New NHL 11 Details via OXM

[shaunjuan2000]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

That would be asanine if EA forced you to pay for a demo, then pay full price when the game comes out. Demos should be free, no matter what. No wonder this economy is down the crapper. These companiies are so " money hungry" and its crazy. I guess we'll have to just wait and see.

[JimmyDeicide]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

I dont know much but i do know its not going to be a new engine, come on.

[bill2451]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

you guys realize there are multiple "engines" that make up a game, right

the sheer fact that they are attempting to add physics means that there will be a "physics engine"... the question is to what degree this engine takes effect in the game (aka mainly how much it replaces mocap/scripted animations)

if every "collision" is physics based (think Backbreaker), I will be ecstatic, but I am going to wait to get my hopes up until I hear some actual details

[RealmK]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

This physics thing is a tough one for me, i just dont see how its going to be done properly without redoing the whole engine. Do they mean real physics within their engine or REAL world physics all i can say is what is in the game now is the opposite of real physics as far as the puck goes im guessing its everything but the puck in this case.
If they could somehow create realistic puck physics with this engine ill be all over it as it would go along way towards changing the feeling of the game which doesn't always feel as if it would be happening this way in real life.

The way I'm taking it, is they implimented an actual physics engine to help drive the game. It wouldn't make much sense for it to just apply to hitting and nothing else. Really the only issue with 10 when it came to puck physics is it didn't bounce as realistically and as much as it would in real life other than that 10's puck physics weren't all that different than 2k10's the difference being 2k10's puck would unrealistically flip all over the place for the sake of flipping more often than not yet strangely remained glued and magnetic to player's sticks, even at times said player was checked flat on his tail end.

Hard to say if its real world physics or something more akin to something like the physics engine Backbreaker employs though I would be inclined to guess its prolly something in between. If it makes the game play better or react in a more realistic fashion, I'd say thats a step forward.

[bill2451]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

you guys realize there are multiple "engines" that make up a game, right

the sheer fact that they are attempting to add physics means that there will be a "physics engine"... the question is to what degree this engine takes effect in the game (aka mainly how much it replaces mocap/scripted animations)

if every "collision" is physics based (think Backbreaker), I will be ecstatic, but I am going to wait to get my hopes up until I hear some actual details

more to the point, if every collision is "unique" I will be ecstatic (which means calculated on the fly, not a "canned animation"... however they still have to get the actual physics engine correct (for example, the big concern w/ Euphoria was players not having any balance, and largely having "rag doll" physics, which I think Backbreaker pretty much proved wrong)

it doesnt matter if you have a "physics engine" w/ no canned animations if the calculations that go into the engine suck lol

luckily, I can't see EA taking that big of a leap w/out having a strong base to go on... which brings me back to my original point, how much this physics engine replaces the canned animations. Will this include just checking, skating, puck physics, goalie collision detection, etc?

[RealmK]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

luckily, I can't see EA taking that big of a leap w/out having a strong base to go on... which brings me back to my original point, how much this physics engine replaces the canned animations. Will this include just checking, skating, puck physics, goalie collision detection, etc?

I'm under the impression it encompasses the whole game, from checking to skating to faceoffs etc. The article seems to make it sound like that's the case anyway.

I have faith that its at the very least solid, they haven't let me down yet since rebooting the series on NG/CG systems, have no reason not to expect it to be an improvement at the very least.

[JimmyDeicide]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

The way I'm taking it, is they implimented an actual physics engine to help drive the game. It wouldn't make much sense for it to just apply to hitting and nothing else. Really the only issue with 10 when it came to puck physics is it didn't bounce as realistically and as much as it would in real life other than that 10's puck physics weren't all that different than 2k10's the difference being 2k10's puck would unrealistically flip all over the place for the sake of flipping more often than not yet strangely remained glued and magnetic to player's sticks, even at times said player was checked flat on his tail end.

Hard to say if its real world physics or something more akin to something like the physics engine Backbreaker employs though I would be inclined to guess its prolly something in between. If it makes the game play better or react in a more realistic fashion, I'd say thats a step forward.

Its a little more than that dont you think , its the way it deflects unnaturally of players and tip ins, the way it suddenly hops so you cant control it its just artificial.
If EA could add puck physics like 2ks game then then it would be something to behold.
I want them to succeed here as i think its the only real big thing that this series misses but its a huge one for me.

[Vikes1]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

I have faith that its at the very least solid, they haven't let me down yet since rebooting the series on NG/CG systems, have no reason not to expect it to be an improvement at the very least.

