Wah Liao! Singapore!

I returned home a few hours ago, and just as I was running out of reasons not to unpack my luggage, I figured that I may as well scratch up a report on my VFing experience in Singapore.

<font color=orange>First Meeting</font color=orange>

Sunday afternoon was the first meet. We first met up at Bugis, where they had two VF4 machines on versus city cabinets. Sticks/buttons were generally ok but the biggest drag was that the machines were set at two squares. While we didn't stay for too long there, I do remember Alan's MT-Vanessa. Even though I play as Vanessa a lot back home, the fact that I'm lacking versus experience against her, especially MT-style, was really evident when I was first playing Alan. In fact, after seeing his Vanessa, I just completely lost my own Vanessa game. His flowcharts are just way too tight, and now I see why Vanessa's MT-style was toned down in version C (much to Alan's disapproval), heh. That afternoon at Bugis I also got to meet LittleWild, Feii, and Genie. Shortly afterward, we made our way to Parklane.

Parklane had two versus city machines as well, but thankfully they were set at 3 squares and still only 50c. The guys I got to meet there were Kiat (who was playing when we got there), Shundi_05, the W' brothers (I think?), and a few others that I don't remember. And a bit later on, Pinkgirl and Alucard came around.

We played on for a few hours before leaving. I remember Kiat's devastating Lei and scary Wolf, Shundi_05's overpowered Shun (again, you see this guy play and you'll understand why Shun was toned down in ver C, heh), and the W' brothers impressive use of the Bryants. Alucard and Pinkgirl played Jacky/Lau and Jacky, respectively, if I remember correctly. For the most part, I stuck to Kage, the only character who I felt competitive with. Great games all round, and if my VFing experience in Singapore were to end on that note I would not have been disappointed. But it got better!

<font color=orange>During the Week</font color=orange>

Since I was staying at a hotel close to Bugis, I often stopped by the arcade in an afternoon just to kill time before dinner or whatever the plan for the night was. On one weekday afternoon, I bumped into Shundi_05 who introduced me to danny13. Danny has an amazing Akira, and our Kage v Akira marathons were probably the most memorable matches I had in Singapore. Remember that the machines at Bugis were only two squares, and 30 seconds, so you can imagine just how intense the matches were. An analogy which comes to mind that would describe it best would be speed chess. After a solid hour or two we were both mentally exhausted. Awesome matches. I got to converse with Danny the most among all the Singaporeans simply because I saw him more often than I did the others. Great guy, and he pretty much convinced me to attend the Genie's tournament on the coming Saturday. While I had previously had planned to go wake boarding during the day, something in the back of my mind was telling me that I was going to cancel it and go to the damn tourney /versus/images/icons/wink.gif

And so I did. I figured I can go wake boarding back home anytime, but a chance to meet/play all the Sing VFers again wouldn't come around again any time soon. So with a bullshit excuse or two, I worm my way out of wake boarding, and arrange to meet some guys at Woodlands MRT where we'd then head to Genie's place.

<font color=orange>The Genie's Bottle</font color=orange>

So, Littlewild, Alan and Kiat meet me at the MRT and we take a taxi to Genie's secret hideout. I'm glad the taxi driver knew where we were, because I sure as hell was lost in the labyrinth of apartment complexes which all looked to same and went as far as the eye could see. We eventually get there, and that's where I see VF4 on the PS2 for the very first time. I'll spare you my impressions (don't worry, they're all good). Seemed like everyone brought there own joystick so I got to sample the official VF4 stick, the PS2 Hori Fighting stick, Genie's 2-player monster, and the PS1 Namco stick. Just for the record, I think the PS1 Namco stick (grey base, yellow joystick ball, yellow buttons) is clearly head-and-shoulders above the rest. The other sticks have issues with either buttons, or the stick, or both, but the PS1 Namco stick has no issues to speak of apart from the fact that you're either lucky if you already have one, or can find one. I'm glad I still have mine!

