STREET FIGHTER IV

it's pretty addictive this mode

I think you can only upload a replay if you're in the top 5,000 and I haven't been playing enough to keep up with the pace (even if I had the talent, which I probably don't - noticed I was just under 10,000 currently). Just won my third championship though and winning always feels good. Playing championship mode is definitely incentive to try to raise the quality of my game. Even if the quality and variety doesn't last - it at least has been great to finally see a bit of it the last couple of days.

I think, though, that CP is basically a total of the GP of the players that you have beaten during a tournament plus the GP of all the players that they have beaten. so when you lose or win, they know how sick you were and how many points to give you for tht tournament

so you can, theoretically, not play for ages, go into a 'free' tournament with some skilled dudes, beast them and earn enough CP from tht tournament to hit the top 5000

your CP isn't an all-time figure, I don't think (ie it doesn't accrue), it's just the purse for tht one tournament. the top 5000 purses are able to upload

your GP are you battle points (these accrue over time and can only be lost at higher levels)

Right - at first I thought it was GP rank for replays, but I landed in the 2,000s last night and still couldn't upload. I guess I've had some bad luck with CP (it's kind of random) as my best is only just under rank 9,000, I think. It doesn't really bug me, but 5,000 seems like such a low number for replays - cheap ass capcom.

My semi-real concern now is that one's reward for reaching higher ranks may be the inability to find a game because of not enough players. We'll just have to see how this system develops.

jeez the comp is steep in G2

I feel like I've hit a bit of a wall. The last month of mostly playing REALLY shitty players has caused me to develop some bad habits that are hard to break, andt the process of breaking them is sometimes making my game too tentative. The last few days has definitely shown me a still got a long ways to go & I don't know if I can make it there. I'm scared of what will happen when I eventually reach G2. I think I may take a break for a while and just keep working on my game in the practice room.

Weirdly I've got more hate mail in the last few days than since the game came out. Maybe that's people's only outlet now that they feel like they can't rage quit?

Is this Games for Windows Live thing something I should be wary of? They're also suspiciously not talking about the hoped-for cross-platform play, which might be a deal breaker.

Cozwn - interesting replay against dictator. Generally I don't like matches that get that defensive (slow), which is why I've recently been losing too many matches being wiped out by a super/ultra lately. I gotta learn to be more patient especially when the other guy has been meter. I was especially impressed by all the stuffed throws (not sure which of you kept teching those). Does Rufus not have a uppercut of some sort to punish those m. bison headstomps? Anyway, you were very good at blocking them.

I just hit G2 myself tonight, after working my way through an absurd amount of Kens (five in a row!) and a couple Ryus for "variety." When the game gets like that, I do get a bit frustrated (as I guess does most everybody?). Anyhow, I saw my win percentage drop 3% since I started working my way into Championship mode :( have also finished second place in twice as many championships as I've won (22 vs. 11)

tht dictator had me FUMING; all he did was jump heavy kick, throw. slide, neutral jump heavy kick, throw. back off, scissors. repeat. I was just frustrated chasing him around the fkn stage.

cr.MP punishes bison headstomps but I was literally raging at tht guy's style of play I even missed three or four easy links into ultra

sorry, tht m.bison had me fuming

I kept teching his throws because he only had one pattern, so I knew exactly when to mash throw. he ws horrible and absurdly has like 5000gp now, top 200 in the world o_O

so many ryus and balrogs; it does get dispiriting

it is basically too late for me to ever play this game again

worst thing was he ws called mrfluffypants

MPx4A - I don't think it's too late to pick up SFIV. In fact, now is probably a good time, especially for online play since the new championship mode now breaks online down into more effective skill tiers, you'd have to play quite a bit to move up and face decent competition. It still has a regular friendly system too, plus the solo stuff and a large training section that lets you work through each character's moves and combos. It's also a much more forgiving game with easier command imputs than pretty much any other fighting game I've played. It also still has a pretty decent sized player base of most skill levels (though maybe not enough higher skilled players / competition for the likes of cozwn who have really got the game down).

no I already have it but I stopped playing, and I don't want to go back and have my bison owned by a cozen rufus what has since far outstripped my progress

...for example

i've been playing a little again after not playing for a few months and i'm rusty as hell but it does come back pretty quickly

I have played 380 hrs on my second save; approx 60 hrs on my first (corrupted) save

o_O

cozwn, are you going to compete in this http://www.capcom-europe.com/sfivofficialtournament/register.php ?

