NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

[TNA Equalizer]

(As always please keep in mind that what was played and tested at NHL 12 community day last month was in no shape or form the final product. It was still undergoing tweaks, tuning, and fixing. That said here are my impressions, enjoy.)

Hey guys TNA Equalizer, @TheNHLequalizer on twitter, here once again for another write up about an aspect I’ve seen a lot of posts hoping things would be vastly improved. I’m talking about NHL 12’s version of Be A GM. While I’ll readily admit I really didn’t play much of the mode in NHL 11 from what I saw in my short time with it in NHL 12 I’m excited to give it a go when the game releases. I didn’t get as far as I hoped, but I wanted to share what I did get to and how it affected the mode in general.

For starters the big thing being introduced is the new sim engine. The guys at EA Sports Canada gutted the old sim engine and put a brand new engine that will drive the game in terms of simulating stats and games. Tie this in with the brand new Action Tracker feature and you get a great new way to play Be A GM mode in the styling of Eastside Hockey Manager. How does Action Tracker work? Well when you go into a game to simulate it you are brought up to a screen that looks like this…


(Credit to OperationSports for the photo used. )

You can either quickly simulate through the game at a rate of normal speed( 1x), 2x, 4x, or 8x. All the while cycling through various stat categories as the game broadcasts the events on the right hand side and charts events out on the rink map. Now for people like myself that are diehard fans of the EASHL/OTP/Versus experience this is a great way to play Be A GM mode without having to play out the games yourself. So now if you want to strictly be the GM you can watch how your team plays out on the ice. It instantly reminded me of the fun times I had playing the various versions of Eastside Hockey Manager through the years. Simulation wise how accurate was the Action Tracker in generating realistic stats per game? Straight out of the box playing Be A GM on the default settings using Action Tracker I was able to get consistently realistic stats per game using Action Tracker to sim through games. It was evident the new sim engine was a big step up from the prior engine.

How so? Well in testing end of regular season stats the game would end up having star players towards the top of the stats leaders. Crosby, Ovechkin, and the rest of the major names all fit the bill at the end of the regular season when simming through with stats. Don’t get me wrong though as there were a few surprises here and there in there which is a nice touch because there always seems to be those one or two guys that have huge seasons and step their game up. End of game stats using Action Tracker incorporated with the new sim engine saw shot counts being on the realistic side ranging from 20-35 shots a game a side with decent scores such as 4 to 3, 2 to 0 just to name a few. With Action Tracker and its new sim engine running in NHL 12 I’m extremely eager to give Be A GM another round when it hits stores in September. While I didn’t see any option to customize season length, though I may have missed it, the new action tracker sided with the sim engine is a great way to get through seasons quickly if you prefer to not play every game.

While I was not able to get extremely far along in Be A GM to see drafting and free agency I was pleased with what I saw from the new season based aspects. Whatever I may have missed most likely was covered by IrishSniper over at HFBoards and GHuysmans over at the IGN forums that also have done write ups. Below are links to both of where they've been posting their impressions, keep an eye out for them as they'll most likely touch further in depth on Be A GM.

IrishSniper87’s NHL 12 Impressions
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=912489

GHuysmans NHL 12 Impressions

http://boards.ign.com/nhl_ea_sports/b6062/p1

For someone like myself that mainly plays the game online with the new sim engine and action tracker I now have more of a sense I can strictly be the GM in Be A GM and sim through seasons while worrying about adjusting line ups, trainings, and making transactions. I'm very interested to see the final product of NHL 12's Be A GM mode. That said I’ll answer whatever questions I can. I look forward to sharing more about the other aspects of NHL 12 that I got much farther into when allowed to do so.

[TDKing]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

So I was hoping for a customizable season length in BAGM mode because I want shorter seasons cause I hate simming games and instead I'm getting a new sim engine to sim games which I hate doing. Thanks for the write up anyway TNA.

[Gagnon39]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

Here's my questions...

1) Does the CPU generate realistic schedules after the first year in Be A GM mode. Last year I did not have my home-opener until October 29. And there were 4 or 5 times where I played a team on back-to-back nights in the same city. That never happens.

2) Do captain's maintain their captain "C's"? In previous NHL's the captain would be stripped of his "C" in the offseason if he simply became a free agent (even if he was re-signed with the team).

3) Do rookies develop faster. Will you actually see good rookies in the league in the same year you draft them (ala Hall and Seguin)?

[BlueNGold]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

GHuysmans posted his impressions on the IGN boards:

So write now I am going to give you a guys a quick hands-on review of this year's Be A GM Mode (BAG), as well as the Action Tracker.

Be A GM
For this year's BAG, there have been no HUGE features added, but there are some things I am very excited about, and I'm sure "sim junkies" would love.

