Decision Making In Fighting Games
Decisions are typically bound to goals, and the goal in every game is to beat your opponents as quickly and efficiently as possible. In fighers you achieve this by, dealing the most damage, exposing yourself to the least risk, taking the most turns and controlling the game as much as possible. Hence you need to make the right choices more often than your opponent because in fighting games it can take as little as 3–4 wrong decisions to lose.
We will discuss why and how certain decisions are made, as well as how you can make them better. Decisions are too often made in the spur of the moment rather than being thought through objectively leading to inconsistent and undesirable results. To make better decisions you have to be deliberate and base your choices on relevant facts in order to improve your chances of getting the best results.
“Decision-making takes place in adopting the objectives and choosing the means and again when a change in the situation creates a necessity for adjustments. -Mary Cushing Nites”
The decisions made in fighting games are countless; Which string to use, what move to use, when to move, where to move to, which playstyles to use, when and what resource or reversal to use, what combo or ender to use etc. For this discussion, we will restrict ourselves to deciding on the best action to take after using a poke. The decision making process is the same for every kind of problem. When making a decision, you should start by clearly identifying what choice(s) need(s) to be made in the context of your overall goal, analysing relevant information, identifying your options, evaluating options objectively, choosing among options, taking action, then finally reviewing the outcomes of your decision and making adjustments where necessary.
Clearly Identify the Decision that Needs to be Made (1)
What is your objective? What is the issue or problem you are trying to resolve? You need to be sure of exactly what you want to decide on in the first place if you want to make the right choice. In this instance, the objective is to decide/identify the best option/action to take after using a Poke (Down+Square/D1) in Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate.
Analyse Relevant Facts and Information (2)
The foundation of any good decision is built on first principles, which are the fundamental truths or facts about something or situation. In this case, we will analyse the relevant properties of the D1 poke such as speed, recovery, hit advantage, block advantage, cancel advantage, hit level, pushback, etc, in the context of how they affect the attainment of our overall goal(s) in fighting games.
Note: For the start-up, the smaller number the faster the speed (Which is good). For recovery the larger the number, the slower the speed (Long recovery time is bad). For hit advantage the larger the number the better (More time to do whatever you want). For block properties the lower the negative (-ve) or higher the positive (+ve) the better (large/high –ve numbers are bad). For cancel advantage the higher the number the better.
The First Principles of Poking (with D1)
The facts displayed above form the basis of the metagame around D1 pokes which if not respected will likely lead to undesirable consequences. These rules of engagement are as follows;
a. After your D1 is blocked, you should block
b. After you block a D1, it is your turn to attack
c. After your D1 hits, It is your turn to attack
d. After you are hit by a D1, you should block
e. After your D1 whiffs(misses), you should block
Note: first principles typically vary from one fighter to next though the overall goals remain the same. For instance, in Street Fighter 5 when your crouching light punch (D1 equivalent) is blocked you get another turn because it generally advantage (+) and can lead to combos.
Turns and Trades
The concept of turns in fighting games is no different from that in board games like Chess or Checkers, the distinction is that while turns in board games are sequential, turns in fighting games are simultaneous such that opponents can independently decide to take turns sequentially, forfeit their turns and even steal turns. When two opponents take their turn at the same time there is a chance they will "trade" hits. This is why it's important that you take your turns promptly because even the slightest delay to take action can result in a lost turn.
Identify Different Options as Possible Solutions to the Problem (3)
With reference to relevant information available, you should identify a number of alternative solutions for your "problem". In this case, what action to take after using a D1 poke. Here are some of the most practical options in their best-case scenario.
Evaluate the Different Options Against Established Facts (4)
At this stage, you objectively evaluate the pros and cons of all the viable options in the context of your goal(s) or objectives. Risk-Reward is the ideal tool for weighing the merits and demerits of the options which may be both qualitative (like turns, positioning etc) and quantitative (like damage points)in nature. Let us compare the likely outcomes of the most viable options in their best and worst-case scenarios.
Select the Best Alternative (5)
The best option is that which attains or gets you closest to your goal(s). Viable options should be ranked according to their respective Risk-Reward potential from those with the least risk and highest reward to those with the highest risk and lowest reward (being the least desirable).
Based on the current evidence, blocking after a D1 poke is the best choice in most circumstances. if it’s blocked, the worst that would happen is that you get thrown, and you can even react/respond to the opponents action, also, if the D1 hits, you can hit confirm (after you block), and take any action of your choice!
Take Action (6)
Once you have made your choice, take action promptly, your success depends on it. Hesitation to act is as bad as taking no action at all because the window of opportunity in fighting games is literally milliseconds wide. Opportunity is not a sacred right, if you blink, you miss it, and it's gone with the wind.
