Fightcade

Introducing Fightcade's Rank Decay

Starting in October 2022 we are adding rank decay to Fightcade's ranking system. Decay will only affect players in S, A and B ranks, lower ranks won't have to worry about it.

Rank decay will be useful to prevent Camping (get a high rank, then never play ranked again) and Farming (play only versus low level players and avoid games with similar rank or higher), and will help balance the points inflation in the Elo pool, caused by alts and smurf accounts.

Players that stay too many days without playing qualifying ranked matches, will have decay set in, causing them to automatically lose a set amount of elo points each day. That doesn't mean you have to play every day: When you reach a rank with decay (S, A, B), you'll be given a number of banked days. At the end of each day if you haven't played a qualifying ranked match, your number of banked days will decrease by one. Once you run out of banked days, you’ll lose elo points instead. After you play a qualifying ranked match, you will get back all your banked days again.

Qualifying matches are finished ranked sets against opponents close to your rank. The number of Elo points you lose if you decay and the number of banked days available differs by rank:

• S Tier:
  - Banked days before Decay: 14
  - Elo points lost per day on Decay: 3
  - Qualifying match: S or A ranked players
• A Tier:
  - Banked days before Decay: 21
  - Elo points lost per day on Decay: 2
  - Qualifying match: S, A, or B ranked players
• B Tier:
  - Banked days before Decay: 28
  - Elo points lost per day on Decay: 1
  - Qualifying match: S, A, B, or C ranked players

Fightcade will show you an inactivity notification warning in the message of the day after joining a lobby when you have 7 or less banked days left:

Fightcade will also show an inactivity warning in the game's lobby when decay has already set in:

S-ranked players who decay below 1900 Elo points due to inactivity will be placed in A tier. A-ranked players who decay below 1600 Elo points due to inactivity will be placed in B tier. You will never fall below 1300 Elo points (B rank) as a result of decay.

Players who have not played a qualifying ranked match in the last 90 days will not be shown in the ranked leaderboards, this applies to all ranks.

Fightcade v2.1.33

Fightcade v2.1.33 has been released today, it is mostly a bugfix release which adds a few new games on both Flycast and FBNeo, and includes some new functionalities:

Account registration is now available inside the app itself, with improved error messages when something fails.

Connection between players has been improved for people who had CGNAT issues before, this should fix the "black screen" issue for most connection types and ISPs, unless you are behind a very restrictive NAT router.

We also revamped the SOCD cleaner, now available and configurable for all games, with 2 different options: Regular SOCD (U+D=N, L+R=N) and HitBox SOCD (U+D=U, L+R=N). Some games have SOCD forced on, for example games that have exploits like being able to walk forward and block at the same time, or walk and throw sonic booms. The new SOCD options also accommodate for people playing on keyboard that have problems doing certain motions like "raging daemon" or "fireballs on p2 side".

Like always, existing Fightcade installations should auto-update on launch, but if something fails just re-download and re-install over the same location (no settings will be lost).

Check below for the full list of changes:

15/9 Update (Fightcade v2.1.33)

Client

- Moved account registration from the website to the client

- Improved p2p connection establishment on CGNAT: should fix some "black screen" issues

FcadeFBNeo v0.2.97.44-52

- Fixed some training mode crashes introduced in the last update

- Revamped SOCD cleaner. Now available on Input -> SOCD Cleaner

- Games with forced SOCD clean: umk3* mk2* dbz2 jojo jchan jchan2 dankuga kaiserkn

- New games: avengrgsbh ffightaec2 kf2k3ps2sp kof2kxxx sfpp

- New savestates: cairblad fatfury3bh kof2001ru kof96rss kof98bc2nd md_kotm2 md_powerath samsh5pf teot

- Updated savestates: miexchng pbobble4j pbobble

- New detectors: avengrgsbh bbmanw cairblad cybotsam fatfury3bh jojobanch jojobanrb jojobanrc kof2001ru kof96rss kof98bc2nd md_powerath mk2ute nes_drmario nes_drmariot nes_hackmatch pbobble samsh5pf sfiii2bh sfiii3bh sfiii3ws sfiiibh umk3te

- Updated detectors: deroon doubledrsp

Flycast Dojo 0.5.3

- New games: flycast_dc_golf_shiyou_yo_2 flycast_dc_spawn flycast_dc_starwars_racer

- Audio Sync for Variable Refresh Rate Games

- Virtua Striker 2 Arcade Dipswitch (2 Player, Free Play)

- Fix Savestate Slot Drop Down

- Settings: Fix Widescreen Toggle 

Snes9x (v1.60-1)

- Fixed some stuttering issues when playing online

Frontend

- Games added: (all the new games) + sms_alexkidd2 sms_alexkidd3f kf2k3upl kf2k3ps2

Fightcade v2.1.32

Fightcade v2.1.32 has just been released! 🕹🎮

As always, existing installs should auto-update on launch, but if something fails just re-download and re-install over the same location (no settings will be lost).

