Input difficulties, suggestions?

[happylion18]

While I've played all the smash games besides project M at some point, the only one I've really played to the point I play competitively is smash 4. We have a gaming club on our campus and the guys I enjoy playing with on campus competitively sometimes play project M. Transitioning from sm4sh to Pm feels REALLY off to me. Getting use to all the new moves and mechanics that I haven't used since melee will take a bit, but I can't seem to do the simplest of things, and I mean SIMPLE. Things like rolling, dashing, walking, jumping. Certain inputs i do when play just don't consistently activate, I'm using my same controller, is there a sensitivity difference between the games or any settings in dolphin I should be changing??? I would be grateful of any advice, because going from winning our clubs last tourney in sm4sh, to getting destroyed by low level bots due to movement is something I'd love to get fixed. (Or I will try to take the time to "get gud" if it is just a different feel and touch required to play melee and pm). Thanks!!!

 

[TboneH]

In Brawl and Smash 4, there is a 10 frame buffer window that allows you to input your next move while in any kind of lag (end lag of moves, hitstun, etc.). For example, if you want to drop your shield and dash, all you have to do is dash at any point after you let go of shield and the input will automatically activate after the shield drop animation has completed. Melee and PM are not so forgiving. They have no buffer (except for a few things, but you can worry about that later), which means you must wait until your character is actually able to receive an input before doing anything. Any inputs you execute during lag simply will not register. Essentially, you need to be much more precise since the game engine isn't holding your hand by correcting sloppy inputs. There are upsides to this; ever aerialed to your death after getting pushed off the edge in your shield? That's because the game buffered your attack out of shield and turned it into an aerial since you were stuck in shield until becoming airborne. So yeah, pay attention to your timing and stop button mashing and you will improve. Also, I'd suggest picking a different main until you get better. Lucario is one of the most complex characters in the game and is pretty unrewarding to play at low levels. Fox and Wolf are also pretty punishing for beginners. They are combo food for the rest of the cast and their combos are much harder to execute. That, and the fact that you'll probably kill yourself a lot because of how fast they fall and accidental side-b's, which even top players occasionally do. Pick a simple character like Mario or Ganon and move up once you get the hang of the fundamentals, although to be honest I don't think you'll find Lucario/Fox/Wolf rewarding for quite some time. At the very least, learn to wavedash and SHFFL consistently before picking them up.