Media
Ataraxia
A short combo video. A memory editor was used to alter game values.
After creating an presentation-oriented video with the Dhalsim Revisited project, I wanted to do a 'standard' combo video using the removed-HUD style.
Ataraxia
MP4 File | Youtube Link
Dimensions: 3840x2160
Duration: ~ 5 minutes
File Size: ~ 500 megabytes
Codec Used: X264 ~18,000 KB/s
Container: MP4
Date of Completion 10/2020
This video is more of a continuation of all the content-creation processes developed during the Dhalsim video. The clip accretion took a while as I had exhausted most of my ideas during Chaos Dimension.
Even though I ended up removing some clips and using a shorter song, I'm happy with the video. Due to everything going on, I couldn't think of another name for the video but this.
Playlist containing all the clips used in the video
#1 Combo_IronMan66:
A big part of the video was the custom camera animations. The animations were achieved using a Lua script initially created by Anotak, which was then modified by Lord_Yoshi. The script checks and changes the camera every frame, allowing the user to create custom animations independent of the game's camera.
Joo participated a lot in this video. For a while, I had the intention of officially declaring it at collaboration between him and I, but some of his ideas didn't work and it was hard to make new stuff.
Anyway, he got this idea from Chaos Dimension where Iron Man combos his flying-HP into Smart Bombs. He was wondering if there was a way to do this without the freeze-setup. He was also the one to suggest trying Anakaris because his NJ kicks come from the bottom no matter how high-up he is.
From there, I tried to include other setups for comboing Smart Bombs, including using Y-Boost to pop-up the dummy so Iron Man could combo another set of them.
Originally, this clip was a bit longer; but I shortened it to fit with the song once I had most of the video's skeleton edited.
#2 Combo_Silver_Samurai34:
Again, I wanted to thank Anotak and Lord_Yoshi for the camera script as it enhanced the content a great deal in my opinion. It was cool to see what's actually going on during some of the combo setups taking place.
As for the combo-idea in this clip: this was mine, but it was a deviation from an idea Joo had about doing a mid-screen FSD using Hayato (which is later in the video). I thought Blackheart's HK-Demons could be used to put the dummy into standing-position, from which the point character could FSD.
The reason I used Silver Samurai is because his sweep animation is very wide, and thus FSD-Dash would cancel his sweep's recovery and allow him to follow-up. Also, he's one of the few characters who has a special/super that can cause Flying Screen in the air like that. I wanted to use him because of the visual of having the character fly away from his super, only to be caught and trapped by Blackheart's falling HK-Demons.
The FSD combo was a little difficult because the positioning has to be just-right or else Silver Samurai will be too far away to follow-up, or he will be too-centered in the screen for his sweep to be FSD-Dash canceled.
#3 Combo_Doom48:
It was Joo's idea to use the Y-Boost from the downward air dash to push Sentinel into the Photon Array, and then use the Y-Boost from flight mode's activation to pull Sentinel up and allow Doom to follow-up.
Doom's flight mode cancels his specials while they're still animating, so it's a special technique that only he can do. The relaunch after the Photons involved using the Y-Boost from activating flight as well.
#4 Situation_MagnetoDhalsim_Cable:
This is a Dreamcast-only scenario. The Alpha Counter bug doesn't exist in the PS2 version. I used Lord_Yoshi's MvC2 Cheat Engine Trainer to create the DC clips.
The last part of the clip where Dhalsim comes in from behind Cable during his counter has a 1 in 4 chance of happening, but is also affected by the frame skip cycle.
#5 Combo_Marrow35:
This was Joo's idea by in large as well -- he thought of using the Bonemerang projectile to juggle Roll in the air long enough for Marrow to follow-up.
I thought War Machine could be used as an assist because it was something Joo used in his DVD for his Spider-Man combo. War Machine's assist comes out pretty fast, and depending on when and where the dummy is hit, it can juggle them for a bit.
