Lag: Difference between revisions

'''Lag''' is the downtime period after performing certain attacks or maneuvers. While in the lag period, a player cannot attack or move, and he or she is completely vulnerable to the attacks from an opponent. Different attacks have different lag-times, with the general rule of thumb that more powerful attacks (such as Jigglypuff's [[Rest]], Ganondorf's [[Warlock Punch]], or even Captain Falcon's [[Falcon Punch]]) get longer lag times. In most cases it is actually completely avoidable with a properly timed DI. This is notable when playing with characters who have a stall-then-fall attack, and are left grounded for a few moments. Pressing upward during the correct set of frames will allow you completely avoid said lag, so and so forth.  

'''Hitlag''', referred to on the [[Dojo]] as "impact stall", is the lag that occurs to an attacking character when a powerful move connects with an opponent. Most hitlags are only a few frames, but some hitlags are quite long, such as [[Zelda]]'s Lightning Kicks and [[Captain Falcon]]'s [[Knee Smash]]. These attacks have approximately 30 frames (half a second) of hitlag, which is easily noticed in real time. This lag still affects the attacker even if the attack deals no damage, such as versus [[Mr. Resetti]], stage elements, or a character that is [[invincible]]. In addition, when two similar attacks clash and "clink", or an attack is [[Perfect Shield]]ed, it will produce slightly longer hitlag.

Not to be confused with hitlag is '''[[Flinch|hitstun]]'''. Hitstun is the amount of [[frame]]s between the time a character gets hit and when the [[knockback]] actually occurs. During the hitstun, it is possible to use a technique known as '''Smash DI''', which is where the player inputs a direction during the hitstun and immediately goes in that direction, regardless of the initial knockback direction. It is also possible to perform '''Multiple [[Smash DI]]s''', which is best represented in the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG1DLooq3Pc Perfect Control] video on Youtube, at about 2:36, and a slower version at about 3:51, during the credits.

Notably, most electric-based attacks cause a decent amount of hitstun and hitlag.

A trivial piece of information is that the player can '''Smash DI''' even when frozen with the [[Ice Climber]]'s [[freeze glitch]].

Wifi lag, which is very often confused with [[frame delay]], the amount of time it takes for a move to be inputted, is a change in the FPS ([[frame]]s per second) of a game due to connection interference.  Wifi lag is very common in Brawl and semi-common in Project64k/Dolphin. Wifi lag can be caused on either game for multiple reasons. It is quite possible to have 0 wifi lag with someone online while having massive delay. Some of reasons when wifi lag occurs are listed here:

*A dial up connection on brawl wifi virtually always results in lag on brawl wifi.

Wi-fi lag is a very trodden-upon part of Brawl, and is often cited as one of its worst aspects. However, most players do not realize the difference between Brawl and a game with minimal wi-fi lag such as Mario Kart Wii. In a game such as Mario Kart, a system can predict other player's positions while it waits for the next update - a half-second of lag is perfectly playable. But in Smash Bros, it must know the exact position and action of every element of gameplay before it can do anything - and as this must be done 60 times every second, tiny amounts of lag have a massive effect.