Training Diary

[CullenA]

Keeping various thoughts together as I use SG as a shot of adrenaline to help me study and work for later in the day. I'm somewhat newish to fighting games; I tried getting into them with Marvel vs Capcom 3 and boy was a bad choice to start learning fighting games. The main take away from MvC3 was quarter circle forward and dragon punch inputs. I went through the tutorial on Skullgirls and well it's clear that learning fighting games is a process. I've learned some things from watching various matches and I'll at least note them in sections for future me to read; questions are after that.

I'm going to learn painwheel for completely irrational reasons in that IfuckinglovethischaractersomuchandIwanttohitpeoplelikeagarbagetruckat80mph. I'm finding out what players have been saying in that she's technical (dashing and flight combos) but damn it this is the character that made me want to play this game! I don't know who to branch off after that but that's thinking to far in advance.

1. Don't watch both characters on screen, watch your opponent. You know where you are so figure out where your opponent will be.

2. For now, do the challenge mode combos (right ways and left ways) and test them. I'll probably panic flail like usual but that takes experience to get over, but first the basics

3. Apparently you need to be careful which buttons you press for your dash inputs depending what move you want to execute afterwards.

4. Play the ai on normal and rise up from there

5. Painwheels air Bauer Reaper Medium used on the opponent in the corner makes them slide so you can attack them (test if this involves otg)

couple questions

1. What's an otg? I know it stands for "off the ground" but for the life of me I don't understand! Is it where a character bounces off the ground while still very vulnerable? The phrase "oh he already used the otg" still confuses me.

2. How bad is it to use wifi for online matches even if ggpo is 0? using wifi at all is bad for games but this is my situation

June 27th
3. how do other pad players hold their controller? I'm doing a claw grip but my finger on the HK trigger waggles off when I'm excited and my thumb on the D-pad flubs inputs. (practice on I guess [take what 3 weeks to fully adjust?]

 

[CullenA]

How do other pad players hold their controller? I get excited and the finger on the HK button wants to break away while the thumb on the d-pad flubs up in an odd position (probably from thinking about the execution of the combo too much and getting ahead of myself). Other than that, hands still need to get used to things. It may take 3 weeks? we'll see.

 

[Fizzxwizz]

1. What's an otg? I know it stands for "off the ground" but for the life of me I don't understand! Is it where a character bounces off the ground while still very vulnerable? The phrase "oh he already used the otg" still confuses me.

when you're combo'ing someone, they are allowed to hit the ground once and still be combo'd, the next time they hit the ground they will be able to tech away. Things like ground throws will often always use up otg so its more difficult to combo after those. In addition, one can only combo off of sweep when the otg has already been used.

2. How bad is it to use wifi for online matches

Using wifi is generally pretty bad. Keep in mind your ggpo setting only really matters to you, unless theirs is like a 6 and yours is 0, then there might be problems. The number setting you choose just lets you choose the best visual experience in netplay conditions. Lower numbers will have fewer/no delay, but its more likely to have lots of rollbacks/teleporting, while the opposite is true for the other end of the scale.

Wifi can be pretty decent as long as the wifi is good, but if you have the option of being on a wired connection always choose that, as wifi can be way less stable and have a fluctuating connection that can make netplay really bad at times.

How do other pad players hold their controller?

I just hold mine like a regular controller, thumbs on left joystick and face buttons, and index fingers on r/l buttons and triggers.

 

[CullenA]

when you're combo'ing someone, they are allowed to hit the ground once and still be combo'd, the next time they hit the ground they will be able to tech away. Things like ground throws will often always use up otg so its more difficult to combo after those. In addition, one can only combo off of sweep when the otg has already been used.

Thank you for clarifying dude!

Yeah sadly only have wifi, luckily it's good most of the time but crashes on bad times (damn time warner)

Also I tried the thumb stick and while it does feel SOOOO much more comfortable and doing quarter circle anything was easier, I tend to accidentally throw a special move instead of a normal. I'll still use d-pad for consistency and the hope of improving those inputs (well i think I have with all the fly canceling I've been doing)

If you don't mind me asking, for the sake of teams: why is the order important? Like Anchor Double is good because... she has the tools to come back from anything? then Point characters (like painwheel) they're good/better only if they have assists?

 

[Fizzxwizz]

If you don't mind me asking, for the sake of teams: why is the order important? Like Anchor Double is good because... she has the tools to come back from anything? then Point characters (like painwheel) they're good/better only if they have assists?

Whether or not a character does better depending on the position comes down to a few different things. One of those is assists. For example, Fortune and Valentine are both characters that are usually played on point because as assists, they aren't terribly strong in comparison to most other characters.

One of the bigger factors however has more to do with supers and DHC's (blockbuster sequels). For the most part this comes down to when you want the character to come into the game, and how you want to do that. Double is good on mid and anchor because she both possesses strong assists and strong DHC's. Catheads and Puddle are both very strong dhc's for getting your point character out because of their ability to make the previous thing you did to get them in, safe. Car is incredibly strong if your opponent reacts to your super with their own, and its invincibility lets you beat most other supers. Double is pretty strong on point by herself, but having her on mid or anchor lets them start the game in more advantageous positions if the point character can build meter for them.
This is something that you can notice with filia as well, because while she's much stronger on point than as an assist, she's only as strong as she in on point when she's in on the opponent. Because it's been generally accepted that filia has a hard time getting in on the opponent from neutral, most filia players will put her mid if she's not on point because then you can get a hit with your point, dhc into gregor (if fenrir or trichobezoar won't kill), and from there you've gotten your point character out, and then filia is free to play her game against the opponent without having to work to get in.

