FS ver A changes from VF5FS (the changes from VF5 vanilla to VF5R to VF5FS are just too numerous to mention):
VF5FS VERSION A System Notes
== About command inputs ==
:: f, b and b, f commands have been revised.
:: Half circle back and half circle forward commands have been reverted back to VF5R style.
:: Low side throws have had their throw escape commands normalized to d/f and d/b.
The command inputs have fundamentally been the same as before, but there were large spots of dissatisfaction that we fixed.
In regards to the f, b and b, f commands, if you happened to do an up-forward or down-forward input, you wouldnt get anything. Also, with some characters if you tried to do a mid kick from backdash, you would sometimes get a random b, f+K move, which was a problem we took care of. In regards to the Half circle back and forward motions, we simply shortened the allowable input time for those moves which took care of the problem.
With the low side throws, it was slightly different. In the previous version, side and low side throws for characters with them were just a back or forward motion to escape them. But that became really difficult to understand, so to make it easier to understand, we changed the escape motion of low side throws to d/b and d/f and made it common across the board.
== About combos ==
:: A Bound cannot be performed in the same combo with the same move twice.
:: The damage for attacks that are used as down attacks has been modified. (i.e. Jeffrys Raiden Drop, u+K+G when the opponent is down)
:: Down attacks have been removed from the Bound combo number limit.
:: For combo attacks, moves that hit the enemy into the wall more than twice were fixed.
:: A problem with throws that hit on the last frame of a move that interrupted the combo count was fixed.
There were several important changes that were made, with the first being about Bound.
If you try to hit a floating character with a bound-equipped move, it will only happen the first time. If you try to do it again with the same move, they wont bounce up. However if you hit them with a different attack with the same bound property, the bound effect will still occur.
This was to handle damaging combos using the same move while retaining the combo damage through the promotion of different kinds of attacks. This will change many wall combos in the game.
One other thing that will affect game balance is how wall hits are handled. In Final Showdown, during a combo hit, if a wall hit occurs, it will only happen once. However, due to circumstances relating to the previous version, that didnt happen as planned. But its been fixed and now wall hits are strictly monitored. Now no matter how many hits you perform, you wont get a wall splat before the second hit.
Finally, this fix does not affect the balance of the game, but its related to the combo counter. If you were to grab someone on the last frame on block, the grab wouldnt count as part of the combo counter, but now theyre included just like any striking attack.
== About stuns ==
:: For a number of attacks, the float status of follow up attacks has been changed.
:: Many stun motions had their hitboxes revised
:: For many of the hit stun after attacks hit, the amount of time given to tech roll has been revised. (i.e. Laus d+K+G)
:: Backdash counter priority rate has been changed
:: The stun from achieving a backdash counter from the opponents side has been correctly fixed.
:: The hit stun caused from a striking attack on the opponents side has been fixed for some attacks. (i.e. everyones low punch)
:: During a spinning stun, if it overlaps with a striking attack, the duration that youre in a side turn state is reduced.
:: The hitbox during a failed evade has been changed.
:: During a footstomp stun, the opponent will not go into a normal front facing stance. (i.e. Jeffrys Drop Anchor d+K+G, etc.)
The primary thing we wanted to address with these changes was to make difficult to hit situations easier, and as a link to the balances made to the game system, work on tweaking the various distances that were related to the attacks.
The big thing that will affect things is how backdash counters are handled in terms of priority. In the previous version, if you happened to get a backdash counter, regular counter and evade counter to hit all at once, this is what the priority looked like:
Regular Counter > Evade Counter > Backdash Counter
So, if you were to do a backdash into an attack and but you were countered by a middle kick, the game would choose the Regular Counter situation and you wouldnt be put on your ass as a result.
In practice, backdashes are often coupled with something else, like a backdash > attack or backdash > evade, so there were various combinations that could spring up. This made it difficult for us to fully establish that backdashing was a risk, which was what we wanted to do in the first place.
So now the priority has changed to this:
Backdash Counter > Regular Counter > Evade Counter
So now if you were planning on utilizing the backdash > attack or backdash > evade tactic, itll be easier to get hit with a backdash counter.
== About movement ==
:: Certain situations where you have to turn around have been changed. (i.e. after Shuns P+G throw is escaped, etc.)
:: During a back turned situation, if you turn around by tapping down or up, you will not get hit with an evade counter stun.
:: The angle at which an offensive move travels during a side turned situation has been changed.
:: Specific commands inputted during jumps that resulted in unexpected motions have been fixed.
:: After a successful defensive move, the 1 frame where you are unable to guard has been fixed.
The biggest change that was made here has to do with offensive move. The so-called Super Offensive Move was performed when you performed an offensive move to your characters stomach side while in a side turned situation, and resulted in you moving away from your opponent. This resulted in you moving really far away from the opponent.
This was not the original intent of offensive move, nor was it something we wanted to have in that situation, so we took steps to change it. This time, if you are in the same situation and try to do an offensive move, you will not get anything.
== About attacks ==
:: Rising attacks have been completely modified.
:: When shifting from a block to an attack, after the attack you have blocked, you can press Guard to cancel.
:: For some counterattacks, bugs where you would not get the desired result from a counter has been fixed (i.e. El Blazes Rocket Discharge u/f+K+G+P, etc.)
:: When a down attack hits, situations where you would not get the correct motion have been fixed.
:: The target hitbox and evade hitbox of attacks that hit twice have been modified.
:: Moves that would take away from Shuns drink counter, despite Shun blocking the move have been fixed (i.e Akiras fully charged b,f+P+K, etc)
With regards to attacks, there are a lot of revisions that have been made, but well focus on the ones that affect the entire cast and some other special cases.
Weve revised the wake up attacks in general. So how fast they come out, their execution time and the frames on block have been looked at and changed. For example, if you were to block a rising kick that occurred after a roll back, you would essentially be at +15, but if you were to guard only during the attacking phase of the move, you would be at +13. This time weve gone back and made sure to fix all of these situations.
== Other ==
:: Various motions have been changed.
:: During special movements, a bug that allowed you to clear the time a character was invulnerable to throws has been fixed. (i.e. Offensive Move, etc.)
The change in the animation is a general thing across the board, but this doesnt mean the game system has changed. As for the second point, there were times where we planned for a player not to be throwable, but they were actually able to be thrown. For example, after your opponents tech roll, we planned for a fixed period of time where they couldnt be thrown, but if your opponent was to do an offensive move during this state, they actually could be thrown. So in Version A if you were to do an offensive move in the same situation, you would not be able to connect with a throw.
http://www.versuscity.net/2011/04/23/vf5-final-showdown-version-a-system-changes/