NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

[KrossRoad]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

-Rammer said there will be "ways to score" meaning glitch shots are still money

-no group celebrations on goals

Ways to score... in NHL 94 mode. Pretty sure there's the only one celebration, to mimic NHL 94?

They made no dekes and a bunch of bad passes. Does Ramjagsingh know how to play his own game?

There was a deke near the end, I fast forward to see the goals.. Guess it is included in the 94 mode.


I only watched until the 10 minute mark, before I got bored. I'm one of the biggest critics out there, but you guys should wait until actual footage of the game, not some anniversary mode that really shows us nothing more than arcade mode hockey - before really throwing it to the wolves.

[Weapon X]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

Something I thought about that didn't really make sense after watching the video. Rammer said that they actually tried implementing stick collisions, but that when they test played it the game felt "too frustrating given the lack of stick control the game currently possesses". Could this be because the poke/stick check doesn't do what it should, in that it's not always directed towards the puck? I mean, as it is now it's 50/50 dice roll, and it makes your skater look extremely stupid to just sit there and poke at open ice when the opposition is fumbling with the puck not two feet away from him. If the stick check was always focused on getting the puck away, and was automatically aimed in it's direction every time it was used, wouldn't one think that would help things exponentially and possibly limit those frustrations?

Perhaps this concept, in conjunction with the one that follows could help aid in the "problems" with fully live sticks. What if holding R1/RB (near an opposing player) could trigger a live "jostle" animation, where your player actively attempts to dig the puck away or gain favorable position from the opposing player if the basic stick check is out of reach of the puck? So for instance if you're trailing a guy by say half a step with your defenseman, holding R1/RB will put you into a jostle state with the forward. This wouldn't always produce the "desired" jostle state however, as attempting it from certain distances and angles can result in procedural animations that can lead to penalties (legit holding calls?), or ineffective use, like helplessly slashing the offensive players arm in a last ditch attempt to deter him. The procedural animations will also take into account whether or not the opposition took notice and shielded the puck at the proper time. If your use does result in one of the "premium" jostle animations, the outcome will depend on the defensive players fatigue level and ratings in stick checking, def awareness, strength, and discipline vs the attacking player's fatigue level and ratings of balance, puck control, strength, and offensive awareness. So if the attacking player has a low balance rating, it's more likely that a good, strong defender can cause him to blow a tire if he gets caught, but he may be able to still put the puck on net if he has good puck control. Ideally, this concept would also branch into the board pin mechanics, making them feel more organic and less rigid / predetermined.

Eh, just a thought. The late night ramblings of an OSer, I suppose.

WX

[TjJunior]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

Something I thought about that didn't really make sense after watching the video. Rammer said that they actually tried implementing stick collisions, but that when they test played it the game felt "too frustrating given the lack of stick control the game currently possesses". Could this be because the poke/stick check doesn't do what it should, in that it's not always directed towards the puck? I mean, as it is now it's 50/50 dice roll, and it makes your skater look extremely stupid to just sit there and poke at open ice when the opposition is fumbling with the puck not two feet away from him. If the stick check was always focused on getting the puck away, and was automatically aimed in it's direction every time it was used, wouldn't one think that would help things exponentially and possibly limit those frustrations?

Perhaps this concept, in conjunction with the one that follows could help aid in the "problems" with fully live sticks. What if holding R1/RB (near an opposing player) could trigger a live "jostle" animation, where your player actively attempts to dig the puck away or gain favorable position from the opposing player if the basic stick check is out of reach of the puck? So for instance if you're trailing a guy by say half a step with your defenseman, holding R1/RB will put you into a jostle state with the forward. This wouldn't always produce the "desired" jostle state however, as attempting it from certain distances and angles can result in procedural animations that can lead to penalties (legit holding calls?), or ineffective use, like helplessly slashing the offensive players arm in a last ditch attempt to deter him. The procedural animations will also take into account whether or not the opposition took notice and shielded the puck at the proper time. If your use does result in one of the "premium" jostle animations, the outcome will depend on the defensive players fatigue level and ratings in stick checking, def awareness, strength, and discipline vs the attacking player's fatigue level and ratings of balance, puck control, strength, and offensive awareness. So if the attacking player has a low balance rating, it's more likely that a good, strong defender can cause him to blow a tire if he gets caught, but he may be able to still put the puck on net if he has good puck control. Ideally, this concept would also branch into the board pin mechanics, making them feel more organic and less rigid / predetermined.

Eh, just a thought. The late night ramblings of an OSer, I suppose.

WX

Its a great idea, one they should have implemented by now as you see it actually happen on ice. 2k10 does somethingl like that, but just with the stick lift button. I can't wait to see the day when EA puts a gameplay mechanic like poke checks, stick lifts, and board pinning and actually evolve it past the point of implementation. I guess all that stuff gets affected when you go back to re-work the basic fundamentals of the game ie. hitting and skating. No bashing, just stating whats obvious to me.

[ComaFaction]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

Not impressed with that gameplay footage at all. Player spinning around oddly during play, silly looking responses to hitting, identical presentation. Pretty disappointed, to say the least.

[psymin1]

Exactly what I expected: a waste of development time. What a disappointment.

[GlennN]

Agreed this is not the tremendous addition they are claiming it to be. With no Franchise mode (or even season mode for that matter), I can't imagine playing this way more than once. And, again, it occurs they could have used these resources for something far more important (revising BeAGM comes to mind)

[Peter10]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

Honestly, i dont think it took any serious development time. I guess one programmer could have done this during the lunch break. Changing the ice color shouldnt take a whole lot, just like the little stuff that is shown on the jumbo tron. Add a few jingles from the original game, change the sliders and be done with it.

