What I'd Change for Third Strike Upper (3s')

[I almost wrote one of these for GGXXAC++R, but this one decided to get finished first.]

I love Street Fighter III: Third Strike (3s).  I like it better than all the other Street Fighter games combined, partially because it doesn't feel like an SF2 game, which is the exact thing that a lot of people who dislike Third Strike don't like.  :^P

However, 3s has some problems - both with balance and system mechanics.  Most people who play it will readily admit this.  3s was never updated or fixed.  It has also never gotten a really "acceptable" console port, with no extra input lag and with all features intact, to the point where you could play said port and be ready to play it on an arcade setup with no adaptation.

So I figured, what the heck, if I ever got to do a 3s port - laugh it up, fuzzball - I'd like to make it 3s' (read as Third Strike Upper / Third Strike Dash, after SF2') and try to tackle tackle headbutt some of the problems the game has.

The goal of 3s' is to change the way the game is played AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE while still fixing problems.  So you won't find any "remove Yun" type things, and I will try to justify each suggested change.  However, that does mean that things which are central to the current metagame will change, if those things are sufficiently unbalanced to warrant attention.  My aim as a designer is to only nerf super dominant tactics a tiny bit to make them less dominant, rather than removing them entirely or drastically changing them.  I much prefer to fix balance by making under-used supers useful, making the low-tier characters better, and fixing bugs or inconsistencies...so there is a lot of those things, instead.

Format:
Problem - Solution. Explanation.

OK, here goes...

System Mechanics:

Whiffing normal attacks for meter - Each successive whiffed normal now scales the whiffed-normal metergain rate by half (100%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%, etc).  Whiffed specials are not changed. The scaling is reset whenever a move touches the opponent on hit/block/parry, or your character gets hit, blocks, or parries. Blocked projectiles do not reset this scaling for either character, projectiles that hit do reset it, and projectiles that are parried reset it for the character that threw the projectile only. Whiffing normals at full screen to build large chunks of meter is a main part of 3s.  Completely removing the metergain on whiffed normals solves the problem, but fundamentally changes the game. This solution reduces the usefulness of whiffing multiple normals, but still allows one or two to build up a bar when you are close to full and allows zoning to be at least as useful as before, if not a teeny bit more useful.

Parries - +2f on the cooldown period after attempting a parry, before another parry is allowed.  During the cooldown period for a specific parry, if you are hit with an attack that is parried the same way as the parry you just missed, you suffer crouching damage bonus.  For example, if you attempt a Forward(6) parry and miss, and are then hit by an attack that can be parried with Forward(6) during the cooldown period, you take 25% extra damage.  However, if you attempt a Forward(6) parry and miss, and are hit by an attack that must be parried Down(2), you will not take any extra damage. Being thrown out of parry cooldown does not grant extra damage. This change is intended to penalize people for mis-timing parries, without penalizing them extra for guessing wrong.  If you mis-time a parry but it was the wrong parry, you take regular damage.  If you mis-time a parry but it was the correct parry, you take extra damage.  And, of course, you can still block at any time, even during parry cooldown. Successful parries are unchanged.

"Guess Parries" - Parries input during any wakeup animation, recovery roll, or air land-on-feet hitstun are only active for half as long as a regular parry, with the same cooldown period. If you are thrown during the parry window or cooldown from one of these parries, you cannot tech the throw. Parries input during throw-tech animations are not changed. Guess parries are very powerful because you sacrifice nothing by attempting one.  This allows you to still try guess-parrying, you're just required to have better timing and commit slightly more because you're open to throws.  They are still easier than red parries, but this makes varying your okizeme tactics or timing more effective against people who guess-parry. And combined with the damage bonus on missed parries, it makes guess-parrying much riskier.

"Charge Partitioning" - As soon as any charged direction (Back[4] or Down[2]) reaches 1/3 charge, the charge partition timer will be reset to maximum. Charge partitioning is a nice advanced technique that is present only in Third Strike, however the amount of time you have to partition your charge is RANDOM depending on where that hidden timer happens to be when you start charging. This is not so great, and is easily fixed. This change ensures charge partitioning is always as easy as possible.

Left-Right Unblockables - Left-right unblockables are not fixed, but any time a character is hit during block animation while they are facing the opposite direction from the hit, the damage scaling is reduced to 50% for that hit and the followup combo. Unblockables are sort of a core part of 3s at this point, so removing them is undesired because it would drastically alter some characters, even if removing unblockables is preferable from a design standpoint.  This change simply reduces the effectiveness of unblockables a bit, while still allowing them to exist.

Characters:

Chun-Li:

• Houyoku-sen (SAII) now has a maximum of 1 stock instead of 2; the bar is now the maximum length possible, the same as Shin-Shoryuken.  Really now, she needs this.  The super still does a decent amount of stun, too.
• Cancel window on cr.Fwd (c.MK) fixed to not allow super-late cancels.  She needs this too, perhaps these two changes together will encourage more diverse super-art choice.  She still has all her other amazing normals, kara-throw, EK SBK and Lightning Legs, etc.
• Crouching Jab (2LP) startup increased from 2f to 3f.  She's one of the only characters in the game with a 2f normal, and she's short, and it's crouching which means it's usable as a crouch-tech.  Throws are still universal 2f punishes.  She does NOT need this.
• Tensei Ranka (SAIII) startup hitbox reaches down to the floor so it can't be crouched; changed to pull in and downward so all hits connect vs airborne opponents more often; advantage on knockdown increased enough to allow crossup attempts afterward; maximum of 2 stocks available; bar is a bit longer, the same length as Shippu.  Trying to make this super actually useful, let's make it her setup super.
• Middle hits of Houyoku-sen fixed to not un-combo occasionally vs crouching Makoto, etc.  Bugfix.
• Chun-Li now goes through the mandatory one-standing-frame after wakeup, like every other character.  Bugfix.
• Increase the height of her crouching head hurtbox (vulnerable box) by 2-3 pixels upward and 3-4 pixels backward in all applicable animations: crouching neutral, crouch-block, non-low-profile crouching attacks, etc.  Bugfix!  She's the shortest crouching character by quite a bit, and lots of things that should hit crouchers, like Remy's close Strong, Oro's standing Forward, or Dudley's EX Machine Gun Blow, miss on only Chun-Li.

