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Learning A New Fighter; Interviews With Veterans

Titanman_88

Titanman_88

Adamantium Addiction
I really enjoyed this thread. Just gets me even more excited to start the process of learning a new FG. Im really looking forward to evolving into a better overall player and watching everyone push this game to its absolute limits. Cant wait!
 
Juggs

Juggs

Lose without excuses
Lead Moderator
Angel Oleander said:
Brilliant method to get the masses focused, Juggs :D.
I'll give this a go...I may still be freer than the average bear compared to the champions of our scenes, but I'd like to think I know some stuff and I love having a chance to help educate the peeps.

Grab a snack: much words ahead...

1: My biggest motivation in getting into a fighter is familiarizing myself as many reasons as possible why I should care about it to begin with. You give me a solid story and/or a character whose lore and looks I can get my hooks into, and I'm in there. It's not just about the fight or the fighters, it's about the why's and how's as well. Favorite example: Labrys from Persona 4 Arena. She was adorable, brutal, and came with one of the most heartbreaking and redeeming stories I've ever played through. God, I miss that girl.

2: Execution level and character familiarity can only be made the absolute most use of once you know your fundamentals and environments by heart. The one gun I stick to as best I can is to always stay in a learning mindset, draw your strengths, and build it into your foundations. Whether it's something as simple as an anti-air jab or as insipid as hitting 2~NDC's from pillar to post, everything counts.

3: I play online religiously in spite of all of its flaws for one reason: be it a half-par AI system like MK9's or an borderline-evil-accurate AI like Injustice, I've yet to meet a computer that can fight me with the same spirit or hype-inducing fury as another human can. But my absolute favorite way to learn, develop, and strengthen my personal metagame is studying tape, watching streams and tournament replays, and picking apart everything I see to put it back together and bend it to the will of my advantage.

4: In my experience thus far, there's two reasons that trump all others when it comes to learning a character: you're either a loyalist/attached to the character themselves for one reason or another regardless of their tier-placing (Ex: 16 Bit and Kitana, Jeremiah and Sheeva), or they're a proven top-tier character that gives you a vastly improved chance at success (Ex: anyone who caught in the wave of Hurricane Kabal in 2012). If you're more concerned with victory than loyalty, play the best character you see fit. If there's someone in the cast you personally want to wield and make your own personal endeavor, grind them into the dust. But if your characters have flaws, and/or have it in you to mix loyalty and superiority, try to do both.

5: Unless you fall into that loyalist category and you know exactly who you're aiming to use, it can be a long, painstaking road to finding your eventual #1 super guy or girl. I ran through Noob, Ermac, Scorpion, Reptile, Raiden, and like 5 other characters before I finally found my way to Cyrax and Sub-Zero. I didn't even start playing Cage seriously until the end of 2012. Same went for Injustice: Doomsday and Bane were my planned left and right hand, Deathstroke had me at hello the first time I ever played Chapter 7, and Grundy was so much fucking fun to me that it should've been illegal. If it's your first rodeo or your first time trying to seek out a serious main, there's almost always that one defining "ah-hah!" moment where you know you've found a method you can make work. But once it comes, the learning process and mastering your own playstyle all become easier. It's important to push yourself, but you've also got to be mindful of what you know works best for you.

6: Notebooks. Lots and lots of notebooks. I cannot undersell how important it is to fill your brain with as much useful shit as possible. Study your strings, your highs and lows and mediums, write all that shit down and study until it's woven into your DNA. Find a forum guide and all the crooked, broken goodies and combos and juggles and bullshit your character is capable of. All of it. I don't care if you're Hawkgirl and your F13 has like 120 different possible followups, you never know when which are going to be the difference between victory and a bodying.

7: Not as much time as I used to, but that's only because it's been almost 4 years since this all started. Back in the day, I would try everything from Ladders to lab work to Ranked Tag matches just to keep my reflexes up. It all depended on what I was plugging in to accomplish at that particular time. Then again, I play Cyrax, and everyone knows you don't need to practice to be a good Cyrax -.- .

8: Infinitely expanding the scene so as to create a solid, permanent nexus of epic, respectable players...and not have to rely on slaying our way out of a river of deplorable, douchetastic online jackasses just to improve or train.

9: That's a tie between putting years of passion, grinding and learning to good use by becoming a top-tier championship-worthy player...and the story. Hoooooly hand grenades, I can't wait to crack this tale open. The Deadly Alliance/Deception/Konquest storyline is probably my favorite thing in all video game space and time - just as Armageddon completely botching the ending is my most despised - and I've been waiting almost a decade to see the wrongs of the tale set right. Hype is beyond an understandment.

10: STUNT DOUBLE JOHNNY CAGE. I don't know who thought it was a great idea to give the previously best rushdown character on record a Noob Saibot zoning mechanic, but I would give them a fucking cookie if I had one to give.


