Well, i don’t have anything to talk about today and the Lakers are losing right now which doesn’t help matters, so … anyone got any questions for me?
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Well, i don’t have anything to talk about today and the Lakers are losing right now which doesn’t help matters, so … anyone got any questions for me?
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MVP! MVP! MVP!
You feel that in yo’ face Silent Bob? Wahoo nooch!
How do I replace the crappy default DirectShow capture compressor which limits 1280×720 at a sad 15fps to the awesome MJPG compressor so I can get 30fps?!?
What software are you using? Have you tried using VirtualDub? It’s got basically every option ever.
Which character are you most excited, combo wise, out of the new characters in SSFIV?
Can you explain footsies for characters without fireballs. Like Abel/Gief/Adon?
@StreakSRM
I use Video Studio pro X3. My capture card is crappy though, so the videos don’t look that good. But if it’s on PC, I recommend it, cause it does HD and 30fps. All sorts of stuff.
Is there a website that covers what the main arcades of each region are? My friend was asking about San Fransisco tournaments today and I didn’t know what to tell him other than to use the Shoryuken forum and calendar. I figure, once you know the main arcades of a region (like Arcade Infinity, Denjin Arcade, Family Fun Arcade in southern CA) you can google all the stuff about them, but there doesn’t seem to be a place that lists them all.
TheMonkey: Kinda excited about Adon, actually, because i used to play him back in SFA1 and i also try to play him SFA2 though it doesn’t work out as well. Objectively i think Makoto looks the most interesting because she has a lot of weird cancels in 3S.
Normally i’d pick a projectile character but Ibuki’s the only one. Her knife angles don’t look too helpful and she can’t be interrupted without causing tons of recovery. I guess there’s also Dee Jay but he’s not that interesting in ST combo-wise so we’ll have to see if has anything new.
In terms of new combo targets, i’m happy to have Dudley’s rose back.
What’s the deal with airplane peanuts?
Rinsuku: That’s more of a strategy question than a technical one, but footsies with non-fireball characters works the same, except you need a reliable way of dealing with mid-range fireballs. Ideally your method should be usable on reaction because that’s much safer than anticipation, but there are certain ranges where Gief can Lariat without much risk. Otherwise just follow all the things i’ve been mentioning in the footsies articles and you should do fine, especially with Adon since his pokes have excellent range and he has fast walk speed.
Crysalim: SRK used to have an arcade listing but that was quite a while ago. Though it was integrated into APEX, so hopefully it’ll be incorporated into APEX2 as well – whenever it gets up and running.
Aha. Thanks a bunch Maj. I really appreciate all of your hard work on these combo vids and footsie articles (especially the footsies articles). I thought I knew what I was doing, but I read your guide anyway and my whole world was flipped. Your articles are amazing please keep up the awesome work!!
SlimX: You mean combo-wise? They have infinite juggle potential, provided you have good aim. But they’re still kinda useless because they cause no hit stun and very little damage. Hella good for interrupt setups though.
Rinsuku: Thank you sir. If you have any questions about those articles, you can always post them as comments to whichever one your question relates to. I always read through everything so i should see it eventually.
I’m from New York (now in Maryland, but I don’t watch baseketball for a reason: Knicks suck X^D Being a Lakers fan is always a good thing! Anyway, I really love your articles, particularly about weird trivia or bugs regarding game engines (love the SFII random article) not to mention the fun combo transcripts. Just wanted a compliment in there pff.
The real question is, are there any SNK-based fighters you particularly like? I do recall seeing you talk of the horrors of trying to get the music turned off for SvCC!
@chicobo329
Oh I’m sorry this is a technical Q&A! I had a general question up there. Fortunately I have a technical one: do you think the lack of parries would seriously change the game/play style of the SFIII characters in SSFIV?
chicobo329: I like a lot of SNK games but it’s usually for the characters moreso than the gameplay. Their overall style is awesome too, especially in the Samurai Shodown and Last Blade series. If i could go back and learn to play one game, it would be a toss-up between MvC2 and whichever Samurai Shodown game is considered classic. No time now though, sadly.
I’ve recorded a handful of SNK combos but nothing too in-depth. I do enjoy watching SNK combo vids though, especially anything by adakino, T-7, Persona, and generally anything that comes out of CX.