Here is the list of changes on this release:

FcadeFBNeo v0.2.97.44-51

- New games: captre fatfury3bh ffightaemgc kof2001ru kof96rss kof98bc2nd magdrop3te md_fightveng md_fightvengt md_punisor md_rnrracinh md_sonic3kbrc md_sor2cc md_sor2em md_sor2ffc20 md_sor2tncha md_sor2tnwoa md_sor2tww md_sor2wof1k md_tmnttsorp nes_ducktales2tp nes_hackmatch nes_nekkestrbasen nes_tetristpg sailormnrot samsh5pf sfiii3th sfiii3ws sms_alexkidd3f xmcotan xmvsfcph

- Games updated: dinore mslug5b rnrracinh ssf2tnl spf2tcb teot

- New detectors: kof2000otc kof97inv kof99rp2f kof99sr magdrop3te md_columns3 nes_warioswoods sfa2uhc

- Fixed SSV sync issues (thanks Kaito Sinclaire!)

- CPS/MD/MWU/NG/NES/FDS/SMS name fixes (thanks i_arabe!)

- Fixed Mitchell driver games P1/P2 bindings (Block Block, etc)

- Improved debug input overlays (more contrast, text)

- Set m68000 cpu registers for lua (thanks N-Bee!)

- Fixed aspect ratio issues (thanks 0xZERO3!)

- Updated localisations: portuguese

- Default SOCD added for jchan and jchan2

- Always append chat to chat_history.txt instead of replacing it

- Updated savestates: contra nes_joymechfight puchicar ssf2tnl svcsplus

- New savestates: bgaregga blockout bloxeed brkrevext cookbib2 cookbib3 cookbib crshrace growl md_fatfury2 palamed

- Training mode update, added support for: brkrevext, cybotsam, fatfury2, ssf2tnl, svc, svcplus, umk3, vsavae

Flycast Dojo 0.5.1

- Fixed Frequency Video Rendering, Input Polling Enhancements

- Settings Menu Simplification & Overhaul

- Replays w/ Input Display Toggle

- Input Display Icons

- Replay/Training Hotkeys Menu (Pause, Frame Step, Fast Forward)

- Controller Quick Mapping

- Peer Savestate Validation on Session Start

- Button Check: Pre-game & Offline Access

- Keyboard SOCD: Match Hitbox Absolute Priority Resolution (Up + Down = Up)

- Input Display: Show already pressed buttons first

- Samurai Shodown VI (Samurai Spirits - Tenkaichi Kenkakuden) Support via Fightcade

- Mac OS: Fix Vulkan Support

Snes9x (v1.60-1)

- Updated savestates: wrecking

Frontend

- Games added: (all the new games) + nes_nekkestrbas nes_nekkestrbasen nes_ikeikenekhocbu umk3te mk2ute

- Fixed some game categories & added missing image previews

Fightcade v2.1.30

We have recently released 2 new updates, v2.1.29 which came out last Friday (May 27) and v2.1.30 just released, which is mostly a small bugfix release.

The new version comes with many game additions and fixes, new search page, better SteamDeck compatibility, a new  Hitbox Style SOCD cleaner on Fightcade's FBNeo, new ranked game lobbies, improved training mode (now supports UMK3 too!), support for NAOMI 2 on Flycast-Dojo (yes, Virtual Fighter 4!!) and many more!

As always, existing installs should auto-update, but if something fails just re-download and re-install over the same location (no settings will be lost).

Here is the full list of changes available on the new version(s):

Fightcade v2.1.29

Client

• Improved SteamDeck compatibility: use built-in Proton instead of Wine

Frontend

• Revamped search page, easier to browse categoreis or popular/featured games at a quick glance
• Favorites now accessible through search page, with filters available to everyone

FcadeFBNeo v0.2.97.44-48

• New generic SOCD cleaner for all games (hitbox style: DOWN+UP=UP, LEFT+RIGHT=NEUTRAL)
• Games added: dinore drmariot ffightjh kof97cbt lastbladsp md_sor2sfv1 md_sor2sfv2 md_sor2sfv3 md_sor2sfv4 md_telehugs mslugunity nes_kartfighter nes_skartfighter samsho2sp samsho4sp ssf2xjr1trn
• Games updated: teot(beta4) sfz3mix(0.12) md_smsbrawl
• Games fixed (CRCs/Tags): brkrevext cybotsam hsf2pp marmatcp mshbh mslug5x msvsfbh mvscbh sfa3aism sfa3sp2 sfiii4n vampjbh vsavae wakuwak7bh xmcotabh
• Updated savestates: bloodstm cleopatr
• New savestates: kof2000otc kof97inv kof99rp2f kof99sr puchicar sfa2uhc sfa3xl sfz2adl
• New detectors: palamed pbobblen pbobbl2n pbobble3 pbobble4j nes_skartfighter
• Updated detectors: nes_joymechfight
• Fixed P1/P2 bindings for online play: nmg5 pclubys
• Updated localisations: japanese portuguese
• Save the name of the person who won the last game to overlay files (winner.txt)
• Fixed "Restore full state on load" toggle in UI
• Training mode: fixes and improvements for ssf2xjr1, added umk3

