Author: Harry Nelson

In this video, we will be looking at the motor accessibility options available in Street Fighter 6 [PEGI 12]. Street Fighter 6 is a 2D fighting game available on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series S and X, as well as PC.

We will be looking at the differences between the Modern, Dynamic, and Classic control schemes. The Modern and Dynamic options modify and automate certain control actions within the game, such as performing combos and special moves. This results in the potential to remove the need for simultaneous button and joystick inputs, reduce the complexity of joystick motions or to reduce the number of inputs required to play the game.

We will also look at the various remapping settings, which allow you to customise most of the game’s inputs, along with other potentially helpful settings such as Negative Edge.

Control Schemes

Street Fighter 6 is what’s known as a traditional six-button fighting game, where you use combinations of light, medium, and heavy punches and kicks alongside directional inputs from the D-pad or joystick to whittle your opponent’s health down to zero and win the round.

The Classic Controls scheme offers a traditional method of access, where a player would typically perform synchronous motions and inputs, for example, moving the joystick a quarter circle turn forwards and then pressing a button. This can be challenging for players who find synchronous movements or tight timing windows difficult. The Classic Control method is available in both online and offline multiplayer.

If Classic Controls are proving challenging, Street Fighter 6 offers two other control schemes: Modern Controls and Dynamic Controls.

Modern Controls

Modern Controls is a control scheme new to Street Fighter 6. This modifies the controls from the classic six buttons and complex joystick inputs to eight buttons. This removes the need for complicated joystick motions.

The reason for the extra buttons is that some special moves that previously required multiple button inputs or complicated joystick motions have now been moved to their own dedicated button.

Throw, which normally requires two face buttons to be pressed simultaneously, can now be performed with a single press of the Left Trigger.

Drive Impact, a new special move introduced to Street Fighter 6, received the same treatment. This goes from multiple inputs required to a single press of the Left Bumper.

Drive Parry, a special form of blocking unique to Street Fighter 6, also receives its own button. This is now triggered by a single press of the Right Bumper.

Finally, Modern Controls adds an entirely new button to the control scheme called the Assist button, which can be triggered by holding down the Right Trigger and pressing a face button simultaneously. Whilst this does add a simultaneous input to the control scheme, using the Assist button in tandem with the now four fighting Move buttons, Light, Medium, Heavy, and Special, will perform an auto combo, with the medium and heavy auto combos ending in super moves. So, whilst adding one extra button, it removes the need to perform multiple complex strings of motion and button inputs. This can be helpful to players who struggle to string combos together.

Speaking of the assisted combos, it is worth noting a couple of things:

Firstly, while using Modern Controls you will not have access to all of your character’s moves. However, many of the special moves can still be inputted using the Classic Control method. So, if you’re able to perform some of, but not all of, the inputs, the Modern Control scheme may be a better fit for you.

Secondly, for the purposes of preserving online competitive integrity, the assisted special moves of Modern Controls will deal 20% less damage than their Classic Control counterparts. Whilst noticeable, many players have found success both online and in local competitive play to the highest ranks using Modern Controls. This damage reduction only applies to the special moves performed by the auto combo feature. Inputting the Classic Control motion inputs for a special move will not incur the 20% damage reduction.

Modern Controls are available in both online and offline multiplayer.

Dynamic Controls

Dynamic Controls is the third and final control scheme offered by Street Fighter 6. This offers a heavily assisted and greatly simplified access method. This reduces the required inputs down to just three buttons and a joystick.

Many of the other buttons remain from modern controls, such as throw and drive parry on the bumper buttons. However, with the assistance Dynamic Controls provide, they are not necessarily needed to have a good time.

So how do Dynamic Controls work?

Dynamic Controls use AI to assist the player in most aspects of fighting gameplay.

With a single press of either the Light, Medium, or Heavy buttons, your character will perform an entire combo, including special moves.

The Dynamic Control AI will also factor in your distance from the opponent and will perform a move or combo appropriately.

For example, while playing the character Ryu, if you perform a Light attack at close range, you will get a short combo. However, pressing the same button at medium to long range will perform Ryu’s famous hadouken fireball.

The same holds true for both Medium and Heavy attack buttons.

Dynamic Controls are not available to use in online multiplayer. However, they can be used in single player modes such as Arcade Story and Local Versus mode.

 Button Remapping and Player Profiles

Street Fighter 6 offers an interesting mix of remapping options, which can be found in the Settings menu under the Controls tab.