And i don’t think lack of parries will trouble the SF3 characters too much because Dudley will have an uppercut reversal, maybe Ibuki too, and all three will have invincible backdash and one-shot parries via Focus Attack armor. The parry system hurt those characters more than it helped them anyway.
When can we expect the answers to your last SF2 trivia quiz? I wanna know if I got anything right.
Can you someway train your reaction speed? Or is it just a parameter you were born with?
Do you still enter tourneys, even if just for the hell of it?
What is a true warrior?
What awaits beyond victory?
When is Rose challenge coming up?Also, because i was the only one who posted a video response with Abel at the last challenge, can i say i completed the Abel challenge?
Bob Sagat: It’s been a while, huh? Sorry, i’ll post those on Friday or Monday at the latest.
DuXtin: Nobody knows how that works. I believe practice helps and focus helps too. I’d imagine any kind of concentration exercise would help you focus better for longer periods of time and that should boost your reaction time in fighting games too. Other than that, playing a matchup for a long time gets you used to what the opposing character’s startup animations look like, so you can differentiate them and react from an earlier sign.
Kareeem: It’s been a while. I used to go to FFA semi-regularly but i never liked it as much as SHGL. I’d enter whenever there was a CvS2 tournament on a day i happened to be there, but it’s been a while since the last time i even went. Now Denjin is the place to go and it’s just plain too far – almost an hour drive.
Ryukenden: Haha i don’t know. Why do you want to be a true warrior? And didn’t Ken ask the second question in the first SF Animated Movie? I think his answer was “my fate” or something along those lines.
Smileymike101: Rose challenge should be posted either this Friday or Monday. Regarding the “Abel challenge,” haha sure.
Two questions if you don’t mind Maj. First I just played a game against an Abel as Rose. He pretty psychically ultra’d through a spark but as a spur of the moment thing I decided to cancel it into a super and it worked he went through the super and i went through the ultra. Wasted a super but it was like final hit anyway, do you think that that is a useful technique? Second I’ve picked up Vega thinking if I can learn to play with the bad one in SF4 I should be fine with the buffed one in SSF4. I’m actually really enjoying playing him. The overhead heel seems like a nice buff to stop people just turtling low block but what other buffs do you think he needs? All I can think of is the frame data on his pokes so that he isn’t so negative on block (and hit for some). Cheers James.
@Maj
Nah, they come from Ryu’s ending in 3rd strike. You meant “Ken, what do you see beyond your fist?”
jamheald: How much invincibility does Rose’s super have? If your super whiffs too, then i don’t think it’s worth it. You’re probably better off FADCing backward. It might be useful with someone like Ken or Gouken though. As for Vega, i think he’s a cool classic character but there’s a very fine line between useless and overpowered with him. Honestly i’d rather he be too weak than too strong because he has a tendency to really dumb down the game when he’s overpowered. All he needs is good frame data on his pokes and a reliable reversal. He’s already got range and speed.
Ryukenden: Didn’t Gouken also talk about going “beyond victory” to defeat Bison in Ken’s flashback? I actually liked that movie, even though Guile did nothing but drive fast (twice) and throw a Sonic Boom at Honda’s house.
Don’t really know no too much I would say. Yeh guess you’re right bout fadc, forgot about that, ahwell looked cool with all the super freeze.
Don’t get me wrong, it might still be useful. Like if you have a super that moves forward or has a lot of invincibility, it’ll save you in situations where backward FADC couldn’t.
For example if you need to dash backward late to avoid a slow ultra, you can’t really wait forever because your move will become uncancelable. But if you have a forward-moving super with invincibility, you can do it earlier and still make it through.
The right situation just doesn’t come up that often and usually isn’t worth the meter unless you can win the round for sure. So you’ll have to test it to see how reliable it is and only resort to it when it’s the only way out.
Plus it’s all sorts of flashy. If you find a good way to use it and pull it out during tournament finals, hella fans!
Yeah, but at least Guile had a lot of screen time and he also whiffed a Flash Kick against Bison.
Hawk didn’t do a single. Damn. Special.
Granted, any of his specials would have meant an instant fatality for Ken, but still. Good flick. Has its flaws, but it’s not boring, like the other movies and there’s some pretty decent animation here and there.
Yeh thank god abels ultra takes so long I got a combo in and killed him. Another question if you don’t mind me picking your brain. Out of the current characters which second ultras are you looking forward most to and why?