Flycast Dojo 0.4.53

• NAOMI 2 Support! (Thank you @flyinghead!)
• Chat Window Timeout: Chat window now automatically closes 10 seconds after last received message if not opened manually
• Replays: Fix Multithreaded Frame Stepping
• Replays: Fix Multithreaded Stream Buffer Unpause
• Replays/Training: Fix Unintentional Slow Motion after multiple steps
• Training: Disable Multithreaded Frame Step
• Fix Training Mode Input Display Race Condition
• Training Mode Input Display: Limit Input Backlog to 60
• Training: Fix Random Playback crash when no input slots are recorded
• Restore Launch Game button when netplay savestate is not found
• New NAOMI 2 lobbies: flycast_vf4 flycast_vf4evo flycast_vf4tuned flycast_beachspi flycast_vstrik3
• New Dreamcast lobbies: flycast_dc_aerowings flycast_dc_aerowings2 flycast_dc_nflblitz2000 flycast_dc_ggram2 flycast_dc_gram2000 flycast_dc_ufc flycast_dc_ecwhr flycast_dc_ecwar flycast_dc_wwfa flycast_dc_wwfrr
• Merged upstream Flycast changes

Fightcade v2.1.30

FcadeFBNeo v0.2.97.44-49

• SOCD cleaner is now applied to certain games only: cps3 jojo games, umk3 series, dbz2
• When SOCD cleaner is active you can choose the old method or the new Hitbox style SOCD cleaner (toggle in Misc -> Options -> HitBox style SOCD)
• Games updated: sfz3mix(0.13)
• Games added: doubledrsp
• Games fixed: dinore
• New detectors: kof2k1rp lastbladsp samsho2sp samsho4sp
• Updated detectors: kof97cbt
• New savestates: cybotsam kof2k1rp kof97cbt lastbladsp nes_skartfighter samsho2sp samsho4sp ssf2xjr1trn
• Updated savestates: pbobblen samsho2 sfz3mix

Flycast Dojo 0.4.55

• Chat: Disable Window timeout after you respond to message
• vf4tuned EEPROM changes: Disabled Network Check, added Stage Select, 3 matches @ 45 seconds
• Update CI Build Environment to Ubuntu 22.04 (should fix dependencies in current package manager, no backports needed)
• Expose EEPROM/NVMEM Restoration Toggle in Settings
• Fix chat application using proper op codes
• Merged Upstream Flycast Changes:

  > Fix for controller lockup outside of Flycast

  > Fix for water glitching online

  > Mac OS: Statically link OpenMP (fixes external Mac OS dep requirement)

  > Fix DOA2 Limited Edition widescreen cheat

Snes9x (v1.60-1)

• New savestates: pikiinya stetris3 wariowodu wrecking

Fightcade v2.1.26

Fightcade v2.1.26 is out! 🥳

Existing installs should auto-update, but if something fails just re-download and re-install.

Here is the list of changes in this new release:

FcadeFBNeo v0.2.97.44-47

• Games added: kof2000otc kof97inv kof99rp2f kof99sr sfa2uhc sfiiibh sfiii2bh sfiii3bh sfz2adl sfz3mix (v0.8)
• Games fixed: umk3p2 renamed to umk3p and forced 54fps
• New detectors: sfz3mix
• New savestates: cleopatr sfz3mix
• Updated savestates: aof2
• Fixed a bug that allowed a spectator to crash a live match (thanks bvoo for the bug report)
• Training mode: fixes for ssf2xjr1, rotd

Flycast Dojo 0.4.42

• Spectating/Replay Streams: Auto resume after stream buffering
• Fix Fightcade Replay Stream Transmission Headers
• Fix Replay v3 Transmission, adds savestate commit SHA to replay header
• Netplay Savestate Retrieval: Fix auto-download when no local state is present
• Disable Texture Filtering Toggle (credit to RossenX for initial logic)
• New lobbies: flycast_dc_daytona flycast_dc_sf2049

Fightcade v2.1.24

Fightcade v2.1.24 is out! 🥳

Existing installs should auto-update, but if something fails just re-download and re-install.

Here is the list of changes in this new release:

Frontend

• Lobbies with training mode support now have a [TRAINING] button in the top right corner
• Fix training mode not launching in some supported games

FcadeFBNeo v0.2.97.44-46

• Toggle for enable/disable keypad volume shortcuts (in Options -> Keypad Volume)
• Added alt+1/9 lua shortcuts back
• Games fixed: sf2mix v1.2
• Games added: cybotsam umk3pb2(replaces umk3pb1)
• New detectors: kof2k2plus kof98eck20 kof98mix kof98pfe kof99eur umk3pb2 wakuwak7bh
• New savestates: kof2k2plus kof98eck20 kof98mix kof98pfe kof99eur umk3pb2
• Updated savestates: sf2mix

Flycast Dojo 0.4.41

• Change flycast_dc_sakura-wars-columns-2-english-v-1.1 lobby definition to flycast_dc_sakurawarscolumns2eng, update to 1.2
• Apple: Optimize & Fix Crashing Training Mode Input Overlay
• Windows: Fix Auto-Updater
• New lobbies: flycast_dc_ssf2x flycast_dc_sfiii3

Fightcade v2.1.22

Fightcade v2.1.22 is live! 🎉

Existing installs should auto-update, but if something fails just re-download and re-install.

