Media
Joo's Combo Collection
This is Japanese Marvel vs. Capcom 2 combo video maker Joo's (pronounced 'joe') best collection of combos. This took about 6 years in total to complete. The DVD is the product of systematic research, thoroughly thinking about everything in the game, and finally, an amazing amount of perseverance. On this page you will find links to the flash version as well as the ISO for the DVD. In addition to that, you will find everything that we wanted to share regarding the DVD. A quick history about it as well as the process we used to make the explanation videos. Also, the interview and trailer posted on Capcom-Unity.com, and the names of the background music used throughout the DVD. DVDの日本語の説明はこちらから
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The DVD and the Youtube playlist are ordered in the same way.
Section |
Video |
Length |
Note |
| Combo |
Chapter1 |
6m53s |
(Capcom) Amingo-Gouki (Akuma) |
| |
Chapter2 |
3m53s |
(Capcom) Guile-Nash (Charlie) |
| |
Chapter3 |
6m17s |
(Capcom) Rockman (Megaman)-Zangief |
| |
Chapter4 |
7m43s |
(Marvel) Blackheart-Iron Man |
| |
Chapter5 |
5m27s |
(Marvel) Juggernaut-Sentinel |
| |
Chapter6 |
6m42s |
(Marvel) Shuma-Gorath-Wolverine-A |
| |
|
|
|
| Common Technique |
Basic Air Mechanics |
11m4s |
|
| |
Dummy Information |
4m42s |
|
| |
SJGC |
3m2s |
|
| |
Y-Boost |
4m11s |
|
| |
Unfly |
6m49s |
|
| |
OTG |
5m18s |
|
| |
Flying Screen |
11m27s |
|
| |
Flying Screen Deterioration |
9m58s |
|
| |
Various |
7m18s |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Combo Explanation |
Chapter1 |
16m33s |
(Capcom) Amingo-Gouki (Akuma) |
| |
Chapter2 |
11m56s |
(Capcom) Guile-Nash (Charlie) |
| |
Chapter3 |
20m25s |
(Capcom) Rockman (Megaman)-Zangief |
| |
Chapter4 |
25m28s |
(Marvel) Blackheart-Iron Man |
| |
Chapter5 |
13m7s |
(Marvel) Juggernaut-Sentinel |
| |
Chapter6 |
24m42s |
(Marvel) Shuma-Gorath-Wolverine-A |
DVD Links
ISO
- Format: ISO
- Size: 7.4 GBs
- Combos: 129 (~35 minutes)
- Combo Explanations: 113 videos (~2 hours)
- Common Techniques: 9 videos (~1 hour)
Instructions
The DVD is split up into several RAR pieces. Download all of the files and run/open the .EXE file to unpack it. Alternatively, you can right click the EXE file and select "Extract Here". It'll take a few minutes to extract the ISO file. You can burn the ISO file using Img Burn or drag and drop the ISO file into VLC Player. You can also mount it on a virtual drive and use other programs to open the directory. In order to burn the image onto a disc, a DVD burner that supports DL+ or DL- is necessary. You can download Nero Info Tool to see if your DVD burner supports dual layer burning.
Also, here is the torrent file for the DVD. If you want to seed the DVD, download the torrent through the URL links. Once the DVD ISO is on your hard drive, open the torrent file and point the destination file to the DVD ISO file on your computer. The torrent will recognize that the file exists/is the same, and will check the integrity. Once it finishes, it'll start seeding automatically.
Files 1-7 are 953 MB and part 8 is 390 MB. If it doesn't extract, the RAR will let you know which file is damaged. If the DVD files do not extract properly, you can download QuickPar as well as the Par2.rar file. If the DVD RAR files extract properly, the Par2s file is not necessary. Once extracted, these files will check the DVD RARs' integrity. Basically, if the file you download doesn't match the file that's uploaded, it'll re-download pieces of the file until it's 100% accurate. That will allow the RAR to extract properly.
DVD RAR Files
It's suggested that a resumable downloader tool is used to get these files.
This way, if the download times out or is interrupted, it can be resumed instead of having to be started again. If the download doesn't start, please retry saving the file.
DVD RAR Files
(hosted by Preppy)
DVD_E.part01.exe
DVD_E.part02.rar
DVD_E.part03.rar
DVD_E.part04.rar
DVD_E.part05.rar
DVD_E.part06.rar
DVD_E.part07.rar
DVD_E.part08.rar
DVD PAR2 File
(Extract these PAR2 files into the same directory as the DVD RAR files. If a DVD RAR file is corrupt, run "DVD_E.par2" once downloading QuickPar.)
