Monday 27 October 2014

DIY: SSBM Movement Drills (Part 1/2)

Hi guys, it's me again. I'm back from Big House 4 (which was amazing, by the way). Small update on life: Life is good. Finally got a job as an Alarm Monitor for a security company, which is awesome. Been trying to make time to practice despite this shift (they have been very generous with hours) so there's a bit of adjustment still, but in general I'm finding myself very refreshed & motivated lately. I felt so motivated, in fact, that I decided to log in here & see where I was with my numerous incomplete projects. Upon doing so, I was greeted by no less than six half-finished articles, desperately crying out for attention. So here I am, ready to resume the grind.

For those who are following me on Twitter (@kirbykaze_):

No, this is not the controversial article that I announced during the contest on twitter. Admittedly, I underestimated the scope of the topic and despite my large knowledge base there's still a lot of research that needs to be done. Namely digging into old records and compiling statistics (for those still speculating about what it's about, that's a clue). So while I continue to work on that, I decided I'd finish some of the less daunting ones in the interim.

The Origin of this Article:
The idea behind this article is directly the result of a conversation between Cactuar and myself at ROM7. While cavorting around outside the venue, Cactuar mentioned to me that he'd been working on a new movement drill. Intrigued, I asked him to share the details with me over FBchat after the tournament so I could have it in written form. Within a week he contacted me, and by the end of the conversation (as usual) I found myself both thoroughly impressed by his method and itching to explore it myself. For the past months I've been examining his original drill & constantly reviewing it from different angles. Over that period I've shared it with players in my local area, discussed it at length with a number of players, and ultimately made a few minor adjustments here and there (though the core has remained unchanged). And today, I come before you with this: my take on just one of Cactuar's many good ideas. Enjoy!




DIY: SSBM Movement Drills
AKA: Examining movement in SSBM as transitions between different action states.

Link to part 2.

Some of you may be thinking, "Action state? Huh?"

Essentially, an Action State is any state wherein a character either: (a) has access to the majority of their tools, or (b) stands to gain access to the majority of their tools (attacks, movements, and so forth). 

Or as my friend Syphi-chan put it: "[any] state where your character is ready for action."

Examples of some common Action States

Dashing / Running / Crouching / Wave-dashing / Airborne



SECTION A: Beginners

Implementing: Stand, Crouch, Turn

So to begin we're gonna start by numbering different action states, followed by a brief description:

0 - Stand

Our default position. It all begins here.

1 - Turn

One of the more innocuous action states, turn is over skimmed over because its benefits are subtle. However. this is actually an important state to be aware of because many characters' options change as a result of facing towards or away from their opponent (DK and Jigglypuff, for instance).

2 - Crouch
Arguably one of the most defining action states in the game. Most glaringly, crouch is infamous for reducing the knockback that a player receives from non-grab attacks.

So now we have our first three action states:

0 - Stand

1 - Turn
2 - Crouch

From here, we are going to convert those numbers into action sequences. Your goal is to perform each sequence below without error. You will also be allowing the control stick reset to neutral between each action (during the "0" the control stick should be centered).


On offset, aim for accuracy (not speed; that comes later). Start slow if necessary. If you make a misstep (eg. dash or walk instead of turn), you have to do it over again.


[Sequence A1][0-1-0-1-0-1-0-1]

[Stand-Turn-Stand-Turn-Stand-Turn-Stand-Turn]

Additional instructions:

  • Once you've completed that sequence correctly, retry the drill but aim to go faster by reducing the amount of time spent on stand.
  • Don't cheat. Let the stick reset to neutral between each turn.
  • Eventually your character should have the appearance of making a long continuous spin motion.
  • When you're satisfied with your result here, move onto the next sequence.

[Sequence A2][0-2-0-2-0-2-0-2]
[Stand-Crouch-Stand-Crouch-Stand-Crouch-Stand-Crouch]

Additional instructions:

  • Once you've created that sequence correctly, retry the drill but aim to go faster by reducing the amount of time spent on stand.
  • Don't cheat. Let the stick reset to neutral after you enter crouch.
  • Pay attention to the startup time & animation you enter when beginning or exiting your crouch.
  • When you're satisfied with your result here, move onto the next sequence.

[Sequence A3][0-1-0-2-0-1-0-2-0-1-0-2]
[Stand-Turn-Stand-Crouch-Stand-Turn-Stand-Crouch-Stand-Turn-Stand-Crouch]

Additional instructions:
  • Once you've created that sequence correctly, retry the drill but aim to go faster by reducing the amount of time spent on stand.
  • Don't cheat. Let the stick reset to neutral after each action you perform.
  • When you're satisfied with your result here, move onto the next sequence.

[Sequence A4][0-2-0-1-0-2-0-1-0-2-0-1]
[Stand-Crouch-Stand-Turn-Stand-Crouch-Stand-Turn-Stand-Crouch-Stand-Turn]
  • Once you've created that sequence correctly, retry the drill but aim to go faster by reducing the amount of time spent on stand.
  • The transition from crouch into turn must be smooth.
  • Don't cheat. Let the stick reset to neutral after each action you perform.
  • When you're satisfied with your result here, move onto the next sequence.

Beginner Level Drills Completed.
Excellent. Admittedly, the drills above are pretty easy. However, they're meant to get you into the habit of allowing the stick reset to neutral between actions. They're also meant to highlight the fact that there is always a transitional phase of "Stand" that rests between two connecting action states in a sequence (with the exceptions of dash into turn-dash, and run into crouch). It's during these moments that you have access to your entire toolkit, meaning you could realistically put any action there: f-tilt, jump, wave-dash, d-smash, illusion suicide... whatever you'd like, really.

Part 2 coming soon.






Now for some Information on Turn, courtesy of Kadano's research:

a) Turn completes in 11 frames.
b) Neutral-B is disabled during turn.
c) You cannot crouch during turn.
d) You can dash on the first frame of turn (this is essentially how dash dancing works).

- KK out

2 comments:

  1. dope, cant wait to see the other more advanced stuff. i can imagine itll be a pain in the ass to define all the action states and write out the harder drills, but ill definitely be waiting for it, keep it up

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