Learning to watch your opponent instead of yourself

[FartyParty]

This is one of those things that I "know" I'm supposed to be doing but have had a lot of difficulty remembering to do in matches until very recently. I a had sort of moment of clarity with a major epiphany about how to play this game, and I hope that sharing this epiphany will help other people.

Play through your character's eyes.

You are not you. You are not a person sitting on a couch or in a chair using a controller to play a video game. You are your character, you are in a real fight, and in a real fight watching yourself isn't even an option. You have no choice but to watch your opponent, and if you don't watch your opponent, they will hit you...A LOT...and then you will lose. Period.

Play with that mentality, and you will find it much easier to glue your eyes on the opponent.

This may lead to some mistakes that you would not have otherwise made because, like me, you probably aren't a professional gamer with near-perfect command of the controls, but even with those mistakes, it's worth it.

 

[Predatoria]

For me it’s just a matter of getting comfortable enough with a characters move set that I don’t have to think a lot about what I’m doing any longer. Then focus can be placed on the opponents moves.

 

[RepStar]

This **** is not really difficult; you can see the whole damn screen lol. Watching both you and them is...common sense.

 

[Uffe]

Once you learn to focus on your opponent, it becomes second nature. It's fine to check on your own character at times. If you can type without looking at your hands, or play a piano without looking at the keys, then this is nothing in comparison.

 

[JiggyNinja]

The only thing you really need to know about your character is where they are, which you can easily get from peripheral vision. You know what inputs you are putting into the controller, so you should know what it's doing. If you need to focus on your character just to verify what actually comes out then you need to work on that ASAP and better discipline yourself.

The only time I need to look at my character is when I get launched to verify where I am and when I'm not in hitstun any more.

 

[ZephyrZ]

This **** is not really difficult; you can see the whole damn screen lol. Watching both you and them is...common sense.

By "watch" they don't mean to just see your opponent, they mean to put all of your focus on them. If you're thinking too hard about controlling your own character you'll have less brainpower to put into focusing on your opponents movements, patterns and habits.

 

[RepStar]

If you're thinking too hard

This topic in a nutshell. You misunderstood what i said anyway; what youre talking about (which is what im talking about) applies to all fighting games. Thats like, the fundamental of how you play them all so, that should be common knowledge. Unless smash bros is the only game you play.

 

[ZephyrZ]

This topic in a nutshell. You misunderstood what i said anyway; what youre talking about (which is what im talking about) applies to all fighting games. Thats like, the fundamental of how you play them all so, that should be common knowledge. Unless smash bros is the only game you play.

A lot new players struggle with this, you know. Not everyone's a pro who's been playing Smash and other competitive fighting games for years. Some people need to learn these skills, especially when the game is still new.

I've known this concept for years but it's still something a lot of players still have to learn, especially when they're still struggling to master their characters.

 

[RepStar]

Not everyone's a pro who's been playing Smash and other competitive fighting games for years.

:O

 

[ZephyrZ]

:O

I'm going to assume you're being sarcastic here. In which case, if you acknowledge that some people still need guidance in developing these skills, why be so hostile when people try to help or guide them?

 

[RepStar]

I'm going to assume you're being sarcastic here. In which case, if you acknowledge that some people still need guidance in developing these skills, why be so hostile when people try to help or guide them?

Im not being hostile, its just that its difficult to decipher the tone of anyone through texts(I curse too if that helps). My whole point was its a bad idea to exaggerate this. The real problem is learning the character match ups.

 

[JiggyNinja]

A lot new players struggle with this, you know. Not everyone's a pro who's been playing Smash and other competitive fighting games for years. Some people need to learn these skills, especially when the game is still new.

I've known this concept for years but it's still something a lot of players still have to learn, especially when they're still struggling to master their characters.

It needs to be learned in the proper order, too. You can't focus on your opponent until you can competently control your character. That means being able to use the move you want when you want to use it. You have to be passed the stage of flailing with the controller and letting what happens happen. You have to be at the stage of thinking "I'm going to ftilt here and follow up with a short hop fair" and being able to execute exactly that.

Focusing on the opponent is easy for me because my period of learning the basic mechanics of Smash was 20 years ago all the way back when the first one was released (I assume most people here are like this too). Once you know the game, it's not that hard to pick up what each character can do. If I were to start playing Street Fighter, there's no way I could "focus on my opponent" at first because I have no experience with SF's control scheme. I would spend a considerable amount of time just getting used to the controls and practicing to QCF or HCB reliably (to say nothing of the weird Z movement needed by a dragon punch).

Once your at the stage where your character only does what you want, when you want, they're no longer the interesting part of the match. I input an utilt, and K. Rool throws an uppercut. I input a side special, and Mario flings his cape out. That's not interesting or important anymore since what's happening is exactly what I intended to happen. The opponent is now the interesting part, since I don't know what they're going to do.