Ken:

• Shippu Jinrai Kyaku (SAIII) now has a maximum of 2 stocks instead of 3; damage reduced by 15%.  Even if Shippu didn't do any damage it would still be the most useful super in the game because it converts any normal into a setup, and 15% puts it just below Spinning Beat.  It's only helped by worse guess-parries, too.
• Jab DP (623LP) damage reduced from 15 to 11.5.  He can still do it twice, and doing two is still more damage than doing a Strong DP (623MP) but is not twice as much.
• Grounded opponent knockback on 2nd hit of Target Combo Strong->Fierce decreased slightly, to help DPs miss less often afterward / in the corner.  Legitimate bugfix, because this sucks.
• Fix the crash when killing Makoto with a neutral throw.  Depending on which version of 3s we're starting with, this could still be present.  :^P

Yun:

• Genei Jin (SAIII) no longer grants all his normals increased priority.  Yes, Third Strike has actual priority, and yes, Genei Jin makes ALL of Yun's normals count as Super hits, which crush all normals and specials during trades.  You cannot out-poke him during it, and his Jab will beat all special moves and trade with supers.  Let's fix that!
• Genei-Jin bar length increased, now same length as Sourai Rengeki.  Duration of timer for the super is not changed.  Note that the damage scaling during Genei Jin juggles has not been changed.
• Sourai Rengeki (SAII) now a maximum of 2 stocks instead of 3.
• Upkicks (623K) hitbox adjusted to reach further downward, so it misses standing/crouching opponents less often.  Bugfix.

Makoto:

• Stun damage of Abare Tosanami (SAII) reduced by 50%.  The super itself doesn't do that much stun, it's the other moves that lead to 100%, but we'd like to affect her gameplay as little as possible otherwise, and this lets us not have to adjust the stun on Fukiage as much as we'd have to if we didn't mess with the stun on SAII.
• Stun damage of L/M/H Fukiage reduced from 29/31/31 to 27/28/31. Fixes 100% stun combo, along with above change.
• Tanden Renki (SAIII) can be manually deactivated early by inputting QCT+K (236K) while the super art is active.  The deactivation counts as a special move, and uses the same animation as her taunt after a Hayate, but it is cancellable at any time into attacks (not blocking or movement). This super increases her damage but prevents her from blocking while it is active.  By allowing her to deactivate it and return to normal, it's buffed quite a bit because she doesn't have to suffer through 3-4 knockdowns with guess-parries.  And being able to use the deactivation to cancel normals on hit/block would be interesting.
• Karakusa startup animation will no longer automatically throw-tech if Makoto is thrown out of it.  Bugfix, and even as a Makoto player I think this is dumb.  :^P
• Increase vacuum effect and hitstun time on the first hit of Seichusen Godanzuki (SAI), to help it fully connect from all distances or as a juggle.  Bugfix.
• Fix bug where EX Oroshi (214PP) will not knock down when it connects with an opponent's limb hurtbox, as opposed to a body hurtbox.  Bugfix.  It's cool but unpredictable, and she'd rather have the knockdown.
• Fix bug where one frame of Hayate's (236[P]) startup/hold animation has a get-thrown-box that is too small compared to its' pushbox, resulting in it not being throwable even by many super throws.  Bugfix, verified the bug by checking hitboxes.  Thongboy Bebop will thank me, we still remember that match.  :^)
• Remove invincibility on Makoto's recovery animation after a successful Karakusa (63214K); no change to invincible recovery animation on neutral throw (headbutt).  Not necessary on the Karakusa, but changing this on her neutral throw would possibly leave her at a disadvantage, so even though it's a bug it's sort of the only real solution.
• No change on EX Oroshi xx Abare Tosanami comboing on Hugo.  With the changes to her stun, this is more for style than anything now.

Dudley:

• Reduce stun damage on Rocket Uppercut (SAI).
• Increase stun damage on Rolling Thunder (SAII).  Try to differentiate them somewhat.
• Fix Rocket Uppercut's "character point" position to not knock opponent backwards as often in juggles.  Bugfix.
• Fix Corkscrew Blow to vacuum the opponent in on hit, so that it fully hits more often in juggle situations.  Bugfix.
• Fix Rolling Thunder (SAII) to turn around if the player makes him dash again but he goes underneath the opponent.  Bugfix.
• See if there is some way of making Cross Counter connect against invincible moves, rather than whiffing after taking the damage.  Bugfix.  If Valentine can do it, Dudley can do it.  (^.^)
• Dudley's pretty alright, actually.  (^.^)

Urien:

• Fix Tyrant Slaughter/Tyrant Punish (SAI) to fully connect for maximum damage vs all characters when crouching or in most juggle situations; increase damage by 25% to match Shin Shoryuken; limit to 1 stock instead of 2; increase bar length slightly.  Bugfixes, more in line with what the intent of the super seems to be - pure damage.  Still can be linked after lots of things on the ground.
• That's most of Urien...unblockables and charge partitioning are dealt with in System Mechanics, and vs-Alex juggles are dealt with under Alex's section.

Akuma:

• Stun bar increased to "regular" size instead of "short" size.  His health can be left as-is, but considering one stun is basically death with that amount of health, let's make that just a teensy bit more difficult to accomplish.
• Messatsu Gou Rasen (SAII) bar length is now shorter than SAI or SAIII.  Earlier access to Raging Demon/KKZ at the cost of having a terrible super otherwise.
• KKZ (hidden super) motion changed from D,D,D+PPP to D,D+PP; damage reduced from 107 to 95.  First hit is still unparryable, but for the only guaranteed reset in the game let's make it slightly less amazing.
• Towards+Strong is still invincible to throws.  This is useful, keep it!

Yang:

• Alter the trajectory of the divekick in Target Combo 3 (jump towards MK->DF+MK) so that it hits more often; alter the trajectory of bug Target Combo 3 (jump backward MK->DF+MK) so that it lands faster.  Bugfixes.
• Fix bug where close standing Forward (MK) will sometimes not launch the opponent.  Bugfix.
• Fix bug where Yun/Yang can end up behind Yang after being hit by Fierce Mantis Slashes (236HPx3) with a certain timing.  Bugfix, probably Yang's pushbox.
• Actually, Yang's pretty okay too.  (^.^)  I'm fine leaving Sei'ei Enbu with the shortest bar in the game, because it is not anywhere near as dominant as Genei Jin, and costs him the use of EX slashes.

Ryu:

• Decrease opponent knockback from F+Strong (6MP) on hit, to make links after it more reliable.  Bugfix.
• Increase forward movement on 2nd hit of Target Combo (far s.Fierce->s.RH), so that the s.RH will connect more reliably.  Bugfix.
• Increase hitstun on far standing Forward, standing Roundhouse, close Fierce, crouching Fierce, crouching Short, and crouching Forward so they are not negative on hit.  Bugfixes.
• Expand hitbox on LK Joudan Sokutou Geri (41236LK) downward so that it will not miss on some characters after close Fierce (HP) or crouching Fierce (2HP).  Bugfix, because it misses on about half the cast for no real reason.  The alternative is cr.Fierce forcing standing hitstun, but then he can always combo to Hurricane Kick so that might be too much of a buff.
• Lower opponent's knockup height from Jab and Strong DPs (623LP/MP), and reduce knockup height on the middle hits of Shinkuu Hadoken (SAI) so that all hits of the super will connect after a DP.  Bugfix.
• Ryu is strong.

