Since starting up my youtube channel roughly a year ago, i’ve come across quite a few “interesting” comments regarding combo videos. I’ll try to address some of them here.
Let’s start with a disturbingly common reaction to recent SF4 challenges. Almost every installment, someone comes along and says it’s too easy, writes out some vague theoretical solution, then demands props without ever bothering to verify the idea – much less record it.
This is a problem for two reasons. First, it’s disrespectful of those people who did put forth the time and effort into testing, performing, capturing, editing, and uploading a legitimate response. Second, it grossly underestimates what it takes to complete a working combo.
Building a combo around one significant new concept is never a one-step process. Assuming there’s always a direct route between an idea and a result is a huge misconception. Creativity simply doesn’t work that way. Whenever you come up with something new, it immediately branches off into numerous related somethings which require further testing and a slew of questions which need answering.
For every advanced combo in existence, there were dozens of unseen prototypes devised, developed, and abandoned in search of the optimal outcome. The vast majority of ideas simply don’t pan out, but every rigoriously tested light bulb adds a new puzzle piece to your repertoire. Most of the good ones can’t be obtained any other way.
Make no mistake – ideas are still at the top of my pyramid. When i watch a combo video, the first thing i look for is innovation. You can show me 10 minutes of the most absurdly, excruciatingly difficult commands imaginable, but it won’t leave an impression on me if it contains nothing new.
However, work gives ideas weight. To put it another way: 20 ideas need to go into one worthwhile combo before it works, so if you have 1 then you’re still 19 away. That’s why props are reserved for people who reach the finish line.
Another unexpected situation came up a few days ago, upon releasing the Rufus / C.Viper TACV. It’s no secret that neither is exactly my favorite character, but i sank a lot of hours into that video. Sure, it’s possible i overlooked a good combo which i wouldn’t have missed if this was a Guile combovid. I’ll be the first to admit that focus and familiarity are crucial factors. When it comes to broad multi-character or multi-game projects, you can definitely tell which ones the maker preferred and which he was simply pushing to get through.
However, accusing me of getting lazy is going a bit too far. Every combo shown in that video was as good as i could possibly make it and contained something interesting. To be clear, it’s not a matter of me taking offense. The real issue is that these critics have no authority on the subject, because they don’t have a firm grasp of the limitations of Rufus, Viper, and Street Fighter 4 in general.
It’s unrealistic to judge Rufus and Viper based on expectations the Dhalsim TACV built up. Seriously, comparing one of the top three combo characters in SF4 against two characters who are barely mid-tier combo-wise? Not to mention, Dhalsim is one of the most overlooked characters in the game whereas dozens of dedicated Rufus and Viper combo videos surface every month.
Again, i have no issue whatsoever with one of my videos being declared obsolete. The only point i’m trying to make is that talk is cheap. You can’t accuse me of overlooking ideas without presenting concrete proof: better ideas executed in recorded combos. Every video i make consists of the best new material i can find, in its most polished form. When someone comes along and claims it could’ve been better without being able to explain how – well, what am i supposed to say to that?
Believe me, if you make a better video than mine, i’ll be the happiest guy cheering in the front row. But you have to get it done first. No shortcuts allowed. You can’t predict a character’s advanced combo capabilities by the relative superiority of their basic and intermediate combos. You just don’t know what is or isn’t out there until you travel all the way down the road.
Lastly, several people have been complaining about the extreme damage reduction in Street Fighter IV. That’s a topic for another day, but it’s there for good reason and it keeps the game balanced. However if it bothers you that much, just ignore the fighters and their lifebars, and only pay attention to how much environmental havoc they’re causing. Damage scaling might make SF4 combos look weaker compared to other games, but some characters can kick up more dirt than a Juggernaut combo. Try it out!
Well, that covers just about everything, except for the things i’ve forgotten. But let’s leave that stuff for Part Two, which may or may not surface at some point in the distant future.
Dirt and ink!
Maybe the combo counter messages will reflect that in SSF4?
10 Hit Combo
Grimy!
You’re always gonna get armchairs critics in anything you do. There’s no way to shut them down, because they will always believe they know better and in the end, they don’t really have any interest in what you really do anyway.
I think it’s better to just ignore this minority(which it is, frankly, the majority of the comments on your vids seem to know what you’re doing) and to just focus on the people that do show an interest or understanding. That’s actually what I thought this article was gonna be about, a deeper insight in what goes into making a combo video.
It isn’t the critics who bother me, or the criticisms directed at my videos, or even the personal insults (though sometimes i wonder why people have to resort to that). What bothers me is how weak their arguments are.
