We talkin' about practice, man!

What're we talkin' about?

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, the most recent revised version of the game Virtua Fighter 5, released June 5.  I picked up this game, up to the challenge of learning a new game from scratch.  Along with learning VF5:FS, I picked up a new character in King of Fighters XIII.  Between these two games I have "been in the lab" a lot recently (one of the many FGC terms for "practicing alone" in any given fighting game).

Recent time in the lab for both games put two things in perspective:  my methods on learning a game as a whole, and learning new things within a game.  The difference being "learning a game" is learning how how the games handles basics like attacks, combos, throws; what is expected from a player no matter what fighter is played .  "Learning new things within" covers bases like learning a specific character, or what a specific move can do in certain situations, and various other smaller nuances in the game.  Note: This is not FGC terminology, this is just my personal way of saying things.

In Virtua Fighter 5 FS my learning method is simple, as it should be:  Reading, studying, and asking questions.  Gathering as much information as I can and retaining as much of it as I can before I go into games with others.

I've visited Virtuafighter.com a number of times and peered through the site's forums for information on my character, the short-bus rider Eileen, and general game play.

Seriously, there's something wrong with this girl.

I started VF5:FS expecting the learning curve to be as rough as King of Fighters XIII's was for me. It took me six months after KoFXIII's release for things to finally click.  I don't expect to understand VF5:FS any time soon as I'm coming from a limited 3D fighting game background.


I've dabbled (see: button mashed) in my share of Soul Caliburs and Tekkens.  I learned to play Tekken 6 a little bit, but that only amounts to a couple combos.  In my VF5:FS matches thus far, I often find myself trying to play in a 2D fighting game style: forgetting that I'm able to side-step or relying too much on crouch-blocking and trying to use my reactions to block everything.  


The latter is a big no-no in 3D fighter games due to "Mid" attacks.  Basically, attacks aimed to the middle of the opponent's body are known as "Mid" attacks in 3D fighting games, which will hit crouching opponents even if they're blocking.  Similar to Overhead attacks in 2D fighting games.

A character may have one, two, at worst, three overhead attacks in 2D fighting games.  They're usually slow  and not super threatening as many characters can't combo off them, or is harder to combo off of.  In a 3D fighting game, Mids can easily fill around half of the character's available moves.  In turn, Low attacks are like Overhead attacks in 2D fighting games: they're not as threatening, combo-able, and, if blocked, can put you in a bad position.

Even a simple thing like blocking attacks is currently an unattainable tour de force due to my years of blocking while crouching.

Fortunately for me, I have a few good VF players in the Colorado community that I can ask questions.  I mostly ask KrsJin (though I proclaimed him dead before).  He's very willing to teach and answer, thankfully.  Though...if people had taken anywhere near this much initiative to learn BlazBlue I would be helpful, too.  I didn't want BlazBlue to die, and I'm sure the VF players want this game to live for as long as possible.

Hooray!

In King of Fighters XIII  I've been learning a new character, Takuma.  I'm doing this mostly for the hell of it but also to understand the game, and myself, better.  I usually play alone until the weekly KoFXIII gatherings on Thursdays, so I've been hitting the lab to practice his combos.  Mainly, his game-changer combo.  Yes, people do use this combo, and slight variations, in tournament play.  My mindset going into this is the same as when I got into Skullgirls:  Learn the hardest combo now; the smaller combos and/or making up combos on the fly will will be easier later.  Of course, the hardest combo comes with the biggest struggle.  The way I learn is that I basically force myself to learn new combos.  

I'll practice for a long time, usually not moving from my chair once for at least an hour minimum.  Eventually, I'll need to take a break for a variety of possible reasons: getting tired, my hands will start hurting, getting hungry, or needing to use to bathroom.  When any of these needs arise, I challenge myself to do something I've been learning and execute it correctly.  Until executed properly, I will deny myself that need.  And I don't make it easy for myself.

In the case of the above combo, I must get to certain parts of the combo before I can stop denying my body's needs.  Considering how difficult this combo is for me, this can leave me in the game for up to another hour.  This sucks a lot when the need to pee is what I'm denying myself.  

In other practice sessions with easier combos or things I should already be able to do, I will land the combo 3, 5, 10 times in a row before I allow myself freedom.  

For some reason, I feel that if I can land my combos in a more stressful state, then it'll transfer to being able to land them better in a normal state.  Furthermore, the stress grows as time passes.  It's frustrating when you're so close to completing the challenge and screw up.  Meaning, you have to starve yourself for longer.  

It sounds brutal, I know!  I'm sure that's the rule Chinese gold farmers in MMOs have to follow anyway, right? (Okay, that was bad)  

Honestly, I don't know if these methods truly help me when I'm practicing in an exhausted and stressed state, forcing myself to go past the period of time that I mentally want to.  I have little way to prove this method does anything positive in the long run.  Hell, I don't think it does, but I do it anyway.

These are my methods and mindsets I use going into the new voyages.  It works to some level, even if it takes a long time to truly click like KoFXIII.  Games like BlazBlue and Skullgirls clicked quickly and easily for me, and I don't understand why.  It's a shame too; I like Skullgirls and all, but I enjoy KoFXIII a lot more despite always getting bodied.  It feels very rewarding as a game to win or lose, instead of getting beat by some random attacks like in Skullgirls, or similar games like Marvel vs Capcom 2 and 3.

Am I necessarily saying I'm the only one who does this?  Not at all.  Am I saying it's the way to win?  Not at all.  To each their own, and this is what works for me.  I suggest that you, if you want to play to win, find a training regimen that works for you.  If you find yourself stuck, feel free to ask for help and opinions.  

I think many new player's biggest problem is that they don't, or won't, ask for help.  They won't research anything besides combos or other cool stuff that doesn't help their basics.  Even worse, they will keep going on their same path which leads some players to never actually grow, which I have seen often in the Colorado community when they drop games before ever actually learning it.

It is important to know where you want to be, skill wise, before you start a game competitively.  It is also important to go into a game expecting to start from scratch, and expecting the learning process to be difficult.  If one goes into a game thinking it'll be easy to get to a competitive level, then they have already lost.  A lot of these same players will not have a plan to learn with, nor will they create one before giving up.