NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360 & PS3)

[mkharsh33]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

played 09 again last night just for a mental comparison...

i think i'm going to love 10 with the hardcore element added, but will definitely need some slider adjustments with regard to passing. i don't like how tape-to-tape 09 is and also the lack of board play, but i don't like how 10 plays on all-star / hardcore without any tweaks. getting more excited for this game...

[StormJH1]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

"Organic" was the word that came to my mind as well. It's kinda what they did with the FIFA franchise several years back to make it play less "on rails" and more like Pro Evolution Soccer. NHL 10 won't be a dramatic departure from '09, but I think the little differences in how the puck and players behave will shine through over time. It also feels more fluid when I'm taking a slapshot, and I see a little bit less of guys doing crazy animations that they couldn't do in real life.

I don't we can truly evaluate presentation until we get the retail game. Same goes for franchise mode, obviously.

[sharks]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

The AI boosts can be turned off. I've never made the claim that the CPU had no advantages on superstar (I have said that there is no cheating comeback logic, which is true).

Of course the AI ideally wouldn't need to cheat and the amount of cheating is getting smaller as we improve the AI. It isn't any easy problem to solve.

Thanks. So hopefully in NHL 11 the AI will have no advantages at all? Aside from their advantages in NHL 10, the AI is very smart. I hope NHL 11 will significantly improve on this to the point where AI boosts are not needed.

[RealmK]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

Thanks. So hopefully in NHL 11 the AI will have no advantages at all? Aside from their advantages in NHL 10, the AI is very smart. I hope NHL 11 will significantly improve on this to the point where AI boosts are not needed.

They don't in 10 either if you turn them off like Redshirt suggests.

[phillyfan23]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

The AI boosts can be turned off. I've never made the claim that the CPU had no advantages on superstar (I have said that there is no cheating comeback logic, which is true).

Of course the AI ideally wouldn't need to cheat and the amount of cheating is getting smaller as we improve the AI. It isn't any easy problem to solve.

how will this cpu advantage be able to be turned off? is it a single option like " cpu boosts ON/OFF" ? or is it slider based ? (much more complicated)

for example:

speed slider.....on default 3/6 on superstar the cpu has a speed boost. What do we have to lower the cpu speed by to make it 100 percent equal? is it 1/6,2/6 or 0/6. If you let this be open to judgement, it will not be efficient because NO ONE will be able to know for sure what is the equal level.

Maybe for speed slider 3/6 human and 1/6 cpu is the equal level.
But will this apply for shot acuracy? is 3/6 to 1/6 the equal level?

If it is slider based, hopefully you can tell us the slider setting that yields ZERO cpu advantages.

Thanks a lot for your continued attention Redshirt!

[m-dogg]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

I would just like to thank EA for making EASHL "normal" mode at least. sure hard-core would have been interesting, but I think it would have made players even more puck hogs than usual and discourage passing in general (at least in OTP matches) which isnt good for hockey.

the best part? the slowing the game speed. sure, i wish it was more than just one notch down -- but man does that one notch make a difference. I now won't have to play hockey on crack online anymore! this is much appreciated.

the demo is amazing. my only complaint, for 2011, its time to make the goalies more human (easier to score on from good spots) and the defensmen AI MUCH better, to cut down on all the scoring chances. It's like they beef up the goalies to cover up for the weak Defensemen letting pucks get into good scoring areas over and over...

[kerosene31]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

NHL network has been rerunning playoff games from last year and I was watching parts of it thinking about hardcore mode.

Hardcore mode is so much closer to real hockey. 09 was pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, shoot. That really doesn't happen that often. The play is usually much more "sloppy" and things don't set up so smoothly most of the time.

I've made so many rushes through the zone where I try a pass to a winger and miss and it bounces along the boards and ends in a turnover. You see that in the NHL all the time, but rarely in video games.

[infinityBCRT]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

I don't know how I feel about hardcore mode. The speed of passing should be pressure sensitive, not time sensitive. And I think the pass speed is still a tad too slow. I like the fact that the tape to tape passes are gone but your AI teammates are not smart enough to adapt to a pass thats not going where they want to go. Sometimes they'll turn in a different direction, sometimes they should be able to reach for the puck, or at least try to reach for it and they don't. Other than that its great.

