VF5FS System Notes

Life total:
- characters have 221 life
- if you take 220 damage, your lifebar is empty, but you're not KO'd yet

Offensive Move (OM):
- press P+K+G after pressing up or down
- has a unique sound effect, sounds distinct from evades
- sort of like a super sidestep, however it DOES NOT EVADE any attacks
- if your opponent presses a button at any time during an offensive move (sometimes abbreviated OM) you -will- get hit!
- Good for positioning after knockdown and/or near walls, and good against defensive opponents to give yourself side advantage
> (more on side advantage and sideturns below)

Sideturn:
- some attacks or situations will have your opponent attacking your side
- pressing G realigns you to the opponent. You are not actually guarding until you're realigned
- the realignment takes 3f from side/5f from backturn
- these frames are nicknamed "UG time" due to the lack of guarding
- this means that if you are -9 from the side, and you hold G, you can be hit by moves i12 or faster.
- characters can still crush lows, attack, jump, duck, and sometimes use reversals/sabakis from a sideturn, however.

Side Frame Bonus:
 - an attack that does less than 15 dmg - > +2 extra frame advantage
 - an attack that does 15-24 dmg -> +3 extra frame advantage
 - an attack that does 25+ dmg -> +6 extra frame advantage
> a basic strategy is to use unsafe launchers against an opponent's side, many launchers can be made much safer this way

"Fuzzy Guard"
- if you are -1 to -3, you can avoid mids and throws by briefly crouching and then stand guarding:
> input 2_5G
- if you are -5 or -3 from your side, you can do the same but the input is different:
> input 335G (the crouch dash 'ducks' faster than simply crouching)
- mechanical reasons:
> crouching normally takes 7 frames
> this means at -3 you can crouch to avoid a throw but at -4 you cannot
> a crouch dash puts you in crouching state after 5 frames instead of 7.
(Except for Taka, who takes an extra frame for the crouch dash)
> If you are at -6 or worse, you cannot duck or crouch dash to avoid a throw (if the opponent isn't late)

-9 to +9 is the "play range" of frame data
> if you are not -10, nothing your opponent does is truly guaranteed

Throws:
- throws catch evades in either direction
- throws count as HIGH attacks
- some characters have throws that work against crouchers, or on knocked down opponents
(sometimes called 'low throws' and 'down throws' respectively)
- the majority of the throws in the game start in 10 frames
- normal standing throws can be avoided by crouching or by attacking
- throws do not work against attacks and attack animations
 > attacking through a throw attempt from disadvantage is called "ABARE"!
- this means that throws do NOT function as frame traps in VF5FS
- an opponent reading your throw can launch you even at heavy disadvantage, so throws carry significant risk
 > but so does guarding! throws do good damage and give knockdowns!
- if your opponent is -10 or worse and you throw, they are forced to try and break it (but they CAN break it)

Breaking Throws:
- throws are broken by holding P+G and a direction (or no direction) while being thrown
- The direction should match the final direction of the attacker's throw input
> neutral P+G > broken by > holding P+G (no directional input needed)
> back + P+G > broken by > holding back + P+G
> 41236 (hcf) P+G > broken by > holding forward + P+G
> all low throws end with down-back or down or down-forward, and can be broken with the same logic
> all down throws end with down or down-forward, and can be broken with the same logic

> if your SIDE is thrown, the attacker's input is irrelevant. Hold P+G and the direction that is towards the opponent in 3D space
>> for example, if the opponent is throwing your character's right side, hold 6 + P+G. 4 + P+G for your left side.
>> this rule also applies to low throws against your side, 1 + P+G and 3 + P+G break side low throws

> there are many "unbreakable throws" in VF, they are labeled as "High Catch Throws" or HCT in the virtuafighter.com movelist
> these are treated by the game as an unblockable high attack, so you cannot ABARE through them like regular throws
>> high catch throws can be beaten by crouching, jumping, or hitting them before the HCT becomes active

- many throw breaks are -6 for the aggressor, and also grant sideturn
- side throw breaks are +3 for the aggressor
- some throws have unique advantage/disadvantage after break, especially for the grappler characters
- many throws have specific throw break animations, and can be used to avoid walls or ringouts if broken
> you can also ringout an opponent with the throw break animation!!

Hit Effect Colors:
- white > normal
- yellow/orange > counter hit (hit during startup, or winning a "trade" [see below])
- blue > side counter hit

Trades:
- if two attacks meet on the same frame, then:
 > the attack that would do more damage on a normal hit will win (but will register as a counter hit!!)
 - if the two attacks do equal damage, then:
 >> the attack that has slower startup will win
 - if the two attacks are equal in damage and startup time, then:
 >>> If one player has 50 less life, that player wins. If not, they will actually trade!!

