Do certain characters have easier links?
In my experience, I find that certain characters have links that are easier to do than the exact same link on different characters. This very well could be just me, but I'm wondering whether the execution window on certain character's links is longer than on others. For example: Vega/Claw's links are rather easy for me to pull off, while Dudley's links seem to be much more difficult, even when linking the same moves.
Does this have something to do with how the game was programmed, or is it just my natural muscle memory and rhythm taking over?
Responses (3 total)
First, a slight primer should be given on links.
Links are combos where the second move that is executed occurs after the recovery animation from the first move. The classic example in this case is using Ryu's cr.MP into cr.MK.
Now, every move in the game has a different startup, active, and recovery time, which is measured in terms of frames (measured as 1/60th of a second in Super Street Fighter 4). For every character in the game, there are tables of data referred to as frame data which lay out the startup, active, and recovery frames for a character (as well as damage, stun, super meter gain, etc).
Most importantly, there are additional columns in the frame data labeled "frame advantage on hit" and "frame advantage on block."
These numbers represent the number of frames that the other character will be unable to do anything assuming that you attack them and they are either hit, or are blocking. Positive numbers mean that you have that number of frames to execute something else before your opponent comes out of the animation from being hit, while negative numbers mean your opponent will recover before the animation for your move is complete.
Using the aforementioned example of Ryu's cr.MP -> cr.MK, this is what the frame data looks like for those two moves:
| Move | Startup | Active | Recover | Frame Adv. Block | Frame Adv. Hit |
| Crouch Medium Punch | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 5 |
| Crouch Medium Kick | 5 | 5 | 12 | -3 | 0 |
As you can see, with Ryu's cr.MP, when he hits his opponent, he has +5 (read "plus five") frame advantage on hit. This means that if you hit an opponent with the cr.MP, once the move is done, you have five frames before the opponent can block again.
Now, in order to perform a link combination, you have to follow up the first move with a move that has a startup equal to or less than the frame advantage offered by the first move. In this case, Ryu's cr.MK has a startup of five, which is equal to or less than the five frame advantage on hit of the cr.MP.
On a side note, the reason why you look for moves with startup equal to or less than the frame advantage is because the way frame data is presented, the last frame of startup actually represents the first active frame of the move. Using the example above, here is what the frame sequence would look like when you hit with the cr.MP and then link into the cr.MK:
| Character \ Frame # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Ryu | Last recovery frame for cr.MP | cr.MK - 1st frame startup | cr.MK - 2nd frame startup | cr.MK - 3rd frame startup | cr.MK - 4th frame startup | cr.MK - 1st active frame, opponent hit |
| Opponent | Hitstun over in 6 frames | Hitstun over in 5 frames | Hitstun over in 4 frames | Hitstun over in 3 frames | Hitstun over in 2 frames | 1st frame of hitstun for cr.MK begins |
Now, to answer your question, because everyone's frame data has different values for startup, active, and recovery, as well as different frame advantages on hit and block, the frame sequence above is going to be different for any two moves for a single character; what might work on one (cr.MP -> cr.MK with Ryu) will not necessarily work with another (Ken's cr.MP has a frame advantage of +3 while his cr.MK has a startup of 4). You essentially have to do a lookup of the frame data for different moves and then proceed from there to determine what the proper links are.
It should be noted that the example used above is not safe on block, meaning, that if your opponent blocks Ryu's cr.MP, then there is a three-frame window (five frames of startup - two frames of frame advantage on block = three frames) where an opponent can execute a move after coming out of blockstun. Ken's LP Shoryuken is an example of a move, if timed perfectly, can do this; it has three frames of startup, and they are all invulnerable, so his first active frame will coincide with Ryu's cr.MK first active frame, but Ken will win because of the invulnerability he has on the first three frames of his LP Shoryuken.
I'll assume that by "linking the same moves" you mean, say, c.LP to c.MP. In that case, due to the fact that every character has different frame data, linking those two moves might be very easy on some characters and may be trickier on others, due to the fact that it might be a 3-frame link on one character but only a 1-frame link on another, even though they're the "same moves."
If, instead, you mean that a 1-frame link feels easier with one character than another, then yes, perhaps it may be due to the rhythm of the link, the character's animation, or something else.
The timming is diferent. Probably its easier for you because your timming looks like Vega/Claw more than Dudley. In my opinion all characters have the same way to link, but the timming is diferent, so it's probably easier for the one that has the time that you do naturaly.
