Fighting Game Newbie here, could use some tips!

[BlueDaruma]

Heya folks!

So SG is actually my first experience playing a fighting game. I've been messing around with the tutorials for a couple of days just trying to understand the basic concepts/ trying to get through the last few lengthy combos of the tutorial, and combo training in training room. Would really like to know where to go from there.

I'm... not very good with combos, so perhaps I should just continue with combo training for the time being? I picked Robo-Fortune as my first character to learn literally because she interested me the most both personality and playstyle-wise, but it seems as if a good number of people have suggested getting familiar with Cerebella and Fukua first?

That aside, got a couple of questions that I was hoping people could help me with:

1. In terms of where to go, is it recommend that I jump online and play matches against real opponents right away? I can already envision myself getting my ass handed to me more times than I can count, as I'm still struggling against a normal level CPU. I really only have an idea of how to play R. Fortune and Fillia anyway, the latter due to the fact that she was fairly extensively represented in the tutorial.
   
2. And on that note, for those of you that do play online regularly, what sort of connectivity do you recommend to ensure smooth gameplay? I'm guessing that my current, most-basic-of-the-basic internet plan probably isn't quite enough, but fortunately I am looking to upgrade it soon (guess it's more accurate to say that I'm fairly new to online gaming in general hahaha).
3. I'm currently playing on Steam and using a PS3 controller; the main reason being that the friend I got me into SG game plays it on PS3, and we'd be able to play locally this way (not completely ready to invest in a fightstick yet) I'm struggling with a couple of the inputs. Haven't successfully pulled off Big Band's level 5 super on the tutorial because of it. Anybody else out there currently using a PS3 controller that can relate/ provide some input of how they play? For movement, I'm actually using the analog stick over the control-pad, and the only issue that I've been having with that so far is ground dashing.
4. How do characters like Parasoul and Big Band incorporate their charge attacks into combos? From the few tournaments that I've watched, it looks like Brass Knuckles is a fairly staple part of Big Band's gameplay, but if you need to hold the opposite direction before you attack, doesn't that cause your opponent to easily drop out of a combo during that time? I'm guessing I'm missing something here...

Should be it for now. Looking forward to getting to know you guys!

 

[mcpeanuts]

In terms of where to go, is it recommend that I jump online and play matches against real opponents right away? I can already envision myself getting my ass handed to me more times than I can count, as I'm still struggling against a normal level CPU. I really only have an idea of how to play R. Fortune and Fillia anyway, the latter due to the fact that she was fairly extensively represented in the tutorial.

Other people are probably going to disagree with me on this but I would say keep playing the CPU until you have no problems with Nightmare. Real opponents are much more difficult than Nightmare CPU so if you're having trouble with Normal, playing online is going to be sad times. Up to you though, some people like the challenge.

And on that note, for those of you that do play online regularly, what sort of connectivity do you recommend to ensure smooth gameplay? I'm guessing that my current, most-basic-of-the-basic internet plan probably isn't quite enough, but fortunately I am looking to upgrade it soon (guess it's more accurate to say that I'm fairly new to online gaming in general hahaha).

As long as you have a wired connection you don't need super legit Internet to play this game online. Please don't play on wifi though it makes everyone cry.

I'm currently playing on Steam and using a PS3 controller; the main reason being that the friend I got me into SG game plays it on PS3, and we'd be able to play locally this way (not completely ready to invest in a fightstick yet) I'm struggling with a couple of the inputs. Haven't successfully pulled off Big Band's level 5 super on the tutorial because of it. Anybody else out there currently using a PS3 controller that can relate/ provide some input of how they play? For movement, I'm actually using the analog stick over the control-pad, and the only issue that I've been having with that is so far is ground dashing.

Can't help here, I use a stick. Keep in mind though you can dash both by double tapping forward or by pressing two punch buttons simultaneously. I know a lot of pad players like to set a macro to two punches so they can dash easily.

How do characters like Parasoul and Big Band incorporate their charge attacks into combos? From the few torunaments that I've watched, it looks like Brass Knuckles is a fairly staple part of Big Band's gameplay, but if you need to hold the opposite direction before you attack, doesn't that cause your opponent to easily drop out of a combo during that time? I'm guessing I'm missing something here...