Here is the massive list of changes coming in this new release:

Frontend

• Added new command: /training to launch peon2 fbneo-training-mode on supported games: 

aliencha aof aof2 aof3 asurabld asurabus avengrgs breakrev cyberbots dankuga daraku dbz2 dinorex doubledr fatfursp fatfury1 fatfury3 galaxyfg garou gowcaizr gundamex hsf2 jchan2 jojos jojov kabukikl karnovr kf2k5uni kizuna kof2000 kof2001 kof2002 kof2003 kof94 kof95 kof96 kof97 kof98 kof99 lastblad lb2 martmast matrim msh mshvsf mvc mwarr ninjamas other rabbit ragnagrd rbff1 rbff2 rbffspec redearth ringdest rotd samsho samsho2 samsho3 samsho4 samsho5 samsho5sp sf sf2 sf2ce sfa sfa2 sfa3 sfiii2 sgemf slammast ssf2xjr1 tkdensho vamp vhunt2 vhuntjr2 vsav vsav2 wakuwak7 whp xmcota xmvsf

• Open the training-mode menu with 4 coin presses or holding the coin button
• Swap inputs with 3 coin presses
• Record with 2 coin presses
• Replay with 1 coin press

FcadeFBNeo v0.2.97.44-45

• New experimental Wasapi audio driver for reduced audio latency (improves your react/timing when using audio cues):

No lower limit to nAudSegCount: Allows reduced number of frames in the sound buffer (= audio lag). Set to 4 frames by default on Wasapi, 6 on DSound/XAudio, change it in fcadefbneo.ini.

nAudExclusive: Allows exclusive mode, for extra-reduced audio latency without sharing audio with system.

When Wasapi is selected, spectator/replay mode is forced to DSound, 6 frames.

• Support for more Lua Hotkeys and Lua Hotkeys Mapping via F5/Input Config (by @NBee).
• Change emulator volume with Numpad -,+ and * (mute).
• Added FBNeo localisation: japanese (thanks yottsume), korean (thanks zansk43), portuguese (thanks i_arabe). Load from Misc > UI language > Select UI language.
• Save quarkid to overlay files (gamequark.txt).
• Games added: kof2k2plus kof98eck20 kof98mix kof98pfe kof98ratio kof99eur md_mkr md_sbash md_sonic2brc md_sor2fnr md_sor2usw md_sor3bk3p md_xenocrisis mslug3eb mslug3rb mslug3lw mslug4a mslug4ar mslug5sgf mslug5wd nes_gradius nes_gradiusii nes_rcproamii nes_smbtwopla sfa3xl teot
• Games fixed: nes_tmntii (fixed lobby name), sf2mix (updated to v1.2), ssf2tnl (updated to v0.6), umk3uc (force 60fps), redearth (dipswitch region fix)
• New detectors: nes_yoshiscookie md_drrobotnu kof98ratio md_puyopuy2a md_puyopuyo
• New savestates: 2020bb armwar asterix breakrev ddcrew kf2k2ps2b kof98pfe kof99ae md_arcadeghu md_drrobotnu md_puyopuyo mmatrix mmaulers mslug3rb mslug3lw mslug4a mslug4ar mslug5sgf mslug5wd openice progear sengoku2 sengoku sfa3sp2 sonicwi3 spinmast wwfmanac
• Updated savestates: bloodstm breakers breakrev cybots gigawing mslug2 mslug2ct mslug2dg mslug2fm mslug2r mslug2t mslug3 mslug3c mslug3eb mslug3g mslug4 mslug4c mslug4dg mslug4lw mslug5 mslug5c mslug5g mslug5mg mslug5x mslug mslugdg mslugx mslugxc2 mslugxeb mslugxlb mslugxsrf sfa sgemf shocktr2 shocktro ssf2tnl tattass timekill

Flycast Dojo 0.4.37

• Mac OS Support.
• Compact GGPO Stats Bar, move to bottom of screen.
• GGPO: old netplay frames properly deleted on state load, fixes memory leak.
• DirectX 11 renderer support.
• Add progress bar to session stream buffering.
• Pauses on end of stream instead of ending replay outright.
• New Pause Replay overlay (press TAB during replay), shows frame position.
• Frame stepping for replays and training mode (press ".")
• Training Mode fixes, playback random slot (F10) and input display.
• New lobbies: flycast_dc_bustamove4 flycast_dc_chuchurocket flycast_dc_kof99evo flycast_dc_puyopuyoon flycast_dc_sakura-wars-columns-2-english-v-1.1 flycast_dc_wetrix_plus
• Game dipswitch changes:

ggxxac: Enable Arcade Mode offline.
Cyber-Troopers Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram unlocked VMU save.
fotns: Offline Arcade Mode, Free Play. One Match quit disabled.

