Level up my game?

[DOSNiNE]

I been playing fighting games for some time now, but never really got that good at them. I can do combos with little difficulty in training, however while playing against someone I have a lot of trouble even starting the combo and when I do I end up dropping it after 2 or 3 hits. To get to the point, I was playing against an old friend whom I haven't seen in about a year or so which I always used to play with. She got a lot better and I've seem to make very little progress. (I used to win against her, now she nearly perfects me every time) After a couple of rounds she had to go and told me I need to "level up my game". I assume she means get better, but how? So what I want to know is how you got better and how I can get better at fighting games in general?

All suggestions any appreciated.

[sinder]

Even the most people get sick of hearing this... Its the best and easiest way to get better

Keep playing

The only way to master any fighting game is to play it over and over, win OR LOSS. To level up your game, you are going to need training mode, and i mean literally hours, just to know exactly what can combo off of what, and this goes for all fighter man. Plus, these forums have lots of information, so try to learn as much about a character as possible. If you keep dropping combos against another person, practice that combo in training, and better yet put the CPU on so you arent just punching the dummy to death. Now that I got through the intro, lets go in depth

How to get good at fighting games

1. Learn you character

In fighters, most people end up using,(maining) at least 1~2 characters, or even more. I suggest picking one character to start with and try to see how well your game develops. After you pick that 1 character, search the internet for info on that character, and there are 2 main sites for fighters(well more, but these two are the most popular):

Shoryuken.com- Street fighter series, some blazblue, Tekken series, Marvel series, V.S series

Dustloop.com- In-depth material on Blazblue series and guilty gear

Go to either site and look up info. You'll learn that characters in games have certain things that make that character special, for example, I wanted to main Carl Clover. He is good at resets and, well, yeah. So what is the next thing you do after you find info about a certain character you want to main? Well, you always want to know the characters Anti-Airs(AAs), Bread-and-Butter combos[bnBs] (simple combos to get a match started, or to use in any match), and match-ups( what you should be focusing on in a match when fighting against certain characters). When you figure out these things go on to step two.

2. Train

Once you have info on a character, hit training mode. Practice combos, BnBs, and see what move combos off of which. When you feel "confident" try to put the CPU on max difficulty(most fighters have this option available) and try all the new things you learned. Now dont be discouraged if you cant do everything on a maxed level Ai opponent, because people will not be able to read every input and counter you, but wait, what if you could do that?

3.Ask around/ seek more info

remember when I brought up match-ups, well they came back to haunt you. Most forums have a match-up thread where all characters have some method of dealing with other characters. These methods were discovered by posters like myself and in the future, you. For example, in general, if you had a character who was good at zoning( or spacing, pushing an opponent to control the stage or fighting space) and a character who is better as a rush down( not letting the opponent get a chance to retaliate by applying a tactic known as a pressure game, or just pressure), how do you think the match would go? Would the zoning character just let the rush down character attack? Hopefully not(but some people will). Its Your job to find ways to expose your opponents weaknesses during any match. However, some people have the ability to use their weaknesses against you, or better yet, make it difficult in finding their weakness. :8/: (what, how?) well, because they looked up information. They can predict exactly what you are going to do next( called reading your opponent) How did they read you? They know about your character, and they use your weaknessese against you.

*this is probably the weirdest number here, i can clarify to you directly, but I think another poster can help you.

4. Get friends

So you did steps 1-3, now you want to play with people. Well, playing online with random people is fun, but not as fun as playing with a friend. You already have a beastly friend but they seem as if they don't want to tutor your ass, so i suggest finding somebody who is also looking to get better at fighters, or some fighting vets who are willing to help. Having friends is a fun and good way to get better at any fighter

Im going to stop here, but I hoped I helped you with some info.

Good luck, and fighters are not easy to master (most) they take patience, and work, just like everything else in life. But the more effort you put in, the easier to get better.

~sinder

Edited April 9, 2011 by sinder

[DOSNiNE]

Thanks a bunch, you covered pretty much everything I need to know. I guess I'll start with step 1...again, as opposed to step 2. Now I just need to find some people in this city to play BB with. (They all play MVC3 for some reason?)

