Alright, let's do this.

[Lumapup]

Hey everybody, I'm Lumapup.
As of posting this, I've played SG on Steam for 45 hours, but only 25 with DLC characters.
I feel the need to mention the distinction because I have fallen in love with Squigly, but I lack money to actually get the DLC. I will be getting the actual DLC soon, but for now, I have been using the Endless Beta to play as her and others, and have absolutely loved doing so.

On the side, I've been trying to figure out how to play Fukua effectively. Before I discovered Squigly, Fukua was my solo "main", if I could even call how I played her "maining" her.

I'm hoping to either stick with solo Squigly, go with Squigly/Fukua duo, or try and learn a third character. (Anybody would work, I have no idea as of yet.

On a controls side, I use default keyboard controls (asd for punches, zxc for kicks, v&b are macros) and I have absolutely NO idea how to train my hands to use macros.
I'm going to be attempting to use a gamepad (360 controller) tonight and see how it goes, and I'm HOPEFULLY getting a Mad Catz Alpha fight stick for Christmas.

With Squigly, I can do a half-decent combo (basic confirm -> air chain -> basic finisher) but I only really know one opener (c.MK c.HP Silver Chord) and haven't figured out stance cancels.
With Fukua, I can do the supers and spam j.HK.
...That's about it.

As far as fighting experience, I've played against the A.I. a fair bit, but have only fought against my friends (of which one has stopped playing and the other is just starting out).
I'm absolutely terrified of entering online quick play, so I want this thread to be my "Road to not-as-terrified-but-still-unreasonably-afraid-of-everything-ever" type thing.

My main goals with this training diary are:

1. Get used to new controller, or stick with keyboard and learn macros
2. Get better at neutral game
3. Get more openers as Squigly
4. Learn how to even do a Fukua
5. Figure out how to effectively use assists
6. Possibly learn a third character
7. Think of more things to put on this list

 

[Lumapup]

----- DAY 1 -----

So, I tried out the 360 controller last night and it was a love-hate relationship. As far as the joystick goes, it feels so much better to use a joystick for entering commands (especially DP, it's a nightmare on a keyboard), although I feel like having it restricted octagonally would help as I had some occasional mishaps. As for the buttons, well...I just can't move away from the standard arcade layout. Having the heavy attacks delegated to an entirely different part of my hand just feels wrong. I assume that if when I get a fight stick, it will solve both of the problems I have with the controller right now.

I messed around in hard arcade mode and had a decent challenge and a good time.

I'll post the video (with some things I noticed) soon, youtube is taking forever to upload. (In about 4 hours, it's gone 20%. Send help.)

Tomorrow, I will probably mess around in training mode and try out some Fukua chains.

 

[Lumapup]

----- DAY 1.5 -----

Here's the video:

Fight times:

Spoiler

0:10 Squigly
1:24 Parasoul and Peacock
4:08 Double, Squigly, and Filia
6:40 Fukua and Valentine
8:21 Double
9:48 Fukua and Ms. Fortune
11:34 Robo-Fortune (Apologies for the pause)
13:27 Fukua, Cerebella, and Parasoul
16:09 Marie
18:55 Squigly
20:16 Big Band
21:31 Robo-Fortune and Filia
24:00 Robo-Fortune and Painwheel
25:58 Double and Filia
28:38 Big Band (30:00 1st rematch, 31:28 2nd rematch)
33:07 Beowulf, Cerebella, and Fukua
35:15 Painwheel
36:45 Marie

Some general things I picked up on rewatching:

• I need to work on execution some, in the beginning you may have noticed that I did Center Stage twice before finally pulling off a Draugen Punch.
• With Squigly, I need to recognize when to use what moves. As of now, I seem to be spamming her heavy attacks all over the place. On a different note, I'm gonna learn to use her supers and to use the correct Squigly Battle Opera depending on positioning.
• With Fukua, I need to learn some basic chains. I've been mashing a lot, and really need to figure out when and why to use command grabs.
• Overall, I need to learn how to get out of sticky situations and stop spamming double jumps when single jumps do the job.
• I need to work on my defense, in the Big Band fight where I rematched twice, I originally intended the second rematch to just be an analytical round to see what he was doing, what I was doing, and why I was losing. Turns out, I was able to beat him in the end, mainly through just not losing first.

 

[Kyugetsuki]

Sup lumapup.

Although DP is much easier on stick of an xbox controller, I highly recommend against using an xbox controller. If you just get used to those movements on keyboard it'll be much better, it takes much more practice doing DP than quarter circle back or quarter circle forward despite it being one button more(forward, down, forward). If you are a master of QCF, theres not much to add except holding forward before inputting QCF. It helps me do DP a lot more consistently doing it this way. I use V and G for my macros. Works pretty well I'd say. Everything else is the same. I'm currently using keyboard too! Until I get a hitbox soon hopefully.

 

[Lumapup]

I wasn't planning on switching to a controller, as the attack button placement just completely threw me for a loop. I've heard about the forward-QCF trick too, but after learning how to move my hand to do DP, it just feels wrong. Curse you, muscle memory! I still have to work on macros and assists - I'm pretty sure most of the assists I've used have been on accident (too eager to pull off combos) and my hand never even hovers over the macro buttons!
Gonna hopefully have a full post by tonight, just felt like replying.

 

[Lumapup]

----- DAY 2 -----
Messed around with a friend, showed him how to do some supers and had some fun. Lasted a lot longer than I thought, time for bed...

 

[Nine]

Hey there!

Probably the biggest piece of advice I can give would be this: Learn a Midscreen combo for both Squigly and Fukua. Here is where you can find a midscreen "BnB". Learn it, love it, be able to do it in your sleep. In Skullgirls, you want to be able to get the most off of your hits, so learning a universal combo is a great start. If you get frustrated in learning the combo (dropping stuff, executions errors, etc), then that's perfectly fine. I personally just take a break and try learning it the next day.

In terms of getting a better opener for Squigly? For almost every character in this game, their c.LK is a pretty solid opener, as it's mostly a safe and fast option in opening up an opponent. It also forces them to block low in order not to get hit, so it's a basic mixup, too.

 

[Lumapup]

----- ENTRY 3 -----
Switching to "entry" rather than "day" so I don't feel like I have to do something massive every single day.

Taking Hammerschmidt's advice, I checked up the post and practiced some in training. A few links are tricky and muscle memory is in progress, but it seems promising. Thanks for the link!

(Homework is a doozy, so I'm probably gonna be pressed for free time for who knows how long. Curse you, US history!)

In the meantime, I may have recorded a slightly different video...

Spoiler

So I may or may not actually play the trumpet for my school...
and have some of my old solos memorized...

 

[Lumapup]

----- ENTRY 3.5 -----
Yes, I am alive.
I've been caught up in a lot of homework and extracurricular stuff lately, so I haven't had much time to play.

Just as a sidenote, I'm thinking of switching to a different control scheme with WASD and U I O J K L (Basically what I have now, but with hands switched).
I'm thinking of changing so my hands don't have to adjust as much if when I get a fightstick.