Par2_E.rar
DVD Torrent File
DVD_E.ISO.torrent
Youtube Playlist
Youtube Playlist
BGM
BGM Used
This is the music used throughout the DVD. If the DVD column is blank, then that particular song was not used.
Artist & Album |
Song |
DVD |
Kaito - A Moment for the Life |
01 Scene |
|
|
02 Your Brilliant Flowers |
Chapter 1 |
|
03 Color Of Feels |
Chapter 1 |
|
04 Inside River |
Chapter 1 |
|
05 Beautiful Day |
Chapter 1 |
|
06 Intention Remix |
Chapter 2 |
|
07 Air Rider |
Chapter 3 |
|
08 We Were Born Here |
Chapter 2 |
|
09 Hundred Million Light Years |
Chapter 3 |
|
10 Everlasting |
|
|
11 Peace Of Landscape |
Chapter 3 |
|
12 Holding A Baby |
|
|
13 Alive |
Chapter 4 |
|
14 Awakening |
Chapter 4 |
|
15 Soul Of Heart (Beatless) |
Chapter 4 |
|
16 Soul Of Heart |
|
Kaito -Trust |
01-Kaito-and that was the way |
Chapter 4 |
|
02-Kaito-the breath of spring |
Chapter 4 |
|
03-Kaito-rainbow circles |
Chapter 5 |
|
04-Kaito-nothing could be more peaceful |
Chapter 5 |
|
05-Kaito-too good to be true |
Basic Air Mechanics |
|
06-Kaito-trust |
Chapter 3 |
|
07-Kaito-we are living here |
Chapter 6 |
|
08-Kaito-it happens suddenly |
Chapter 6 |
|
09-Kaito-reach for your mind |
Chapter 6 |
Kaito - Soul of Heart |
A1 - Kaito - Soul of Heart |
FS |
|
B1 - Kaito - Peace of Landscape |
FSD |
Kaito - Color of Feels |
[01] Kaito - color of feels |
Unfly |
|
[02] Kaito - as time goes on |
|
SGX |
Suikoden Forgotten Daze OC ReMix |
OTG |
Blind |
Extreme-G G-Storm OC ReMix |
Basic Air Mechanics |
Nemesis Theory |
Snapdragon |
DI |
Nemesis Theory |
Rearmed with Courage |
SJGC |
Nemesis Theory |
Polar Groove |
Y-Boost |
Blind |
Final Fantasy 10 White Skies (Club Mix) OC ReMix |
Various |
Official MvsC2 BGM |
MvsC2 BGM |
Chapters 1-6 |
Gradius 5 |
14 HIGH SPEED -STAGE 7 |
Chapter 1 |
Gradius 5 |
BATTLESHIP -STAGE2 and 8- |
Chapter 2 |
Gradius 5 |
INTERMEZZO |
Chapter 3 |
Gradius 5 |
STAGE BOSS |
Chapter 4 |
Gradius 5 |
UNIVERSE -STAGE 1 |
Chapter 5 |
Gradius 5 |
Wings For My Way |
Chapter 6 |
Post-DVD Interview
|
About Joo |
Question |
Can you tell us a little about yourself? |
Answer |
I am the type of person who likes to do the things I enjoy intensely. For combos I decided that I would work on them until I had left something behind (a legacy) |
Question |
Tell us a little about Meikyousisui. |
Answer |
Meikyousisui was originally a team of 4 people working together, but now I'm the only one left.
There are lots of other things that I've wanted to do, but I've put them all aside in order to work on this. |
Question |
Why do you like MVC2 so much? What made you decide you wanted to make combos for this game? |
Answer |
I think I liked it so much because it was so flashy and stood out when compared to the huge amount of other games available. Also, all of the other people I knew who played it were all fun people. A simple answer, but for both combos and versus games, I think the answer is simply "because it is fun to play". |
Question |
How do you make your combos? |
Answer |
There are generally two ways I create combos, Sometimes I come up with an idea and create a combo based on that, and sometimes they come about as the result of a large amount of testing/research.
For example, to follow up with an attack in a combo, I test all normals, all specials, all hyper combos, etc. That's just one example (following up). If I find a combo idea, I will then test that combo idea for every character.