Snes9x (v1.60-1)

• New games: snes_ultraclayfgt, snes_wrecking

frm 0.4.3

• Fix download progressbar

Flycast Beta Testing: +150 Games Added

With the recent addition of Flycast emulator to the Fightcade family we have included 16 games which are publicly available, but Flycast supports way more than that.

Those with the Hardcore Gamer perk or higher, will see available +150 games for Flycast that you can beta-test, just search for "flycast" in the game list. Those games have not been tested and we don't know if they work or not, some might work perfectly, others might have desync issues.

We're still working on the integration of Flycast into Fightcade, trying to resolve desync issues in games that have a RNG initialised after the game boots, which makes it not deterministic, trying to make savestates smaller in size and reduce state load times (so maybe rollbacks can be a thing in the future?), and adding spectate and replay feature to Flycast games.

Once we progress in beta-testing these new games, we'll create a more curated list and make the games that work properly available for everyone, meanwhile the full set of Flycast lobbies is only available for Hardcore Gamers or higher Patreons. Please report any Flycast related issues in #flycast-emulator in our Discord.

How Fightcade's Ranking System Works

Fightcade uses a ranking system to rate the player's skill for every ranked game. In this post we try to explain the inner quirks of the ranking system as well as answer some of the Frequently Asked Questions we usually get about ranks.

To implement Fightcade's rankings we use the Elo rating system, which is very popular amongst chess players, however we have tweaked the original Elo algorithm a little bit to satisfy Fightcade's singularities. If you are curious about the exact technical implementation details, we have made available this little nodejs program which contains the source code of Fightcade's current Elo function.

The skill of every player is determined by their rank, which can be from top to bottom: S tier, A, B, C, D or E tiers. The rank is determined by a player's elo score, that is the amount of elo points that the player has obtained during ranked matches. All newly registered players start with an elo score of 1000 elo points, and are required to play at least 10 ranked matches before their rank is displayed next to their username, otherwise a question mark (?) is shown instead of the actual rank. The breakpoints for each rank are as follows:

• Rank E: elo points from 400 to 699
• Rank D: elo points from 700 to 999
• Rank C: elo points from 1000 to 1299
• Rank B: elo points from 1300 to 1599
• Rank A: elo points from 1600 to 1899
• Rank S: elo points equal or higher than 1900

Fightcade allows to challenge opponents in first-to-X matches: FT2, FT3, FT5, FT10 and FT20. After every match in a set, certain amount of points is transferred from one player to the other, that means if you play a FT3 (3 out of 5) with an opponent of the same rank and the end result is that P1 wins 3-1, the score varies as follows during the set:

• Score: 0-0, P1 elo: 1000 - P2 elo: 1000
• Score: 1-0, P1 elo: 1006 - P2 elo: 994
• Score: 1-1, P1 elo: 1000 - P2 elo: 1000
• Score: 2-1, P1 elo: 1006 - P2 elo: 994
• Score: 3-1, P1 elo: 1012 - P2 elo: 988

As you can see if you look close at the numbers, in this specific case every match gives the winner +6 points, which are taken from the loser. That is because at the same skill level (1000 elo points), the probability to win of each player is 50%, so the points are distributed evenly. But, what happens if P1 and P2 have different elo scores? Let's imagine a FT3 where P1 has an elo score of 1100 (C rank) and P2 has an elo score of 1400 (B rank). The Elo distribution model says that for -300 points of difference, P1 has a 15% chance of beating P2 (or P2 has a 85% chance of winning), so the scores are calculated accordingly:

• Score: 0-0, P1 elo: 1100 - P2 elo: 1400
• Score: 0-1, P1 elo: 1098 - P2 elo: 1402 => (-2)
• Score: 1-1, P1 elo: 1104 - P2 elo: 1396 => (+6)
• Score: 2-1, P1 elo: 1114 - P2 elo: 1386 => (+10)
• Score: 3-1, P1 elo: 1123 - P2 elo: 1377 => (+9)

What happened here is that the higher ranked player gains less points for his wins (because his probability of winning is higher). Notice that 2 points are taken from P1 when P2 wins the first match, but instead 6, 9 and 10 points are taken from P2 and given to P1 when P1 wins (because P1 has a lower elo score).

The following graph represents how points are distributed in FT3 sets. The blue line represents the probability of winning for P1 based on the Elo distribution model, and is expressed in percentage. The X axis shows the difference in points between P1 and P2 elo scores. The Y axis represents the elo points exchanged in the set.

The following graph represents FT5 sets. Note that the only result that always has a positive elo score outcome for P1 is when P1 wins 5-0.