I can't get out of the third round in G2. I'm enjoying the quality of matches a lot more though - it has definitely gotten a lot more consistent since I hit G2. G2 is probably where I belong until I spend more time in the practice room and bring up my own game a few steps. Do we know how many points you need to hit G1?

It's gonna feel great when/if I finally win one of these G2 championships.

15k to hit G1 : /

PC version pretty much confirmed for July 2nd-ish, along with Bionic Commando and RE5 later. Looks like Steam's gonna get it, too.

Finally won my first G2 tournament (been a little frustrated and not playing as much the last few days). I guess more average players have made it into G2. Funny thing was, I had a horrible final match, blew several moves, was weirdly nervous, lucked into jumping over his Ultra(!), wasted mine on tick damadge, blew a relatively easy combo I've been practicing like crazy yet somehow still won. The replay is up, but this Abel I fought didn't seem too tight with his character (despite having more GP than me) maybe he has been playing a variety. Somehow I threw him three which is so much the opposite of when I usually fight Abel - doesn't he have great throw range whenever you get close to him normally(?).

Despite having sold over a million and a half copies the game seems to have a pretty small player base :(

sry meant to but didn't get round to watchin yr replay earlier ;_;

are you still playing exclusively balrog?

I don't think abel's normal throw range is all tht great; the range on his command throw is pretty good though, and it beats out normal throws (in fact I think it's the highest priority throw in the game, beating out zangief's spd and honda's ochio)

it's funny, there are loads of players out there but I always run into the same pool of a couple of hundred. weird matchmaking problem maybe

I've been playing a ton of ryu and am still working on c.viper but I revert to rufus when fighting in championship mode or when somebody picks a char I don't know how to fight w/the other two (blanka, bison, balrog)

Yeah - online I've been sticking with Barlog. Offline I'm trying to pick a second - working through challenge mode and stuff, but so far nobody has really grabbed me / made me want to try to learn more strats.

Beat a 6000+ GP Akuma to win my second G2 championship tonight = pretty good feeling. The thing about Balrog is I find it really hard to combo into his super/ultra in match, have only actually done it a couple of times. On the other hand, his regular game is so strong, you don't really need his super/ultra. Like the Akuma I fought tonight was really dependent on his, and he did catch me with it twice (kinda embarrassing on my part), but both of those matches I still went on to win as he only really built up his ultra because I was pounding the hell out of him. Or that's the problem with not using them at the right time, but as soon as you get 'em - even though he did hit me with 'em, both times I still had enough health left to keep going.

I do find when playing other characters it seems like the combo into super/ultra is a lot easier, which does make me want to try switching over + the different feel. With Rog my style is either slow and plodding or extra rush down. I do like the way you can mix that up a bit more, say with Ryu. I don't know much about playing Dhalsim, but he's definitely another character I would consider picking up, partially because I rarely see him played online, partially because I just like his yoga style. Same goes for Gouken. Very interested in trying him out, but have yet to go through the busy work of getting him unlocked. He definitely has my favorite opening and closing remarks/style right now.

I'm trying to pick up akuma but he really seems to get ppls goat. I can understand it's frustrating to try fight someone who is running away a lot but if you don't play a dry akuma in this game, you play a dead akuma. he has literally no health. I seem to gravitate to the characters w/bad matchups against the most common played chars. : /

I unlocked gouken but I don't 'get' him. I think he's another good runaway character with potential for massive combos and massive stun but he's just a bit pedestrian when I try him.

ryu is a solid second. good footsies, good offence and defence, easily combo-able ultra, easy high damage combos. second best char in the game, will be best if the damage on sagat's normals is nerfed in an update

It's funny that I probably least enjoy trying to play Sagat, even though I know he's the "best" character in the game. I just don't like having to try to do tiger shot after tiger shot. I don't mind fighting him too much though. I certainly don't mind fighting Akuma - as you say, he seems underpowered in the game & the vast majority of times I've come across somebody playing him, they seem to not have spent the time to really learn his game of staying away from you as much as possible, spacing with mass fireballs from two directions, and timing his jump ins or sweeps safely (as near as I can tell).

