Everybody Has an Auto-Pilot While Playing the Fighting Game

streamed Sep. 11-12, 2023
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#FGC #Sajam #SF6 #StreetFighter

[@joshuaworden274]

2:40 I did classical singing (like opera) in college, and they taught that the main value of getting lots of reps of high-quality practice was so that when you are on stage, the nerves kick in, and your lizard-brain starts taking over, your body has all that muscle memory as a baseline to default to. The better your practice, the better that default becomes. I think about that all the time while I'm in training mode.

[@hands-ongaming7180]

👏😘💋📲

[@deadfr0g]

If good execution is like good singing, you should see how tone-deaf my hands are!

[@djoakeydoakey1076]

I remember something about the England football team not practicing penalty kicks. Because you can't create the anxiety and tension of doing penalty kicks on a world stage, so they didn't do it. You have something to say Google? "England have been involved in 10 penalty shootouts over three different competitions since 1990, and they have only won three of them. This gives them a win rate of only 30 per cent, which is incredibly low for such a strong side."

[@the0therethan]

i’m constantly shocked by how many similarities there are between improving as a fighting game player and improving as a classical musician. Every time I learn something new in one I can somehow apply it to the other!!

[@notatrueroute]

just got back from my local, I was pressuring some guy in the corner and he got really nervous and just started singing opera music at me

[@Michael_Raymond]

Sajam just instantly roasting the viewer chatting about random sweeps is S tier content

[@Harridas]

9:19 Love it

[@DefinitelyNotAnImportantPerson]

As a new fighting game player (started GBVSR in April 2024) I was deadass thinking to myself that sweep and spot dodge were my bad habit/autopilot moves; hearing that viewer's comment had me dying.

[@no_nameyouknow]

The trick is making sure your auto-pilot isn't flawed. For example a common thing that happens, has happened to me, is I develop an auto-pilot climbing the ranks of a game, then once I get to a certain point the things that used to just work turn out to have pretty reliable answers if the opponent is fast/smart enough. At these times you need to adjust your baseline to consider the previously reliable thing as more of a risk and something only to use sparingly.

[@limmel3588]

Your comment made me realize I need to drop DI from my auto pilot

[@lizabeth529]

nope do it just fuckin do it it always works@@limmel3588

[@Mx_Sneezy]

I’m glad it’s a pretty universal thing that people have autopilots when playing fighting games. I conditioned myself into thinking that autopiloting at any point was bad and that it was a habit that I needed to break altogether.

[@brian_cream]

The only bad thing is not being able to break from your autopilot. If you notice you can't stop auto piloting something you're probably tired like sajam said.

[@blodia-]

That Manon haircut really fits Patrick

[@miista9298]

Shirt change jumpscare 3:58

[@haircutregrets294]

High school chemistry teacher here. I've always stressed to my students that chemistry is more something you practice, less something you memorize and I've incorporated how people get better at games (and just stuff in general) into improving in my class. It's nice to get a summary of how to approach telling them what's important to focus on.

[@LordHeishin]

Think you're slick, eh? We know that's you, ChrisT. You can't hide from us 🥸

[@monapon8169]

Core-A Gaming made a good video on the same topic: "Playing, Fast and Slow" But it's more on the theory side and lacks practical advice like this video gives. Thank you Sajam, I'll try focusing on improving my autopilot

[@elk2594]

Good lesson Sajam, I really needed this. I've always wondered why Rocket League clicked for me while fighting games kind of don't, but I think it's because in RL I had a good auto-pilot after I learned about player rotations, so I always have a feel for what I should be doing and looking for, but I don't really have that in SF yet. I think I have a much better understanding that the goal of footsies is to maintain a distance rather than constantly walk back and forth into your opponents range, because if you're too obvious about the timing and are moving around even when your opponent is standing still, they can just predict the timing and hit you when you walk into range. I think having these good "micro-habits" for each situation will make the game much more fun for me.

[@lowtempg0d]

i watched this video on autopilot and now i have to watch it again :(

[@dsPrimity]

finna train my autopilot by going into long sets hella drunk

[@WeedSmoker69]

your autopilot bout to be the drunken master

[@kevingriffith6011]

Found the Jamie main.

[@bubbulious]

3:59 Man has been spending those drive tickets, good look

[@brian_cream]

Standing MP > crounching MP is not a real string for ryu but until almost diamond everyone respects it because it looks real. This made me develop the bad habit of doing this string as a pressure tool because if it was real it would be really good. This habit is killing me now that people call it out. So start building good habits early. Don't make your autopilot something disrespectful, keep your pressure tight unless you know your opponent is sloppy.