[zreb]

To comment on your combo problem in specific: practice the combos off various starters if you can't hit confirm them in a real match. This is because the muscle memory isn't there and you haven't practiced it at all.

Example: Haku's enma bnbs can start off 5c, and many people will instinctively practice it off 5c because it has good proration. However, 5c is slow and hits mid; it is not the most common combo starter you are going to get. Instead of practicing 5c -> enma, I would instead do a couple of different things:

5b (a much faster poke than 5c) -> enma

2b (low) -> renka -> enma

renka (also a low) -> enma

Figuring out what you need to do to combo off other situations such as air-to-ground is also important.

j.b -> 5b -> enma works for haku.

j2c -> 5b -> enma works.

j2c -> 5c -> enma also works, but the j2c needs to be very low to the ground or it must be counterhit or the 5c won't hit because it is too slow.

etc.

Part of this comes from knowing what pokes you use in your neutral (or pressure) game to fish for damage. Basically just know what your options are and practice those starters for those options. If you do this a lot, at the very least utilizing your combos during a real match should come a little easier. This way when you see that you've landed a hit for something, if you've practiced how to combo out of that hit, you will react significantly faster because your hands will remember it. Just try to focus, but don't make yourself nervous!

Edited April 10, 2011 by zreb

[Mystic d]

which character do you play? you should head to your character's specific forums and talk to people who also play your character. sinder basically covered everything that needed to be said. one thing i'd like to add is that after you learn about your character, you need to learn each individual matchup. Luckily, BB doesn't have very many to learn, but it still may be difficult to find enough people who play all the characters. I'm in NorCal and we still don't have a representative of every character being played (although we have great players for almost every character)

[Mr. Kimura]

I play Bang and it took me a while to even step my game up just a little bit (and he's top tier). But if you're having trouble doing combos in an actual match, its two things: a)You're jittery. Calm down. b) You don't know your combos enough. If you can't start combos cause they're blocking, you need to practice what to do on block and get used to using overheads and lows, and look at frame data to see whats safe and not safe, and how to continue pressure to make them mess up. I suggest random block with block switching enabled. If you want test your blockstrings, make your character the dummy (record feature is nice, use it) and try to get out of it.

I can honestly say that most of the game's interesting stuff comes in matchup experience, and most fighting games include when knowing when and when not to hit buttons. This is where frame data comes in. See the other character's frame data, practice it in training. Getting counterhit is never a good thing for you. Also another crucial element of fighters is knowing your opponent and how they react. If your friend reacts to things a certain way, make her pay for it. If she likes to tech a certain way every time, hit her for it. If she techs in the air too early or something, grab her and make her eat a combo.

In other words, what sinder said. Fighting games take a while to get used to, and a lot of people hit blocks in their playing. Sometimes you just have to look at the bigger picture, and try to focus on one issue at a time.

Edited April 12, 2011 by Mr. Kimura

[The Katz]

... or some fighting vets who are willing to help.

I'd like to say this is the better option to find first so you have someone that can tell you what you're doing wrong if you have questions or if it's relatively important at the time.

General advice I have to randomly toss in is that you should try to be a bit thoughtful about how and why you do the things you do during a match.

I remember a mid-level player complaining about having to think about things in a fighter since they went in thinking it was a "hit buttons > win" type of gaming genre. I also know a few decent players that don't bother to practice in training or think too hard in matches, going on 'instinct' and match experience alone. Sadly they never break the necessary barriers to actually be good at game. :x

Eh, what else. . . Be patient and try to get into the other person's head before they get into yours; that is, when you actually know what you're doing to an extent. Character match-ups are indeed important, but don't forget about player match-ups. Everyone has habits and it'd be a waste to not abuse that fact. You just need to be able to distinguish one player from another when you go to play someone else that uses the same character.

I hear "I was playing a few random Ragnas the other day and got smashed because I'm used to fighting your Ragna..." and "I'm too used to playing ('X person's ragna'/other Ragna players), so you throw me off guard..." a lot. It may be because I play "weird as hell", but this is a good example of why you should try to be able to make the adjustment from playing one person to another. To sum it up: learn to adapt to different people, styles, and odd situations. Not everyone plays the same, even if a lot play the same character.

