NHL 14 Collision Physics Gameplay Trailer

[Joborule]

Quote: Originally Posted by JezFranco

Looks fantastisc, BUT... - Are those clips "the best of the best", meaning, did the EA team take the best 15 out of 1000 hits to make this clip?

It doesn't take that much work to compile up hits like that for something such as a trailer. They (likely) have debug tools-or do it manually via settings-that can make the game work in any way they want to. All they would have to do is adjust a setting or two in the middle of the game to make impact collisions occur with higher frequency.

BUT, you do hope that on the more authentic settings that those quality of hits occur only when they should.

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by onac22

But the problem with just running into people, the game already has trouble with interference. Now just bumping a guy causes a hit. Then how is the game going to decide interference? Everytime I bump someone on the way to the puck is my guy going to lay into him? If he does will I get interference calls without even trying? Like before what about goalie collisions? Will we have to avoid the crease and twenty video feet around it just to avoid goalie contact? This really has me concerned, as 13 has already shown problems discerning all of this, now it will be more complicated and less intentional.

I'm wondering the same thing as you. However, if done properly this could look pretty realistic. For some reason I think there will definitely be problems. How it could work though is based on speed. Harder hits result from guys going into hits at top speed. Low speeds might result in just a bump, which is exactly what we would want to see. With the current button system, you can flick the RS and have a chance at demolishing a guy without having any weight or speed going into the guy.

As for goalies, did you play NHL 12 at all? In NHL 12 they had goalie collisions. In fact the back of the box and big feature for the game was "For the first time in this series goalies are now in play." The funniest part of this is that it was non existent in NHL 13. So they hype it up as a feature for 12 and then take it out of 13 for absolutely no reason. Now they are showing goalie collisions off in their trailers for the new physics system, to sell the game again hahaha.

Anyway, the goalie collisions didn't work too bad in NHL 12. Sure the physics of it weren't all that good, but how it worked was pretty decent. You actually had to be aware that if you were crashing the net you better slow down to avoid interference. It wasn't as if guys were just flying into the goalies all the time either. I mainly would just crash into the goalies on purpose when I was fed up with the AI and repetitive CPU. It helped me get rid of my frustration quite well.

Edit:

Onac I now see that the blog is up for it. It appears they have reworked the penalties to fit in with the new system. As I had thought it is all based on LS hitting (so running into the player) but you can still use the RS for hitting to, I guess.

[Kalkano]

I noticed that they always cut away after the player hit the ice. I wonder if they still flop around like fish out of water.

[Schmackity]

They said all of the exact same stuff 2-3 years ago when they added the rag doll physics. The size and speed is great for off-line player, but for online player they need to figure out how to make sure people don't just make their guys all 6'9". I liked what NBA 2K series had done, where if you make your guy taller, it's harder to earn skill points and you earn less of them for being so big. Also maybe max out speed/acceleration to small amounts for being a bigger guy so it'd actually make it more even. You could be big and put points into hits but since you have less points, it'll be harder to be effective at anything else in the game.

My favorite aspect of the video is how they even dub down the colors and quality of the video for NHL 13 so that NHL 14 looks THAT much better. There's no ACTUAL in-game gameplay footage. Just a lot of custom camera angles for us to see how it plays ingame. Another year of 'fixes' that just creates new problems.

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwiggy33

I don't think there is an actual checking button anymore.

I've wanted this ever since they went to physics-based collisions. I'd like a "brace for impact" button (maybe RB/R1) that would put your player into a contextual animation for either delivering or bracing for a hit. The rest comes down to player movement with the L-stick and collision detection. This would better represent real life situations where a player is unaware of hit (usually the biggest impact) or sees it coming and is able to better able to absorb it by positioning his body.

This also frees up the R-stick for a defensive skill stick with true manual stick checking, not just directional "poke checking" like we have now.

[addybojangles]

Oh, dear.

This is going to be horrible. Rag-doll physics, with legs flopping, doesn't happen during a hit. A player being checked fights through the hit, or tries to put a leg down to power through it. They don't immediately lose consciousness and let their body fly where it may.

NHL 14: a checkfest mess online.

[bwiggy33]

Ok guys here's my take on this for people saying EA has said the same stuff about the physics and hitting year in and year out. I totally agree with the statements from people on here. It's a joke we had a new physics system implemented 3 damn years ago and now it's completely changed. Yes, they absolutely used all of the wording that they used 3 years ago to promote it. It's sad that we've had new features added only to be taken out the next.

However, I actually believe them this time. This is why. Without a checking stick or button any more, it absolutely forces them to actually have to make speed, distance, timing, etc. affect the hit. No more hitting a right stick and a guy can go flying even if you are only a foot away and have no momentum going into a guy. The developers are absolutely forced to base the hitting and physics off of the factors they mention, otherwise there will be no hitting in the game due to their being no button. BTW the blog did say that the hitting button will remain in if you would like to use it. I will say the only part that scares me is the "ragdoll" stuff. Nobody flops like a dead fish. It's solid impact and the guy hits the ice. Limbs aren't dangling and flying around.

Personally I think this system is a great idea as long as guys are hitting each other at the right time, there are times where no hits occur to get the puck, one guy doesn't hit the ice each time when getting hit, and many other questions we all have. It will actually make this game harder to hit. If it plays out properly, with the new skating system you will no longer be able to lunge going at top speed and check someone. You will actually have to skate into the player to line up the hit. If this is done properly it will completely change the game from a hitting aspect because it will be so risk reward. It's going to take time getting used to but it could work well. I'm giving them a little optimism in this area because I think it could be a great addition. As I said previously, none of us will know how this system will work until we see it in a real gameplay video, and try it for ourselves.

With that all said this will not sell me the game in any way. First of all it's EA and really we can't trust them for anything. Secondly, I don't even find the physics or hitting as the main problem. It's definitely not good in NHL 13, but if they do not fix neutral zone pressure or easy entry it's a no buy for me.

[Segagendude]

I bet the new physics will be great outta the box, but will be tuned and patched into a mess later, due to the online crybabies.

Think NHL 13 "AI defensive awareness". Was great until they patched it and now it's easy once again to skate right into the zone... Probably because of what I said above. No offence to the real online players here; ya'll know who I'm referring to!