Alts'n'Mains - Fun

RopeDrink

Hello, my name is Ropey... And I have a problem.

Balrog (SF4) forms 97% of my characters 'Played' Rating because I cannot play anyone else... Well, more a case of I COULD play other characters but I've been hell bent sticking to just the one as I enjoy it thoroughly.

This isn't a discussion about me and my problem, however, it's about everyones Alts'n'Mains (and that can apply to any fighting game), why you enjoy them, how much you play of any character(s) and why. Could throw in some statistics from the records to disect the community character 'played' list, just have a fun discussion in general and get people's opinions on characters in others hands.

I cracked out Bison three times this week against people - It was fun but I felt like I just bought the game and everything was luck or mashing, had no idea how to do anything properly and had to play as if half the moves where missing because I didn't learn them yet :pac:

Needless to say that despite being massacred by people like Azza and having a good 'visual' example of how to play the character, I just can't execute it - Maybe if I hit the training room and gave it some polish it could work, who knows. Either way, I prefer Honda though I find the playstyle a lil' too similar though the smash-mouth power suits me fine.

Managed to record a game against Icokairo and his experimental Rose (So in that sense it was more fun as it was even and both of us seemed to be trying something new) so at least it was even in that sense but it's still hilarious watching me failing - I have no concept of combos or moves - Heck I didn't even think to use Bisons awesome Standing HK! :eek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09vblp5mzbM

No need to critique or anything, I've not even attempted to learn anyone yet but I really do need to consider practicing with other characters just to spice up the game and prepare for SSF4 (If it even see's a PC release) so I suspect Honda or Bison... Sad thing is they seem to be top-tier now (apparantly) in SSF4 and I'm one of the people who find that a little off-putting.

So enough about me and being all proud for moving a little more on the character select screen - How about everyone else?

We all know most people's mains by now but who've you been messing with? Who may you swap to? Why do you enjoy them? Again, this could be SF, Tekken, whatever - Let's talk alts and mains.

animaX

Well, when super came out I forced myself to give the new characters a shot (since i never gave the new characters in vanilla a good shot and ended up switching to rufus much later than i should have).

Of those i found hawk to be the most fun! Probably because he is so different to my usual main, grappler vs. rushdown rufus. Still use him every now and then but would never consider anyone but my main for an inferno for example. Thats part of the problem with a sequel, its hard not to fall back to the safe territory of your old main. I have much respect for newtype who stuck with dudley at the last inferno and wasn't tempted to go back to ryu :cool:

At casuals you will always see people like Hound pick anyone and still be a threat. Its really impressive.

K.O.Kiki

Player: K.O.Kiki
Main: Abel
2nd: Rufus
3rds: Akuma, Cody, Dan, Dhalsim, E.Honda, Gouken, Guile, Ken, Ryu

Placebo

animaX wrote: »

Well, when super came out I forced myself to give up sagat because he got nurfed and was not top tier anymore. I also gave the new characters a shot (since i never gave the new characters in vanilla a good shot and ended up switching to rufus much later than i should have).

Of those i found hawk to be the most fun! Probably because he is so different to my usual main, grappler vs. rushdown rufus. Still use him every now and then but would never consider anyone but my main for an inferno for example. Thats part of the problem with a sequel, its hard not to fall back to the safe territory of your old main. I have much respect for newtype who stuck with dudley at the last inferno and wasn't tempted to go back to ryu :cool:

At casuals you will always see people like Hound pick anyone and still be a threat. Its really impressive.

Fixed your post Terry.
Its a known fact that your game improves significantly by learning more than one character.
Some moves that you may have found awkward with your primary character - may come as second nature in the long run as that particular awkward moves attribute may have been mastered while learning character #2.
It also helps you understand and appreciate the game mechanism more, not relying on the same anti air, punishment of one character

last but not least
Youre in the EVO finals, and daigo just destroyed you.
But you only know one character . GAME OVER.