Oro:

• Examine pushboxes on Jinchu Nobori ("chicken kick") to help the [s.Strong xx Chicken Kick]x2 combo work on every character.  Bugfix.
• Increase hitstop and allowed juggle time on Oniyama ([2]8P), to make super cancels out of it actually useful.  Bugfix-ish, gives him more reason to use the move.
• Add forward throw (Towards+LP+LK) that uses the animation from his back throw but mirrored to toss them forward; only tosses them about half as far as his back throw.  Oro currently has no way to throw without switching sides, which means he has to give up the corner at all times.
• Fix neutral throw so that it cannot be escaped before 3-4 hits, the same as all other mashable grabs.  Bugfix.
• Increase length of the Kishi Riki (SAI) bar to match Tengu Stone's bar; make Human Pillar Driver (63214P) still be a hit-grab during Kishin Riki, so that Oro can combo into it from things like s.Forward (s.MK); increase damage of the air regular Kishi Riki grab when combo'd into; allow Oro to deactivate the regular Kishi Riki by inputting QCT+P during the super, using a shortened version of the activation animation.  Kishin Riki is his least useful super.  Human Pillar Driver change is a bugfix - you can still special cancel into it during Kishin Riki, but since it becomes a regular throw it won't combo.

Elena:

• Allow her to chain crouching Short (2LK) into itself.  She has no confirmable lows, crouching Strong into super doesn't always combo, and she can't link supers off her command overheads like Dudley can, except in very special cases.  This gives her a confirmable low at least.
• Make startup frames of all versions of Mallet Smash unthrowable, like they look.  Bugfix/buff, Mallet Smash has 7f of throwable startup - she's even throwable during the frame where she has already left the floor!
• Allow cancels from the 2nd hit of standing Strong, not just the first hit.  Small buff.
• Fix Brave Dance so it juggles properly vs airborne opponents outside the corner.  Bugfix/buff.
• Speed up the cancel animation on Healing (SAIII), increase the rate of health recovery.  Attempt to make it useful.
• She dances okay!  Leaving her with 3 stocks for Spinning Beat (SAIII), also.

Ibuki:

• Health increased from 1035 to 1050, same as Twelve's health.  Buff.
• Yami Shigure (SAIII) now has 2 stocks instead of 1.  Buff.
• Allow Tsuiji Goe (623P, command jump) to be special- and super-cancelled much earlier in the animation, almost directly after takeoff; make Kunai cancelled from it face the correct direction if it hasn't passed over the opponent yet.  Buff and bugfix.
• Fix the unique-animation standing Fierce in her Target Combos (B+Strong->Fierce and Jab->Strong(1)->Fierce) to never knock down, instead of sometimes resetting and sometimes knocking down.  Bugfix: there are two simultaneous hitboxes and only one is marked as knockdown, so it depends on which one the game checks first.  After feedback from more than one Ibuki player, it seems "always reset" is preferable to "always knock down".
• Remove the ability to throw-tech her Personal Action (taunt), and allow Ibuki to parry or attack in the air once the opponent recovers.  Bugfix, and since it is currently VERY punishable on hit, might as well make it a semi-useful mixup option...

Necro:

• Change Slam Dance (SAII) startup from 0+2 to 2+0, so the total startup time is unchanged but it can't be jumped on reaction after the superflash.  It could use improvement.
• Fix pushbox on Electric Shock (623P), and add a slight vacuum effect to the middle hits of all versions so that all hits of it connect more reliably, since it is so unsafe.  Bugfix.
• Add EX Electric Shock, possibly allows juggles afterward, certainly safer on block than the Fierce version.  Buff, and strange that he hasn't got it to start with.
• There's not a lot else I can think of to buff for Necro that wouldn't immediately make him crazy good.  He has crouching Short xx Jab Tornado Hook to be safe on block and hitconfirm into super, and giving him a cancellable crouching Forward would be insane.

Alex:

• Change Hyper Bomb (SAI) startup from 0+1 to 1+0, so the total startup time is unchanged but it can't be jumped on reaction after the superflash.  Make it slightly more useful.  POSSIBLY reduce the damage a tiny bit unless it is the Backdrop Bomb (back-turned version) to compensate.
• Increase forward movement on Boomerang Raid's middle hits, and increase the range on the final grab, to prevent the grab from whiffing after the rest of the super has connected at medium range.  Bugfix.
• Make all versions of Air Knee Smash not air-parryable; EX version is still ground parryable.  Bugfix. The L/M/H versions can't even hit grounded characters so they are supposed to be antiairs, but being parryable makes them all horrible.  Shootdown Backbreaker is not air-parryable, and this gives Alex standing Strong xx Air Knee Smash vs air parry-happy players.
• Increase the cancel window for his Target Combo (cr.Short->cr.Fwd) to be longer than 1f, so that it can be done as easily as any other Target Combo in the game.  Bugfix.
• Allow juggles after Flash Chops that connect vs airborne opponents.  Bugfix, and situational anyway.
• Allow crouching Strong (2MP) to be special- and super-cancelled on hit/block/parry.  Buff, he sorely needs this.
• Allow crouching Forward (2MK) to be super-cancelled on hit/block/parry, including when used as part of his Target Combo.  This and the cr.Strong change will make him miles better.
• Fix Air Stampede ("stomp", [2]8K) not knocking down if it hits a limb-hurtbox rather than a body hurtbox.  Bugfix.
• Fix the position of the anchor point and pushbox for his air knockdown animation to allow juggles to work properly on him.  Bugfix and stealth nerf, he's pretty much the only character with this much of a problem and it gets him out of a lot of things for free.  Elena has a weird offset but it's just visual for her, the juggles still work.
• Fix position of hitboxes on j.D+Fierce (j.2HP) dive, to place them on his arms instead of his chest.  Bugfix.

Hugo:

• Allow Monster Lariat (236+K) to be super-cancelled on hit, and allow supers to juggle after it.  Megaton Press is his least-used super, this would provide a reason to pick it by giving you crouching Short xx Monster Lariat xx Megaton, whereas Hammer Mountain Frenzy would not fully connect.
• Decrease startup of EX Giant Palm Bomber (63214PP) from 22f to 17f, the same as the Jab version. Give him ANY reason to use it!  :^P
• Increase hitstun of crouching .Jab (2LP) and crouching Short (2LK) by 1-2f, to allow combos to EX Monster Lariat from farther away.  It's pretty much his only confirm option, but is randomly blockable depending on distance.
• Add EX Shootdown Backbreaker, which allows juggles afterwards like his 2i version; distance can be controlled with LK+MK / MK+HK / LK+HK. Improvement, his other EXs are pretty situational.
• Reduce startup of L/M/H Meat Squasher (360K) from 21/31/44 to 18/24/30; reduce recovery on whiff from 30/33/36 to 26/29/32.  It may still not be useful, but at least it'll be less "never-ever-ever use it".
• Fix the wrongly-offset hitboxes on frame 1 of his landing-from-air-hitstun.  Bugfix.