The other weird thing recently is to see people still rage quitting. I mean, I never play anybody with a greater than 1% disconnect rate and I'm sure most other people don't either. It must get frustrating being kicked game after game, but they keep doing it - I've already seen lots of people with a 5% or more disconnect rate!?! At least now they're easy and enjoyable to avoid.

not sure if you know these but a couple things I noticed from yr replay:

- you can link a cr.LP after EX dashing swing blow; so you can do EX dashing swing blow, cr.LP, cr.LK xx Headbutt > Ultra. I think cr.HK also combos after EX dashing swing blow.

- would go for cr.LP, cr.LP, cr.LP xx Headbutt instead of cr.LP, cr.LP, cr.LP, cr.HK cos the former combo allows you to launch into ultra innit

- good punishment combo when you have them stunned I see a lot of balrog's doing: j.HK, st.HK, cr.LK xx dashing straight

- when you have the life lead (like you did in the last round) I'd be tempted to just sit there w/balrog. wouldn't chase abel down, let him do the hard work :)

sorry if tht's patronising and feel free to tell me to bog off :)

sorry, it's a cr.LK you can link off the EX dashing swing blow, so you'd go EX dsb, cr.LK xx headbutt

Naw - I know about that stuff pretty much, but just haven't put in the practice to be able to do it / have a hard time doing it actually in game (also haven't even passed normal challenge 4-2). I know I need to spend more time practicing / working in the challenge room and getting that stuff down, but I just never seem to have the time / focus

cool, apols :)

I do want to try to take my game to that next level though - I know what you're saying. I should probably just force myself only to practice for a while, instead of playing matches. There wasn't really that incentive before championship mode, 'cause most of the competition was so awful. I have stepped it up a bit since, but know I got a long ways to go.

hm tbh I think the best practice is to play against dudes. you can hone execution in practice mode obv but tht only counts for so much if you don't have the ability or guts to try the combos out in a live match

I get what you're saying - but yeah, first I have to get the execution and timing down & get consistent otherwise one is just asking for it

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91639-Street-Fighter-IV-PC-Comes-With-FightPad

More affordable than coughing up cash for a stick, I guess...

fuck ryu

fuck the french

^^^^^^^^^^^^

hang on for another couple of months guys

that your gf, coz?

Has anyone here tried out those MadCatz SFIV pads? I'm still not sure if I want to pay the extra $23 for it or just get the game by itself.

I've got one of the SFIV fightpads for the 360 and it's just lovely. Virtually any game that doesn't have "analog" control, I use it. I love it. And I paid WAY too much for mine (thanks, UPS international shipping charges that are hidden til you've bought the fucking thing on eBay) but it was worth it. For $23, it's a bloody STEAL. Do it.

think it's ed ma's gf : /

alex valle and combofiend qualified for sbo last night
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/3603274807_dcbd34f4c3.jpg

Thanks for the feedback, Will, definitely keeping it in mind. Still going back and forth over it, I googled a Shoryuken thread on the pad which is kind of scaring me off, there were a dozen or so complaints about the diagonals not registering. Also, the temptation to just go ahead with Steam for future ease/installs is tempting. Hopefully with this batch of pads they'll have fixed the problems, right now I'm leaning slightly in favor of pre-ordering the bundle.

the diagonals require a bit of pushing but I found I got very used to figuring out how to get thme every time. they require a bit more pressure than the 90º directions.

I think what people might dig about the pads is the button layout? and that even if the dpad isn't great, it has gotta be a lot better than the standard 360 dpad? I think a stick makes the game so much easier, but I've seen people using standard (ps3) controllers extremely effectively. If you don't mind the button layout, I'm sure there are PC joysticks with a dpad as good as the madcat one.

You're probably right about the button layout and it being a much better alternative to the crappy default Xbox D-pad. For many years I used the game port version of this, which was very reliable:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41GW7S58VKL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
I have a pad right now but it's not that great, very old and rickety. Wouldn't mind an upgrade, though most sticks are well out of my price range. What stick did you end up going with, Jeff?