Detailed system mechanics

[Banoffee]

GG is a well-explored game but there are still some cryptic aspects to it not documented in any kind of detail. This post has some things I found with PC #Reload and a memory editor. #Reload is an old version but it's likely that AC+R works the same way.

It's very rough and probably incomplete but hopefully this is useful to someone. If anyone else has system info like this, go ahead and post it here.

---

COMBO SCALING

Besides damage scaling, there are 3 kinds of combo scaling in GGXX:

- Untech time

- Pushback (corner only)

- Gravity

Gravity is affected only by the number of hits in the combo.

The other two are governed by a combo timer. While the opponent is in hitstun, a timer increments by 1 each frame (60/s). Hitstop (the freeze that occurs the moment an attack connects) does not stop this timer. The combo timer maxes out at 960. (16 seconds)

Proration, guard gauge, number of hits etc do not appear to have any effect on the combo timer. Only time matters. So basically, you should try to avoid leaving any time gaps in your combo and land hits as fast as you can.

This can be verified without a memory editor by doing identical stagger combos with different timing (e.g. Sol 6H RC loop with gaps in between) and observing the difference in the followup combo.

This is just speculation but I think it conveniently explains why some moves have unnecessarily long animations, like Wild Throw. It gives a sort of "untech proration" by intentionally wasting time.

TENSION PULSE

Starts at 0, ranges from -25,000 to 25,000. Has a special minimum of -12,500 enforced by negative penalty.

I remember reading (forgot where) that there is an "upper limit" that can be reached only by Instant Blocking. In #Reload at least, this is false. The 25,000 limit can be reached without IB'ing - it just takes a long time.

NEGATIVE PENALTY

This is not as useful as the combo scaling stuff, but no one really knows how Negative Penalty (NP) works, so I got curious and decided to investigate. It's a bit more complicated than you might think.

tl;dr If you want to play runaway style, stay as close to the opponent as you can manage, land stray hits every 15 seconds or so, IB as much as possible, and don't touch the opposite corner.

You have a primary NP gauge (just called "NP" from here on). Defensive actions increase your NP. It starts at 0, gives you a warning at 6,000, and hits you with the penalty at 10,000. It cannot go below 0. This gauge is like a slippery slope - the higher it is, the faster it rises. For scale, Sol's backdash adds about 680 at round start.

NP gradually falls back to 0 by itself. This is the ONLY way to reduce NP. It CANNOT be reduced faster by acting aggressively.

NP is proximity-based. The further away you are from the opponent, the faster your NP will rise. The difference is about 2x. Within a certain range (1 Anji width) you will not gain any negative penalty at all (except for the NP counter effect below).

NP is not directly caused by Tension Pulse, but any NP effects are scaled by it when your pulse is negative.

There is also a separate NP counter, which is much more sensitive to character movement. It ranges from 0 to 1,800, and while it is above 1,100, your NP rapidly increases. This counter rises at a constant rate (about 65/s) while you're being defensive (including standing still) and falls at double that rate while you're moving forward.

Other things that reduce the NP counter:

Attack opponent (blocked) - 250

Attack opponent (hit) - 1,200

Opponent attacks you (hit) - 450

Opponent attacks you (block) - 450 (unless you FD, in which case it has no effect)

There appears to be a THIRD NP counter which increments while your back touching the corner (even if the opponent is close to you!). I can't seem to find the variable(s) that control this one so I can't give any details, but it definitely happens, verified by freezing the regular NP counter.

---

Once again, this information is from #Reload so take it with a grain of salt. Any of the numbers given may also be character dependent. I tested with Sol vs Anji - combo scaling stuff belongs to Anji, TP and NP are for Sol.

I'd like to check out the guard gauge too so expect some info about that eventually.

[shtkn]

This is some interesting stuff, thanks for putting in the detective work!

[Orrax]

Yeah, very nice stuff. The combo timer makes a lot of sense.

[Blade]

The NP Gauge "reducing itself gradually" almost reminds me of Danger State in BlazBlue (when you use up all your Barrier and it reverts to 50%), not sure if it's the same but it sounds similar.

What is the likelihood of them still using these mechanics in this way in GGXrd do you think?

[TheRealBobMan]

You have no idea how much I love you for this. I can't wait to see more info about the guard gauge, and anything else you might find about Tension Pulse.

"I remember reading (forgot where) that there is an "upper limit" that can be reached only by Instant Blocking. In #Reload at least, this is false. The 25,000 limit can be reached without IB'ing - it just takes a long time."

I think you read that in the old system guide data that was moved into the wiki, but I believe that the upper bound can be surpassed by IB/SB. You don't have to use IB/SB to reach it, just to go above it. I also remember reading that the upper bound is thought to be different per character, so if you could check Zappa/Johnny/I-No, then compare to like Baiken, that'd probably give us a little insight into how that works.

[RoBoBOBR]

I wonder if that stayed the same in Xrd.

[Dude Butts]

great thread!  I live for this stuff.

[Hollysmoke]

That was an interesting read for sure. I hope you discover more aspects of the game that are still hidden in the shadows. Heck, you even made Dude Butts happy and that's a rarity on its own :B

[daymendou]

Untechable Time Scaling (from here, copied from AC mook)

 

Untechable time is the time that an opponent cannot tech or do anything else after being hit in the air. Once this time passes, the opponent will be able to tech and attempting to continue the combo will be black Beat.

 

Untechable time depends on the move used and whether it was a CH. We have the base numbers for attack level and untechable time already, so let's see what they say about scaling.

 

Combo length     Untech time Scaling

0 seconds                100%

3 seconds                  95%

5 seconds                  90%

7 seconds                  80%

10 seconds                70%

14 seconds                60%

 

Exceptions: Some moves have a specific untechable time and some CH properties also grant a specific untechable time, both affected by scaling.

 

I cannot find anything that explains untechable time scaling based on combo count.

 

In Xrd, I personally feel that RC freeze/slowdown contribute to untechable scaling, at least in my experience with Crosswise Heel air combos