Question about solo practice

[Molma]

Hello. Chances are that this question has been answered, but I cannot seem to find anything regarding the newer version, so here goes.

I have been playing Project M for a few months now, and I am really happy about version 3.0. I am glad to see the many different characters throughout the smash series finally all around a similar level of usability.

There brings one situation though: I have noticed in the changelog that apparently the Computer's AI has been improved, but I ask if this improvement is worth the attempt at practice. I have practiced solo at home for more hours than I can remember, and this practice has been constantly regarded as a way to form bad habits. Besides the home practice, I am able to go to my school and do friendlies, but between being there 2 days out of the week for a total of 2 hours of play, and the amount of players/swapouts causes most to only be able to play once every 5 or so matches (thats over 20 minutes of down-time and this severely hurts my hands-on learning ability). Besides that note, I am on the eastern section of Long Island, New York, making travel no easy task on my truck (12 MPG goes extremely fast).

As far as the computers go, I have heard of combo practice tactics with Melee's CPU DI, but sadly my mains are either severely different from melee or don't exist there (Ivy, Kirby, Ike, and King De for anyone that asks).

So here I ask if there are any notable ways to practice tech in a combat situation when unable to perform the excessive travel? Either this or if there are any close by areas that are known to have smashers?(Bellport, NY is my area to be specific) One last extra question is if there are any notable players that I can review off of to learn character specific advanced tech (Kirby and Ivy(I'm currently using Reflex) are more of my concern here)

Note: I have the general techs tackled where I can do them at will, such as WD, SHFFL, JC grab (i think this is the name), shield grab, etc.

 

[Zujx]

I still fight against the level 9 computers for fun, you just really have to be able to flip the switch from CPU to Real People when you have too.
I'm sorry if this isn't incredibly helpful but, its all I got on suggestions lol

Other than that and friendlies you have a few options:

1. Find Tournaments

2. Find people to play on Wifi with here (If you can endure the horrible lag)

3. Play Wifi through netplay on the dolphin emulator here's how
(Fixes lag issues but, you will need this or something like this)

4. Find people to play with locally here

 

[QQQQQQQ7777777]

I still fight against the level 9 computers for fun, you just really have to be able to flip the switch from CPU to Real People when you have too.
I'm sorry if this isn't incredibly helpful but, its all I got on suggestions lol

Other than that and friendlies you have a few options:

1. Find Tournaments

2. Find people to play on Wifi with here (If you can endure the horrible lag)

3. Play Wifi through netplay on the dolphin emulator here's how
(Fixes lag issues but, you will need this or something like this)

4. Find people to play with locally here

I don`t recommend options 2 and 3 as even though Dolphin makes the WI-Fi less laggy, there is still a little bit of lag and that lag can form bad habits in you.

 

[Molma]

I think it would be better than using the computers, at least I can get a better feel as to how players play and can react accordingly. As for the netplay (option 3) I am setting up to use this right now (luckily I use Dolphin regularly and it plays perfectly performance-wise)

As for torunaments, I managed to find a few including Crossfire Warzone, but the locations usually include Nassau and just east of that border... That kind of distance is something that cannot be achieved easily (as stated in the main post) If there was something a bit more eastward then I would definitely attend. Of course I cannot even attempt without the proper practice.

 

[Zujx]

I don`t recommend options 2 and 3 as even though Dolphin makes the WI-Fi less laggy, there is still a little bit of lag and that lag can form bad habits in you.

I agree you can develop some nasty habits from it, but if he has no way else to play with people and he can't afford to travel to places I don't see the harm it. At least he's getting some human competition a lot more fun than AI

 

[Molma]

I agree you can develop some nasty habits from it, but if he has no way else to play with people and he can't afford to travel to places I don't see the harm it. At least he's getting some human competition a lot more fun than AI

Regardless, I can adapt pretty quickly to certain situations. Also if the lag feels like a situation to me then I won't mess with it. I also have school smash to look forward to, but thats not for another 3 weeks, I definitely cannot hold off PM that long...

 

[Paradoxium]

I don`t recommend options 2 and 3 as even though Dolphin makes the WI-Fi less laggy, there is still a little bit of lag and that lag can form bad habits in you.

Dolphin lag can range from little to a lot, the lag does not cause any bad habits. In fact, if the lag is really bad than you usually can only win off of solid reads and predictions, other than that a little bit of lag will do no harm, trust me on this one, Dolphin is the way to go. Because fighting cpu's can help you develop tech skill, but fighting humans is the only way to develop a good mind game

 

[DrinkingFood]

Lag can definitely form bad habits. It teaches you that certain approaches will work, when they should, but will with lag because of a slowed reaction time. That said, the few frames of lag I've heard people get on netplay shouldn't really be an issue.

 

[Kally Wally]

Netplay is mostly lagless, and it's definitely not far behind local play, but I could see the argument for it being less than ideal. Just... not that much less. As long as your ping is fewer than 100ms, you should be able to get usable practice.

 

[_slydz]

CPU's are a good way to incorporate tech skills into your game play. You can be able to do 100 wavedashes/l-cancels/whatevers in a row perfectly, but that isn't good for anything if you can't do it in a match. When I first learned how to wd, I noticed that I would press R too early when I was near my opponent because I wanted to move faster. Practicing with CPU's helped me get better at using a lot of techniques in matches. On the other hand, CPU's don't learn from your play style and are susceptible to certain tactics/moves. I can kill a lvl 9 CPU only using SH nair without taking damage, but obviously that wouldn't work on actual players. If you don't worry about beating the CPU and just worry about learning what you need to learn, you shouldn't develop bad habits. Just stay mindful of what you're doing while you practice.

 

[Molma]

Hello again, apologies for the inactivity. After a few months of switching between CPU practice, using Netplay (which plays well until the framerate cuts for a split second), and playing at school with friends (varying skill levels here but the main players are much better than me), I feel that I have gotten almost nowhere...

Even though I have gotten much better technically, my reads are poor and my reactions are too jerky (When my hands experience even a split second of downtime, I have to -literally- Kick them into gear, causing snappy motions) resulting in me making a TON of fatal mistakes and forming habits to keep my hands active long enough to be 4-stocked by some of the better players. But of course this is a hit-or-miss situation: One match, I am on top of the world, next few, I'm devastatingly bad. The cycle continues until my hands numb after enough stressful games (aka carpal tunnel)...

To put the situation plainly: It's like we are all linearly increasing in skill (our main group), but specifically I am being hindered by personal / financial issues, preventing me to experience any other environments or properly progress... So now I am at square one of attempting practice except CPUs are nowhere near as effective (I can only use them when I mess with a new character).

I am very close to just plain quitting but I love smash too much to consider the fact that I am destroying irreplaceable tools for everyday life in doing so...

 

[Mister the Wizard]

Suggestion: Bring your wii to your school whenever you play friendlies so that there are more systems available and thus less downtime.

 

[Molma]

I don't have a wii, I use dolphin. With that note, it is on my desktop. It is also summer vacation, meaning no wii for 3 months