Ultra Street Fighter IV

[mayor_mike_haggar]

Does anyone fancy a SRS BSNS FT1 tonight, 1 round, 30 second timer?

[ah]

I can do that if you're free at about 19.55? You have to give good feedback after the match though.

Who you picking?

[mayor_mike_haggar]

Blanka I think. Or bipson.

[Camel]

Ali*, name some evenings during which we could get our FT10 Sim Ryu fisticuffs event sorted please sir.

[ah]

I think I will go with Guile or maybe Honda.

[JLM]

Spuckuck, you should feel bad but the bad feeling will be alleviated by the joy of doing whatever the fuck you want and hitting some of the most satisfying combos in the game. I strongly dislike Cammy but whenever I play as her it is an absolute joy and I find myself giggling like an idiot as I score a completely unfair win with minimal effort and maximum beef.

[ah]

Man, the more I think about it the more I like the Blanka pick.

Ali*, name some evenings during which we could get our FT10 Sim Ryu fisticuffs event sorted please sir.

Probably going to be madly busy next week. Don't suppose you're as antisocial as I usually am on Friday nights and Sunday mornings?

[Camel]

I might be around tomorrow night. What time?

[mayor_mike_haggar]

I think dhalsim might be a decent bet too.

[joeplus]

I'd be up for some fightings this evening, srs or otherwise. 8pm-ish?

Crossword news: a throwaway comment at Heggwest got me thinking about something. As much as I adore the setting and solving of cryptics - and also enjoy the feeling that I am providing a stiff challenge to certain people that I am unlikely to ever provide in Street Fighter - it does seem daft not to offer a quick version that's a bit more accessible after going to all the effort of making the grids. So I have written some more concise clues for the two puzzles, hopefully they're still tricky enough to provide both a challenge and some enjoyment.

PDF downloads (I hope these work OK, let me know if not)

2012 (Cryptic)

2012 (Quick)

2013 (Cryptic)

2013 (Quick)

Edit: JLM has kindly pointed out that I slightly buggered up the grid on the 2013 edition. And there's a mistake in the 2012 one that always bugged me. Click for amendments:

2012, Cryptic:

2 down should read "HCF+P" instead of "QCF+P"

2013, Cryptic and Quick:

Answer for the clue marked 42 down should be put at 43 down

Answer for the clue marked 43 down should be put at 44 down

Answer for the clue marked 44 down should be put in the space to the right of 44 down that I missed out the number from

[ah]

I think dhalsim might be a decent bet too.

Man, matchups are so hard to calculate in the 30 second format! I don't think Sim is a good pick, though, it introduces an unwelcome random element because your opponent basically has to take a risk early in the game and that one guess may end up deciding the whole match. I think the best 30 second characters will be those with very safe moves but which do solid damage, or those that are capable of relatively safe chip damage. Also obviously characters who don't rely on super/ultra meter.

I might be around tomorrow night. What time?

Tomorrow I can probably do whatever time you fancy, maybe some time between 9 and 11?

[Camel]

Ah I might be out then. How about earlier? 7 ish?

[ah]

I can probably do that, yes!

[Camel]

Bingo!

[mayor_mike_haggar]

Juri would probably be quite strong. Gouken perhaps. And of course Akuma. Runaway akuma for 30 seconds, with no ex meter to counter his fireballs. There's something annoying.

[ah]

Rufus is awful in this format, obviously. Ryu still probably solid.

I might just pick Ken and j.HK, cr

HK....wait...shoryuken my way to victory in the tradition of the 30 second vanilla warriors of old.

[imp]

Jellum, I finished beat the pokemon league and tried out the friend safari last night. I thought you might like to know what your friend code brings to the world.

You are a giver of electric pokemon, and they are Voltorb and Pikachu. I caught a Pikachu and called it JLM. That felt really weird, so it'll most likely never leave its box. Hrmm.

Funnily enough, Choo deals out fighting type pokemon. One is medicham (half pyschic), and the other is one of those Bert and Ernie types.

[JLM]

I like Voltorb because it's my go to example when people say "Pokémon designs all turned to shit after the original 150".

[imp]

If my friend code dealt out Mr Mimes I would be incredibly sad.

