FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

[Steve_OS]

About a week ago, EA detailed improved AI, set pieces and more.

Now comes word that FIFA Soccer 12 will showcase player stories and 'match day atmosphere' on the improvements list.

"He commented: "I think 'matchday atmosphere' is something we need to invest in."

When told that the PSM3 team create their own stories for individual players throughout PES's Master League, Paterson added:

"I think the idea of creating stories throughout the year is something we're very interested in as well.

"It's about creating a football world you immerse yourself in, thing like, you know, the Rooney story [when he said he want to leave Man Utd and then signed a new contract]. [That's] definitely interesting to us.

"Things to do while the transfer window's closed is certainly something that we're looking at."

[ps3veron]

The development cycle in sporting titles keeps getting shorter. FIFA 11 just came out yesterday and we're already taking 8 months down the line!

But this is a good thing, I felt FIFA 11 was more of a FIFA 10.5 (Personality +?) and PES really picked up pace this year.

I am loving how EA has suddenly woken up, they seem to be more motivated this year (thank you 2K11!)

[Dazraz]

A worrying comment regarding EA's belief that they are finding it hard to find ways to improve on FIFA. Yes, the FIFA Franchise has been one the most consistent titles of recent years but there is still much room for improvement.

1.) Full Slider Set - These are standard on all top line sports titles but have been overlooked by FIFA. Although the gameplay in FIFA is it's strength, sliders give the gamer the opportunity to tweak the game for there own needs.

2.) Offline Multiplayer - Although FIFA caters heavily for it's Online community, those playing with friends Offline are let down. Manager Mode is single player only, while the Tournament Mode lacks depth & is clumsily put together. The News Features on the front page look like it might be impressive but only has a handful of variations of headlines. No match details from non user games. Lack of detailed stat tracking. Basically a real lack of immersion in the mode. A step back from FIFA 10 which was much better to navigate around.

3.) Big Match Recognition - A game between 2 top flight teams gets the same build as a game between 2 teams struggling at the bottom of the Turkish League.

4.) Commentary - Although commentary in FIFA keeps up well with the play it totally fails to recognise the importance of a fixture in relation to the position of the teams that are playing. Often League games are classed as cup games & how the winning team as progressed to the next round? Commentary needs to be dynamic & evolve with the game.

5.) Lack of Bookings - Fouls are more frequent in FIFA but bookings, especially against the AI are extremely rare. Sliders could certainly help here.

6.) Post Tournament Celebration - Whether Cup or League the celebrations are so last gen. Awards for the Player of the Match/Tournament could help add something here.

7.) Replays - These seem to be getting worse. After scoring a goal you are often shown just one replay. Put a shot 10 yards wide & you will be shown it 4 times. HT & FT replays segments need some commentary or music to bring it to life & not just the sound of the crowd.

8.) Cut Scenes - In FIFA World Cup 2010 EA used cut scenes to help reproduce the atmosphere of the event. Cut scenes are almost non existent in FIFA. Only occurring prior to substitutions. Scenes depicting player/coach interactions, crowd activity & the like can help immerse you in the game.

9.) Stat Tracking - Stat tracking is as basic as it can get in FIFA. Although soccer historically isn't bombarded with stat data as sports like baseball are, this is starting to change. Most newspapers carry quite in depth stat analysis of player/team performances & it would be good if such details were incorporated in FIFA. Stats relevant to your season displayed on the fly during games would be a nice touch too.

If EA feel that FIFA is reaching a pinnacle they obviously have a very narrow minded attitude to the title. The gameplay has improved massively over the last few years but so many other areas of the game are still like they were back on the PS1.
EA, if you really are running out of ideas, check the endless streams of Forums & Blogs regarding what people would like to see in FIFA.

[JJT]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

The development cycle in sporting titles keeps getting shorter. FIFA 11 just came out yesterday and we're already taking 8 months down the line!

But this is a good thing, I felt FIFA 11 was more of a FIFA 10.5 (Personality +?) and PES really picked up pace this year.

I am loving how EA has suddenly woken up, they seem to be more motivated this year (thank you 2K11!)

Fifa 11 came out yesterday? What?

[striper_43]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

A worrying comment regarding EA's belief that they are finding it hard to find ways to improve on FIFA. Yes, the FIFA Franchise has been one the most consistent titles of recent years but there is still much room for improvement.

1.) Full Slider Set - These are standard on all top line sports titles but have been overlooked by FIFA. Although the gameplay in FIFA is it's strength, sliders give the gamer the opportunity to tweak the game for there own needs.

2.) Offline Multiplayer - Although FIFA caters heavily for it's Online community, those playing with friends Offline are let down. Manager Mode is single player only, while the Tournament Mode lacks depth & is clumsily put together. The News Features on the front page look like it might be impressive but only has a handful of variations of headlines. No match details from non user games. Lack of detailed stat tracking. Basically a real lack of immersion in the mode. A step back from FIFA 10 which was much better to navigate around.

3.) Big Match Recognition - A game between 2 top flight teams gets the same build as a game between 2 teams struggling at the bottom of the Turkish League.

4.) Commentary - Although commentary in FIFA keeps up well with the play it totally fails to recognise the importance of a fixture in relation to the position of the teams that are playing. Often League games are classed as cup games & how the winning team as progressed to the next round? Commentary needs to be dynamic & evolve with the game.

