Teaching a newcomer.

AuLord

AuLord

[08] Mercenary
I have a friend who's new to fighting games entirely, let alone Soul Calibur. I wouldn't even know where to begin to teach.

Running through a character's movelist is one thing, but where do I start? Oki-games? Spacing? Guard and throw? Where did you guys start with fundamentals with newcomers?


Any advice appreciated.
 
Start with defense. Advantage/disadvantage on guard or hit is a huge part of the game that most newcomers don't understand. Basic ability's in defense will go a long way for someone completely new to fighting games.
 
Mixups.

Poking.

Advantage.

Defense (passive and aggressive).

Okizeme.

Spacing.

I think that it should be in that order, but it really depends on who they're trying to play as...

Some characters don't really have mixups, some characters can't space, etc.
 
Make sure they understand how the system works, SC3's tutorial mode is actually pretty good for this, if not they can always read the instruction manual or just explain it to them. Then have them watch match vids and copy them. Make sure they know the important combos and then let them develop from there. Its hard to explain strats to new players since they have to get the required habits down before they make sense. Like learning when the correct time to duck or GI back. Its actually really hard to explain anything past attack to new players until they have more experience with the game, and certain concepts need to be taught after certain habits have been built for the most efficient way of learning.

P.S. if the person is trying to play Cassandra do not use mine as an example.
 
i would start with the moveset and guarding. from what i've seen, when people start playing they have the tendency to mash because they don't know what else to do. then they just mash and never guard because they've gotten used to mashing only. reassure them that it takes time and that greatness does not come overnight, etc
 
Yeah, I'm pretty much explaining attack and movelists, and block to her, and whatever questions she would have. I appreciate the advice guys. It's hard when you just start in this genre :P.
 
Mhm, blocking and teaching how to mix things up should be first, I think.

They are the most fun, which is important if you want them to stick around, and they are the most useful. You don't need spacing if you can't block and mix your offense.
 
It also helps to learn the basics of the character that they are trying to play yourself. You have a greater understanding of the game than them and can quickly absorb what they need to know and transfer it to them much easier than them trying to figure it out themself all the time.
 
Well, my introduction to fighters was pretty solitary. Nobody told me how to do anything with Street Fighter, and I had to discover all the cheap tricks in Mortal Kombat. My advice would be to start with all the basic defensive options. This means sidestepping, spacing, jumping, impacts, and parries. Don't get too thorough with it, just the basic elements. From there, take his personality to figure out what character he'd most enjoy and teach his attacks. With each attack, show what the potential options are to defend against it, then reverse it by having him defend against said attack (obviously you both should be in training with the same character).
This will give him plenty to work on by himself until he feels he's ready for the more advanced stuff. Like I said, don't get into great detail with any of this, just enough that he gets the feel for it.
 
tell him to focus on playing with a very basic moveset until he is comfortable with it, it's a common mistake by newcomers to assume they need to know the whole movelist

start off simple, go more complicated from there
 
bah, don't listen to these gais..
Attach a car battery to a circuit that goes thru the trainees body.. somehow wire it up so that every mistake they make, or poor input on the controller, gives them a zap.

they will be pro in a week.
 
becky-bj said:
i would start with the moveset and guarding. from what i've seen, when people start playing they have the tendency to mash because they don't know what else to do. then they just mash and never guard because they've gotten used to mashing only. reassure them that it takes time and that greatness does not come overnight, etc
Click to expand...

Yeah teach them the basics of the movesets of any characters that interest them. Don't go into all of the moves, they won't be able to remember them all anyways and it'll just add the appearance of unnecessary complexity. Point out the general trends in the move sets, that things like 6B is generally a poke, 2B is generally low, 8B is a jumping attack, BB swings twice, etc.

I'd definitely cover blocking early on as well. The difference between high/mid/low. And show them examples of advantage/disadvantage.

Explain things like throws, unblockables, guard breaks, critical finishes (when to do one, I've seen a fair number of noobs spam that button at the wrong times), guard impacting, stuns, shaking, stepping, 8-way run, so they know the mechanics of the game. If they start getting overwhelmed, switch back to learning movesets.

I'd at some point, show them all of the different characters and have them try a variety of them to get a feel for different styles. Pick one they like and start going into the moveset more deeply, and mention things like mixups and combos with concrete examples.
 
My two cents would be defense. A strong ironclad defense is always good especially for newcomers - no habits whatsoever yet.

That is if they're really dedicated. If they're testing the waters, then going for something more flashy yet instrumental would be a better first step to keep them in the game; such as mixups/combos.
 
Everyone knows that repetition is the key to learning.

If your uppermost goal is to get this person familiar with soul calibur, just play against them repeatedly and inform them why you did the moves that you did or why you applied a certain strategy in a given situation. That's kinda how the human brain learns, so use it.

It's almost more important that YOU, as a teacher, are patient and tactful; more so than any kind of strategy that you might be advised to apply to the student.
 
concepts of advantage/disadvantage and frames :

then just the fundamental differences of highs, mids, lows, grabs for attacks
then defensive options : block, jump, crouch, sidestep.
THEN bring up horizontals vs verticals.

I find it easier to pick up if you treat the game like a multi-dimensional rock-paper-scissor game.
 
Just keep expressing that this can/will get frustrating. And to not be upset if things aren't clicking right away. Basically, tell them it's ok to be discouraged, but stick with it and they'll plow through their problems/frustrations.
 
How I learned it: had a friend who was good and I just kept playing vs him a bunch of times until I finally got better. You can stare at and try to memorize move lists all day, but nothing beats practice.
 
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