First NHL 15 Screenshot Revealed, Pre-Order Offers Detailed

[Splitter77]

when do you think we see first gameplay?

anyone know if there will be stick collision detection? Like not having sticks go through players and other sticks??
like how if you try and skate with the puck, if your stick hits a player or another stick, the game will notice this and you will lose control of the puck.

[Dolphins88]

I'm waiting to see if the game actually plays better and more realistically. Since 07 it has been on a decline. Each team should play differently and they should focus on player differences with specific skill sets. That's what matters not the look of eyebrows. AI should be the focus and physics along w better goalies.

[Nwo4Life75]

The screenshot looks very good,that is if it's taken from actual gameplay footage. I've said this before and ill say it again. Does everybody remember the visuals hype for Madden from EA for the next gen systems,the stuff EA was showing us didn't end up looking as good when it finally came out? Another letdown from EA! I take everything EA says and does with a grain of salt. I just don't get my hopes up for EA sports games anymore! Hopefully one day they will wake up and actually make a true sports simulation game and stop with the bells and whistles and eye candy!

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectralThundr

We both want the same things, but valuing things like push off animations over actual intelligence speaks volumes of bias, its interesting to me that the same handful of users that slag EA's AI every year are fine that 2k10's ai can't even manage to perform a proper breakout or that while their goalies may have some nice animations at times, they often would likely have issue stopping a puck the size of a beach ball with how stupid the AI is in that game, regardless of the slider set used. If you're going to slag one for certain things, please be consistent. Otherwise to me EA could put out the most simtastic game ever and honestly? I don't think that would matter to certain people who seem to have an agenda to nitpick the game to death regardless. I get the frustrations, truly I do, I don't need it to be flawless either, I'd like better sim logic based on player ratings, I'd like to see the sliders better explained as to why setting attribute effects in the middle provides a better gameplay experience than say maxing that slider out to either end (this one truly baffles me still). I'd like better neutral zone pressure which only one game in the history of NHL video games has ever gotten close to doing well (NHL2k3) It just gets really old to hear the same complaints from the same very vocal few every year when in reality, with the right sliders, the game is not terrible by any means offline. Perfect? Nope, but no where near as bad as some try to claim it is.

I just reread our entire conversation from a couple months ago and never did I say I'd prefer push offs over AI. Honestly the two should go hand in hand. Also 2k's goalies really are not as dumb as you are saying. Go play 2k10 with the roster edits that the guys on this forum have made and your opinion will probably change providing you have an open mind. Aside from the easy breakaway goals (same move that beats goalies in EA btw) the animations and style they have is a million times better than EA. There's no fixing EA's goalies with ratings edits. They still have no momentum and warp to make every save. As I said I'm done getting into this conversation, I just wanted to defend the fact that you are saying things I've never even said. I encourage you to go back and reread my posts and you won't see I prefer pushoffs over AI.

The sad thing is you seem to see warping goalies and EA fixing cheeze goals by putting a band aid on the goalies instead of diving deep into the problem as nitpicking. This is not nitpicking. This is a massive issue with this game. I probably put goalies way higher up on the list than most people, but I just don't understand how people accept mediocrity in this area. I can't understand how people see warping goalies and animations of saves that don't even exist in real life as acceptable. The same goes for other areas of this game. If you want to see nitpicking please go to The Show forum. You will really laugh when you see things like sweat stains on hats being mentioned. What's sad is NHL had a better base than any other sports game through the first couple years, yet it's amazing how much they digressed and other games took ground breaking strides.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectralThundr

We both want the same things, but valuing things like push off animations over actual intelligence speaks volumes of bias, its interesting to me that the same handful of users that slag EA's AI every year are fine that 2k10's ai can't even manage to perform a proper breakout or that while their goalies may have some nice animations at times, they often would likely have issue stopping a puck the size of a beach ball with how stupid the AI is in that game, regardless of the slider set used. If you're going to slag one for certain things, please be consistent. Otherwise to me EA could put out the most simtastic game ever and honestly? I don't think that would matter to certain people who seem to have an agenda to nitpick the game to death regardless. I get the frustrations, truly I do, I don't need it to be flawless either, I'd like better sim logic based on player ratings, I'd like to see the sliders better explained as to why setting attribute effects in the middle provides a better gameplay experience than say maxing that slider out to either end (this one truly baffles me still). I'd like better neutral zone pressure which only one game in the history of NHL video games has ever gotten close to doing well (NHL2k3) It just gets really old to hear the same complaints from the same very vocal few every year when in reality, with the right sliders, the game is not terrible by any means offline. Perfect? Nope, but no where near as bad as some try to claim it is.

I don't want it to sound like i hate the game. I can enjoy it. But, there's so many frustrations that just exist year after year. The fact that the dump in issue with sky-high pucks wasn't in the game to start, but was patched in, and isn't something we can turn off, or get patched out is insane.

