Attribute/Slider descriptions from EA

[Qb]

From the EA forums via Jason Rupert, a programmer for NHL 09, who has been actively discussing the upcoming patch.
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PLAYER ATTRIBUTE EFFECTS Offensive Attributes Wrist shot accuracy -Accuracy of all shots other than slapshots Wrist shot power -Power of all shots other than slapshots Puck Control -Related to the deking effect of shooting, good puck control prevents the loss of accuracy - Ability to keep the puck when bumped or there is stick to stick contact on the puck carrier Deking -Quality of loose puck dekes -Speed of right stick deking -Effect on shot accuracy while deking Slap Shot Accuracy -Accuracy of slap shots Slap Shot Power -Power of slap shots Passing -Magnitude of the effect on quality of passes outside of the player's field of view (see Off.Aware) -Also affects the likelihood of pass interception, e.g. a good passer affects opponents ability to intercept passes. This is old stuff, I do not like this artificial approach at all, it should just affect the quality of the pass and the opponents should deal with the puck based on their own situation and attributes. This is part of the cause of the weirdness you sometimes see where players won't intercept pucks it seems they should. - Automatic saucer passes for humans -Other effects on CPU passing Off. Awareness -Field of view is for making passes, passes to players outside field of view are slowed (see Passing) -Affects CPU player decision making when passing Deflections - Affects the quality of deflections off slap passes. - Ideally this would have more of an effect on whether the deflection connects in the first place and on how well placed the deflected puck is. Should be improved for NHL10. Defensive Attributes Balance -Ability to resist hits and keep control of the puck Checking -Ability to hit - CPU decision to hit Defensive Awareness -Pass interceptions -Reaction time for defensively deflecting passes away -For CPU, more effort on when backchecking Discipline - Takes fewer penalties, for humans this affects calls that would randomly occur on hits (like elbows) Face- offs -Better chance of winning face- offs Shot Blocking -Bad shot blockers get the standing shot block, good ones get the sliding one which reduces the screen effect. Aggressiveness -Tendency of CPU player to body check -No effect on human. Athleticism Attributes Acceleration - Forward acceleration Agility -Turning ability Speed -Top speed Toughness -Fighting ability Endurance -Recover from fatigue more quickly Durability - Ability to withstand injuries GOALIE ATTRIBUTE EFFECTS Goalie Reflex Attributes Angles -How far out the goalie comes to challenge -Quickness reacting to a pass Breakaway -Modifies save ability on breakaways (essentially a modifier on Agility for this case only) Five hole Glove High Glove Low Stick High Stick Low -Quickness making saves to the respective region Goalie Puck Control Attributes Passing - Goalie pass and clearance strength Poke Checking -Likelihood of the goalie attempting a poke check (CPU only) Puck Playing - How aggressively the goalie will go out to play a loose puck Rebound Control -Modifies how far the puck bounces off the goalie when it hits him Shot Recovery -How quickly the goalie gets up when after being down - currently no effect Goalie Athleticism Attributes Agility -Quickness making saves in general, combines with region attribs (5-hole, glove high, glove low, stick high, stick low) - Acceleration moving around the crease Aggressiveness -Should be how far he comes out to challenge, but it is not working currently because it is tied to Angles instead Durability -Not used in game because goalies do not get injured currently Endurance -Not used in game Speed -Speed moving in the crease and when skating Vision -Reduces the likelihood of the goalie being screened SLIDER EFFECTS Basic Game Speed -Makes everything in the game faster Puck Control -How easily players lose the puck Fight Difficulty -Damage done by CPU punches Fatigue Effect -How much fatigue effects skating attributes (Speed, Acceleration and Agility) AI Learning -AI player (on human or CPU team) adjustment to repetitious success -0 means it is off altogether Skating Fat igue Recovery -Rate of recovery of energy when idle on the ice, on the bench and at stoppages of play Player Acceleration -Scales the acceleration of all players Checking Hitti ng Power -Ease of getting big hits Aggression -Broken, does nothing Poke Effectiveness -Ease of successfully poke checking the puck away Passing Pass Speed -Puck speed on passes Saucer Pass Speed -Puck speed on saucer passes (RT) Pass Interceptions -Global modifier on the chance of pass interceptions for both teams Goalie Passing -Modifies the effect of the goalie passing attribute, making goalies pass harder and CPU goalies more likely to make long passes Shooting Shot P ower -Global scale on shot power for both teams Shot Accuracy -Global scale on accuracy for both teams Shot Blocking - Global scale on Tendency of players to block shots for both teams Defense Hook Effectiveness -Not used Penalty Shot Frequency -Modifies how likely an infraction that is evaluated as a penalty shot is to actually get called a penalty shot Goalie Cover Puck Frequency -Makes goalies want to cover up the puck more

Really makes you wonder when several things are listed as having no effect, broken or not being used...

[celtic78]

am i reading this right? is there another patch coming out? or was this an old post posted here?

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by celtic78

am i reading this right? is there another patch coming out? or was this an old post posted here?

Yes, EA stated that another patch should come out in February. It will primarily address the EASHL/OTP attribute glitch, but it was also said that there will be other changes. Read the OS thread on the announcement here...

One of the gameplay designers (Jason Rupert) has been discussing the patch & other stuff over at the EA forums. If you go over there to check it out, pop a few Advil beforehand...

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

Really makes you wonder when several things are listed as having no effect, broken or not being used...

Not just that:

Aggressiveness
-Tendency of CPU player to body check
-No effect on human.

The Aggressiveness slider does much more than dictate CPU bodychecking. It's the key to eliminating the insane, frantic gameplay where the CPU goes into pressure mode and makes it next-to-impossible to touch the puck. For anyone having difficulty with the gameplay on the higher levels, try this: take one CPU team and lower every player's Aggressiveness rating into the 50's. I guarantee you'll be amazed at the improvement in the gameplay. AND without any loss in CPU checking -- the CPU regularily equals or out-hits me on Superstar with these edits.

[Redshirt_EA]

Quote: Originally Posted by baa7

Not just that: Aggressiveness -Tendency of CPU player to body check -No effect on human. The Aggressiveness slider does much more than dictate CPU bodychecking. It's the key to eliminating the insane, frantic gameplay where the CPU goes into pressure mode and makes it next-to-impossible to touch the puck. For anyone having difficulty with the gameplay on the higher levels, try this: take one CPU team and lower every player's Aggressiveness rating into the 50's. I guarantee you'll be amazed at the improvement in the gameplay. AND without any loss in CPU checking -- the CPU regularily equals or out-hits me on Superstar with these edits.

The Aggressiveness SLIDER is in the Gameplay Settings, the Aggressivenss ATTRIBUTE is a per player thing. They are different.

[ohyeahbaby123]

Quote: Originally Posted by Redshirt_EA

The Aggressiveness SLIDER is in the Gameplay Settings, the Aggressivenss ATTRIBUTE is a per player thing. They are different.

Hey, are you the gameplay guy from the NHL 09 forum at easports.com?

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by Redshirt_EA

The Aggressiveness SLIDER is in the Gameplay Settings, the Aggressivenss ATTRIBUTE is a per player thing. They are different.

So I'm dyslexic and wear a helmet when I get on the bus... Bet you feel real good about your post now, huh?

Thanks for the "correction".

[Ridgeberg]

Redshirt_EA is Jason. I remember reading his post on the EA Forums that he registered for an OS account and would be stopping by every now and again.