[JLM]

Ha, I once dressed as Mr. Mime for a Pokémon themed fancy dress party because I thought he was the worst Pokémon I could possibly choose.

That said, the move to 3D has made me love him because of the way he churns butter when he does a move. Spinda is another one that's gone up in my estimation one now that it actually teeters about in a drunken fashion.

[imp]

Hah, I quite like Spinda too, but Mr Mime's creepiness has gone up at least sevenfold with those jerky arm movements! Brrrrrrrrrr! Lady Wobuffet however, superb!

[Spuck]

Spuckuck, you should feel bad but the bad feeling will be alleviated by the joy of doing whatever the fuck you want and hitting some of the most satisfying combos in the game. I strongly dislike Cammy but whenever I play as her it is an absolute joy and I find myself giggling like an idiot as I score a completely unfair win with minimal effort and maximum beef.

Got to say, being able to:

-Have walkspeed worth a fuck

-Make people terrified of frametraps

-Gather hatemail from DRYu players

-Actually hit combos

Is making the game fun again. For all the hate people have for rushdown/vortex characters, I do find it meshes pretty well with my usually drunk middlecore skillset.

[joeplus]

Hmm. Maybe I should try some Cammy. Although I'm determined to learn a proper charge character to a level that's worth a damn. I was thinking of trying Balrog but then along with my Rose I'd just be biting Gootecks' style too much.

I'm already feeling the determination to finish GTA V waning and the little voice on my shoulder whispering "Youuu are not plaaaying punching maaaans enooough"

[JLM]

23% was where I abandoned GTAV. That's not bad going by my standards.

[joffocakes]

I managed to compete 18% of GTA IV. That's pretty good going for Not Street Fighter. I just got Trevor but didn't have him meet Franklin yet. I'll probably never play it again. I should trade it in for Zelda so I have a new game to not play.

I knew my Street Fighter illness had gone too far when I didn't play beyond the first dungeon in Skyward Sword.

I let Ally's Tar know yesterday what Yasawas told me: Twitch works on the Wii U. Which is a wonderful thing since I can watch streams on the gamepad while something else is on TV so that I end up not giving either enough attention to comprehend what's going on.

Good games with Alley Oop and Iggy Koopa yesterday also; I hate having so little time to play. If I had a million pound house of my own I'd invite you all over and we'd play Street Fighter and eat mexican food and I'd probably slow-cook a brisket for the morning. Plus a veggie brisket.

[mayor_mike_haggar]

Yeah, I learned cammy for a while last year and she's flat out ridiculous. Only character I've ever perfected jellum with, I think.

[joffocakes]

Where's Jiroczech these days?

[JLM]

Yeah, there is no correct response against Cammy's pressure. Taking the back throw is as bad as getting counter hit. Blocking a dive kick is barely any better than getting hit by one. Ridiculous character.

I forget which tournament it was, possibly NCR, but I liked it when James Chen trotted out "I always say that if you block an EX dive kick that's a win for you" and Magus instantly, viscerally, blurted out "No it's not!" in a really snippy tone before he had time to activate his let's-humour-James-Chen-filter . It isn't, at all. She hasn't wasted the meter if she's got in for free and been left at +19387573274 on block. Once she's there she doesn't need meter to open you up because you're in that lovely eat counter hit or eat back throw into set up "mix up".

But yeah, playing as Cammy is lots of fun. I tend to laugh a lot and apologise the whole time and not feel like I earned any of my wins but have a great time getting them.

[Spuck]

Hmm. Maybe I should try some Cammy. Although I'm determined to learn a proper charge character to a level that's worth a damn. I was thinking of trying Balrog but then along with my Rose I'd just be biting Gootecks' style too much.

I'm already feeling the determination to finish GTA V waning and the little voice on my shoulder whispering "Youuu are not plaaaying punching maaaans enooough"

Might I recommend DeeJay?

[JLM]

Yes, play Dee Jay. Imp will tell you he is secret top tier. He is a ranked match monster because nobody knows how to safe jump him and therefore upkicks seem unbeatable, nobody can deal with lk dread kick pressure, everyone jumps too much and it's easy to bait DPs with the Dee Jay vortex. He is made for beating the ranked masses.

Also you can do this:

If people could mention Dee Jay in passing once a week so I can keep reposting my dash u2 clips that'd be just lovely.