Friday, May 6, 2011

It's Official / Autopiloting continued

I unfortunately had to work through the night yesterday. Didn't get off work until midnight. I heard the Thor movie was pretty good but it had some parts that rubbed people the wrong way (or at least the bigger fans). I'm going to get back on topic about Marvel vs Capcom 3 but I want to hear from you guys about how you thought the movie was if you saw it. I really am disappointed that I missed it. Do you think it was a great movie or overhyped? Superhero movies are usually pretty exciting, especially the marvel movies. Please don't ruin the movie's plot for other people reading the comments though. This marks the only Avengers movie that I missed but the Captain America movie's still not out, so we'll see. ANYWAYS, back to the topic at hand.

A big problem for people in Marvel vs Capcom 3 (and fighting games in general) is the autopiloting issue we talked about earlier. It's very easy to fall into predictable patterns based on how you've practiced in the past. Can happen to anyone but the key thing we've been talking about is how to bring it to an end. Autopiloting issue starts when a scrub-friendly tactic comes under your control that newer players have an issue dealing with. These tactics are usually safe so punishes aren't too big. Things like spamming Magneto's disruptor or throwing out Tron's giant aerial hitboxes with no mixup or even jamming on your Haggar assist every moment it's possible, all these are extreme examples of autopiloting. I've caught myself doing this before too and it really just slows your development. Everyone has probably felt it at some point.

Remember when the really old school Mortal Kombat was in arcades a long while back? Everytime you did a crouching uppercut, you would hear the announcer scream something cool, you'd hit the guy for a big chunk of health, you were crouching under your opponent's jabs so effectively dodged the majority of his moves and if the opponent blocked it, they couldn't even punish it. If you were like me on those old school machines, you got through like the first 6 levels of arcade uppercutting the heck out of anyone who dared throw his way in the reach of your mighty, rising dominance.

BUT what happened when you got to the higher levels? When you were convinced you ran this game and nobody could stop you? You'd go for the uppercut, the computer would crouch and uppercut you back and they'd get the announcer screaming for them. YOU PANIC. He's coming again? What do you do? Quick, make a decision! Uppercut. Get hit again. You're officially in the quicksand and you're trapped. This is an exaggerated example but it holds true. Even if you're used to wrecking your friends in any game with some powerful tactic, try not to rely on it too heavily. One day, you'll have to come up against someone who knows how to get around your tactic and will test if you have a backup plan. Fighting games are a test of adaptation in the end. Remember that.

Here's a video talking about a popular and powerful tactic from street fighter, also exaggerated but might bring up some nostalgia. For those not too huge on fighting game notation, DPM stands for dragon punch motion (pressing Forward, Down, then Down-Forward in quick succession). It's called this because it's the traditional notation for uppercut motion moves that have invincibility frames on the startup and rise a.k.a. Dragon Punches. Enjoy!

And remember to give opinions on the Thor movie if you saw it!

15 comments:

  1. "who dared throw his way in the reach of your mighty, rising dominance."

    i dont know if you meant for a pun there, but holy crap i just burst out laughing. buttonmash like crazy.

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  2. I thought the Thor movie was pretty good, but I'm not too knowledgeable about the character so I probably didn't pick up on some of the things that might have annoyed others

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  3. Great tip. Applies the same to tekken as well, but all in all thanks for the post!

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  4. Definitely an interesting read. Thanks for sharing!

    Keep 'em coming as always :)

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  5. I agree, fighting games are really all about adaptation.

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  6. I seen the thor movie, thought it was mediocre.

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  7. I remember I used to be similar in Tekken 4 with autopiloting. I mean, it was more like 3 moves, but the way he ducked to start those combos made him annoying as hell to touch. Good times. :D

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  8. I've been meaning to rent it, maybe ill get some free time this weekend. Ill let you know what I think.

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  9. A lot of moves that produce a bounce after hitting I think makes for a lot of predictable and useful patterns for people.

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  10. hahah this video is so cool

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  11. Still haven't seen it yet. I don't think I'll be able to watch it tonight. Gonna head to my local bar for a few drinks with my mates. I'm not gonna go see Captain America... looks like it's headed for a big disappointment.

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  12. haha I like the new deets man, also that ken masters video has a brother called breafast with zangief. check it out. p.s. haven't seen thor yet

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  13. I didnt get to see the movie yet, but I might check it out sometime this coming week.

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