The post-Flying Screen stuff was a lot of strict links that are only possible on Roll. Joo wanted to me to keep the combo going for a bit (to show his DVD Marrow combo follow-up), but I had to end it for the editing of the video.
#6 Situation_Sentinel_Ryu:
Originally, this was going to be a larger clip. I realized at some point that it would be better for time and editing if I just demonstrated the centerpiece-idea of the clip and moved along. It was actually a new way of approaching this kind of stuff for me, and it felt weird to end a clip right away.
Anyway, this clip shows a particular ability/property in the game involving auto-block. If the dummy Super Jumps into an attack really low to the ground, they'll have a special kind of auto-block that allows them to block anything for a short while.
In this case, Ryu blocks Sentinel's flying-HK while crouching by simply holding Down. There is an unseen timer for how long this ability lasts, but while it's active, the character can only press directions or PP for dashing; any attack buttons will not register during this time. The end was inspired by Satsujin 2.
#7 Combo_RubyHeart48:
Since I finished Chaos Dimension, I had a few combo ideas in the back of my mind. They were all DC-only ideas, and since at the time (2015) there was no way of programming DC-content, I could never do them. So when Lord_Yoshi released his macro creation tool, I was really eager to try this idea, as well as the Shuma-Gorath combo at the end of the video.
This setup was something I wanted to experiment with, and I thought Ruby Heart could be used because of her unique traveling-ability using her Schwarzeile bug (which is also DC-only).
The last few parts of the combo were like a sequence of dominoes:
After her Super-Schwarzeile's unfly bug, the ghost hits, which allows her to combo her chain, which allows her to combo her sweep, which causes a bug where the dummy is moved to the right during OTG-Stun, which allows her LK-Sublimation to combo -- but Start/pausing is used to change the way it hits -- allowing her chain to combo.
I was really happy with how the clip turned out. I felt like I properly-showed the DC-only bug by surrounding it with a bunch of other DC-only stuff.
#8 Combo_Storm70:
I don't remember when I thought of this, but it occurred to me that it might be possible to do an air-to-ground with Storm using her unique floating ability.
I had forgotten that she can affect her movement while attacking in the air no matter what -- as a result, the flying-LP semi-infinite is possible. During each flying-LP, a certain direction is held in order to move her into position for the next attack.
Unflying and following-up is also unique for her -- the input to Unfly was HP --> QCB+KK. This causes her to automatically do a flying-HK and then automatically unfly. From there, I had to wait about 4 or 5 frames before inputting the air-dash as it would result in her doing the lightning ball since the inputs overlap.
So after unflying and dashing, it was about experimenting when to tap "Up" in order to fast-fall out of her air-dashing momentum. I think the timing ended up being right before or after the input of her HP. From there, it was doing the same for the HK -- she had to fall enough where she'd be lower than the dummy, but still close enough to do a HK.
Originally, the combo was done vs Cable, but his hitbox didn't allow for an air-to-ground from the very top of the screen -- only mid-height or so.
After landing, the follow-up was Joo's idea: he wondered if she could combo multiple SJ.LK-> SJ.HKs while falling from the very top of the screen. In order to position her this way, it was necessary to do a S.HP before launching Commando.
Similarly, following-up required strict timing on when and for-how-long to press "Up" in order to fall down with Commando. I was surprised I could get 3 HKs while falling -- the last one required very strict timing.
Joo also wondered if it were possible to do x3 Lightning Attack -> Lightning Storm. The position was strict because it required Commando to be below Storm, but not too high-up or the super would not connect.
#9 Situation_Gambit-PsylockeDan:
I put this clip in Chaos Dimension, and I really wish I could have shown it this way back then. However back then, I didn't have any idea how to move the MvC2 camera using Cheat Engine.
When I started to create very basic camera animations during the Dhalsim project, I kept thinking of how I might be able to do something like this. Eventually Anotak and Lord_Yoshi's camera script allowed me to realize very-custom camera movements down to the frame.
