NHL 10 News Post

NHL 10 Blog: More Gameplay Refinements w/ 3 New Videos

05:21 PM - July 9, 2009 by ohyeahbaby123

Check out the new NHL 10 blog, covering more gameplay refinements. 3 videos are included.

Quote:


	"The first thing I want to talk about is the goalies in NHL10. We literally had one programmer and one animator working on goalies all year around. We know that there were some holes in the goalie last year so my challenge to our guys was to make a perfect goalie. I wanted to ensure that our goalies had the ability to save anything shot at them. Once we had that, we could then start to give back goals in a controlled manner and ensure that we weren�t creating any �always goals�. I gotta give the guys credit, they added over 150 new goalie animations including saves from the butt, new kick saves, reach backs and swipe-aways just to name a few which made the goalies extremely effective and much more dynamic. Once we had the goalies to a state that we liked, we brought in some of the top EASHL players in the Vancouver area to try and find holes. The first thing they did was try all the exploit goals from 09 which were unsuccessful but they did find a couple situations where the goalies could still be improved. We took that feedback and made the final tweaks. I should mention that I�m also extremely pleased with our additions for user controlled goalies which I�ll speak about at a later date. I will say that people who play goalie in the EASHL are going to be very happy with the improvements we�ve made. The guys in the office are having blast playing as goalie."

Game: NHL 10Reader Score: 7.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 28 - View All

NHL 10 Videos

Member Comments

# 21 Lukey_J @ 07/10/09 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill2451


	def liked a lot of things about that video... defense standing up at the blue line, that board pass, guys cycling in the offensive zone more. One of my favorite things to see was guys actually flipping the pucks around the boards in the defensive end to try and cycle it out when the puck gets knocked into the corner (I hope thats not just a result of the easy level, and on harder levels it'll be just like in past games where they can turn around and just carry it out of the zone, because its something that happens in the NHL all the time) ... I will point out a couple things that I didnt particularly like though too in a couple of those vids, the goalie still looks like he's moving/reacting too fast compared to the rest of the guys out there... I love rebound goals, but did we see a single goal that wasnt a rebound? Just look at part 1, the 3rd clip where the guy shoots from his knees... the goalie flies across the crease at an incredibly unrealistic speed my other big issues w/ the goalie is that sure there may be more animations/imroved animations, but they still don't seem human... the "splits" save animation looks greatly greatly greatly improved compared to last year... the goalie looks like he's actually still alive when he does it and reacts to the puck, rather than frozen in time sliding across the crease... however it seems like that new splits is going to be the norm when the goalie should have more animations available just look at the game winning goal in clip 3... why the hell is luongo doing the splits on that? If I let the puck trickle between my legs and a guy picks up the puck w/ an open goal in front of him, i'm sure as hell not sliding over to him... i'm going into "desperation" mode and doing everything in my power to stop him... diving, throwing my stick out to try and knock it away, flailing my arms... you look at any NHL goalie, he would have been on his back at the end of that play trying to stop it I dont want the goalies to be robots who can react to anything and the only way to beat them is with a rebound... I want them to do everything in their power to save a puck though, which may cause them to be off their line on a nice pass and give the offense a chance to find a hole... and I just don't see that yet

Maybe something similar to the first save Luongo makes in this clip should be used a little more often and as of now, the only thing that has bugged me a little about the goalies is amount of split saves they are attempting. Other than that, this game is going to be AMAZINGGGGG!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_EVWZXAOM0

# 22 funky_chicken @ 07/10/09 10:50 AM

Reading this blog and watching the videos has officially got me excited about NHL 10. Hopefully they were being truthful when they said the game is no longer scripted. That is the way all games should be. They should play and flow naturally.

# 23 jaguar8311 @ 07/10/09 10:57 AM

I loved the videos and blog, but just to nitpick, I did not like the save in the video where the guy goes on his knees and hits the posts. No goalie would ever try a splits save on that occasion.

My favourite feature is the passing by far, two reasons I still play NHL 04(Best NHL game ever) is because of the passing and the board play.

# 24 Scheib43 @ 07/10/09 12:52 PM

Looks better for sure, but a couple things I'd like to point out that bug me as well.

#1 - As said above, the goalie split animation. Maybe he just chose those highlights, but seems like he was on his butt way too much in 3 games.

#2 - Also stated above, I would have liked to see a slapshot goal from the top of the circles or a backhand snipe ala Patrick Kane against Vancouver in Game 6. Something so it wasn't just rebounds.

Based on pure stats and data they should go in on a much less frequent basis, but it would be nice to see 1 of those 10 slappers go in. If you want to see some data, a guy put together a great statistical piece. Interesting read if you like numbers.

http://hockeyanalytics.com/Research_...ot_Quality.pdf

#3 - My biggest gripe though is still on the offensive end where there is still too many times the offensive guy is going for a tip and skates behind the goalie to provide neither a screen or a tip attempt. In fact, in one of the dump and chase videos, the offensive guy is standing next to and slightly behind the goalie and the defensive player and the offensive player end up in the crease. This is pretty frustrating at times.

