Virtua Fighter Before Delay Based Online.......

The Virtua Fighter series became the power house of 3D arcade fighting games long before it had any online features or online matches. In fact Virtua Fighter 4 EVO by many accounts was the most popular version of Virtua Fighter and there was no netcode, lobbies, or rollback to debate. Some say VF2 was the best version of the game. Again VF2 had no netcode to worry about.

How is it in 2021 that the sum total of VF's future and success is being tied to whether it gets rollback
netcode or not

VF has been known for:

• Solid Fighting Engine
• Awesome Unique Roster of Characters and Fighting Styles
• Character Balance
• Beautiful Graphics and Stages
• Solid VS Mode
• Quest Mode & Dojo

Netcode was never a defining feature and is not on this list. But now in 2021 Virtua Fighter has been totally and thoroughly taken hostage and exclusively measured by its delay based variation and architecture of Netcode. I know we currently in the middle of a global pandemic and the idea of in person gathering is a risky proposition at best. But there literally are no discussions of the offline VS features of this new remaster VF5US

Will VS mode have the tournament mode as an offline feature for in person tourney?. That would be awesome, For offline tourneys Rollback Vs Delay based in moot.

Will VS mode have some way to implement player profiles and customizations, (maybe downloading them onto the tournament machines from the Internet)? Or some kind of bluetooth connection to a cell phone to let every player bring their own profiles.?

Will VS mode have some mode to automatically save replays of offline matches. Perhaps allowing players to save their replays to their profiles, or upload offline replaces to the Internet?

Will VS mode have a tournament save file, or some way to support offline leagues Teambattle, or Beat Tribe?

And where's the Single Player Content? Where's Quest Mode, Sparring Mode, Underground Tournaments, License Mode, Team Battle Mode, Arcade Scoring Mode, AI Training Mode, and customizable wallpapers. Before Online became a thing, the Virtua Fighter series always had some decent single player content outside of Arcade mode.

Truth be told all of the more popular and beloved versions of Virtua Fighter came before the Online feature was added. Now its all about (and only about) online and netcode this or netcode that. The more the VF series moves to online, the less focus on the offline features and innovations that made VF great in the first place.

Since VF4 EVO, VF4, VF3, VF2, VF1 didn't have online, rollback or delay based netcode, why or how did it even
get played How was a rivalry between Tekken, Soul Calibur DOA and Virtua Fighter is sustained prior to any of them having Online and Netcode? How were all those top player who were tried by fire and became FG legends even made if there was no rollback or delay based netcode


Of course its 2021 and the Internet is a thing, and there is online match making, and online makes it possible for players to play each other from all over the world and that's a good thing. But somewhere in the translation between offline and online Virtua Fighter seems to be losing its original focus, identity, and attraction. Somehow Virtua Fighter is being reduced to sum of its netcode. And the focus has become about online to the exclusion of all else.

Does anybody remember these forums:

https://virtuafighter.com/forums/virtua-fighter-4.62/
https://virtuafighter.com/forums/the-vault.61/

This conversation about VF was a lot different back then. Of course that was the past and this is now and things have changed. But as VF sheds more and more features what will its final trajectory be

I'm just saying prior to Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown the Playstation version of Virtua Fighter didn't even have online. So it is distressing to hear that Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown (the lastest VF5 on the Playstion will be a abject failure if the Absorb, Delay based netcode is not fixed or converted to rollback

Does anybody remember the Virtua Fighter games and the Virtua Fighter scene before Online became the end-all and be-all I mean before anybody knew what delay based or rollback netcode even was, Virtua Fighter was top dog. And now for VF to be solely measure by how many, and how consistent, and how playable, the green bars are is heart breaking

 

I would love a Quest mode, but Rollback is essential, and probably the most for the survival of the game, i think.

 

Of course online is essential mate. But this is not an either or. There should be a solid offline game (like there always has been) and there should be solid netcode

Its simply a mistake to think that the game could be carried by solid netcode alone.

If the netcode was rollback and 100% lag free, that is not enough to sustain success for VF.