I had some hesitation about including the identical clip again, but I figured it was worth it for the camera movement.
#10 Combo_RubyHeart34:
This was another DC-only clip idea I had in 2015. Around then I discovered how to prevent Ruby Heart's Schwarzeile bug from freezing the game. I'm still not 100%-sure why, but it has to do with the stage and the characters alive at the time of the bug.
The input is doing Down-Right+LP+LK+Start during her Schwarzeile. This input is the 'magic one' which typically freezes the machine/console. However it's possible to have a different result where she changes sprites and possesses a giant hitbox during it.
Using Lord_Yoshi's hitbox-viewer, it's possible to see that her hitbox is at least the size of the entire screen during this time.
#11 Combo_BBHoodHayato25:
This clip was originally done by Jadon Brown in a bug compilation video. However using Cheat Engine to move the camera, I was able to show it in a different way. Both Strider and Ken have moves that cause them to float upwards while being hit by B.B. Hood's super.
In this case, Strider's teleporting-kick lets him come down after going a certain height. The entire combo looks strange as it is, but I thought the camera-movement stuff would enhance how it looked.
The reason I countered into Hayato's AAA was because I saw it in Satsujin 2. It's a unique animation, and it was a way of paying homage to the video.
#12 Combo_Charlie22:
At some point I found that Anakaris could also do the super-quick SJ -> 2HK technique that Doom has. I kept thinking of ways to incorporate it into the video, and this clip came about from me wanting to use Joo's idea of Anakaris high-Jumping LK stuff.
When Joo pitched the idea of Anakaris doing a jumping-kick from the top of the screen, I tested what/who could hit him out of it. It turns out that both of Anakaris' kicks have very good priority and will beat out most attacks.
The only way to actually hit Anakaris' foot is to go from behind, or have him kick an assists character and wait for the active-frames to finish.
Anyway, Charlie was one of the few characters who could both hit Anakaris and get a special follow-up. Charlie has one of the highest Super Jump heights, so it was special-to-him for that as well.
The follow-up combo was something I sorta did in Chaos Dimension using Guile and Doom.
#13 Combo_Sentinel64:
Sentinel can keep juggling the character by delaying his flying-HP after a flying-LP at the top of the screen.
The flying-LP has enough stun that the dummy will fall a little before being hit by the flying-HP, allowing Sentinel to Unfly and follow up, continuing the whole thing again.
I ended up recording the clip to 64 hits, but for the editing of the video, I thought it would be cool to start it at the same number that the Charlie combo ended.
#14 Situation_Cyclops_Akuma:
I felt unsure if I should use this clip because I've shown this idea in the past -- including in this video with Magneto-Dhalsim vs Cable.
This result isn't always guaranteed, and I'm not sure why. It might be because of the stage or characters -- it's that type of unknown.
Anyway, Akuma was countered in on the same frame Cyclops' MOB super flash took place. This allows Akuma to move across the entire screen, avoiding the super.
#15 Situation_Charlie_Zangief:
This bug was unique to Charlie and Zangief. While other Hyper-Armor characters can be hit by this, only Zangief can follow-up. Similarly, Charlie can't be hit by attacks while he's recovering from his throw, but Zangief's grab still connects anyway.
I believe I found this clip around the same time as I did the previous one -- Cyclops-Akuma. I thought that for the sake of editing, I should have both clips result in a kill. That type of thing is how I used to record clips since like 2005, but I hadn't done that since Chaos Dimension.
#16 Combo_Ryu38:
This was probably Joo's best/most-technical idea. He came up with it around the time that Super Jump Install was found by Anotak.
The idea can only work if both Flying Screen Install and Super Jump Install are active. Ryu is in Super Jump mode (because of SJI) when he is tagged in; and his Hadouken can set Flying Screen because of FS-Install.
