NHL 10 Community Day: Hands-on impressions Q & A

[Flyermania]

Up to this point I have only been able to comment on seeing some of the new features in NHL 10 at the Community Day, but now I am able to give some hands-on impressions from actually playing the game and hopefully answer some of your questions. We were able to spend about 5 or so hours playing that day, but please keep in mind that it was back in May.

Here are the features I can give impressions and/or answer questions on at this point:

- Board Play
- First Person Fighting
- Intimidation Tactics
- Precision Passing
- Post Whistle Action
- Interactive Crowds
- Spectacular New ways to score
- Improved Goaltender Intelligence/New animations
- In-game facial animations
- Styles of Play

Fire away!

[shakeable]

Give us the info on precision passing.

Q: How hard did you find it to be to get the puck to the correct teammate?

- The difficulty in banking a pass of the boards etc so that it reaches the teammate?
- Breakout passes?

Q: Is it possible to one-time a pass between two teammates with the new passing system (not a one timer shot, simply a one time pass to a teammate)?

Q: How has the saucer pass been implemented?

- Is it automatic with some of the better passers?
- Does it depend on the context of the play?
- Does it only apply to a maximum strength pass ?

[joker75]

Hi.

1. tripping / pokechecking . Big problem in the nhl09 . Is there any improve by rule NHL 57.1 : If, in the opinion of the Referee, a player makes contact with the puck first and subsequently .., no penalty shall be assessed

2. new mid-air bat-in situations : Are there very often or not ?

3. new knee score : Are there very often or not ? Is there any situations when player can not control puck if he is still on the knee ?


4. Face off is the same ..I know you can use direct of the pass after face-off : can you use the big/low power from your (RT) pass for this?

5. Are there any new animations for wrist shot and slapshot ?

THX for your job FLY

[Flyermania]

Quote: Originally Posted by shakeable

Give us the info on precision passing. Q: How hard did you find it to be to get the puck to the correct teammate? - The difficulty in banking a pass of the boards etc so that it reaches the teammate? - Breakout passes?

The more time I spent with the precision passing, the better I got at it. It's definitely going to be something you need to practice to get better at it. I was able to bank passes off the boards, and also make breakout passes --- but the CPU AI is tougher, so I was never able to actually able to connect on a long breakout attempt.

Quote: Originally Posted by shakeable

Q: Is it possible to one-time a pass between two teammates with the new passing system (not a one timer shot, simply a one time pass to a teammate)?

I wasn't able to do this, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

Quote: Originally Posted by shakeable

Q: How has the saucer pass been implemented? - Is it automatic with some of the better passers? - Does it depend on the context of the play? - Does it only apply to a maximum strength pass ?

To be honest, I didn't notice all that much of a difference in the saucer pass from how it was in 09, outside of being able to control it a bit more with precision passing.

[Flyermania]

Quote: Originally Posted by joker75

1. tripping / pokechecking . Big problem in the nhl09 . Is there any improve by rule NHL 57.1 : If, in the opinion of the Referee, a player makes contact with the puck first and subsequently .., no penalty shall be assessed

I felt the penalties were called a lot more tighter in NHL 10 when I played it.

Quote: Originally Posted by joker75

2. new mid-air bat-in situations : Are there very often or not ?

In my hands-on time with the game, I never scored on one. And I only saw the more talented players (Crosby, Richards, Carter) even get a stick on it to even try it.

Quote: Originally Posted by joker75

3. new knee score : Are there very often or not ? Is there any situations when player can not control puck if he is still on the knee ?

I never saw one even attempted in my games.

Quote: Originally Posted by joker75

4. Face off is the same ..I know you can use direct of the pass after face-off : can you use the big/low power from your (RT) pass for this?

As I recall yes, if you are able to time it right.

Quote: Originally Posted by joker75

5. Are there any new animations for wrist shot and slapshot ?

I'm sure you've seen pics or videos of the leg lift on wristers, but overall I did notice a lot more animations.

[ohyeahbaby123]

1. How does the Hardcore style of play differ from say the normal style of play?

2. How are the puck physics different this year?

[Lubey]

In one of the other impression articles, someone mentioned how the post whistle scrums were small, often including only two players. Did you ever see a big scrum in front of the net or anything? If I was looking forward to those types of things will I be disappointed? (I guess it could still happen in EASHL).

[onlybygrace]

Thanks for doing this man...we're like little kids at Christmas around here...well...little kids waiting for Christmas.

So with the crowds...during normal play and stoppages...does the crowd sort of just chill (like it should) only to sort of jump around after big hits, fights and the like with the biggest reaction (going nuts) being reserved for goals?

Tell us what you can about the post whistle stuff, please.

And finally, maybe the most important to me...

Do your CPU teammates actually move around in the offensive zone this season looking for openings instead of just sitting there watching in one place? This is the reason I quickly tired of NHL 09...it seemed like the only way my teams forwards would do anything in the offensive zone would be if I created a play that made them do something.

What is the difference between intimidation tactics and post-whistle play???