Azza

I don't know why you would be worried about picking a character that was suppose to be top tier, Balrog after all was top tier in vanilla and more than likely still is in SSF IV. I think Daigo and possibly Tokido said at Evo that they reckoned Balrog was the best character in SSF IV he always struck me as the easist character to play in the game. I don't think Honda or Bison are quite as good as the the lastest tier list made out either.

As for secondary, I'm looking at Dee Jay. Seems a solid enough character.

Orim

Placebo wrote: »

Fixed your post Terry.
Its a known fact that your game improves significantly, learning more than one character. Some moves that you may find awkward because second nature as that certain moves attribute may have been mastered while learning character #2.
It also helps you understand and appreciate the game mechanism more, not relying on the same anti air, punishment of one character

last but not least
Youre in the EVO finals, and daigo just destroyed you.
But you only know one character . GAME OVER.

I don't completely disagree but it's not completely true. The Japanese generally learn one character and will learn every nuance of the character rather than running to top tier or a counterpick everytime they run into a problem.

I mean in ST you've got Pony, who is an absolutely insane Gief player. I'm not saying he doesn't he play other characters but he certainly doesn't put in anywhere near the time that he puts into Gief.

I can't remember his name but there was a Blanka player in Japan who beat Tokido in a couple of tournaments and did very well in ST.

As an example, you're in the EVO finals through winners bracket. You beat your opponents main very handily. They switch to a "surprise" counter-pick. They pick up round after round and reset the bracket.

You've been been reset and you're having trouble figuring out your opponent. What do you do?

You stick with your specialist character because you're Daigo and you know what you can do with Ryu. Proceed to winning EVO.

Doctor DooM

In SSF4 I main Guile.

I guess alts would be Ibuki, Honda, ryu/Rose/ken deejay/blanka/chun in that order.

I'd often pick Ibuki against the regs here.

I'd agree learning a secnd character makes you better, at very least it makes you think about alternate ways of approaching fights by definition (for example, I rely heaviy on boom. Suddenly, I am honda and a Ryu is smacking me round with Hadokens. WHAT DO I DO?!)

In Marvel, I move between about 20 characters. I guess Wolvie/wolvie/psylocke would be my main team.

In ST I would consider ryu my main and Guile my alt.

In champ/ hyper Vega was my main and the entire rest of cast my alts.

In Killer Insticnt, Fulgore was my main and Jago my alt.




This is getting a bit ridiculous, isn't it?

Sairus

My name is Sairus, and I'm a Rose player.
I've said before that I picked Rose purely to annoy a housemate, but in reality chances were high that I'd have started using her of my own accord eventually.
When playing anything I generally go for the path less travelled. I have nothing against everyone playng the same characters, but it would annoy me to be one of you freaks.
My number two slot in SFIV is constantly in a state of flux - I doubt I'll ever properly settle on a real alt.
Gouken was a contender for a good while - again, he's got a kooky fighting style so I really like using him.
After moving to stick I found it much easier to use charge characters so I started using Vega - he's probably my most prominant numero duo.
Now that Super is out I've been using Juri.

In other games...
Blazblue: I'm still just stumbling around with all the characters, but I'm looking to settle on Taokaka and Rachael. Tsubaki looks fun in CS.
Soul Calibur: I used to use Ivy, then she just got stupidly complicated. I tend to fall into using Astaroth and Voldo with Tira and Nightmare as backups.
MvC2: I play this so sporadically my team changes every time I turn it on. It's usually something like Sakura, Marrow and Morrigan though.
ST: Totally rubbish at this, but Cammy is usually my go to girl.

Dreddybajs

Orim wrote: »

I don't completely disagree but it's not completely true. The Japanese generally learn one character and will learn every nuance of the character rather than running to top tier or a counterpick everytime they run into a problem.

Japanese tournaments are character-locked, they couldn't switch if they wanted to

UberPrinny_Baal

Hmmm

SF: Championship Edition: Turbo controller + Honda was always an instant winner in versus. Blanka was the only character I could beat 8 star CPU Bison with, so I guess him? None of my friends as a kid were good enough at the game for me to require a main (or even understand the concept).