Omega Red was the dummy because he can be swept by Ryu while he is in spin-stun. Moreover, the position of the whole thing was super-hard to get because of how tight the follow-up window is. I remember this clip took awhile to do for that reason.
Anyway, it's only 2-3 hits, but there's a lot of technical stuff behind it; and it reminded me of Joo's Ryu-FSD from his DVD vs Ruby Heart.
#17 Situation_Dhalsim_Juggernaut:
The main idea of this clip was showing the auto-block technique in a different way. This time, the character blocked a super point blank while dashing forward. Again, there is a small window after Super Jumping into an attack where the character can block anything -- and most of the time it's automatic, i.e., no direction is necessary.
The second part of the clip showed something that I did in a combo video in 2005. I thought I could replicate the setup using Charlie, and since his Somersault doesn't send the dummy up as high as Cable's Psimitar, Juggernaut could follow-up.
#18 Combo_Magneto32:
I had this idea a while ago when I started messing with the side-switching during same-frame-DHCs. Again, I'm not sure exactly why they happen and not happen sometimes, but when it worked, I built a combo around it.
At first the ending was different, but when I started consolidating the clips I realized I could merge the FSD idea with the HP-infinite vs Sentinel.
The infinite is pretty hard to program as there is no wiggle room in any of the timings. It's not possible to air dash down sooner because Magneto will be facing the opposite side of Sentinel, and thus go through forced-turn around frames when he lands -- preventing the HP from connecting.
As a result, Magneto has to dash about 6 or 7 frames after jumping in order to face the corner -- from there, the HP is a just-frame-link.
Finally, although it's not shown, Sentinel's Dizzy Meter was set to about 32 instead of 80 in order to spin him out sooner. I wanted to show the Hyper-Grav property where it's possible to cause spin-out/dizzy using specials or supers during the few frames after the character mashes out of it.
In this case, the E.M. Disruptor hit right when Sentinel mashed out of the Hyper-Grav, but before he recovered.
#19 Combo_Bison_Doom10:
I did a variation of this combo for Chaos Dimension, but I never used it. I believe I remade this clip a short time after I had the updated camera-movement script. I realized that I could make some kind of fancy camera animation to show exactly-what's going on during this setup.
It took a while because I can't see the whole screen zoomed out while I'm programming the clip. So I had to observe the position-addresses of both Bisons to get an idea how high the 2nd Bison was, and how long I'd have to do the Doom setup.
It was hard to get the whole thing to work; but once it did, I wasn't even sure what to do. I simply had Bison do a Skull Dive, then Snapback. I figured the main idea was the elaborate setup and camera movement.
This ended up being perfect for the credits. I wasn't sure where or how I'd fit the clip into a fast-paced song, but luckily Death Scythe had that great lull in the middle of it. Best of all, I was able to re-time the Bison clip to better-fit the song, which was something I didn't expect would be possible.
#20 Combo_Hayato_Dhalsim33:
This idea was Joo's. He was interested in setting up a mid-screen FSD with Hayato because he can do his dashing-HP to set characters back into standing. Once again, Omega Red was used because he can be swept and hit out of spin-stun while falling.
The clip starts with Hayato doing a dragonpunch, canceled into his super which causes upward Y-Boost. Dhalsim's prevents Omega Red from flying too far away.
This allows Hayato to combo a dashing-HP which causes the special kind of freeze stun from which airthrows are comboable.
The Yoga Fire that was switched from Jumping to Super Jumping state after his air throw. This is a unique ability to Dhalsim. He can switch from Jumping to SJ after his air throw by holding down. As a result, the Yoga Fire set Flying Screen.
From there, Hayato's dashing-HP hit right before Omega Red landed. This was super-hard to set up because Hayato's dash doesn't last very long, and thus he had to press HP in order to get his special-HP. The Yoga Fire caused a bit of knock-back, so Omega Red would still be too high for him to get hit by Hayato's dashing-HP.
