SF3 TAG v4.3 (preview) Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike tag teams: one to five fighters per side, six total. Unofficial fan-made mod; not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Capcom or Justin Wong. COMMUNITY PREVIEW V4.3 has automated emulator coverage. Physical controllers, native Windows/macOS frontend play and real online sessions remain unverified. Read WHAT WAS CHECKED below for the exact builds and documented offline scope. This is a community preview, not a claim that every reported issue or hardware configuration is fixed. WHAT YOU NEED Your own complete, clean sfiii3nr1.zip: Japan 990512, NO CD. Keep it zipped. This download contains the patch and tools, not the original game or a patched ROM. The installer checks all 41 required members by size, CRC-32 and SHA-1. It refuses incomplete, altered or previously patched sets, including earlier SF3 TAG outputs. MAKE BOTH EDITIONS Windows 10/11: drag the clean sfiii3nr1.zip onto sf3-tag-v4.3.cmd. Alternatively, put the two files together and double-click the installer. Windows PowerShell is used; Python is not required for this route. macOS/Linux: extract the patch package. In its folder, run: python3 sf3_tag_patch.py "/actual/path/to/clean/sfiii3nr1.zip" Python 3 is required. Use a quoted, complete path if the filename contains spaces. The new sf3_tag_v4.3 folder appears beside the clean ZIP and contains: sfiii3nr1.zip Two-Player Tag: one controller per human team, chosen CPU teams sf3tag.zip Party: one to six local humans plus explicit CPU fighter slots receipt.json input and generated-file hashes Your clean ZIP is read only. Keep the generated ZIPs zipped and keep their names. Before rerunning, move an existing sf3_tag_v4.3 somewhere safe: generated files may be replaced. An optional Python --out FOLDER selects another output directory. With no explicit input, the installer searches beside itself, then known Fightcade locations. When it finds a clean Fightcade ZIP, output goes beside the installer. Explicit input paths and drag/drop are the simplest way to select the right ZIP. Next: Fightcade (Two-Player only): use ROMs > Open ROMs folder, then the FBNeo folder. Move your clean sfiii3nr1.zip to a backup outside that folder, then copy sf3_tag_v4.3/sfiii3nr1.zip there. Keep it zipped and keep its name. Try Test game first. Restore your clean backup to play stock Third Strike. Online sessions remain unverified. RetroArch: extract sf3-tag-v4.3-retroarch.zip. Party uses its SF3 TAG core and sf3_tag_v4.3/sf3tag.zip. The Two-Player edition uses sfiii3nr1.zip and ports 1/2. Read the RetroArch pack README for Windows, Linux, Mac and controller setup. MAME: mame sfiii3nr1 -rompath sf3_tag_v4.3 -nvram_directory sf3_tag_v4.3/nvram Use a separate NVRAM folder; changed-chip checksum warnings are expected. FIGHTCADE -- TWO-PLAYER EDITION 1. Open Fightcade's ROMs > Open ROMs folder, then its FBNeo folder. This finds your actual location; installations need not use the same folder. 2. Close any running game. Move the clean sfiii3nr1.zip to a backup OUTSIDE that ROM folder. Copy sf3_tag_v4.3/sfiii3nr1.zip into the FBNeo ROM folder. 3. Join the Third Strike channel and use Test game. F5 in the emulator maps inputs. 4. Restore your clean backup to return to stock Third Strike. Fightcade uses its own emulator. Do not put the RetroArch core in Fightcade. Party's six-port edition requires the SF3 TAG RetroArch core. Linux Flatpak stores FBNeo ROMs in: ~/.var/app/com.fightcade.Fightcade/data/ROMs/fbneo/ Both participants need matching V4.3 game payloads for an online test. A real online session has not been verified; matching files alone do not prove compatibility. Official setup: https://www.fightcade.com/help RETROARCH -- BOTH EDITIONS Download and extract sf3-tag-v4.3-retroarch.zip as well as making your game. It contains the custom SF3 TAG core, launchers, source-build tools and its README. Windows x64 and Linux x86_64 cores are included. Mac requires building a core. The Party launcher opens sf3tag.zip directly with the local custom core. For a CPU game, port 1 OR 4 inserts a coin and presses Start; for native two-human versus, both do so. Everyone then joins and picks a side, with explicit CPU slots. The Two-Player edition uses sfiii3nr1.zip and ports 1/2. Follow that pack's README for operating-system, controller and manual-load steps. WHAT CHANGED IN V4.3 The familiar MATCH BREAKDOWN presentation returns: four award/spotlight cards, large original-owner badges and team-colored fighter rows. The native winner stage remains underneath the dark native lobby overlay. All six pages share the site's rasterized headings, restrained green rain and red/blue team bands. Twenty-four displayed cards reuse 20 recorded counters; neutral moment spotlights are not performance awards. Shared highest values say TIED, no qualifying event says NO ONE, unavailable data says UNTRACKED, and saturated counters show +. These are recorded observations, not execution/strategy grades. A qualifying recorded KO leader gets a short honor before Overview. KO tiers describe whole-match totals, not a timed multikill or uninterrupted streak. Zero, tied or capped leaders skip the entrance. Static, page navigation or authorized Continue can skip it; the captured counters remain unchanged. The winner-first hold and