If the image above brought back some good memories, you've come to the right place.
Welcome to the second entry in this series of interviews
I’m conducting on OG Mortal Kombat combomakers. On this opportunity, I had the pleasure
of talking to none other than Sicdic, who, along with NKI, paved the way for
countless enthusiasts (myself included) to showcase and dig even deeper into
the franchise’s game engine and combo system.
Reminiscing the exact order of events that took place
in 2002 when I discovered GameCombos.com proved to be challenging at first, so
I had to retrace my humble beginnings and internet archives gave me the starting
point I needed.
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| GameCombos.com staff back in 2000 |
So, 24 years ago, after browsing the website and realizing I was basically way over my head, not just because English wasn't my first language, but because I didn't have much online experience, I got more invested as days went by and finally, I summoned the courage (so to speak) to register on the forums to talk about the combo videos I had downloaded and watched endlessly. I knew my fair share of advanced topics, although nothing like the stuff I was seeing from Sicdic. But when I started posting and asking around, there was no sign of him. I asked NKI, I exchanged a couple of ideas with MKK Hanzo and Shock, but the main and biggest questions remained unanswered.
How was he breaking the game beyond anything I had ever seen in almost a decade? And of course, how could I do something like that?! I felt I had a lot to share but then again, that’s a story for another time. For now, what you’re about to read, is the result of Mike Watson (yes, papa Watts!) being graceful enough to get me in contact with Sicdic and then, almost a year of back-and-forth messages through Discord.
But first, in case you haven't seen it yet, this is the first taste of crazyness and awesomeness I experienced back in 2002:
SICDIC'S 1st VIDEO: MK Trilogy Ermac exhibition (released on 10/24/2000)
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| GameCombos.com 1st featured video was of course Sicdic's. You can see a fitting comment from the master himself, NKI |
NinjaGrinder:
Hello Mark, hope you're doing well!
Just wanted to start off with a question that I feel it's kind of mandatory: How was your first brush with MK? Even though the videos are from Trilogy, I can't imagine that was the first MK you played.
First MK1 I played was an early version. The gravity wasn't turned up high like we know it today. For instance, we were able to do jump HK, jump HK, slide, jump HK with Sub-zero. I fell in love with it immediately.
NinjaGrinder:
I hear you! But wait, were you able to pull that off, as soon as you discovered the game?
Sicdic:
Yes, we were
breaking down combos in that game right away. I remember seeing how floaty the game was and we were like “hmmm they are begging to be juggled”
Were you exposed to MK1 right when it was released?
NinjaGrinder:
I have a
clear memory of the first time I played MK1, but it was kind of late. It was
1993. I knew nothing about FGs until that day. In fact, a couple of classmates
were talking about SF2 so I got curious, they took me to the arcade after class
and I saw the game. But next to it, I saw MK1 and fell for it instantly, even
just watching the attract mode.
So, my next question
would be: in those early years (1992-1996), what was your overall take on the
franchise? Gameplay wise, of course. Did you take MK seriously at all?
Most people didn't. And this is just a guess: Specially in California, home of competitive SF.
Sicdic:
I think the
people around me at the time agreed that SF was more polished, it felt crisper.
But MK was really popular as something different. And MK II was really popular.
NinjaGrinder:
So, I
guess you had plenty of MK combo experience in general when you got
to Trilogy. Am I right?
How did you come to
the idea of showing what you could do? Were you encouraged by someone or
something like that?
Sicdic:
Yes. I played a lot of MK2 and MK3 in the arcades.
Back when we made the MK video, we had a capture card we bought from Fry's. I
really don't remember the order of things, it’s so long ago.
Castel was making
combo vids for Zaibatsu, Ben was trying to get GameCombos going, I feel like we
did videos with Castel before we made the MK video. But I'm sure I probably
just wanted to get some videos up on Ben’s site that I made, and I'm more of a
Midway/Rare type so it was MK, KI, Primal Rage, games like that.
I'm sure it was more
about expressing myself, but also partially helping GameCombos grow.
I'm proud of my skills
developed and videos made, but it was made just from fun and the love of gaming
with clean/crisp technical play. Just some silly showing off.
NinjaGrinder:
Great
answer, thanks!