For this reason it takes an extraordinarily long time to create each combo. |
Question |
Do you feel that there is a creative element in your combos? Or are they purely the product of rigidly systematic research? |
Answer |
I think it is about 50/50. There are some combos that are created more or less mechanically/systematically, and then there are some that even I think are really well done (impressive/creative). |
Question |
What are combos to you? What do they mean to you? |
Answer |
The combo is the ultimate puzzle game for me. |
Question |
Who is your favorite character? |
Answer |
Cable |
|
About the DVD |
Question |
Why did you choose to make a DVD? |
Answer |
Because I wanted to compile the best things I have done on a DVD, making them easily viewable to anyone. |
Question |
What were the requirements that combos had to meet in order to be on the DVD? |
Answer |
I wanted the DVD to have combos for all of the characters, and each combo had to include the concepts that I deemed necessary |
Question |
You have said that this DVD is all of you, what does that mean? |
Answer |
I have spent an enormous amount of time on this DVD. I had and have a lot of other things I want to do, but I have put them all aside in order to create the DVD. It means that I have sacrificed a lot for the creation of this DVD. |
Question |
You also said that the Cyclops 56 hit combo was your favorite because it was your best idea. Can you please give us insight on how you even made the combo? After all, both characters are not visible on-screen while the majority of the combo is occurring. |
Answer |
I first saw the bug in one of Mike Z's bug videos.
At that moment, I had the idea of a combo that took place off-screen. However, it was extremely difficult for me to actually realize that plan. Because the combo itself can't be seen, I first performed it in a somewhat lower position. I did the first part of the combo at a height where it could be seen. Then I gradually increased the height while making the combo until it was enough hits that it could cause the dummy to dizzy out. I tried many combinations of normals until I found the patterns that kept Cyclops near the dummy. I spent an entire month of my summer vacation on the fine tuning of this combo.
Spending an entire month on creating just one combo is absolutely ridiculous, but I think coming up with and then realizing this combo has actually contributed quite a lot to me. I think it might be one of the reasons I decided I wanted to make the DVD actually. |
Question |
I'm aware that the Ryu 27 hit combo was very difficult to make, please tell us about what made it so difficult. |
Answer |
I didn't actually intend to make the Ryu 27 hit combo. Let me explain about how the Ryu 27 hit combo came about.
I was originally looking for all of the characters' FSDs. Although Ryu could connect a 2HK, he could not follow up in time after FSD occurred. I gave up trying to use 2HK and I started investigating in another direction.
Three conditions are necessary for an FSD combo:
1) A knockdown attack must connect after FS occurs.
2) The knockdown attack must have more than 10 frames of knockdown stun.
3) Be in time in order to follow up after FSD occurs.
One of the problems was finding a way to connect an attack that caused more than 10 frames of knockdown. Everything else was able to be worked around in some way or another. Ryu has a few down techniques if the 623+PP hits, 214+KK, 2HK, 236+PP, etc. When I checked to see if any of these had more than 10 frames of down time, the 2HK and Shinkuu Hadouken did, so I considered using the Shinkuu Hadoken for the FSD combo.
The only way that Ryu could follow up after the Shinkuu Hadouken is to dash. Since he can't cancel his super in any way, FSD-Dash had to be employed. However, the Shinkuu Hadouken is a multi-hit super that doesn't drop the character mid-way through. So I had to find a way to have the Shinkuu Hadouken drop the dummy while they were close to Ryu.
If you hit them at close range, they will fall right in front of you. However, this was too close to cause FSD-Dash. Next I researched a method to move the dummy into the air as well as a method to reduce the number of hits. I eventually decided on using Spider-Man's anti-air assist. While testing jumping tools and offset relations, I found that I could drop them part way through with Ruby Heart's 214+KK. Using this super to drop the dummy allows you to perform a very close range FSD Dash after the Shinkuu Hadouken. I wasn't quite able to OTG after FSD-Dash at first, but I kept at it for an entire day and found a position where the OTG attack would connect.