original-owner Start release/Continue policy remain. This followup changes result-screen presentation, retaining the existing gameplay rules and published core binaries. Fresh visual/payload checks are separate from inherited V4.2 gameplay evidence; no fresh full gameplay matrix is implied. V4.2 FEATURES RETAINED - Match review now appears after the final round announces the winner, before native Continue, next stage or the ending. It stays paused for you to read. Six pages: Overview, Offense, Defense, Resources, Team actions and Match moments. Left/right changes page. Up toggles page fades or static transitions. Release Start on ALL original human owners' controllers after entry to arm it. ONE original owner then presses Start freshly to close it; release Start again on ALL original owners' controllers before native continuation resumes. Other owners do not need to press Start. Unjoined controllers and dedicated CPU slots cannot dismiss the review or block its retirement by holding Start. - Pick your CPU team's fighters and a legal format. Party can mix human and CPU fighters, recover explicit unready slots, and transfer/reclaim local control. These use the existing Third Strike CPU; they do not add a new AI. - Returned Yun with unexpired Genei Jin regains native green afterimages. The cue does not restart/refill the install or stock; native expiry remains intact. - V4.2 offline gameplay acceptance remains a separately identified baseline. The compiled cores remain unchanged from the published V3.1 pack. V4.1 REPAIRS RETAINED - Reproduced Remy neutral throw / Aegis interruption: the victim returns to normal control while Remy keeps native hit reaction and damage. - Reproduced Temporal Thunder / raised Aegis reflection loop: the original Super Art and projectile behavior continue through the native path. - These are targeted reproduced recipes, not every possible projectile overlap. V4 FEATURES RETAINED - Immediate raw-tag handoff. The outgoing fighter becomes a detached visual, poses for 20 unfrozen action ticks and retreats while its partner enters. - The incoming fighter performs its protected native homing heavy kick. On normal landing, protection ends and a vulnerable arrival pose lasts 40 action ticks. The fighter can be hit or thrown during it, but cannot attack, block, parry, move, jump or tag. Control returns when recovery completes. A hit, throw or KO interrupts the pose permanently and continues the native reaction. - Both poses are sanitized imagery: no Personal Action bonuses, attacks, grabs, spawned effects or taunt movement. Ibuki receives both poses safely. - Power meters now use electric cyan-to-blue charge, compact slanted frames, readable stock numbers, centered capacity dots and separate SA I/II/III labels. Native charge fractions, capacities, costs and install countdowns are preserved. - Fixed the demonstrated first-DHC starting-stock defect: native commitment spends exactly one incoming stock, including a fresh reserve with ONE or MAX stocks. - Guarded the reproduced invalid native callback after a lethal Ken/Makoto throw. Ordinary cleanup and subsequent playable progression continue. V3.1's next-stage fix, selectable formats, names, rule votes, yellow snapbacks, compact team life HUD and match breakdown remain. TEAMS AND SETUP All configurations: one to five fighters per side, at most six fighters total. Two-Player: both human sides choose size with up/down; LP or Start confirms, LK goes back. The existing two-human format-agreement timeout remains 3v3. For one human versus CPU, coin/start on your native port opens deliberate setup: left/right selects the size to edit, up/down changes it, LP or Start confirms. The present controller chooses both character rosters, names and rules. Party: Start joins in the middle, left/right chooses team, LP confirms human assignment and LK backs out. MP adds a dedicated CPU to the selected team; MK removes one. A picker not yet confirmed does not reserve a committed slot. Controller identity stays with the fighter whichever team they choose. Confirm a legal arrangement; teams lock after three stable seconds. Fresh Start+LK explicitly removes undecided OPEN joins or assigns CPU assistance to locked but unready original owners. Missing players never cast rules votes. No inactivity timer or disconnected-network-peer detection is claimed. Names: up/down chooses a character, LP accepts, LK goes back, Start finishes. Six letters maximum; Start on an empty name uses the character's name. Select a character, Super Art and palette for every roster member. Rules: up/down selects health, starting stocks or clock; left/right proposes a value. Every participant has ten seconds to agree with LP or refuse with LK. Unanimous approval applies the value. Refusal or timeout keeps that setting's default. Everyone presses Start when ready; LK withdraws readiness. Health: FULL / 75 PCT / HALF. Stocks: EMPTY / ONE / MAX. Clock: EXTENDED / STANDARD / UNLIMITED. Default: FULL, EMPTY, EXTENDED. PLAY HP + HK Raw tag to the next living partner down + HP + HK Raw tag to the previous living partner HP + HK during an eligible Super Art DHC: partner enters doing its supported grounded Super Art quarter circle forward + MP + MK Snapback: costs one stock even on block or whiff Start Personal Action / taunt Start + LK + MK Request CPU