Immersive Career Mode

[MadChendez]

Apologies in advance for the long write-up.

I know this has been touched on a few times in these forums, and we have seen some improvements this time round with the inclusion of social media etc. But I really think it would be great to have a fully immersive career mode.

One of the main problems I have found with UFC 3's career mode is that it is trying really hard to not come off as scripted whilst being incredibly scripted. I can make choices, but it doesn't feel like my choices have any impact.

We were teased with social media, press conferences, weigh ins etc. In the lead up to this game but all of these things we have virtually no control of. The press conferences show up in a cut scene for a split moment, with no interaction or even words spoken. The social media is repetitive and has no impact on any outcome. The tweets you receive are repetitive and often make no sense.


To fully understand what I mean by 'Immersive' I will draw some comparisons to FNC (I know, I know). Whilst the career mode on FNC was fully scripted, it didn't pretend to be anything else and as such felt fully immersive. It felt like I was involved in a developing story with twists and turns and whilst I had no choice in the progression each step forward felt like I achieved something.

In FNC there was an underlying storyline of a fighter who started off having it all, losing it and working back to the top to get revenge. It was relatable, there were differences in every fight and it felt like you were playing out an actual story.

In the UFC career mode I feel like there is no real goal. Goat status sounds great but I don't feel involved, I don't feel like I am getting any reward or immersion in what I'm doing. It just feels like I am fighting against the computer over and over.

Training sounds good in theory but no matter the options you basically end up 100 OVR regardless.

Promotion sounds good in theory but the money made from promoting fights can't even be spent on anything after a certain point.

All in all the career mode just doesn't have any substance, it just seems like fight now with a bunch of optional extras. I would love if we could just call it what it is (scripted) instead of pretending that there are options to chose from. Work with the fact that it is scripted and build some immersive substance around that.

The blueprint is out there, many games have career modes that impliment creative storylines which create an immersive user experience. Afterall many games survive almost solely on creative storylines ie. The fallout series.

Unfortunately this career mode just seems like the same thing we have had for the previous 2 titles with a few extras that don't really have any impact. I would love if some resources could be spent on creating a creative storyline for the next title. If you must, keep the career option as well like 'be a GOAT' in the fight night series. So at least there is something new with each title rather than tweaks and slight modifications to the gameplay and menus that should be a given.

Maybe I'm alone on this, I'm not sure. I just feel unfulfilled and slightly disappointed with this one.

[Mister_No_Name]

You're not alone.

[iHazCode]

I entirely agree. I really long for a dynamic career mode in this franchise. It's finally to a place where I could see it being my goto 5-10 years from now if no one else makes an MMA game. However as it stands today, I'd have to keep going back to UD3, because once online is dead what keeps a game like this "alive" is a good/great career mode.

There are just so many small things, it's like death from a thousand paper cuts. Everything from the static/scripted nature of how things play out, to the non interactive training (big missed opportunity here), to the fact that we can't chose to watch the fights on our card, let alone the simulated ones. I really hope they are able to make another game (12 month release please) to let single player modes flourish. Else we'll all still be playing EA MMA or Undisputed 3 10 years from now.

[MadChendez]

Quote: Originally Posted by iHazCode

I entirely agree. I really long for a dynamic career mode in this franchise. It's finally to a place where I could see it being my goto 5-10 years from now if no one else makes an MMA game. However as it stands today, I'd have to keep going back to UD3, because once online is dead what keeps a game like this "alive" is a good/great career mode. There are just so many small things, it's like death from a thousand paper cuts. Everything from the static/scripted nature of how things play out, to the non interactive training (big missed opportunity here), to the fact that we can't chose to watch the fights on our card, let alone the simulated ones. I really hope they are able to make another game (12 month release please) to let single player modes flourish. Else we'll all still be playing EA MMA or Undisputed 3 10 years from now.

Exactly, it would be nice to have something to do offline other than fight the CPU in repetitive matches.

If there was a storyline, something to get gripped to with depth and thought I would be more inclined to put time into it. Something I could go back and play when the online services are long dead as I do with games like Skyrim, FNC, Fallout the list goes on.

I guess in order for this to be realised time would have to be diverted from UT which is their moneymaker.

I do wonder though, if there was a legit story/career mode with the correct marketing. Would it reach more mainstream audiences and therefore make more money?

I mean it's not like UT needs more tweaking, it's already loot box galore.

[GibboHull]

Sorry to jump on your ideas thread but can we *please* get sliders on career mode.

Disable acheivements if you have to, I don't care.

I've managed to get the AI to a level I really enjoy using sliders and now its just not as fun for me fighting in career.

It's cool that their in but a strange implementation. FIFA just has them in the options menu and it carries across to all gameplay except online(obviously!)

[CyberOps]

Quote: Originally Posted by GibboHull

Sorry to jump on your ideas thread but can we *please* get sliders on career mode. Disable acheivements if you have to, I don't care. I've managed to get the AI to a level I really enjoy using sliders and now its just not as fun for me fighting in career. It's cool that their in but a strange implementation. FIFA just has them in the options menu and it carries across to all gameplay except online(obviously!)

Great idea that way everyone can play on their own level of difficulty choice

[AydinDubstep]

Quote: Originally Posted by GibboHull

Sorry to jump on your ideas thread but can we *please* get sliders on career mode. Disable acheivements if you have to, I don't care. I've managed to get the AI to a level I really enjoy using sliders and now its just not as fun for me fighting in career. It's cool that their in but a strange implementation. FIFA just has them in the options menu and it carries across to all gameplay except online(obviously!)

What are your sliders like for AI dude? In custom match, I got mine with the damage turned down 2 clicks & the submission turned down 2 clicks. It's okay for now but I might give myself more stamina because frequently finding myself with low stamina in round 2.

I mainly block strikes whereas the AI makes mine whiff so having difficulty keeping up in terms of stamina, even if our output is the same.

[godway]

tbh, I'm disappointed that the production of Career Mode was kept so secretive. The GC'ers couldn't talk about it (and barely played it if I remember correctly), the Devs released nothing on it until very recently before the game dropped. This is a problem.

Why is it a problem? Because it's an area where I would think they should be getting feedback from the community. We could have made a LOT of suggestions that would have prevented the many issues and complaints with Career Mode that people currently have. Had you told us 4 months ago that Rivals would be preset, we could have told you then how silly that is.

I like aspects of Career Mode, and in some ways I think people demand a little too much from it so they'll be disappointed no matter what. But I still think the handling of it was done in a way that it was doomed to be a disappointment. Especially since it was marketed as something that it totally isn't.