I would even go as far and saying that implementing the original NHL 94 as a gimmie would have taken more development time than this.

[Panther84]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

Well for the first time in years i'm not looking forward to a NHL game. This is NHL 13.5 with new hitting animations and fighting. I wish people would stop using the term "Pre-build" in sports games usually what you see pre-release is what you're going to get

[adayinthelife]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

Honestly, i dont think it took any serious development time. I guess one programmer could have done this during the lunch break. Changing the ice color shouldnt take a whole lot, just like the little stuff that is shown on the jumbo tron. Add a few jingles from the original game, change the sliders and be done with it.

I would even go as far and saying that implementing the original NHL 94 as a gimmie would have taken more development time than this.

I'll preface this by saying I know nothing about programming, but I would be inclined to agree with this. That's why it's so *** **** frustrating that they have been touting the **** out of this "mode" for the past couple weeks. They've likely spent more time talking about it than it took to implement it.

[Pezell04x]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

Already passing on this piece of **** game. Will be just as bad as 13.

[Peter10]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

Already passing on this piece of **** game. Will be just as bad as 13.

I might go the same route. Since a couple of weeks i was thinking of firing the game up again after some months. However, while watching the 94 video, i noticed a lot of those little things that have annoyed me for so long. Just watching the same intro again, having the same comments and all that stuff that is in the game since at least NHL 11 (first one i bought since 05 or so). I know some people might say, that this stuff isnt as important as gameplay is and while i agree, its just getting so annoying that i just cant bear it anymore. Last time i played i had play-by-play turned off and cut out every scene because i had seen them all a gazillion times.

The only chance i will buy 14 is if the new "Be A Pro" is any good. The few things that leaked out on "Live the Life" seem promising but it wont help in the long run if the game play there is still as bad (f.e. the on-the-fly line changes when playing as a D-man).

[Force10]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

I would have been happy if they just left NHL 94 as it was and emulated it so it could be played on the 360. I run an emulator with NHL 94 on my PC and still fire it up every now and then.

[ki11joy]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

I would have been happy if they just left NHL 94 as it was and emulated it so it could be played on the 360. I run an emulator with NHL 94 on my PC and still fire it up every now and then.

Hope you're playing the 2013 updated edition! http://pixelpuck.com/?p=2901

Mods can edit this if it's against the rules, but please note that above link contains a ROM patch, not an actual ROM itself.

[CaptainSuperman]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

I'm surprised that so many of you expect to see changes to stuff that isn't gameplay, i.e. commentary, intros/cutscenes, menus, etc. Not saying that you shouldn't expect it cause EA sucks, but because this is the last version before the jump to the next gen.

If they change the presentation just for the sake of change, does that make it better? It makes it new, but that doesn't = better. Should they waste production time each and every year to change things just for the sake of doing it? It sounds like a lot of you would rather have a re-skinned NHL 13 than an attempt at trying to change the gameplay.

My point is that no matter who does the commentary, no matter how good the menus look, no matter how cool the intros and cutscenes are, you will tire of them. If you play this game religiously, you will get bored of it all real quick and skip cutscenes, find things in the commentary to nitpick at, and want more change.

If I was EA, I wouldn't waste money and time on changing this stuff at the moment either. I'd wait until next gen

[Peter10]

Re: NHL 14 Gameplay Video - '94 Anniversary Mode

I'm surprised that so many of you expect to see changes to stuff that isn't gameplay, i.e. commentary, intros/cutscenes, menus, etc. Not saying that you shouldn't expect it cause EA sucks, but because this is the last version before the jump to the next gen.

If they change the presentation just for the sake of change, does that make it better? It makes it new, but that doesn't = better. Should they waste production time each and every year to change things just for the sake of doing it? It sounds like a lot of you would rather have a re-skinned NHL 13 than an attempt at trying to change the gameplay.

My point is that no matter who does the commentary, no matter how good the menus look, no matter how cool the intros and cutscenes are, you will tire of them. If you play this game religiously, you will get bored of it all real quick and skip cutscenes, find things in the commentary to nitpick at, and want more change.

If I was EA, I wouldn't waste money and time on changing this stuff at the moment either. I'd wait until next gen

Its probably more that we guys dont even expect major gameplay improvements before the next gen jump. Its more like to get some "minor" stuff but as it seems none of the two is happening.

All the gameplay tweaks that have been made of the past years were only changes not improvements. So if it kind of stays the same, i at least want to have some presentation changes. This shouldnt be tough to do (except for PbP). Instead all we get is just a tweaked (i should highlight that this does not mean an improved) AI.

I am a mainly Be A Pro kind of Player. However this game mode is so flawed, no matter how bad you want to play it (and god knows i want), you just throw it away after some games. Be it line changes, the AU (artificial unintelligence), the inability to ask for a trade (unless you reach star/superstar level), stupid free agency or the lack of off ice stuff (that hopefully will change with NHL 14). There just doesnt seem to be a way to be any sort of "normal" NHL player, you are either a high scoring machine or a flawed guy that gets waived and has to play a year in the A to prove its worth. Its so depressing because you see all the potential and they just screw up. Implementing some more little things shouldnt be too hard but yet the find ways to keep it out.

The Season Mode is nice to have but it doesnt motivate one for a whole year. I also enjoyed the EASHL in NHL 12, but only had a chance to play regularly during vacation, online play just isnt a viable option for me during normal working weeks.

Maybe i am just a vanishing kind of player, but the way the game is right now, it just doesnt appeal to offline players. I understand the reasoning for putting all the efforts into online play as this is where the money is but then it should also be understood that guys like me are just utterly disappointed with this.