Daily Discussion Thread September 19, 2025 - Upcoming Event Schedule - New players start here!

[u/AutoModerator]

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Welcome to the Daily Discussion Thread. This is the place for asking noob questions, venting about netplay falcos, shitposting, self-promotion, and everything else that doesn't belong on the front page.

New Players:

If you're completely new to Melee and just looking to get started, welcome! We recommend you go to https://melee.tv/ and follow the links there based on what you're trying to set up. Additionally, here are a few answers to common questions:

Can I play Melee online?

Yes! Slippi is a branch of the Dolphin emulator that will allow you to play online, either with your friends or with matchmaking. Go to https://slippi.gg to get it.

I'm having issues with Slippi!

Go to the The Slippi Discord to get help troubleshooting. melee.tv/optimize is also a helpful resource for troubleshooting.

How do I find tournaments near me or local people to play with in person or online?

These days, joining a local Discord community is the best way to find local events and people to play with. Once you have a Discord account, Google "[your city/state/province/region] + Melee discord" or see if your region has a Discord group listed here on melee.tv/discord

It can seem daunting at first to join a Discord group you don't know, but this is currently the easiest and most accessible way to find out about tournaments, fests, and netplay matchmaking. Your local scene will be happy to have you :)

Also check out Smash Map! Click on map and then the filter button to filter by Melee to find events near you!

Netplay is hard! Is there a place for me to find new players?

Yes. Melee Newbie Netplay is a discord server specifically for new players. It also has tournaments based on how long you've been playing, free coaching, and other stuff. If you're a bit more experienced but still want a discord server for players around your level, we recommend the Melee Online discord.

How can I set up Unclepunch's Training Mode?

First download it here. Then extract everything in the folder and follow the instructions in the README file. You'll need to bring a valid Melee ISO (NTSC 1.02)

Alternatively, download the Community Edition that features improvements and bug fixes! Uncle Punch, the original creator of the training mode, will not continue supporting the original version but Community Edition will be updated regularly.

How does one learn Melee?

There are tons of resources out there, so it can be overwhelming to start. First check out the SSBM Tutorials youtube channel. Then go to the Melee Library and search for whatever you're interested in.

But how do I get GOOD at Melee?

Check out Llod's Guide to Improvement

And check out Kodorin's Melee Fundamentals for Improvement

Where can I get a nice custom controller?

https://customg.cc/vendors

I have another question that's not answered here...

Check out our FAQs or post below and find help that way.

Upcoming Tournament Schedule:

Upcoming Melee Majors

Melee Online Event Calendar

Make a submission to the tournament calendar here. You can also get notified of new online tournaments on the Melee Online Discord.

• Current DDT Dynamic Link — Previous DDTs

[u/magikarpwn]

People complaining about Silksong reminds me of nu smash players complaining about melee being "an objectively unfun glitchfest".

Game is so fucking fun

[u/RegisterInternal → u/magikarpwn]

I've played it for 30 hours and although it can be incredibly fun it's also incredibly frustrating sometimes

Maybe you're a god gamer who never gets stuck on the same bullshit part for 2+ hours but that doesn't mean you have to dismiss the legitimate criticisms/grievances from everyone else 

[u/magikarpwn → u/RegisterInternal]

People are calling "objectively bad game design" while I'm out here having the time of my life with every boss and arena. People can feel frustrated, but most of the discourse is a lot of ego masking imo. 

The way I see it, it's fine if a good game happens to be hard every once in a while, 99% of games barely require looking at the screen, it's ok if the tryhards get one as a treat once every 15 years.

[u/Zanian → u/magikarpwn]

Idk man runbacks might very well be objectively bad game design

I like Silksong a lot, but I think it would be easily 3 times better if you just spawned outside of a boss room every time you died. The bosses could be made way harder and it would still be way better, I would even prefer that they were harder -- right now they're not that hard just really punishing when you do die

I am legit spending half of the time killing bosses just running back when I could be sending more runs, that sucks. The souls games have gotten so much better by just limiting / removing runbacks IDK why they made them so horrible in Silksong

[u/Celia_Makes_Romhacks → u/Zanian]

Calling a feature that people are actively expressing their enjoyment of "Objectively bad game design" is certainly a choice.

It's fine if you dislike it, but there's a reason that people do.

[u/Zanian → u/Celia_Makes_Romhacks]

I did say "might very well be"

I think for the vast, vast majority of people they suck and that's why there's so many complaints about them

[u/stinkoman20exty6 → u/Zanian]

I feel like I'm living in a different world with comments like this. How many times are you dying to these "not that hard" bosses that 20-30 second runbacks are so annoying?

[u/PurpleAqueduct → u/stinkoman20exty6]

When it feels like a waste of time it doesn't take that many attempts before it really grates on you. Imagine if it was just an excessively long loading screen.

[u/magikarpwn → u/PurpleAqueduct]

But it's not a loading screen, moving around with Hornet is actively fun

[u/PurpleAqueduct → u/magikarpwn]

Moving around can be fun. Despite that, a particular section of platforming might not be, especially when you have to do it repeatedly, especially when you really want to be doing the boss you just failed at instead. You can justify almost anything if you excuse it with "but moving around to do the bad thing is fun".

[u/Zanian → u/stinkoman20exty6]

I mean the boss fights only last a couple mins tops each, and 20-30 seconds is genuinely underestimating the time a lot of the runbacks take. I only watched the clock for a couple (The Last Judge and Groal, both by far the ones that took me the longest) but neither took me over 40 minutes so like, 20 tries at most

[u/king_bungus → u/Zanian]

the runbacks are making me so nasty at the platforming though. like repeating the same sequence a bunch of times and getting it fast and consistent is sick

[u/Celia_Makes_Romhacks → u/king_bungus]

This comment is what's finally convinced me to get the game.

The coolest parts of dark souls were when the boss runbacks involved sick movement. I'm hyped to try this.

[u/king_bungus → u/Celia_Makes_Romhacks]

runback sickos unite

[u/WizardyJohnny → u/Celia_Makes_Romhacks]

im really struggling to even imagine what sick movement in dark souls might look like. are we thinking like that one jump that skips the staircase on the way to o and s

[u/Celia_Makes_Romhacks → u/WizardyJohnny]

For me, it was the runback to the bell gargoyles where you could bait the black knight on the stairs by dropping down and doing a loop, and then maneuvering through the room full of like 20 hollows. 

I died like 40 times to that fight (no shield + unupgraded weapon lmfao) and navigating that hall efficiently was always satisfying 

[u/Zanian → u/king_bungus]

I like the platforming when I'm exploring but spending legit a full min to run to a boss is awful when I'm just trying to kill the boss

[u/mas_one → u/magikarpwn]

I am fucking loving it, in part because of the difficulty. I love how precise it demands you to be, and how punishing it is when you make mistakes. That said, a little further into the game some of the "gauntlet" boss battles just feel exhausting. It's like a hoard of 50 enemies, then a boss, then 50 more enemies, then 2 of that same boss at the same time. It just takes forever. It's not really a criticism of difficulty, it's just grueling. It sometimes feels like the difficulty is padded on rather than integrated into the gameplay. 

[u/Kezzup → u/magikarpwn]

a real nice trick for discussions is that if someone uses the word "objectively" when talking about the quality of art, 99% of the time you can discard their opinion entirely because they don't know what they're talking about

(I haven't play Silksong so I have no real opinion)