Yes, I remember your
other videos. The Sauron combos were sick to say the least. I discovered Tekken
Zaibatsu shortly after I found about GameCombos. Then, Video Opera, Shoryuken
and other smaller sites. It was all new to me back in 2001.
Do you remember the first video (or videos) you ever watched? or finding about combo videos in general? Your stuff and NKI's were the openers for me. I didn't know that was actually a thing until a friend pointed me towards GameCombos site.
Sicdic:
Hmm the first
combo videos I’ve seen… I don’t know, but I think the first ones that had any
impact on me were the ones from Japan, I believe they were called Skill Smith.
They were really technical Alpha 3 and Street Fighter 3 combos. I remember
spending the time to duplicate them.
I didn't enjoy the
Alpha games that much but I still wanted to do all those flashy combos. Guy's combos stuck out to me as really fun to
do, but a lot of those years are a blur as to in which order all of it happened.
NinjaGrinder:
I get
it, it's been so long! And as for spending time to duplicate combo videos, that
is exactly what I did when I saw your videos and NKI's. Some of them proved
being really hard to pull off, whereas others were tied to specific circumstances
(we'll get to that part eventually).
I know you said you
were more of a Midway games type of player. But did you compete against the
biggest players (people like Watson, Valle, Choi, Schaeffer, the Wolves) back
then in games like Hyper, SSFII or ST?
Sicdic:
No,
unfortunately I missed all of that. I moved to SoCal in 1996 and was still into
Midway games then. Soon after, SF3 was
released. I loved that series a lot and played it a ton. I played vs them in
casuals, like at Alex's house on his cabinet, but I wasn't super competitive
with them.
NinjaGrinder:
Oh, I
see, I don't know why, but I had pictured you living in there and hanging out
with them from the start. While we're on
topic: what made you gravitate more around games like MK, KI and PR?
Sicdic:
I hung out
with them after I discovered Southern Hills Golfland but by then, the next gen
games were out.
I'm not sure what made
the Midway type games more appealing to me to be honest. Perhaps it was in part
due to what was popular at my local arcades. Or maybe it was just something
nice and fresh. By that time, we'd been through a few different SF2s, anything
new was welcome. It wasn't anything negative towards capcom games, just MK/KI
had a unique style to them.
NinjaGrinder:
They
did. And it was something like that for me, I love SF2 series and I played some
3s, CvS2 and even SFIV afterwards, but my attention, efforts and energy have
always been towards MK.
You mentioned you had recently gotten a video capture card back then. So, what did you play on, when you recorded the combos? PC (emulator) or the actual N64 hardware? Either way, can you please elaborate a little bit? I mean the set up you used, for playing and for recording/capturing.
Sicdic:
We used a
capture card we had bought from Fry's Electronics and if I recall correctly, it
was about $100. Plugged it into the pc and plugged the N64 into that and used
Gameshark to hide the UI.
NinjaGrinder:
Interesting, I always thought you had just done the kombat kode no power bars (987-123). At the end of the Ermac video, when you perform the Mercy move, the
power bars reappear, and that is what happens when you activate the code. But I
guess doing the code in every single match would be tiresome or annoying.
Gameshark, who knew! Great.
On a sidenote, when I
saw the videos back then, I always found the decision to remove the UI very
cool and tasteful 👌
Sicdic:
I don't think
I ever knew that you could hide the UI with in-game codes. I never really
messed with the codes much. Perhaps
that's what the GameShark did for us.
I like the clean look,
too. Was surprised that mercy shows the
UI.
NinjaGrinder:
Yeah,
even in arcade.
A great deal of people
back then thought you had used cheats like unlimited run, which is both
laughable and flattering when you think about it. Same thing happened to me
when I released my own stuff. Did you use something else from GameShark
(non-gameplay altering) like unlimited time and energy, in order to practice
the combos in an easier way?
Sicdic:
No, just
hiding the UI. Tool assisted isn’t my style. We were practicing combos at
arcades with quarters/tokens as well.
NinjaGrinder:
No, I
meant just unlimited energy and time, it's less time consuming, since you don't
have to go through character selection screen, win pose, etc.
I had to, since I did
it on N64, recording to a VHS tape. I knew about GameShark, but I didn't own
one.
Sicdic:
No unlimited
health, no unlimited run. True N64 combos while hiding UI is all it was. And I
made it a point to mix up my combo targets as to not only do them on the
characters that can be juggled the most.