Q:

• Allow crouching Jab, standing Short, and crouching Short to be special- and super-cancelled on hit/block/parry.
• Allow crouching Forward to be super-cancelled on hit/block/parry.  These sound like a lot, but Ken (and now Elena) have way more options.  Q could use at least this.
• Allow all overhead/low rushpunches ([4]6P/K/[P]) to be super-cancelled on hit/block/parry.  Make the riskier versions at least AS useful as the safe version.
• Decrease the startup of far standing Jab from 6f to 4f.  It's not a super amazing move and this will help some of his problem matchups, like Akuma, quite a bit.
• Extend the cancel window on B+RH (4HK) past the first active frame, so it can be cancelled from further away.  Bugfix.
• Increase hitstun on crouching Short, crouching Forward, and standing Roundhouse so they are not negative on hit.  Bugfix.  Standing Roundhouse is -10 on hit, for goodness' sake.
• Change opponent's movement when juggled with the middle hits of all High Speed Barrage ("slaps") versions, so that all of the hits will connect from more ranges and at more heights.  Bugfix.
• Extend hitbox of first hit of EX High Speed Barrage downward so that it more consistently connects against crouching characters.
• Add EX (PP) version of Total Destruction (SAIII) which immediately does the grab part upon activation, as with Oro's Kishi Riki.  Let's imagine we want this super to be useful.
• Do not allow the punch version of Total Destruction to trade hits.  Bugfix, which occasionally causes Q to die.
• Allow Q to deactivate Total Destruction by entering QCT+P while the super is active.  It might not be used, but most other timer-based things got it.
• Decrease health bonus for having 1-3 Personal Actions (taunts) from 1200 health base/1400/1705/2050 to 1200 health base/1400/1600/1800.  To compensate for him being a decent character, need to slightly reduce his 200% health bonus for 3 taunts.

Remy:

• Stun bar increased to "regular" size instead of "short" size.  I assume this was because he's supposed to be a zoner, but there's no reason for him to be a higher-risk character this way with how bad zoning ended up being in 3s.
• Increase damage of crouching Strong by 6pt to almost match Ryu's.  It seriously does the wrong amount of damage.
• Fix the earlier hitboxes on close Fierce to knock down vs airborne opponents like the later hitboxes do, rather than have them land standing; allow juggles afterward.  Bugfix, give him a consistent ability to use this move as antiair.
• Increase hitstun of far Forward, far Roundhouse, crouching Forward, and Towards+Forward (6MK) so that they are not negative on hit.  Being punishable by Houyoku-sen after hitting Chun-Li with all these moves is seriously wrong.
• Decrease grounded opponent knockback on standing Forward (MK), enlarge hitboxes on 2nd hit of Target Combo (standing Forward->RH) so that it connects on everyone standing and most people crouching.  Bugfix, it completely whiffs against Yun/Yang/etc at point blank when standing...how useless...
• Allow chaining from crouching Jab->crouching Short and crouching Short->crouching Jab.  Give him some kind of low confirm, since he has to be charging already in order to use it.
• Decrease total length of Personal Action (taunt) from 131f to ~80f.  Still situational, but no longer entirely impractical.  Makoto's is 83f or so.
• Increase meter gain from all Light of Virtues on startup/hit/block from 0/1/1 to 1/3/2.  Give his projectile meter for executing it, and more meter when it connects, to help his zoning be actually useful.
• Allow all strengths of Rising Rage Flash to be super-cancelled on hit/block/parry; allow juggles after all versions of Rising Rage Flash.  Make the risky reversal more useful, allow juggles in situations where it hits vs high airborne opponents.
• Increase hit advantage of Short/Forward Cold Blue Kicks (63214K) so they are not negative on hit from up close; make Forward version +2 so that supers can be linked off it at point-blank.  Bugfix, and buffs.
• Remove superflash on activation of Blue Nocturne (SAIII) pose, only show the superflash after it successfully counters something; still always spends the meter but not on activation, only on successful counter/recovery from pose/being thrown; increase bar length by a bit; make it properly juggle/knock down vs air.  Bugfixes, let's make it a real freakin' counter super.

Twel(e)ve:

• Health increased from 1050 to 1120, the same as Sean/Remy/Necro/etc.
• Increase hitstun on standing Strong, far Strong, standing Fierce, crouching Fierce, standing Short, standing Forward, standing Roundhouse, crouching Forward, and Back+Forward (4MK) so they are not negative on hit.  Really now...
• Make crouching Strong and standing Forward only parryable high, not both ways; make crouching Fierce and Back+Forward (4MK) only parryable low, not both ways.  Bugfixes/buffs, depending on how you look at the moves.
• Activate the earlier hitboxes in Back+Forward (4MK) that exist but cannot connect.  Bugfix.  The hit spark is positioned as if the earlier low hitboxes are supposed to connect, but they can't for some reason.
• Allow far Strong, standing Strong, and crouching Strong to be special- and super-cancelled on hit/block/parry.
• Allow crouching Strong to be superjump-cancelled on hit/block, like standing Forward, so that he has more options into X.F.L.A.T.
• Allow crouching Forward to be super-cancelled on hit/block/parry.  Why is he SO limited?!
• Increase hit and block advantage of Jab A.X.E. (214LP) so that it is at most -1 or -2 on block.  He has nothing even close to safe...
• Allow all air normals to be special-cancelled on hit/block into A.X.E. (j.214P) or D.R.A. (j.214K) and super-cancelled into X.F.L.A.T (SAII).  Air mobility is his "thing", why not let it go a bit further...
• Change opponent trajectory when juggled with X.N.D.L. to drag them down so that more hits of it will make contact if they are hit higher up.  Bugfix.
• Remove low-damage air-to-air version of X.F.L.A.T., have it always do full damage even vs air; increase number of stocks to 2.  Justifiable buff, the air-to-air version is terrible.
• During X.C.O.P.Y., allow Twelve to do EX moves, and maybe even the opponent's chosen super, by spending chunks of the remaining timer; reduce X.C.O.P.Y. startup from 12f to 1f so that comboing into and out of it is easier; when hit during X.C.O.P.Y.'s recovery, instead of taking increased damage, Twelve now takes 66% damage.

