Fight Night Champion Video Preview (The OXM Report)

[Phobia]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheCreep

Thats why they implemented the side step move in FN4. Its the closest they could get to representing the angle with the current engine. Have you guys forgotten about the sidestep? I've used it plenty of times. You can side step left and right to dodge punches. Double tap up or down, also double tap back to hop back. Works fine.

This is true and I utilize it often. But it still does not feel right. I hated RD4 slow moving in sand feeling. When I went into community day that was one of my first complaints. The movement did not feel fast and responsive as EA MMA. I had my head stuck in EA MMA for weeks before community day and was hoping for similar movement in FNC.

Granted the build I got to play they told us ahead of time the footwork was not finished. But the speed of the movement is what I kept pointing out to Mike. I understand their point-of-view with how they don't want guys running around the ring like this is MMA, but I felt like it should be a good bit faster than what we played.

[Hova57]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheCreep

Thats why they implemented the side step move in FN4. Its the closest they could get to representing the angle with the current engine. Have you guys forgotten about the sidestep? I've used it plenty of times. You can side step left and right to dodge punches. Double tap up or down, also double tap back to hop back. Works fine.

yea but it wasn't smooth it was clunky . it didn't matter whether you were a boxer or slugger the sidestep was the same .

[Vast]

Quote: Originally Posted by Phobia

This is true and I utilize it often. But it still does not feel right. I hated RD4 slow moving in sand feeling. When I went into community day that was one of my first complaints. The movement did not feel fast and responsive as EA MMA. I had my head stuck in EA MMA for weeks before community day and was hoping for similar movement in FNC. Granted the build I got to play they told us ahead of time the footwork was not finished. But the speed of the movement is what I kept pointing out to Mike. I understand their point-of-view with how they don't want guys running around the ring like this is MMA, but I felt like it should be a good bit faster than what we played.

I don't understand AT ALL. Why the hell do they not want guys running around the ring?

In MMA stand up fighting is only a small percentage of the fight. In boxing its 100% of the fight.
Why would the producers want to limit the stand up in a game that is all stand up??!!

You mentioned previously that the slow footspeed is only aesthetic. I couldn't disagree more. Its an essential part of the gameplay if you're concerned about realism.

I should be able to get in and out without getting hit if i have a quick footed, agile boxer. The way it is now with fast hand speed but slow footspeed; its impossible.

Movement speed needs to be increased dramatically. If their concern was that online dudes would run all fight; there are ways to counter this.

1. running backwards(fast backpeddle) is not faster then running forwards(fast frontpeddle). You should be able to catch someone that keeps running from you eventually. Running punches should have very low accuracy.

2. have the referee take points away from excessive running. First a warning, then take points away if it remains excessive.

[majestic]

It sounds like most of the big improvements are under the hood, to the gameplay. Video previews can only do so much justice to how the game actually feels. I believe Phobia that the gameplay will feel much better.

What's apparent here, and a little disappointing, is how much this game is still lagging behind other sports franchises in terms of realism and fluidity of movement. Squint your eyes a little while watching a game of NBA 2K11 or MLB The Show 10 and you'd think you're watching a TV presentation of the real thing. Not so with FNC. Not yet. This still looks like rock 'em sock 'em robots. Hopefully the gameplay doesn't feel that way. But I don't think this video is going to blow anyone away. At least not here, where we know how realistic a sports game can look.

That said, the knockdowns look much better, and the one-punch knockdowns are a great improvement. To my mind there's no question the game is getting better. It's just hard to get too excited about the kinds of incremental changes that sports gamers are used to seeing in games that come out every year. The length of the development cycle is what makes it disappointing. If we have to wait 2-3 years for a game, we want it to feel 2-3 years better --- a whole generation better. We want it all. We don't want to have to wait another 2-3 years for good footwork in a boxing game.

[Phobia]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vast

I don't understand AT ALL. Why the hell do they not want guys running around the ring? In MMA stand up fighting is only a small percentage of the fight. In boxing its 100% of the fight. Why would the producers want to limit the stand up in a game that is all stand up??!! You mentioned previously that the slow footspeed is only aesthetic. I couldn't disagree more. Its an essential part of the gameplay if you're concerned about realism. I should be able to get in and out without getting hit if i have a quick footed, agile boxer. The way it is now with fast hand speed but slow footspeed; its impossible. Movement speed needs to be increased dramatically. If their concern was that online dudes would run all fight; there are ways to counter this. 1. running backwards(fast backpeddle) is not faster then running forwards(fast frontpeddle). You should be able to catch someone that keeps running from you eventually. Running punches should have very low accuracy. 2. have the referee take points away from excessive running. First a warning, then take points away if it remains excessive.

Here is why I agree with the direction.

1) You don't see guys running around in boxing. You will in MMA.

2) In boxing, they are sitting on their punches. Keeping that back foot down and making sure they land with some power. So you don't see guys running around the ring.

3) The aesthetics of the footspeed is only a graphical element. Because both fighters are moving at the same sluggish speed. Faster fighters do move faster and slower fighters do move slower. BUT the general speed of the movements across the board are slower than my liking.

So this leads to it only being a aesthetic because you can get in, land some shots and get out before being hit. If your fighter has the speed to do so. The slow foot speed does match up well with the hand speed so you don't see any case of guys landing multiple punches before you can move away.

Now let me explain one thing that was in the build we played. When two fighters were decent distance apart, their hands dropped and they moved quicker. Once they got within punch range their hands came up and their speed slowed. I took this as simulating getting into punching position.

We could pull up many boxing videos and 99% of them will be two fighters wading in, similar to the way FNC has it. It just need to be faster by a small margin.

[TheCreep]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hova57

yea but it wasn't smooth it was clunky . it didn't matter whether you were a boxer or slugger the sidestep was the same .

I agree and disagree with this. Yes it is slow, but it isn't the same for all boxers. Ratings play a pretty big part in how effective the sidesteps work. Using Roy jones sidestep is more effective than one of the slower boxers actually. Manny Paqs sidestep is vicious in FN4 also.

[NINJAK2]

Phobia-Footwork needs serious work. You are telling me that 99% of the vids we would see of real life boxing footwork would look similar to FNC..lol that's hilarious. Bad footwork in a boxing game is similar to bad dribbling animations in a hoop game or lousy running animations in a football one. While you can call it aesthetic it has a huge influence on gameplay and immersion factor. Movement in FN has been disappointing for years now. Adding a modifying movement button similar to UFC 2009 would go a long way toward improving it. Something that opens up free flowing movement.

check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcAZ7...1&feature=fvwp

Saying they don't want people "running around" the ring is a lame excuse. Many boxers IRL are able to get in and out of range without looking like robocop(slow boxers) or robocop on speed(agile boxers). You've played FNC so you know more about it than I but I don't have my hopes up for it in this category. I hope they prove me wrong.

[Bamtino]

Graphically It looks exactly like FNR4 but with added bloom...Boxers still look cartoony and the lighting is still too dark... Gameplay wise, the footwork apparently hasn't been worked on at all...Guys are still sliding around like they're on ice...Punches don't seem slow to me but they also don't seem improved over FNR4's robotic motions...Basically it's FNR4 with a ref in the ring a 3 second TOT and bloom...