Not familiar with UCF? Start with this video. The technical document can be found here.
Hello everyone, it's time to talk about UCF! This past weekend, we experienced the results of a monumental decision of the first high-tier major - Shine 2017 - to run the tournament using a Melee mod. Aside from UCF itself, Shine provided insight on the logistics of running mods at a major. So, we're going to talk about that a little bit, and then address some of the most common feedback and questions regarding UCF itself.
Hello everyone, it's time to talk about UCF! This past weekend, we experienced the results of a monumental decision of the first high-tier major - Shine 2017 - to run the tournament using a Melee mod. Aside from UCF itself, Shine provided insight on the logistics of running mods at a major. So, we're going to talk about that a little bit, and then address some of the most common feedback and questions regarding UCF itself.
The Top 8 Incident
First things first, I want to go over the details of the incident that occurred during top 8. For those not in the know, this was the course of events:
How did this happen? In short: The setup was booted using someone's personal equipment instead of TO-provided equipment. All staff members were provided with memory cards including UCF before the tournament, along with instructions on how to boot it. Despite this, the setup used during top 8 was not booted with one of the provided memory cards.
- Leffen and ChuDat play their set; ChuDat wins
- It is discovered that UCF was not being used on the setup
- TOs rule to replay the set after loading UCF; Leffen wins
How did this happen? In short: The setup was booted using someone's personal equipment instead of TO-provided equipment. All staff members were provided with memory cards including UCF before the tournament, along with instructions on how to boot it. Despite this, the setup used during top 8 was not booted with one of the provided memory cards.
| Furthermore, Shine did not provide a ruleset detailing the mod they were using on setups. Every setup running the mod displayed an indicator in the top-left corner of the character select screen. Were players informed of this in a public ruleset, then that could have aided in avoiding the situation as well. |  |
Knowing these two things, the situation can be avoided by enforcing staff to use TO-provided equipment only, and by informing players of the tournament ruleset ahead of time.
UCF Feedback
UCF aims to solve an ongoing problem in the Melee community: The disparity in the performance of different controllers, and the difficulty in acquiring a controller that is adequate for the techniques in question. Feedback on UCF has overall been extremely positive, with the majority of players hoping it will be included in future tournaments - this includes ordinary players and top players alike.
Below, I will address some of the most common feedback on experiences with UCF.
"I wanted to do a normal turnaround but I got dashback instead."
In UCF, the window for dashback is increased by one frame. This means players who are used to pushing the stick quickly and still getting a tilt turnaround may experience this.
We are acknowledging this. We don't want to mess with players' muscle memory - the goal is merely to bring all controllers up to par, without players having to adapt or change how they play. Because of this, we will make the following change: A frame-2 dashback will require the control stick to be at position 0.96 or greater. This means dashback will be slightly less lenient - the window is still 2 frames, so you still get 100% consistency, but you will have to push the control stick slightly faster to activate it. In technical terms, you get a quick dashback if your stick reaches 0.8 by frame 1 (this is vanilla behavior), or if your stick reaches 0.96 by frame 2. If you don't push your stick all the way within 2 frames, you will get tilt turnaround.
This will be more in line with players' existing muscle memory for dashback and tilt turnarounds. Note: Vanilla dashbacks remain unaffected. This change only applies to frame-2 dashbacks, i.e. the dashback that UCF makes possible. Vanilla dashback thresholds remain unchanged. Again, our goal is for players to play like they do on vanilla - just with arbitrary controller failures no longer happening.
"Sometimes when I want to angle my shield down, I get shield drop instead."
In short, this is placebo. UCF does NOT affect shield angling in any way. If you angle your shield and you get shield drop, that is something that would have happened in vanilla. Regarding shield drop, UCF changes one thing: The spotdodge window. UCF only allows you to achieve Axe-method shield drops where your controller would normally spotdodge. (Even then, UCF only kicks in here if you first angle your shield to the side, then roll it downwards into the corner. If you push the stick straight down or angle it in any other way, then the behavior is the same as vanilla.)
"UCF affects my pivoting, aerial drifting, etc. (anything that's not dashback or shield drop)"
With UCF, we inject code into two locations: The action state for tilt turnaround (only possible while standing still), and the action state for spotdodge. If your concern does not involve either of those action states, then it is not related to UCF, and you would have had the same result in vanilla.
Below, I will address some of the most common feedback on experiences with UCF.
"I wanted to do a normal turnaround but I got dashback instead."
In UCF, the window for dashback is increased by one frame. This means players who are used to pushing the stick quickly and still getting a tilt turnaround may experience this.
We are acknowledging this. We don't want to mess with players' muscle memory - the goal is merely to bring all controllers up to par, without players having to adapt or change how they play. Because of this, we will make the following change: A frame-2 dashback will require the control stick to be at position 0.96 or greater. This means dashback will be slightly less lenient - the window is still 2 frames, so you still get 100% consistency, but you will have to push the control stick slightly faster to activate it. In technical terms, you get a quick dashback if your stick reaches 0.8 by frame 1 (this is vanilla behavior), or if your stick reaches 0.96 by frame 2. If you don't push your stick all the way within 2 frames, you will get tilt turnaround.
This will be more in line with players' existing muscle memory for dashback and tilt turnarounds. Note: Vanilla dashbacks remain unaffected. This change only applies to frame-2 dashbacks, i.e. the dashback that UCF makes possible. Vanilla dashback thresholds remain unchanged. Again, our goal is for players to play like they do on vanilla - just with arbitrary controller failures no longer happening.
"Sometimes when I want to angle my shield down, I get shield drop instead."
In short, this is placebo. UCF does NOT affect shield angling in any way. If you angle your shield and you get shield drop, that is something that would have happened in vanilla. Regarding shield drop, UCF changes one thing: The spotdodge window. UCF only allows you to achieve Axe-method shield drops where your controller would normally spotdodge. (Even then, UCF only kicks in here if you first angle your shield to the side, then roll it downwards into the corner. If you push the stick straight down or angle it in any other way, then the behavior is the same as vanilla.)
"UCF affects my pivoting, aerial drifting, etc. (anything that's not dashback or shield drop)"
With UCF, we inject code into two locations: The action state for tilt turnaround (only possible while standing still), and the action state for spotdodge. If your concern does not involve either of those action states, then it is not related to UCF, and you would have had the same result in vanilla.
Final Thoughts
Changes to Melee's ruleset or metagame should be driven by the community. UCF is not built upon our own opinions or personal agenda - it is built based on the direction players and TOs have voiced they want to take. If you are a player or TO with any additional feedback regarding UCF, then we will always listen and take it into consideration. On the other hand, if you like UCF, then please feel free to express your interest to TOs who may want to consider using it.
The one opinion we do hold is that a software mod is the most accessible, reliable, and standardized way of solving the "controller lottery" problem. That is why we will continue exploring software solutions that work best for players and TOs, hopefully making tournaments better for everyone.
Want to reach out to us? Feel free to contact me.
The one opinion we do hold is that a software mod is the most accessible, reliable, and standardized way of solving the "controller lottery" problem. That is why we will continue exploring software solutions that work best for players and TOs, hopefully making tournaments better for everyone.
Want to reach out to us? Feel free to contact me.
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