Sean:

• Increase hitstun of close and far Fierce, crouching Fierce, standing Forward, far Roundhouse, crouching Forward, and Towards+Fierce (6HP) to not be negative on hit.  Bugfixes.
• Allow Sean Roll (214P) to be super-cancelled during the middle.  Pretty useless move right now.
• Decrease the startup of L/M/H Ryuubi Kyaku (236K) from all being 25f to 17/19/21f; make Roundhouse version knock down.  Currently they all have the same startup, which means parrying them is no different, and they basically all have the same use.
• Increase hit advantage of L/M versions of Ryuubi Kyaku (236K), to allow links to supers after hitting. Currently they are all negative on hit.
• Decrease the startup of all Tackles so that cr.Fwd xx Jab Tackle combos, standing/crouching Fierce xx Strong Tackle combos, and Fierce Tackle is 1f away from comboing in that situation.
• Allow Fierce Tackle to be faked/cancelled by tapping K during startup.
• Make Fierce and EX Tackles un-ground-parryable.  
• Change EX Tackle (236PP~P) so that the hitbox is active from 8f-end and it will automatically grab whenever it reaches the opponent; allow EX Tackle to be super-cancelled on the last hit.  Tackle is also pretty crap, it's very unique so how about we make it a move he wants to choose, instead.
• Reduce startup of L/M/H/EX Dragon Smash (623P) from 5/5/9/8f to 3/4/5/3f.  Somewhere between Ken and Ryu.
• Fix Hyper Tornado (SAIII) so that it juggles properly vs airborne opponents.  If Goodnight Sugah in MvC2 can do it, surely Hyper Tornado can.
• Decrease recovery on Hadou Burst from 61f to 51f.  Still unsafe, but a bit more setup time on hit.
• I would have suggested replacing his Fierce/EX DP animation with the extra-hit dunk he had in Second Impact, but I don't know how possible that is to actually do.

Additional Bugfixes:

Make All Successful Throws Invincible for the Entire Animation - It can cause bad situations or bugs when characters are hit out of a successful throw animation, like the Remy/Urien glitch or the Q throw bug.  It's also good game design.

Fix Bug Where Characters Are Allowed To Move During The Opponent's Superflash - A rare bug that occurs if you interact with a projectile on the same frame your opponent's superflash starts. I've seen it happen in real matches, so it deserves to be fixed.

Allow Universal Overheads (MP+MK) and Personal Actions (HP+HK) to be Done While Holding Away or Towards  - Bugfix, it only works for throws. There's really no reason for this not to be possible, and it might open up some new kara-overhead options like Ryu Towards+Fierce.

Fix Bug Where Some Characters Can Attack Immediately After Teching Air Throws - Makoto, etc.  Self-explanatory.

Fix Rare Move Interaction Bugs - X.F.L.A.T. vs EX Yagyou Dama / Aegis Reflector / Tengu Stone, Critical Combo Attack / Deadly Double Combination vs Magnetic Storm, etc.  Fix soft-lock conditions or other serious problems.  Not fixing being able to OTG Dudley or Hugo with certain supers after being thrown, as all of those are rollable.

Characters Passing Through Each Other - NOT FIXABLE - Interactions such as Makoto's EX Hayate vs Chun Li's dash, or Chun Li's dash vs Yun's dash / lunge punch...are unfortunately not able to be fixed without a major rewrite of the collision system to make it "continuous collision".  As this would change the game significantly, I would rather leave them as they are.  At least it's very limited circumstances...

Move Motions - If I had my way, all special moves that are half-circle motions (41236 or 63214) would be replaced with quarter-circle motions, either on the same button if there is no overlapping special move or on another button if there is an overlapping special move.  Akuma's red fireball might stay a half-circle, but that's all.  There's no reason Karakusa/Machine Gun Blow/Ducking/Cross Counter/Capture&Deadly Blow/etc should require half-circle motions when there is no corresponding quarter-circle motion to distinguish them from.  Inputting a half-circle would still work, since it contains the quarter-circle.

--

This was pretty in-depth, but I take this kind of stuff in game design seriously.  Even if there is no chance in hell of ever actually making this, I treated it as if I were.

Special thanks to Alex Sanchez for proofreading.

Follow your dreams, but don't ignore reality.

A few days ago our sink overflowed, and I couldn't fix it*.  When the plumber came, we ended up talking and he told me about his teenage son, who wants to be a pro gamer.  That's awesome, and I applaud the dedication and drive!  But then he told me that, as a result, his son was considering not attending college to focus on his gaming career.

This post is for his son, or anyone considering making a similar decision.

Having a dream is wonderful thing!  Work tirelessly, overcome obstacles, and if you achieve it you will feel more fulfilled than I can describe in words.  I know, because my parents encouraged me to chase my dreams - and I caught a few.  You may reach your goal and never look back, but life is an unpredictable thing, and it is unwise to forget that.

When deciding whether to bring an umbrella, a coat, or any other preparation for adverse conditions, my grandma always said, "It is better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."  The same applies to (for lack of a better phrase) "marketable life skills" such as a college education.

An eSports career starts young and ends young.  What will you do after it ends?  Comparing eSports to Olympic athletes, the majority of pro gamers are like gymnasts or figure skaters, who train from a young age and whose relevant competition years end well before they are 35.  Reflexes wane, and there is only so much one can age before experience will no longer compensate for the loss of ability.  Afterward, there may be the possibility of coaching or other jobs associated with the sport, but there are only so many coaches, and not everyone likes those jobs.  I have seen pro gamers with no other life experience go on to take regular minimum-wage service jobs, and that sucks.  Consider, instead, athletes like bobsledders or ski jumpers, many of whom have lives and careers outside of their sport.  They train regularly, and may even win Olympic gold, but during the off-season they are teachers, lawyers, etc.  When they get older they have the ability to survive without depending on the sport.

Attending college is a preparation for adulthood.  Being accepted into college is a privilege that not everyone has, and not everyone who enrolls will graduate.  It takes work.  The reason many jobs require a college degree, and don't necessarily care which subject you earned it in, is that having a college degree proves you can stick to something, through difficulties and setbacks, for multiple years until you accomplish your goal.  You can still compete in games while attending college, and at the end of those years you will have skills to fall back on, in addition to your gaming career.

SonicFox, a close friend of mine and one of the world's best Mortal Kombat X players, won over $100,000 by playing games this year.  He won the ESL online MKX tournament, and won MKX at Evolution, the world's largest fighting game tournament.  He is also taking multiple AP classes in high school, and applying to several colleges with his top choice already picked out.  He knows that his gaming career won't last forever, and he also knows what he wants to do after it's over.

If you are able to go to college, GO TO COLLEGE.  Your dreams will come with you.

--

* If you don't know the basics of unclogging a sink, fixing a toilet, or changing a tire, I say go learn.  All of them are useful skills that will save you and your loved ones multiple expenses throughout your life.  But when you can't do it yourself, call a professional!  Don't try something you're not sure about.

