need help building up basic fighter skills (kof'98)

currently I'm sooooo
this stupid cpu keeps beating me to a pulp. o(>_<)o

need !!

I have to admit I'm more or less a fighting game noob.
until this summer I only played fighters very casually maybe once a year.
but since I spent half a year at a friends place in Tokyo, with him always having
friends come over and play kof, I really started liking that series and finally got
me an aes system this spring.

so, now I'm trying to acquire some kof'98 skills. I'm currently using Kyo, Terry and
Vice. Kyo because I think he is easy to play/suits the way I play. Terry because he
was recommended as a good character to start with. Vice because I think she's cool.
my plan: train in practice mode until I can pull off a characters moves with high
probability. when I feel that I'm familiar enough with the character I start training
versus the cpu. when I have mastered the basics (ie. pulling off the right moves at
the right time (ie. long distance moves at long distance, short distance moves at
short distance, blocking,...)) I wanted to move on to learn combos.

familiarizing myself with the characters didn't take too long (though I had some
problems with moves like Vice's Misan's Rove..). not that I can pull off all moves
as I want to when fighting the cpu, but I keep practicing. what is really bothering
me though, is that I don't seem to improve at all! at first I only played single play,
where at best I reached stage 5 playing Vice on default difficulty. that was in early
August. since then I only play team play and I can't seem to get past stage 4.
btw. I hate the '97 special team which I always have the luck to face.
in other words i'm stuck. I don't feel that i'm making any progress.
and what's worse, I don't see how this could change...
do I really have to practice jump C/D -> C/D ->... moves till I'm able to pull them off
that I can get past those stages?!? soo depressing.... (T_T)

I guess i'm still lacking that basic fighter skills that one usually builds up playing
these games all day during the years at school. sadly I'm afraid I no longer have
the luxury to spend days on end playing kof. still I'm determined to become a
decent player, even if it will cost me a considerable amount of time.
I just need to know HOW!

so if you have any advice, please

just remember:
- there are no arcades where I live.
- I have some friends who I can play against, but I usually don't see them more
often than once a month

and again.
played twice.
reached 4th stage with 3 credits.
got my ass kicked.
of course I only play "no service" style.
how I hate this cheap ass cpu.
I've read through nearly the whole kof forum.
but as goes for the gameplay posts,
they are all aimed at people who know how to play fighters.
I think I don't.

nothing left but keep on trying I guess...

hmm, just keep practicing in practice mode to hit with the moves. Connecting with something in a match is always harder (of course!), It helps me to practice moves by jumping in and then doing them in practice mode, this makes me learn the timing a little better.

Another thing is to make sure you learn the moves as exactly as possible.
What I mean: Some of the people I play with do their moves like so; They know it's a roll forward, so they roll foraward and push the button a bunch of times, or they roll and push the button untill the move goes off. It is possible to become somewhat decent in this way, but it becomes a huge handicap when learning combos and what not. Other than that practice makes perfect.

If you find a particular team hard to beat, pick that team and start learning it. You'll eventually find the weak spots and know what to exploit for what character.

(That, and you may really start to enjoy the 97 Special team once you start using them.)

Practice Mode is your friend, and since you already have the right idea about playing around with your characters of choice until you get their moves and combos down cold, I don't need to get into that.

But, if you really want to learn the whole game and its mechanics, you should play around with all the characters, even the ones you may not see yourself using too much; at the very least, you can familiarize yourself with their moves, specials, combos, ranges, blah, blah, etc...

Also your friend, is GameFAQs.

There's tons of great FAQs relating to all things fighters, especially KOF98, which has a slew of basic, character-specific, and even combo guides/FAQs.

(especially m00run's In-Depth '98 Combo FAQ -- no need to feel overwhelmed, because you won't need to learn all those, just work your way up from the basics to the advanced as you go along, and realistically, unless you're a perfectionist who's going for broke, you won't need to learn every combo available, just a few for each situation (ex: jump-in's, cross-up's, standing's, crouching's, etc...)

Oh yeah... see that "Gameplay Glossary" thread that's at the top of the page?

Read it to avoid confusion over common fighter terminology.

While 'Practice Mode' and CPU play is good for learning, you'll never really advance that far unless you find good humans to play against. If you're like me and don't have a steady group of friends to play with, you're probably going to have to settle with Netplay... which you can do via Kaillera (PC) or X-Box Live (although your choices are a bit limited at the moment.)

Neither is perfect (lag sucks), but if you find people with the right ping, you can actually have really good, and lag free matches. You'll also encounter a wide variety of different players, who, while fighting against, will teach you far more than Practice Mode or CPU play ever would.

thank you guys!
I had already lost hope that somebody might post in this thread...
my motivation is back!!

guess I'll increase my time spent with practice mode.
the live thing might eventually make me buy an X-box.
and I tried so hard to avoid this...
oh well, can't be helped I guess.
but before this desperate measure,
I'll have my friends come over more often.
only bofore that, I really have to finish my custom stick project...

and I'll also train with the special team.
know your enemy!

it's not always about combo numbers

sometimes it's just as important to learn proper evasive and offensive manuevers

I find playing old fighters helps bridge the gap between the new and old

go play some Fatal Fury Special, Street Fighter II: turbo, and King of Fighters 94

Roke star has the right idea

I improved my kof game not by playing kof but Aof2
Play games that rely on the fundamentals and they should carry you as far as you want to go.

Vice is not all that great, but one devastating combo u must learn with her is jumping deep strong kick, standing close strong kick, with an activated stock, hcb x 2 + K. As far as 98 goes, it's all abut MAture for me, need any insight on her. U got it!

Forget Kyo or Vice..I suggest to begin with Clark, Iori, Ralf, Rugal, Yuri etc..and they are the most powerful and easy to use chara in that game !