Q: Does this mean I can win a FTX set and still lose elo points?

A: Yes, if your elo score is way above your opponent's score your probability to win is much higher, so their wins will count more than yours. Take this FT3 between an A-ranked player (1600 elo score) and a D-ranked player (1200 elo score) as an example. For 400 points of difference between them, the A-ranked player is 10 times more likely to win than the D-ranked player (91% vs 9%), therefore the three A-ranked player victories only account for 1 point each, while the D-ranked player gains 5 points with a single match won:

• Score: 0-0, P1 elo: 1600 - P2 elo: 1200
• Score: 1-0, P1 elo: 1601 - P2 elo: 1199 => (+1)
• Score: 1-1, P1 elo: 1596 - P2 elo: 1204 => (-5)
• Score: 2-1, P1 elo: 1597 - P2 elo: 1203 => (+1)
• Score: 3-1, P1 elo: 1598 - P2 elo: 1202 => (+1)

This shows how P1 won the set 3-1 but the elo score decreased 2 points, from 1600 to 1598.

Q: How can I see my elo score?

A: The exact elo score is hidden from players by default, because we understand that for many people is stressful to see how points go up and down, specially when playing against substantially lower rated opponents.
Only Patreon supporters with a Ranked Warrior or higher perk can see their own elo score in ranked game channels after every set. If you become a Ranked Warrior patron you will see your elo score like this:

Q: What about rage quitters, is there any penalty for them?

A: Fightcade recalculates both player's elo score after every single match in a set, so if you are playing a FT5, win 3 matches and then the other person ragequits, you are still credited those 3 wins. The ragequit will only matter for the last match you were in, which is usually very few points. There is also a score-punishment for people who close the emulator before the opponent's win is counted.

Q: Why don't you use a per-set based system instead of giving out per-game points?

A: We do, with our elo formula a set will always have the same point outcome regardless of how the set went.

As an example, a  player with a 1400 elo score playing versus a 1200 and winning 3-1 will always win 3 points for the entire set, but the points scored individually on each match can vary depending on when during the set P2 won the single match:

• Score: 0-0, P1 1400 - P2 1200
  

• Score 0-1, P1 elo: 1391 - P2 elo: 1209 => -9
• Score 1-1, P1 elo: 1397 - P2 elo: 1203 => 6
• Score 2-1, P1 elo: 1401 - P2 elo: 1199 => 4
• Score 3-1, P1 elo: 1403 - P2 elo: 1197 => 2
  

• Score: 1-0, P1 elo: 1403 - P2 elo: 1197 => 3
• Score: 1-1, P1 elo: 1397 - P2 elo: 1203 => -6
• Score 2-1, P1 elo: 1401 - P2 elo: 1199 => 4
• Score 3-1, P1 elo: 1403 - P2 elo: 1197 => 2
  

• Score: 1-0, P1 elo: 1403 - P2 elo: 1197 => 3
• Score: 2-0, P1 elo: 1406 - P2 elo: 1194 => 3
• Score: 2-1, P1 elo: 1401 - P2 elo: 1199 => -5
• Score: 3-1, P1 elo: 1403 - P2 elo: 1197 => 2

Q: What is the K-factor used in Fightcade's Elo implementation?

A: We use a multi level K-factor staggering based on the player's rank range:

• For E-ranked players the K-factor is 34
• For D-ranked players the K-factor is 32
• For C-ranked players the K-factor is 30
• For B-ranked players the K-factor is 28
• For A-ranked players the K-factor is 26
• For S-ranked players the K factor is 24
• For newly registered players (less than 10 games played) the K-factor is 20

In a set between two players of different rank, the lowest K-factor is always used to calculate the match outcome.

New players have a low K-factor coefficient to lower the sensitivity as they may be overrated or underrated in their initial elo score, that way they won't produce a huge score boost or decrease on their opponents. After having played 10 ranked matches, their elo score is more adjusted to their real rank and the K-factor is adjusted accordingly.

Q: What exactly your elo tweaks do?

A: We have only made two little adjustments:

1. We add an extra reward of 0.25 elo points per match won (or substract 0.25 elo points per match lost), with a maximum of 2.5 points of reward. This generally has no effect, except for situations where a set ends at 5-1 or 10-2, where 1 or 2 extra points are given to the set winner. This was done to smooth cases where the player with higher elo wins the set but loses points.

2. When the calculated elo points to be transferred between two players is zero, we instead give out one point to the player with the higher score.

Q: Why did you chose Elo over other popular skill rating algorithms such as Glicko or TrueSkill?

A: TrueSkill has the benefit of being able to accurately rate multi-player and team game systems and it can also rate a drawn outcome properly, but Fightcade is always 1 vs 1 without draws.

Glicko introduces the rating deviation which measures the reliability of a player’s rating, however its implementation for Fightcade is not as straight forward as Elo and the benefit obtained is very small.