Lab Zero Stick Driver Input Lag Test, Part 2: PS3 vs PS4!

This time I did a much better test:  the first frame of Parasoul's s.LP, which is a large difference from her idle stance immediately, and is not affected by frameskip.

It's on my same laggy television, so again, the important part is the difference between the scores, not the scores themselves.

All tests performed at 720p on Class Notes, with the reported time being the difference between the first frame my finger touches the button in any way, to the first frame anything onscreen changes with Parasoul.

Remember! The results are in 120FPS frames, so 2 captured frames = 1 fighting game "frame".

---------------------------------------------------------

Lag Test 2, Parasoul s.LP 1st Frame

---------------------------------------------------------

PS3, TE:
button + 15
button + 13
button + 13
button + 14
button + 15
button + 15
button + 14
button + 15
Average: 14.25  (7.125 frames in fighting game terms)

PS3, DS3:

button + 13
button + 13
button + 12
button + 13
button + 13
button + 11   <- outlier, the reason the average is lower than the DS4
button + 13
button + 14
Average: 12.75  (6.375 frames in fighting game terms)

PS4, TE:

button + 15
button + 14
button + 14
button + 13
button + 13
button + 15
button + 15
button + 15
Average: 14.25 (!)  (7.125 frames in fighting game terms, same as PS3)

PS4, DS4:

button + 13
button + 14
button + 13
button + 13
button + 12
button + 14
button + 13
button + 13
Average: 13.125  (6.5625 frames in fighting game terms)

---------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion:
---------------------------------------------------------

On both platforms the TE is 1f slower than either the DS3 or DS4, and because that is native input on the PS3 that implies the TE itself is slower.  This is consistent with other results.  

But there is no input lag difference between PS3 and PS4 Skullgirls, or between the Lab Zero stick driver and a native controller.

Yay? Yay!

---------------------------------------------------------

Want To Check My Work?

---------------------------------------------------------

Here are the videos!

Lab Zero PS3->PS4 Stick Driver Lag Test

I did a more comprehensive test, check it out here:

http://mikezsez.blogspot.com/2015/06/lab-zero-stick-driver-input-lag-test.html

I just did input lag tests in the PS4 development version of Skullgirls with my 120fps camera, because I'm home sick today and what else do you do when you're sick, right? :^)

-----------------
Button press to horn appearance for Big Band s.LP.

-----------------

Performed on a laggy television, but the same laggy television was used for both tests. The tests were recorded during the same round, heh.

Recorded at 120FPS, meaning 2 captured frames is 1/60th of a second, or "1 frame" in fighting game terms.

What matters is the difference in timing, not the timing itself.

-----------------
Mumbo Jumbo

-----------------

The game has frameskip, it skips every 7th frame, which is why the timings can vary by up to 2 captured frames (1/60th sec) - occasionally one game frame will not be displayed, visually shortening the move's startup by 1/60th of a second.

The horn doesn't appear on the first frame of his s.LP, it's just the most noticeable change so I used that as the benchmark, which is why frameskip even matters.

-----------------
Raw data at 120fps

-----------------

DualShock 4:

button press + 14f
button press + 15f
button press + 14f
button press + 15f
button press + 16f

PS3 MadCatz TE (Round 1) using the Lab Zero stick driver:

button press + 16f
button press + 18f
button press + 15f
button press + 16f
button press + 15f

-----------------
Conclusion

-----------------

TE is 1 to 2 captured frames slower, which in fighting game terms is "1 frame" slower.
Not bad, but not perfect. Right?

BUT!
Check out this page: http://www.teyah.net/sticklag/results.html

(Thanks Teyah!)

According to that, the TE itself is around 1 frame slower than the DualShock 4. Possibly more, since the DS4 in this case is interacting with a PS4 instead of a PS3, which improves the response time*, whereas the TE doesn't get any kind of hardware boost.

Meaning the Lab Zero stick driver likely introduces no lag, and at worst introduces 1 frame.
Tada!

* According to Teyah's page, the DS4 is ~9ms faster on PS4 compared to PS3.

On "Burying the Lead"

This is a post about the currently active crowdfunding project Yooka Laylee by Playtonic Games.  They asked for £175,000 (about $266,000) to make their game, and have gotten many times that.  Congratulations to them!

I'm writing this because I have seen several comments along the lines of "Thanks, Playtonic, for not being one of those game Kickstarters that artificially inflates the budget to make tons of extra cash!!!"  As one of those game projects with a large goal and a well-defined, pretty much entirely accurate public budget, I would like to point something out...

This is from the FAQ way at the bottom of the Yooka Laylee page, in a question that is initially collapsed, which you must click on to read the answer (you can't see it by just scrolling):

"Isn’t £175k a little cheap for the game you’re promising?"

"Indeed it is, but that figure alone doesn’t give you the whole picture. We’ve already put a plan in place using personal finances to get the game done no matter what happens, however this extra money can be used by us to hire a few more talented people, get the game done sooner and allow us to commit to more features and platforms too."

(emphasis mine)

In other words, they already have enough money to make the game, and are simply asking for extra money with the Kickstarter.

Now, I have no problem with this, in principle.  What I certainly DO have a problem with is that they don't mention this up front anywhere - not in their video or anywhere else that's easily accessible on the campaign page.  They stuffed it as far into the fine print as they could without leaving it out entirely.  There is a bit in the video that obliquely alludes to the issue if you already know about it, but if you don't know about it those sentences just sound like they're talking about how nice it is that crowdfunding can raise more than the initial goal amount.

The fact that this information is not easily obtained means the casual, excited backer who eagerly reads all the information about the characters/the world/the "gibberish" audio/etc, ends up wrongly thinking that £175,000 is enough to make a game of that scope and quality.  Heck, even the news sites I've seen cover the project don't mention it!  This just further sets back the cause of game crowdfunding projects with realistic, honest budgets, which already had enough of a problem convincing people that those budgets were worthwhile.

Compile-time sizeof() in C++

Runtime sizeof() is nice for lots of reasons, but often when optimizing you don't want to build and run your entire program just to find out whether a potential optimization reduced the size of a class or struct.  This is a great trick someone taught me forever ago.  I've used it a ton to help with cross-platform optimizations in Skullgirls.

// compile-time sizeof()! Aww yeah.
template<int s> struct Wow { int x; };
Wow<sizeof(MyClass)> unused = 5;

and when you compile the file you get an error like

1>.\file.cpp(32) : error C2440: 'initializing' : cannot convert from 'int' to 'Wow<s>'

1>        with

1>        [

1>            s=1044

1>        ]

1>        No constructor could take the source type, or constructor overload resolution was ambiguous

and there's the size of your class!