The above is the process I used that led to the Ryu 27 hit combo. I truly felt glad that I had decided to make combos when I found this FSD. |
Question |
Clearly you need an amazing amount of patience and perseverance in order to follow through with those combos. Can you please tell us what your motivation was throughout the DVD? |
Answer |
The motivation provided by finding a new combo is amazing. But I've been playing with Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for 10 years now and there aren't many new combos left to find, so I don't really have much motivation at the present. For the DVD, I just really wanted to finish it, so it was more determination than motivation. |
|
About Explanations |
Question |
Are you happy that this combo explanation material was created for your combos? |
Answer |
No, I knew that I would not be happy with this since we started making it. I'm a perfectionist and I knew that this endeavor would take a large amount of time - so I had to try my best on this. I've wanted to finish the DVD as I've put so much time and sacrificed so many things for it. Nevertheless, I decided to do it because I want a large amount of people to see the explanations and understand the combos. |
Question |
How long did it take to make the explanation content? |
Answer |
9 months. |
Question |
How were you able to communicate with the language barrier? |
Answer |
I put a lot of effort into understanding the English. I'm not that good at English, but I can read it a bit. However, trying to write it was extremely difficult. |
Question |
What do you think of the explanation content for the combos? |
Answer |
Creating explanations takes a large amount of time, so I didn't really do it much up until now. However, combos often aren't understandable without an explanation. If viewing the explanation videos helps people understand the combos, then I think they are extremely useful. I'd be happy if someone sees this and decides they want to make their own combos. |
About Joo
Joo and his friends, Yuta, Masala and Rohikata, have been making combo videos since the year 2000. They went by the name "Meikyousiui," which stands for "As serene as a polished mirror and still water." He and his friends started out making combo videos by hand without the assistance of any programmable controllers. At first, their videos were known for creative combos. As time passed, their videos grew more and more complicated to the point that most people didn't understand how the combos were achieved. Around this time is when Joo separated himself and did the majority of the combos. The distinguishing attribute in the later Meikyousisui videos has always been the idea behind the combos. Glitches were thrown in to aid a combo idea. Many unique engine mechanics were explored and presented by having a character do something unique. All together, there are 11 Meikyousisui videos. The last video was done in 2006. During this point, Joo told me that he made it simply because he wanted to make a video. He also told me that Meikyousisui 11 was mostly the DVD combos truncated by 40%. I learned that all the Meikyousisui videos were not Joo's best material. The Meikyousisui videos have always been regarded far and away the best Marvel vs. Capcom 2 combo videos out there, so it came as a shock to learn that they weren't his best material. Anyway, below are links to all the Meikyousisui videos. Over time, you can notice the upgrade in quality as well as the increase in complexity of the combos.
Video |
Link |
Date Completed |
Meikyousisui Volume 1 |
|
09/12/2000 |
Meikyousisui Volume 2 |
|
09/12/2000 |
Meikyousisui Volume 3 |
|
05/24/2001 |
Meikyousisui Volume 4 |
|
12/06/2001 |
Meikyousisui Satsujin 1 |
|
06/24/2001 |
Meikyousisui Volume 5 |
|
01/09/2002 |
Meikyousisui Volume 6 |
|
06/07/2002 |
Meikyousisui Volume 7 |
|
10/06/2002 |
Meikyousisui Volume 8 |
|
01/23/2003 |
Meikyousisui Satsujin 2 |
|
04/21/2003 |
Meikyousisui Volume 9 |
|
01/18/2004 |
Meikyousisui Volume 10 |
|
09/20/2004 |
Meikyousisui Volume 11 |
|
08/02/2006 |
History
I'll attempt to provide some history behind the DVD as well as information on how Joo and I did the explanation videos for it. I'll also talk about programmable controllers and Joo's method of creating combos.
Joo (pronounced 'joe') has been working on this MvC2 Combo DVD since late 2002. The release was delayed an extra year because he purchased new equipment to re-capture every combo in VGA quality. It was delayed further because of the explanation videos for both his combos and MvC2's engine mechanics. This DVD is not presented like the Meikyousisui videos, but rather an amalgam of his best work. It does not have distracting editing that takes attention away from what's going on. These are primarily solo combos with assists being used to augment the main character's special abilities. All of the combos in the DVD were executed with one or two ASCII programmable controllers. By using tool assistance, the user is able to skip past all of the limitations and problems that come with manual execution, leaving the ideas as the centerpiece of the combo.
Programmable controllers can be very difficult to use as they give the user so much control and freedom that it can be overwhelming. There are literally thousands of variables that must be tested in order to find the proper frame that allows a combo to work. It's truly impossible to fully demonstrate how annoying and difficult it can be to try to program a special combo without trying it for yourself. There are so many inherent points of failure that walking away from a combo can be a very easy thing to do.
Before the 100% technique was found (more on that later), seeing the results of the combo in progress could take hours as the sequence would fail most of the time. This is due to the frame skipping that occurs in MvC2. Basically, a 1-frame link works 1 in 4 tries, so when a combo has multiple 1-frame links, the odds of the sequence working go way up. It could take hours for the combo to work the right way. Having special setups in the combos extended the amount of time it took to capture something. A complicated combo in progress would require dozens of tries before it would work the way it was intended to. The more complicated the combo, the higher the chances of it failing when executed. To get some of the combos to work, Joo had to spend months of trial-and-error before finding the correct element (character, frame, position, timing, assist, etc). There are no shortcuts whatsoever to creating combos like the ones presented in the DVD.
These combos are the result of extensive exploration and combing through frame data. Once frame data for every character and every phenomenon in the game is accumulated, it's easier to see what makes a character special. There are a lot of combos in this DVD that use an idea that only one character can take advantage of. Some characters are able to do complicated combos because of attacks that hit in intervals. For instance, Spiral can throw her Dancing Swords at different intervals in order to allow special follow-ups to occur. She can also change her position drastically by teleporting, so combining that with her Dancing Swords, she is able to do very unique combos.