Review Your Decision and Its Consequences (7)
After committing to an action(s), you should review the degree of success of your choice(s) against your expectations. This objective approach to decision making will yield relatively consistent results. Unfortunately, with time, human opponents catch on to patterns of behaviour, consequently, playing "by the book” for prolonged periods will make you extremely predictable to competent opponents. They will notice that you always choose the “optimal option” and preemptively counter or bait you into committing to actions they can exploit. Decision making should not be viewed only as a one-sided and static process but rather, as an interactive process between the two sentient players.
Game Theory and Fighting Games
Game Theory studies interactive decision making where the outcome of each participant or player depends on the actions of all. So when making decisions in fighting games and you choose a course of action or strategy, you must take into account the choices of your opponent(s). But by thinking about their choices, you must recognise that they are thinking about yours and trying to take into account your thinking about their thinking, and so on. (source🖱). Take this exchange from a ranked match for instance;
Note: When the Raiden is knocked down, he is at disadvantage while the Sindel is at advantage. Both Players need just one successful hit to win.
Sindel: wants to take her turn but is wary that the Raiden will counter her with either of 4 options.
Raiden: doesn’t want to commit to a high-risk option so he delays getup to see what action the Sindel commits to before choosing an action.
Sindel: walks forward into Raidens attack range making 1 of 3 remaining options very attractive then walks backwards to safety forfeiting her turn.
Raiden: commits to an action the moment he sees Sindel walk forward but whiffs because she walked back at the last second.
Sindel: punishes Raiden and wins the round!
Now let's consider the thought process behind a straightforward D1 poking scenario ;
Attacker: you D1 poke your opponent and are blocked, you EXPECT the "Defender" to reversal throw you, so you pre-emptively D1 again to interrupt the (PREDICTED) throw attempt.
Defender: you KNOW according to “the rules of engagement” you SHOULD reversal Throw after you block a D1 poke but realise that the Attacker EXPECTS that, so the you instead go for a string that will counter hit if the Attacker takes any action other than block [Defender wins exchange]
The following gameplay is from real exchanges in competitive ranked matches, to an undiscerning observer, the choices being made appear wrong and don’t make sense in the context of fact-based decision making.
Decision Making With Context
Viewing situations in the proper context is critical to making the right choices even in the simplest of situations. Imagine there's a fire that needs to be put out, everyone would rightfully think, get some water to put it out. For context, what if I told you it's an electrical fire? Water would not be such a good idea anymore, would it? Now let's revisit the Jax V Spawn clip with some context
Factors that Influence and Affect Decision Making
Competence and Ability: Both parties' competence or ability should be a consideration when making decisions. An incompetent opponent may not understand the intricacies of a situation and make decisions on pure instinct devoid of logic. Also, the inability of either party to utilise or execute a particular option properly means it shouldn't be considered as a threat or attack option.
Psychological Tendencies: if the opponent is naturally aggressive, passive, averse to risk or a gambler, these tendencies will influence the options they choose and in turn affect your choices when deciding on a counter play or strategy.
Mental state: the mental state of both participants affects whether they lean more to making decisions by intuition or based on insight. When calm, people tend to be more objective and delibrate with their actions but when they are anxious or under pressure they are more subjective and act more on gut feeling.
Experimentation: in a situation where you (or your opponent) have no tried and trusted answer to a problem(situation), you will have to experiment with different options till you find one with acceptable outcomes. Decisions under such circumstances are based on trial and error.
Experience: Your experiences from playing against multiple characters(matchups), opponents and different fighting games have a major impact on your default decision making.
Individual Habits: We all have peculiar habits which make us fall into patterns of behaviour and actions. These habits may be borne of logic or instinct, nevertheless, they affect the decision-making process of both parties involved.
Peculiar situations: In certain scenarios the perceived and actual risk-reward changes drastically, for instance, when there is limited time, either party is low on resources like meter, and health bar. These weigh heavy on the mind when making decisions.
Reevaluating Risk-Reward and Actions to be Taken
Prior to now the basis of each of our decisions has been solely risk-reward without context but now that it is clear that certain factors can drastically change the risk perception(how you view risk) and risk appetite (your willingness to take risks), we need to reevaluate and determine the real level of risk and potential reward in the context of the circumstance surrounding the action.
Note: The same kind of change/variation in the value/rating of risk-reward under different circumstances/situations is applicable to all other options/actions
After reevaluating the risk-reward of all your options in the context of your current circumstance, you should select the most appropriate option and take action. The cycle then continues with the review of the outcomes of your action(s) and so on.
There is no guarantee of how an opponent will behave, they may be more logical (following rules of engagement) than illogical or vice versa so, you best assume they will take the best possible action given their current situation.
You should take the best action in line with your goals that minimises the chance and extent of any negative outcomes, and increases the chance of positive outcomes despite the actions taken by your opponent.
In a situation where your "reads" or intuition-based decisions fail in quick succession, you best just fall back on the first principles of solid, logical fundamentals.
Also, mixing between rational and intuitive decision making style is essential to break predictable patterns of behaviour, likewise, rotating between optimal and suboptimal(2nd or 3rd best) options when acting on first principles. The best strategies aren't always the best decisions!