[@jonathanpryor1077]

I played someone like that in platinum recently. I thought the fact that I kept punishing would make them shift from using DI, but they just kept throwing it out there

[@wiiwaremania]

"Who random sweeps?" Every Ken main to drive rush lmfao

[@ggpt9641]

Really valuable insight on adjusting pokes in midscreen and handling mental stack before that. Thanks Sajam!

[@eebbaa5560]

for some reason, sf6 is the first time i feel like i've ever developed a decent autopilot in a game. i suck at literally every single game i play, but i got platinum in sf6 on rashid after only a week of playing ranked. i know it's not that good of a rank, but it's the highest rank i've ever been in a game before. i'm dogshit at league and every fps i've played, but i feel like fighting games have really distinct reference points, at least a low level, since the only thing that matters is you and the other person. once you learn how to control your character, all that matters is the mental game. if you're doing something bad, you get hit for it and it gets easier to see with practice. i feel like i've gotten pretty good at picking up on other players' autopilots and i've noticed and changed bad habits like always jumping after a throw tech even though i wasn't really getting punished for it. i'm playing a new character now, but eventually i'm going to push for diamond. sf6 is the first time i've actually felt like i'm improving at something, so i'm eager to face higher-level players and hopefully keep getting better. and hopefully, i'll be able to translate these skills to other games too.

[@tiredofinternetculture]

Im almost gold with dhalsim! Your rank is just where you need to be imo. I gradually get better and thats good enough! Yooooooooogaaaaaaa yoooogaaa yoga

[@kaleidoslug7777]

All I have to say about that endcard is *Bear Seek Seek Lest*

[@irurwurst]

playing elden ring arena 1v1s while listening to this and trying to translate the concepts to the game, tangent at the end was great

[@JupiterExileYT]

Damn, I was sittin' here thinking up the wording to a question to level up my Guile and then you drop that Guile has a rough time initiating - yup. I find my struggle is that if I get too aggressive with long pokes, I eat a DI. All my cancelable normals are stubby, so there's a sort of dead range between my great pokes and my real moneymakers. I think the answer is to use drive dash to cover my bad distance if I want to go from the long game to the infight, so I'm working on that. Playing Guile, I've felt the climb is 60% knowing their game plan, 20% my game plan, and 20% input consistency. The road to master series has been really informative as far as "this character wants to do X", and has been a great resource in my road to mastery, so tyvm. Keep hitting those touch-of-death sass combos on the chatters, they're way too greedy.

[@TrophyJourney]

Sajam just explained the whole concept of footsies in 1 minute and 12 seconds, from 4:40 to 5:52. That's actually impressive!

[@snkenjoyer4989]

outer wilds in the thumbnail 🎉

[@ultraboy971]

I feel like I'm the opposite. Most of the time I play a fighting game, I completely focus on it, to the point where any distractions get me upset or mad because it "breaks" my concentration. I realize that I'm just investing too much into the game, but I can't help it, I guess. Developing an auto-pilot would definitely take the stress out of a match though, for sure.

[@TenjinZekken]

I disagree. There are enough things in the game that no matter how much auto pilot, there's airways room to reapply your concentration on something you couldn't before. Anyone who is regularly playing to get better will try to focus Developing autopilot isn't about focusing less, but focusing on new things. For example, you may think that by thinking during combos, you're not autopilot, but that's not true. A beginner may have to use their focus on timing of each hit if the combo, a better player doesn't, and instead thinks about which move to combo into, while auto piloting the move itself, already thinking about the next move. I bet there are specific things you will find autopilot yourself. You may shimmy back and forth in neutral on autopilot whole you think about your approach. You might hold down back automatically after a blocked triple jab instead of considering a DR pressure extend or a neutral jump. You might autopilot a buffer on your whiff punish move. Even things like hitting the right move at the right range can be autopilot where a beginner is constantly measuring their position using elements on the screen, throwing fireballs when ur full screen et etc. As a newer member of the FGC, I can confidently say that I now autopilot my qc motions where for a long time I had to manually think about lifting my down input on hitbox to get a clean qc. Autopilot can be really small things, but the point is that there no shortage of things you can focus on in most games.

[@ultraboy971]

When you put it that way, then yeah, when it comes to inputs or certain combos or setups, and what buttons to press at certain ranges, then yeah I'd say I do most stuff on autopilot. I'm more so talking about being aware of the things that are happening outside of the game, like when Sajam looks at chat, or starts talking about what he ate for breakfast or something. I have a bad habit of tunnel visioning when I'm playing, so i dont notice any new opportunities. I think it's important to have a distraction to break away from that tunnel visioning; it's like taking a step back and re-evaluating what went wrong and what went right. That's just me, though.