I think they still need to revamp the fundamental skating engine. Its showing its flaws big time. I think the leg kick glitch video out there illustrates how bad it is. Even if they fix that specific glitch the skating in general is still very floaty when doing certain turns.

Is there the ability to do a hook anymore? They need to figure out a way to put that back into the control scheme and make it useful. The problem they've had with hooking and slashing in the past is your player slows down to a halt and he doesn't adjust to where the nearest opponent is unlike a stick lift. I think they tried toning it down because they felt people abused it, but if they do, just balance it out by giving them more penalties!

Boardplay is great although I think holding Y should hold the player against the boards and as soon as you let go of Y it lets go of the player. Also if your back is to the player its very hard to turn around and pin the player because of the way the skating engine works. Perhaps if the skating engine is fixed this won't be an issue but if not maybe hte best thing is for the game to realize that you want to pin the player and turn your player around towards the boards automatically.

Defending in the zone still needs work. I don't know why you can barely skate around while you're poke checking. I think NHL 2k6 or 2K7 had the best feel when you were penalty killing because you could skate around and aim your stick around to block passing lanes very smoothly and the animations looked great. I always felt like Brendan Shanahan when playing on the PK in those games.

Theres no reason they shouldn't copy 2K's faceoff system, it just feels better. The one that EA employs is starting to feel dated.

I think they need to revamp presentation. They should get rid of all of the cutscenes and make everything dynamic. The first year they do it it might not be great but I think it will help make the post-whistle stuff much more fun/realistic. Right now players just stand around. They should be skating to the benches or skating to the next face-off spot and the referees/linesmen (which they need to add too) should be breaking up scrums. It would also be great if you could hit someone after they score a goal or start a fight.

The post whistle stuff as it is right now is a little too dramatic. Players should be shoving each other, not decking each other, and a face wash shouldn't automatically start a fight. Fights are a little too frequent (as are offsetting minors). I don't mind the CPU automatically starting fights with CPU players but when I'm Sidney Crosby and I want to facewash someone, it shouldn't auto start a fight without prompting me to drop the gloves.

As for fighting, its soooo much better this year than any of the previous years. They finally realized that the stupid fight night control scheme they instituted was ******** and now you can just wail away with straight flicks of the stick. But the way fights start is a little dubious (at least once it seemed as though I was fighting Crosby but it ended up being Guerin when he was no where near me). Again it should all be dynamic, it shouldn't cut away to a separate mode and the other players/referee shouldn't disappear. The other players should be in scrums or standing around watching and the officials should be waiting to break things up.

I think all of those changes would make people enjoy the stuff added to this year's edition MUCH more because a lot of the new stuff this year seems like half baked ideas.

As for new stuff next year they should blow out customization and online modes. Anything that can be done offline should be able to be done with multiple offline players and/or online players. They should add teambuilder, custom content sharing, and allow custom sliders for ALL game modes online and offline.

[savoie2006]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

I don't know how I feel about hardcore mode. The speed of passing should be pressure sensitive, not time sensitive. And I think the pass speed is still a tad too slow. I like the fact that the tape to tape passes are gone but your AI teammates are not smart enough to adapt to a pass thats not going where they want to go. Sometimes they'll turn in a different direction, sometimes they should be able to reach for the puck, or at least try to reach for it and they don't. Other than that its great.

I think they still need to revamp the fundamental skating engine. Its showing its flaws big time. I think the leg kick glitch video out there illustrates how bad it is. Even if they fix that specific glitch the skating in general is still very floaty when doing certain turns.

Is there the ability to do a hook anymore? They need to figure out a way to put that back into the control scheme and make it useful. The problem they've had with hooking and slashing in the past is your player slows down to a halt and he doesn't adjust to where the nearest opponent is unlike a stick lift. I think they tried toning it down because they felt people abused it, but if they do, just balance it out by giving them more penalties!

Boardplay is great although I think holding Y should hold the player against the boards and as soon as you let go of Y it lets go of the player. Also if your back is to the player its very hard to turn around and pin the player because of the way the skating engine works. Perhaps if the skating engine is fixed this won't be an issue but if not maybe hte best thing is for the game to realize that you want to pin the player and turn your player around towards the boards automatically.