What made it harder was having to input Dhalsim's Teleport command while doing Hayato's stuff. In order to follow-up after the dashing-HP, Dhalsim had to get involved since Hayato has a huge recovery.
Moreover, I had to get Omega Red out of the corner so that the mid-screen FSD idea could actually occur. It's possible to pass through characters during histop, so while Dhalsim is hitting Omega Red, Hayato is automatically pushed through.
The actual combo to doing the FSD afterwards was really easy. Hayato's 2HK/Sweep has a wide sprite, and therefore will not be in 100% focus during the FSD sequence. As a result, he gets FSD-Dashed back into the screen while remaining near Omega Red; letting him combo a 2LK.
#21 Situation_Iceman_ShumaGorath:
I had a few clips where some characters hit Shuma-Gorath's super using their normals, but I thought it'd be funny to have the final hit be Iceman's icefist, which involves a complicated setup.
Moreover Shuma-Gorath's super is random, so sometimes the Icefist wouldn't hit, or it would hit the wrong eyeball. Randomness is affected by both players' inputs, so it was challenging to get the final result.
#22 Combo_Rogue12:
This was one of the last clips I did. I was running out of ideas and I ended up watching Variable Atmosphere 1 and 2. While watching the first one, I saw that clip of Rogue vs Mech Zangief, and thought if I could do anything with it -- and I got the idea of doing a continuous combo using two Rogues - one with Hyper Armor.
The actual combo ended up being really easy to do since the PCSX2 Emulator lets you advance one frame at a time. The dummy-Rogue's QCF+P attack had to be timed just before the throw's hitstop finished. If done right, the combo meter remains, and it's possible to keep doing this.
While editing the video, I ended up doing the palette swap technique in the clip -- however I felt like it didn't' fit the song, so I removed it and just went with default-color Rogue vs LK-color Rogue.
#23 Situation_Blackheart_Servbot:
It was accidental, but I had the idea for this clip, right after I did the next one, the Anakaris-Wolverine situation. It was even-more accidental that they fit in the video the way they did.
Anyway, I thought that No-Damage clips would be cool, and it would be interesting to have one clip where it looks like almost-nothing is being done to avoid something juxtaposed with another clip where both characters doing a ton of movements to avoid each other.
So since Blackheart's Armageddon super is random, I tried having Servbot stay still while trying to control the super's RNG/dispersion. I ended up having to dash twice with Servbot, but I'd stop him as soon as I could to keep him looking still.
#24 Situation_Anakaris_Wolverine:
One of my favorite clips from Chaos Dimension was the Anakaris-Wolverine clip. I wanted to recreate it for this one using Anakaris' quick-SJ-2HK technique. I figured it would be possible to use Wolverine's speed up to have him go under Anakaris.
It was kind of slow-going to program it because the entirety of Anakaris' inputs are a just-frame input sequence; there's no room for any wrong-inputs. As a result, I had to do trial-and-error on Wolverine's side while maintaining track of Anakaris' inputs in my head.
Anyway, it took a while to do the clip because of how slow the process was -- I remember I finished one loop of the clip then played it back in real time, and it was only like 1 second long.
When I finally got to the Coffin Drop portion of the clip, I wanted to see if I could change it from the version in Chaos Dimension. I also wanted 'a way out' of the clip, so I had Ruby Heart available to do her Schwarzeile and have Wolverine duck under it.
I really like how the clip turned out, and it was serendipitous the way it fit into the editing of the overall final video.
#25 Combo_Sentinel37:
I had this setup back in 2019 while doing the Dhalsim Revisited video. I accidentally found it was possible while trying something else -- and I saved the idea for a combo video.
There's only one frame to do this, and sometimes the frame doesn't exist, therefore pausing is necessary. When it's done right, the characters projectile ends up coming out from the other side. In this case, I had to use Cable as the dummy because Sentinel could actually Tech Hit back into the corner which is what I needed for the follow-up. Usually characters will Tech Hit away from the dummy, but Cable's throw is special.
