Where should my focus be?

I've played the tekken series for about 5 years. Needless to say, when I bought VF4 for my PS2 I was in for a very different experience. One of the first things I noticed was,obviously, the flow of the game. My question is, should I focus on juggles (the bread and butter of any real tekkenite) or should I focus on more of a "grounded" technique? I've tried fighting both ways. With juggles, I find that many of the launchers leave you very open if blocked. Likewise, I haven't really been able to find any moves that evade and counter. If you play tekken you know what I'm talking about (like a hook that would slip a jab and hit at the same time, etc...).

 

What character are you using?

In VF, in general, when something is blocked you are at the disadvantage, and if you continue attacking, its usually pretty easy for your opponent to interrupt you.

 

Evade and counter

I don't play Tekken, but II have a feeling what you are referring to are Sabakis in VF4.
Check this little guide from Myke:
<a target="_blank" href=http://virtuafighter.com/view.php?section=vf4&file=vf4_sabaki_chart.html>http://virtuafighter.com/view.php?section=vf4&file=vf4_sabaki_chart.html</a>

 

When starting in VF, my idea of getting used to the flow of the game is to first work on general poking. From there, the options open up when you get to feel more comfortable with the engine and the overall flow. You'll start to improvise, implement rangeplay, implement "juggles," okizeme, positioning, and a good amount of strategy overdosed with tactics. But the starting point, imo, is to be able to deal with the typical pokes.

Poking isn't everything in VF, but it can be the first thing to bring you down when you're just starting out. VF4 may have lowered the number of overall annoying low pokes in the game (by turning low punch into a "special low poke"), but they are still very much in there and are much faster than in some other games. I figure if anything, the Tekken player probably gets surprised at how many fast-access low pokes exist in VF and how often they can actually be used to slow someone down.

So start out working on your recognition of attacks, recognition of poke setups (flowcharting), mindgames that occur. Pickup some of how the okizeme/ground/wakeup game works in VF. Whether to work on floats or not depends on the character you choose, and an evaluation of the risk (probability of creating that situation and its requirements).

Altogether, this is just advice. It's not fact or definitive, but it's at least the best answer I can give and reflects how I see the game. I just believe that VF starts out as poking, but it moves into something very deep (maybe even enriching) allowing a full spectrum of things to happen.

-Chanchai

 

If you're coming from tekken, focusing on float combos is good, and also keep in mind there are combos that start without a float animation... e.g. if someone crumples to the floor slowly (you've seen this in tekken) you can combo them. If someone is knocked on their ass hard, so that their legs kick up into the air, you can combo by hitting their legs.

Throws in VF should also be a big focus. My experience in tekken has been that very little guarantees free, easy damage if blocked... moves almost always knock you back too far or create too much blockstun. In VF, a ton of moves will guarantee you a throw if they're blocked, often even if they push you a little ways back (like akira's double palm). So learn how to throw blocked moves on reaction.
You can make a pretty strong character who focuses on throwing throw-counterable attacks, interrupting other attacks with a float combo starter, and occasionally throwing someone while they're dodging and guarding. Pokes usually aren't that damaging unless you're playing lei fei... pokes are mostly just to set up a throw-or-float combo guessing game.