GetAmped2 Fighting Game Terminology

GetAmped2 Fighting Game Terminology by PuppetZage

I’m starting to see people confusing “Invincible frames” and “Super Armor” with each other and quite a few other terms sooooo, here you go.

Credit to SRK(Shoryuken) for the write up.

Anti-Air
An attack done from the ground serving the purpose of attacking an opponent who is jumping in. Moves of this kind generally enjoy high priority.
(Twin Detonators X attack is a good example)

Baiting
Baiting consists of doing certain moves and movements to try and elicit a certain reaction or move from an opponent, and then punishing that reaction or move.

Example: Guarding a combo repeatedly and not countering, anticipating them jumping over you and hitting you in the back. When they do you counter that with a move of your own.

Block-Stun
The term block stun is used to refer to three distinct things: The first and most rare is to refer to the delay after a player ceases to hold back or press the block button before which the player can move again. The second is the delay before which the player can perform another move after successfully blocking a move. The third is the delay before which a player can perform another move if the opponent blocked his move.

In Getamped 2, this is extremely apparent when guarding projectile attacks.

Chip Damage
The reduced damage a character takes from an attack while blocking. Generally an extremely small amount; in some games, normal moves do not cause this. The term refers to the visual effect of the player’s life bar being “chipped” away, bit by bit. Also refers to a type of fighting that relies soley on causing such damage.

In Getamped 2, All moves, special and normal, produce chip damage. You cannot be killed by chip damage however.

Cross-up
A cross-up is a situation where it is more difficult for your opponent to determine whether they must block left or right. Most commonly, this is done by attacking while jumping over your opponent so that it hits as one passes over them. Cross-ups are most easily used in many games after knocking down your opponent, as the opponent will be unable to move or attack while the attacker begins the cross-up (see okizeme).

Jumping over your opponent in the middle of a combo and using the C attack is a example.

Damage Scaling
Damage scaling refers to the fact that in some games, attacks may sometimes inflict less (or occasionally more, as seen in Guilty Gear) than normal damage due to any number of reasons. Damage scaling can be a result of the number of hits in a combo (Many games; numerous), the specific move used to start a combo (Guilty Gear), the amount of damage that has been inflicted so far in the combo (Last Blade), the type of move (Third Strike), number of uses of the attack, or other factors.

This is more apparent in Getamped 2 when you use a special move in the combo. The special move will do less damage in a combo than it would have if you used it by itself.

Footsies
“Footsies” is oldschool slang for the mid-range ground-based aspect of fighting game strategy. The ultimate goal is to control the flow of the match, bait the opponent into committing errors, and punish everything.

When you think people are actually running, they could be baiting you into doing attacks with long recovery, and punishing said move.

Frames
A frame is a single still picture on a display screen such as a television set or computer monitor. Fighting games generally run at a fixed 60 frames per second (50 frames in Europe) which means they show 60 still pictures every second to simulate motion. Thus, the time that a move takes to start, how long it is considered to actually be hitting and how long the character takes to recover immediately after the move can all be measured in frames. One frame is 1/60th of a second, so a move that takes 10 frames to start up equates to 1/6th of a second.

Hit-Stun
This refers to the amount of time of frames it takes you to recover after being hit by a certain attack. This, combined with recovery time, is what determines whether or not an attacker will have enough frame advantage after an attack to execute a link.

Juggle
A combo in which the victim is hit multiple times in midair. The move used to start the juggle is called a “launcher” or “floater.” This was the second type of combo to ever appear in a fighting game, and first appeared in Mortal Kombat.

In recent King of Fighters games, juggling is supported by another feature called wire.

MindGames
Mind games are described as the use of psychology to maximize one’s chances of winning. A big part of mind games is archetyping, dissecting the way an opponent plays and then immediately gearing oneself to prepare an effective counter strategy, as well as a great deal of other tactics that take advantage of the amount of predictability present within an opponent.

Mind games generally used within fighting games can include:

* Training an opponent into doing a certain move in response to something, then baiting that response to punish.
* Putting forward an incredible rushdown game and then suddenly shifting gears at the least expected moment, and viceversa.
* Deliberately showing a pattern and then changing it part way through once your opponent catches on. For example, one could jump at the opponent and perform a low attack repeatedly throughout the match, then jump at them and perform an overhead attack when they try to block low.

Pressure
Pressure involves using a sequence of attacks to keep an opponent on the defensive and often involves okizeme and mix up tactics. The purpose of pressure is to keep an enemy from effectively attacking back until they make a mistake, usually allowing for a damaging command move or combo to be performed.

Priority
This one is too long to explain in full detail, basically. Some moves have more priority over another. Causing their attack to go right through yours and damage you, and vice versa.

Pursuit Attack
An attack that hits a character who is lying down on the ground. A combo that contains, but does not end with, a pursuit attack is known as an off-the-ground combo, or simply OTG.

Recovery
The time or frames it takes for a character to return to a neutral state after the frames in which the attack actually hits have passed. The shorter the time, the better.

Reversal
Another one thats too long to go into detail with. In laymen terms however, There a frames during a recovery when you are actually recovering and CANT DO ANYTHING. As soon as you’re done recovering, you enter your neutral state frames. When you attack with a special move as soon as you hit the first frame of your neutral state frames, thats called a reversal.

Startup
The time or frames it takes for a character to enter a state in which the attack actually hits after leaving its neutral state. The shorter the time, the better.

Stuffing
Stuffing an opponent’s attack refers to the act of using a move to stop or beat an opponent’s move, such as beating out an opponent’s poke with a higher priority poke. This does not necessarily mean using a higher priority attack (for example, in The King Of Fighters, the act of using a Weak Attack to trade hits with an anti air move or in Street Fighter III Chun-Li’s Houyokusen Super can be stuffed in the beginning by throwing out a very quick, low poke, such as a crouching light kick).

Stun
1. A temporary state of helplessness caused by taking a lot of damage quickly. The opponent is usually guaranteed a free hit. Also called daze or dizzy.
2. Block stun: a short frozen state after blocking a move or performing a blocked move.
3. Hit stun: a short frozen state after being hit.

Throws
Throws are block defeating moves that usually involve pressing an attack button and occasionally a direction at extremely close range. A predefined animation typically plays that ends up with the opponent taking a reasonably significant amount of damage. This can be used to punish turtlers or add to mix up. It is possible, in some games, to either minimize or negate a throw, usually done by throwing back as soon as one is thrown.

Turtling
The act of staying in a defensive stance for most or all of the match, only attacking when the opponent misses, or with a reversal move. Usually done when far ahead in the match and running low on time, to avoid unnecessary risk.

Wakeup
The frames in which a character is considered to be standing up from the floor. In 2D games, the character waking up is generally invincible, as opposed to in 3D games, where characters waking up may still be vulnerable to attack. Which is not the case for Getamped 2, you are invincible during wake up.

Whiff
A move that misses the opponent completely. Sometimes used intentionally to bait an opponent, build super meter, or reduce recovery time in slow moves by cancelling them into a quicker move that whiffs.

Zoning
Zoning is a tactic in 2D fighters usually used at mid-range or far mid-range, the purpose of which is to out-prioritize your enemy’s moves. The idea is to space yourself so that you are in a position to respond to or punish any entry angle or attack of your opponent’s. Ideally, you can use certain pokes and attacks to beat your opponent’s attacks, punish his advances or jumps, and hopefully shut down his offensive options, while landing hits. In attempting to zone, it is important to know the properties of your own attacks as well as the attacks of your opponent, in order to find the best move to use in countering your opponent’s move. The ability to predict your opponent’s next move, and having good reflexes to react to that move, are also important.