I would say that hockey is probably the most difficult sport to try and program AI for (probably because hockey might be the most mentally taxing sport in the world). Hockey's a much more free flowing game than basketball or football and I would imagine having to program the read and react game of hockey is more difficult than almost any other sport.
I don't know anything about programming, but I think people are seriously underestimating just how many read and react and flow type situations occur in football. The initial positioning may be static, but from there it's a series of very subtle movements that make all the difference in a game looking and playing like tecmo bowl and the current version we have. Not to mention you're programming twice as many players.
I don't know anything about programming, but I think people are seriously underestimating just how many read and react and flow type situations occur in football. The initial positioning may be static, but from there it's a series of very subtle movements that make all the difference in a game looking and playing like tecmo bowl and the current version we have. Not to mention you're programming twice as many players.
first off, tecmo bowl pt 2 (forget what it was, but on the nes still), was the greatest football game ever.
like it had memory, full stats and you could play the whole season, unreal!!!
secondly, i think football is extremely difficult, considering the different types of motion (O/D lines) to receivers running their routes as their bumping into LBs, or off DBs. then you have guys back in coverage, man or zone, that break off their coverage when the ball is in the air.
your first post had it, pursuit angles, blocking and avoiding blocking, coverage hiding.
the fact that a defencemen can skate backwards and continue to stick handle the puck, or that a player's stick (which is controlling a puck) is completely invisible to contact with other sticks, especially in the motion of passing/shooting, the list can go on. from a simulation of the raw motions and physics of a game, hockey's naturally on the lower spectrum of the EA titles. And the "ya but they generate much lower revenues" is completely relevant also.
Just sucks for me, since NHL is the only game video game i play, and i play it a lot.
I really don't understand the NHL11 hate either... I never bought it, but I played the demo and the final game at other people's houses... yes it was different than 10. But the arguements that it's different in terms of pace / hitting / shot speed / passing speed / etc... are all settings in the menu. Just change them... tweak it to how you like it.
Suppose the online play is different, but I've never bothered with it so... :P
I really don't understand the NHL11 hate either... I never bought it, but I played the demo and the final game at other people's houses... yes it was different than 10. But the arguements that it's different in terms of pace / hitting / shot speed / passing speed / etc... are all settings in the menu. Just change them... tweak it to how you like it.
Suppose the online play is different, but I've never bothered with it so... :P
I thought it was the brutal AI everybody hated. I mean in regular games, they'll back off from you and give you ample time to make perfect shots if you're playing on your own...and play on Be a Pro, and they'll do nothing but pass between the winger and the D behind him.
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I thought it was the brutal AI everybody hated. I mean in regular games, they'll back off from you and give you ample time to make perfect shots if you're playing on your own...and play on Be a Pro, and they'll do nothing but pass between the winger and the D behind him.
I agree, the AI was noticeably different than NHL10, kind of forgot about that... though they did fix (a bit) the massive jumps between difficulty settings. In 10 the only way to get it to a makes-sense level is to put it on a lower difficulty, then adjust all the sliders up. At the highest setting EVERY pass is tape to tape, the AI learning basically reads your mind no matter how often you "change styles" (ie: every time up the ice), and good luck ever getting the puck to begin with.
I felt they fixed that in 11... but agree with the "backing off"... seemed like they'd rather just block shots / pick up rebounds than come steal the puck.
As mentioned before, my general 'hate' towards the game stems from some pretty piss poor (that's alliteration!) AI and the fact that the mode I play the most (Be A GM) has grown very stale.
The AI tweaks in '12 ring hollow, due to the fact it is always a promise that falls short. Combine that with the two paragraph blog on the Be A GM changes and the new installment doesn't leave me terribly excited.
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Good EA, focus on stuff that makes no difference to the game at all. All this does is slow the game down even more. Next thing you'll tell me is that there now 8 pauses in each game.
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If you watch Gamespot's On the Spot, it does seem to me that AI players are better at positioning. The EA Studio Showcase Press Conference also sows off some specific clips, and the NHL part starts about ten minutes in.
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Last edited by Kipper is King; 07-08-2011 at 09:49 PM.
Oh good, the commentary is 100% the same and just as annoying as ever.
I'm not sure they had the Shark mouth before.
Honestly, I don't mind the commentary...I turn it off and replace it with my own. If the AI is good and the physics actually let me pick up loose pucks in front of my opponent's net, I'm happy.
wow, the gameplay looks EXACTLY as awful as it has been the last couple years. thats why its nothing but hollow words when every year they say they have improved and overhauled the AI. it never changes. so they managed to fix the sim bug in gm mode and added some minor tertiary eye candy that 99% of people don't want. congrats EA on being a worthless company as usual!
Honestly, I don't mind the commentary...I turn it off and replace it with my own. If the AI is good and the physics actually let me pick up loose pucks in front of my opponent's net, I'm happy.
its kind of hard to be bothered by the commentary when you aren't listening to it!
isn't that indicative of why it sucks when you have to turn it off???
If it's a demo being shown, don't they usually ramp up the degree of new features like goalie collisions? I bet in the final game, they will not be that bizarre.