NHL 12 developer Gurndeep Sumal spent multiple months tuning the new sim engine which would give the user an authentic & accurate experience during BAG.

For this year's engine, you will find the star players at the top of the point charts where they belong. No longer will you come across Matt Moulson or Teddy Purcell in the top 25 players in points. Maybe not even in the top 50. It's very clear an simple.. If they are a star player on your team, it'll show on the stats screen.

The top 10 leader in points for my year one sim were:

Sidney Crosby

Alexander Ovechkin

Henrik Sedin

Steven Stamkos

Patrick Kane

Jarome Iginla

Teemu Selanne Tied

Daniel Sedin Tied

Martin St. Louis

Brad Richards


Not only does the sim engine provide accurate stats based on players performance, your BAG team will also obtain accurate records based on the talent you have.

For my year one sim, I simulated an entire season with the Avalanche. As I progressed through the first half of the year, the Avs were competing against the Canucks for the top of the NW Divison (much like we were before the all-star break). After then, it all went downhill from there. To my surprise, not only was I expecting a realistic result for my sim, but it was also accurate to what happened during this season. (May have been a fluke).

I later did some poking through the team standings and I took a look at the last place teams. They consisted of:

New Jersey

Carolina

Toronto

Philalphia (assuming that injuries took place)

NY Islanders

Colorado

Columbus

Atlanta

Ottawa

Edmonton


As you can see, 9 times out of 10, you'll find teams that do not possess the talent (respectively) as well as an injury-riddled team being on the bottom.

As an IGN user, I'm excited to see what BAG Franchises you guys will post with your teams. I have seen some teams within the year with some questionable line-ups and talent that should not achieve the record that they obtained, and this sim engine will be accurate.

But how does it work? Gurndeep and his team did some thorough research and gathered as much data as possible. They took a look the last 5 years for each individual player and factored it into the sim engine. You'll see the consistent likes of the Sedin twins achieving a point per game which will help your team's record tremendously, and you won't see Jody Shelley with 10 GWG.

This year's sim engine is a ginormous improvement, and I can't stress it enough.

Also to make things clear for the users out there that are wondering about PK Subban asking for $8 million /year..?

That's all gone. The developers have cracked the coding that made the younger players less greedy.

What about Sidney Crosby sitting in the Free Agent pool because no one can sign him? That's fixed too. Teams will now go out of their way to re-sign their star players instead of letting them walk.

If you have any questions regarding Be A GM mode, just post it underneath and I'll answer to the best of my abilities.

ACTION TRACKER
This, my friends, is by far one of the most exciting features in NHL 12. Yes, we all have our own opinions, but the amount of detail that the Action Tracker provides is remarkable!

The Action Tracker will be available throughout the entire game. No longer are you restricted with the Instant Replay (now with audio) to the recent events that happened on the ice. When you first press Start, the Action Tracker will take place where the Game Stats are (with the press of a button, you can swap the AT with the stats). With the Action Tracker, you can review every hit, shot, save, and goal. I'm not sure many of you have watch an NHL game using their GameCenter, but the experience is quite similar. You can cycle through the list that labels Hits (H), Goals (G), etc.

Did you have a remarkable goal online in the middle of the 2nd period that you wanted to save? Just wait until the end of the game where you can review it, as well as save the replay. No longer are you panicking to save the replay within the 30 second mark.

That's all I really have right now.

Again, if you have any questions about either additions, feel free to comment in this thread

Sorry I couldn't get it to you guys sooner. EA asked me to wait until their blog was released, and I was out of the house by the time they posted it.

2 things that haven't been covered yet that he mentioned above are teams making sure big name FAs don't sit around in the FA pool (EA said this was fixed last year though so I won't hold my breath) and less talented teams actually performing poorly record-wise over the course of a season.

[Kobalt]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

Please let this be true and work great.

Also to make things clear for the users out there that are wondering about PK Subban asking for $8 million /year..?

That's all gone. The developers have cracked the coding that made the younger players less greedy.

What about Sidney Crosby sitting in the Free Agent pool because no one can sign him? That's fixed too. Teams will now go out of their way to re-sign their star players instead of letting them walk.

[BlueNGold]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

Please let this be true and work great.

The one thing I don't like about the last paragraph is that it just says teams will try harder to keep their stars.

That's cool and it was needed, but the biggest reason good/great free agents were sitting around with no team to play for was because the CPU didn't know how to manage it's cap. I hope that aspect is fixed as well, otherwise the problem will still be there, it'll just be less often.

I wish they'd do a live Q&A or something. I have a bunch of questions, but this blog didn't give me many answers.

[bones79]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

Thanks, TNA.