Painwheel is a weird case when deciding where to put her since most of her assists aren't very great with the exception of pinion dash, which is pretty strong for certain characters depending on how you use it but otherwise it's not great for most of the cast. However, she has a lot of utility with dhc'ing into hatred install. I'm not sure which is the "right" place to put painwheel though, I'd try things out and do what feels best, and always consider asking a pw player if you run into any.

 

[CullenA]

And as of yesterday, my hands are now completely used to pad play! took 14 hrs but damn it feels good. No more fingers wagglin' off buttons, no more weird body motions I do, and movement is not a pain! I played a few matches against CPU Eliza on normal and not only I wasn't crushed, I crushed her a few times!... sort of.

I still press buttons wildly and I still need to get used to doing combos left and right but hey, like a kid who took his first poopie and proud of it, I'm happy with this. Especially since it cleared my head from mental crap I was dealing with and can move on... sort of. I still need to update the training diary just to completely remove SG from my head (or maybe I just don't want to study for the spanish final that I know I can bomb on and pass gracefully). Time will tell I guess.

With a desire for more self improvement
1. I'll try to record matches so I can see what I'm doing. A match against Eliza went bad because I think I was frantically pressing buttons (I was also facing a direction I'm not completely used too yet)
2. Up difficulty to hard... oh god. Yeah it's against the CPU but I distinctly remember going through fukua's story mode on normal and pulling a rocky (get beat up a lot and eventually won). The important thing I learned from going against boss filia: I was learning how to counter her approaches and figured out when to hit high, low, or throw a command grab (because she teched EVERY SINGLE THROW AND THAT FREAKED THE CRAP OUT OF ME).

3. Question: How do y'all check how much meter/health you/opponent has? maybe this is just an experience thing but boy, none of the matches I played I never knew how much meter I had. I apparently built enough at some points to be level 5.
4. Painwheel seems to be a character that needs to throw herself at opponents. As in, she needs to use her flight cancel then + (mk or lp) to build enough momentum forward and, well, up to continue her rip and tear ways.

5. I feel like I should go into training room and do everyone's moves and specials just to know what they look like and read my opponents combos better. (I want to be able to predict/know how long a combo is and where their reset points are. I was able to do this watching the first combo breaker and I done lost it)

 

[mcpeanuts]

2. Up difficulty to hard... oh god. Yeah it's against the CPU but I distinctly remember going through fukua's story mode on normal and pulling a rocky (get beat up a lot and eventually won). The important thing I learned from going against boss filia: I was learning how to counter her approaches and figured out when to hit high, low, or throw a command grab (because she teched EVERY SINGLE THROW AND THAT FREAKED THE CRAP OUT OF ME).

AI Filia is pretty free to command grabs. It tries to tech all grabs on reaction, so if you use a grab that's not techable, it doesn't really know what to do. In my experience, Inevitable Snuggle (the armored grab) > OTG s.MK s.HP > j.HK > repeat is a series she can't ever get out of.

3. Question: How do y'all check how much meter/health you/opponent has? maybe this is just an experience thing but boy, none of the matches I played I never knew how much meter I had. I apparently built enough at some points to be level 5.

I'm assuming you're not literally asking "where is this information in the HUD". You get used to this. Once you're more confident in combos, you can take a quick peek at the health and meter while you're doing your combo. While you're getting hit is another time that it's easy to take a quick check.

5. I feel like I should go into training room and do everyone's moves and specials just to know what they look like and read my opponents combos better. (I want to be able to predict/know how long a combo is and where their reset points are. I was able to do this watching the first combo breaker and I done lost it)

This is a good idea.

 

[CullenA]

did some training, got my ass handed to me on online play and laughed my butt off over how much fun I was having while losing (probably cuz of all the learning going on).
First up: I knew it was a burst bait but bursted anyways because I was more ready for resets, but I guess if you're going through a long combo, chances are undizzy will be up soon
second: I drop combos because I'm pressing the buttons too fast. THAT and I just figured out the right ranges that PW launchers work and that light bluer reaper is love and life.
Third: Good god I use air Bluer reaper too much in mid screen when I could rack up more damage. Stop it!
Fourth: The screen got blury? It's not my computer it was my eyesight. It's as if my eyes where going cross eyed trying to focus on my opponent and something else at the same time. Just weird.
Fifth: good lord I just need to memorize the timings of combos and not drop them like hot mr. potato head. Once you hit them, you need to position yourself or your opponent so you convert a stray hit into a combo (I think I panic/get-excited and drop). As far as playing painwheel, I think everyone expects jump + fly naturally but if i sit in one spot readying for them to come in to your charge, well people learn and go around it.
sixth: figure out painwheel mix-up

 

[CullenA]

It's been a while since I last updated... almost a year.
I found some resources (mainly stealing "Dime's" combos) and getting my hands more used to the analogue stick. The d-pad just hurts my thumb too much and I flub quarter-circle motions too much on d-pad while I just need to push a little harder in a direction to get the full motion.
I'm at least getting better against bots and remembering the inputs for the one combo I know :/ .

Need to ground dash more and not rely on fly as much

http://skullheart.com/index.php?threads/painwheel-compendium.9199/ (link for painwheel combos and resets)
http://skullheart.com/index.php?threads/training-mode-details-and-discussion.555/ (link for training from Sydoh so I know which training mode stuff means which)

In the next few days I'll start against players... still need to make quarter circle motions more consistent before getting my butt handed back to me.