The rest of the combo was something I had in mind before I did the setup. I wanted to show the Plasma Storm DHC into Captain Sword in a combo video for a while now. I believe Joo showed me this in 2009, and I wanted to put it in something at some point since.
As for the palette swapping: I wanted to mention that I went out of my way to not do any until the editing process started. It would have been way too much work to do it for each one, and only utilize it for one or two clips in the final video. As a result, I didn't do Sentinel or Magneto's palette swaps until I had most of the video already edited.
I feel like the song and the near-end of the video helps the palette swaps look better. As I went through the combo frame by frame, I noticed that Sentinel's Hard Drive super has a frame where his fire engulfs his sprite, acting as a spot for switching palettes.
#26 Situation_MegamanServbotStrider_Storm:
This was one of the earliest clips I did. In fact, I believe I've had this since early-2019. At that time, the video was just called "Inchoate" as I didn't have any idea what would happen in terms of a combo video.
Anyway, I remember doing this clip because I thought of Variable Atmosphere 2 where Storm kicks all of Servbot's super. I figured that with the emulator, I'd have more wiggle room to systematically try every move on every possible frame.
Eventually I found a pattern I could use, so I figured I could combine Megaman and Strider into it to create one super-long No-Damage sequence. Also, for the very end, I wanted to show that it's possible to Super Jump Cancel every move when it hits a projectile -- in this case, it was Storm's CR.MP being Super Jump Canceled.
I ended up slowing the video down quite a bit during this time so the CR.MP would register.
#27 Combo_Shuma47:
This combo was inspired by Jadon Brown's bug compilation video -- and I ended up doing a different version using program pads on DC for Chaos Dimension. I was basically disappointed with the combo in CD because it would have been excruciatingly difficult and time-consuming to figure out just-exactly how and what Shuma-Gorath can do while Dhalsim is constantly mash-taunting.
The setup involves doing the two-character glitch to both Dhalsim and Sentinel. As a result, once Sentinel lands, he has to be hit and comboed. After the combo ends, Sentinel will leave, and he will not be able to be called back on-screen since Dhalsim is constantly taunting.
This meant that every iteration had to be setup again from the start (going back to Character Select). I remember the DC-Version of the combo took forever to do, and it was no where near as elaborate or long as this one.
I remember Lord_Yoshi posted something about creating a macro-script mid-2020, and this idea was the very first one that popped up into my head.
So when I finally did the combo, I spent like 3 hours screen-recording my window and just trying to figure out what was possible during the bug. I used save states to constantly get back to where I was, and would write down what was possible. For example, doing a CR.LK and holding down for 5 frames lets Shuma-Gorath go under Sentinel. Or that Shuma-Gorath can't SJ and follow-up with heavy attacks, just LP since it's so fast.
Anyway, once I had the rehearsal done, I tried to program a real combo and that also took a while because of how chaotic and finicky this setup is.
I wasn't planning on ending it with the Chaos Dimension, but mid-way through I had the idea to use Ruby Heart to capture Sentinel with her chain, stopping Dhalsim as a consequence -- this allowed Shuma-Gorath to activate his super and go from there.
When I finished the combo, I knew that it was going to be the last or first combo to any video I'd do. However, it was also recorded in the Factory stage, not the Abyss stage.
When I was exploring the BGMs with my clips, I found that the Shuma-Gorath combo fit the end of the song perfectly, so I based my editing around getting to the end. Moreover, I felt like I should re-record the clip in the Abyss stage and have it break when Shuma-Gorath/Dhalsim accelerated.
Honestly, I can't believe the synergy of everything. I planned some of it, and sorta prepared for its existence, but I had to mess around with editing the clips to different songs and placing them accordingly.
I wish I had used this version of the combo somewhere in Chaos Dimension because of the name and everything. However, it was an accident that I finished this video a few days before November 5th, which is the day on which I released Chaos Dimension in 2017.
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