HD Remix: I actually consciously chose DeeJay because I had always wanted to own Super Turbo, but never did, and wanted to get good with one of the new characters, and DeeJay obviously had the world's coolest pants. I also really like Balrog as he's the only person I was able to beat CPU Akuma with.

SFIV/SSFIV: I went with Akuma in IV for what little I played it because I like his design and all the tools at his disposal. Once Deejay joined the roster I switched back to get lost in the beat, but if I was going to pick up a non-charge character as a primary alt, it would probably be Akuma.

Killer Instinct: Fulgore, with a little alting of Eyedol because sometimes I was a cheating little bollocks. Also Cinder/Riptor for when I fudged the Eyedol cheat on the Snes/Arcade.

Soul Edge series: I really liked Li Long and Hwang in the first game, but once it became Calibur and Li Long was replaced by a Pirate Elvis (what the hell?) I started using Raphel. Also Link

Smash series: This is the rare game where I think I'm decent with everyone, but I gravitated towards Marth pretty much because of the Melee event matches where he was in sword fights, I found those to be a lot of fun. If I'm trying to sneak a win against Gorysnake or another player better than me, I'll switch to someone less common, like Samus to try to catch them off guard, and it always nearly works :rolleyes:
In Brawl I go with Deedeedee and Wario just because I really like those characters from their respective games

Jump Super/Ultimate Stars: Any deck centred around Luffy, but that's just because of the One Piece fanboy in me.

Orim

Dreddybajs wrote: »

Japanese tournaments are character-locked, they couldn't switch if they wanted to

True but it's indicative of the culture that the tournaments are character-locked. IMO

Monkeyto

SSFIV: Bison because of all the chargers he's the most fun! I also use Honda for ****s and giggles as well as Balrog and Juri.

HDR: Balrog, I love connecting with his super. Damage Delux!

DoA4: Yeah...I use to play a fair bit of this with friends. It was always a tie between Eliot and Kasumi. Of course Kasumi won due to JP Schoolgirl outfits! Also tits.

Tekken 6: I main the one where you can mash the buttons and juggle for about 15 minutes straight...oh wait, that's ALL THE CHARACTERS!!!!!!! ololololololo!

Dreddybajs

Orim wrote: »

True but it's indicative of the culture that the tournaments are character-locked. IMO

I don't think so, if you watch Japanese players play on GGPO they'll counterpick each other all day in my experience

Misty Chaos

SSF4: Well, I main Juri as you all know by now and I'm spending most of my time working on bringing her up to a higher level. That being said, I have messed with other Characters like Ken ( my vanilla main ) , Bison and Balrog but nowhere near as much time as Juri.

I personally believe in focusing in one character, trying to learn 2 at the same time is a bit much for me. I'll consider it when I'm a Juri master, though.

GorySnake

SSF4
Main: Cody
Alts: Dudley for now, still searching

SF4
Old Mains: Zangief, Honda, Rufus, Sakura. Dont play any of these anymore much.

HDR
Main: Dee Jay/
Alts: T.Hawk (EZ mode Hawk) Honda

ST
Main: Dee Jay

Tekken 5
Main: Bryan Fury

Tekken 6
Main: Bob
When I still played I also used Lars and Bryan, but I've forgotten them now.

Smash 64
Main: C.Falcon

Smash Bros. Melee
Main: Marth
Alts: C.Falcon, Jigglypuff, Half the Cast

Smash Bros. Brawl
Old Main: Zelda
Dont really have a character in that game anymore, Zelda is apparently useless and I havent played this is a long time.

Rob2D

I main Fei Long and I'm sure that puts me in a pretty small minority. I really like his style, I'm more of an offence player by nature. I see him as more of a pure fighter, not having to rely on fireballs and such. He's a nightmare to use in some match ups, but I get a great sense of accomplishment when I win. I also like being able to set my legs on fire when I kick someone in the face. Plus he's Bruce Lee so what more do you want! :pac:



My second, and she's a good alt to have, is Cammy......................because of dat ass.