[@TenjinZekken]

@@ultraboy971 This is fairly natural, and why VOD review is so important. It's so much easier to analyze what you're doing when you're not doing it. When people have bad games, the best time to review it is right after the session, or even right after the game so you can put it in your next game. People do this in every game. Big esports teams have analysts dedicated to reviewing their vods to review as a team, and I'd say 90% of tournament level FGC player probably watches their vods. Don't forget that streamers you watch have more or less practiced the art of half paying attention. It's part of their job to interact with chat, and make the stream worth watching over say, a youtube VOD, so it's not fair to compare yourself to that. The vast majority of people are like you, and (try to) focus on one thing at a time.

[@billmore6486]

I didnt know what auto pilot is until you described it. I played a ton of smash 4 and realized i forget matches i played. Felt like i was playing subconsciously. It also happens if I talk while playing cant think about game decisions anymore

[@Roze_aye]

My biggest problem is that I almost only auto pilot. I can recognize a flaw in my gameplay right now. im going to hit 2 lps,light spinning mixer, and then grab. I do this a lot. no matter what. and i can identify that its predictable, not optimal, i should try incorperating a cr. lk in the string, etc. but no matter what, it never occurs to me to fix it mid match. i will see myself do it in a match. and the only time i will think "dont do that" is after its done. but NEVER mid fight

[@morganswampcroft1119]

i have been recording my practice from the very start and i literally have an informal graph put together where i can see the improvement on my autopilot and how much of it revolves around sweep. i keep refining and improving and the peak every single time so far before i stagnate can be summarized as "hehe sweep go brrr" as jamie, followed by "i have to stop relying on sweep so much", before ascending back to deploying sweep better! but still too much. i thought swapping to another character for a bit might break me out of that habit but guile's sweep is also *really fun* its just the fun button! i like it!

[@PressureCooker69]

need more strategy videos, the next plateau is near

[@golden2night]

I’m always on autopilot until I notice one thing and go “oh yeah” then it’s back to autopilot but with that one thing in mind

[@CharlesPlaine]

After really studying Krackatoa vid on neutral, this video supplements that very nicely. I think this will improve my neutral in the coming weeks. Thanks, broham.

[@jefflevy606]

i say this every video but god damn moste’s thumbnails are godlike

[@nerdwarp112]

I always go into autopilot mode if I’m talking to someone while playing a game. I was having some matches against a friend the other day and we were talking about work but I just kept on jumping backwards because I couldn’t think of what to do while also trying to have a conversation.

[@Mene0]

5:00 till 6min ish is a pretty good summary

[@SoulSaber06]

A great game that forces you to turn off the auto pilot is GVS MBON. You won't land basic Beam Rifles or Gerobis unless you study your opponent's patterns and strike their preferred landing. Likewise, if you want to dodge a player that's studying you, you have to vary your landing too. Ofc there are some cheat weapons that break neutral and force interactions but it's not too different from traditional fighting games at that point.

[@jadedbreadncircus9159]

Getting over Snes SF2 heavy sweeps took longer than I expected. I made it to Gold by removing mistakes & bad habits, & just getting used to using all the tools Ken has. Now that it's character knowledge grind, I find myself experimenting in casual more. Burning myself out & going in the corner on purpose is what I'm on tonight.

[@trenonian2124]

Veritasium's video "The Science of Thinking" comes to mind. Gun is Ken and Drew is Ryu. Make Ryu put in the work so Ken can just go ham.

[@Mage_Nichlas_]

I noticed this happening live a couple days ago. I was in the Battle Hub and played a decent length set against a rando and it was pretty evenly matched. My problem was after 4 games I watched myself just doing the worst flowchart. I was actively saying outloud that I know for a fact he was going to jump but I throw Sonic Boom anyways and get bopped. Not only that, I sweep too much in very obvious patterns and I was doing the *exact* same blockstring 95% of the time despite it not working for the last 5 games.

[@Silversk3108]

outer wilds reference LETSGOOOO

[@NightPwnGaming]

I don’t think I’ve ever had a Ken do heavy kicks

[@pluviaaeternum]

I thought my headphone was going to hell, I think there's something wrong with the audio.

[@BLKCLVR]

I know this wasn't the point of the video, but as a very new fighting game player, this is very useful information on how to approach neutral. Thank you.

[@Boss-lp9ce]

Why does the audio volume of his videos sound perfectly fine, but the stream audio is so low? 😂

[@genejas]

he has an editor

[@richman6974]

Something that I really like doing (sometimes to my detriment) is instant air-dash button because I started in DBFZ. In Strive, AD is not as quick so I often get stuffed and counterhit and die, it's a habit I try to not fall on but it's honestly pretty hard.