There are so many elements and variables that can be combined that it's impossible to list them all. However, one element worth noting is the dummy selection for a combo. There are some characters in MvC2 whose hitboxes when they're in certain states or positions are unique. In the case of the Charlie combo shown to the right, Captain America is crouching; however, his hitbox is a little bit wider during that time. As a result, Charlie can be in the best position for his normals to connect as well as for his super to hit late. These two elements allow him to do a very special infinite combo. Again, these kinds of combos and ideas can only be found by thoroughly investigating every phenomenon in MvC2. Once everything is accumulated, the next step is to extract ideas from the data and attempt to program them into a developed and completed combo. The following are a few examples of data that Joo's amassed over the past 5-6 years.
Since Joo adheres to such a time consuming process, it's understandable that it took so many years to create all of the combos. It's remarkable what you can find with a programmable pad and a few years time. Tool assistance allows you to see an entirely different version of any game. By using programmable controllers, the player is presented with almost endless possibilities, which changes the logic necessary in order to find everything. In order to find new things with programmable controllers, a scientific approach is necessary. As such, the evolution of MvC2 for Joo has been a unique experience. Having so much control allowed him to experiment with elements and situations that cannot be achieved by using manual execution. The image on the right is a Spiral combo that uses Cable's Scimitar assist to send the dummy high up. Spiral uses her teleport to reach the dummy and continue the combo off-screen. Writing down everything tested is good practice for creating combos like this, it's sometimes necessary to go through hundreds of different combinations of variables that it can be difficult to remember which ones were already tested. Joo organized and documented everything he found in video clips or excel workbooks. The following image shows how many total combo ideas Joo wrote down over the years. It ends on Rockman (Megaman) but that's because the list is not organized in alphabetical order. Something else worth noting is that all his sheets and workbooks are interconnected via macros and functions. So if something in one changes, the other workbooks and excel sheets get changed accordingly.
He started the DVD in late 2002 and didn't finish the DVD combos until late 2007 or early 2008. Something worth noting is that he has always maintained the same style and tone in all his combos. This is strange and unique for combo video makers as they usually change their style over time. Most combo video makers get better over time as they learn new things from experience. With Joo however, this is not the case as his approach from the very beginning (once he started using programmable controllers in 2002) has always been to amass all the data, find ideas, and test thousands of times until the idea works. His method is so scientific that there is no way to change it for the better.
Anyway, by the time 2008 came around, Joo had finished all his DVD combos and had re-captured them in versus mode since at around this time, Joo found the 100% technique. This is the technique of inserting a link that works 1 in 4 tries before a combo that works 1 in 200 tries. If the link works, the combo will as well. An example of a 100% technique sequence is simply whiffing a LK and then immediately pressing any normal attack. If the second normal attack comes out, anything that happens throughout the sequence will work 100% of the time. There is a degree of irony to it in my opinion; it's interesting that such a simple sequence will guarantee that an extremely complicated sequence that took hundreds, if not thousands of tries to achieve, will work thereafter. If the LP from the first image comes out, the rest of the combo will work.
I found out about the DVD in 2006. Joo had told me that it would be over 100 combos. He also told me that he had made a Cyclops and Chun-Li combo that dizzied the dummy in one air combo. This always stayed in the back of my mind, however, when it was nearing completion, I approached Joo with the idea of creating explanation videos for the combos. He agreed and was happy that people would understand what goes on throughout the combos. This was a drastic change because when he first finished the DVD combos, he was planning on not releasing the DVD to the general public.
We needed a source to upload all of the information and videos because it was too difficult to send a large amount of files through MSN. Fortunately, Preppy allowed us to use his web space to upload all of the 
content. Joo uploaded 30gbs of videos over the next few days. From there I made the first revision of all the combo explanation videos (about 130). Eventually we developed a great back and forth process that utilized 12 excel workbooks to transcribe everything. The excel workbooks contained the text for the combo explanation title cards as well as the Common Technique videos. We also created a "unite list" workbook that had template phrases, a term list, as well as macros that worked throughout the other workbooks. These macros basically checked for consistency in a variety of ways, this was very important because we amassed around 900 title cards per language. When we finished the combo explanation videos we had about 7 revisions of English and Japanese that we went through.
Eventually the CT videos grew too large and we had to start cutting out the content that wasn't vital to the combo explanations. We also deleted a lot of combo explanation points because we explained the general principles in the CT videos. Furthermore, Joo
wanted to delete the combo explanation videos for the combos that were simple and straightforward. As a result, instead of having 
130 combo explanations, we have 113. Joo and I deleted the combo explanation videos for the simple combos. For example, a combo that only had one special point that was easily noticeable if you watched the Common Technique videos was deleted from the DVD. It's important to understand that we only included points for the technical moments in the combos. The moments that are engine related or vital in the combo continuing were pointed out. Most of the time, there is slow motion to allow the viewer to take in what's going on. However, we do not explain visually obvious things like assists that allow the main character to combo something; though there are a few exceptions. As a result, it's necessary to have a good understanding of MvC2 when watching the combo explanation videos. The Common Technique videos, again, should be watched before the combo explanation videos.