I mean, when someone comes along and tells me my video sucks, my first thought is always “Wow, what did they have in mind?” Then when it turns out that they’ve got absolutely nothing, i can’t help but be a little disappointed. You know what i mean? Why get my hopes up if they’re just gonna back down as soon as someone asks them to show something better? Cuz i sure as hell wouldn’t go around talking shit about someone else’s videos if i had nothing better to back me up.
The other issue here is that people have these crazy expectations now. Some dude’s going around saying that the Rufus/Viper video is garbage because it doesn’t measure up to the previous episodes and how i should just stop making them if i can’t keep up the quality. I mean, i get where he’s coming from. He probably even thinks he’s helping in some twisted backwards way.
But what gets me is this ridiculous notion that you can judge an idea based on how well it measures up to your prediction of the idea. That’s like blaming engineers for not having solved the nuclear fusion energy riddle. How do you know it’s even possible until they solve it? Banking on something that doesn’t exist yet seems like a really bad plan to me. Why set yourself up for major disappointment? So i’m sorry but i felt i had to say something about that.
I’d love to see the Viper video that was playing in this guy’s head before it met reality. I’m just sad it’s never gonna happen.
No, but that’s what I mean, I thought that was the definition of an armchair critic, someone who thinks he knows it all, but can’t actually do whatever he’s criticizing for himself.
It’s tough to deal with, but in the end it’s kind of a waste of energy to devote your time to that.
Unless the guy has some sort of power over you, like he’s your producer and he’s not getting it, yeah you need to do something about that. This guy however, was one guy -ONE GUY- in a sea of very positive comments!
Besides, it’s a pretty intense project you’re working on, you got something new on this site almost every day. You’re making combo videos every two weeks. If people can’t understand that not everything might turn out as godly as the imagined it would be and that not every single character in SFIV is a combo machine, it’s their problem.
Yeah i guess you’re right. I resolved both of these issues when they came up on u2b but there were a couple lingering points that needed to be made. It’s not for them cuz i’m pretty sure none of them ever bother coming here. But this whole “ideas vs work” issue keeps coming up and it’s a tricky one.
Also yesterday was kind of a weird day. I spent most of it staring at a photo of a graveyard. Guess it brought out my unnecessarily philosophical side.
Anyway if you’d actually want to read an article about making combo videos, i’ll try to write one. But it’s going to take a hell of a lot more prep time than this did, so it might be a while.
Everything you do seems to me be whole hearted.
Ah the anonymity of the internets. Your work is great regardless of what people say, I don’t think most people have the imagination nor drive to do what you do with these combo vids. Keep doing what you’re doing! *whispers*blanka*whispers*
Youtube is a hole of haters, or people who just think they have the absolute and definitive knowledge about videogames, and that’s some of the reasons i dont allow comments on my videos , it really piss me off, they dont seem to understand o appreciatte the work, dedication/exploration and time you spend on it, they just talk shit because the air is free.
Maj your doing a great job for the whole community, the dimmension of your work is so fucking huge men, you dont have to care about a poor fucking guy who talk shit whit no solid arguments of your videos.
Keep the great job you’re doing.
Cheers from Argentina.
~Keiko.
(sorry for my bad english)
@Keiko
Incidentally, your english is better than that of 90% of native speakers on youtube!
Actions speak louder then words and as long as you have even one more second of visual content that they don’t have, You already trumped their arguments.
@Maj “Anyway if you’d actually want to read an article about making combo videos, i’ll try to write one.”
It wasn’t really a request, it’s just that I thought this article was gonna be about that because of the title “Understanding Combo Videos”.
Just keep doing what you’re doing man. The footsies handbook is one of the best things on FGs I’ve ever read btw.
Huh, people dis-respecting Maj and his combo vids now? Amazing.
Personally, I request more glitch combos. That Rufus Spectacle Romance glitch into ultra stole the show!
Uhh god all the critics of the new vids capcom have releases. “I don’t really like ken’s ultra. I want it to be better.” Better! Better? What is better? If you have no real ideas don’t get involved.
Thanks for your support sirs. I know this stuff isn’t exactly rocket science and i never let myself forget that we’re just talking about video games. But i guess you can’t put this much time into anything without it getting complicated once in a while. At any rate i said what was on my mind so i’m over it.
zafo999: Surprisingly enough, there aren’t any real glitch setups in SF4 yet. Even the Rufus thing was a simple trade, like trading with a Focus Attack (which you can do mid-combo as well). So far the closest thing we’ve seen to a glitch setup is trading with the Psycho Crusher part of Bison’s ultra but even that’s kinda straightforward.
This was a relatively good read, but it seems you made it more out of angst than to share the efforts of making a combo video. & there certainly are alot of decent subjects in regards to the process of creating combos for most games anyway.
Depending on game obviously, mechanics can be a hindrance, enemy health, stun bars etc, all need accounting for.