You can hold back to charge while you're doing other things. Take the start of Big Band's normal corner combo for example, which is

c.LK c.MK s.HK xx M Brass Knuckles,
c.MPx2 s.HK etc

So, during the c.LK and c.MK you hold downback, during the s.HK you switch to neutral back, then you can easily just tap forward and medium punch to get your Brass Knuckles because you've been charging back for like a million years. All combos with charge specials in them have these kinds of tricks to them.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I'm... not very good with combos, so perhaps I should just continue with combo training for the time being? I picked Robo-Fortune as my first character to learn literally because she interested me the most both personality and playstyle-wise, but it seems as if a good number of people have suggested getting familiar with Cerebella and Fukua first?

You'll get better with performing them over time. Just keep practicing in the training room until you're fairly comfortable with performing them. Here is the combo thread for Robo-Fortune, if you want to find a good combo to practice.
Cerebella and Fukua are probably the easiest characters to learn (Fukua is very straightforward and Cerebella can deal a lot of damage for relatively low skill). You don't have to play them first, though.

In terms of where to go, is it recommend thated I jump online and play matches against real opponents right away? I can already envision myself getting my ass handed to me a number of times, as I'm still struggling against a normal level CPU. I really only have an idea of how to play R. Fortune and Fillia anyway, the latter due to the fact that she was fairly extensively represented in the tutorial.

I've run into lots of people that disagree with me but yes I suggest you fight other people right away. Fighting the CPU isn't really equivalent to fighting another player. It isn't that they're necessarily bad, but they can teach you some bad habits. I'd say join some beginner lobbies as QM isn't something good to jump in to right away, and try to find some people to play with.

And on that note, for those of you that do play online regularly, what sort of connectivity do you recommend to ensure smooth gameplay? I'm guessing that my current, most-basic-of-the-basic internet plan probably isn't quite enough, but fortunately I am looking to upgrade it soon (guess it's more accurate to say that I'm fairly new to gaming in general hahaha).

SG actually has fantastic netcode through something called GGPO so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you have to, try to find people in your region to play and avoid people in other countries, but otherwise this isn't too big of a problem.

How do characters like Parasoul and Big Band incorporate their charge attacks into combos? From the few torunaments that I've watched, it looks like Brass Knuckles is a fairly staple part of Big Band's gameplay, but if you need to hold the opposite direction before you attack, doesn't that cause your opponent to easily drop out of a combo during that time? I'm guessing I'm missing something here...

The way you do this is to hold back while doing combos. You won't actually move backwards as you are attacking, and they won't drop out of the combo. Do the chain that ends with the special as normal, but hold back so that was when you get to the special you have the charge.

 

[Fumako]

I'm currently playing on Steam and using a PS3 controller; the main reason being that the friend I got me into SG game plays it on PS3, and we'd be able to play locally this way (not completely ready to invest in a fightstick yet) I'm struggling with a couple of the inputs. Haven't successfully pulled off Big Band's level 5 super on the tutorial because of it. Anybody else out there currently using a PS3 controller that can relate/ provide some input of how they play? For movement, I'm actually using the analog stick over the control-pad, and the only issue that I've been having with that is so far is ground dashing.

I play ps3 controller with the analog~
I usually just set both macros to PP (PPP so I can dash with peacock holding SoID but it messes with headless fortune) and KK.
For DPs I recommend doing 6323 over forward-neutral-qcf but it's up to what you feel more comfortable with.

How do characters like Parasoul and Big Band incorporate their charge attacks into combos? From the few torunaments that I've watched, it looks like Brass Knuckles is a fairly staple part of Big Band's gameplay, but if you need to hold the opposite direction before you attack, doesn't that cause your opponent to easily drop out of a combo during that time? I'm guessing I'm missing something here...

Somethin' like:
cr.lk cr.mk [4]st.hk
6mp(Knuckle)
cr.mp
Basically just hold back during moves that give you time to do so. Band's st.hk pushes the opponent and that's enough time to get a charge. For Parasoul you start holding back after the first hit of st.hp.

 

[BlueDaruma]

Thanks for your input!

As long as you have a wired connection you don't need super legit Internet to play this game online. Please don't play on wifi though it makes everyone cry.

That's actually super reassuring to hear; I was really worried as to how well my connection would hold up.

