Before I get into the details on frames, I want to make an important point. This blog and the last one probably come off as very dry, and quite possibly make it seem like high-level fighting gaming is about as fun as counting blades of grass passing underfoot as you walk. It may seem like fighting gamers, if only myself in particular, take a very stoic, calculated, or even mathematical approach to fighting games.

Quite the contrary. In spite of going out of my way to learn these things and apply them, I am still a dyed-in-the-wool organic player through and through. I may know that Gen's Gekiro (waterfall kick) had 7 frames of startup in SFIV, but what I actually use is the simple knowledge that it pretty much sucks as a reversal. Make sense? The point is, fighting games in general, and even the trials in SSFIV, are as much about "feel" as they are about knowledge, if not more. So don't be afraid that fighting games start to suck like math homework the more you get into them, heh. Anyway, on with it.

We've already discussed that Super Street Fighter IV runs at 60 FPS. Now let's see what we can do with that information.

Every move in SSFIV shares three frame-related traits in common: that they have startup frames, active frames, and recovery frames.

Startup Frames

The animation that takes place before a move actually connects. These frames flash by the screen in a matter of sixtieths of seconds, but they can certainly be seen. In ordinary play, it's not necessary to literally crunch numbers like a supercomputer calculating startup frames - we tend to understand they're there instinctively. But when it comes to the trials, knowledge of how the fighting engine registers moves is helpful.

Active frames

The frames of animation in which a character's move connects or could connect. Some moves have more active frames than others. Cammy's jab, for example, has a relative few. Her Cannon Spike, on the other hand, has many (check it out in training mode - have the AI do hard Cannon Spikes, then jump in and try to hit Cammy out of the attack.)

Recovery frames

These frames occur after the last active frame of a move, and, like startup frames, can be seen onscreen. These are by far, in my opinion, the most crucial frames to pay attention to when doing the trials. Reason being, links require that a move be done on the first available frame possible. In order for that to happen, the move being linked must start at the exact right moment so that the active frame "deadline," if you will, is met.

It sounds more complicated than it is. Let's look at an example to help clarify: Ryu can link two crouching medium punches together. Making it work goes something like this:

Player hits the medium punch button. The startup frames pass... active frames start (the punch connects)... the active frames end... recovery frames begin (Ryu begins pulling his arm back in)... the active frames end (another move can be started). The input for the second medium punch must be registered by the game on the last recovery frame or else the link fails. A frame too early, the second medium punch won't come out at all. A frame too late, the second medium punch is blocked. If you only get one thing out of this entire entry, let it be this.

I see recovery frames as the most important frames to pay attention to because they are a visual cue to when a button needs to be pushed. As long as the button is pushed at the right moment, knowing the startup and active frames is basically irrelevant. They will come, then go, but they won't tell you when to push the next button like recovery frames do.

There is plenty more information to be given on the topic of frame data, but I've covered the bits that matter most when it comes to trials. This will probably be the last generalized, fundamentals blog in this series. Up next, I'll cover move cancelling, and we'll really get down to some SSFIV specifics.

Go into the trials and actually try some of these links, noting how they are not at all the same as strings (they can't be "mashed out.") Cerebral knowledge only gets you so far. You gotta get it in your bones to really make it useful. Again, I'm closing in on only a portion of the knowledge that's available about frames - the parts that matter most about doing the trials (read: combos that are often just hard for the sake of being hard).

Okay cool, that wraps up. Any questions, don't hesitate to ask. One more blog on fundamentals up next, then we'll jump into the good stuff.