I don't understand certain starter combo parts, what's the best way to learn them?

[(Un)Certified Gamer]

First off the bat, I'm not very good at fighting games so a lot of the stuff I'm gonna say will sound silly, stupid and like I know nothing (because I do know nothing)

I recently bought GGS because it looked like a fun fighting game and after messing about for a bit I discovered a problem for me... certain inputs.

Just due to the shape, weight and several other negative things it first off makes it really difficult to hit certain inputs. The other bigger issue for GGS is that I am pretty darn confused about certain starter combos like the dpad with a curvy arrow is something I don't understand.

I'd really appreciate some help with what it means and how to input it best. Thanks

Sorry in advance for sounding really stupid.

[killer5_diego]

The curvy arrow represents a motion input (if thats what you mean) if you see a half circle or a quarter circle just drag your thumb on your joystick from the direction the curve starts forming the shape you see and press the strike button at the end of it. im sorry if that i not what you are looking for at all, im kinda confused, now im afraid to sound stupid xd

[Tisiphone Edge]

It's hard to give specific advice to such a general question, and it would be nice to know what exactly you're trying to input and who you're trying to play as. And what are "several other negative things?"

In general, if you see a curve around the D-Pad in the input, just hit those directions in order and hit the button at the end. This assumes that your character is on the left and facing right. The game has some tolerance for input errors, and if an attack requires you to hit a bunch of directions in a sequence, you can usually miss one of them and the game will still recognize what you're trying to do.

If you see what looks like a Z next to the D-Pad you have to hit forward, then down, then the diagonal in between them. As a note, this is commonly abbreviated to 623 on external guides, due to those directions on your keyboard's numpad corresponding to those inputs when you're facing right, and if you watch a youtube tutorial (and you should by the way), they will usually say it in this way for brevity. See https://www.dustloop.com/w/Notation

If you see an attack such as May's Mr. Dolphin telling you to hold back and then forward, you have to hold it for half a second, though you'll usually do this during another attack animation. For example, you can use her far slash while holding back, and then immediately use Mr. Dolphin during the ending lag of the move.

[Masuo15]

First off, welcome to fighitng games, we all were there at some point and you looking for help is a great first step, already shows your interest in learning and improving.

Well combos depend per character, in game you have the combo recipe option, you can search for "begginers" and latest version of the game (the recommended can be outdated so you can ignore them if you prefer; I learned that the hardway). The Missions that allows you to pick your character, can also teach you some a pretty basic combo, so its worth checking them out along other helpefull missions there, they are great at teaching you the game.

As for the curvy arrows, if you pay attention, they start on one end of your dpad, go somewhere else and the arrow ends at a certain point, Imagine moving your thumb following that arrows shape froms start to finish. Like lets say your arrow starts on down, and ends on forward; so your input would be down, downforward, forward; also known as a quarter circle forward or 236 (Trisphone Edge explained the numbers on his 3rd paragraph), and finally, you press the button(s) required as you end your mottion. Imagine a platformer, you need to press the jump button at the right time after pressing or holding the direcction; pressing jump too early or late wont allow you to jump over a gap.