KEEP IT GOING PEOPLE. PAY THE KNOWLEDGE FORWARD. LET'S GOOOOO.
Click to expand...
I really want more of this in the thread! Good shit man!

And thanks to everyone for the positive feedback. I appreciate you appreciating the thread. :)
 
Juggs

Juggs

Lose without excuses
Lead Moderator
Doombawkz said:
Give us a question template to copy.
Click to expand...
1. When approaching a new fighting game, what is the very first thing you do after you load the game? (Story mode, training mode, etc)

2. What aspects of the game do you try to learn first, and which ones do you feel are the most important early on? (General Fundamentals, execution, match-ups, etc)

3. What is your training process? (Ex. I find my characters best anti-airs, find their best pokes, etc)

4. How many characters do you seriously try and learn within the first month of the games release?

5. How do you go about determining which character(s) you want to main?

6. When first attempting to learn a new character, what process do you go through?

7. Daily, about how much time do you spend in the lab compared to actually playing against a human opponent? And how much time do you spend playing the game overall a day?

8. If there was one thing you think people need to work on in the NRS community in regards to the game, what would that one thing be?

9. Which aspect of MKX are you most interested in? (Variations, run, the story, etc)

10. Lastly, which character(s) are you looking to main?
 
Doombawkz

Doombawkz

Trust me, I'm a doctor
My questions if you wanna read them >_>

1. When approaching a new fighting game, what is the very first thing you do after you load the game? (Story mode, training mode, etc)

First thing I do, every single time, is go to the lab. Not necessarily to find tech, but to get my bearings. Tutorial mode is usually something I do if available. If I can't play even remotely well with the new engine, nothing else works.
-----

2. What aspects of the game do you try to learn first, and which ones do you feel are the most important early on? (General Fundamentals, execution, match-ups, etc)

First thing I try to learn is special attributes to moves. Faster standing animations, odd hitstuns, anything that can be made into tech. Most important early on is learning your character's specific tools.
-----

3. What is your training process? (Ex. I find my characters best anti-airs, find their best pokes, etc)

Read every command and move. Drop every single combo at different areas, and add in random normal drops to see how the moves interact and what happens. Usually its just tech rolls, but most of the tech I make comes from this kind of stuff.
-----

4. How many characters do you seriously try and learn within the first month of the games release?

I usually stick to one, this time I'm going to try for 2. I'll also occasionally fish for new tech on other characters.
-----

5. How do you go about determining which character(s) you want to main?

Buff potential, and thats actually seriously how I do it. If a character never changes, it gets boring and stagnant. I pick characters with the most potential to change over the course of the game's life, to keep things fresh.
-----

6. When first attempting to learn a new character, what process do you go through?

See: Training process. I basically do that and form strategies around what I find.
----

7. Daily, about how much time do you spend in the lab compared to actually playing against a human opponent? And how much time do you spend playing the game overall a day?

Uh... When a game first comes out, I'll spend a few hours a day in the lab. I think I hit 500 lab hours after about 2 or 3 months of the game's release. I don't often play against human opponents, but I'll try to make more of a habit of it. I play as much as I feel like, and when I'm done, I'll go do other junk.
-----

8. If there was one thing you think people need to work on in the NRS community in regards to the game, what would that one thing be?

Learning to be more open to new possibilities. People tend to stick to the common knowledge a bit too much, and take it a bit too far imo. Be open to change, never say anything is certain until its all over.
-----
9. Which aspect of MKX are you most interested in? (Variations, run, the story, etc)

The story, being honest. Variations seem okay, but I actually genuinely want to know what happens. I'm a lore nerd.
-----
10. Lastly, which character(s) are you looking to main?

Ferra/Torr, but I made a promise to main Shinnok if he was announced and he was so its time to roll the bones.
 
Juggs

Juggs

Lose without excuses
Lead Moderator
Doombawkz said:
My questions if you wanna read them >_>

1. When approaching a new fighting game, what is the very first thing you do after you load the game? (Story mode, training mode, etc)

First thing I do, every single time, is go to the lab. Not necessarily to find tech, but to get my bearings. Tutorial mode is usually something I do if available. If I can't play even remotely well with the new engine, nothing else works.
-----

2. What aspects of the game do you try to learn first, and which ones do you feel are the most important early on? (General Fundamentals, execution, match-ups, etc)

First thing I try to learn is special attributes to moves. Faster standing animations, odd hitstuns, anything that can be made into tech. Most important early on is learning your character's specific tools.
-----

3. What is your training process? (Ex. I find my characters best anti-airs, find their best pokes, etc)

Read every command and move. Drop every single combo at different areas, and add in random normal drops to see how the moves interact and what happens. Usually its just tech rolls, but most of the tech I make comes from this kind of stuff.
-----

4. How many characters do you seriously try and learn within the first month of the games release?

I usually stick to one, this time I'm going to try for 2. I'll also occasionally fish for new tech on other characters.
-----

5. How do you go about determining which character(s) you want to main?

Buff potential, and thats actually seriously how I do it. If a character never changes, it gets boring and stagnant. I pick characters with the most potential to change over the course of the game's life, to keep things fresh.
-----

6. When first attempting to learn a new character, what process do you go through?

See: Training process. I basically do that and form strategies around what I find.
----

7. Daily, about how much time do you spend in the lab compared to actually playing against a human opponent? And how much time do you spend playing the game overall a day?

