Introduction
Hello, I want to discuss about the software ‘Display Fightstick Motions’ that you made. I saw you still reply to people’s comments here so I’m writing down my opinion here too like all the other people so we can discuss about it.
First, I want to thank you for making this great software and even sharing it publicly. What you did is truly great, and I think you helped a lot of people. THANK YOU xxdocobxx!
And I want to participate in making this software better.
What I’m aiming at is to make this software’s Input History Mode usable in Tekken. It’s one of the basic functions already provided by Practice Mode named Command History in Tekken and it’s great. You can look back into the inputs you made and that helps you identify what the problem is. But you can’t use this function in actual battle, so I hope people can use this software instead. But I’m afraid the current function that this software provides isn’t practical enough in Tekken in some major ways.
I looked for someone who is making the same claim as me and ‘Gikkman’ has mentioned part of my claim on 2018-02-13. Just like him, I just want to make this software’s Input History Mode practically usable in Tekken too. To achieve that goal, I suggest that there are 5 things to be improved in the Input History Mode.
- The lack of neutral inputs
For example, I did some Korean backdash in the screenshot. Arrows right under the characters are the default Command History of Tekken, and under that is the Horizontal Input History of the Display Fightstick Motions.
It might not look that much different at first. Because neutral inputs described in Tekken is nothing but a mere space between other directional inputs. Why is it a problem then? It’s got to be perfectly same except those bloody neutral inputs. If anything, isn’t it better because you can jam more information in the same space?
No. Being able to see more inputs in the same space is good, but not so good if it doesn’t tell you the important differences. In Korean Backdash, for example, it is worth mentioning that the right arrangement of the neutral inputs is crucial to execute the skill properly. The goal is to execute ←←↙(Meaning backward, backward, and then down backward. In Tekken, assuming you are at the left position is the default condition when you describe inputs of the move.) as fast as you can. If you just try to input directly ←←↙ as fast as you can, what happens?
←☆←☆↙☆←☆←☆↙☆←☆←☆↙☆←☆←☆↙ (In Tekken, ☆ means neutral input.)
Then you try to remove all the unnecessary neutral inputs and you get the same form as I showed in the screenshot since you must put neutral input between the consecutive backward inputs, but all the other neutrals aren’t necessary.
←☆←↙←☆←↙←☆←↙←☆←↙
As you can clearly see, putting neutral input between every input is a total waste of time. So, what you inevitably want is to minimize neutral inputs. Thus, if you can’t see where you put the neutrals, you can’t distinguish the two. And if so, it is going to be very difficult to improve your skills without knowing where it went wrong.
Of course, you don’t necessarily have to look at the command history every time to improve your backdash skill as it shows itself in the movement of the character. But it certainly helps and that’s the point. And there are plenty of other examples to favor neutral input included command history over the current one especially in Tekken such as shown below.
You can clearly see that↓↘→1(button in Tekken, meaning left arm) and ↓☆↘☆→☆1 are totally different moves in Tekken but the same in the Input History Mode of the Display Fightstick Motions. And even ↓↘→1 and ↓↘→☆1 are different in many characters but I think I made my point already.
But I’m not criticizing you because I understand that this software was not made for Tekken in particular, and I’m very satisfied with the basic functions and customizability that this software already provides. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be better.
- Buttons stacking on top of one another
It is just better to show every input in a way that shows the whole buttons then to stack up the buttons on top of one another in Tekken since Tekken traditionally uses only 4 buttons except in Tag series.
It takes up less space, and it’s easier to recognize.
But you must make it customizable so people can choose what button they want to assign. So, I think it’s difficult. But I don’t think it’s impossible either.
- Overlapping inputs are skipped
Trying to press more than 2 buttons at the exact same time can fail easily. That’s why in Tekken there are a lot of users who use the technique called ‘Button Buffering’. For example, Josie’s ↘2 is shown below.
After this move the juggle usually starts with →1+2. And you can easily fail to execute 1+2 (which means you get →1 or →2 instead) when you are engaged in more important things in the battle. But, if you just press the 1 while pressing down the 2 from the start of the ↘2, it is harder to fail. Because pressing 1 while pressing 2 always gives you 1+2 in Tekken.
Sadly, the current Input History of this Display Fightstick Motions doesn’t catch that change. Of course, if you can deliver the perfect input every single time, you have no need of Button Buffering. But in that premise, you don’t even need to look at Command History from the start.
We are all nothing but humans after all. It is better if you could notice every single change that you make because that’s the fundamental purpose of Displaying Fightstick’s Motions to begin with.
- Unable to change the position
Just like the default command history of Tekken, I think it would be better if the buttons can be placed under the arrows.
- Difference of the sensitivity
Sometimes command history catches that input history doesn’t, and sometimes input history catches that command history doesn’t.
I tried to circle the directions in the screenshot above.
I tried to push all the 4 buttons continuously in the screenshot above.
So, I can’t say which one is more sensitive or accurate. I don’t know why it happens, but it happens. I hope we can discuss about it.
Conclusion
I know that I’m asking a lot.
I literally can’t even guess how much time and effort it might take because I have no professional knowledge about making software. I hope my suggestions are easier than it sounds, but maybe not.
I searched the internet to find out if someone made it already, and as far as I could find, nobody has ever made this yet. So, if there is anything that I can do to help you, please tell me. I’ll be glad to help not only you but all the other players in the world.
I’m aware that there are thousands of millions of talented people on the internet who knows how to handle graphic tools and can create some good looking 2D graphics. But I made some button graphics for command history of Tekken and I made every combination of it. So, it will be all the button graphics you’ll ever need except in Tag series. I intentionally made it in relatively high resolution so you can have some adaptability. Please check the attached file. If it’s too big, feel free to resize it. It’s all yours.
Thanks again and wish you a happy new year.