Few questions:

1. Do players and goalies get fatigued or have hot/cold streaks?
2. Is there any kind of team/line chemistry element?
3. Do player's salaries still jump if you have a low team cap?
4. Are there any additions to injuries - flu, LTIR, concussions, etc ?
5. Is the coaching and training aspect improved at all?
6. Has scouting changed?
7. Is there any reason to have veterans on a team (maybe help the rookies)?

Cheers!

[green94]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

Sounds fantastic... I hope they tuned the SOG for 20min periods as they have been way too high in the past.

Thanks for the impressions!

[lofeazy]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

Are there shorter seasons?(I know the frist article said he may have skipped over it.But did the other guy see anything?)

Other then that great article.

[TNA Equalizer]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

Are there shorter seasons?(I know the frist article said he may have skipped over it.But did the other guy see anything?)

Other then that great article.

Like I said I didn't see it, but you may want to send GHuysmans over on the IGN forums that question as he may have caught it.

That said he has replied to quite a few questions. I'll try to go over anything he did not touch on here shortly.
---------------------

Q: Can you do contract extensions during the season? I'm 90% certain that you can.
A: I remember that was the first thing I took a look at, but I had Gurndeep talking to me over the shoulder and it was hard to focus.

Q: Are draft picks more useful this year? I personally think so. With the upgraded trade logic, as well as the realistic sim engine..
A: Looks like they'll have more of a significance

Q: In the off season, are you limited to signing the cap amount or can you go over by 10% and release players / can you send people to the minors before they count against your cap?
A: Never experienced this during my NHL 12 BAG playthrough. It's hard to do that when your team is consistently #11 million under the cap limit.

Q: Oh, I have a more important question. Can you train your players specifically to an attribute? Like say a goalie works on high glove?
A: You can assign your players to work on a specific "area" of their game, but not exactly a specific attribute.

Q: can you have your players gain exp a different way other than playing games?
A: No

Q: 1) Does the CPU generate realistic schedules after the first year in Be A GM mode. Last year I did not have my home-opener until October 29. And there were 4 or 5 times where I played a team on back-to-back nights in the same city.
A: That never happens. Based on the number of seasons I simmed, I never witnessed any of this happening.

Q: 2) Do captain's maintain their captain "C's"? In previous NHL's the captain would be stripped of his "C" in the offseason if he simply became a free agent (even if he was re-signed with the team).
A: I can't say that I experienced it. I was playing as the Avs, Foote retired and I appointed the C to Stastny who has a long-term contract still

Q: 3) Do rookies develop faster. Will you actually see good rookies in the league in the same year you draft them (ala Hall and Seguin)?
A: Depends on their teams overall roster

Q: Has trading improved at all?
A: Yes

Q: Suspensions in this year?
A: They said that they will add them in this year's game, as well as more injuries for realism.

Q: What about teams signing two goalies at 6 mil a piece?
A: Never witnessed this.

Q: Are there CHL Be-A-Gm or is it only NHL?
A: Just NHL, unless they changed something when I wasn't there

via: http://boards.ign.com/nhl_ea_sports/b6062/203005078/p6/

[TNA Equalizer]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

Thanks, TNA.

Few questions:

1. Do players and goalies get fatigued or have hot/cold streaks?
2. Is there any kind of team/line chemistry element?
3. Do player's salaries still jump if you have a low team cap?
4. Are there any additions to injuries - flu, LTIR, concussions, etc ?
5. Is the coaching and training aspect improved at all?
6. Has scouting changed?
7. Is there any reason to have veterans on a team (maybe help the rookies)?

Cheers!

1. Gurn did discuss the new logic with goalies and starting while we were there. You're going to see back ups getting decent playing time throughout seasons now because fatigue seems to be factored from what I recall. There's new logic behind it for sure. In terms of players I can't recall seeing players being sat out due to fatigue. There was a noticeable increase in injuries with the sim engine driving AI teams.

2. I can't say I recall seeing an actual system for it while testing out Be A GM.

3. Did not notice this among any of the teams during my Be A GM test time. Though one could argue a player's salary might jump if he has an increase in production in a contract year.

4. With an increase in injuries in my test time with Be A GM in NHL 12 I'm pretty sure I saw a couple new ones.

5. Can't say I recall seeing anything that jumped out in terms of different.

6. Same as above. I don't recall any radical changes in scouting from my test time in terms of options.

7. Really want to answer this question, but can't quite yet.

The one thing I don't like about the last paragraph is that it just says teams will try harder to keep their stars.

That's cool and it was needed, but the biggest reason good/great free agents were sitting around with no team to play for was because the CPU didn't know how to manage it's cap. I hope that aspect is fixed as well, otherwise the problem will still be there, it'll just be less often.