Uh... When a game first comes out, I'll spend a few hours a day in the lab. I think I hit 500 lab hours after about 2 or 3 months of the game's release. I don't often play against human opponents, but I'll try to make more of a habit of it. I play as much as I feel like, and when I'm done, I'll go do other junk.
-----

8. If there was one thing you think people need to work on in the NRS community in regards to the game, what would that one thing be?

Learning to be more open to new possibilities. People tend to stick to the common knowledge a bit too much, and take it a bit too far imo. Be open to change, never say anything is certain until its all over.
-----
9. Which aspect of MKX are you most interested in? (Variations, run, the story, etc)

The story, being honest. Variations seem okay, but I actually genuinely want to know what happens. I'm a lore nerd.
-----
10. Lastly, which character(s) are you looking to main?

Ferra/Torr, but I made a promise to main Shinnok if he was announced and he was so its time to roll the bones.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your responses! Shinnok mains unite!
 
JLU51306

JLU51306

Bzzzt *Paging Doctor Fate*
Great stuff all around.

I present my answers; "Death of a scrub (that's me)"

1. When approaching a new fighting game, what is the very first thing you do after you load the game? (Story mode, training mode, etc)

Tutorial, Training mode. Always.

2. What aspects of the game do you try to learn first, and which ones do you feel are the most important early on? (General Fundamentals, execution, match-ups, etc)

The games newest mechanics, along with basic strings and specials.

3. What is your training process? (Ex. I find my characters best anti-airs, find their best pokes, etc)

Finding my best BnBs, and pressure situations. Mixups are important for me too (former Catwoman main.)

4. How many characters do you seriously try and learn within the first month of the games release?

3-4 usually, so I have an even concept of the different types of characters (rushdown, setup, zoner, defense, bruiser, grappler.)

5. How do you go about determining which character(s) you want to main?

Pressure potential is my #1.

6. When first attempting to learn a new character, what process do you go through?

Studying strings, frames, whats safe to do in particular situations. General meta-game I suppose.

7. Daily, about how much time do you spend in the lab compared to actually playing against a human opponent? And how much time do you spend playing the game overall a day?

On average I'll probably spend about 2-3 hours in the lab, as well as maybe another hour of 1v1, story, ect.

8. If there was one thing you think people need to work on in the NRS community in regards to the game, what would that one thing be?

Some of the knee-jerk reactions to characters being OP, or worthless. Let the game evolve, and then far down the road, we should decide what needs to be buffed vs nerfed. Though, NRS is partially to blame for creating this kind of 'Patch monthly for 6 months' expectation.

9. Which aspect of MKX are you most interested in? (Variations, run, the story, etc)

I think combo potential with running is going to be just as viable as it is flashy. The story also looks to set the bar higher than MK9, and that can only be a bonus. Variations seem a little less consistent in their balancing, but overall appear to be a nice addition to the franchise.

10. Lastly, which character(s) are you looking to main?

Kotal Kahn, Erron Black (on his appearance only, so that's saying something), Shinnok (again, appearances), Sub-Zero (to start).
 
shaowebb

shaowebb

Get your guns on. Sheriff is back.
Pretty great read. Amazing how folks approach there training in so many ways. My own approach is like a mix of MITDJT's regiment and Sonicfox. If only I had that kind of success lol. Props to Pig though...my God you are dedicated sir.
 
Juggs

Juggs

Lose without excuses
Lead Moderator
TotteryManx said:
@Juggs this is your thread. Care to share the answers to your own questions as well?
Click to expand...
My answers:

1. When approaching a new fighting game, what is the very first thing you do after you load the game?

If there's a tutorial, I do that first. It can help no matter how good you think you are. I then go to training mode and mess around for a bit. Nothing too serious, just test out a few things before I go into story mode. After about 15 minutes of training mode, I get ready for the hype known as Story mode!

2. What aspects of the game do you try to learn first, and which ones do you feel are the most important early on?

The first thing I learn is combos. Combos can teach you a lot about how the game works. It's not only the combos themselves that I try and learn, it's how to initiate them and the proper spacing I need. Combos aren't the most important early on though, I feel fundamentals are the most important thing early on and even later on.


