July 2009 Archives
So, in the wake of the LAN party, I've been playing around in Training Mode to try to better understand the engine of SF4 and how it's been tweaked compared to SF3. I noticed two things that were really messing me up - (during Sakura vs. Ryu matches, as well as some Ryu mirror-matches).
1) Throws
2) Cross-overs
SF3 is a pretty smooth game, but I think it runs at something akin to 24FPS. SF4 runs at 60, so there are far more frames and the spacing is really tight.
1) In SF3, jabs beat out throws (most of the time). This isn't the case in SF4, as throws will beat out jabs just about every time. I eat throws especially when I expect to punish an opponent landing from a jump (or a whiffed Shoryu). The window for punishing these feels smaller in SF4 than before... however that's probably a matter of practice (since I get punished for those all the time). This, coupled with the fact that quick-stand/ukemi isn't allowed on throws leads to #2.
2) Cross-overs are particularly deadly to me, because they almost always lead into a combo. I've lost entire matches in KOF, SF3 and now SF4 to cross-overs. A perfectly executed cross-over (in an experiment with Sakura), shuts down almost every single one of her wake-up options.
The only counters are: EX Shouou (either punishes, or whiffs- allowing her to escape), Super, Ultra and Focus Attack (possibly the best counter... looks cool, too). Cancelling the FA into a back-dash may be the safest option.
With Ryu, a good cross-over will stuff his Shoryuken (which I didn't know at the party). EX Shoryu may whiff. His definitive counter could be EX Tatsumaki. (Worked 100% of the time on my recorded cross-over, but that cross-over may not have been perfectly executed).
Cammy seems to have even less options. If the cross-over isn't perfectly executed, back-dashing is a possible escape. Her Cannon Spike gets stuffed by cross-overs, and her EX-Cannon Spike may whiff.
All of these counters require either strict timing or Reversal attacks. I suppose it's a matter of muscle memory, as is the motion of performing a good cross-over.
Wake-up attacks WILL keep you on the ground, allowing you to be comboed again - it's not plausible to hold jump on wake-up to eat an attack and expect to be popped off the ground. I can't remember if this was the case in SF3 or not. I remember Makoto could trap you on the ground after a Hayate, though.
Related - I can't wait for the modding community to figure out how to easily swap character models in SF4 without messing up the faces. Rufus would be the first to get replaced.
1) Throws
2) Cross-overs
SF3 is a pretty smooth game, but I think it runs at something akin to 24FPS. SF4 runs at 60, so there are far more frames and the spacing is really tight.
1) In SF3, jabs beat out throws (most of the time). This isn't the case in SF4, as throws will beat out jabs just about every time. I eat throws especially when I expect to punish an opponent landing from a jump (or a whiffed Shoryu). The window for punishing these feels smaller in SF4 than before... however that's probably a matter of practice (since I get punished for those all the time). This, coupled with the fact that quick-stand/ukemi isn't allowed on throws leads to #2.
2) Cross-overs are particularly deadly to me, because they almost always lead into a combo. I've lost entire matches in KOF, SF3 and now SF4 to cross-overs. A perfectly executed cross-over (in an experiment with Sakura), shuts down almost every single one of her wake-up options.
The only counters are: EX Shouou (either punishes, or whiffs- allowing her to escape), Super, Ultra and Focus Attack (possibly the best counter... looks cool, too). Cancelling the FA into a back-dash may be the safest option.
With Ryu, a good cross-over will stuff his Shoryuken (which I didn't know at the party). EX Shoryu may whiff. His definitive counter could be EX Tatsumaki. (Worked 100% of the time on my recorded cross-over, but that cross-over may not have been perfectly executed).
Cammy seems to have even less options. If the cross-over isn't perfectly executed, back-dashing is a possible escape. Her Cannon Spike gets stuffed by cross-overs, and her EX-Cannon Spike may whiff.
All of these counters require either strict timing or Reversal attacks. I suppose it's a matter of muscle memory, as is the motion of performing a good cross-over.