NinjaGrinder:
Great
answer, I love you're remembering those kinds of details.
Did you record everything and then decided to split it and release it in 3 separate videos, or were you recording as needed, for each video?
Sicdic:
Just filmed
the Ermac combos and put it together. Same with the other ones. They were
self-contained. I didn’t have a folder full of clips to put together.
NinjaGrinder:
By the
way, this is one of my favorite combos ever, so cool looking, the idea never
crossed my mind. How did you come up with that? Were you sure it was going to
work or just freestyling/hoping?
THE ABOVE COMBO WAS THE SHIT BACK IN 2000. AND IT STILL IS, IN MY BOOK.
Sicdic:
Love that
combo. Nobody expected the run uppercut back in the day LOL
They were all just by
feel. Freestyle would be accurate. I
wasn't 'mathing' out what was possible when I played fighters, just by seeing
what was close to connecting and try to tighten up timings, start from
different ranges, etc.
NinjaGrinder:
Did you
know the combos already before making the decision to record them for the
video, or did you come up with new stuff, as you were recording them? In other
words, were you fully aware of what was possible on N64 Trilogy? it's almost a
whole different realm, when compared to PSX and of course arcade UMK3.
Sicdic:
I played Ermac
on any system he was available. So, by
the time I got to the video, I already had an understanding of what was
possible with him as I had put in a lot of time already. It was just a matter of finding any quirks
unique to the N64 version. Ermac is a
joy to play. Really fun juggles, with a
2 hit dial-a-combo that launches.
NinjaGrinder:
I have
to agree; there's so many possibilities.
You touched one of
those specific details I mentioned in the beginning: the 2-hit launcher. How
did you learn it was possible to do it after his telekinetic slam? Arcade or
console first? was it on your own or did somebody else showed it to you? It's
awesome because in N64 you have two versions of it, one allowing even more hits
per combo. In arcade you have to connect both hits of the launcher. I'm really
curious about how you discovered that one.
Sicdic:
I obviously
found out you can auto combo right when they hit the ground by accident and
started trying everything imaginable. I feel like I would’ve known about it in
the arcade first since I got into it there first. I played Ermac in arcade a lot once I learned
he was fun to juggle with. Scorpion was
my first MK 1 character I ever picked so I was in love with teleport. Ermac's slam was satisfying to find new ways
to juggle off of, whereas spear, although satisfying to land, had a
straight-forward uppercut follow-up.
It’s interesting you
brought up the 2 hit auto combo cannot be split in the arcade. I didn’t
remember that technicality until you said that. In arcade I played Ermac, but I
also loved playing reptile a lot. I was pretty good at tracking myself while
invisible decently and precisely and it was fun to troll people with that. I
feel like I might be remembering the 'oooh wow' moment when I discovered that
you could split the 2-hit on n64 and fell in love.
NinjaGrinder:
By the
time you recorded the videos, had you extensively tried out Trilogy? Since the
game came out in 96 but the videos like in '00, I'm curious whether you really
liked MKT at first.
Sicdic:
So, I had
moved to Southern California in 96 and quickly learned that the main
competition was on street fighter. So,
while I did play a bit of UMK3, it was only with a small set of people while
the Capcom machines were lined up with tokens.
So, extensive isn’t the right word, but yes, I did put in some lab work
in the arcades and I had an N64 and bought the game because I love fighting
games. I played it a lot at home, labbing combos just because it’s the type of
stuff I liked to do. If I’m into a fighting game, then I just get into seeing
how mechanics interact and how I can create my own style of play. I didn't buy the game just to record a video,
no.
NinjaGrinder:
What was
the reason you decided to record and release videos of Trilogy instead of
arcade UMK3? well, why not Saturn? I just want to know the reason behind the
choice of game.
Sicdic:
It was just
the version we had. It’s definitely the
version I played the most but it was what Wizard had at his house. There was no
big plan to make a video. That whole video was done in about 2 or 3 hours. I
was just messing around and making a video for Ben (Tragic)'s website.
NinjaGrinder:
Did you
see or did you hear about any MK combovideos before yours and NKI's? I didn't,
no one did. But who knows? maybe you did.