Defending in the zone still needs work. I don't know why you can barely skate around while you're poke checking. I think NHL 2k6 or 2K7 had the best feel when you were penalty killing because you could skate around and aim your stick around to block passing lanes very smoothly and the animations looked great. I always felt like Brendan Shanahan when playing on the PK in those games.

Theres no reason they shouldn't copy 2K's faceoff system, it just feels better. The one that EA employs is starting to feel dated.

I think they need to revamp presentation. They should get rid of all of the cutscenes and make everything dynamic. The first year they do it it might not be great but I think it will help make the post-whistle stuff much more fun/realistic. Right now players just stand around. They should be skating to the benches or skating to the next face-off spot and the referees/linesmen (which they need to add too) should be breaking up scrums. It would also be great if you could hit someone after they score a goal or start a fight.

The post whistle stuff as it is right now is a little too dramatic. Players should be shoving each other, not decking each other, and a face wash shouldn't automatically start a fight. Fights are a little too frequent (as are offsetting minors). I don't mind the CPU automatically starting fights with CPU players but when I'm Sidney Crosby and I want to facewash someone, it shouldn't auto start a fight without prompting me to drop the gloves.

As for fighting, its soooo much better this year than any of the previous years. They finally realized that the stupid fight night control scheme they instituted was ******** and now you can just wail away with straight flicks of the stick. But the way fights start is a little dubious (at least once it seemed as though I was fighting Crosby but it ended up being Guerin when he was no where near me). Again it should all be dynamic, it shouldn't cut away to a separate mode and the other players/referee shouldn't disappear. The other players should be in scrums or standing around watching and the officials should be waiting to break things up.

I think all of those changes would make people enjoy the stuff added to this year's edition MUCH more because a lot of the new stuff this year seems like half baked ideas.

As for new stuff next year they should blow out customization and online modes. Anything that can be done offline should be able to be done with multiple offline players and/or online players. They should add teambuilder, custom content sharing, and allow custom sliders for ALL game modes online and offline.

That's a great first post, very objective and well written. Welcome to the forums.

[MizzouRah]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

I was initially disappointed with the lack of improvements in the presentation dept. But the more that I play the demo, the less I notice - b/c the gameplay is SO freaking good. This title has achieved something remarkable - it accurately reflects the fast paced, chaotic nature of hocky. Every game feels totally unique and less "scripted" than any other sports game I've played.

However, I'd still like to see better crowds and post-goal celebrations, but those won't stop me from playing this game for a long, long time.

Well said.. you can tell they spent all of their time on game play.. just seeing how great the board play is tells me they didn't want to half a$$ it.

I hope unique arenas and such make the cut next year though.

[MizzouRah]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

Theres no reason they shouldn't copy 2K's faceoff system, it just feels better. The one that EA employs is starting to feel dated.

I think they need to revamp presentation. They should get rid of all of the cutscenes and make everything dynamic. The first year they do it it might not be great but I think it will help make the post-whistle stuff much more fun/realistic. Right now players just stand around. They should be skating to the benches or skating to the next face-off spot and the referees/linesmen (which they need to add too) should be breaking up scrums. It would also be great if you could hit someone after they score a goal or start a fight.

The post whistle stuff as it is right now is a little too dramatic. Players should be shoving each other, not decking each other, and a face wash shouldn't automatically start a fight. Fights are a little too frequent (as are offsetting minors). I don't mind the CPU automatically starting fights with CPU players but when I'm Sidney Crosby and I want to facewash someone, it shouldn't auto start a fight without prompting me to drop the gloves.

As for fighting, its soooo much better this year than any of the previous years. They finally realized that the stupid fight night control scheme they instituted was ******** and now you can just wail away with straight flicks of the stick. But the way fights start is a little dubious (at least once it seemed as though I was fighting Crosby but it ended up being Guerin when he was no where near me). Again it should all be dynamic, it shouldn't cut away to a separate mode and the other players/referee shouldn't disappear. The other players should be in scrums or standing around watching and the officials should be waiting to break things up.

Lots of good things in your post, particularly these snipits.

[Scottdau]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

I don't know how I feel about hardcore mode. The speed of passing should be pressure sensitive, not time sensitive. And I think the pass speed is still a tad too slow. I like the fact that the tape to tape passes are gone but your AI teammates are not smart enough to adapt to a pass thats not going where they want to go. Sometimes they'll turn in a different direction, sometimes they should be able to reach for the puck, or at least try to reach for it and they don't. Other than that its great.