I made an article a while ago (for my native DMC3 :P the game that pretty much got me on gaming forums etc) I have it somewhere
http://blogs.ign.com/Pokey86/
Now this is bloody old, i was about 18 when i made it, & i myself was still a very amateur creater of gaming videos. Certainly in the whole scheme of things my logic in the above blog is not full (I state DMC is one of the most recorded games which is obviously wrong) but most of it is still genuine & relates quite well here. (Though the difference in combo & gameplay video is more apparent in SF or fighting games in general, it isn’t in action games like NG/DMC)
On top of this i used to run fun tournements called “True Style Tournement” for DMC in which a decent load of people would get together make vids with a few basic rules in place, then get judged upon by the community. It didn’t generate much but for a game with no greatly known background to rely on, it was good.
Anyway, as i hosted & competed i’d say it was safe to say i had a good knowledge of what depicted skill & ability in the game. However when put to the crowd you’d find judgements you didn’t expect. ones that were way out. An example would be hard to explain unless you played DMC but it basically came down to what was prettiest or who did the “known” tricks the most. Someone could work hours doing Doppelganger video (Controlling 2 characters at the same time,with the same controller) but get slaughtered but get by someone using the same function but litterally mashing attack buttons (Because controlling two characters at the same time, always looks technical & difficult even if youre mashing)
Which did happen.
Occasionally skill shines through though, & masses become more aware of advanced tricks & mechanics within a game. (Which i saw in TST2)
tl;dr
—
To get to the point. Unless the people watching the video understand (fully) juggle mechanics, hitboxes & positioning most will most likely not be in a position to judge the level of effort put in to your tool-assisted videos.
For one, the video being “tool-assisted” to some people will instantly make people assume that they’ll see unbelievably godly things as it’s mainly a machine doing the legwork. 2 Alot will also stick up there noses at the word because it’s defeating the skill involved. 3 Some may even think as it’s tool-assisted there is absolutely no effort put in to the video.
Not to piss on you because i admire you’re skill, mindset & determination, but i’d say you should consider yourself partially lucky you challenge a game that has a relatively old fanbase. When i made videos for DMC, it generally had a fanbase of 8 – 20 years old. Meaning in some cases, even arguing wasn’t possible. (& i so love to argue :P)
& i certainly wouldn’ take any comments to seriously on youtube, an old Doppelganger video i made a while back (Advanced DMC combos) got the reply “It’s nice, but it’s nowhere near as good as Bayonetta” Can’t argue with that :P
What i used to do was take in to consideration the location of the comment, & as to whether it got agreements.
Sorry,longer than i thought.
It’s alright; happened to me too. It wasn’t angst though. Like i said, the issues were resolved when they surfaced but i felt like there were a couple more points to be made. I didn’t have anything else planned on the schedule so i wrote them out.
Talking about combos isn’t easy. Every time i make one of these 2-minute videos, they’re accompanied by 15 minutes of text. Usually i try to convey the major points as concisely as possible, but that barely even scratches the surface of everything in the video, not to mention all the steps along the way.
There’s simply no way i could write about the efforts of making a combo video in one article. Honestly, how much time do people want to spend reading that stuff? Just because someone enjoys watching two minutes of combos doesn’t mean they want to read about them for an hour, right?
So whatever i want to say, i try to sneak it into different articles piece by piece. Btw i have written a couple of dedicated combo design articles (under the “Combos” heading). Not surprisingly, they don’t get mentioned much.
As for taking comments seriously, i do it because the alternative leads to apathy. I’d rather take the hit. It’s okay, i can handle it.
Nice article btw. It made a lot of points which never come up in the fighting game community (or haven’t come up for a long while). Interesting to read about. And i remember watching some of the videos you mentioned because they came up on our radar too – on SRK, IRC, and GCC/CV.
Ican understand why your combo design articles don’t get many hits (Mine had like 3 comments :P) Alot ofpeople watchcombo videos like a passing glance & don’tintend to read along with it.
I’d ask you don’t stop doing the write ups to the combos, i know you probably won’t but i certainly enjoy reading them :P I made write ups for every combo in the last vid i did. I’d be amazed if a single person read them. Just indulgence on my part, i hate making one sentence threads [“Here’s me vid [link]”] that kind of thing.
Keep up the good work, i’ll give those a quick read when i get a bit of free time.
I’m no Daigo but i can honestly say that this site and your posts, in video or text form, helped me in a huge way. In Sioux Falls SD there is not much to do and in the most recent SFIV tourney i placed 3rd(Lost 2nd place to Zangief), the first place winner was a cammy user who had no knowledge of combos but a really great mind game!!! All excuses aside i probably would have dropped out i had not watched your SFIV Guile combos video. Point is that not only are your posts fun to watch they are also educational so you just need to get that dirt of your shoulder and keep doing what you are doing!!!