Scavenger XIII

I picked Guile when I was about 8 years old "because he was in the army and that's cool" (yes, he's actually in the USAF we all know that now). Still use him almost exclusively for SF2, occasionally use a bit of Cammy because she has a nice arse and wears a beret and is in the army (also the only char I can beat CPU Akuma with).

Still rocking the family man in SSF4, had my doubts when vanilla came out because he didn't feel right and I couldn't use him well. Bounced around several characters (Bison, Cammy and Rose - got a bit bored using Bison, and my execution sucks for non-charge characters on stick), never settled on anybody and pretty much gave up on SF4 since I didn't like it anyway. Can manage him much better now with the faster booms and almost usable FK. Besides I told myself I was going to tough it out and get good when super hit, because it's where all the competition is at.

Play Remy in 3S because... uuuh, he's like Guile and has big shoes. Used to main Yang (because he looks like Trowa from Gundam W and has a sweet shirt) on pad but I couldn't manage his hitconfirms and rekkas using stick (still can't).

Tekken I play Armor King because he's an angry black man wearing a suit of armour and a jaguar mask who will piledrive your ass, and that's cool. Would still play regular King on side but his movelist keeps changing and getting more complex while I'm playing AK. Use Lili as my alt just cause I love the look of all her flips and graceful movements, and I believe I may have a weird thing for rich girls who beat people up.

Blazblue use Noel, cause she goes Equilibrium about the place and wears thighhighs and a beret (f**k yeah berets) - she's also a member of an army of sorts.... Don't really have a second - might use Mu when console CS hits, because she's essentially Noel except more evil and more naked.

My usual KoF team is Iori, Terry and Whip. Iori is angry and he's stylin', Terry is the original SNK badass (BUSTAH WOOOOOORF) and Whip... has a freakin' whip. Leona's filling in now, her and Whip are in the army doncha know.

Maybe I should shorten the rest of this so I won't warble all night... :pac:

SFA3 - Karin (rich bitch who hits people in the face), Charlie (Guile, but his trousers don't fit)

GG - Ky (sweet coat, RIDE THE LIGHTNING PWEEEEEEEEEEO), Baiken (angry one-armed one-eyed samurai woman who kicks mats at you)

SC - Lizardman (he's a goddamn lizard-man), Hilde (my dream woman put into a game)

Smash - Ganondorf (he's mothershuckling GANONDORF, warlock punch is epic, chokes people, stomps people, is all around awesome), Bowser (big, evil dragon turtle thing, deserves a break from falling off bridges), Zero Samus (always a big Metroid fan, now shes got a whip)

TvC - Tekkaman Blade (kickass armour, watched the dub of his show as a kid, also VORTEKKAAAAAAA), Saki (she's got a big gun, might be in some sort of armed force...?)

DoA - LeiFang (loads of sweet counters, chinese dresses are hot), Helena (another posh woman busting asses)

VF5 - Vanessa (she's... in... the... army...?)

As can be seen, I choose nearly all my characters on aesthetics, I pick whoever looks the most awesome and learn to play them rather than going for a certain playstyle. However it is somewhat interesting that doing this often leads to me using defensive characters who either play like Guile or have a counter (Guile, Remy, Baiken) - or offensive characters with rekkas or similar moves (Iori, Yang, Karin, Noel).

This post is HUGE so I'll stop now.

Almost forgot... Sabrewulf for president.

UberPrinny_Baal

Scavenger XIII wrote: »

Saki (she's got a big gun, might be in some sort of armed force...?)

It took a bit of digging but Saki's originally from a Capcom Dating Sim game.

Apparently in this game, the equivalent of Godzilla would periodically show up to attack the city.

Saki was the person who came to stop it when this happened.

You could then try and date her I guess?

Scavenger XIII

Definitely sounds like my kind of night out.

Xinkai

Though i've narrowed down to mainly one fighting game i've experimented with nearly all the characters.