Wake-up attacks WILL keep you on the ground, allowing you to be comboed again - it's not plausible to hold jump on wake-up to eat an attack and expect to be popped off the ground. I can't remember if this was the case in SF3 or not. I remember Makoto could trap you on the ground after a Hayate, though.
Related - I can't wait for the modding community to figure out how to easily swap character models in SF4 without messing up the faces. Rufus would be the first to get replaced.
Transcribing stuff is fun, but very tedious. The end result makes me happy, though- and it's neat to see conversations or things we normally only hear written down word-for-word. I'll be transcribing a Focus on the Family presentation the next couple of days. Will post when done.
Couple of hours, and I'm 10 minutes in.
Josh's dad has taken to watering the front of their house again in order to cool it down during the summer. This creates a high amount of humidity in the air as the sun evaporates it right off the paint and, combined with the heat in the air, converts our California desert into climates found only in TROPICAL JUNGLES and TAIWAN.
GRID is tons of fun. I really like it. I'd still prefer Gran Turismo 5 if I had the chance, but GRID is good with comparable controls and visual treats. I played Gran Turismo 5 Prologue at Jon's on his plasma along with a Logitech GT wheel with force-feedback. It was the first time that my body actually related the experience to driving a real car. It's awesome. =3
Some more interesting games have popped up in the news since the Game Watch.
Need For Speed: Shift - I wonder how this compares to GRID and GT5.
Star Wars: The Old Republic - I don't know if I wrote about this yet.
So, poking around the internet reading on game news, I stumble on a recently-released foreign game called Fairy Tales: Three Heroes, which looks interesting. Then on the page for that, I see an ad for a live-action "Blood: The Last Vampire" movie. I watched the anime movie which it's based on, and it was pretty neat - standing out mainly because of the script that was written in Japanese and English, including voice actors that spoke both languages. This live-action movie seems to be all in English, which is fine - the titular character is Asian and speaks English, which is also cool.
The special effects and fight cinematography look like they're going to be freakin' awesome. Up until this point, I wasn't too interested. Haha-
I think I'm tired of FPSes. I've been far more interested in the top-three games I've put time into on Steam recently. They are Trine, The Dig, and Shadowgrounds Survivor.
That's not to say I won't play them, but it better be a good FPS if I am. Or extenuating circumstances ... like a LAN party, or with good friends. =] The Dig was pretty cool... the story behind the Cocytans certainly brings a Spielberg-like charm. I didn't play it the old school way (sans-FAQ), but I really wanted to see what happens next. It was a good tale. =]
There's almost no replay value whatsoever, but that's the nature of an adventure game. It's somewhere between watching a movie and reading a book. The character development between Boston and Maggie gets kind of movie-corny at the end, but I think that's due to me looking at it after 15 years of Hollywood endings. The characters were really good, and the quality of the voice acting was definitely well beyond its time. The part I disliked the most was probably the hand-drawn animated characters. They looked inferior to the sprites. =\ This is also looking at the game after 15 years of anime. Bahah-
Trine is amazing. I'm not that good at the game, but every game play trailer I see makes me like it that much more. However, I've also beaten that game. I can replay the levels too (there are enough that I haven't become completely familiar with all of them yet-- Sam and I also troopered through the latter half, so I might be able to take a different look at those levels).
I beat Shadowgrounds Survivor by myself (on Easy), so I'm basically done with the story, but it's good for some co-op arcade action some day... right now, I don't have any partners to play it with, and I myself and looking for something else. At the price of a Carl's Jr. combo, it's a good buy.
SF4 and GRID are tempting on Steam... I'm pretty against buying SF4 for now, but every time I think about it, it's alluring. I think- "Oh, it's a top-seller on Steam! It's Street Fighter! The PC version's pretty polished!" and it makes me want to drop the $40. But I remember that the online mode is just as poor as the console version, and that no one plays it anymore.
Currently, I want to play Oblivion. Seeing Sam play makes me want to boot it up, and try building a hand-to-hand specialist. Also, I want to mod Oblivion to death with every (good) thing I can find.
