Producer David Littman Talks NHL 14

[RaychelSnr]

Operation Sports recently had a chance to get an early glimpse of NHL 14, and senior franchise producer David Littman was there to give us the the lowdown on where the series has been up until now and where it will be headed with NHL 14.

“For NHL this console generation, it's been all about quality and innovation. When you look back at the generation, the NHL franchise really stands with the best of them,” said Littman. “We're really proud of that.”

Littman feels that year after year his NHL dev team has been staffed by people who live and breathe hockey, either from having played it or by being die-hard fans of the sport. He cites the lockout this year being a problem for all fans of hockey, including his dev team, but he feels that the NHL 13 product showed that his group still has the touch even when interest in the sport may seem to be waning in the public eye.

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[murph17]

"These features, as well as an ambiguous tease of the 20th anniversary of NHL '94, were left on the vine for further reveals in the coming months."

On disc or XBLA version of NHL 94??? That would rule.

[mkharsh33]

Re: Producer David Littman Talks NHL 14

I no longer enjoy this game nor do I play it (traded it in). Going to take a lot to bring me back. This is the single most disappointing sports title of the major sports... They tout their HUT and Moments - well, that's nothing I care about. They need to make this look like actual hockey to get me back.

[drog1602]

So, basically the game is a patch that we needed for NHL 13! This is why they have started releasing video and notes, since they are basically finished with the game.

See you in NHL15...maybe!

[addybojangles]

I'm convinced that David Littman has no real idea of how to improve the NHL franchise and is completely in la-la-land in what he thinks works and what doesn't in NHL 13.

The physics and true-performance skating are a mess. I've been watching hockey for 20 years. I've been PLAYING hockey for 1 year. I am by no means a hockey expert, but I think absolutely say that the skating is so unnatural it's goofy. I have less than one year of actual skating experience and can move more efficiently than anyone on the ice. Sometimes you do a huge curve when turning, usually you can rub against something to go faster; it's completely baffling what's going to happen one second from the next!

Nothing about goalies? The cross-crease goal was completely eliminated from this year's version of NHL. Not toned down, completely eliminated. A goal you see in hockey (a pass through somewhere close to the crease for a goal) is rarely seen in NHL 13. And how was this fixed? Spiderman goalies. Unnaturally quick goalies.

This leads to games usually turning into low-scoring affairs that end up getting won by fluke goals.

Good to hear about dekeing, I guess.

Fighting is something that will look good on the back of the box. Neat.

I am totally scared about the "Collision-physics Hitting System." FIFA was rough around the edges year one. NHL 13 has the weirdest collision detection in the franchises history (bump into someone at full speed and he barely moves, bump into someone away from the play and they completely lose their footing).

I really wish the team would focus on gameplay:

- Better skating and realistic physics.
- Improve the goalies, don't just make them animate faster.
- Awareness of penalties - EASHL has turned into an interference-fest with players rarely getting the interference penalty they deserve.

Fix the game ON THE ICE then focus on fighting and "live the life."

[Profit89]

This game should have made it's way back to PC years ago. That's when I really was into it (with NHL 95). Since it left the PC, I haven't been back.

This game could really benefit from PC Mods. That's the only way I would get back to it. I could only imagine how great it would look with Mods like Scoreboards etc. Until then no way.

[Al_Tito13]

Re: Producer David Littman Talks NHL 14

I really like the idea of having a collision physics overhaul, it was much needed, but I also have to say that goalies would need a lot of work too and I'm concerned about the fact it wasn't mentioned at all in the features.

[Wiggy]

RE: goalies

Just to clarify guys: it wasn't a feature, but at the end of the piece, I did mention the goalies being tweaked. They're aware of the spiderman goalie stuff, and they're claiming that it will be addressed. Just thought I'd point that out.

[Rhouston]

Man, I feel like I am alone in thinking that this year's version was a vast improvement over the previous editions...

I will admit that out-of-the-box, this did not play like REAL hockey and was uber frustrating. But with Cycloniac's sliders (http://www.operationsports.com/forums/ea-sports-nhl-sliders/594228-cycloniacs-truesim-nhl-13-sliders.html), this, to me, is the most realistic thing we've ever had. True, it's not perfect and doesn't completely play like the game we see in person, but if that was the case, it would definitely lose a lot of the "fun" factor.

Based on the improvements this year and what I've read so far, I am excited for NHL 14. I hope I'm not alone.

[Al_Tito13]

Re: Producer David Littman Talks NHL 14

RE: goalies

Just to clarify guys: it wasn't a feature, but at the end of the piece, I did mention the goalies being tweaked. They're aware of the spiderman goalie stuff, and they're claiming that it will be addressed. Just thought I'd point that out.

I have to admit that I didn't read the 'More to Come' section at the end of the article, so thanks for the clarification. It's really good to know that goalies will be tuned, as it was the most annoying thing to me in NHL 13.

[canucksss]

one touch deke..... i'd say that troubles me....some gamers will spam it (EVEN EA DENY that it will be)...good thing i dont play online anymore. not excited about NHL 14 until i see drastic improvements in presentations, AI IQ etc. i cannot wait until more info to come in...but for now...im going to dodge NHL 14 on release date.

[onac22]

OH great so now any goomba, can spam deke's up and down the ice no thank you.

[Money99]

The fighting engine sounds like a lot of fun - very similar to 2K's fighting engine (which is still the best in the business by a long shot).

The rest sounds pretty good, but we've heard this before.
The biggest thing for me, AGAIN, is if these changes will be tied to attributes.
Will we still be able to pin Chara with Hudler?
Will players like Datsyuk drop the gloves and fair well against real tough guys?*
Will every player on the ice be able to pull off those one-button dekes? I'm of the opinion that unless your deke rating is above a certain value, the dekes wouldn't work at all.

We'll have to wait and see.

* Remember NHL93's fighting? I loved it! If a middleweight fought a Probie, they still had a chance, but Probie could take a massive amount of shots, and he had the ability to injure a player depending on their fighting rating. That was awesome.

[jyoung]

Re: Producer David Littman Talks NHL 14

Has anyone seen an injury occur from a fight in NHL 13? It used to happen frequently in NHL 12, but I can't recall ever seeing someone get hurt from fighting in NHL 13.

The same thing goes for blocked shot injuries in NHL 13, they were common in NHL 12 but seem to have been toned down significantly this year to where I can't remember ever seeing a blocked shot injury occur in NHL 13.

I guess they decided getting hurt by fights and blocked shots "wasn't fun" so they took it out of the game.

[Rhouston]

I've seen injuries as a result from fighting and from block shots in NHL 13... man, maybe I just lucked out and got a "good" copy of the game!