assistance / reclaim for your original fighters MP + MK Native Leap Attack Raw tags cycle through the roster and skip KOs. The last living fighter cannot tag. Projectiles, lasting installs and prohibited reactions restrict voluntary tags and DHCs. DHC needs the incoming fighter's own stock; air-only and explicitly refused routes remain unavailable. Raw landing recovery applies only to voluntary raw tags. DHC, snapback and KO replacements keep their separate policies. A snapback hit forces the opponent's next living reserve in. Simultaneous hits switch both sides. With no opponent reserve, the command is the native move and spends no snapback stock. The CPU does not choose snapbacks. Bench healing and stun recovery start at immediate handoff. Red-life healing retains its 256-action-tick wait. Returning to point discards remaining red life. Each character keeps its own Super Art meter. Pose imagery grants no taunt bonus. Retag cooldown starts when flight ends, alongside landing recovery. Time over compares each team's remaining health as a share of its starting health. Red life does not count. Exact ties use Third Strike's judges. After the final round, the winner is announced and the six-page review pauses progression. Follow its Start release/close instructions above. Native credits still govern Continue; extra Party owners forward one request, not free credits. Break/reclaim uses a FRESH Start+LK+MK chord; release before repeating it. Bench transfers commit immediately. An active reaction/tag/freeze queues the transfer until a native safe stance. Health, meter, install, stun and owner are preserved. Dedicated CPU slots cannot be reclaimed by an unjoined human. Chosen CPU rosters last for the configured match. Continue reopens setup. Native arcade advance generates a fresh CPU opponent and keeps the human winner's roster and Away state. CPU team sizes follow 1->1, 2->2, 3->3, 4->2, 5->1. Review numbers are recorded facts: damage, KOs, observed chain maximum, parries, observed Super Art states, accepted team actions, HP changes, healing, blocks, chip, stun, stock debits and sampled human/CPU point time. Match moments retain the last 16 events. Unsupported technique/intent/execution grades remain absent. Overview seconds round sampled fight ticks divided by 60, including native action freezes; they are not wall-clock time. Other pages show raw ticks. Damage from a lasting projectile can be attributed to the sampled point fighter; the observed team-chain maximum is not an individual solo-combo grade. Observed Super Art states differ from actual stock debits, and HP gain is not assumed to be bench healing. The bounded moments list is not a complete replay. WHAT WAS CHECKED V4.3 native lobby presentation: strict accepted Two-Player archive SHA-256 de158c5e15654f22b9238b343618771e35837289e0403344a333165173edc509 and Party archive SHA-256 4b9ca0406ce6c66c465b54ce3b5a3b1bc933a0329aabe2450ec1804895765e7d. Engine payloads are 542748 and 544916 bytes. The acceptance index is docs/acceptance/RESULTS_LOBBY_ACCEPTANCE_20261008.json, SHA-256 b612cf8a519ec5190cafc1e5fa6158a2dced2165bf8cc9f503b62e0beb7698f5. Fresh documented scope: 420 renderer checks, 140 held-result lifecycle checks, 34 actual two/six-human capture checks, 15 Party native Continue checks and four CPU-role checkpoints. Both editions and winner sides render all six pages. Six-row saturated/tied/leader fixtures verify presentation only; the actual emulated two/six-owner captures separately earn counters through native inputs, with journaled HP-only finishing fixtures. No telemetry writes are used there. Owner badge cap geometry/flags, honors, page cache/rain/static mode, retirement, palette/scroll restoration, native-five-bit save/restore and original-owner Continue authority are included. Peak presentation fixtures use 495/512 sprites in Two-Player and 490/512 in Party. Behavioral preservation is source/payload comparison plus focused native checks; it is not a fresh full gameplay suite. V4.2 gameplay batches retain their original builds and limitations under docs/acceptance/MATCH_REVIEW_CPU_ACCEPTANCE_20261008.json. They are inherited, not relabelled as V4.3 reruns. Installer/launcher verification is recorded separately in PACKAGING_CHECKS.json; stand-in routing is not frontend play. Physical controllers, native Windows/macOS frontend play and real online sessions remain unverified. Existing published Windows/Linux core binaries are unchanged. REPORTED RECIPE LIMITS The repaired recipes were reproduced and traced. This is targeted coverage, not an exhaustive claim about every projectile or throw overlap. Forty SF3 action ticks is an adaptation of measured MVC recovery, not a claim of a literal MVC taunt or frame-perfect equivalence. Optional balance changes and a DHC-ready indicator remain deferred. VERSION AND HASH NOTES V4.3 must be made from the clean original, not installed over any earlier patched ZIP. RELEASE.json records package hashes, reference build archives and ROM-member hashes. Python/PowerShell ZIP compression or extra input members can change archive hashes while required ROM payloads remain identical. receipt.json records your actual ZIPs. Old-version savestates are not a supported way to upgrade: start the new game fresh. PROJECT PAGE https://morphus56k.com/blog/sf3-three-on-three-tag-teams