The first thing you are likely to notice is that the Controls menu is subdivided into different categories for different types of gameplay.

There are three main sections:

1. Overworld Control Settings: This allows players to remap how they control their characters in the overworld of the World Tour and Battle Hub modes of the game.

• Avatar Battle Control Type: Within the Battle Hub online multiplayer section of the game, it is possible to fight other players’ avatars in the central ring. This setting lets you choose if you wish to use either the Modern or Classic Controls schemes.

• Player 1 and 2 Control Settings: This allows you to assign separate control set-ups and remapping to players 1 and 2 independently. If you are playing regularly with someone else in person, say a family member or friend, you can both save preferences that suit you, which the game will remember.

Inside the Player Control Settings menu, you will find the following:

• Control Type: This is where you can choose between Classic, Modern, and Dynamic Control types mentioned previously.
• Button Preset: Street Fighter 6 lets you save five separate button profiles per player per Control Type for a total of 15 profiles. This enables family and friends to set up a control scheme that works for them. So, if your brother likes playing with the Dynamic controls with the A and X buttons swapped around, but your friend likes playing with the Modern controls and just the default layout, they can each save their own button profiles which can easily be swapped between at any time. This setting can also be useful if you find having the buttons mapped a certain way or playing with a certain control scheme for certain characters easier. You may wish to do this if you find certain characters’ special moves harder to perform than others. You can also name each preset to help you keep track.

• Button Release Input: otherwise known as Negative Edge, is a setting found in some fighting games which will modify when the game will read your inputs. With the setting turned Off the game will read a single press of the button as a single input. If the setting is turned On the game will now read pressing and releasing the button as two separate instances of activating the input. This setting may be helpful if you find repeated button presses difficult.

Edit Control Mapping

Under Edit Control Mapping you can choose which controller buttons trigger which in-game actions. For example, if you prefer to have heavy punch as the A button, simply hover over the heavy punch option and press A. The game will swap the two actions around. Whatever used to be on A – in this case light kick – will now be triggered by the right bumper, and whatever used to be triggered by the right bumper, heavy punch, will now be triggered by pressing A. It is worth noting you cannot remap the joystick and movement options. You can only remap the inputs required to perform combat actions such as punching and kicking.

Edit Control Mapping works in tandem with the Button Preset and Control Type options.

This can get a little confusing, so I’ll do my best to explain.

To sum up, there are three Control Types. Each one allows you to have five customised profiles. Five for Classsic, five for Modern, and five for Dynamic, for a total of 15 possible customised button profiles per player.

There is also a Test option, that allows you to check everything is in its proper place and working.

Adjustable Deadzones

Under the Controls heading in the Options menu, you can select Other Input Settings. This adjusts the deadzone of the left and right sticks independently. A deadzone simply adjusts how far you need to move the joystick in order for the game to register that movement as an action. For example, if you find small movements easier, you can set the deadzone to be very low, so that you only need to move the joystick a little bit to make your character move. The same applies vice versa for those who wish the joystick to not be triggered so easily. You can set the deadzone number to be higher. This may be helpful for individuals with tremors or involuntary movements. This setting doesn’t work for fights. It’s mainly used to help you navigate the open world of World Tour and the Battle Hub modes.

Offline Difficulty Options

Available only in select offline game modes, Street Fighter 6 offers a variety of ways to modify the game’s difficulty.

In Versus mode, both against players and the CPU, in the Character Select screen, you can press the right bumper to access the Advantage menu. This enables you to increase your own power through five intervals represented by stars. These advantage stars increase the damage you deal, the amount of SA Gauge you start with, traditionally known as a Super Meter, alongside increasing health regeneration rates, and decreasing your drive meter consumption. This system may be helpful in providing an equal playing field between players of differing abilities.

Arcade Story Mode: This does not offer the Advantage system. However, it does offer a traditional difficulty selection, ranging from easiest to hardest.

If you’re a game developer interested in more video examples of how other developers have increased the motor accessibility of their games, such as the features covered in this video, please visit the SpecialEffect DevKit at specialeffectdevkit.info.  

For instance, to see how other developers have offered alternative actions for players, as the Modern controls in Street Fighter 6 do, you can visit module 7.2 in the DevKit under the ‘Simplification’ section.

For further examples of games that enable the player to reduce the amount of inputs required by predicting the actions they wish to perform, similar to the Dynamic controls found in Street Fighter 6, please visit module 7.5 of the SpecialEffect DevKit which covers Action Predictions.