Blazblue CT: Nu all the way
Blazblue CS: Tsubaki. Alts: Mu, Lambda.
Battle Fantasia: Koyori
SSFIV: Sakura Alts: Ibuki, Dan
SF HF: Ken
SF ST: Cammy
Fatal Fury Special: Terry Alts: Jubei, Andy, Mai.
KOF2002UM: Team Nameless, K', Athena
DoA4: Kasumi or Ryu
GGXX: Dizzy or Order Sol
KOF12: Athena & Rest of the cast can dead :pac:
Tekken 6: Lars Alexandersen
Mortal Kombat Series: Sub Zero and Scorpion
Rage of the Dragons: Pupa & Pepe

Thats just about all the fighters i played through the years but nowadays i mainly stick to BlazBlue.

chueytoo

I usual stick to one character when it comes to fighting game. but i sometimes change to an other just for fun.

Ssf4: main juri, alt makoto
Kof: main kyo, alt crimson ash
Blazblue: main ragna, i just mess about with the rest
Blazblue cs: looking to main noel or makoto
smash bros: link and marth
Tekken 6: Main lilli, alts asuka,leo,lars
Doa4:main Eliot alt kokoro and kasumi.

just pick a character you like. cause if you enjoy your character, you would natrually want to get better.

Doctor DooM

Rob2D wrote: »

I main Fei Long and I'm sure that puts me in a pretty small minority. I really like his style, I'm more of an offence player by nature. I see him as more of a pure fighter, not having to rely on fireballs and such. He's a nightmare to use in some match ups, but I get a great sense of accomplishment when I win. I also like being able to set my legs on fire when I kick someone in the face. Plus he's Bruce Lee so what more do you want! :pac:



My second, and she's a good alt to have, is Cammy......................because of dat ass.

There's a pretty good vanilla Fei player in the north called liquid swords, so you're not THAT alone.

Zapp Brannigan

It took me ages to settle on a main. Went from Abel to Blanka to Akuma to Balrog and finally back to Abel. out of all the characters I find him the most fun to play.

I alt Cammy, she's just pure rushdown (like Abel) and it's how I like to play. Sure I struggle against good turtlers/footsies but when you get in it's worth it.

EDIT: That guy liquid swords still plays Fei in Super. Played him last night.

Rob2D

Doctor DooM wrote: »

There's a pretty good vanilla Fei player in the north called liquid swords, so you're not THAT alone.

Nice to know. I also found some videos of that Inthul guy. He gives me hope:)

Sairus

One of my housemates is maining Fei these days too. Aul Longypoo is getting loads of attention these days.

And to append some games to my list, since you're all dying to know.

Smash Bros: Bowser, Samus, Snake.
Killer Instinct: Spinal
HD Remix: Cammy and DeeJay as my alt.

Generally I favour quickish characters that I can jump in, do some damage, and then back off when I want to. I dont know what happened with Brawl and Soul Calibur that I ended up with the heaviest characters available =/

bush

Main: Blanka
Alts: Chun li, Cody

Would lile to switch chun li to main but its too frustrating playing her online to put more time into her.

Placebo

Bush80 wrote: »

Main: Blanka
Alts: Chun li, Cody

Would lile to switch chun li to main but its too frustrating playing her online to put more time into her.

Yeah man, stick with Cody and Blanka

K.O.Kiki

I, too, shall add more games to my list:

• HDR: Guile mostly, haven't played in ages
• ST: Chun, Guile, Ken, Ryu, trollgief
• VF4 Evo: Aoi, Jacky, Lion
• VF5: Aoi
• BBCT: Hakumen, Taokaka
• Guilty Gear: Sol, Jam
• Tekken 5 DR: Bryan, Lili, Law, Jin, Bruce
• Tekken 6 BR: Bryan
• Melty Blood: Chaos, Sion
• Garou: Butt, Hotaru, Rock, Terry
• SFIII: Alex, Q, Ryu, Elena, Yang
• SFA: Charlie, Ryu, Sagat
• MvC2: Cyclops, Sentinel, Rogue (only characters I can control)
• Smash: Liking Mario and Fox
• Bleach DS: Ichigo
• Soulcalibur: Kilik, Hilde

I think that's all the fighters I tried learning at various stages.