I think they still need to revamp the fundamental skating engine. Its showing its flaws big time. I think the leg kick glitch video out there illustrates how bad it is. Even if they fix that specific glitch the skating in general is still very floaty when doing certain turns.

Is there the ability to do a hook anymore? They need to figure out a way to put that back into the control scheme and make it useful. The problem they've had with hooking and slashing in the past is your player slows down to a halt and he doesn't adjust to where the nearest opponent is unlike a stick lift. I think they tried toning it down because they felt people abused it, but if they do, just balance it out by giving them more penalties!

Boardplay is great although I think holding Y should hold the player against the boards and as soon as you let go of Y it lets go of the player. Also if your back is to the player its very hard to turn around and pin the player because of the way the skating engine works. Perhaps if the skating engine is fixed this won't be an issue but if not maybe hte best thing is for the game to realize that you want to pin the player and turn your player around towards the boards automatically.

Defending in the zone still needs work. I don't know why you can barely skate around while you're poke checking. I think NHL 2k6 or 2K7 had the best feel when you were penalty killing because you could skate around and aim your stick around to block passing lanes very smoothly and the animations looked great. I always felt like Brendan Shanahan when playing on the PK in those games.

Theres no reason they shouldn't copy 2K's faceoff system, it just feels better. The one that EA employs is starting to feel dated.

I think they need to revamp presentation. They should get rid of all of the cutscenes and make everything dynamic. The first year they do it it might not be great but I think it will help make the post-whistle stuff much more fun/realistic. Right now players just stand around. They should be skating to the benches or skating to the next face-off spot and the referees/linesmen (which they need to add too) should be breaking up scrums. It would also be great if you could hit someone after they score a goal or start a fight.

The post whistle stuff as it is right now is a little too dramatic. Players should be shoving each other, not decking each other, and a face wash shouldn't automatically start a fight. Fights are a little too frequent (as are offsetting minors). I don't mind the CPU automatically starting fights with CPU players but when I'm Sidney Crosby and I want to facewash someone, it shouldn't auto start a fight without prompting me to drop the gloves.

As for fighting, its soooo much better this year than any of the previous years. They finally realized that the stupid fight night control scheme they instituted was ******** and now you can just wail away with straight flicks of the stick. But the way fights start is a little dubious (at least once it seemed as though I was fighting Crosby but it ended up being Guerin when he was no where near me). Again it should all be dynamic, it shouldn't cut away to a separate mode and the other players/referee shouldn't disappear. The other players should be in scrums or standing around watching and the officials should be waiting to break things up.

I think all of those changes would make people enjoy the stuff added to this year's edition MUCH more because a lot of the new stuff this year seems like half baked ideas.

As for new stuff next year they should blow out customization and online modes. Anything that can be done offline should be able to be done with multiple offline players and/or online players. They should add teambuilder, custom content sharing, and allow custom sliders for ALL game modes online and offline.

This is a great post. I enjoyed reading it, thanks

[BobLobLaw]

i agree with the faceoff thing finally someone mentioned it we definately need better faceoffs so that it takes more skill to win them and the wingers have to go in and help and clean wins happen but theyre rare

sorry for horrible punctuation and such but i am lazy

[TeamLogo]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

I hope unique arenas and such make the cut next year though.

People say there aren't unique arenas but I don't understand what they mean. I don't have any recent games but I see the United Center clear as day in screen shots. Is that the only one that's the real thing? Do you say arena and mean pregame stuff or missing details?

[dm3k]

Re: NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360)

I like the demo. Lots of new stuff that I really enjoy and are all mentioned in the posts above.

One thing that doesn't work for me. I'm a BAP addict and with the new passing system the BAP High/Low camera angles just don't work for cross-ice passing. With the old tape-to-tape system you usually could pass it blindly and your teammate would pick it up but with the improved AI it's just a gamble if there's a teammate or player from the opposing team (which is often the case).

I don't mind playing in Overhead but it takes you out of the on-ice immersion that the BAP camera angles give.

Something to keep in mind and improve in NHL11 if you ask me.