In this video, we will be looking at the motor accessibility options available in Street Fighter 6 [PEGI 12]. Street Fighter 6 is a 2D fighting game available on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series S and X, as well as PC.

We will be looking at the differences between the Modern, Dynamic, and Classic control schemes. The Modern and Dynamic options modify and automate certain control actions within the game, such as performing combos and special moves. This results in the potential to remove the need for simultaneous button and joystick inputs, reduce the complexity of joystick motions or to reduce the number of inputs required to play the game.

We will also look at the various remapping settings, which allow you to customise most of the game’s inputs, along with other potentially helpful settings such as Negative Edge.

Control Schemes

Street Fighter 6 is what’s known as a traditional six-button fighting game, where you use combinations of light, medium, and heavy punches and kicks alongside directional inputs from the D-pad or joystick to whittle your opponent’s health down to zero and win the round.

The Classic Controls scheme offers a traditional method of access, where a player would typically perform synchronous motions and inputs, for example, moving the joystick a quarter circle turn forwards and then pressing a button. This can be challenging for players who find synchronous movements or tight timing windows difficult. The Classic Control method is available in both online and offline multiplayer.

If Classic Controls are proving challenging, Street Fighter 6 offers two other control schemes: Modern Controls and Dynamic Controls.

Modern Controls

Modern Controls is a control scheme new to Street Fighter 6. This modifies the controls from the classic six buttons and complex joystick inputs to eight buttons. This removes the need for complicated joystick motions.

The reason for the extra buttons is that some special moves that previously required multiple button inputs or complicated joystick motions have now been moved to their own dedicated button.

Throw, which normally requires two face buttons to be pressed simultaneously, can now be performed with a single press of the Left Trigger.

Drive Impact, a new special move introduced to Street Fighter 6, received the same treatment. This goes from multiple inputs required to a single press of the Left Bumper.

Drive Parry, a special form of blocking unique to Street Fighter 6, also receives its own button. This is now triggered by a single press of the Right Bumper.

Finally, Modern Controls adds an entirely new button to the control scheme called the Assist button, which can be triggered by holding down the Right Trigger and pressing a face button simultaneously. Whilst this does add a simultaneous input to the control scheme, using the Assist button in tandem with the now four fighting Move buttons, Light, Medium, Heavy, and Special, will perform an auto combo, with the medium and heavy auto combos ending in super moves. So, whilst adding one extra button, it removes the need to perform multiple complex strings of motion and button inputs. This can be helpful to players who struggle to string combos together.

Speaking of the assisted combos, it is worth noting a couple of things:

Firstly, while using Modern Controls you will not have access to all of your character’s moves. However, many of the special moves can still be inputted using the Classic Control method. So, if you’re able to perform some of, but not all of, the inputs, the Modern Control scheme may be a better fit for you.

Secondly, for the purposes of preserving online competitive integrity, the assisted special moves of Modern Controls will deal 20% less damage than their Classic Control counterparts. Whilst noticeable, many players have found success both online and in local competitive play to the highest ranks using Modern Controls. This damage reduction only applies to the special moves performed by the auto combo feature. Inputting the Classic Control motion inputs for a special move will not incur the 20% damage reduction.

Modern Controls are available in both online and offline multiplayer.

Dynamic Controls

Dynamic Controls is the third and final control scheme offered by Street Fighter 6. This offers a heavily assisted and greatly simplified access method. This reduces the required inputs down to just three buttons and a joystick.

Many of the other buttons remain from modern controls, such as throw and drive parry on the bumper buttons. However, with the assistance Dynamic Controls provide, they are not necessarily needed to have a good time.

So how do Dynamic Controls work?

Dynamic Controls use AI to assist the player in most aspects of fighting gameplay.

With a single press of either the Light, Medium, or Heavy buttons, your character will perform an entire combo, including special moves.

The Dynamic Control AI will also factor in your distance from the opponent and will perform a move or combo appropriately.

For example, while playing the character Ryu, if you perform a Light attack at close range, you will get a short combo. However, pressing the same button at medium to long range will perform Ryu’s famous hadouken fireball.

The same holds true for both Medium and Heavy attack buttons.

Dynamic Controls are not available to use in online multiplayer. However, they can be used in single player modes such as Arcade Story and Local Versus mode.

 Button Remapping and Player Profiles

Street Fighter 6 offers an interesting mix of remapping options, which can be found in the Settings menu under the Controls tab.

