I've been into Leixia this latest game. I used to main Talim, but she's no in this one, and my side character was Xianghua so I decided to try out Leixia and am really liking her. I play on the PS3. In all honesty I'm not terrible at the game, but I'm probably nowhere near being good. I'm also pretty lost when people get into the technical aspects of the game like "frames" and things like that. :\
These threads may help answer some of your questions:
http://8wayrun.com/threads/gameplay-system-info-thread-sc5.10743/
http://8wayrun.com/threads/basic-notations-and-terminology.58/
We had a great and easy to follow video for these terms for soulcalibur IV, we should probably see if somebody wants to produce a new one for SCV. In the meantime Malice, among others, have been producing some nice tutorial vids.
http://8wayrun.com/media/category/tutorials.26/
As for frames I'll try to explain it as simply as I can. The game runs at 60 frames a second. Moves take a certain number of frames to perform their animations and every move has three phases explained below:
http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Super_Str...erminology/Startup_Active_and_Recovery_Frames
Just think of "frames" as a measurement of time. the two most important numbers when talking about frames are the start-up or, "impact frames" and the frame penalty incurred on block, that determines the relative "safety" of a move.
Start-up frames are interruptable "frames" of your move that come before the move actually hits the opponent. The more start-up frames your move has the slower it is. More start up frames means more time it takes to hit your opponent and the easier it is to interrupt or react to that move. When we say a move is "i10" that means there are 10 frames to "impact", the moment when the attack connects. If an i10 and an i14 move are done at the same time and both can connect, generally speaking math tells us the i10 will connect first, beating out the i14. Though some moves have properties that may give a specific i14 an advantage against a specific i10 (which are useful to become acquainted with) the rule of thumb is that faster is better.
The next part is harder to explain. Generally speaking recovery frames are vulnerable frames and a phase of your move where you are susceptible to counter attacks. The more recovery frames a move has the easier it is to counter attack or "punish". When we say a move leaves you at -20 frames on block, it means that an opponent who blocks that move has an advantage on you of 20 frames, or a 20 frame window in which you are vulnerable. If you wanted to attack again and the fastest move you had was an i10, you would add your disadvantage frames to your impact frames to know when you could next attack. In this case, you could block in 20 frames or attack again in 30. The fewer frames you are at "disadvantage" on block, the "safer" that move is to probe defenses with. In realistic terms however a 20 or 30 frame window is literally wide open for counter attack. Any move with that many "negative frames" would have to be used wisely.
Many moves give you advantage frames on hit, or when used in certain situations or in some cases even when blocked. What these are and what advantage you gain are all case sensitive to your move and your character. Often, these will be slower moves and depending on their properties may be used to set up "frame traps". Deceptive moments during which your enemy may think they can attack you but during which you are at advantage. If your opponent blocks a move that gives you an advantage on block of five frames you could do an i14 move to follow up and still beat out an i10 because those five frames would be added to your opponent's next action.
Somebody will probably jump down my throat for not mentioning a few things or over simplifying but the main thing I'm shooting for is understandability. I hope, Whammy, after reading this guide that the basic concepts surrounding frames make more sense to you now and that the technical concepts around them are a little less mysterious to you. If you have further questions feel free to ask them.