Bob Sagat: Sorry dude, not buying it. Whiffing a flash-less Flash Kick is not cool. I sympathize with you being a T.Hawk player but they never have Guile do anything cool either. In fact one of the reasons i’m looking forward to SSF4 is that it looks like he fights Juri in some of the anime clips. Hopefully it lasts longer than 3 seconds.
jamheald: You mean other than Sonic Hurricane ultra? Probably Rose’s new ultra because it could be a game-changer. Blanka’s Pikachu ultra looks interesting too, because it seems to have two different animations based on how it connects.
@maj the new blanka ultra isn’t based on how it connects but what buttons you press to do the move. I believe PPP is the ground version and can hit full screen and kkk is the anti air version that hits straight up. As good as it looks I can’t stand the db,f,b,uf motion so I’m not sure I’ll use it
Honda’s super has …well way too much invincibility, have you messed with it at all? I was toying around with it, seems every projectile whiffs, it looks hilarious when Sim does his super and Honda is just sitting in it.
I recorded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbtcrp-QYJA sorry the quality is so crappy, don’t have any software besides my macbook.
And, what are your thoughts on SF4 for the iPhone?
@error1
I never understand what peoples problems are with triangle ultras, I really like the input, although that may just be because I have an arcade stick with a square gate and it feels cool to ride the corners.
error1: Ah ok, that makes more sense. Either way it looks cool and i wonder how the ground version behaves when interrupted.
harejordan: I don’t think it has that much full invincibility but it does have a ton of projectile invincibility. That comes from ST, where his super would actually nullify projectiles during the flying portions. No opinion on mobile SF4. Looks cool but i can’t imagine it being relevant to any of us. Plus my cell phone is a Samsung Beat so i’m pretty far from being able to run it.
Maj: Well, there’s still an insane amount of Sonic Booms he does in the USA cartoon…
Lame Sonic Booms! Zero cool Sonic Booms.
I hate it when i have to admit that anything MK is better than anything SF, but the American Mortal Kombat cartoon was miles better than the American Street Fighter cartoon. It’s not right!
Maj, any chance you’d consider making exhibition combo vids of SF3: 2I and/or NG? I think you could come up with some impressive combos.
Who is your most disliked street fighter character? For any reason. Abilities, Design, etc..
Tizoc: Maybe an isolated combo here and there, but full videos? Probably not. Even though i like those games, i’ve never really played them much since i’ve always been more into the Alpha series. It’s probably better to let someone who’s familiar with them go at it. At this point i can’t imagine having enough time to learn a whole new juggle system, especially one as arbitrary as the SF3 series.
lightnaros: The ones i always hated playing against were Vega, Sakura, and Yun/Yang. I don’t mind their visual designs because Capcom usually finds ways to make their characters seem cool or at least funny. But in terms of gameplay, they get way too many automatic freebies. Whenever Vega is good in a game, he gets to push buttons at will and walk/jump all over the place for free. Sakura’s crossup is way too good and her autocombo sets it up again. And i just hate Yun and Yang’s divekicks. I kinda hate playing against Dhalsim too but it wasn’t much of a problem in CvS2 and it’s more or less alright in SF4. Oh yeah, and i hate Athena in CvS2. Dumb one-button character. The week everyone decided to play her almost made me quit.
@Maj
I always wanted to try Athena in CVS2, haha X^D I use her a lot in KOF ’98, though I need to use the unblockable projectile bug better. The AI in KOF ’98 UM actually takes advantage of the bug on purpose, which I think is really funny and cool! What’s the one button she uses a lot in CVS2? I’m not familiar much with that game and how the characters are there.
I think I hated Nakoruru even more then Athena, but I always either played the CPU or my friends who couldn’t play and didn’t pick her anyway…
Yeh I think roses ultra looks cool. Adds something more advanced to her game. And while the only juggle combo looks like it could be hp reflect fadc in the corner or anti air you could possibly get off ultra super. Wish you could use super while they’re out though that could be fun.
chicobo329: Athena’s c.HP outprioritized damn near everything with its speed, range, and the way she practically laid down on the ground when she did it. And to make it even more annoying, she could link two of them for pretty decent damage so people mashed the hell out of that thing. It wasn’t really overpowered so much as extremely annoying.