This does not mean that our ranking system is perfect, of course it has weaknesses and flaws that can possibly be exploited in many ways to farm points, that's why we're open to receive feedback and we have been constantly tweaking and testing small variations of our Elo implementation, and we've also added some anti-cheating features to the system to prevent abuse. Other systems and improvements may be considered in the future, given that the cost of implementing them is reasonable for us.

Q: Isn't the ranking system broken if you allow selective pairing of opponents?

A: Essentially yes, because players can choose weaker opponents with higher rank (so the reward for winning them will be higher). However, when someone is overrated he will quickly go back to his real rank when facing someone stronger, and overall the ranking system still provides a useful mechanism to determine a player's skill (with more or less credibility) and to detect the Best Replays.

In the same way, if you feel you reached a point were you are afraid of playing people way below your rank (for example if you are ranked A and are afraid of challenging a C player), because even a 10-1 might make you lose points, it may be possible you are a bit over-ranked. Even if you are very good, it's important to understand you will reach a point were you can only lose points before winning points again, and it will take more time to get those points back after losing them. That is the perk of being on top of the ranks. And even if you are the best in the game, reaching an S might not be possible, as it depends on the total points available on the Elo pool, how better you are compared to the rest of players, how consistent you are, and many other factors.

Please do not stress about it, and take a break of ranked play if you feel frustrated. Ranked game helps matchmaking and is only approximate, as there are lots of nuances in all games Fightcade supports.

Q: Why isn't the game <insert-your-favourite-game-here> ranked in Fightcade?

A: Currently we support rankings in 50 popular games, although we are constantly adding support for more and more ranked games through Fightcade's game detectors. If your favourite game does not support ranked matches, you can write a memory detector for it and contribute it through Fightcade's discord #fbneo-detectors channel, there's a guide pinned to the channel that explains how to write detectors with some examples.

Private Lobbies have arrived to Fightcade!

We have added Private Lobbies to Fightcade, if you are a Streamer or Tournament Organizer you will find this feature very useful.

Private lobbies can only be created by "Premium Fighter" tier Patreons, but anyone can join them. This is an experimental feature, and we're still working on improving some things, but here's a quick walkthrough of how it works now.

In the "Search Game" section, you'll see a new button +LOBBY added when you hover the mouse over the available games:

When you click on +LOBBY, a new private lobby for that game is created. This lobby has a unique ID, which you can share with people who will have access to the private lobby, in the picture below the private lobby created by user @pof has the unique ID "5ec1303677b465d81e9f909f5e7f14c3":

Only users that know the channel unique ID can join your private lobby by entering the unique id on the search box (they don't need to be patreons): 

This way you can share the private lobby ID with the tournament entrants, or the people you want on your stream. Once you've finished using the private lobby you can close it by clicking on the -LOBBY button in the channel list.

Become a Premium Fighter Patreon today and enjoy creating your own private lobby!

The New Fightcade Website is Here (WIP)

We have rolled out the new Fightcade website today, to start transitioning all users to the new Fightcade. The old Fightcade website is gone and the old Fightcade1 server will be closing soon, so it's time to update Fightcade if you haven't done it already. You can still play old FC1 games from within the new Fightcade via legacy channels.

Today's update includes many changes:

• Server balance and live reloading changes (means less disruptive deploys and hotfixes from now on).
• Elo/ranked tweaks.
• Private lobbies, a feature intended for streamers/TOs, you can read more about it here.
• Fixed stutter in replays (especially in CPS3 games like 3S and Jojo's). We're still working on fixes for live spectators stutter.
• The password reset page is available again, it only resets passwords on the new Fightcade server.
• We're still migrating the replays from Fightcade1 to the new server (you guys have played more than +20 million games over the past 5,5 years, so it will still take a while to finish migrating all the replays, but they should all be there shortly). 
• Bugfixes to Fightcade auto-updater on Windows. If you were having issues, try re-downloading the newest version and reinstall.

We will also be doing some changes to the new website soon, it's still a work in progress so new improvements will come to the profile pages, game pages, we'll add new tools to search the replays, etc.

Linux build available for beta-testers

Today we're releasing the beta build of Fightcade2 for Linux for our Patreon beta testers. If you are a Linux user, you can now try Fightcade2 and provide feedback in the comments. The current build should work on most modern Linux distributions, it has been tested on Ubuntu versions 18.04LTS and 20.04 LTS.

In order to run the emulator, you will need to have a 32bit Wine installed. For the best compatibility and performance, we recommend using the latest wine-stable from winehq.

You can download the Linux installer here: https://web.fightcade.com/download/Fightcade-linux-latest.tar.gz

MacOS X build available for beta-testers

Today we're releasing the beta build of Fightcade2 for OSX for our Patreon beta testers. If you are a Macintosh user, you can now try Fightcade2 and provide feedback in the comments. The current build should work on MacOS versions from 10.13+ up until the latest OSX Catalina. If you are on Catalina, make sure you're updated to 10.15.4+.