I wanted to talk about the meaning of the DVD project and the urgency that was related to it when it came to releasing it. When we began the project, we thought that it was going to take less than 4 months. Instead, it took around 9 months to finish everything. At around October Joo decided that he did not want to make any new content, he then went on to say that he wanted to release whatever we had on the last day of January. Hopefully, as the statement in the trailer said, people will understand, appreciate and empathize with Joo's process for creating combos in MvC2.
Finally, I'd like to share my friend's thoughts about Joo's DVD project as they eloquently state many ideas regarding the project and combos in general. His perspective is different from mine so I feel that it's important to mention this.
Rich 'ECZangief' Paquette's Thoughts:
"In regards to the amount of people who will truly "get" this DVD project -- yes, there's only going to be a small percentage who appreciate Joo's opus for what it is. This DVD is the culmination of a vast amount of time, the special blend of his will-power and both his analytical and abstract approach to the technical aspects of the game. These unique qualities made it possible for him to turn what is a competitive fighting game for most into what is effectively a sandbox game and an artistic outlet for him.
The few people who are Joo's peers in the field of MvC2 combology (to make up a new word) can be counted on one hand with maybe a few digits of overflow -- they will "get" it. The rest are just going to see cool combos, and that's fine since that's really what they are anyway. The only difference is that the people who "get it" just know that this is the product of years of exploration and an inhuman understanding of the game engine. To me, that's not a problem.
For me personally, the importance and impact of Joo's videos have gone through an evolution that more or less mirrors my growing understanding of Marvel's game engine. At first, I saw the Meikyousiui videos like most people are going to see the DVD -- as a really impressive showcase of what is actually possible with the combo system. I didn't understand the nuts and bolt of the exploits he was making in each combo, but I still thought they were damn cool and made it a point to keep an eye out for more. Eventually, I took a utilitarian approach to his videos and spent a LOT of time thinking about which small elements of his combos I could replicate and begin using in my own game. This was key to coming to grips with just how special Joo's body of work is. Here I was, wrestling for hours with one small piece from an extravagant segment that makes up 1% of one single combo from one of his many videos. I wasn't a combo wizard, but it was still great fun, and with each 1% that I digested I got a better idea of what his approach to fighting games is all about. In my estimation that approach is a desire to absorb and archive as much of the game engine as possible, and in turn use this knowledge to construct combos that are as fun to watch as they are technical.
As a result of spending some time with Joo's videos, I've realized the power of the programmable controller as an exploratory tool. This is where the majority of viewers are going to differ from Joo and other combo people. Normally, you have to study a situation in a game for months or even years to learn what you can with a program pad in hours. Branching out, there's a whole world that's opened up comprised of things that are impossible to learn without a programmable controller. Joo exists in that world -- he's immersed himself so deep into the realm of frame data, exacting pixel-perfect positioning, an incredible knowledge of each character's properties, and an inside-out mastery of the game engine's nuances, that his Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is completely different than anyone else's. 99% of other players aren't able to decipher more than a layer or two deep into the elegant and complex situations he crafts, because they can't visualize the game broken down to the degree that Joo had to in order to gain an understanding of the plethora of variables at work. Only once you attempt for hours to program the most basic of sequences can you really appreciate the time it took to arrive at the level of quality and complexity present in Joo's body of work. With all that said, even the casual observer can recognize HOW COOL THEY ARE.
It's true across the board that the more you focus in on a single area of a larger phenomenon, the more abstract the concepts and the smaller the body of peers who can really appreciate the level of mastery present. As for Joo's DVD, people may not understand it completely, but it's still a lot of fun, so I wouldn't dwell on the fact that most people won't "get it" on the deeper levels, because everyone will get how much fun it is to watch."
Trailer & Preview
DVD Trailer
DVD Preview
This was the preview Joo released in November of 2008.
Size: 320MBs
Resolution & Frame Rate: 640x480 @ 60 FPS
Codec: H264
Joo's MvsC2 DVD Preview AVI File
Youtube Version
Neta
Below are some of the extra clips Joo had that were not used in any of the Meikyousisui videos or the DVD.
About Tool Assistance
I'd like to include an article that Maj wrote regarding programmable controllers and tool assistance. I feel that the article will benefit anyone who isn't fully aware of programmable controllers.