Sicdic:
No, I don’t
believe I did. I'm sitting here thinking
and I remember watching a lot of MK videos.
Wiz and I really liked
to do KI1 arcade combos and really try to break that game down. Definitely
watched Japanese videos on SF3 and Alpha 3, even though I didn't play Alpha 3
very much and wouldn’t rate it high on my list of fighters personally. And of
course, Tekkenzaibatsu. Wiz introduced me to Castel and 3D games were really
fun to juggle in.
After my videos were
made, I watched MK videos over time just to see how crazy people got with the
game.
And then by that time
I had very little interest in MK4 and had fully moved on to street fighter.
NinjaGrinder:
Were you
aware that you and NKI were in part responsible for the trend and scene growing
up? after your videos came out, a guy from NJ started working on his own as
well and became hugely popular. Soon after my video was ready and he gracefully
helped to host it. Of course, this was 2003, way before YouTube days. So, it
was all direct download. When I released mine, he was promoting his latest
material, and his website couldn't handle the traffic LOL
Maj stepped in to
assist with hosting (sonichurricane.com)
Sicdic:
No, not at
all. I was shocked to hear they had an impact; They were just made out of fun.
I’m so happy to hear that it motivated some people to do their own stuff,
that’s so fucking cool I’m smiling huge right now LOL
Fighters are so fun to
play. I wish I would enjoy online fighters;
I really want to be in a room with people playing but online feels so out of
touch for me personally.
NinjaGrinder:
I told
him I'd gotten in touch with you and he was super excited as well. He literally
asked me "did you tell him what he started?"
He got so inspired he
wanted to do even better videos, since yours were short and to the point. But
he had better tools than I did, so he could release arcade UMK3 combo videos.
Since all I could do was N64, I shared most of my material with him, so at
least I could see our combos in a video. They broke the game so much, we all
learned from each other, I guess. But then, more people stepped in, a lot more.
From the US, from Bulgaria, from Venezuela. People started talking technical
stuff about the game, not just showing videos.
People started to show
match videos. Interest grew and grew. Now people wanted tournament videos, not
just casuals. So, he basically started the foundations of MK scene in the
States.
The guys from Chicago
started to show up to tournaments in NJ. Everyone who ever played was coming
back in a way. And for me, it was heaven. I decided to run tournaments as well,
first one was in 2004. I wanted to see here, what I was seeing over there. I
was basically jealous LOL
Sicdic:
Ed Boon is so
lucky to have people like you and your friend having any interest in his
product. That’s amazing dedication and
drive, and love. People like you guys straight up carry scenes, actual backbone
of it.
What’s the other guy’s
name?
NinjaGrinder:
His name
is Matt; he goes by Shock (in the beginning it was EWAShock)
He had his website to
host the videos and along with Lex kept people interested in the forums. SRK
was a great place to talk FGs. Then Matt launched his website, with forums and
everyone flew over there. Then they partnered up with bigger sites and did a
lot of events. For MK9 and onwards. Now their site is called Kombat Network.
People who know what’s
what, know they wouldn’t have a local tournament scene if it wasn’t for the
stuff Matt & co did, the love for the game was huge.
I’m sure you know
there is a lot of Trilogy stuff that can’t be done in arcade, like two
teleports in a row. Even crazier, after those 2 teleports, a jab and a third
teleport. All in less than 3 seconds. Even though it’s insane (when in
comparison to arcade rules), it’s not that hard actually.
But were you fully
aware back then, that some moves wouldn’t come out after a certain number of
hits in the same combo? A hit limit. i.e., slam can’t be done after 4 hits.
Except there’s a way to do it (and you did it of course). Same with the
teleport.
Sicdic:
There are a
few games that you are able to break that limitation, yes. MK3 was a great one
to do it in.
NinjaGrinder:
Do you
have a name for it? Like a term.
No, not really, but kind of LOL
The only one I really named but it was just a reference I used with Wiz, was 6th teleport.
Meaning, you can’t
teleport as the 6th hit. Only up to the 5th hit can be a teleport, and that
carried over to other instances. So, it doesn’t make sense because it was an
inside term. I’m curious as to what the name became?
NinjaGrinder:
Since it
can be done with more moves and more characters, they called it glitch
cancel.
Do you know the reason
that limit break is possible? like the details.
