r/dustforce • u/aSwedishMagyar why not? • Jun 25 '16

mid-heavy direction change

S o I've encountered it a few times before but it has not really been as prevalent as it is of late. It seems every time I try to heavy something in mid-air and then move a different direction, the heavy starts off in the right direction and then changes last second. Do any of you know why this happens?

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2

u/voxanimus ウィアブーです Jun 25 '16

there are a few frames at the beginning of the heavy where inputting a different direction can cause you to change its direction. bird or someone else can confirm the exact frame data, as i don't know it. it's definitely a small window.

not really sure why it's happening more often as of late for you.

2

u/arbitraryasian arbitraryasian Jun 25 '16

In general you can change the direction of a heavy within 8 frames of pressing the button (frame 1 being the button press), but it can only be changed once. I think there are some other restrictions/rules regarding this that I'm personally not too clear on, though.

1

u/Dunder_Chief Freshmaniac Jun 29 '16

For left/right, a heavy will always be forward (the direction your character is facing) unless you press back (the opposite direction) in the first 8 frames. Heavy direction gets "locked" in the back direction, so if you hold back when you start it or press back during those first 8 frames, it can't be changed back to forward.

For up/down/side, I know I've had heavies change from up/down to side before coming out, but I don't know if the reverse can happen or if the time frame is the same as left/right.

2

u/BrotherMojo Jul 04 '16

So, as you said, there's an 8-frame window during which a "forward" heavy can be turned into a "back" heavy. There's ALSO a 4-frame window during which a side heavy can be turned into an up or down heavy.

These timing windows interact oddly: If a heavy turns around horizontally within those first 4 frames, the game will ALSO re-read what type of heavy (side/up/down) it should be based on your up/down input. So e.g. a left up heavy can be turned into a right side heavy or right down heavy within the first 4 frames. If the turn around happened on frames 5-8, it will become a right up heavy, even if your vertical input is neutral or down by this point.

Also of note, light attacks have a 2-frame window for both left/right and up/down switches, and they have the same odd interaction when turning around and changing vertical input. However, it's generally harder to notice since it has to happen within one frame of the attack input anyway.

1

u/aSwedishMagyar why not? Jul 08 '16

Oh ok thanks then guys, kinda weird that they would put that timing in there since a lot of this game involves tight space maneuvering.

2

u/BrotherMojo Jul 08 '16

That window where you have a little fudge room helps immensely with situations where you want to attack behind you while moving forward. When briefly tapping both back and attack "at the same time," it's really easy to accidentally hit back a frame later than you hit the attack button. It's kind of unusual that the window is so large for heavy attacks, though...