SF Tool-Assisted Combo Rationale
By Maj
Even after all these years of Sai-Rec and kysg masterpieces, it's still virtually impossible to put out a tool-assisted combo video without incurring the inevitable "legitimacy" debate from within the fighting game community. If the final product is spectacular enough, most people will grudgingly curb their criticism, but not before sneaking in the obligatory snide remark. Is there a reasonable reason for this paranoid behavior?
No one in their right mind makes tool-assisted videos to impress people with their gaming skills. It doesn't fool anyone and it doesn't make sense. Furthermore, nobody becomes a gaming celebrity overnight after discovering an enchanted programmable controller in a haunted pawn shop. There are no shortcuts to producing the next instant classic, because the standard for combo video excellence is simply set too high. There's always someone out there raising the bar and holding it consistently high until the next generation takes over. Everyone knows who they are and everyone cites their work as a benchmark. In other words, there's no reason to worry about someone fast-tracking their way to the top by abusing forbidden emulator alchemy. They will have to pay their dues, one way or another.
What Does "Tool-Assisted" Mean?
Ask on any mainstream gaming forum and watch myths and misconceptions far outnumber the facts. Some people believe that programmable controllers can shorten lengthy super move commands or eliminate the need to charge for Sonic Booms. If that were the case, how would the program pad tell the game what it wants to do? Does it have a "Sonic Boom" button?
To clarify, programmable controllers simply allow players to assign a customized command sequence to one button. Each individual input is specified one at a time, along with the number of frames that it will be held. How does one find the proper timings? Trial and error. Lots and lots of trial and error. Neither the console nor the game recognize the programmable controller as anything out of the ordinary. It's like telling a robot exactly when to push each button on a regular controller. Hopefully it's a patient robot with nothing to do for the rest of the day (or month).
Even with programmable controllers in hand, all kinds of things are liable to go wrong. It's easy to overlook how truly complex tool-assisted combos have become. Over 90% of the finalized program pad sequences found in my SF? Guile Exhibition and SF? Ryu Exhibition projects fail to work more than 95% of the time. One-frame links slip, superfreeze durations vary, opponents get dizzy too soon, crossups miss, etc. Without as many random factors in play, it wouldn't impress the right people.
Emulator tools streamline the process considerably by providing users with access to a fixed starting point in the form of save states. From there, luck can be manipulated far more reliably. Beyond that, emulators provide complete control over gameplay speed. Players can choose between using macro scripts to mimic program pad functionality, or slowing games down to a crawl in order to record inputs on a frame by frame basis, which can later be restored to default playback speed for capturing. However, if a game is designed to skip frames at turbo speed settings - as most Capcom fighting games are - reducing emulation frame rate will not bring those frames back. For more information on the methodology of emulator tool usage, look no further than the tool-assisted speedrun community.
Tool-Assisted vs Unauthentic
Some people seem to think that tool-assistance allows for input sequences that are fundamentally impossible, and that's generally not true. For example, a programmable pad makes it possible to complete an F, B, F+P sequence in three frames. A lot of people claim that it's physically impossible to manually execute those commands without crossing through the neutral joystick position. In reality, the game software simply checks joystick location at discrete sample intervals - usually once every 60th of a second. Knowing this, it's clearly possible to avoid registering any neutral inputs while moving between opposite directions, as long as your hand moves fast enough to avoid getting sampled in the middle. Obviously it's a difficult and impractical technique, but its legitimacy is undeniable.
Now of course there are a handful of easy ways to break the rules, but there's no good reason or incentive to cross that line. For instance, it's possible to alter the game itself using emulator cheat codes and console cheat peripherals such as Game Genie and GameShark. However, anyone who abuses these methods faces severe backlash from their general audience, and even more so from fellow combo video authors. Anyone who attempts to do it secretly is eventually exposed and suffers irreparable harm to their reputation and credibility.
Finally, certain emulators permit opposite directions to be held simultaneously. In some games, this can lead to exploits such as walking forward while charging back. Obviously this can't be done on a standard controller or arcade cabinet without dismantling it and meddling with wires. Nobody bothers exploring this territory because the consequences are almost the same as cheating. Even if it was performed manually by pressing internal switches on a standard controller, it's not worth the effort because the fighting game community will ignore it.
The bottom line is, only authentic combos matter - those performed within the established confines of an unaltered game engine. Otherwise, we may as well be playing MUGEN. Everyone knows which lines can't be crossed without alienating the community. In fact, tool-assisted combo video makers have to be even more careful than people who don't use tools, because their reputation is on the line every single time they release a new video. Why would anyone waste weeks working on a project that everyone's going to hate? It's not even slightly tempting.
