You probably know that if I was able to have it my way, it'd be much more in line with Undisputed 3, but we know that the devs have their own vision and UD3/mine doesn't really align with theirs - that's fine, these suggestions will take inspiration from UD3 in terms of increasing the skill gap and making it much more player orientated, as well as staying inside EA's vision.
- Takedown struggles implemented via button smashing. The same button for the specific takedown for the attacker, square for the defender. This increases the skill gap and gives you more of a "struggle" feel, while not taking away from the overall UFC 4 control scheme.
- Preemptive denials - a transition cannot be denied once successfully started, you must be holding R2 + right stick to defend transition attempts. This means that people will have to time their transitions and not just throw small punches to build up GA - it also fixes the "rabbit punch, deny, transition" issue.
- I actually think the submission system isn't too bad, balance wise, but perhaps the attacker's bar would get a little smaller if they were too quick on the stick. Also, I think either the circle needs to be a bit bigger, and/or increase the amount of animation frames on the bar when it moves quickly.
Thirdly, as well as the little button prompt mid-submission, it's actually somewhat easy to miss if you're too focused on the bars, so I propose that the outer ring of the bar should go red/blue depending on who's got the prompt.
- MUCH higher single strike damage, but I don't have much hope for this one. Conor's left hand needs to dump truck people. Otherwise, online sliders for quick match (also, shareable sliders), with more in-depth slider options and values.
- Finish the Fight needs tweaking, badly. Perhaps reuse UFC 1's TKO system and GnP FTF animations when an opponent went out cold, they were actually pretty damn good. Not quite Undisputed 3, but not bad. Proper follow up shots, too, let me land at least a couple to an unconscious opponent.
One last thing on finishes, ragdoll needs improving a LOT. I know Skynet said it wouldn't be like UFC 2 again, but isn't there a way you have the physics of the punch translate to their body as they fall, or have them be less weighty? Feels like they get sucked to the ground sometimes - not quite as much as UFC 3 but it's still there.
I remember UFC 2 would move ragdolled opponents into a Finish the Fight position so couldn't something similar be done here? It doesn't look too out of place, them magically moving while out cold, and it's worth it for the better ragdoll.
- The ability to both block all the time when on the receiving end of ground and pound, and to catch punches using a combination of the post system and clicking the right stick or pressing square. The old EA MMA arm catch animation might work for this, if you could blend it into the current posture down animation (where the defender grabs the head and pulls them into closed guard).
Speaking of GnP, it needs to feel much more satisfying - I want to see the opponent physically react more and for me to feel it more through the controller. There needs to be follow through on those shots.
- Finally (I may edit more in at some point but these are the most important in my eyes), get rid of that tacky blood red graphic when you rock someone and just bring back EA MMA's rock/KO effects. They looked so cool and made the whole thing feel like an epic moment.
I LOVED when you would land a left hook on Fedor as he was loading up for an overhand, he'd go out, the effect would play and Mauro would go crazy, through the KO to the post-fight celebration. It was amazing.