NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

[Rogie Vachon]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

I had a chance to speak with someone at EA regarding this issue at a recent playtest session. I think we'll be with Gary and Bill for a while still. He said that audio is EXTREMELY expensive when making a game. Surprisingly more of a budget goes to audio than people would expect - and obvs he did not mention exact numbers. But the the time and effort that go into making sure one of a number clips plays when a situation happens is very high. Redoing all they've done with new guys would be a major undertaking. Frankly the time is better spent working on gameplay - like the new skating engine

Some of the phrases are absolutely fine,......if they could run the clips through a speech emulator or something...LOL

I`ve suggested they use an impressionist to add some commentary,....guys like Hewitt,Gallivan,Irvine,Howie Meeker,Cherry,Bob Cole,....and many more might be able to be used.
At least they wouldn`t need all those personalities to go through the ordeal of the recording sessions.For some it would be a neat trick. :wink:

Seeing that all the audio must be "digitized",surely they could find some sort of speech emulator effect to modify what they already have.

If they were able to spend a period of time where they improved the audio by swapping out stuff in bits and pieces,....as they were produced and tested,.....another reason for a temporary, inhouse voice mimic?

I`m just thinking out loud here.

[Rogie Vachon]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview (Game Informer) - Lots of Good Info

This and this.

The tuners always seem to fix something at the expense of other things. And the fix almost always is for online at the expense of offline. There's too many online players who just exploit a good game and EA has to dumb it down to keep things "fair" which comes at the expense of the entire game experience.

As for sliders. Spot in. If they worked properly in NHL 12 I know I would have had a lot more challenging games and thus more enjoyable games.

I agree,with these sentiments.

If what we already have worked much better,...NHL12 would have been a better game.

Hopefully,with NHL13 and future versions,....a better and more in depth degree of adjustability will be available for the offline/single player user.

I understand that EA needs "their way" for online,.....that is fine,....for I can choose to not play online then.
For offline,I should have been able to do much more with the sliders they provided in NHL12.......could have done much,much more.

[Therion7]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

That was quite a list.

If half of the things mentioned, and CPU pens must be in that, make it to the shelves then I can live with the commentary.

Getting rid of the cutscenes in favour of an AI-driven approach might mean goal celebrations are more like FIFA rather than a quick few seconds to get your user move in then a canned cutscene.

Five hole goals? Fantastic news.

[RealmK]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

I think the issue is simply that the commentary isn't horrible. It really isn't. It's decent. The problem is simply that it's very stale. We've heard it before. Every single line. Whereas you look at Madden, and the commentary was in absolute disarray. Thus, resources and priorities have been placed elsewhere. I did read that some new lines were recorded for NHL 13 to directly relate with the new skating and AI.

One hopes that next year, an emphasis can be placed on new commentary.

This. I like Thorne, always have, he never sounds robotic, he delivers his lines with enthusiasm, and he and Clement play off each other well enough.

If Clement had a better script to read from he wouldn't come off quite so cheesy at times but that's the fault of whoever is writing the PBP script on the team not the PBP tandem.

I believe I had read somewhere last year, maybe the year before that getting Thorne out there to record is kinda like pulling teeth, not sure if that's accurate or not especially since he's been also doing 2k's MLB title the last few years.

I agree though if they could just inject some dynamic commentary rather than the same old recycled lines it would do wonders for that stale feeling when it comes to the series current presentation.

[RealmK]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

I made and edit with an explaination.

Depends if your goalie is Tim Thomas or not.

[tofubrain2]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

looking at what SCEA did with the Show (which is the benchmark standard, it can be debated that NBA 2K has superior feel) recycling old commentary, I'm really not concerned. They can say " cannonaide " on repeat if this game lives up to the bullet points.

[DarkFudge]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

Im not sure if this was ever discussed or not, but one of the things that would really jolt some more dynamic and organic gameplay to this franchise (other than a complete Backbreaker style physics engine) would be if the designers really focused on emphasizing player attributes and styles of play for each player.
Now I know the game has Snipers and Grinders, Playmakers, ect....but what Im talking about is more of a subtle distinction between all the player attributes and ratings and seeing the amazing dynamics they can add to the gameplay if programmed correctly rather than just lumping players in those classifications and having them all kind of play the same.

I've logged in over 2000 games of NHL 2K8 and one of the things that just kept each game exciting, other than the great human goalie reactions, was the fact that player's really demonstrating subtle but distinct differences in their gameplay based on their ratings.

You couldnt simply use players in place of other players and think you were going to get them to do the same things the way you can easily do in the EA series. Players had distinct strengths and weaknesses that went much deeper then just speed, and shot skills....Some players were real defensive liabilites and others were good working in the corners etc. There were alot of subtle differences to the players attributes that really created some dynamic gameplay each game

I think this game really needs to take a hard look at also improving this area of the game to create some very interesting and unique gameplay stories for each match you play

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

After reading all of this info, does anyone else find it impossible to go back and play NHL 12?

[BlueNGold]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

After reading all of this info, does anyone else find it impossible to go back and play NHL 12?

It was already hard enough to play it in the first place.

[DarkFudge]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

After reading all of this info, does anyone else find it impossible to go back and play NHL 12?

Im not ready to fall for this mumbo jumbo again this year....last year, EA did the same thing and pumped up NHL 12 with the ALL New Puck Physics, Real Time Collision Physics, Players that behave differently and have unique characteristics and AI behaviors that should create a new and dynamic experience with every game...bla bla, etc.

When I played a few games of NHL 12......the disappointing realization that this game played too much like 11, 10, 9 and 8. (with some top coats of tweaks)

The truth of the matter is, I think I have had more fun with the early Sega Genesis versions of NHL Hockey than I am with these. And if that seems like too much of a stretch for some of you to believe, I will at least say this....I don't think the actual depth of the AI and gameplay variables have advanced that much since then. If you simply strip away the more detailed graphics and sound engines, the game's ability to organically read and react, articulate and translate the real ebb and flows of NHL Hockey while simulating a real human AI are just not much evolved from those days.

And the dynamic immersive factor are no where near as in depth and as a game like Pro Evolution Soccer.......or even their own FIFA series! There's no distinctions between teams and/or players other than the obvious speed, checking and shooting accuracy factors. Surely we've evolved to expect much deeper levels of authenticity then just this from our hockey sims over the years....havent we?

[Vikes1]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

Im not ready to fall for this mumbo jumbo again this year....last year, EA did the same thing and pumped up NHL 12 with the ALL New Puck Physics, Real Time Collision Physics, Players that behave differently and have unique characteristics and AI behaviors that should create a new and dynamic experience with every game...bla bla, etc.

When I played a few games of NHL 12......the disappointing realization that this game played too much like 11, 10, 9 and 8. (with some top coats of tweaks)

The truth of the matter is, I think I have had more fun with the early Sega Genesis versions of NHL Hockey than I am with these. And if that seems like too much of a stretch for some of you to believe, I will at least say this....I don't think the actual depth of the AI and gameplay variables have advanced that much since then. If you simply strip away the more detailed graphics and sound engines, the game's ability to organically read and react, articulate and translate the real ebb and flows of NHL Hockey while simulating a real human AI are just not much evolved from those days.

And the dynamic immersive factor are no where near as in depth and as a game like Pro Evolution Soccer.......or even their own FIFA series! There's no distinctions between teams and/or players other than the obvious speed, checking and shooting accuracy factors. Surely we've evolved to expect much deeper levels of authenticity then just this from our hockey sims over the years....havent we?

Great post, DarkFudge.

I'm also holding back on allowing myself to fall in front of the hype train this year. Yep....it always sounds great each year. But imo, what's been delivered the last few years, was quite a ways short of what was promised. Especially on the differences between players that was hyped last year. To be fair...personally, I have seen a few flashes of what they were trying to do [separation] but imo...they've got a long way to go to really achieve it. And I'm not all that confident they'll get there for '13'. DarkFudge, you and others are so right...this is a major issue that I also believe is holding the game back from being a truly great game. If other games are achieving really noticeable player separation...NHL needs to join these other games.

My son and I play the heck outta NHL. But if '13' ends up in reality, playing nearly just like 12, 11, 10, etc...it's going to be kind of a long year playing the game. And our interest in playing NHL may start to wane.

[savoie2006]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

It was already hard enough to play it in the first place.

Kind of, but as Fudge said I'm not gonna believe it completely until I have my hands on the game. I love hockey games too much to go almost four months without playing because of some hype.

[thedudedominick]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

This game is always a day one buy for me, and this information has me excited once again.

I am curious to see what kind of changes were made to Be a Gm, EASHL, and if the online Be a GM is just like the offline one, or if it's a stripped down version like the Madden online franchise.

I will say this though, if this game can actually get the AI down right and make players and teams play uniquely, NHL 13 might hardly ever leave my xbox.

[CupCrazyManiac]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview with Lots of Good Info (Game Informer)

Kind of, but as Fudge said

I'm not gonna believe it completely until I have my hands on the game

. I love hockey games too much to go almost four months without playing because of some hype.

i agree! same here, i'm not gonna believe it completely until I have my hands on the game!

[Gagnon39]

Re: NHL 13 Hands-On Preview (Game Informer) - Lots of Good Info

Everything sounds great but as I always do when a game makes such sweeping changes, I have many concerns.

My main concern is that it seems that everything is geared toward offense.

Being able to blow by defenders, goalies being more aggressive and making desperation saves more often and the puck bouncing off of limbs and deflecting in all give the impression that scoring will be up.

I just hope we still have 1-0, 2-1 games as well as the occasional 7-4 game.

We shall see.