Concepts Every Fighting Game Player Should Know!

I came across this video from reddit, and I recommend that all newcomers to KI or fighting games in general and watch it.

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Pretty good to inform new players.
It actually took me quite a while to understand frame traps back in my sf4 days

I still dont understand frame data or block strings at all

I have a better understanding of it since a year ago, but I still find it confusing from time to time…

Good video, BTW @DurtyDee810. A lot of it is stuff I’ve already personally learned, but I can see how it’ll easily help others.

The video itself actually gives me an idea now that I think of it: @Infilament, I know your site covers a lot of these terms, and then some, but would it be possible for you to add like an index to these terms or perhaps a quick glossary page (maybe even with the GIFs describing these concepts) for quick and easy access to the definitions of such terms that are spread throughout your guide?

When your opponent blocks one of your attacks, depending on the move you used, either you will be able to move before your opponent stops blocking, or he will be able to move before your move finishes. The person who gets to move first gets something called “frame advantage”; he has the advantage over his opponent because he can move before the other person can.

A frame trap is simply attacking while you have frame advantage. If your opponent tries to press a button in between your buttons, he will get hit (because he attacks later than you). Good players can make frame traps look like it should be “your turn” to attack, when in reality, he is in control of the situation. They convince you to press a button, and then they hit you first.

A block string is simply a series of attacks that your opponent MUST block if he blocks the first hit. It’s basically like a combo on block. For example, Jago’s fwd+HK canceled into wind kick is a block string. If the opponent blocks the fwd+HK, he has no choice but to also block the wind kick (in KI, you can use shadow counters to avoid some block strings, but most fighting games do not have a mechanic like this).

EDIT - Oh, you said “frame data”, not “frame trap”. Frame data is just measuring different properties of moves. Some moves start faster than other moves. Some moves will recover faster than other moves. Frame data is just telling you these numbers so you can maybe make better decisions about what buttons to press, and when. Consider a “frame” as how we measure time in a fighting game… 1 frame is very fast (1/60th of a second) and it is the smallest possible unit we can measure. An example of frame data: pretty much every character in Killer Instinct has a light punch that starts in 5 frames. Most medium attacks start in about 7 frames. So if one person pressed a light attack at the same time as the opponent pressed a medium attack, the light attack wins (because the light attack will hit first).

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A glossary has always been on my long-term list of to-dos, but it’s a really big undertaking (especially with video for each term), so I’ve been putting it off. Maybe in the future I’ll have enough time to do it… we’ll see.

Hm, I don’t think “intentionally leaving gaps in a blockstring” is a good definition of frame traps.

Obviously it’s not, as that’s providing your opponent with an opening to actually get out of said frame trap, since you know, they’re no longer being trapped by your frames. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

best to really just SMASH ALL DEM BUTTON!

YOLO is a fighting style too lol

There’s a pretty darned good one here:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_fighting_games