Please keep in mind VF has a large community of people that simply prefer in person gatherings and don't care how good the netcode is. Also there is a large community that dig VF single player content. For VF to be successful long term it needs a strong online (solid netcode), and strong offline (VS & Single Player content). What I'm getting at here is VF had a strong community before there was a such thing as netcode or online play

Even when PSN VF5FS was a ghost town there were still plenty of people playing offline gatherings, tourneys, and single player content. We need both solid online and solid offline and if we're forced to choose one over the other the game won't survive

 

Yes i know what you mean, but i myself spent tones of hours in VF4Evo, and fully solo offline, of course i wish i could play with other players, but nobody played VF in my area back then, i was able to play other human players in VF until VF5 and VF5FS came with out later with online, even i didn't play it much like around 100 to 150 matches online in all because not much players in Xbox 360, but i got a taste at competitive and playing a real human in VF, since then i don't enjoy much playing IA much. But still would love a Quest mode, it's super fun, and a great mode to start off fresh if you want to try a new character.

If Sega have energy to make more solo content in VF5US, maybe they should just save it and make sure it will be there for VF6, and so also they can sell the game at full price 60$.

 

Yes agreed. Many many players share your views. I've played thousands of matches online in VF5FS. I've played thousands of matches in offline gatherings. But I'm one of those people who enjoy playing against all of the different AI's that were in Quest Mode, Kumite Mode, Underground Tournaments in the Virtua Fighter series. I play against humans all the time. I have brothers,family and friends always to play with, but I literally like playing against the AI more Humans play against you a certain way and AI play against you differently. I would much rather have adaptable, adjustable, trainable AI to play against. Of course I'm in the minority on this. Most people prefer human competition. I'm just the opposite. After a while I find human competition boring and predictable

If its a cost thing, Sega could sell single player content from VF5FS as DLC. The game has already been ported. I would be willing to pay for the single player modes.

Top 10 Advantages to Single Player Modes on VF

• You can play the game anytime of day any day of the week (no one else required)
• There is no lag, netcode rollback, absorb, delay-based, or otherwise to worry about
• If all of the servers are shut down or you can't afford PSN, you can still play
• The AI does not rage quit
• The AI never gets tired and will play you as often and as long as you want and never complains about your spamming or cheap moves
• 100 AI's can have 100 completely different styles, humans fit into a few categories
• The AI doesn't talk trash, or judge how you play or tell you how you should play
• There is no pressure to win while playing the AI, only learn and get better
• In single player you enjoy the beauty of the animations and stages more
• In single player you can immerse yourself in any crazy fantasy about VF you like

 

In my area I started with VF3 and there was nothing for that game that I could see. VF4 had some play and that was the first time I got to play people who knew the game but those opportunities were rare and the players few. VF4 Evo caused an explosion of interest though due to the in depth tutorial and advanced AI which were a rarity for fighting games in those days. There were quite a lot of fairly packed offline sessions on console and at the arcade and tournaments. That was the game that really changed things and I put that down to how it really helped you to learn to play the game and appreciate how good it was like no other. The VF5 games didn't followup up on that.

 

without real single player content like Quest mode, VF is incomplete.

For example my Plus expired and now I can only play arcade mode in VF5US.

I can't stand the "mutliplayer only" approach even in fighting games.

 

Solution: Get a job, so you can play online.
Where should I send my invoice for this vital information?

 

paying subscription after paying the game is not good at all.

Even accepting to pay, it still it not solve the issue, without a real single player content the game is incomplete.

 

The whole online only multiplayer thing is all a big money grab.

Sega would prefer that you put in a couple of quarters into a machine every time you play a VF route. But the arcade days are gone, and the only way to get something like the money that was made during the arcade days is to turn VF into a pay as you play subscription service. Sega will keep developing VF's online multiplayer only features until it becomes a pay every time you play game. That's the goal mate.

I've gone back to playing VF5FS, VF5, VF4evo and VF4. If VF5US does not add single player content, it will be permanently shelved. I would sell it on E-bay if I had bought it on disk