Anyway, I was really disappointed with my performance in the tournament but I make no excuses. No one else to blame except for myself as some of you'll will see when the replays finally go public. Let's just say that I was a victim of the infamous/mysterious g-cancelled buffer resulting in my Kage just standing frozen after a match-deciding TFT-Knee combo. The horror, the horror.

I think refining the tournament format is definitely a good idea for the future, which I'm sure Genie is working on with everyone's input. If I may add my 2c, then I'd suggest you just stick to standard double-elimination format, with seedings based on the results of previous tournaments. No fancy programs or confusing-french lingo necessary, especially with the relatively small player base you have there.

It was a fun event nontheless, and I got to meet a few new faces too, namely SGLion, Skykeigo and Rulakir. After the tournament, I went along to AMK with SGLion and Rulakir where we basically played VF4 for the rest of the night. I wanted to play with these guys because I simply didn't get that chance to do so during the tournament. Rulakir left after a short while, but another VFer showed up (who's name I forget!) We had some great games, ending the day on a high note. Again, if that had been my last VF experience in Singapore, I would have been more than happy.

<font color=orange>There's more?</font color=orange>

Well, kinda. While strolling through Bugis on Monday afternoon (my 2nd last day in Singapore) I bump into Danny again. We engage in another marathon again, and then take a break afterwards, just chatting about the games we had, the tournament (and how bad I f'd up) /versus/images/icons/smile.gif and other random stuff. I think I convinced him to get started on an Akira dojo! A while later, a small group has started playing again, so Danny and I decide to enter the fray. Later on, SGLion, Rulakir, Kiat and the dude who showed up late at AMK, show up, and we all chalk up our respective feel-good streaks.

<font color=orange>Player Styles</font color=orange>

What I noticed most about the Singaporean style of playing, which really differed from the way we play in Sydney, is that most of the players use air-tight flowcharts and really favour the 50/50 guessing game. I think I first noticed this with Alan and if you just watch him play a few times, you really do notice the patten/flowchart he uses, especially with MT Vanessa. When I lost to Alan, I always knew why and it was usually because I made the wrong guess (not to take anything away from his great play though).

Danny on the other hand, just overwhelms you wherever possible. His flow charts aren't as obvious as, say, Alan's are which can either make it harder or easier for you, depending on your style. I found myself playing lots of mind games with Danny, probably because there were more throw-counterable situations arising usually followed by a series of reversal/throw-escape inputs, back and forth. Contrast this with Alan, where his MT-Vanessa will very rarely throw anything at you that's throw counterable, and you're forced to act quickly, or die. So when I lose to Danny, it was merely another game chalked up to experience which we'd both draw from in the upcoming games. Like I mentioned before, while each match was short (only 2 out of 3 rounds), we would play many consecutive games. Each game, in effect, being like a drawn card from the VF deck, which we'd either remember to our advantage later on... or not. /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

Kiat, on the other hand, is again different from Alan and Danny in terms of play style. Kiat's Lei will often leave you scratching your head 7 seconds into the fight, wondering where 95% of your health went. Actually, this could probably be attributed more to the character Lei, as I end up feeling that way sometimes when I play against Ken's Lei, but Kiat can make you feel like that when you play against his Wolf too. When I lose to Kiat, time and time again, I'm really at a loss to understand why /versus/images/icons/smile.gif But what's worse, is when I actually win, again, I don't know why!

Well, hope that makes some kind of sense, especially to the guys in Singapore. That's probably the best way I can describe the different threads of playing style from my short experience there.

<font color=orange>Thankyou!</font color=orange>

Finally, I just want to thank each one of you that took a bit of time to meet up with me over VF. Maybe next time I'll negotiate a longer leash, and won't go to Velvet Underground so much during the week just to squeeze in a few more VF sessions /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

Until next time!

 

It was a shame I couldn't come over on Monday night, but like I said, I had plans at One Fullerton that night, and Woodlands is pretty far from where I was staying. But next time, for sure!

Speaking of memory cards, I still laugh when I remember Alan showing us his customised Vanessa and Shundi_05's customised Shun /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

 

Ken, I'll definitely be there on Friday night, but I'll also be in town tonight. Can't wait to play against Kim now!