5.) Lack of Bookings - Fouls are more frequent in FIFA but bookings, especially against the AI are extremely rare. Sliders could certainly help here.

6.) Post Tournament Celebration - Whether Cup or League the celebrations are so last gen. Awards for the Player of the Match/Tournament could help add something here.

7.) Replays - These seem to be getting worse. After scoring a goal you are often shown just one replay. Put a shot 10 yards wide & you will be shown it 4 times. HT & FT replays segments need some commentary or music to bring it to life & not just the sound of the crowd.

8.) Cut Scenes - In FIFA World Cup 2010 EA used cut scenes to help reproduce the atmosphere of the event. Cut scenes are almost non existent in FIFA. Only occurring prior to substitutions. Scenes depicting player/coach interactions, crowd activity & the like can help immerse you in the game.

9.) Stat Tracking - Stat tracking is as basic as it can get in FIFA. Although soccer historically isn't bombarded with stat data as sports like baseball are, this is starting to change. Most newspapers carry quite in depth stat analysis of player/team performances & it would be good if such details were incorporated in FIFA. Stats relevant to your season displayed on the fly during games would be a nice touch too.

If EA feel that FIFA is reaching a pinnacle they obviously have a very narrow minded attitude to the title. The gameplay has improved massively over the last few years but so many other areas of the game are still like they were back on the PS1.
EA, if you really are running out of ideas, check the endless streams of Forums & Blogs regarding what people would like to see in FIFA.

The commentary can be weird in cup games. I beat Reading in the League Cup with Arsenal and Andy Gray was talking about how surprising some cup matches are and that this match was certainly one of those.

Beat Tottenham in an FA Cup 5th round replay and Tyler talks about it being an historic result for the club. Give me a break!

Make Career/Manager mode more immersive and stop focusing on UT all the time.

Agree with all your points. Especially the sliders. Despite all of Fifa's flaws, I still struggle to put the game down. It's just so addicting.

[Krebstar]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

It's nice to hear EA coming out with information early. FIFA is one of those annual titles that seems to hold back it's information for far too long and really never deeply discusses their plans and what they improved. They'll just say "tweaked thousands of gameplay mechanics" or something vague like that.

So, so far this is a nice change in terms of how they're reporting things.

[dunlopp9987]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

I think EA needs to focus on things other than gameplay for FIFA 12. I think FIFA 10 and 11 were squarely focused on gameplay, and don't get me wrong, it has improved tenfold from previous years. And don't get me wrong AGAIN, they can definitely improve gameplay here and there. But for the most part, gameplay isn't the problem.

They need to focus on Career Mode and presentation. It is a must. There are still far too many problems with both that I don't even need to go into what they are. All you need to do is look around any FIFA boards and forums. If EA can figure out how to improve CM and presentation for 12, it could finally be a "perfect" soccer game.

[boisejames]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

I think EA needs to focus on things other than gameplay for FIFA 12. I think FIFA 10 and 11 were squarely focused on gameplay, and don't get me wrong, it has improved tenfold from previous years. And don't get me wrong AGAIN, they can definitely improve gameplay here and there. But for the most part, gameplay isn't the problem.

They need to focus on Career Mode and presentation. It is a must. There are still far too many problems with both that I don't even need to go into what they are. All you need to do is look around any FIFA boards and forums. If EA can figure out how to improve CM and presentation for 12, it could finally be a "perfect" soccer game.

I think they need to overhaul the presentation and career mode but all I ask is that they fix tackling.
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[Krebstar]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

I think they need to overhaul the presentation and career mode but all I ask is that they fix tackling.
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Exactly. If they don't fix tackling, it doesn't matter how pretty career mode is, because I won't be able to enjoy the actual games.

[EXboxur]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

Will someone please ask why FIFA devs can't sit down and work with the FIFA Manager team to improve Career Mode?

I've been posting here for years and nobody ever asks about this or why Football Fusion can't be brought back now that a majority of games utilize the HDs in consoles.

[dxdude2004]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

What I'd love for manager mode is being able to WATCH my team play their matches. you know, cpu vs cpu, like basically the thing that every other EA Sports game has. Not quite sure why this is only in certain modes of the game, why isn't it just available throughout? Thanks EA, looks like I'll be sticking to lounge mode..

[~LiverpoolRed~]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

[quote=Dazraz;2042089958]

5.) Lack of Bookings - Fouls are more frequent in FIFA but bookings, especially against the AI are extremely rare. Sliders could certainly help here.
/quote]

This is why I returned the game and reverted back to FIFA 10.

[JimmyDeicide]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

I think the tackling would be less of a problem if there was an easier way to avoid it, the trick system is too slow or cumbersome to quickly avoid a player who suddenly runs at you. I think a refinement to the first touch system should be employed so i can just flick the rstick in a direction away from the tackler there would be a lot more fouls in single player and in multiplayer players would really have to watch what they where doing.

[rayzora1971]

Re: FIFA 12: Player Stories and 'Match Day Atmosphere' on Improvements List

one thing they need to do as well is widen the field a little more and average pro field is 70 to 75 yards wide. I did and experiment and figured out that most of them are about 60 yards wide.