That One Bit of Graphics Programming Advice You Can Never Find When You Need It

Exactly reading texel (X,Y) from an texure that's W by H texels, in an interpolated sampler without clamping:

Accessing that spot in an array would be 0 to (W-1) horizontally and 0 to (H-1) vertically.
In texels, the coordinate of the center of the first texel on a row would not be 0, it would be 0.5.  And the coordinate of the last texel on that row would not be W-1, it would be (W-1)-0.5.
In that case, you have a range of W-2, startng from 0.5 and ending at W-1.5.  The same goes for H, a range of H-2 starting from 0.5 and ending at H-1.5.
To turn that into normalized (0 to 1) UV coordinates, divide by W-1 and H-1.

So in UV terms, that is:
U = (0.5 + X*(W-2)) / (W-1)
V = (0.5 + Y*(H-2)) / (H-1)

Example:
If the image is 256x512, then the texel addresses if it were an array would be 0-255 and 0-511, so
U = ((0.5 + X*254) / 255
V = ((0.5 + Y*510) / 511

And now I can look this up when I forget it.

Why I'm Not Playing GGXrd

As a Guilty Gear player since the very beginning I am still playing GGAC+R, and will continue to do so.  Since I got tired of enumerating why, here's this post.

---

Let me start by saying, as I always do:  Play what you enjoy.  If you like a game then great!  More people playing fighting games is always good.  
I won't ever tell you not to play something you like, nor judge you as a person because you like something I don't or dislike something I enjoy.  As should we all.

---

I often mention Guilty Gear as the series that in my opinion has the best purposefully-designed game systems of any fighting game.  The choices made and the interplay of the various mechanics was excellently thought out with each iteration, with some very minor exceptions.  To me this is no longer true in Xrd.  It seems like they took the SF4 "let's make things easier for newbies" idea and applied it to the wrong parts of the game, leaving needlessly difficult bits still difficult and removing the core appeal of Guilty Gear for experts by altering other parts and not fixing what was legitimately broken.

"A good game is good no matter how old, and a bad game is bad no matter how new."
(I've seen this attributed to Seth Killian, if it was not his then it should have been.)
I firmly believe this, and I am not a player who will abandon something I see as excellent in favor of something shiny just because it's shiny.  Part of my enjoyment comes from playing something I feel is well made and either accidentally or purposefully well-designed - a game that makes me blame myself for losses rather than blame the game.

I do not fault Xrd for having a smaller roster.  It takes time to make characters, so that is completely understandable.

Things Xrd Got Right

Let's start with the positives!

• 3D art that is as close to 2D as we've ever seen.  The game is beautiful, you can't deny it.  They even do the thing I tried to convince some other games to do where you render each character as if they were a separate flat sprite so there isn't inter-character clipping.  It certainly took a lot of work/money/time, but it really is the gold standard for 3D emulation of 2D right now.
• Using their old gameplay engine instead of writing a new one.  From what I've read, Arc System Works ported the old Guilty Gear core engine to Unreal, which is why Xrd retains the general "game feel" of Guilty Gear.  A lot of the things the gameplay still does right are a result of this choice, and it was completely the correct thing to do rather than writing a new engine and attempting to recreate how the old one worked.  Many developers making sequels choose to do the latter, usually with unsatisfactory results.
• Tap-to-Set Button Config, and Button Config on Character Select.  THANK GOODNESS!  I mean, Guilty Gear always had tap-to-set button config but lots of other games don't.  It serves the dual purpose of speeding up setup and eliminating the need for button checks.  Xrd even allows you to unmap things by pressing Right, so pretty much the only thing it's missing is auto-advance to the next line after you press a button.
• Changing stagger mash to buttons instead of the joystick.  It's easier for pad players to mash this way, since there were cases where that was a significant detriment to playing on pad in older Guilty Gears, as well as buttons being less annoying to mash.
• Removing FRCs as they were.  What?!  Well...yeah.  I never really liked the extra execution barrier put in place by FRCs, so I am glad that part is gone.  Players will always find difficult tactics and combos, so developers requiring that level of precision execution just to play a character at a basic level is completely unnecessary.  Fun combos aside, I almost gave up when Potemkin Buster was given an FRC in Accent Core out of sheer annoyance.  So yep, I'm glad they're gone.  However, there are ways to preserve what FRCs did for gameplay without imposing as harsh an execution barrier, such as allowing the player to hold the move's button/two buttons/Dust/whatever to get an automatic FRC on the first possible frame of the FRC window, without introducing a new detrimental system mechanic instead.

Things Xrd Got Wrong

Sometimes trying to go back to basics is not the best idea.  Many fixes and improvements have been added to Guilty Gear since the first few games, and throwing those out feels bad to me. CONTROVERSIAL STUFF GO.

