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Squigly Issue With Overlapping Commands For Squigly's Specials, Stancles, and Assist Calls

YussaTampon

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First, I would like to apologize for not having any footage to easily explain this issue due to not having a way to record footage from my TV however I will do my best to properly explain things! Secondly, Squigly isn't the only one that suffers from this bug, however she is easily the one that suffers the most from it. With all that out of the way, I'll move on to explaining the bug.

1. What The Bug Is

Suppose I have a team of Filia (HK Hairball) and Big Band (HP Brass Knuckles) with Filia being the point character and Big Band as anchor. As Filia, there are six button combinations I can use to call in my Big Band Assist: LP+MK, LP+HK, LK+MP, LK+HP, MP+HK, and MK+HP. Now suppose that I would like to input both a Big Band assist and a HK Hairball in a way that they both come out at just about the same time. To do this, I could input either QCB+LP+HK or QCB+MP+HK. Because the commands for both options are being registered, and since there are no overlapping commands, I am able to get both the assist and HK Hairball to come at about the same exact time. Now let's say that instead of HK Hairball, I wanted to do my Big Band assist with a MK Ringlet Psych. Not the most optimal thing in the world, sure, but let's say I wanted to. I could either input QCF+MK+HP or QCF+LP+MK in order to get both commands, right? Well unfortunately, if I try to do either command, I'll always get either HP Ringlet Spike or LP Ringlet Spike instead of a MK Ringlet Psych. Perhaps this issue has something to do with two special moves having overlapping directional commands with different button inputs? I've heard of games such as Street Fighter that give priority to certain special moves that a character has that involve different direction inputs but overlapping button inputs (DP and Fireball for Ryu), so perhaps as similar system is in place in Skullgirls. Now of course it's still possible to get the two moves to come out at around the same time by inputting a command for an assist followed immediately by the command for a Ringlet Psych, however the issue remains that there is no way to call an assist alongside Ringlet Psych with a single command, possibly due to Ringlet Spike having an overlapping command. I'm sure there are other characters that have a similar issue due to overlapping commands, however I find that no other character suffers from this more than Squigly due to what's tied to her special moves - her stances.

2. Squigly's Unique Case

Suppose I have a team of Squigly (Center Stage) and Fukua (MK Shadow) with Squigly being the point character and Fukua as anchor. If we take what we know from the previous example and apply it to Squigly, we can assume that if I try to perform QCF+MK+LP, I'll get my assist alongside either Liver Mortis or Silver Cord (whichever the game decides to prioritize). In practice, however, if one were to try such an input, they'll get the assist alongside a Serpent's Tail Stance Cancel. Additionally, if I use any of the 6 button combinations I referred to earlier in my first example and try to apply them to the same scenario, I'll always get an assist alongside a Serpent's Tail Stance Cancel - never a Special move. I've found that the only way to get Squigly to get a Special move command alongside an assist is if you do the command for both while Squigly is in the middle of hitting an opponent. To give an example, If I input QCF+LP+MK immediately after the second hit of Squigly's Double Dragon (HP, HP), I'll get both my assist alongside Silver Cord (timing for this is quite strict, I'll add). Now you'll find that while hitting an opponent, if you input any of the 6 button combinations for an assist call that I spoke of earlier along with a QCF command, I'll always get either Arpeggio, Silver Cord, or Tremolo - never Liver Mortis, Center Stage, or Drag'n'Bite. With this information, we can make some observations:

-In a neutral position, the game will favor a Serpent's Tail Stance Cancel over any special move when you input QCF+(any two-button command that calls an assist).
-While hitting an opponent (and with strict timing), the game will favor the Kick special over both the Punch special and Serpent's Tail Stance Cancel when you input CQF+(any two-button command that calls an assist).

This is similar to Filia's case in a sense, except with some distinct differences. For starters, instead of two commands overlapping we have three: stance cancel, Kick special, and Punch special, with the game favoring those commands in that exact order. Additionally, unlike Ringlet Psych, Squigly's Punch specials have more applications when combined with an assist call in both the neutral position and during combos/set-ups, however since Punch specials have the lowest priority between the three (similar to how Ringlet Psych has less priority over Ringlet Spike), It's impossible to get an assist and a Punch special in one command.

3. A Few Possible Solutions
A solution I came up with involves making use of all 6 of the assist commands to determine whether a Punch or Kick special gains priority over the other. This is what it involves:

-LP+MK favors MK
-LP+HK favors HK
-LK+MP favors MP
-LK+HP favors HP
-MP+HK favors MP
-MK+HP favors MK

It doesn't have to follow this exact model, but hopefully you get the idea. Under this rule, I can not only choose between Ringlet Spike and Ringlet Psych, but I can also choose which strength I want while also getting my assist - all with one command.

For more complex character situations like Squigly, perhaps a system could be implemented to allow stance canceling to only be done if two of the same time of buttons are pressed together (PP and KK). This would get ride of Stance Canceling overlapping Special attacks when trying to call an assist with a Special move, which - combined with the other solution - would allow Squigly players the same amount of freedom other characters would have when inputting a special move with an assist.

*EDIT*

It was brought to my attention that because of Big Band's Emergency Brake cancel that's tied to his Brass Knuckles and A-Train Special moves, he too suffers from this bug in a similar manner to Squigly! As a solution to this unique case, perhaps change it so that to cancel these two moves into Emergency Brake, simply allow the player to hold down the Punch button/ Kick button to cancel his Brass Knuckles/A-Train into Emergency Brake rather than have them press a Kick button/Punch button to cancel. This solution, combined with the first solution, would allow for Big Band players to call an assist and perform their Special moves with one simple command like most other characters - provided that they don't continue to hold down any of the buttons to cancel into Emergency Brake.

*EDIT*

If anyone has any questions/suggestions/didn't understand some of what I explained, please post! Again, sorry for now being able to provide any footage for you all. Thank you for your time.

Also feel free to check out my other thread about two in-game suggestions I made, which can be found here.
 
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Just want to throw out there that the game does this for Big Band with Brass and A-train. It will always give you an Emergency Brake if I call an assist while doing one of those specials. I have no other input
 
Just want to throw out there that the game does this for Big Band with Brass and A-train. It will always give you an Emergency Brake if I call an assist while doing one of those specials. I have no other input

I completely overlooked Big Band's E-Brake! Thank you for this.

I updated the OP to include a 3rd solution just for Big Band! Let me know what you all think.