos for major FGC events almost every year since Evolution 2004. It’s been an awesome experience overall – with plenty of hard work, sleepless nights, close calls, and moments of genuine happiness along the way.

I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with so many talented combo makers on just about every video concept i could’ve imagined – but i think i’m done. After ten years, this seems like a good time to step away. I might still release short combovids on my own; but without the crazy stressful deadlines and sleep-deprived, near-death experiences of driving to Las Vegas at the last minute with 6-18 months of work on a USB drive in my pocket!

On a slightly gloomy note, each of our last five collaborative combo videos have barely averaged 20,000 views (a huge drop from 140k in previous years).

ComboVid.com DAMAGE exhibition v.one (Evo2k11)

ComboVid.com DAMAGE exhibition v.two (SB6)

ComboVid.com Air Throw Exhibition v.one (Evo2k12)

ComboVid.com style exhibition v.two (TFC2k13)

ComboVid.com style exhibition v.three (Evo2k14)

I know better than to judge the success of a project based solely on view count. Plus i never monetize any of my videos, so views have no financial impact on my life whatsoever (and i still think trying to make money from playing video games is risky business). And yet, it’s difficult to ignore the sense that people don’t seem to care as much about these combovids anymore.

Continue reading

ComboVid.com style exhibition v.three (Evo2k14 Edition)

The third entry in the style exhibition combo video series features numerous veterans, many new faces, and several new fighting games! A total of nineteen combo makers collaborated on this extraordinary video – growing it into ten full minutes of creative and original combos, with a central emphasis on stylish gameplay.

As the title suggests, this project is the follow-up to Evo2k10’s sh/f style exhibition v.one and TFC2k13’s ComboVid.com style exhibition v.two. As usual, a full transcript with detailed explanations will be posted on ComboVid.com within the next couple of days.

Matador (Evo2k14 Premiere)

Matador premiered earlier today at Evolution 2014, immediately after UMvC3 semi-finals. If you missed it, you can now watch the entire short film in HD-quality for free.

Matador

It was written by Brett D. Bayonne, produced by Greg Gertmenian, and directed by Vahe Gabuchian – the team that brought you Balrog: Behind the Glory. However, Matador is a gritty drama with an all-new cast; focusing on Street Fighter’s sociopathic and self-adoring Spanish ninja, Vega.

A marked deviation from its comedic predecessor, the film takes an unflinching look at Claw’s traumatic childhood and the events that made him into the rage-fueled assassin he is today. In addition to the massive audience in attendance at the event, over 80,000 viewers from all over the world watched Matador live-streamed online.

If you enjoyed it, please follow @ChubbyBoyFilms on twitter, and let them know what you thought of the film. And of course, share it with your friends!

PASBR Patch 1.12 Balance Changes

As some of you may have heard, i’ve been working on a PASBR balance patch with the extremely talented crew at Santa Monica Studio. In implementing these changes and prioritizing bugs to fix, we incorporated as much of the community’s feedback as possible.

Hopefully the end result is a more fun and balanced experience for the entire roster. Without further ado, here is the complete changelist for v1.12 of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale!

    General Changes
• Isaac’s alternate “Engineering R.I.G.” costume and Zeus’ alternate “Young Zeus” costume have been unlocked.
• Every character’s throw attempts have been standardized to 9 startup frames, 3 active frames, and 18 recovery frames, with the exception of Isaac, Kat, and Ratchet.
• The minimum effective range of throws has been increased to 1 meter (previously 0.75m) for all characters except Parappa, Sackboy, and Toro.
• In online matches, jumping out of an opponent’s throw attempt is now resolved through the throw clash system.
• Every character’s air dodge has been standardized to 27 invincible frames followed by 9 vulnerable frames (previously 29 invincible plus 7 vulnerable).
• Every character’s directional rolls have been standardized to 18 invincible frames followed by 16 vulnerable frames, with the exception of Fat Princess, Spike, and Zeus.
• Characters can no longer perform actions for 3 frames after landing from air idle.
• Characters can no longer double jump during down tech.
• Landing during down tech or down tech canceled into air dodge now triggers the same recovery as landing during an attack.
• Getting hit in the air no longer renews a character’s double jump ability.
• All timed transformation Level 2 Supers can now be ended manually by pressing L2.
Continue reading