• YRCs and built-in option selects.  The main difference between YRCs and FRCs is that you can only YRC if the opponent is not in hitstun/blockstun, whereas with an FRC you would cancel to neutral as long as you hit the buttons.  This property of YRCs allows many built-in option selects that I find hugely distasteful.  These OS's remove a lot of the thoughtful metagame that Guilty Gear had, which was one of the primary things I LOVED about Guilty Gear.  If you backdashed and baited someone's slow attack or throw attempt on wakeup you got a punish or at least could press your advantage.  Now, they YRC and are safe.  You can input a YRC after any superflash in case the opponent bursts, with the super connecting as usual if they didn't.  You can bait a burst with EVERY SINGLE HIT of a combo if you have between 25% and 50% tension by performing each hit with a YRC input.  You can go for a command throw, YRC on the first active frame if it doesn't grab, then airthrow/hit the opponent for dodging your command throw.  In my best old man voice, "This stuff should not be in Guilty Gear, or any other game."  As I mentioned above, it is possible to replace FRCs with a non-timing-intensive alternative that doesn't add this OS junk.  OSs are not not reads, they are training mode practice, and in my opinion they do not enrich the gaming experience at all.
• Not making motions easier everywhere.  I-No's Chemical Love was changed from 632146+button (HCB,F+button) to just 214+button (QCB+button).  This is EXCELLENT, it's a great thing to make motions easier for new players!  But why was this approach only taken with Chemical Love?  Why not Undertow, or Zansei Rouga, or Sickle Storm, or Tyrant Rave, or Dark Angel, or Potemkin Buster, or even I-No's other moves like Stroke the Big Tree, Longing Desperation or Ultimate Fortissimo?  Why are lots of moves still half-circles when there is no overlapping quarter-circle motion?  Why are there still overlapping motions on the same button, like Potemkin Buster and Megafist?  Why does Ramlethal have a just-frame special move?  Why not ACTUALLY make the game easier for new people to pick up and play and not screw up basic moves?
• Removing negative-edge.  Negative edge is the ability to perform special moves or supers by releasing buttons.  It has a variety of uses, but the most common one is making sloppy motions with early button presses still give you a special move, for example 2,3+P,6+release P still gives you a Gunflame.  This greatly helps new players - and even some old players!  It also has multiple other uses for advanced players, but the main thing is in making sloppy motions work.  Multiple people have mentioned to me that they have to do motions slower in Xrd to get special moves, and I think the lack of Negative Edge plays a large part in this because they were probably pressing the button early, which would still work in other games.  In game geared toward making things easy, there's zero reason to remove negative edge.
• Leaving Jump Install as a difficult thing.  This is part of "making the wrong things easy but keeping hard things hard."  Jump Install (JI) was originally a bug in old Guilty Gear games and was kept as a feature.  It is performed by hitting with a jump-cancellable attack, then pressing Up, then chaining out of the attack to another attack before you jump, then later on in your combo becoming airborne.  This leaves you with your doublejump/airdash even if you leave the ground in a way that would normally remove those, for example by superjumping.  It's difficult to get the hang of without lots of practice, and Arc even added "auto Jump Install" to later Guilty Gears where only some moves would automatically leave you with your extra air options even if you didn't do a JI before using the move.  Pros, of course, will practice until they can JI whenever they want to.  So why require the Up input anymore?  The point of JI is you don't get your extra air options if you just superjump by itself, only if you JI, but you can JI off any jump-cancelleable move you can chain from.  If Arc wanted to keep everything exactly the same but make this arcane feature more accessible to new players, just make Jump Install happen any time you chain through a jump-cancellable move.  Don't keep the extra unnecessary execution requirement.
• Not removing high-low unblockables (and other types of unblockables).  Practical unblockables are bad design, period.  High/low unblockables are easy to detect in the game engine, and extremely easy to prevent if desired.  I did it myself, so I know this.  Useful unblockables break gameplay in a variety of ways, and are almost never fun to play against / be hit by.  Cue the defenders!  Let's address some common arguments in favor of unblockables:
  "It's just like a combo!" - No, not even close, because damage scaling/hitstun scaling/gravity/dizzy scaling are all reset.  This is the major bonus of doing an unblockable - you get full damage from the next combo and don't have to adjust it, ever.  As seen in previous Guilty Gears and in Xrd this can lead to either loops of unblockables or a dizzy/death.  Heck, if doing an unblockable kept the previous combo's scaling values, or even started you at 50%, I don't think I'd have nearly as much of a problem with them...but I suspect that they would be nowhere near as useful, either.
  "Eddie/Zato is built around unblockable setups!" - No, he has plenty of other useful gameplay tools.  Landing multiple separate combos as the payoff for hitting you once is not a necessary part of his character design.  It's a part of him being S+ tier, but an S+ tier character is not generally a design goal when attempting to create a balanced game.
  "Elphelt is built around them!" - Again, no.  Without them she'd be a worse character, sure, but that doesn't mean she was built around them, it just means her other strengths are not being explored as much because she has unblockable setups.
  "They aren't even all that common!" - Whether or not this is true is irrelevant.  They exist and are the most useful option when the opportunity arises.  Removing them also removes the possibility of them ever happening.
• Removing throw techs.  Throws in Guilty Gear are incredibly good.  I'm fine with that.  The throw tech window in GGAC+R was about 2 frames, too difficult to do on reaction.  I'm fine with that too, because having techs actually handled the case where both characters input a throw on the same frame by returning them to neutral.  Now, you both get 6H/4H or your option-selected other normal, so one character will win and one will lose, which does not accurately reflect the fact that both players went for a throw and both were able to throw.
• Input-lag-based netplay instead of rollback-based.  Discussing the difference is outside the scope of this post, but the short version is:  if you prefer smooth visuals, rollback-based netplay can be configured by the player to be the SAME as input-lag-based netplay, but if you prefer more responsive controls under laggy conditions then rollback-based netplay can ALSO do that whereas input-lag-based netplay CANNOT.  Input-lag-based netplay is significantly easier to implement for developers, and under good network conditions (i.e. in Japan) it works okay enough.  Elsewhere, that is not the case!  Fighting games have reached the point where input-lag-based netplay simply should not be accepted by players, in the same way that not having hotkeys in MMOs would be unacceptable now.  It is a lazy choice, pure and simple, and it provides a much worse online experience.
• Hell Fire.  Guilty Gear did not need this type of comeback mechanic.  'nuff said.  And I have a suspicion that the much more pronounced guts/lifebar scaling in Xrd is to ensure players spend more time in Hell Fire because they have more life while in it than visually indicated.
• Danger Time.  I wasn't even going to mention Danger Time, because it is so obviously flawed that not even staunch Guilty Gear fans can defend it, so it bothers me comparatively little versus things like YRC OSs.  This is just here for completeness.

And then there are things besides gameplay mechanics...

• Removing options from characters as part of "back to the roots".  There are lots of people who would argue that GGAC/AC+R added too much "stuff" to the characters.  I might concede that point because there are a lot of moves you never see in high-level play, but at the same time having Force Breaks and other moves covered options for characters and made them more fun.  Playing Slayer without Big Bang Upper just feels ... flat.  Playing Potemkin without air Buster or Judge Gauntlet feels off, and playing Potemkin without 2S pulling in feels awful.  Ky's lightning was cool!  New Grand Viper was fun, Sidewinder was awesome!  Etc.  It kinda feels like playing World Warrior after playing ST for six years.  Except ST still exists, so why would I switch?
• Reloading the entire match when you choose "Retry".  This is a pet peeve because Guilty Gear invented "Shortcut" mode, which was bare-bones text menus with no loading time, and also invented Retry, all in the spirit of getting you back in the FIGHT faster!  And now, Retry takes 30 seconds of covered up loading (and exposed loading!) to start the next fight.  Ugh.
• Unskippable cinematic supers.  Another pet peeve of mine, ten seconds of Heavenly Potemkin Buster is no longer amusing after the fourth time.  Let me press Taunt to skip cinematics, at least, if not giving me a non-cinematic version of the move.
• Balance.  While GGAC+R might be considered a very small step backward in balance from GGAC, Xrd is a giant step backward.  We have come a long way from #Reload in terms of balance and character utility, and Xrd undoes a lot of that.  I do not want to play another Guilty Gear where Eddie is completely ridiculous and Millia is close, when I can choose to play a game where more characters can compete at more skill levels.
• No fighting in story mode, not even by choice.  This really bothers me.  It's a fighting game, I want to fight!  Sure, P4A let you choose auto-battle, but you could fight if you wanted to.  Not even being given the choice is, well, boring.  And yes there is Arcade Mode, but it seems like a really strange choice for Story Mode considering there ARE places for fights, just not ones I can win or lose myself.

tl;dr

A game with generally better design choices exists, and the easier parts of Xrd aren't really the things it was important to make easier for new players, so why switch?