KhanYe
Smash Journeyman
With talks intensifying with Super Smash Bros. 4's competitive viability, many people noticed that the typical Directional Influence that existed in past iterations of the Smash series was different this time around. Resident PMDT member Strong Bad did some research on this new form of DI, and discovered something that could potentially revolutionize the way Smash 4 is played. Strong Bad has named this new mechanic "Vectoring".
This image made by Krynxe generally describes how vectoring works. These are not exact values.
In previous games, when a player got hit and sent flying, they could hold down a direction on the control stick and slightly, but significantly influence the direction their character went towards. A player could not change the level of knockback, they could just influence the angle at which they were sent for a more favorable position. This is directional influence at its most basic level, click here if you want more details on DI.
According to Strong Bad, this mechanic no longer exists in Smash 4;
Essentially, if you're knocked 90 degrees upwards at a speed of 100 units/frame, and you're holding down on the circle pad, you're adding a downward vector of 10 units/frame to the upward knockback, resulting in an upwards vector of 90 units/frame. The 10 units/frame number was made up for the sake of the example, the exact value of that vector has yet to be determined, it could be a percentage or it could be a formula much more complex than a simple percentage.
Have you ever tried to explain DI to one of your friends? It's a daunting task. Vectoring is definitely a more intuitive concept of survival; if you are headed towards the right blast zone, hold left! If you're headed towards the top blast zone, hold down! This dramatically changes the way players survive in Smash 4. Prior to this game, one could not hold parallel directions to help influence their character's knockback.
Here's a video showing examples of how Vectoring works in Smash 4!
This significantly changes the metagame for Smash 4. One can escape down-throw followups at higher percentages by holding upwards. The way that Smash players understood DI appears to have changed in a major way for Smash 4. Strong Bad is a bit wary of this new mechanic. When asked his initial thoughts on Vectoring's impact on competitive play, he said;
KhanYe left his 3DS in the US when he moved to Ireland for school. He's sad. Follow him on Twitter @rbdayman for a good time.
This image made by Krynxe generally describes how vectoring works. These are not exact values.
According to Strong Bad, this mechanic no longer exists in Smash 4;
When you get hit, you receive knockback. This is a raw value calculated based on percent, weight, the knockback values of the move, and the damage/staling of the move, and then your character moves that many in-game units per frame. There's a constant in the game that subtracts from that speed, so you are going X units/frame on frame 1 and then (x-constant*frame#) units/frame on subsequent frames. Other factors take place such as a character's falling speed acceleration and such, but that's the general idea. Physics is fun!
In Smash 4, by holding a direction on the control stick (or circle pad in our case), you're able to add a vector of units/frame to your knockback when launched. A simple explanation of a vector in this context is a value of units/frame as well as a direction. I believe this vector's strength is a percentage of the knockback you're suffering, so it's less powerful at low percents/when hit by weak attacks and more powerful at higher percents/when hit by powerful attacks.
In Smash 4, by holding a direction on the control stick (or circle pad in our case), you're able to add a vector of units/frame to your knockback when launched. A simple explanation of a vector in this context is a value of units/frame as well as a direction. I believe this vector's strength is a percentage of the knockback you're suffering, so it's less powerful at low percents/when hit by weak attacks and more powerful at higher percents/when hit by powerful attacks.
Essentially, if you're knocked 90 degrees upwards at a speed of 100 units/frame, and you're holding down on the circle pad, you're adding a downward vector of 10 units/frame to the upward knockback, resulting in an upwards vector of 90 units/frame. The 10 units/frame number was made up for the sake of the example, the exact value of that vector has yet to be determined, it could be a percentage or it could be a formula much more complex than a simple percentage.
Have you ever tried to explain DI to one of your friends? It's a daunting task. Vectoring is definitely a more intuitive concept of survival; if you are headed towards the right blast zone, hold left! If you're headed towards the top blast zone, hold down! This dramatically changes the way players survive in Smash 4. Prior to this game, one could not hold parallel directions to help influence their character's knockback.
Here's a video showing examples of how Vectoring works in Smash 4!
This significantly changes the metagame for Smash 4. One can escape down-throw followups at higher percentages by holding upwards. The way that Smash players understood DI appears to have changed in a major way for Smash 4. Strong Bad is a bit wary of this new mechanic. When asked his initial thoughts on Vectoring's impact on competitive play, he said;
Many of the combos that we've been seeing and were excited about are no longer true or even likely. It turns the game into a very neutral-heavy game, which isn't bad but isn't that fun/exciting. I understand that these are first impressions, and am willing to change my opinion based on new information that's yet to be attained, after metagame development.
Even though this is well-researched and seems legitimate, it's worth noting that this is still a theory until it's been proven wholly. How do you feel about this new mechanic? Does this impact how you feel about the future of competitive Smash 4? Thanks to Strong Bad for giving me his thoughts on Vectoring, follow Strong Bad on Twitter @Strong_Badam!
KhanYe left his 3DS in the US when he moved to Ireland for school. He's sad. Follow him on Twitter @rbdayman for a good time.
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