Tool-Assisted vs Manual
Many people contend that manually executed videos are universally more valuable than tool-assisted ones; or worse, that tool-assisted videos require no skill. That's sheer nonsense. There are absolutely amazing tool-assisted videos just as there are amazing manually executed ones. There are inexplicably terrible tool-assisted videos just as there are terrible manually executed ones. It all comes down to effort, talent, style, and perseverance - none of which are exclusive to either approach.
Yes it's fun to learn combos and yes it's fulfilling to pull off a difficult combo, but there's a cutoff point somewhere. Once you get into multiple one-frame territory, the tediousness and frustration far outweigh those rare instances of gratification. At that level, i happen to find way more satisfaction in witnessing an idea develop or seeing a project completed, than from executing each individual combo along the road. Not everyone feels the same way and i respect that. Some of my friends still gain a sense of accomplishment from mastering an extremely challenging combo, but i never linger on any one combo once i've got it recorded anyway.
As long as everyone stays honest about their methods, the fighting game community is free to judge each video based on the appropriate criteria. Ideally, every tool-assisted video should contain a brief notice labeling it as such, and if necessary, providing details.
Concealing tool usage is not only dishonest, but also counterproductive in that it gives naysayers more ammunition to use against tool-assisted video production. Regardless of popular opinion, combo authors should always be striving for content so good that there's no need to lie about how it was acquired. If you need to tell people that you executed everything manually in order to impress them, that's a sign that your footage is weak and you need to start over.
That said, the distinction is somewhat hazier than it seems. All combo videos are "tool-assisted" in a sense. Here's a hint: it's called video recording. When was the last time you saw a combo video live and uncut? By definition every combo in a manually executed video had to be performed without interruptions from beginning to end, but how many tens or hundreds of rerecording attempts did each one require? A five-minute combo video does not represent five minutes of gameplay, but rather orders of magnitude more.
Furthermore, everyone who tests combos using an emulator likes to create save states after selecting characters, landing on the desired stage, and building enough meter. Repeatedly reloading these states saves a heap of time. Should anyone who might be considering making a combo video abstain from this practice? Is that a reasonable demand? On the other hand, most of us spend way more time testing combos than recording the final draft. Is it okay to use tool-assistance to discover and develop a combo as long as the published final version is executed manually starting from the title screen?
Intent and Objective
Combo exhibitions serve a completely different purpose than the strategies or even the combos found in an expert-level match. But nobody who makes combo videos is trying to prove that they're the best player. Combo videos only exist to reveal fascinating hidden aspects of game engines, inventing elaborate special scenarios which normally wouldn't arise during matches.
If you're looking for the best Guile player or the best Ryu player, you're in the wrong place. You'll find those guys competing at major tournaments like Evolution and Super Battle Opera - not locked in Training Mode studying an obscure game nobody plays anymore, digging for minutiae to build the next absurdly impractical combo.
There's no need to go around accusing people of cheating without proof. There's no reason to reiterate the same tired points about exhibition combos being useless in match play. There's no excuse for insulting hardworking content producers. In the long run, it hurts you more than it hurts them. That's why the irrational hate against tool-assisted combo videos needs to stop.
Personal Perspective
For the record, i never wanted praise for execution, even back when i was doing everything on standard Dreamcast pads. In fact i don't like compliments period, but if i had to choose, i'd rather receive them for imagination or choreography or research instead of controller proficiency. People tell me that they're amazed by my early CvS2 videos, but to me there's nothing special about repeating the same exact motions hundreds of times until i got lucky once. Does that even qualify as skill? It's not like i used any of that stuff in matches back when i was getting 2nd place in random SoCal tournaments; not even during casual matches.
In case you haven't noticed, programmable controllers and emulator tools haven't reduced the amount of time it takes me to create one combo. All they've done is raise the complexity level dramatically. In other words, i'm not doing the old stuff faster. I'm doing new stuff that i would have considered too impractical to even attempt manually. Seriously, some of that tool-assisted Guile material is so absurd that if i thought i had enough luck to pull it off manually, i'd sell everything i own and use the money to buy lotto tickets instead. So to those of you people out there who keep commenting about how you wish these videos had been performed manually without tool-assistance, what you're really wishing for is to see each of them take ten years to make instead of one. And i don't know who's got ten years to spend on five minutes of combos, but you can definitely count me out.
Also, it's surprising that one of the most common reactions to seeing an impressive combo video is internet folk saying they wouldn't want to go up against the guy who recorded it. Why? It's fun playing against combo and glitch people. We might not be the most dominating competition you can find, but we try wacky/unusual things on a whim and we don't mind losing to see what happens (in casual play, of course). After all, we all share the same reason for being here: we like playing fighting games.
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