Sicdic:
I approve of
that name, it’s not exotic or anything, it gets straight to the point. Slightly
embarrassed with my version now LMAO
You can do something
like that in Street Fighter 4 and I had a name for that.
So, imagine in SF4 you
finish a fight with something like crouching fierce and that kills the
opponent. Well, I played C. Viper in SF4 and I would glitch cancel a burning
kick follow up that went really slow motion, and I called that Extra Credit.
I don’t know the
actual technical reason why; I would love to understand. I just realized that in some games you can
overcome it with timing and speed.
NinjaGrinder:
So, when
you were trying those combos out, how hard was for you to pull them off? I can
tell you, if the conditions aren't met, there will be entire rounds in which
you won't get it to work.
Sicdic:
Wow! that is
actually really interesting to read because if you hadn't have said that I
would’ve sworn I can pull it off with high consistency. Now I'm wondering if it
was difficult to do. I can do the SF4 extra credit super high consistency.
Please break it down.
NinjaGrinder:
In UMK3
and of course MKT, every round a player gets a 1 frame advantage. The game will
choose P1 or P2 randomly every single round. So, for some matches, it could be
one round each or either side gets that 1 frame advantage. You can notice if
you get thrown when you're not supposed to or if both players are
next to each other and they press an attack at the same time. Every single
time, a player will hit first. There are no trades in MK like that. Always the
priority player will hit. So, what happens to the other player? he gets to do
glitch cancels. There's no way to do a GC in a round in which you have frame
advantage. Crazy.
Of course it's hard.
Of course it's frame perfect. It requires timing and speed. For some attacks
it's easier than others. But you can only pull it off if you don't have that 1
frame advantage.
Sicdic:
Wow that is
actually mind blowing yet totally understandable.
Well, the priority player, the disadvantaged player having glitch cancels is just a crazy coincidence?
SICDIC'S 2nd VIDEO: MK Trilogy Ninjas exhibition (released on 11/20/2000)
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| Tragic promoting Sicdic's 2nd video on his website |
NinjaGrinder:
Do you
remember the first glitch cancel you discovered? you did those with Ermac, the
one with Subzero, plus that insane jump kick, LP xxground freeze.
Not to mention that
sick cross up kick with Kitana into fan suction. Damn that was nasty!
Sicdic:
Man, I wish I
knew, damn. I honestly have no idea but it’s something I know I’ve tried
probably my whole life in every game I’ve played. It was just something I would
always try for fun in any game and sometimes it worked.
NinjaGrinder:
This is
from Shock, posted more than 10 years ago, describing the events that took
place 20 years ago! (click on the external link to read)
Anniversary post written by Shock on TYM
Sicdic:
I saw Shock's
post and viewed a few of those videos on that page. They listen to really heavy
metal, captures the vibe of that gory game nicely. That was cool he gave a
shout out. I'm flattered.
NinjaGrinder:
I
remember when we were talking about 6th teleport, you mentioned
that it carried over to more moves/characters. Were you fully aware then, about
all the moves that had a hit limit? like Sub´s freeze, Reptile's forceball,
Kitana's fan lift, Ermac's slam.
Sicdic:
Yes, I was
aware all characters had moves disabled after a certain amount of juggles.
NinjaGrinder:
So, you
decided to break them all, nice! Trust me, nobody had any idea about it back
then. When it was actually explained, it had to be done based on the game code
itself. Crazy
Did you share those
findings with anyone at the time?
Sicdic:
No, I never really was a forum poster or big
on IRC etc. I just like to break games for myself to be honest. Literally I
just like doing cool stuff in gaming, to this day.
NinjaGrinder:
That's
awesome, man. Were all the combos coming from your own
experience/experimentation on arcade/console or did you get pointers, tips or
even combo suggestion from other people?
Sicdic:
Back then it was mostly just trying to see
what I could fit in combos. Like imagine doing jump kick, teleport, spear,
uppercut with scorpion. I would try to fit a run + jab and build from there, and
substitute for more damaging moves or even flashier moves at the expense of
damage sometimes, never been a frame data type of guy, I just go by feel.
NinjaGrinder:
And
speaking of the combos... Any particular one you remember being harder to pull
off?