[RaveDX]

Don't forget about your fundamentals dude, pressure, mix-ups, tech'ing out of grabs, and especially blocking... most people are all offense and combos online and ignore everything else. What are combos if you're getting plumbed all day online cuz your defensive skills suck? Plus, if your good at blocking whatever your opponent brings to the table, the guy you're playing against will most likely get impatient, and throw away ll their defense to rush you, meaning there will be more openings for you to take advantage of, and giving you the chance to try out those new combos you've been practicing on. Also, be unpredictable. If one strategy dosnt work, make up three more to be one step ahead of your opponent, and catch em by surprise. But all this will come to you eventually with the experience you'll get by playing other people, so just play the game, be patient, and have fun doing it.

Edited April 12, 2011 by RaveDX

[The Katz]

Don't forget about your fundamentals dude, pressure, mix-ups, tech'ing out of grabs, and especially blocking... most people are all offense and combos online and ignore everything else. What are combos if you're getting plumbed all day online cuz your defensive skills suck? Plus, if your good at blocking whatever your opponent brings to the table, the guy you're playing against will most likely get impatient, and throw away ll their defense to rush you, meaning there will be more openings for you to take advantage of, and giving you the chance to try out those new combos you've been practicing on. Also, be unpredictable. If one strategy dosnt work, make up three more to be one step ahead of your opponent, and catch em by surprise. But all this will come to you eventually with the experience you'll get by playing other people, so just play the game, be patient, and have fun doing it.

Very good advice. For some reason not everyone sees how important strong basics really are in fighters.

Being able to block takes awhile and requires you to know how everything hits, which comes easily with time but is still very important to work on early on. Blocking everything the other person throws at you can make them desperate, but that's only because they are (sometimes) momentarily out of options. If they can't hit you, what then..? However, this also tends to have the opposite effect of the previously-mentioned state on a good amount of people. Whenever I run out of tricks (which is rare, but it happens) I tend to back up and be more careful about how I should approach the person if I don't readily have an answer for their defense. I know a lot of people who do the same. This is less common, but don't forget to take advantage of someone's over-cautiousness.

On the topic of unpredictability, I'd say that having multiple offensive options is a good idea, mainly because you never want to be stone-walled by someone's defense. As in. . . have mix-up that doesn't blow. Finding places in a block-string where you can toss out a high and a low at the same time is very important to your game. Lower-level players tend to hit buttons randomly, so stick to lows until you teach them to behave. Against better players you can toss out more overheads, then actually mix it up when they learn how to block. This can either be after the first high, or much later down the road.

[YukiBlue]

Reading all that was confusing.

If you want to beat her, and lose Dignity, Pick Tager, Start with 2D, Go onto a 360b 2 Times, then GETB <3.

For Srs, Though. You just need to play more. Try and find some BB Vets (I play Xbox, if you do, hit me up. I'm not amazing, though..) And just keep playing. Learn a good, long combo. Then find as many ways as you can to instigate said combo. Bang, for example.

A good 10, hefty Combo's can he started from 5a. but then again, they can be started with 2b on counter, or 6c. Just find what works for you, Bro.

ED: You have XBL. Feel free to add me, im on most days.

<---------GT

Edited April 19, 2011 by YukiBlue

[BReakneckSpeed7]

That was a wealth of information, for us beginners. I was always thrown for a loop (sorry: bad pun)with the whole numbered directional inputs that people would post for there tutorials. I still would favor an arcade stick though b/c my controllers are worn down from numerous missions in BB: CS and training mode. It makes me antsy to turn the CPU all the way and get my u know what handed 2 me. Weird huh.

[Bangarkune20]

You know I had a similar problem. However, I wasn't on the losing end of the stick. It's hard to level up your game when others don't play as much and when they do they're not very good. I'm not a vet at this game at but I would also suggest playing some people who give you a challenge. I feel you can only get better by playing someone better than you. Of course everything else said in this thread is vital to winning to. Just my two cents.