PhormTheGenie

Vixen. Genie. Vixdjinn!

Hi! I'm Phorm, and I'm a Vixdjinn!

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I'm a genie girl, who really likes being a genie, and really likes everything about genies (really)! I'm a bit confused, lost, and trying to find my way, but I always enjoy interacting with folks here. (Trans🏳️‍⚧️, occasionally NSFW, Be 18+ or please be gone.)

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Okay, perhaps this is a loaded question, but given that:

A.) Reaction time is a critical component of fighting games, for aspects of the mechanics such as recognizing and reacting to hit confirms, reacting to opponent behavior, and general execution within tight frame windows,

and that:

B.) Reaction time tends to decrease as age increases.

Is there an age range when you are officially too old to play fighting games? Or other games with reaction time requirements?

Asking for a friend.

(It's me. I'm the friend. I'm the very old and still aging friend.)


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in reply to @PhormTheGenie's post:

In my experience, outside of the absolute highest echelons of competitive play, fighting games are much less about instant reactions to what you see and much more about predicting what your opponent will do, and countering that with your own movements.

(Which is why everyone kind of looks sideways at playing vs. CPU - it simulates a player who can perfectly launch whatever input they think of, but has no cohesive plan or thought process, which is not a kind of person that exists.)

I totally get what you mean on this - It's a game genre about reading and predicting your opponents more than anything else. The thing I'm finding is that even in the event of a non-opponent (CPU or living), doing things like a successful hit-confirm can really be beyond me. And I feel like it's because I just can't recognize the hit, and react, soon enough.

That makes me wonder if it's not just outright an inability, rather than something I should keep working toward.

I just don't find that hit-confirm is a thing the way it's described - in most of the cases where I see this being carried out, you combo a normal into a super, and if the normal whiffs or gets blocked, maybe you can botch the end of the super input and save your bars, but mostly you commit to doing the inputs and watch how it goes

I am somewhat describing my process of "for the first time ever, I am using a controller that I can throw fireballs on and I kind of understand the game I'm trying to learn" and I have people to practice against who are trying to help me learn"

one thing that was big for me in that period was "hold down+back and watch what the opponent does while you're almost completely safe" and the value of this is very hard for me to explain directly

The way I've always had hit-confirms explained to me would be "Throw out the poke, and if it connects, continue, otherwise, block", which I find extremely hard to do. We're talking a sub 20 frame window there, and honestly, I just don't know if I can manage that. You do bring up a good point, though, about how you can go into various chained moves/cancels that allow you to build in more reaction time, and craft the end of the combo either as a safe move on block, or turn it around into a proper finisher. I suppose that's more about ensuring your blockstring is long enough to react to.

One thing I feel cursed with is, well, I can basically execute most mechanics and moves in a vacuum. I've been playing fighting games long enough that the motions are muscle memory. 632146+P? No problem. 236236+P? Not an issue. Super jumping, parrying when expecting it? Sure.

It's when I have to put it all together that I fall apart. Like, can I kara-cancel kickstart my heart into loop the loop in training? Sure. Can I poke into kickstart my heart then kara-cancel into loop the loop, RC and starship afterward? Not even once.

Also, it probably doesn't help that I'm trying to train myself by playing Footsies. It's all about fundamentals, but the timings are brutal. Particularly on the hit confirm and whiff punish trainings. I figure if I can't succeed there, though, I've got no hope elsewhere.

like, logically, that's the idea, that's how people describe the idea, and SonicFox can probably do it, and if I had enough adderall I could probably do it too - but most people don't, practically, play that way, and you don't need it to play.

I have no idea how much of the fine-grained stuff in the trainings is practical or necessary to functioning against other players. having the training there to show you the motions is cool when you decide you need to understand it, but as you're brushing up against - first you need to be modeling what the opponent is doing and responding appropriately without getting "lost in the sauce" of trying to break out the complicated stuff from trainings

I am requesting more specific advice about strive training mode because I'm curious what people would say

It does feel hyper-idealized, honestly. Footsies is supposed to be a great teaching tool, but it also feels so far removed from the games it supposedly trains for that I suppose I ought to question its efficacy for doing so.

I always have this hangup in my brain about "If I can't do everything in the training modes, then I'm pretty out and out hopeless to even approach a real game with a real person." But I suppose you have a point about it being a little less rigid a barrier than that, and gaining knowledge by jumping into the fire directly.

I just always worry that I'm fucking up someone's game experience. I don't like getting juggled in the corner endlessly any more than someone likes doing the juggling - It's not fun to have zero challenge from an opponent like me.

Honestly, this all applies to EVERY fightgame I try to play, but I do love strive...

I found this video which may help you understand what it is you're trying to learn with either capital or lowercase Footsies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NnK5f617_A

the follow-up video might be really good for you too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPc3rNSHw-U

it may also help to explain that, while training mode is good for practicing execution, it's more of a problem-solving tool than a "can you handle this" tool. you'll come back here when you want to figure out how to handle scenarios you encounter in matches.

so the saying goes, "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face". and playing against people is how you're going to really learn how to play fightan.

Oh, heck. I probably should have been a touch more specific. I meant Footsies: Rollback Edition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0khZXOGygfw

Yes, it's a very specific game, but I've heard it does a LOT to teach you fundamentals that you can apply to other fighting games. The game has hit-confirm, whiff-punish, and parry training modes - And I find all three exceptionally hard to even engage, let alone pass.

That being said, thank you very much for the video links! They're super informative, and very appreciated.

Also, you bring up a good point about how playing against real people is just a completely different beast, and perhaps the best way to learn...

sorry, I was going for a joke. that is, it's good information if you're playing Footsies or playing footsies with someone in another game. :y

Footsies is good training for fundamentals but don't let it be a roadblock for you getting in there and learning by doing. even AI opponents can teach you a lot. at the very least it'll get your djinni tail wet learning how fighting games ebb and flow.

no. if it's that much of a concern, simply play with friends in your age group and you're on even footing. and also what @garudina said about it being more about reading. there's the story of a newbie to the FGC absolutely cleaning up at a tournament with just normals and specials, all because they were really good at reading their opponent's behavior.