I really like the game, but after a season, it all just gets stale. Every team plays the same, and ratings hardly seem to matter in the stock game. The same problems with an AI player skating around the back of the net and just holding his stick out as far as he can then spinning around the front and backhanding a wrister over a sprawling goalie while 2 players on your team watch, and you struggle to actually do anything with the body or poke check get old. Slow wrist shots that slide at 10 miles an hour through 4 of your players and under your goalies pads while everyone watches gets old.

The game is fun, there's no denying that. But so many of these problems exist year after year, and it gets frustrating as someone who doesn't play with strangers online. There's no joy in it for me, especially when 3/4 games i try to play turn out to be kids cheesing nonsense goals, or people who quit when you get ahead. But the online crowd it who gets the main focus, because they bring in the money. I understand keeping the hand that feeds you happy, but doing little to nothing for the Be A GM and offline crowd is always frustrating. That's the frustration with HUT. It gets the lion's share of the development attention, pretty much the majority of the Facebook and post-release attention (No dynamic rosters for offline games, but there are for HUT. That's something that other games have had offline for years).

I really like EA's NHL series, but honestly, i feel like the lack of a competitor has caused the game to slowly stagnate to an online-centered game that wants whatever big hits and silly dekes will attract the most action gamers. I can't push a player towards the boards to slow his entering the zone, but there's an animation to jump over players while flipping the puck in the air that was specifically made for the online players who had to get a way to get by people who just sprawl on the ice instead of playing real defense.
I really want NHL15 to be great. And honestly, i'm not judging it too hard based on this screenshot. I think Thornton's face looks a bit wonky, but everything else looks fantastic. The lighting and texture on the sweaters, the way they look like people wearing pads and hockey gear over that instead of just puffed up men with sweaters on is great.
But visuals will only please me for so long. If i still have to wait 60 minutes to sim through half of a season (with monthly interruptions from my scouts that i can't automate), teams that all play the same just with different sweaters and stadiums that look pretty similar overall, but with a different center ice logo, i'll be pretty bummed.
I'm reserving judgment until EA actually puts the game out, but i don't think people being hesitant to think that EA will put much focus on Be a GM is outrageous.

[Mikey88]

@Mikey

I'm not saying they should only focus on offline. Not at all. I completely understand the majority of people play online, but there are still many who don't and you will find many on this forum. Also have you ever thought that maybe if EA put out a decent offline product maybe more people would play offline? AI wouldn't be repetitive if the devs actually cared to make it that way. There's other sports games out there where the AI is barely repetitive at all. NHL is just so lackluster in this area that maybe it makes you think other sports games are exactly like it. Since AI is one of EA's sticking points with the "Ignite" engine, I am really hoping EA follows through.[/quote]

No. Like i said, you get a better gaming experience when you play vs others online. Offline gaming vs cpu will never be as good as vs humans no matter how hard they try. In this day and age , gaming is all about 1 console per player and we all meet up in the middle which is online in the mode of your liking

[Mikey88]

Quote: Originally Posted by snowblind89

Yes...you must have literally no friends outside of Xbox live. The foundation of sports video gaming was built of offline, local multiplayer. Not against AI, not online, but offline multiplayer. Offline multiplayer, where you can actually play a game (20 minute periods, sliders fully adjusted) with some sliver of resemblance to actual hockey were there not bouncing pucks, hilarious dump ins, and glitch goals. Also, have you considered that all of the gameplay and aesthetic faults also apply to online modes? Yep, that bouncing puck exists in all of your online, EASHL games. The same hilarious fan models and behavior that we see in this new groundbreaking screenshot of NHL 15 will exist in all of your online games. Unless you are blatantly trolling (which you aren't) think before you post something and actually apply logic please. .

Ok heres some logic for you. Unless you're 12 years old, nobody has time to go over to a friends place and crush 20 min periods on uber realistic mode. And how are you so certain , based off of 1 screenshot that the bouncing puck will be in NHL15?

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mikey88

No. Like i said, you get a better gaming experience when you play vs others online. Offline gaming vs cpu will never be as good as vs humans no matter how hard they try. In this day and age , gaming is all about 1 console per player and we all meet up in the middle which is online in the mode of your liking

So you're telling me the AI is just fine the way it is online? I find that very hard to believe. The AI is basically just as bad online, the only difference is the user controlling the player with the puck. All of the other players are CPU AI. The same goals are scored time and time again because you don't need creativity to play the game. The defensemen still collapse to the slot when the opponent comes in the zone, your AI teammates still have brain dead positioning on defense no matter their defensive rating, and I could go on and on. I played 9 games online when I rented the game with a free trial of gamefly. I won every game and I had zero fun because it was so repetitive, grant it I was skill level 1 so I was playing the worst possible opponents. There was a grand total of 4 offsides in those 9 games. Yes, I kept track of offsides. Does that sound like hockey to you?

The game is a ping pong match that is up and down up and down with guys blowing past defensemen for breakaways no matter what speed rating they have. Why? Because the game has AI flaws that result in cheeze goals no matter if you try and prevent doing them. This game seriously takes very little skill to be good at because of the AI. NHL does do some things very well, but it has such a long way to go because they didn't continue to improve the things that needed improving. Improving AI as a whole would make online and offline good. Isn't that what everyone wants?