Rethinking the Face-Off System For NHL 16

[actionhank]

Honestly, the faceoffs could definitely use work. There doesn't seem to be much to it, and your input honestly doesn't seem to matter. Timing and attributes don't seem to do much of anything. I like the idea of selecting forehand or backhand, and being able to do something like double-tap L2 to drop down to get lower (to a knee or two knees, maybe make it random and dependent on attributes. Higher reaction and faceoff skill would allow you to drop to one knee, bat the puck in a direction, and then more quickly get up, whereas a lesser skilled player might just drop to both knees in an attempt to hit the puck, be less likely to get the puck, and slower to get up).
I'm not really a fan of the hitting a button to select a player to pass to. I like the challenge of passing that the analog controls give you. I would much rather you use the right stick to swat the puck towards the player you want, and if you can cleanly win the puck, you could just pass it as normal, without having to swat it.

It would be cool to have the analog stick allow you to make slight movements in the dot, similar to moving your batter around the box in baseball games. If you scoot too far forward, drop to a knee too soon, or swat at the stick too soon, you would get tossed.

All of those little things would go a long way towards adding some depth. Guys like Sobotka instantly become more valuable when they're solid defensively, and can win faceoffs. You obviously would want to make sure they get sent out on defensive draws and PK draws, and it would add some challenge to waiting for the puck drop and not messing up to make sure you don't get your best faceoff guy tossed.

[AdamJones113]

I agree faceoffs need to be changed, if at least slightly...

But EA still has right wingers taking key draws while the center freezes on the wing. So I don't see it coming.

[ericromain]

Back when the faceoffs were completely revamped for NHL11, prior to that the old button spam method was essentially unchanged since the genesis era. I'm actually happy with the current state, but there's certainly room for innovation. I think the biggest issue with faceoffs is that i think they are influenced by connection speed.

I respectfully disagree with #2. I don't like the idea of an on screen silhoetted buttons appearing on screen. I think simulation video games should continue to trend away from on screen display elements. I think pointing with a stick is the most organic way of choosing a direction for now.

#5 is a bit off topic, but I agree with your sentiment of removie the 'goalie pass bubble'. Actually i think this is a new issue compared to the ps3/360 era. I used to intercept goalie passes constantly in previous titles, but for whatever reason the game took an arcady step backwards this year, it's definitely reminiscent of the old title pass bubble.

[jyoung]

Quote: Originally Posted by ericromain

I don't like the idea of an on screen silhoetted buttons appearing on screen.

That is why I would make the icons an option that can be toggled on or off. Newer players could keep the icons on until they understand the controls. Experienced players could simply turn them off.

Quote:

I think pointing with a stick is the most organic way of choosing a direction for now.

You could still use the joystick if you want to with this proposed setup. The face buttons would just be one of two possible ways to win the puck. Plus this new joystick method would be much easier to use since you'd only have to flick the stick in the direction that you want the puck to go, instead of sweeping it across 135 degrees diagonally like you have to currently. In the current system, I probably miss-aim at least 75% of my backhand passes and 25% of my forehand passes to the slot man in the aggressive formation because of how awkward and imprecise it can feel to drag the joystick down to the diagonal left/right position in the split second that you have to make your move. And it's really hard to perform one timers from face-offs in the current system, since you have to go from left/right, to a diagonal down, to back up again, all in one extremely quick motion. The face buttons would make it much easier to send the pass to the exact person you want to and a ton easier to perform a one-timer whenever you want to.

[mjavon]

I cannot for the life of me win a realistic amount of faceoffs. I never had any problems in NHL 11 or 13 on the ps3, but just got this for my ps4 and I'm lucky to win 5% of the draws against the CPU. I've watched YouTube tutorials, I've lowered the CPU faceoff difficulty all the way down and I still suck. What the hell am I doing wrong?!

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by mjavon

I cannot for the life of me win a realistic amount of faceoffs. I never had any problems in NHL 11 or 13 on the ps3, but just got this for my ps4 and I'm lucky to win 5% of the draws against the CPU. I've watched YouTube tutorials, I've lowered the CPU faceoff difficulty all the way down and I still suck. What the hell am I doing wrong?!

I found when i was messing with the sliders that it seemed to go from me winning too many (set around 3/6) to getting destroyed on faceoffs (4/6.)

Some things in the NHL series i just can't get a realistic setting to.