I feel the same way Realmk.

I have faith in the EA Canada development team not to release a mess of a physic engine. But at the same time...no, I'm not expecting [as I mentioned before] Backbreaker type of results. Like you said Realmk, I'm at least expecting a nice improvement from what we have now. We should know fairly soon.

[onlybygrace]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

Its silly for anyone to expect a perfect phyical world to boot up before their eyes while playing these games...especially if hockey is the target of representation.

However, I have a lot of faith in this development team that they know just what they are doing. Enough faith to know that if it weren't an improvement, they probably wouldn't go with it at all.

Man...I'm ready for some presentation news. lol

[aBiNeR1]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

more to the point, if every collision is "unique" I will be ecstatic (which means calculated on the fly, not a "canned animation"... however they still have to get the actual physics engine correct (for example, the big concern w/ Euphoria was players not having any balance, and largely having "rag doll" physics, which I think Backbreaker pretty much proved wrong)

it doesnt matter if you have a "physics engine" w/ no canned animations if the calculations that go into the engine suck lol

luckily, I can't see EA taking that big of a leap w/out having a strong base to go on... which brings me back to my original point, how much this physics engine replaces the canned animations. Will this include just checking, skating, puck physics, goalie collision detection, etc?

...which will be problematic as always with a one-year release cycle. Games nowadays (the ones that sell over 15 millon units) have 5-7 dev cycles to adapt with current technology complexities. Meaning, eventually everyone will see a "finished" version of the physics engine...probably 3 years from now.

Be patient with EA's annual release methodology (which was actually a pretty smart idea 20 years ago). $180 and 3 years wait time and you will all be happy.

[Bama83]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

...which will be problematic as always with a one-year release cycle. Games nowadays (the ones that sell over 15 millon units) have 5-7 dev cycles to adapt with current technology complexities. Meaning, eventually everyone will see a "finished" version of the physics engine...probably 3 years from now.

We don't know how long this has been in development.

[aBiNeR1]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

We don't know how long this has been in development.

Oh yes we do. They have one team in place at all times. That's why there's no post-release support (fix patches).

Sure they may have one developer working on code but there's no full QA team in place flushing out all the defects until the current year where it's in full development and in test.

Littman has said publically on countless occasions, "We have a very small team and very limited resources." Even the community day reps will tell you that.

[06woz]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

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You don't know for a fact that they've scrapped the old 'engine' and created a completely new one.

Actually.... I do. There is absolutely no way you can run the old engine with real time physics. It's impossible, the old physics engine was built to run canned animations. That means that they created a new one for this and likely other EA games for years to come.(it's already been announced for NBA Live) That's likely what the buzz is with this "ELITE" thing, a new physics engine.(Same idea for rockstar using the same "rage" real time physics engine for RDR and GTA4)

Putting in real time physics means they are using a new engine, as simple as that. This has likely been in development for at least 2 years, and not just by the NHL crew. NBA Live said that they are completely replacing canned animations, expect it for NHL, as like any other company the engine is made for multiple games and is worked on over a long period of time.

Oh and EA said at the community event how they "free'd up" resources for this game. To think that the only features in the game are worked on in one year is ignorant. They have features that probably don't make it in for 2 or 3 years, simply because it takes that long.

[Bama83]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

Oh yes we do. They have one team in place at all times. That's why there's no post-release support (fix patches).

No. We don't.

Unless I miss my mark, this physics engine is obviously something that is going to start permeating all EA Sports games. Fight Night already has it. NHL is getting it. I don't know if it's in Madden/NCAA. I wouldn't be surprised to see NBA get it.

An engine that is going to go in multiple titles is not being written by the NHL team alone. This is a massive undertaking.

True physics engines have been in games for most of this generation. EA Sports had to know this was the future of sports games. I have to believe they have been working on their own engine for a few years. This is just the first we've heard about it.

Im willing to wager that ELITE is the name of this engine.

[06woz]

Re: New NHL 11 Details via OXM

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27759/Analyst_EA_To_Release_Paid_DLC_Prior_To_Packaged_Game_Launches.php

For those thinking this site tells us we're paying for a demo. I still doubt it, if you read it, it seems to be more for action titles, since they said they would release "the first few levels" of some games. There really isn't anything to offer in a sports game aside from play now, that wouldn't ruin the purpose of buying the full game. The idea behind that marketing plan is to charge more to give a "better taste" of the game, which isn't really possible with sports games.