Bob Sagat: Well, i couldn’t hate Nakoruru because i was supposed to be CvS1 Supporter #1 and Nakoruru was such a big part of CvS1 that hating her basically meant hating the game. So i forced myself not to hate her and learned how to deal with her.
jamheald: Are you sure Rose can’t super while her orbs are out? Cuz SF4 lets Ryu and Dhalsim use supers even when they have an ultra on the screen. Either way, i’m sure her super will juggle after her orbs connect and it comes out fast enough to react to the second orb colliding.
Which games have been the most fun for you, as far as exploring combo systems and coming up with combos? In your SF? Ryu Combo Exhibition, you explored a variety of Capcom games as well as some interesting mechanics and features of each one. Were there any games that you enjoyed exploring more than others, or is it just fun to do for any of the games you’ve done?
On the clips I’ve seen of the move lists it has a note by her super/ultra can’t remember stating that you can’t use the two together.
@ThundaSnake
I’m pretty sure he’s gonna say CvS2, because I think he literally said that before.
Do you think it was fair of Arika to expect us to do some of the combos in SFEX2plus’ Maniac Mode manually?
I managed to do a couple of them which didn’t require 200 damage, but to keep someone in the air for a certain period of time or something, but the death combos have like CCs with jab cancels and stuff, it was just too complex.
Yeah, CvS2 is my favorite combo game by a convincing margin. It was my gateway into this whole thing. Combo-wise i like literally everything about it.
It’s not the only game i’ve had fun with though. I like games that earn my respect through solid design. CvS2 is at the top of that list along with pretty much the entire SF2 series from WW to ST. SFA2 and 3S are pretty high up there as well, even though i never quite got into 3S the same way i got into CvS2/ST/SFA2.
I don’t really like games that let you get away with anything you want. Like SFTM was kinda fun to mess with while i was working on a few Van Guile combos, but i haven’t touched it once since then. On the other hand i don’t like it when combo systems are too limited, like SvC Chaos where literally 90% of all SvCC combovids look identical.
Though if you’re asking specifically about that Ryu video, that shit wasn’t fun at all. Apart from developing three or four ideas that i wanted to try from the very beginning, the rest was staight up work!
To be perfectly honest, most of the time i make combo videos, i don’t really enjoy the process. I just do it for the sake of seeing an idea through to the end. With that Ryu vid, i was pretty sure it would turn out cool in the end so i talked myself into an insane workload. There were a lot of days where i didn’t even want to see or hear or touch fighting games. Problems kept popping up until the very last minute so it’s still hard to believe that it got done.
I think a lot of combo video makers are like this (to varying degrees). It just burns you out, you know? When i started, i used to need six month breaks between every project. In fact every video i made, i thought was gonna be my last. I guess my recovery time has gotten better, or maybe i’ve just started ignoring it.
Figuring out game engines can be fun, but i don’t bother unless i’m planning on something creative with the knowledge i acquire. And that means combo videos and combo videos always snowball into way more work and take way longer than you expect them to.
It’s impossible to avoid that because once you have half the video done, you start worrying about someone beating you to your discoveries. At the same time the project itself has a tendency to branch out into a dozen different tangents. You find one little thing and if you decide to follow through on it, you could be on that side road for days or weeks. Giving up on an idea is always a tough call, but sometimes you gotta do it to cross the finish line.
Yeah, i’m not really motivated by fun. I just want to see something cool come together in the end.
(Sorry for rambling. I have no clue how to be concise with this topic.)
Anything’d be fine dude =3
Bob Sagat: I don’t know about fair, but i think by that point Arika had given up on trying to attain mainstream success for the SFEX series. They were probably just catering to their longtime fans who would be playing the game at home instead of going to the arcade to play something popular. If it was up to me, all these crazy combo trials would be replaced with something that teaches strategy.
Tizoc: Sorry sir, i meant like individual clips in case i ever need them for editing purposes. Like the Ryu combos i recorded and that one 2I Akuma combo in the Nimuro video. Otherwise i should be working on SF4 stuff whenever i have free time.
Maj i belive you about the ryu combo vid.To replicate your ryu-balrog scene in sf4 took me like 1 week and it was pretty frustrating:))But i really liked that part and it’s like the only thing out of that amazing ryu combo vid of your’s that can be done in sf4.