Little Things You Would Like

[Efbomb]

Quote: Originally Posted by NEOPARADIGM

^ Okay, since that guy disappeared ... anyone else?

I don't know what you're looking for form me.

What I wrote was pretty self explanatory. I'll skate past the d-man on the wing and cut in behind the net. Then I'll stop dead in my tracks so he can slide over in the "boardplay" animation to pin me to the boards even though I was 4-5 feet away from him.

Better?

[mikeyflex]

Quote: Originally Posted by NEOPARADIGM

^ Okay, since that guy disappeared ... anyone else?

Stay away from the boards when you play a team like that.

[headzapp]

- Refs having audio when they announce the penalty.
- More scrums after a whistle and have teammates jump in and defuse it, or
have a lot of players jump in and throw punches and the crowd goes wild.
- Too many men on the ice
- Real coaches, which has been said a lot
- Real goal numbers when scoring goals, Tarasenko 1 (12)
- Real board play
- kicking players out of the face off circle
- Set plays when using a time out
- More realistic body movement and skating
- More differential between player skills
- Real stick physics (even though I read that there was a slider that made it real)
- Just real hockey.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by headzapp

- Real stick physics (even though I read that there was a slider that made it real).

The rumor mill has it that they tried real stick physics at one point, and it just became unworkable. I can see that being the case, as with the way the AI currently moves and behaves, there is nothing like sticks hitting players or other equipment, even the boards don't affect it.

Part of it is likely an issue with clipping of animations, where the animation just can't be forced to 'look' like the player is along the boards (For example, in real life when a guy's on the boards with the puck, they've got their stick up against their body at a really steep angle, limiting their ability to pass and move the puck. Messed that up. Here's Oshie on the boards. He's being pressured from behind, and in real life, his movement is restricted. It's a huge part of boxing players out and limiting their effectiveness. In real life, he wouldn't be able to just skate back towards the net, because he's got someone pushing from behind, and limited space to move his stick, and therefore the puck.

In game however, you're not limited like this. At worst you get put into the awful boardplay animations, but even then the AI can still make laser passes to the slot with their feet. Notice that the guy pushing is getting support from another player who's watching for the puck, and Oshie is forced to jostle for position before getting the puck on his stick. Even if he does get the blade of his stick on the puck, he still won't be able to make the super precise passes that we see in game. His best bet will be to get support on either his right or left, or manage to kick the puck one way, and duck out of the pressure, maybe being tied up and held, resulting in a penalty.

In game, it doesn't work well at all. Guys checked towards the boards too often bounce off of the check, and easily fire crisp no-look passes into the net off of their backhand (it would be cool if stick curve and passing skill better affected this). It's another in my long series of constant whining about defense. Playing defense is just hampered by the AI's ability to do more than they should be able to, and your ability to play solid defense with the nerfed toolset available to you.

[AdamJones113]

Another great post. Can't really add much more except my own thoughts on the board tie ups:

Another feature that was a good idea but that functions poorly. In 16 it's very hard to initiate that boardplay animation againt the CPU, whereas they'll do it consistently well against you. Thus for humans the easiest defense is a check into the boards, which, as actionhank said, has an equal chance of being briefly successful or making the player bounce off the boards and leave your defender steps behind the play.

I think initiating the boardplay mechanism via a button is the way to go, but I think it should only be able to be initiated when the player you want to pin is barely moving. If he's skating into the boards along the zone, obviously you shouldn't be able to suction him in. The defense to that would be a check. However, if you're battling for the puck in the corner, and the CPU player is standing relatively still, then the right move (and, more importantly, the effective move) would be to press the button to instigate the boardplay mechanism.