Gamechanger event #1 (very early impressions)

[Cletus]

Quote: Originally Posted by DJ NEO

Thanks. Thats funny, I was actually little hoping that u would be picked as one of the Gamechangers. Guys would u be that kind and give me your top 5s? Top5 #1 gameplay Top5 #2 presentation Can be little and big things from a hardcore sim perspective. At the end of week I would make a list and send your ideas straight to the devs. Thanks!

1) Make full stick/ puck collisions able to be turned on in hardcore sim mode
2) more defense options
3) more sliders and coaching sliders opened up for every team
4) Let the puck be the puck, tweak offensive awareness to have less of an effect on puck battles and more of an affect on positioning, penalties and shot success/accuracy
5)Improve franchise mode by making every game playable, season stats counting in current games (goals and assists mainly)

Presentation
1) Bring back the anthems
2) (pipe dream but I enjoy the presentation so I'm stretching) a Monthly/weekly highlight show. It doesn't have to be flashy, just a recap of the top teams and maybe 3 stars of the month
3) Bring back 3 stars animations (make it skippable or maybe an option on the menu with some canned animations of tossing pucks into the stand)
4) More organ music for teams that are organ heavy
5) Close up shots of fans after the puck is out of play

[AdamJones113]

1) Defensive AI and Neutral zone AI reworked
2) More and better sliders
3) Revamped goalies, off-ice and on-ice
4) Intangible separation among players
5) Better stick collision detection (especially along the boards)

Presentation (not a big presentation guy)
1) Season goal totals shown after goals during BeAGM
2) 3 stars making a return, I guess

[DJ NEO]

Great.

Any suggestions which sliders should be added?

[AdamJones113]

Quote: Originally Posted by DJ NEO

Great. Any suggestions which sliders should be added?

Neutral zone pressure (Human/CPU)—increasing the bar would mean the team would be more likely to step up in the NZ

Pull Goalie (Human/CPU)—increasing the bar would mean the team would pull their goalie sooner in the event of a deficit (Human slider cancelled if Human strategy adjustment is 0)

Stick Collision detection(General)—increasing the bar increases the solidness of the stick, leading to accurate stick-on-stick/skate/boards collisions.

Those are three I can think of off the top of my head, I'll add more as I go along.

[jake19ny]

Gameplay

1) Player seperation. I think this may be an issue if the rumors of the Players Association not wanting guys to look bad are true but even if they are can we at least get scrappy players play their way and finesse players feel that way? Not easy I know but this would also make each team feel different based on it's make up.
2) Better board play. Should be multiple player scrums in the corners and on the boards. One possible way to implement this would be if when two players come to the boards in the current pinned position, if the puck is not quickly won by one if then that animation should lock and your immediately switched to your player closest to the puck so you can skate into the current scrum to fight for the puck. Likewise the nearest CPU player should come in to fight for the puck also. Sounds complicated but I think it could be done and would really add an element of the NHL, that like Neutral Zone play, is sorely missing from the series
3) Neutral zone AI
4) Improved coaching AI. Check out Adamjones thread on that it's spot on.
5) more sliders would be cool but seeing how sliders interact with each other this may just muddy up the waters and make it harder to tweak. I would at least like to see sliders work better. Most sliders are 1 to 6 clicks and the difference is negligible

Presentation has continued to improve and is looking pretty solid so I can be picky here

Presentation
1) 5 man celebration a must
2) after whistle scrums. A late hit, board play, or contact with the goalies should lead to some pushing and shoving and multi player scrums. Even just as an animation after the play with commentary.
3) 3 stars presentation
4) more shots of the bench and things going on In between plays. Coach talking to players, players talking to each other about a play, players chirping at each other bench to bench, etc
5) better goalie masks or a mask editor

Thanks Neo for taking our ideas. I have not seen a bad one listed yet and if we get even some of these incorporated were on track to improvement.

[mikeyflex]

Can we fix what is broken first. The biggest issue with this game is how exploiters use the broken engine to their advantage. The issues are countless to say the least, having said that, the game needs an overhaul.

[jake19ny]

Quote: Originally Posted by mikeyflex

Can we fix what is broken first. The biggest issue with this game is how exploiters use the broken engine to their advantage. The issues are countless to say the least, having said that, the game needs an overhaul.

Are you talking about guys exploiting things in online play? Because that's a valid issue but this particular thread is for the offline experience. Regardless of our thoughts on the game engine there is no way in hell they are going to start from scratch so here's to hoping some of the ideas put forth are not only taken into consideration but also make the current engine better

[Flyermania]

The main thing this series needs attention on is gameplay...there has been way too much time spent on game modes, presentation, HUT, EASHL, etc over the past few years while the core gameplay has remained broken. This affects everything else in the game and should have the time and effort put in to fix.

A lot of these have been mentioned, but a good starting point would be:

- Player separation: Make a noticeable difference between a 1st and 4th liner.
- Improved player ratings: Right now all of the players are lumped together, which makes player separation almost indistinguishable. Make the player ratings matter.
- Improved defensive AI and controls: defense is an afterthought in this game. Instead of making poke checks and stick lifts an exploit, how about you make the players smarter. Why do 2 CPU players always try to play the puck at the blue line? Why doesn't my defensemen hold the blue line on the PP? I could go on and on.
- Power play: There aren't enough, and this has been broken for years. Special teams are such a huge part of hockey, it blows my mind that this area has been broken for so long.
- Team/coaching AI: Each team should play noticeably different than the other.
- Sliders: Make them actually work.
- Board play: Dumping the puck and possession hockey is how hockey is really played. This game encourages you not to do that...instead it lets you enter the zone unchallenged so you can shoot shoot shoot!!

These are just off the top of my head...make the game play like real hockey out of the box, and let the sliders do their job for those who enjoy an arcade experience. 2k hockey challenged this series because it offered more of a sim hockey experience. Competition shouldn't be the only motivation to make a better game.

A lot of these requests from diehard hockey fans have been around for several years. Listen to your fans and fix the gameplay.