[@nonuvurbeeznus795]

mine is neutral DI for some reason. just cant stop pressing DI.

[@TwentySeven1337]

I appreciate the talk about Demon's Souls 2 and I agree

[@divertiti]

Speaking of Super, he's been playing SF6 and is in Diamond. Sajam you should do a joint stream with him and coach him

[@Mr.Faust3]

auto pilot is huge problem for me my neutral is completely predictable

[@luisbo3]

Pretty sure Core A Gaming made a vid about this. Play fast/slow?

[@aster-sama]

I’ve been training my Cammy and I’ve ranked in Diamond 1, but I am slowly falling down in Platinum 5. I’ve studied, I’ve labbed, I’ve adapted my play style, it feels like i’ve done everything, but I’m constantly losing to the average scumbag; players who i can tell are on autopilot. I’m complaining but the average ranked player makes this game not fun and I don’t know what to do at this point.

[@Fanatic.....1]

I'm willing to help you what's your gamertag? Or discord?

[@phillipfry8141]

literally just keep jumping around. Auto-pilots work if you are predictable, but if keep neutral jumping, or jumping back, or deliberately jumping over them, then they have to completely stop what they're doing, it makes people blue screen, because they have to make a conscious effort to anti-air you. (because you aren't supposed to jump around like an idiot, it fucks up their plans because you're not "playing correctly.") Not ALL the time, by the way, don't just jump around like an idiot, but if someone bodies you with an obvious flow chart, and you just happened to guess wrong, then you have to prevent them from making you guess wrong, and the best way to do that is constantly run away from them (keep jumping back or neutral jumping), it's fucking annoying/frustrating to chase people, and it snaps them out of their flow-chart.

[@phillipfry8141]

this works ESPECIALLY well against characters like Honda or Blanka when they launch themselves at you, or Kimberly or Jamie because they like to do sweeps. If they catch on they will anti-air you, sure, but it's a great way of forcing an opponent to play YOUR game, not theirs.

[@aster-sama]

@@phillipfry8141 Yeah I kind of get what you’re saying. I’m just gonna takeaway the key points from this but thank you. If I have to get on their level to tame them and keep them under control then so be it. Watching pro players cruise through Diamond in one session so easily causes me to be a little envious, but it’s understandable when you think about how much experience they have. I try to do my best to replicate their craft.

[@aster-sama]

and coming from other fighting games, I’ve never had to be so patient fighting an opponent than I do in SF6. Running away from them is something I’m gonna have to learn.

[@laku-tikku554]

drive rush light spd is the zangief autopilot for me

[@DrSwazz]

Drive rush into jump backwards bc I missed the spd is my autopilot

[@laku-tikku554]

@@DrSwazz "OH SHIT I WHIFFED BETTER USE MY ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE, DRIVE IMPACT 4 TIMES IN NEUTRAL"

[@SquidwardProfilePic]

@@laku-tikku554 hey don’t disrespect the gief drive impact that thing gets me every time I swear

[@DrSwazz]

@@laku-tikku554 Giefs really end to overuse DI in neutral lmao. As long as it's not SnakeEyes I love fighting that guy.

[@laku-tikku554]

@@SquidwardProfilePic no disrespect meant. It's just something that I do (whiff spd into drive impact lol)

[@deathbringer9893]

as a hazama main if i auto pilot i will most likely die

[@littlemisseevee2309]

is there a way to improve my autopilot without mentally exhausting myself? I dont want to be playing til I’m tired anymore, it was a very unhealthy lifestyle I was leading when I did that and I dont wanna return to that

[@Istillduno]

I don't have a tent, can I play the game within house instead?

[@WutTheDeuceGaming]

2:59 I had a basketball coach that would always have us shoot free throws at the end of a practice, because that's when we ran suicides and stuff. Make a certain amount as a team, everyone has to shoot, and you get to run less or more depending on the results of the shots. It's about building your mental to a point you can be tired, yet still perform well.

[@ChibiMalzahar]

3:04 . This reminds me of how Steph Curry trains. If you don't know basketball, Steph Curry is the greatest shooter in the history by a *huge* margin. One of the reasons, is he apparently doesn't just practice his shot over and over (though there is a lot of that). Steph does a full cardio workout entirely separate from basketball drills, then practices shooting and dribbling again. That way, when he's tired late in games or taking an uncomfortable shot, his exhausted nervous system still has elite shooting and hand eye coordination. If you're curious what this looks like, there's video of Steph, exhausted at the end of practice, making over one hundred 3-pt shots in a row, at a pretty fast pace. And in games, he runs around so much the defense gets really tired, and his team exploits their bad decisions because of it.