3. What is your training process?

I spend my training process analyzing a lot of different things. I look at match videos and determine why I lost, and work to fix it. If there's certain gimmicks or moves I don't know how to beat or I have trouble against, I try and find ways around them. I work vigorously on my execution, doing the same combos over and over until they're muscle memory. In a real match, you have a lot you need to think about, so not having to think about landing a combo and worry about my execution is a huge advantage. I work on getting out of hard situations, like being in the corner with no meter, or coming back from a huge life deficit.


4. How many characters do you seriously try and learn within the first month of the games release?

I try to get familiar with every character, which will be extra hard with MKX since there's essentially 3 version of each character. As far as seriously learning, I stick to around 3 for awhile, then slowly go from there.


5. How do you go about determining which character(s) you want to main?

I have pre-release mains that I think I will like or like the way they look. So I try them out first. But I eventually try and use everyone because you never know what character will fit your style and personality.


6. When first attempting to learn a new character, what process do you go through?

I first learn all of their normals and specials. It seems really basic and obvious, but you'd be surprised at how many players forget about the most basic things. I then move on to my characters fundamentals. What's my characters best anti-air, best wake-up, best poke, my BnB, footsie options, best positioning, walk speed, dash speed/distance, etc. After i got all of that down, I move on to basic combos. I experiment and try to find as many combos as I can. Once I find some combos out, I do them over and over until I'm confident that I can land them consistently. Once all this is done, I then take them to the AI. The AI is useful to test your new character against a moving target, and an opponent that just isn't standing there. After I'm confident, I then take my character online or against a human opponent. After a session, I go back to training mode and test what I lost to, and repeat.


7. Daily, about how much time do you spend in the lab compared to actually playing against a human opponent? And how much time do you spend playing the game overall a day?

It's about 80% to 20%. 80% in the lab, 20% against human opponents. Daily I spend as much time as possible, but usually around 5 hours.


8. If there was one thing you think people need to work on in the NRS community in regards to the game, what would that one thing be?

Fundamentals, the basics. Things like blocking and defense in general. You need to work from the ground up, a solid foundation can be built upon.


9. Which aspect of MKX are you most interested in? (Variations, run, the story, etc)

I'm really interested in variations. I also want to test the run and see its limitations. As well as the stamina meter, it was in UMK3 so I want to see how different it is.


10. Lastly, which character(s) are you looking to main?

Right now, Scorpion is my main man. But I want to use everyone, the front runners are: Shinnok, Takeda, Jason Voorhees, Erron Black, Kenshi, Goro, Ferra/torr, Ermac, Sonya, Kung Jin, Kung Lao, Sub-Zero, and Johnny Cage.
 
Eddy Wang

Eddy Wang

Skarlet scientist
Slips enjoys neutral game he loves to play footsies i can understand exactly how he feels, he loves to play patient and whiff punish normals on a space he dominates. He is a Fundamentalist type of player.

MITDJT is the variety type of player, its kind off cool to have a brother who can play on the same level with a lot of character too, matchup isn't a problem for them so they can get a lot of character knowledge at some rate speed better than those who solely depends of casuals, online or tournament scenes, dem brother genes. :D, We know DJT is like a Robot and he can keep his cool in the most extremes levels, MIT is no different even though he says his brother is better at this than him, it makes him the chilled type of player, dificult to disturb or frustrate on a match, can lead most matches down to the wire, but if you lose your cool before he does you're done.

Pig is "You pick the right character for YOU" type of player, honestly these are often the most dangerous ones, if a player is able to bond deeply with his character it doesn't matter who he faces, if he knows his shit there is no stopping him, pure player Skill.

Forever King is the Mixups and setups type of player, he enjoys big combos and he mostly learn about tools as he plays other peoples, and then he finds means to counter it. Fundamentals its not his top priority but he doesn't complete ignore it, since he has the ability to adjust as the match goes, i would say he is the "Analyst".

Sonic Fox is out of my reading Scan, and i've said before many times in the MK9 life span, among all players in the NRS community i fear those who can't read properly, and the one who chills my blood when i think about fighting him is this kid, a lot of people just see him as a scrub, but in fact his talent is beyond compreension, he flawed REO on a tournament, took out 16Bit and won lots of majors with Mileena when people were doubting his Skill.

If i had to tell in which category among all of the interviewed players i place on, i would say that its a tiny bit of each one of them.

Great interview, it helped me to get to know more of each one of you, and how you guys think when picking a game and aproaching a match.
 
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chores

chores

bad at things
@Pig Of The Hut

as an example, do you still have screenshots of your notebook from the beginning of injustice? it seems like you posted it on here forever ago. looked useful
 
Kokoko

Kokoko

Somehow
This is a great thread. Very interesting. Thanks, guys!
Glad to see, that some high level players choose Ermac ;)
But I've a question. Did any of these veterans involve to testing MKX? I really hope.
 
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