Can't help here, I use a stick. Keep in mind though you can dash both by double tapping forward or by pressing two punch buttons simultaneously. I know a lot of pad players like to set a macro to two punches so they can dash easily.

My current macros are set to my assists since I figured it'd be the most convenient, but I guess I don't have to worry too much about those yet since I'm just focusing on one/ two characters for the time being.

You can hold back to charge while you're doing other things. Take the start of Big Band's normal corner combo for example, which is

c.LK c.MK s.HK xx M Brass Knuckles,
c.MPx2 s.HK etc

So, during the c.LK and c.MK you hold downback, during the s.HK you switch to neutral back, then you can easily just tap forward and medium punch to get your Brass Knuckles because you've been charging back for like a million years. All combos with charge specials in them have these kinds of tricks to them.

Knew I was missing something! I was getting super confused by the combo threads.

 

[BlueDaruma]

Thanks for your input!

You'll get better with performing them over time. Just keep practicing in the training room until you're fairly comfortable with performing them. Here is the combo thread for Robo-Fortune, if you want to find a good combo to practice.
Cerebella and Fukua are probably the easiest characters to learn (Fukua is very straightforward and Cerebella can deal a lot of damage for relatively low skill). You don't have to play them first, though.

Hmm... I guess I'll focus on R. Fortune for the time being then. Would you recommend at least learning about Fukua just to get into the swing of how fighting games work? She seems to have tools for a lot of things, so I'm considering maybe giving her a shot just to see how other opponents play out without getting completely bodied... if that makes sense?

I've run into lots of people that disagree with me but yes I suggest you fight other people right away. Fighting the CPU isn't really equivalent to fighting another player. It isn't that they're necessarily bad, but they can teach you some bad habits. I'd say join some beginner lobbies as QM isn't something good to jump in to right away, and try to find some people to play with.

At work right now, so I'll be sure to take a look when I get back home! Would you say that I need to be able to recognize some of the more complex maneuvers, such as learning how to utilize cross-ups/ overs in my gameplay before that, or should I just jump in and see what happens? I actually agree that playing against a live opponent is very much different from a CPU, but I guess I'm just not too confident.

SG actually has fantastic netcode through something called GGPO so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you have to, try to find people in your region to play and avoid people in other countries, but otherwise this isn't too big of a problem.

Super reassuring to hear. Thank you!

 

[BlueDaruma]

I play ps3 controller with the analog~
I usually just set both macros to PP (PPP so I can dash with peacock holding SoID but it messes with headless fortune) and KK.
For DPs I recommend doing 6323 over forward-neutral-qcf but it's up to what you feel more comfortable with.

Analog users unite! :D

I currently have my macros set to my two assists, but I don't really have any characters under my belt just yet aside from my aforementioned two. What buttons do you have for assists, if you use them?

Somethin' like:
cr.lk cr.mk [4]st.hk
6mp(Knuckle)
cr.mp
Basically just hold back during moves that give you time to do so. Band's st.hk pushes the opponent and that's enough time to get a charge. For Parasoul you start holding back after the first hit of st.hp.

Thanks for this! This'll probably take me some to get used to; still struggling with combos that require directional inputs...

 

[Rizil]

First thing I would recommend is practicing your motion and charge moves. Get used to executing Robos beam specials and other motion inputs so that you can do them consistently and with no trouble. Luckily this game is pretty forgiving when it comes to motions but hey practice makes perfect.

Once you start getting used to doing your beams and other special moves consistently look for a very simple combo to practice. I would do something like:
standing light punch x2 > medium punch > hard punch > quarter circle forward light punch
or
standing light punch x2 > medium punch > hard punch > quarter circle forward heavy kick

These are very basic combos that don't rack up a lot of damage, but we're just starting out so we're taking small steps, just to get you used to doing some very execution easy combos and get used to comboing from one move to the next to the next and finishing off with a motion. Once you get this down you have a foundation to work with to do combos and execution.

I feel this is the ground floor of any fighting game so that you can do any move on execution without a second thought.

(Also side note: pick a character like Filia, Cerebella, Fortune, Eliza, or any other character that has what we call a Dragon Punch motion. It's Forward>Down>Down-Forward+Button. Robo doesn't have this motion but other characters do, and it helps to practice that motion as well.)