The first thing you are likely to notice is that the Controls menu is subdivided into different categories for different types of gameplay.

There are three main sections:

1. Overworld Control Settings: This allows players to remap how they control their characters in the overworld of the World Tour and Battle Hub modes of the game.

• Avatar Battle Control Type: Within the Battle Hub online multiplayer section of the game, it is possible to fight other players’ avatars in the central ring. This setting lets you choose if you wish to use either the Modern or Classic Controls schemes.

• Player 1 and 2 Control Settings: This allows you to assign separate control set-ups and remapping to players 1 and 2 independently. If you are playing regularly with someone else in person, say a family member or friend, you can both save preferences that suit you, which the game will remember.

Inside the Player Control Settings menu, you will find the following:

• Control Type: This is where you can choose between Classic, Modern, and Dynamic Control types mentioned previously.
• Button Preset: Street Fighter 6 lets you save five separate button profiles per player per Control Type for a total of 15 profiles. This enables family and friends to set up a control scheme that works for them. So, if your brother likes playing with the Dynamic controls with the A and X buttons swapped around, but your friend likes playing with the Modern controls and just the default layout, they can each save their own button profiles which can easily be swapped between at any time. This setting can also be useful if you find having the buttons mapped a certain way or playing with a certain control scheme for certain characters easier. You may wish to do this if you find certain characters’ special moves harder to perform than others. You can also name each preset to help you keep track.

• Button Release Input: otherwise known as Negative Edge, is a setting found in some fighting games which will modify when the game will read your inputs. With the setting turned Off the game will read a single press of the button as a single input. If the setting is turned On the game will now read pressing and releasing the button as two separate instances of activating the input. This setting may be helpful if you find repeated button presses difficult.

Edit Control Mapping

Under Edit Control Mapping you can choose which controller buttons trigger which in-game actions. For example, if you prefer to have heavy punch as the A button, simply hover over the heavy punch option and press A. The game will swap the two actions around. Whatever used to be on A – in this case light kick – will now be triggered by the right bumper, and whatever used to be triggered by the right bumper, heavy punch, will now be triggered by pressing A. It is worth noting you cannot remap the joystick and movement options. You can only remap the inputs required to perform combat actions such as punching and kicking.

Edit Control Mapping works in tandem with the Button Preset and Control Type options.

This can get a little confusing, so I’ll do my best to explain.

To sum up, there are three Control Types. Each one allows you to have five customised profiles. Five for Classsic, five for Modern, and five for Dynamic, for a total of 15 possible customised button profiles per player.

There is also a Test option, that allows you to check everything is in its proper place and working.

Adjustable Deadzones

Under the Controls heading in the Options menu, you can select Other Input Settings. This adjusts the deadzone of the left and right sticks independently. A deadzone simply adjusts how far you need to move the joystick in order for the game to register that movement as an action. For example, if you find small movements easier, you can set the deadzone to be very low, so that you only need to move the joystick a little bit to make your character move. The same applies vice versa for those who wish the joystick to not be triggered so easily. You can set the deadzone number to be higher. This may be helpful for individuals with tremors or involuntary movements. This setting doesn’t work for fights. It’s mainly used to help you navigate the open world of World Tour and the Battle Hub modes.

Offline Difficulty Options

Available only in select offline game modes, Street Fighter 6 offers a variety of ways to modify the game’s difficulty.

In Versus mode, both against players and the CPU, in the Character Select screen, you can press the right bumper to access the Advantage menu. This enables you to increase your own power through five intervals represented by stars. These advantage stars increase the damage you deal, the amount of SA Gauge you start with, traditionally known as a Super Meter, alongside increasing health regeneration rates, and decreasing your drive meter consumption. This system may be helpful in providing an equal playing field between players of differing abilities.

Arcade Story Mode: This does not offer the Advantage system. However, it does offer a traditional difficulty selection, ranging from easiest to hardest.

If you’re a game developer interested in more video examples of how other developers have increased the motor accessibility of their games, such as the features covered in this video, please visit the SpecialEffect DevKit at specialeffectdevkit.info.  

For instance, to see how other developers have offered alternative actions for players, as the Modern controls in Street Fighter 6 do, you can visit module 7.2 in the DevKit under the ‘Simplification’ section.

For further examples of games that enable the player to reduce the amount of inputs required by predicting the actions they wish to perform, similar to the Dynamic controls found in Street Fighter 6, please visit module 7.5 of the SpecialEffect DevKit which covers Action Predictions.