[@chm2]

Optimal combos are all auto pilot.

[@huntergottlieb3943]

Sajam only made this video to brag about how he autopilots these characters to master. SMH these creators man.

[@El-Burrito]

I played again for the first time in a month or so. I'm getting two touched by Kimberlys and I need haaalp

[@The_Chuman]

Haven’t watched the video yet, but my game plan (when I go into the Ranked mode not with friends) is to auto pilot but actually takes notes and change. I will do consistent (basic) things but if it don’t work with this or that character then I cut it out and change. But you know, if The auto pilots works. The motto is if it ain’t broke, don’t fix.

[@Thienthan]

I wish I could play on auto-pilot when I play games. I'm always so focused when I play, cuz otherwise I'll actually play like complete garbage lolz

[@Artivulet]

Is there a process for building your autopilot from scratch?

[@JustAvery63]

yes, usually you want to find one good option for each basic facet of the game (neutral, blockstring, oki) and go from there. when your basic layer 1 dosent work figure out why and then plan a response to beat what they did to beat your layer 1

[@bobtag123dart]

Build a strong buffer into your game plan (Ryu crouch mk into tatsu is an example) then follow that up with strong meaty pressure and have a plan for if it hits or if it’s blocked. Repeat until your opponent hates you

[@WrathMilten]

Fight and lose! Then fight and win!

[@BlackCatGamingXIII]

Play more when you first start off everything is new so your brain needs to focus on everything, start with basic offense a basic combo, learn a buffer whatever you want the important thing is to then practice, practice your combo in training mode, practice the combo in matches, practice until your brain doesn't need to think about your basic offense as much and you can start thinking about other facets of gameplay. Once your basic offense is on autopilot you should have a decent understanding on what you're lacking next, maybe your opponent keeps jumping in on you so you learn your character basic anti air options, and again you practice, have the dummy jump at you at random times, play matches and focus on antiair rinse and repeat until basic antiairing is part of your autopilot. Eventually if you just play more and think about what you as a player are lacking and work on improving those facets you get better, your autopilot gets better.

[@janematthews9087]

As with everything in fighting games, first you figure out what phases of the match there are. Neutral, whiff punishing, block strings, bread and butter, meaties, oki, and anti airs. Find the buttons that correspond to each phases. Mediums usually slot into neutrals, heavies usually slot into whiff punishing, etc... Then it's a matter of practicing those buttons in training mode and in matches until the reactions are subconscious. Now here's the funny part. Once you get to higher levels, your opponents now have the same knowledge as you. Which they also know how to beat your autopilots. So now you have to do the other part of grind: knowing OTHER characters phases are. So now you bot only have to learn and improve on your character, but also know everyone else in the roster. Have fun with that.

[@Yinlock470]

not me because i'm bad

[@user-et3xn2jm1u]

This is why a lot of new players play so SLOW. High apm is a result of making your autopilot so strong that it can handle more and more complicated tasks. People with 300+ apm aren't making 5 decisions every second, they're making like one decision every second-few seconds and letting their trained habits handle the rest. You need to be able to spectate the game without your character turning into a training dummy or you'll get read like a book.

[@Micha-Hil]

The funniest thing is that Smash Ultimate is a super easy game for me *because* I autopilot, but for stuff like Street Fighter or Chess I have to think things through and I'll still probably lose. I haven't got to that "Ultra Instinct" stage yet.

[@g00dkid1]

I main Kim ofc im in auto pilot 😂

[@user-tn9tm8hk3x]

I’m sorry but dark souls 2 is peak every dark souls is peak

[@greatheightsu]

I will not hear DS2 slander from the man who refused to adapt in said game. You talk a big game when it comes to FG adaptation but refused to pick up a shield when your ADP was in the gutter. :(

[@oldtools6089]

i just shimmy. one-button modern humiliation on the top-poppin diamonds all day long.

[@BetaManicCommand]

Not a fighting game, but I pretty much do this when I play Genshin Impact for my dailies. I log in, get my materials, do my dailies, use up energy, and then log out in the span of 30 minutes.

[@AMnotQ]

This is called “wasting your time.”

[@skivvac]

you know Sajam's based cause he's a Dark Souls II hater

[@AyJayBeEm]

first...................awerrsome.,,,

[@AyJayBeEm]

saw it at 14 seconds.........lfg.....

[@Apkooi1]

Congrats bud! Love to see people getting joy in the small things

[@GamezPDD]

​@@AyJayBeEmKinda sad people need validation for something so pointless