Are there any strategies for finding the timing of attacks for character trials?

Question

Having recently switched to fightstick about a year ago I thought it would help with the timing and execution of combos but I'm still having issues with timing and staying persistent for trials. My main and the character I have been playing with for years is Ryu and I figure he is going to be the easiest for me to jump into for trials, but after completing about half of them I am just stuck.

So aside from the tip of always doing combos in the corner, any other advice on the timing or any other training I should maybe do before trying (and failing) the trials? Right now I spend time in training just doing fireballs and what not to get more familiar with the fightstick and playing random matches online. I also play through hardest difficulty arcade to kind of get in the groove.

I asked a somewhat similar question a couple years ago but now the situation has changed, and if the answer is really just keep at it and just mash it till it works then I do apologize for asking. But if there is a proven practice method for getting the timing for the trials or combo's in general advice would be grand.

Also, this kind of feels like it could start a discussion so to keep the question open please just provide links to either forums that talk about this or video's that help, along side any personal advice. I am aware though this is kind of a gray question though so no hard feelings if it gets closed.

Thanks again.

Answer 1

I can only answer from my experience of playing on the PC, some of this may or may not apply.

1. The timing of everything in SF is based on frames rather than actual elapsed time. If you are on the PC like me, the first thing you'll want to do is to make sure that vsync is on and that you are getting a steady frame rate of 60 fps. If your frame rate fluxuates, it will become extremely hard to land any difficult combos with any degree of precision.

2. I've found that while getting the timing down (to build up muscle memory), it helps a lot to look for specific animation motions rather than trying to sense the time. Specific example: for Fei Long's bread and butter Rekkukyaku - standing fierce - Shienrenkyaku combo, it was extremely difficult to get the combo down until I started watching Fei Long's legs during the Rekk recovery. I eventually learned that at the exact moment when his legs crossed after the attack was the moment I should be hitting the fierce to continue the chain. After a few times of watching that to get the timing down, it became much easier to do.

3. For linking, you may want to practice them outside of really long chains in order to get a feel for them.

4. There is a technique called plinking that can lengthen the number of frames to link your combos but the only way you can get this down is by pure habit and muscle memory. Plinking doesn't really apply for trials as the extra buttons will consider the chain lost, but it should be used in actual matches.

5. Finally, when in an actual fight you have to decide ahead of time the combo you are planning to use should your initial hit succeed. There is really no time to decide you want to work in a FADC into the combo once you've started.

Here is an example for plinking:

Answer 2

Some time ago I asked a similar question.

My current solution is to have the same speed of pressing buttons. So raising my right hand and lowering it to push a button is always the same speed. The only thing I vary is the height. This way you just need to remember the height for a given link.

In my opinion it is not good to rely on visual clues, unless you look for hit confirms. Just execute the combo as you think it should be and analyse afterwards. On block you need to be faster (less height). If your kick/punch does not execute at all you need to be slower (more height).

This method works good because online there are delays and lags. If you rely too much on visual clues or sound you will not execute your combo properly.

If you just want to beat people you do not need to complete the trials. I am currently B Rank with about 1500 PP and I just use bread and butters. Still Srk FADC Ultra 1 is very important.

Answer 3

The basic tip to learn any trial is to input the move correctly; never try to spam it. This allows you to troubleshoot your inputs:

• If the move comes out but is blocked, it was inputted too late.
• If the move does not come out, it was inputted too early.

You can also find a collection of every trial being completed here. Many are corner specific or require certain spacing that is a lot easier to learn by watching it done than by trial and error.