Character Development Guide

[YinYin]

This guide is neither about spriting nor data changing.
It shall rather help you streamline planning and creating the essentials for any LF2 character without getting side tracked and wasting effort on things that won't get you closer to a playable state.

I have just now finished writing up all its content, but have not really spend enough time proof reading it to list it on my website.
(also I still need to create the minimum template)

I'd be happy if anyone would proof read it too for grammar/spelling/wording/content.

link: http://y2f.heliohost.org/index.php?curre...pment.html

[Silverthorn]

Excellent work! This does ease up the creation-process quite a bit. To be honest, I never really notices that many resemblances; I thought there would be one or two sprite-blocks that are almost exact copies but that amount kind of baffles me

Anyway, I couldn't find any logical flaws; and the only spelling mistake that I noticed is the third-last word in Historic Actions

@v: precisely

Ramond edited this post 02-14-2013 11:27 AM because:

"Every attack that does not have the slightest delay before the hit is unfair." TEMPLAT!!!!

[zort]

Oh sh*t, preparation hit relaxation? I call them startup active recovery (google it). Also fun fact: LouisEX' jump attack has 0 startup. Marti and Starsky are more than qualified to break the rules though.

[YinYin]

Oh sh*t, preparation hit relaxation? I call them startup active recovery (google it).

Google gives me a lot of data recovery and startup (booting) related links. I'm not as versed as you with this, if you can give me enough sources where it's called that way I may change it.
Does it sound that weird?

Also fun fact: LouisEX' jump attack has 0 startup. Marti and Starsky are more than qualified to break the rules though.

There is always room for breaking rules. (I would argue for Marti in this case that technically the jump itself becomes the preparation for the attack - if you know that you can try to hit him while he crouches or get away)
Like davis' dragon punch having a frame with an itr but no bdy. I've tried the game with a bdy there and davis suddenly becomes one of the weakest characters ever (because his dragon punch is interrupted all the time).

[支倉凍砂]

Google gives me a lot of data recovery and startup (booting) related links. I'm not as versed as you with this, if you can give me enough sources where it's called that way I may change it.

By 2D fighting game standard it is called startup, active and recovery.
One example of this: BBCSEX: Ragna frame data

Note that startup is not the time before the attack, it is the first active frame.
I.e. Davis' Dragon Punch 3F startup, 9F active and 10F (+2 for landing) recovery.
As you mention in your article, recovery is important. Dragon Punch has -10F frame advantage, meaning opponent can move 10F before Davis can.

Like davis' dragon punch having a frame with an itr but no bdy. I've tried the game with a bdy there and davis suddenly becomes one of the weakest characters ever (because his dragon punch is interrupted all the time).

These are called "reveresals" and are an essential part in any fighting game with okizeme ("wake-up game"). As LF2 has no okizeme at all, one can wonder why Davis has a reversal. On the other, a Shoryuken that isn't a reversal is wrong. : p



I had hoped for more coding "secrets" when I started out reading, but I guess it wasn't the point of article anyway.
Still, as you did include some frame data, there are some things I would like to point out.

Jump

• I think that whether you jump in any direction or just straight up is determined by if you are holding a direction during the transition to frame 212.
  
• During frame 212 "J" is constantly pressed. Not that it really matters until you start coding.
  

Catching

• While surely we do have that itr during the walking frames, isn't it the itr itself (2?) rather than the walking actions that catches opponent in state:16? You could add a *-note perhaps.
  

Injured

• Take this as a question. Rather than "this happens if you are hit # times" doesn't it depend on the fall-value?
  

Flipping

• You state this can be done during any of the falling frames, but is it not from the highest point onward? 182～184 and 187～189 respectively.
  

By the way, you write "this happens when hit for the xth time" as a own point on the lists, wouldn't it be easier to understand if you tabbed these in or just wrote the text after the previous text?


Anyway, nice write up and the colour coding makes it easy to understand too.
The trivia at the end was interesting as well.

[YinYin]

Note that startup is not the time before the attack, it is the first active frame.
I.e. Davis' Dragon Punch 3F startup, 9F active and 10F (+2 for landing) recovery.
As you mention in your article, recovery is important. Dragon Punch has -10F frame advantage, meaning opponent can move 10F before Davis can.