I wish they'd do a live Q&A or something. I have a bunch of questions, but this blog didn't give me many answers.

I fully get what you're saying. It's not exactly word for word, but the devs talking about it pretty much were pointing to the fact that teams are not going to let star players sit idly in free agency or let a guy like say Crosby go unsigned. The NHL devs seemed fully aware of the issue from NHL 11. They gave quite a bit of focus to working on Be A GM in NHL 12 and it showed in the brief test time we had.

[BlueNGold]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

My only question is this:

Did the sim engine and Be A GM improvement blogs cover all of the changes/upgrades/improvements to the mode or is there still more we don't know about?

[Vikes1]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

My only question is this:

Did the sim engine and Be A GM improvement blogs cover all of the changes/upgrades/improvements to the mode or is there still more we don't know about?

Great question, BNG!

[BlueNGold]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

Actually, I think this answered my question:

7. Is there any reason to have veterans on a team (maybe help the rookies)?

7. Really want to answer this question, but can't quite yet.

Also, GHuysmans on IGN said that there's still a "big announcement" coming so hopefully that GM mode blog was just scratching the surface and there's more improvements we don't know about yet.

Another thing is I think we have to remember that goalie traits were added this year and they never fully touched on traits for other players. I'm guessing there's something big surrounding this that's similar to what Madden has done this year that EA isn't talking about yet.

I fully get what you're saying. It's not exactly word for word, but the devs talking about it pretty much were pointing to the fact that teams are not going to let star players sit idly in free agency or let a guy like say Crosby go unsigned. The NHL devs seemed fully aware of the issue from NHL 11. They gave quite a bit of focus to working on Be A GM in NHL 12 and it showed in the brief test time we had.

Right, but say someone like Ales Hemsky hits the free agent market and is asking for around $7 million a year. After a year or two, will there actually be teams that have the cap space to add him to their team if the Oilers happen to let him walk?

Basically, will teams just be more aware of their cap situation and the contracts they are giving out and acquiring via trade so that there will actually be teams in future years with open room to sign big name players? Assuming you can answer this of course. If not, that's fine.

It would be great if we could get rebuilding teams to try and move some of their big contracts (mainly older overpaid players) so that they have flexibility in the future while contending teams try to fill holes on their roster and don't worry about going to the cap limit. It would also be nice if this tied into the trade deadline so that those rebuilding teams would ship some of their veterans out to those contenders like we see in real life, but I'm probably getting ahead of myself here and I doubt we'll get this this year.

[TNA Equalizer]

Re: NHL 12 - New Sim Engine & Action Tracker impressions

My only question is this:

Did the sim engine and Be A GM improvement blogs cover all of the changes/upgrades/improvements to the mode or is there still more we don't know about?

I can't confirm or deny it unfortunately. I do think some people are being overly harsh as it was clear in the testing of the mode the EA NHL devs spent a great deal of time polishing and tuning Be A GM for NHL 12. I think people are perhaps getting the wrong impression about the new sim engine. Even if you don't sim games this engine drives what the AI teams are doing all around. The devs understood the issues and addressed them with a new engine from the ground up. I think people will be happy with the end result when they get their hands on the game.

I know IrishSniper87 from HFBoards was obviously ecstatic to speak about Be A GM so I'm sure he'll have caught stuff that the other attendees may have missed, myself included. I'm sure I missed stuff, so much ground to cover, so little time.

Right, but say someone like Ales Hemsky hits the free agent market and is asking for around $7 million a year. After a year or two, will there actually be teams that have the cap space to add him to their team if the Oilers happen to let him walk?

Basically, will teams just be more aware of their cap situation and the contracts they are giving out and acquiring via trade so that there will actually be teams in future years with open room to sign big name players? Assuming you can answer this of course. If not, that's fine.

It would be great if we could get rebuilding teams to try and move some of their big contracts (mainly older overpaid players) so that they have flexibility in the future while contending teams try to fill holes on their roster and don't worry about going to the cap limit. It would also be nice if this tied into the trade deadline so that those rebuilding teams would ship some of their veterans out to those contenders like we see in real life, but I'm probably getting ahead of myself here and I doubt we'll get this this year.

From talking to and listening to what the devs had to say about those issues they were aware of them. The way I took it from what we were told is that the new sim engine was to eliminate the issues. The game obviously is a bit more complex with a salary cap than without so getting teams to manage the cap and perhaps show different tendencies would be an ideal goal.

I can't say any of the attendees, myself included, ever brought up or mentioned seeing star, solid players being left high and dry post free agency while testing out the build of NHL 12. What we played was not the final product though, but I like I said I don't recall anyone bringing up still seeing guys like Hemsky's caliber being left to rot in free agency limbo.