 

[Meow-Professor]

Hmm... I guess I'll focus on R. Fortune for the time being then. Would you recommend at least learning about Fukua just to get into the swing of how fighting games work? She seems to have tools for a lot of things, so I'm considering maybe giving her a shot just to see how other opponents play out without getting completely bodied... if that makes sense?

She is probably your best choice if you want to learn how the mechanics work and don't want to spend much time on a specific character, yeah. It's up to you.

At work right now, so I'll be sure to take a look when I get back home! Would you say that I need to be able to recognize some of the more complex maneuvers, such as learning how to utilize cross-ups/ overs in my gameplay before that, or should I just jump in and see what happens? I actually agree that playing against a live opponent is very much different from a CPU, but I guess I'm just not too confident.

Heheh no problem, most people feel worried the first time they start to fight other people. Keep in mind that if you join beginner lobbies,you're going to be fighting people on your level, so you should at least stand a chance. I'd say jump in right away, as those are things you'll learn in matches.

 

[BlueDaruma]

First thing I would recommend is practicing your motion and charge moves. Get used to executing Robos beam specials and other motion inputs so that you can do them consistently and with no trouble. Luckily this game is pretty forgiving when it comes to motions but hey practice makes perfect.

Thanks for your reply! I've gotten pretty handy at doing fairly basic light, medium, heavy, special, super combos for the time being. But yeah, consistency would definitely be helpful. I'll continue to stick with those for the time being before I move on to more lengthy and complex stuff.

(Also side note: pick a character like Filia, Cerebella, Fortune, Eliza, or any other character that has what we call a Dragon Punch motion. It's Forward>Down>Down-Forward+Button. Robo doesn't have this motion but other characters do, and it helps to practice that motion as well.)

I do have Fillia as my second character for the time being, so I guess I'll put some time into her too. Haven't been using the DP as much as I feel like I should in CPU vs.

 

[BlueDaruma]

So it's pretty much a "figure things out as you go along" sort of thing.

Haha. Sounds good! Thanks again!

 

[Daemyx]

I feel obligated to say: don't take losses too seriously. Everyone loses, and if you are a beginner player, you'll probably lose a lot. It's a part of the process. Add your opponent and ask him why you lost, stop and think about stuff, etc. Keep in mind the objective: to improve, even if little by little.
Good luck.

 

[Pickles]

I currently have my macros set to my two assists, but I don't really have any characters under my belt just yet aside from my aforementioned two. What buttons do you have for assists, if you use them?

I don't use dash macros personally but I'm pretty sure people who do use the "right stick assists" option so you basically get 4 macros, 2 buttons for whatever and 2 right stick directions for your assists (up calls assist 1, down calls assist 2).

As with most control-related things in this game however it all comes down to personal preference, dash macros are popular so I'd give them a shot for sure but if it doesn't feel right then it's perfectly acceptable to dash w/ pad instead (like I said that's what I do and I don't have any problem with it), there's no definitive "right way" or "best control scheme" so I'd play around with it to see what you like.

 

[BlueDaruma]

I feel obligated to say: don't take losses too seriously. Everyone loses, and if you are a beginner player, you'll probably lose a lot. It's a part of the process. Add your opponent and ask him why you lost, stop and think about stuff, etc. Keep in mind the objective: to improve, even if little by little.
Good luck.

I really appreciate this, actually. Unlike other games where you're generally awarded for just following basic elements, but with fighting games in general, you gotta earn it with hardwork and effort. It's not the game that's the problem, it's the player.

I'm say this now, but I'll probably have to pause every once in a while to remind myself of it. :p

I don't use dash macros personally but I'm pretty sure people who do use the "right stick assists" option so you basically get 4 macros, 2 buttons for whatever and 2 right stick directions for your assists (up calls assist 1, down calls assist 2).

Oh wow, that's actually incredibly clever! I'll definitely have to give that a shot. Thanks for the input!

I'm still a beginner too I'll add you later today on steam if you want a practice buddy! I'm ok (for a beginner at cerebella and learning Eliza now)

I'm still a beginner too I'll add you later today on steam if you want a practice buddy! I'm ok (for a beginner at cerebella and learning Eliza now)

I'd love to! I think I'll be on for most of the evening since I don't have anything pressing to take care of. Hit me up, or I can find you :)