Like davis' dragon punch having a frame with an itr but no bdy. I've tried the game with a bdy there and davis suddenly becomes one of the weakest characters ever (because his dragon punch is interrupted all the time).

These are called "reveresals" and are an essential part in any fighting game with okizeme ("wake-up game"). As LF2 has no okizeme at all, one can wonder why Davis has a reversal. On the other, a Shoryuken that isn't a reversal is wrong. : p

Hey, great information. I've researched a little on reversals to understand it better and generally found this now:
Any move that can be performed from a non-neutral state (hit/knocked down/etc). While the startup invulnerability just makes a move better as a reversal.

I had hoped for more coding "secrets" when I started out reading, but I guess it wasn't the point of article anyway.
Still, as you did include some frame data, there are some things I would like to point out.

I like to keep "secrets" inside separate articles, when I know how to exploit them. Like this one: http://y2f.heliohost.org/index.php?curre...nputs.html
Also I tried to keep all frame data information to a minimum that I feel is required when you are getting started creating these actions.
Because all these special frame features you cannot change make even the simplest datachanging really confusing for a beginner.

I think that whether you jump in any direction or just straight up is determined by if you are holding a direction during the transition to frame 212.

True, but I'm not going to explain the whole game mechanics to someone who probably already has walked and jumped around in this game. It would just clutter the guide.

During frame 212 "J" is constantly pressed. Not that it really matters until you start coding.

I don't know about this ...
Maybe you are referring to the fact that some key strokes get recognized twice?
Like this: http://www.lf-empire.de/forum/showthread.php?tid=806
Because if you make the crouch frames longer than 4 a hit_j in 212 will not act without pressing jump again.

While surely we do have that itr during the walking frames, isn't it the itr itself (2?) rather than the walking actions that catches opponent in state:16? You could add a *-note perhaps.

I've tried the kind: 1 itr outside of the walking frames before. And from what I remember it does not work without the walking state: 1 movement.
Also there is a * note saying that it's an itr with kind: 1, but if one starts out working with template data it's more important to know where it is.

Take this as a question. Rather than "this happens if you are hit # times" doesn't it depend on the fall-value?

Of course it does :). That's why the * says: "with a basic/weak attack". I'm trying to make this easy to understand.

You state this can be done during any of the falling frames, but is it not from the highest point onward? 182～184 and 187～189 respectively.

Yes, I will edit this once I have confirmed it myself yet again.

By the way, you write "this happens when hit for the xth time" as a own point on the lists, wouldn't it be easier to understand if you tabbed these in or just wrote the text after the previous text?

You mean the injured/dizzy separation? I'm not quite sure about it yet either.
Combining them would be too much at once. Separating first hit and dizzy wouldn't work well as they do use the same frames and I don't want to have too many items on the already long being hurt list. And I like having the injured part (second hit) appear before the dizzy entry. Even if that seems to omit the first hit, but the dizzy animation is just more important.

I'll give it some more thought.

Anyway, nice write up and the colour coding makes it easy to understand too.
The trivia at the end was interesting as well.

Thanks

[Ramond]

Well I'm pretty sure that you cannot flip while in the last airbourne falling frame (4th one). Otherwise you could flip from ground slam attacks (Davis and Deep D^JA) or Julian's Big Bang after the peak of your long distance flight.

[YinYin]

I checked it and could only flip in the top frames (182 and 188).
Also the falling direction did not matter - only the actual x movement decided which flip was made.

[A-Man]

Very useful! High quality! Discovered why my defense can't turn back and forth (cuz i had to use frame 110 for it). Learnt some new stuff like the walking frame sequence (which I've always been lazy to find it out on my own :P ). Recommended for all those whom are doing character projects!

[InPhiKnight]

First, sorry for gravedigging

Well, it's pretty much similar to YinYin's char development "minimum". The minimum had 68 sprite frames without any ice and flame frames. That's a great drawback.
I merged many injury frames, attack, run stop, dash attack and what not and did a minimum sprite template with 60 sprite frames.

http://www.mediafire.com/?a2u4z5t3o3kdcd0

And BTW please ignore the template sprite in above link ^^

EDIT: Fixed the pic number. One could always add a frame between the weapon throw frames to make it better (with his arms facing up, i.e. vertical)