Sicdic:
Not really that I can remember that made me
struggle. it’s weird I´m sure some were tougher than others but I never felt
frustrated enough to remember them because I really was into it and embraced
the challenge. Never desk slammed etc., just continued to press myself onward. I
do remember setting up some Cyrax’s combos were kind of tricky with the bombs
but I never got that great at it to be honest.
NinjaGrinder:
Impressive,
man. Touching a little bit more on that, how did you make sure they were
absolutely unblockable? most of them are pretty obvious, while some others are
not. Did you have any concerns like "I have to make sure these are real
combos"?
Sicdic:
Yes, I didn´t want fake combos that was for
sure. Had Joey blocking or I would have the other controller on ground and used
foot to hold block button etc.
NinjaGrinder:
jajaja
that's what I had to do, man!
I used to put the 2nd
controller between my legs and hold it tight with the inner part of my knees so
I could press block, or if I needed the opponent to jump, I'd use my big toe.
Sicdic:
We are brothers from another mother.
NinjaGrinder:
Do you
recall if you had any leftovers? combos that you felt didn´t belong or maybe you
had intention to save for later (a fourth video?).
Sicdic:
Maybe there are some random combos but not
many. I did a few Tekken combos for Zaibatsu or however you spell it but just a
few. Did some KI1 videos too but I don’t think they all got posted online. Was
more a fun hobby to me instead of fame seeking.
NinjaGrinder:
Yeah, I
never got to see a KI video from you, man. Speaking of fun, do you remember
which video of all 3 was the most fun you had with creating?
Sicdic:
Jago for KI1 was probably most fun for me, but
I liked the MK juggle system better. Definitely had fun with Ermac, he was
really fun to mess around.
NinjaGrinder:
I want
to touch on Reptile´s dash juggle and Kung Lao's dive kick cancel. Did you
envision infinite/100% damage potential and just had to leave the combos like
that, or did you think back then you had reached the limit?
Sicdic:
I knew Kung Lao was infinite, saw someone do
it in the arcade before. I didn’t know about Repitle though, pretty sure.
NinjaGrinder:
That hop
kick into forceball after roundhouse into slow ball was the shit. You had those
ultra-deep kicks nailed on your videos, man.
Sicdic:
Yes, deep roundhouses felt so fucking good
LOL. I had to master them with Ermac and if I recall correctly, Scorpion could
utilize them too but those kicks were chef's kiss.
NinjaGrinder:
Yes! speaking
of RH that midscreen RH into air throw with Cyrax still looks SICK. Such great
ideas, man. Close to the corner, piece of cake. But midscreen? Crazy.
Sicdic:
I tried to make it a point to avoid corners
when possible and avoid huge characters like Jax or whoever was easier to
juggle. My combos had a viewer with a trained eye in mind, not noob.
NinjaGrinder:
Small
jumps into autocombos are really hard to do in arcade. like insta jumping
attacks Did you see those in arcade as well before trying them for the
video?
Sicdic:
Jump up + insta kick?
Yeah, that was something I’d done in arcades for a while. I think that was something I was just trying and saw it work. it might have been accidental.
SICDIC'S MK Trilogy ACT 3 (released on 12/24/2001)
 |
| Sicdic was already a respected and well-known member of the MK and combomaking community back in 2001 |
NinjaGrinder:
Did you enjoy the feedback received? Were
people for the most part, getting what you were doing? or maybe you just helped
Tragic with the videos and didn't pay attention at to what people were saying
back then? I'm curious.
Sicdic:
Yeah, I wasn’t basking in glory I just did it
for fun. Sometimes people said something to me online or at EVO and that felt
great but wasn’t my real pursuit.
NinjaGrinder:
I know
you never did it for fame or glory or whatever, but I'm
serious, you were truly an inspiration for a lot of people who keep doing it in
some form or another, to this day.
Sicdic:
That’s a nice thought.
NinjaGrinder:
I still thank my friend, who told me about the website and the videos. The game would be dead and forgotten, long time ago here, if it weren´t for Gamecombos and your videos. And of course NKI's
Sicdic:
That’s actually really cool you guys still
jam to old MK.
NinjaGrinder:
Man,
you've been so generous with your time, can't believe it's been over a year
since we started talking about this.
Sicdic
Happy to chat with you it´s great knowing you. You are a driver of community. You are to be respected.
