New NHL 11 Details via OXM

[06woz]

Quote: Originally Posted by ianlast

\ You don't know for a fact that they've scrapped the old 'engine' and created a completely new one.

Actually.... I do. There is absolutely no way you can run the old engine with real time physics. It's impossible, the old physics engine was built to run canned animations. That means that they created a new one for this and likely other EA games for years to come.(it's already been announced for NBA Live) That's likely what the buzz is with this "ELITE" thing, a new physics engine.(Same idea for rockstar using the same "rage" real time physics engine for RDR and GTA4)

Putting in real time physics means they are using a new engine, as simple as that. This has likely been in development for at least 2 years, and not just by the NHL crew. NBA Live said that they are completely replacing canned animations, expect it for NHL, as like any other company the engine is made for multiple games and is worked on over a long period of time.

Oh and EA said at the community event how they "free'd up" resources for this game. To think that the only features in the game are worked on in one year is ignorant. They have features that probably don't make it in for 2 or 3 years, simply because it takes that long.

[Bama83]

Quote: Originally Posted by aBiNeR1

Oh yes we do. They have one team in place at all times. That's why there's no post-release support (fix patches).

No. We don't.

Unless I miss my mark, this physics engine is obviously something that is going to start permeating all EA Sports games. Fight Night already has it. NHL is getting it. I don't know if it's in Madden/NCAA. I wouldn't be surprised to see NBA get it.

An engine that is going to go in multiple titles is not being written by the NHL team alone. This is a massive undertaking.

True physics engines have been in games for most of this generation. EA Sports had to know this was the future of sports games. I have to believe they have been working on their own engine for a few years. This is just the first we've heard about it.

Im willing to wager that ELITE is the name of this engine.

[06woz]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2...e_Launches.php

For those thinking this site tells us we're paying for a demo. I still doubt it, if you read it, it seems to be more for action titles, since they said they would release "the first few levels" of some games. There really isn't anything to offer in a sports game aside from play now, that wouldn't ruin the purpose of buying the full game. The idea behind that marketing plan is to charge more to give a "better taste" of the game, which isn't really possible with sports games.

[06woz]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bama83

No. We don't. Unless I miss my mark, this physics engine is obviously something that is going to start permeating all EA Sports games. Fight Night already has it. NHL is getting it. I don't know if it's in Madden/NCAA. I wouldn't be surprised to see NBA get it. An engine that is going to go in multiple titles is not being written by the NHL team alone. This is a massive undertaking. True physics engines have been in games for most of this generation. EA Sports had to know this was the future of sports games. I have to believe they have been working on their own engine for a few years. This is just the first we've heard about it. Im willing to wager that ELITE is the name of this engine.

Someone who gets it

[aBiNeR1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bama83

No. We don't. Unless I miss my mark, this physics engine is obviously something that is going to start permeating all EA Sports games. Fight Night already has it. NHL is getting it. I don't know if it's in Madden/NCAA. I wouldn't be surprised to see NBA get it. An engine that is going to go in multiple titles is not being written by the NHL team alone. This is a massive undertaking. True physics engines have been in games for most of this generation. EA Sports had to know this was the future of sports games. I have to believe they have been working on their own engine for a few years. This is just the first we've heard about it. Im willing to wager that ELITE is the name of this engine.

Ah, so it's "shared technology" then...kinda like EA Sports Online (written for all EA Sports titles). That would explain how it's being worked on in parallel...for it is not the NHL team that is working on this.

Curious: how is integration testing handled on the NHL side during these two years (assumed) of "side development"? When and who tests it with NHL? It certainly can't be with the NHL QA team. I'm really hoping that answer is not in the form of, "It's tested by NHL QA 3-4 months before ship". That would be a horrible answer and one the community doesn't want to hear...especially with no public beta. 3-4 months of QA (performed by $10/hr, living-at-home kids) on a brand new engine would be quite disturbing.

[Bama83]

Quote: Originally Posted by aBiNeR1

Curious: how is integration testing handled on the NHL side during these two years of "side development"? When and who tests it with NHL? It certainly can't be with the NHL QA team (which is worrysome). I'm really hoping that answer is not in the form of, "It's tested by NHL QA 3-4 months before ship". That would be a horrible answer and one the community doesn't want to hear...especially with no public beta. 3-4 months of QA on a brand new engine would be disturbing.

That part, I can't be certain.

I would assume they've been at this for a while. I don't know how they distribute their resources, how the engine is tailored for each game, etc.

I doubt it's a test 3-4 months prior to shipping. Just as the NHL08 to NHL09 with the rewrite wasn't simply shipped with no forethought.

[aBiNeR1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bama83

That part, I can't be certain. I would assume they've been at this for a while. I don't know how they distribute their resources, how the engine is tailored for each game, etc. I doubt it's a test 3-4 months prior to shipping. Just as the NHL08 to NHL09 with the rewrite wasn't simply shipped with no forethought.

Regarding the bolded comment, yes, that's what integration testing is for...when the physics engine code is merged with NHL's code. With the amount of games EA Sports is evidently supporting this new technology for, it's going to take a lot of QA "knowledge champions" from each team to flush out all the defects that undoubtedly has arisen and which are unique to each game they are supporting it for. Only a full regression test of all gameplay elements will reveal this...which every tester must partake in.

Thus, if NHL's QA team two years ago was working on NHL 09 and last year they were working on NHL 10, who was testing the physics engine's integration with NHL? You can't be in two places at once right?

[RealmK]

Oh its that time of the year already? Time for Abiner to profess he knows the inner workings at EA and knows exactly how the game is being developed all the while throwing diggs? Thought we were a month or two early for that.