Also I suck at most of them.

ps: I'm also very bored right now.

Generic_name01

I alt everyone in SSFIV and main no-one! I hop about everyweek or so from non-shoto character to non-shoto character. After about two weeks-month of using a character I randomly wake up and decide he's not for me. Prob something to do with taht when I was young all I played was Tekken 2 but since then I just dont use projectile characters unless having a laugh. Anyhoo...

Street Fighter 2= Bison and Vega
Souledge= Voldo
Tekken 2= Paul (when I was 9 it was amazing to play a game with my name in it)
Tekken 3= Paul and Bryan Fury
Soul Calibur 2= Astaroth and Raphael
Bloody Roar= Man I loved this when I was young. Played that beetle guy
DOA2/4= Leon and Jann Lee.
Tekken 5= Paul, Weng and Lee Shaolan
Tekken 6= Same as above but throw in Bob and I want to be good with Lars and Miguel.
Guilty Gear= Zappa and Eddie
SFIV= Bison and Honda
Blazblue= TAGER!!! Faveourite grappler ever to be in a game.

Lol I too was very bored...

Almost forgot Brad Burns in VF5! Everything he said was gold.

D4RK ONION

While I wouldn't have the reputation of Kiki, I'm pretty sure I've used everyone in the game as an alt at some point (except Ken, I do have some respect :P). I think it's really important to know the basics of the other characters in the game, it helps a lot when you're put up against a rare character.

I alt.ed with Seth for a ages in Vanilla because he was entirely insane and just so much fun. When Super came out I switched to Cody for a while, and I'm currently having tons of fun with Makoto.

I really enjoy the idea of putting so much fear in your enemy that they simply refuse to block and become entirely free. I'm not quite there yet, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of her.

FutureGuy

Up until 12 months ago, I just played as any character that took my fancy but since I started playing Ryu, I haven't done a whole lot with anyone else.

In ranked, i'll play as Dudley, Dan or Sakura for a change.

If I had to pick an alt.main for a tournament, I'd almost go with Dan lol. I have been practicing with Akuma and Juri alot recently.

K.O.Kiki

I am 100% certain you've posted this before...

animaX

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

I am 100% certain you've posted this before...

Thats a bit harsh. Prove it!

D4RK ONION

RopeDrink wrote: »

Had a 50 game set with a chap last night, such an enjoyable night it refreshed my appreciation for the game. Sadly I stuck with Balrog for at least 40 of them but I did give Honda & Bison another crack.

The bloke was a bit cautious because I told him I had no clue how to play anyone else but after this game of gimmicks he adapted and tore me a new ass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqJdsmXIIk0

You can only do so much with Teleport > Throw before you realise it aint going to win you matches all the time :P

Quite like Bison, he's very fast and the teleport is handy, plus those Scissor Kicks are bloody annoying as hell for people with the CLK>Scissors on wakeup and whatnot. I still can't do any real combo's though. Needs more work but I think I'll put Balrog on the shelf more often and try practice with the other two. I still can't play Guile for ****, he just doesn't function on keyboard at all.

1. Go with Honda
2. Press the punch buttons really fast
3. ?????
4. Profit!

GorySnake

RopeDrink wrote: »

It's kinda ironic that anytime I pick Honda I never EVER use HHSlap... Ever... Whatever about a Pad or Stick with buttons but on Keyboard it just seems weird.

Piano-ing on a keyboard sounds easier to me than on a stick.

RopeDrink wrote: »

I'm a bit stuck now as I don't know which one to fall for, alt wise. I love the raw power and similar Balrog style of Honda but the speed and grievance of Bison is very appealing. I still can't even play either one effectively.

Best to pick the character which compliments your main's bad matchups.

Sisko

animaX wrote: »

Thats a bit harsh. Prove it!

Harsh? Your accusations of harshness are a bit harsh imo.



:pac: