NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

[MitchStan]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

This years game is a lot of fun both on Pro and All Star - OFFLINE. I've had all kinds of games and types of goals. First game I played Rangers (me) v. Red Wings (cpu). I won 7-3. I was a little disappointed at first with all the easy goals, but after some slider tweaks I've had much more challenging 1 and 2 goal games. I've had some wins and some losses but a few things strikes me:

1) I'm playing ten minute periods and I am completely satisfied with penalties called on my team and on the cpu. I've had a 5 min major called against the cpu, a double minor against the cpu, and 2 minors for a 2 minute 5 on 3 against the cpu. Plus the usual minors called against me and my teammates. I've averaged about 4 penalties called in total per game. A little more would be nice but since I play 10 minute periods this work for me.

2) Pass accuracy sliders have no effect this year, again. Whether max or min, same pass percentages as last year. CPU around 70-80%, me 65-70%. Also, pass reception slider only effects me, not cpu. Plenty of bobbled passes by my team (which is cool), but zero for cpu team.

3) Have not seen any comeback crap, no bezerker mode. There is plenty of ebb and flow in the game going both ways which is fun.

4) If you put the line changes on auto, for some strange reason the CPU insists on putting in the 4th line way too often! I saw this in the demo and in the early release as well. Even if other lines have more energy, after a play stoppage out comes the 4th line for a face off! Weird bug.

5) About the AI. I have the feeling the old AI is completely gone - all the AI code. I feel like the AI is all new coding. And while it feels different and sometimes good, it's also sometimes bad. At times it feels like a hockey team and other times it feels like a bunch of players skating around playing hockey for the first time. I hope EA can continue to improve the AI over the years or even with tuner updates.

6) Love the goalies. I've seen them make some hell-a-saves, I've seen them let in bad goals. I've scored on some clean wristers. They play the puck behind the net very well. No more dumb *** trapezoid issues.

7) Skating is just great. Best! Board pinning is ridiculous, but skating is great.

Just my impressions after about ten games played.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

Didn't have a lot of time with it over this weekend, but overall, the AI, despite some quirky bugs, does give the game a new lease of life. Now every game doesn't feel the same, which is in and of itself a huge improvement over 12.

But whoa, a game in my Be a GM save just headed into OT with 5 guys and 20 minutes. Anybody else got this?

You're sure you had your OT rules set correctly when setting up BaGM? I think you can still change it once in the mode, maybe check what the OT settings are in the menu.

[jyoung]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

But whoa, a game in my Be a GM save just headed into OT with 5 guys and 20 minutes. Anybody else got this?

I believe you can choose which type of OT setup you want when you first make your franchise.

You can also choose how many points a team gets in the standings for an OT loss.

[goh]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

After playing through the Blackhawks/Yotes moment again I noticed the lower right boards FPS hit was actually on the left side in Phoenix.

I started investigating other arenas but realized this is the exact same trash as NHL 12 with a new skating system and different glitches then deleted it. Since it did improve a little I'll give it a -29.99/30 whereas NHL 12 was a -30.

[kelvinmak]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

I believe you can choose which type of OT setup you want when you first make your franchise.

You can also choose how many points a team gets in the standings for an OT loss.

Haha yeah, silly me, I realized that right after I posted the message. Strange though because I don't remember fiddling with that setting (I never do). Now I have to try to rebuild the Jackets all over again

[nVschultz1325]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

The last 3 or 4 games I've been getting dropped from games. Not kicked off the servers or kicked off live, all it says is "connection lost to other players"

[Segagendude]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

Putting the goalie cover up puck slider to max helped a bit in that department but penalities are maxed out and nothing.

Oh I should give them credit for having the side parts of the net actually work this year. Forgot about that issue last year where they'd just hit,drop and not count as goals. They're actually goals this time.

Another issue with the lower right corner,on top of the huge frame hit every time,players go through the boards sometimes:

He's just trying to take a drink from the fan's cup, lmao.....

[jyoung]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

There are definitely some clipping issues along the boards.

If you do the headfirst slide goal celebration, your player's upper torso will teleport right through the boards.

[savoie2006]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

I think EA needs to reduce the "boost" a bit. It seems a bit too effective and leads to alot of breakaways. I've noticed as well that the Cpu likes the homerun passes and spams the puck protect .

[bwiggy33]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

Well so far, not so good. I finally got to play this game for an extended period of time since I downloaded it on Friday. I have to say the same issues of what made this game stale for me continue to be there. I am extremely disappointed. I'm just disappointed that this game doesn't appear it will fulfill my hockey gaming needs. In fact I'm not sure if EA will ever fulfill what I want in an NHL game.

First I'll list some of the good things

1. Puck physics. When you set the size to Authentic it truly shows the bounce and different physics with it. Really well done on this end

2. Skating is great but also has its flaws. Much better than the old system no question

3. Better stick physics. The puck doesn't magically go through the blade of sticks when poke checking as much anymore.

There's more good but the bad is outweighing the good by a landslide so I can't really think of any more at the moment.

Now for the bad

1. Lack of whistles/penalties. Completely the same as 12. It's unreal to me how I can go a 10 minute period game with a total of 7 whistles. I'm not ****ting you I just played a game and not one offsides was called. Not for either team. I'm not lying at all. This to me is a god dang joke. I had one penalty in the game otherwise the other stoppages were pucks out of play or icing. Sad Sad Sad! How this issue is in the game I have no freaking clue. Absolutely unreal how EA cannot realize that the game is so back and forth with hardly any whistles. May I also say that I haven't seen their addition of real time presentation and other presentation elements yet because of this issue.

2. Easy entry into the zone and breakouts. It baffles me how EA has no clue how to place your AI teammates on breakouts. I have four guys in my zone and one guy who floats out of the zone at the red line to get a pass. What team breaks out where one of their players floats far down the ice every single time? None! A powerplay, yes but not in 5 on 5. A traditional breakout consists of your wings on the half boards, the center in the middle all looking for a pass from the D man. Of course there's other breakouts but just an example. The normal breakout is just completely non existent in this game. So basically the break out consists of flinging the puck up to your wing floating at the red line. He skates in with 0 teammates supporting him, the computer doesn't realize he has no help in the zone and lets the guy stand there with the puck and then all of your teammates finally get into the zone 10 seconds later. Absolutely brutal how this is still a problem with the game. It has been there for so long and has been talked about frequently. BTW I've tried changing the breakout settings and to no avail.

Also with easy entry is the fact that the CPU d men don't use their sticks. When you enter the zone they kind of step up once you get partially in the zone but don't swing their stick to try and knock the puck away or block the passing lanes from your guy. I mean come on. This stands out so much its unbelievable.

As of now these are the 2 glaring issues for me and it has 100% killed the enjoyment I have for the game. People may think I'm just trying to bash the game but the truth is I'm not. I want to enjoy this game a lot but right now it's near impossible. I'm sick of having to make house rules for breaking into the zone, where I shoot from, etc. It's just not fun doing that.

Now if anyone has any suggestions at all with the "Build Your AI" feature that can help me with the issues I've stated, fire away. I am so desperate right now to fix those two issues and if it can be done I want to know how. I'm trying extremely hard right now trying to figure it out myself.

Overall though I'm just frustrated. Hockey is my favorite sport by far and this game just doesn't do the sport justice. It just baffles me how EA can think that a 10 minute period game with 0 offsides and a total of 7 total whistles is remotely close to hockey. That is how I'd want to play the game when I'm playing a friend for a fun time, not when I want to play the CPU or a serious game against someone online. I'm just really really angry about all of this and as of now I'm kind of angry I preordered the game from amazon. Luckily I'll have a couple days to continue playing this game and decide if I even want to open the package when I get it on Tuesday.

Glad others are enjoying the game though. Sadly my type of hockey game is the one that EA disregards.

[JamieLeeWV]

I don't know what to think of the new true broadcast camera it looks nice but I can never see what's happening in the corners behind the net it's so annoying!

[savoie2006]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

Well so far, not so good. I finally got to play this game for an extended period of time since I downloaded it on Friday. I have to say the same issues of what made this game stale for me continue to be there. I am extremely disappointed. I'm just disappointed that this game doesn't appear it will fulfill my hockey gaming needs. In fact I'm not sure if EA will ever fulfill what I want in an NHL game.

First I'll list some of the good things

1. Puck physics. When you set the size to Authentic it truly shows the bounce and different physics with it. Really well done on this end

2. Skating is great but also has its flaws. Much better than the old system no question

3. Better stick physics. The puck doesn't magically go through the blade of sticks when poke checking as much anymore.

There's more good but the bad is outweighing the good by a landslide so I can't really think of any more at the moment.

Now for the bad

1. Lack of whistles/penalties. Completely the same as 12. It's unreal to me how I can go a 10 minute period game with a total of 7 whistles. I'm not ****ting you I just played a game and not one offsides was called. Not for either team. I'm not lying at all. This to me is a god dang joke. I had one penalty in the game otherwise the other stoppages were pucks out of play or icing. Sad Sad Sad! How this issue is in the game I have no freaking clue. Absolutely unreal how EA cannot realize that the game is so back and forth with hardly any whistles. May I also say that I haven't seen their addition of real time presentation and other presentation elements yet because of this issue.

2. Easy entry into the zone and breakouts. It baffles me how EA has no clue how to place your AI teammates on breakouts. I have four guys in my zone and one guy who floats out of the zone at the red line to get a pass. What team breaks out where one of their players floats far down the ice every single time? None! A powerplay, yes but not in 5 on 5. A traditional breakout consists of your wings on the half boards, the center in the middle all looking for a pass from the D man. Of course there's other breakouts but just an example. The normal breakout is just completely non existent in this game. So basically the break out consists of flinging the puck up to your wing floating at the red line. He skates in with 0 teammates supporting him, the computer doesn't realize he has no help in the zone and lets the guy stand there with the puck and then all of your teammates finally get into the zone 10 seconds later. Absolutely brutal how this is still a problem with the game. It has been there for so long and has been talked about frequently. BTW I've tried changing the breakout settings and to no avail.

