NHL 13 Blog - GM Brain: The New AI System That Handles Computer Trades, Drafts & More

[blaziruku]

EA Sports has posted another NHL 13 blog. This one covers the new AI system in multi-season leagues, which handles computer trades, drafts and more. They call it GM Brain.

Quote:

The first ‘in-game’ problem we had to solve was our previous Player Growth model. Previous NHL titles set every player in the league off on a trajectory of offensive growth, defensive ability growth, and athletic skill growth. The main problem with that approach was that there was no way to control it once it began. If enough players grew too well, we’d have salary creep, leading to too many players asking for too much money. We had no real way to manage overall league growth within our old system, so the old Player Growth Model had to go. In NHL 13,we are now able to control growth patterns that will basically fall within historical tendencies we want to model. Games Modes Producer Gurn Sumal (and hockey stats/history junkie) analyzed all kinds of source data to see how often draft picks selected in a specific round went on to achieve greatness in the NHL, and how often they never went beyond the AHL. We are able to model and test drive scenarios using a tool that we created.

[canucksss]

WOW :O .... if this translate to the game..and proves no "glitch" and EA is true to it's word that they'd focus more on the AI (not only gameplay but in this area of team management) this year compared to other year....then THIS IS THE GAME WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR HOCKEY FANS!!!!

Im all excited in what I'm seeing and reading....but again... i need to be cautious....been disappointed for several years now. i have this game reserved in EB Games...so let see

[06woz]

Wow, sounds deep. Hopefully it translates well into the game.

[RealmK]

Sounds great on paper and makes sense how they've broken things down into potential reflecting salary desires. Love that they added player roles and the ability for the CPU to look at what it has coming down the pipe in subsequent seasons and factor that in to it's trade logic.

Hopefully it works as advertised. It'll be interesting to see if this applies to line making logic as well regarding player roles. Will guys that generally play better defense or two way forwards like a Patrice Bergeron be set on the PK rather than a tough guy like a Lucic would in prior years.

Looking forward to seeing it in action and finding out if it lives up to it's potential.

[blaziruku]

Quote: Originally Posted by RealmK

Sounds great on paper and makes sense how they've broken things down into potential reflecting salary desires. Love that they added player roles and the ability for the CPU to look at what it has coming down the pipe in subsequent seasons and factor that in to it's trade logic. Hopefully it works as advertised. It'll be interesting to see if this applies to line making logic as well regarding player roles. Will guys that generally play better defense or two way forwards like a Patrice Bergeron be set on the PK rather than a tough guy like a Lucic would in prior years. Looking forward to seeing it in action and finding out if it lives up to it's potential.

I'm excited for it! Hopefully it will work well. Now I have to switch up my ideas, no more 1.5m Seguin or Hall anymore! :P

[tofubrain2]

...it really sounds too good to be true. I think we are all entitled to be a bit skeptical given the lack of advancements but Wow.... i sure hope this lives up to the hype

[goalieump413]

Sounds pretty cool. Interesting though, while the Madden 13 team went AWAY from using potential ratings, now the NHL 13 team has gone TOWARDS it. In fact, with the "roles" they talked about, isn't that about the same as the Madden 12 player roles?

I wasn't a Madden 12 player, and I don't know how well received that was, so I'm not sure if potential and roles will be accepted or rejected by NHL13 players. What I do know is that I'm glad they're creating a better bell curve ratings matrix to avoid the continuous player growth that NHL12 had in its hip pocket. Continuous growth works if you're playing BAP, because you can keep pushing towards the Hall of Fame, but it would be a nightmare for a GM after a decade or so.

So yeah man, let's hope there' no bugs to work out and on release day, this game sets THE new standard of how games are built. Really excited!

[RealmK]

Quote: Originally Posted by goalieump413

Sounds pretty cool. Interesting though, while the Madden 13 team went AWAY from using potential ratings, now the NHL 13 team has gone TOWARDS it. In fact, with the "roles" they talked about, isn't that about the same as the Madden 12 player roles? I wasn't a Madden 12 player, and I don't know how well received that was, so I'm not sure if potential and roles will be accepted or rejected by NHL13 players. What I do know is that I'm glad they're creating a better bell curve ratings matrix to avoid the continuous player growth that NHL12 had in its hip pocket. Continuous growth works if you're playing BAP, because you can keep pushing towards the Hall of Fame, but it would be a nightmare for a GM after a decade or so. So yeah man, let's hope there' no bugs to work out and on release day, this game sets THE new standard of how games are built. Really excited!

It depends on a few things whether it's going to work or not.

1. Do players feel like they are different. Do stars stand out compared to 4th line grinders and is the represented on the ice and within GM mode when it comes to player value vs a team's needs.
2. Will this make the actual management portion of the game more robust and less random, and does it show separation in how teams perform in the standings vs how the CPU is managing the roster.

Just as a couple examples.