So far only Final Burn channels are supported on OSX (no NullDC or SNES9x support yet).
You can download the OSX installer here: https://web.fightcade.com/download/Fightcade-osx-latest.dmg

Pre-Release update: FBNeo Runahead support!

We have pushed a new auto-update for those trying out the new Fightcade pre-release version. This update includes a lot of improvements in the NullDC integration (more to come) and adds "run ahead" support to our custom version of FBNeo.

Runahead is a feature that calculates frames in advance when you do an input, creating a predicted visual representation of the current game state, up to 2 frames, making the emulation as close as possible to real hardware in terms of input latency. This feature is quite CPU intensive and if your computer is not good enough you can get framerate slowdowns, which will impact also netplay. Runahead comes disabled by default and you can enable it in Video -> Runahead.

Enjoy the new update and leave your feedback in the comments!

Pre release update

We just deployed a new pre-release version, P2 scores in 3rd Strike are finally fixed :)  

Emulator version is 0.2.97.44-15, make sure you check version when playing, in case someone hasn't reloaded yet (or autoupdate fails)

+ Official NullDC support

+ TAB to show/hide overlay

+ Toggle to show scores in unranked matches (Video / Fightcade menu)

+ Toggle to make overlays bigger, for streamers (Video / Fightcade menu)

+ Toggle to save scores/names to filenames realtime, for streamers (Video / Fightcade menu)

+ Display input delay in emulator ping (delay)

+ More savestates (jchan2, jojobanr1, sfa2, sfa3, turfmast, vsavj)

Next server/frontend deploy will also have these fixes

+ Display FTx result in frontend after a ranked match

+ Input delay "automatic" will set 0,1,2,3,4 based on ping bars, instead of starting at 1

+ Better highlight when challenging / or getting challenged in ranked FTx

+ Allow forced input delay with NullDC (actually it's using automatic always, even if you force a value)

Beta Test the Brand-New Fightcade!

Hello Patrons!

It has been a long journey but the new Fightcade update is almost ready now. We want to share with you our final release candidate for the new Fightcade.

This version includes many changes, but the one you'll probably like most is that we have updated the main emulator to FBNeo with super improved GGPO netcode optimizations, reworked the rendering engine for both audio and video, and now it runs at true 60fps, with no frameskips and butter smooth!

Please beta-test and give us your feedback before we publish the final release, and please don't share this with non-patrons just yet... we'll be inviting more people to the new server soon, and eventually switch everyone to this version if there are no major bugs in the way.

Changelog:  https://www2.fightcade.com/changelog

Download: https://web.fightcade.com/download/Fightcade-win32-latest.exe

We are alive!

Hello patrons! First, thank you for your continued support on Fightcade, even during our "hold" status. That helped cover some server expenses for a while, but recently we have had time to go over the project again and we are working very hard on the next release, which we think you will really like. This includes a new and refactored emulator (based on FBNeo), with an improved GGPO implementation and a new renderer code... making it better on every aspect compared to the old or current fightcade emulator. But there's much more :)
We are planning to open next version to patrons soon(ish), so stay tuned!
Thank you for your patience and support!

PSA: Fightcade 2 development now on hold.

Due to real life commitments taking more and more of our time, the Fightcade team has decided to put Fightcade 2 development on hold. This means that while the server will be kept on for the time being, there won't be new updates. If this changes in the future we'll let you know. Many thanks to all of you for your support.

New maximum concurrent channels limit

Hello there patrons! Just a quick note to let you know that we have increased the number of maximum concurrent channels to 6 for the "Supporter" tier, and 12 for the "Hardcore Gamer" and up tiers. Enjoy!

Fightcade 2.0.13

Hello patrons! First of all: It's thanks to you that we can cover server expenses at the time being, which is the main reason we opened our Patreon page. If we manage to keep you, our current patrons, we'll be able to break even at the end of the year and keep the server running. So, from the bottom of our hearts - thank you.

As a "Hardcore Gamer" (or higher) patron you'll be the first to test our next release, Fightcade 2.0.13. This mainly brings 2 changes:

- Fightcade now closes to the tray. This way you can idle in a game channel without Fightcade taking space in your taskbar. Remember to right click on the tray icon to exit Fightcade from now on!

- We updated Electron (the build framework on which Fightcade runs) to its latest version. This brings bugfixes and better performance in less powerful machines.

Download Fightcade 2.0.13 here:

Windows: https://play.fightcade.com/download/fightcade2-win32-v2.0.13.zip

Linux: https://play.fightcade.com/download/fightcade2-linux64-v2.0.13.tar.gz

Mac OSX: https://play.fightcade.com/download/fightcade2-osx64-v2.0.13.dmg

You're welcome to share your experience and issues and get help in our Official Discord server - https://discord.gg/EyERRSg. Our mods and community there are super helpful and will be happy to lend you a hand or give advice. It's also a great place to hang around when the SFIII channel chat overwhelms you, or you're looking for someone to play "Jackie Chan in Fists of fire" with ;)