Fall recovery/Quickrise:
- there is a 4f window to input P+K+G as you hit the ground. With this you can recover quickly. You can Quickrise in place, or into the foreground/background by holding up or down when you press P+K+G.
- the 4f of variance means you can actually mess with frame-perfect setups if you tech early/late (oki is very detail-oriented in this game)
- after fall recovery into the foreground or background, you are briefly in a crouching state before you fully stand up, however you can still hold G to block mids.
- characters with low throws can try to grab these crouching frames (the throw is breakable as normal) unless the defender chooses to attack (ABARE!!) through the throw or forward dash/jump/evade to avoid these low throws (evade forces the defender into a standing state instantly even if it doesn't avoid any strikes)
- after fall recovery in-place, you are briefly in a forced standing state, however you can still hold 2G to block lows.
- normal throws are guaranteed to connect during these standing frames (the throw is breakable as normal) unless the defender chooses to attack (ABARE!!) through the throw or forward dash/jump to avoid these throws

Knockdown if you didn't use Fall Recovery:
- you will stand up eventually without input. you cannot choose to stay on the ground
- options:
> hold down or up then press G > roll to background/foreground before standing up
> hold back then press G > roll away from opponent
> press P or G to get up in place (earlier than if you input nothing)
>> after choosing one of these options, you can hold down to wakeup in a crouching state if you wish
>> you can add a Wakeup Kick to the roll options by pressing K or down + K during the wakeup animation
>> you can also Wakeup Kick in place with simply K or down + K
- Wakeup Kicks can be low or mid attacks
- they do 20 dmg and are -6 on block, +3 on hit, +6 on counter hit
> EXCEPT for rolling away wakeup kicks, which are -15!!
- they can be blocked consistently with practice by recognizing the attack animation
> some wakeup attacks are unique, such as Taka's having a punch animation (the input is still K)

Special Attack Zones:
EX Low
- can be blocked standing or crouching
EX high
- can hit the startup and recovery frames of low attacks
- good if you anticipate 2P, among other things)
EX mid
- forces you into a standing state if you're crouching, but deals no damage if so
- usually gives you frame advantage or a NC string

Attack Strings:
- some strings combo naturally from beginning to end, some do not
- some strings that dont naturally combo will if they start with a counter hit
- the vast majority of the string in the game can be delayed, useful for throwing off the opponent's rhythm
- if a string is a natural combo, it will -still- combo even if delayed (some exceptions)
- if you press G during any of your attack strings, the game will no longer accept inputs for that string
> this is useful in many ways
> the simplest application is to tap P, G, P to make sure you get standing P twice, instead of your PP string.

Evades:
- tap up or down while at disadvantage
- if the opponent pressed a button, you will evade. there is a sound effect to indicate success
- a successful evade puts your opponent in a sideturn state
- all evades take the exact same amount of time to finish for all characters, therefore lead to predictable frame situations
> (more info on evade frames below)

- if you tap up or down but the opponent didn't attack, you were at advantage, or your opponent used a Circular that covers the direction you attempted to evade to, then you will not evade
- this is a 'failed evade'
- it looks like a sidestep, but you aren't actually evading anything (remember, listen for the sound effect)
- you cannot guard during a failed evade
> a failed evade can be canceled with a forward dash or a crouch dash
> forward dashes and forwards crouch dashes can be cancelled with... GUARD
> this means it's a good idea to input any attempted evade as 8 or 2, then 66G or 33G
>> if your evade succeeds, the 66G or 33G will do nothing, since a successful evade cannot be interrupted
>> if your evade fails, you will dash/crouch dash into a guard!
>> this is called the 'evade dash cancel' and 'evade crouch dash cancel' (EDC and ECDC)
>>> if you do an EDC or ECDC, you might as well press and hold P right after G, so you can try to break a throw just in case!

- if your opponent likes to use evades, counter with throws and circulars!

SUCCESSFUL EVASION FRAME DATA FORMULA:
- A successful evade takes exactly 23 frames
 > unless you are sideturned, if so it takes 3 more frames
> [X - 23 + Y = Advantage]
   X - total frames of evaded move
   Y - your advantage before evading
- Example: you are -7. You input an evade and the opponent does their 'elbow' (usually 6P)
- Most of these 6P attacks last 36 total frames
- 36 - 23 + (-7) = +6
- you have +6 advantage after successfully evading their 6P!


-------------------
///////////////////
NITAKU (two-choice, or 50/50s):
- if you are at -6 or worse, in a standing state, and in your opponent's throw range, you're getting MIXED UP!
- we would say you are "in nitaku" in this situation
- at -6, you cannot avoid a throw in any way unless you attack (ABARE!!)
- you can try to break the throw but the odds aren't in your favor!
- but if you attack, since you're -6, you can easily be counter hit
- most characters have a specific mid they can use to start combos on counter hit, which they will use here
> (Due to Taka's crouch dash taking an extra frame to enter crouching state, Taka is 'in nitaku' at -5!)
> if you are at -6 or worse while crouching, you can simply stay crouching to avoid a throw
>> you can still be mixed with mids and lows!
///////////////////
-------------------

Light Disadvantage:
- if you are better than -6 (-5 to -1), evasion is a rewarding choice if you are not too predictable
- because, if you evade a 2P or any move slower than that, you usually end up with significant frame advantage after the evade
> (see below for common examples)

2P table (33 total frames):

you	   after 2P evade
-11            -1
-10             0
-9             +1
-8             +2
-7             +3
-6             +4
-5	       +5
-4	       +6
-3	       +7
-2	       +8
-1	       +9
NET: +10 advantage

most 6P (36 total frames):

you	   after 6P evade
-11            +2
-10            +3
-9             +4
-8             +5
-7             +6
-6             +7
-5	       +8
-4	       +9
-3	       +10
-2	       +11
-1	       +12
NET: +13 advantage

5P table (27 total frames):

you	   after 5P evade
-11            -7
-10            -6
-9             -5
-8             -4
-7             -3
-6             -2
-5	       -1
-4	        0
-3	       +1
-2	       +2
-1	       +3
NET: +4 advantage