A lot of things look great in 2010 and I'm sure it will be amazing. I love what they have done with a lot of the gameplay and the touches they added (since I play LD in OTP, I like that they try to catch the puck instead of letting it clear), the boardplay, the new passing. Now if they improve Dynasty slightly and add better a 1 on 1 online league feature...it would be perfection.

# 25 Qb @ 07/10/09 01:31 PM

Saw some very promising stuff and a few things we could nitpick, most mentioned by all of you. I really like the AI defensive coverage on the clip that showed off the cycling with Buffalo. The strongside D-man played the puck appropriately when it was in his area, then dropped back to cut off the pass to the slot, then attacked again when it was cycled low. The weakside D-man stayed in the passing lane in the slot, appearing to have an "active stick" (yes, he's a MONSTER!). While he might have been a little slow to react when the puck came to high slot, he was covering the man by the crease as opposed to picking his nose or scratching his jock...

The D-men stepping up at the blueline was also encouraging, but I was just as excited to see the backside support pressure from the forward on that clip. All too often in 09 the backcheckers would skate back to the D-zone with little to no regard for the puck or opposing players. If it were NHL '84, maybe that'd be OK, but with today's emphasis on backchecking and puck-awareness in all three zones, what we saw was a much improved representation of the NHL.

Obviously not saying NHL10 will be everything we've ever asked for or that the AI is conclusively "fixed", but what we saw in those vids on the whole looks better than 09.

# 26 MizzouRah @ 07/10/09 02:28 PM

I agree with most here.. NHL 10 is a musy buy for me, I cannot wait!!!

# 27 jwilphl @ 07/10/09 08:29 PM

Game is looking pretty good. I'm glad the totem-pole human-side AI is being fixed. It was awful having to essentially do everything yourself in order to try and score.

I'm still curious how the game will play in terms of AI vs. human. I'm not too worried about all the details right now because this game is still months from release. Overall everything looks like it is coming along great.

The crowds especially look a ton better.

# 28 Vikes1 @ 07/10/09 09:56 PM

NHL '10' looks to be shaping up very nicely.

I'm especially liking the more of a dump and chase type of play. Taking it repeatedly from end to end....wide open gameplay is a lot of fun imo. But not too realistic though. So I'm very pleased with what we're seeing of '10'.

And the crowds look just great. NHL '10' is a must buy for me as well. Can't wait!

# 29 CS10029 @ 07/11/09 01:07 AM

Loved 09 and 10 is looking sooo much better. Can't wait for this to come out.

# 30 BigH2k6 @ 07/11/09 08:39 AM

These last few vidoes have partially restored my faith in EA. But final judgement will be reserved when I actually get my hands on the game.

I am however very excited about the potential of NHL 10.

# 31 jwilphl @ 07/11/09 12:12 PM

After watching the new Madden video just now, I realized I'm curious if the NHL team has done anything to add to the presentation aspect of the game. There were some nice things in '09, but really not all that much of anything.

Other than the crowds, I hope the rest of the game can get upgraded in this department.

# 32 metallidevils @ 07/12/09 12:39 PM

the goalie controls will probably be a dealbreaker for me. they've waited this long to talk about it, so hopefully it'll be big.

# 33 akula @ 07/12/09 05:53 PM

you do realize they said the goalies will try to direct rebounds into the corners, right?

The only thing EA needed/needs to do is realease a video of some more goals, that are NOT rebound goals

# 34 Ruffy @ 07/13/09 01:08 AM

The Swedish Elite league in many hockey minds is the best league in Europe. but thats Europe. If you don't think their is a huge jump from that league or the KHL or the AHL to the NHL then i don't know what to tell ya sportsmats.

This was talked about the otherday with the Leafs 1 yr signing of "the Monster". If he's so great why did only 4 NHL teams contact his agent about his services? Sure can he work out over here. Probably, i know Burke and the leafs are hoping so.

A regular leaf reporter also stated...which is fact that when the Leafs went over there a while back for training camp...they crushed the two top Swedish elite teams at the time. This was with a roster mostly full of guys trying to make the NHL squad.

is there talent over there sure....but the NHL is still the best overall league for talent.

I'm loving all the videos...I want to give Litman a hug! I'm hoping they can incorporate the hard dump around too....where the D-man fires it in hard along the boards and the winger on the other side races for the puck on the come around.

Great stuff. I do want to see the occasional goalie being plain beat on a shot. But again this shot should be perfect...NHL goalies are just plain tough to beat when they can see the puck. Loving the rebounds and the sterring of shots to the corners as well. With all the goalie focus Tim Thomas may have deserved the cover!