Also with easy entry is the fact that the CPU d men don't use their sticks. When you enter the zone they kind of step up once you get partially in the zone but don't swing their stick to try and knock the puck away or block the passing lanes from your guy. I mean come on. This stands out so much its unbelievable.

As of now these are the 2 glaring issues for me and it has 100% killed the enjoyment I have for the game. People may think I'm just trying to bash the game but the truth is I'm not. I want to enjoy this game a lot but right now it's near impossible. I'm sick of having to make house rules for breaking into the zone, where I shoot from, etc. It's just not fun doing that.

Now if anyone has any suggestions at all with the "Build Your AI" feature that can help me with the issues I've stated, fire away. I am so desperate right now to fix those two issues and if it can be done I want to know how. I'm trying extremely hard right now trying to figure it out myself.

Overall though I'm just frustrated. Hockey is my favorite sport by far and this game just doesn't do the sport justice. It just baffles me how EA can think that a 10 minute period game with 0 offsides and a total of 7 total whistles is remotely close to hockey. That is how I'd want to play the game when I'm playing a friend for a fun time, not when I want to play the CPU or a serious game against someone online. I'm just really really angry about all of this and as of now I'm kind of angry I preordered the game from amazon. Luckily I'll have a couple days to continue playing this game and decide if I even want to open the package when I get it on Tuesday.

Glad others are enjoying the game though. Sadly my type of hockey game is the one that EA disregards.

Not sure why EA hasn't added differenct breakout types myself. You could have your D hold the blue line and such in the Custom AI section, but with boost as effective as it is you run the risk of having a breakaway fest. I'm pretty much convinced EA would rather have a pretty north/south kind of hockey game, rather than anything that actually resembles real hockey.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

I take back what I said about the AI not being much improved. I just played a game where I ended up smoking Edmonton 6-2 SS/Hardcore.
I really settled into anticipating what my teammates off the puck were going to do, managed my space better, and clicked with my manual passing. The game really shone as a whole, and was one of the best experience I've had with a hockey videogame in years.

The game itself had a little bit of everything. Jarome Iginla got injured in the first and Edmonton got a 5:00 minute major boarding call on the play. I scored once on the ensuing PP. I way outshot Edmonton 32-12, and even though Edmonton scored two goals on so few shot, both were legit—a mistake by me, and a nice goal off a good cycle. My goals were all different; I had a breakaway snipe, couple junky goals, one-timer, and a deflection. I also thought it was impressive how mediocre Edmonton's defense felt in their own zone. In the past every team playing "D" felt rather generic. Eberle was definitely the most dangerous Oiler, and I learned pretty quickly to stop Hall by shutting down the outside on the wing.

There are definitely some things that need to be tuned (like penalty frequency), but I think time with the game will reveal a rewarding experience if you can settle into some of the steeper aspects of its learning curve. I'd also like to see the cpu defense be more aggressive with their sticks defending a puck carrier attempting to carry into the zone.

EDIT: Sorry about the quality, but is it ever satisfying when you make a pass like this on a two-on-one with manual passing.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eUxQ0rXHie4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Also, I love how Khabibulin is rendered helpless on this play. The whole thing happens too close and too fast, and he ends up unable to even really attempt a save when the perfect pass slides to the player crashing the net. I don't know if the animation is new, but I thought it was cool.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hHc4lKoRozY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[bwiggy33]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

Not sure why EA hasn't added differenct breakout types myself. You could have your D hold the blue line and such in the Custom AI section, but with boost as effective as it is you run the risk of having a breakaway fest. I'm pretty much convinced EA would rather have a pretty north/south kind of hockey game, rather than anything that actually resembles real hockey.

Ya you are no question correct. I wrote on the FIFA board today about it to. NHL and FIFA are so much alike. It's back and forth and no stoppages. You look at FIFA and what's a big thing missing? Fouls. NHL it's penalties. Only difference is there are more offsides in FIFA than NHL which is pretty sad to say. They are so alike each other besides that one game is on ice and the other a field.

EA loves their fast paced "fun for the cauals" game. I'm realizing that and that's why I just don't have any more hope that this series is going to get much better than what it is now. Whatever sells them games is what they're going to do. They must be doing alright and until they don't I don't think we are going to see any dramatic changes. I can only hope and pray that one day things change. It really sucks that we don't have any other options. I almost have to force myself to like this game.

[JimmyDeicide]

Re: NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

No doubt EA has a certain formula to their games, Im a huge Fifa player too and its true a mirror image of each other.
Its such a shame that there is always something there that takes away the longevity to their games whether its AI not enough separation from players,teams and styles.
If you break down both games on a whole they are brilliant pieces of work the control is second to none in both.
The stuff in the NHL game is mind boggling, broken sticks,goal reviews, chop puck, incredible features and it all gets glossed over by many people because of some niggly thing with their games.
They should seriously look at some of this stuff and complaints as their games could get more credit than they even do now.

Ive relaxed on the annoying things and tried to focus on the enjoyment of the whole package, thats easier to do with NHL than Fifa right now.

Id say both products are top notch and deserve anyones money when you break them down.