Joystick Techniques for VF?

There's lots of joystick techniques on youtube for 2D fighters but those all are circular motion centric where double direction pushing isn't as emphasized...

I'm having trouble getting both accuracy and speed out of my joystick handling and was wondering if anyone knows (or even better MAKE) a video showing VF-centric joystick handling. If I go for accuracy, I can't box step well. If I go for that boxstepping stuff, my hand wears out fast, it's uncomfortable and my overall inputs become sloppy...

I watched some other players this weekend how they hold their sticks and tried out those styles, but so far, nothing very comfortable, accurate and speedy for them has worked out for me...

 

What I suggest is the same tactic used my musicians trying to learn to play fast. The key to playing music fast is learning how to play it slow. So slow that it's mind numbing. While you're playing at that slow speed you want to focus on the mechanical things going on in your arm/fingers. Make sure you're completely relaxed, trying to press only as much force as you need in order to make the joystick click.

Then you very slowly speed up. Basically if you feel like you're ready to speed up you're wrong, don't speed up yet. Do it slowly for like an hour, or 30 min if you're doing the quick and dirty version of this tech. Trust me, you will learn to be more accurate and fast when you use this method. You'll also be far more relaxed.


The biggest issue I have is sometimes I'l tell my fingers to double tap (since hitbox) but I'll only actually do a single tap.

 

Since we are using Hori sticks 95% of the time and they are smaller than most american arcade sticks....look at it this way.. Left Hand should be use like this...

Index finger is use to execute and and You thumb executes and . Now don't go using the tip of your index finger or thumb but the lower half... you won't get it over night but its a reminder if it helps...

 

Man, I hate practicing scales on the piano...*sigh*...AND trombone...

I will try this.

 

I've sortof combined both your posts and am getting the feel for what I think can work...now it's just the practice. Thanks for the input, guys. I'll update my progress when I think I've got any.

 

I can add one more practice I am using personally a lot. Find any move / setup that is hard to execute. It is not needed to be hard mechanically, but hard for you. It may even be a ""easy" move but performed by hard method.
And if you play, spam it after every round you won.

Personally, I am often using 63236P (2_36P) spam with Wolf and I am trying to execute out of neutral with minimal dash; or after 6_p with no dash in between. It is really helping me not only to get my fingers better, but also to keep my hand warm in between rounds.
Good is also for example 32346P / 412146P (2_46P) with Akira; or 1216p+k / 63236p+k (2_6p+k) with Lion; again with minimal dash. But it all depends on what is hard for you personally or what you wish to practice.

 

I also do this when I win rounds. All those stepping patterns I do post round are mainly to loosen my wrist up between rounds.

 

It's easy to do a dash if that's all you're going to do. It's going from certain sides to other sides that's the problem (for me anyway). The guy up above mentioned using your index sometimes and thumb other times. Switching between these was a challenge for me. I was looking for exercises that I could do that would train my wrist muscles to be able to go from anywhere to anywhere.

I started with .. and .. but I also would just practice .. and over and over.

The ones I do now are .. ..

I do a variation of box steps where I pick a corner, and not move past it. Move clockwise to your corner then immediately reverse directions and stop at same corner. Do each corner like 5 times at least, crouching and regular or mixed. Whatever gives you trouble ( for me), do over and over.

My wrist hurt at first when doing these. Burned like I was practicing drums. Like anything else, it hurts less over time..

 

When working on these types of stepping exercises try to think about how you would like your character to be moving in gameplay. Whatever you end up practicing is going to come out in a real fight. like 33 66 11 44 might not be the most useful thing to practice since you can't actually cancel those movements all into one another.

 

I'd only do the back n forth ones because they're hard for me, and I would use them in a real fight (dash back then crouch dash forward, etc.) Never really thought about cancelling, but I should start adding that to my step practice (guard at the end of forward crouchdash's). I kind of still don't "get" cancelling, unless it's just me being anal about it, but I will ask about that elsewhere.

 

I use stepping after certain situations just for spacing/Baiting reasons... so after certain combo's or throws i do a little step.. It don't necessarily have to be any of the ones mentioned above.Freestyle it. you will only overload yourself taking in all this advice thinking it will work overnight.. There are lots of people who can step their ass off after rounds but don't know how to use it mid match... find a pattern that feels comfortable and practice it.. Let it feel natural then build off of it after a while.... thats the best advice i can give you.. in Vanilla almost everybody had a different timing and scheme... not so much in this version so keep at it..

 

mostly i want the stepping for spacing and to smoothly transition into a move when I feel I have a good opportunity. Plus, ECDC or EDC or things I need to work on doing just out of habit...I don't do it every time because of bad technique and when i do attempt (i.e. I know a circular is coming soon), it's too slow. So I have an idea of where I want to take the skills, it's just being able to do it without thinking and fluidly and flexibly...which starts with good technique outside any fight at all with the stick.

 

With the drums you practice rudiments over and over, like : right left right right.... left right right left (there's a shitload of them). You don't practice these to give you song ideas. They make it where your wrists can play anything, very fast, without even thinking about it. When I'm learning these hard Akira moves, I have the best luck executing them like little beats.. bak, bam, BAMB!! or 4, 6, 6p+k!!

 

I did find using rhythm made me more successful in practicing box stepping.

 

VF is just a rhythm game with punching and kicking. It's all about controlling the tempo of the match.

That might be too meta though.

 

I been using SDS' technique and some of Tricky's suggestions...however, when in a match and in a heated situation, i revert back to my old style...then i start thinking about my hand and not what I'm doing...it's going to take some adjustment, but overall, when I do stick with it, I do have more control and am faster, so thanks guys! Just need to unlearn my old style...

 

Okay I wanted to say I now understand what Tricky was talking about. Up until now, all the "box stepping" I've ever practiced has been just to make my wrist better with the stick. As was pointed out, the little patterns I would practice didn't have in-game usefulness. I will still use them to warm up though..

I found an old Goh Notes article that has a chart which shows what can cancel into what. It was written for vanilla, but I'm pretty sure it's still close enough to use..

http://gohnotes.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/stepping-guide/

Someone already pointed this out to me, but like a dumbass, I either didn't read it completely, or didn't understand it.

So, turns out I have yet to learn box stepping.

 

the step canceling chart is correct. The only change is FS is you can no longer cancel out of 11 with anything other than attack. 44 also is slower it was in vanilla.