I'd love to hear about some online features this your for regular H2H play as well.

Can't wait till September!

# 35 ComaFaction @ 07/13/09 01:18 AM

I believe there were close to a dozen teams who initially expressed interest in gustavsson. he is considered the best goaltender not in the NHL by many right now.

# 36 Ruffy @ 07/13/09 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComaFaction


	I believe there were close to a dozen teams who initially expressed interest in gustavsson. he is considered the best goaltender not in the NHL by many right now.

Directly from his agent a Toronto reporter inquired and only 4 teams inquired about his services. Fact from the agents mouth.

# 37 Ruffy @ 07/13/09 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RealmK


	I think it was mentioned in either a preview or earlier blog that if you get under the AI's skin and intimidate them, their Dmen may fire it around the boards rather than skate it out to try and avoid contact and or shake things up. Its definately something I'd like to see as well. Take some of the sameness out of the game when it comes to breakouts and have the AI vary it up. I think we're getting there slowly but surely. I was kinda suprised they didn't go with a goalie on the cover as well with all the work that went into tenders this year. Timmy would have been my choice but I'm a Bruins homer to begin with. I'm loving the puck physics so far, in combination with the new passing and the removal of goalie suction, along with the new goalie animations and AI improvements I really think the game may play pretty realistic and sloppier than it has in a long time. Which is something that was desperately needed as the game has played a bit too clean and tape to tape the past couple years.

Breakouts yes i agree as well. Which the 1st vid showed a bit with the attempt to clear it.

...but I was talking about hard dump ins too....see mostly on the powerplay. You ring one in off the glass from center on one side...it goes hard around so the goalie cant stop it behind the net. Winger on other side hopefully wins race to the puck or pressures the Dman quickly.

# 38 Eldebrink @ 07/13/09 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportmats


	Well you can have a point there. I know that Pat Jablonski, Manny Fernandez, Jose Theodore and Tim Thomas was very much critisised for making way too many rebounds when they were playing here in Sweden. Thomas had a GAA of 2.48 and 91,7 in saving percentage when playing here and he would have much better stats if he wasnt letting so much rebounds instead of catching the puck. Even Johan Holmqvist that come back from some years in NHL last season was very much critisised for the way he played with much rebounds that resulted in goal for the opponent teams. It took about 15-20 games before he stopped doing those rebounds and catch the puck instead. Here in Sweden, goalies tries to stop the puck and blocking after a shot to make a faceoff instead of letting a rebound out in the "slot" and if they do makes a rebound they often puts the rebound down the corners, not right out to the slot, that Thomas, Theodore and Fernandez did.

Jesus Christ, sportsmats, who do you think you're fooling? I've been watching Swedish elite hockey games live for a couple of decades and still follow it closely, live and via TV. While I enjoy it a lot and the games often are great, you know perfectly well that there ain't no comparison with NHL games, and that the best goalie in Sweden right now may or may not succeed in the NHL; of course, most don't. They're not good enough. The NHL games are so much faster, so much more goal focused, there are so many many more snipers in those games, the real test for any goalie in Sweden is the NHL: Make it or break it. Please stop trying to paint a picture of Swedish hockey that's simply not true. It's embarrasing to the other hockey fans here. Jesus.

That aside, the vids are great. Thanks EA NHL team for making the effort.

# 39 Eldebrink @ 07/14/09 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportmats


	Well if you mostly following S�dert�lje, you wouldnt know much about hockey will be played. See you in Kvalserien.

Do you really think a post like this will elevate you into a believable guy...? That the hockey fans who read this will think: "Oh, Eldebrink's home team hasn't performed well for years, he can't have clue what he's talking about when discussing the game of hockey." I don't know what you're mental age is, but seriously, it is way below the avarage of this forum, so please stop being such an embarrassment to other Swedish hockey fans.

And to not make a bigger fool out of myself in debating with this character, I will not respond to any post by sportsmats ever again on this forum.

(To you other guys: Sorry for the civil war, I mean hijack.)

# 40 sroz39 @ 07/15/09 01:54 AM

I'm very VERY curious to see how all these additions make the EASHL play. True enough, they say that they have fixed all the glitches from last year. That's fine, but only if you were releasing last year's game with an updated roster.

With every new gameplay addition, you open up a potential can of worms aka a glitch. I pray to God it doesn't but it's inevitable. Having played almost exclusively Div 1 in last year's game, I can tell you with every patch to fix a glitch came two new ones. The children (on my team and others) couldn't help themselves. If a glitch allowed them to be better than they actually were, they were all over it. It's sad but a reality of any online game.

I still have hope, however, because alot of the glitches existed because of severely sub-standard goalie A.I. They were exposed over and over again, and to a lesser extent so were the D-men controlled by the A.I. It seems like those were two of the bigger focuses this year so I'm very cautiously optimistic.

As for offline play, this game looks BEAST!

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