Fun With NHL 09 Again

[jsquigg]

For those fed up with the recent NHL offerings, I've been revisiting NHL 09 using QB's old sliders and it's a blast. Yes it's missing some features (quite a bit) but surprisingly I find the game more fun. One of the criticisms of the game was player differences, but I've never feared top players in dangerous areas more. Don't believe me? Play the Wings or Penguins in that game and if you don't cover the high slot area you'll be in for a long game. By far the best game in the series on this gen IMO.

[Storm12]

Would you happen to have the sliders by any chance? I might be willing to try it out sometime in the future.

[jsquigg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Storm12

Would you happen to have the sliders by any chance? I might be willing to try it out sometime in the future.

Yeah. http://www.operationsports.com/forum...ost-patch.html

Post #146 I think is the updated sliders. I have penalties down a notch because they call a ton.

[birthday_massacre]

NHL 09 IMO is the best NHL game of the current gen.
The AI and challenge was great. It was one of the few NHL years I actually lost in the playoffs and lost a lot of games during the reg season. From what remember the stats were pretty on point too

[bwiggy33]

If I'm not mistaken there is a lack of offsides awareness in 09, which was awesome. Unless 09 was the year they made the AI more aware of not going offsides. I can't remember. I'm just sick of players not going offsides from the past few releases of NHL. It's obviously a huge part of hockey and all EA did was change it so that people online could just fly through games with no whistles.

[birthday_massacre]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwiggy33

If I'm not mistaken there is a lack of offsides awareness in 09, which was awesome. Unless 09 was the year they made the AI more aware of not going offsides. I can't remember. I'm just sick of players not going offsides from the past few releases of NHL. It's obviously a huge part of hockey and all EA did was change it so that people online could just fly through games with no whistles.

2009 was the year where you would need to pay attention to going offsides from what I remember

[porky14]

Imagine 2013 Rosters


Sick !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Qb's All-Star Sliders [post-patch]

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Indicates change from settings in the first post

DIFFICULTY: All-Star
PERIOD LENGTH: 8-10 Minutes (I'm going with 9 at this moment)
PENALTIES: Max (if you're seeing way too many go down a click)

I'm back to max for penalties. I played a few games with it maxed and it seems reasonable. I'm starting to think that period length affects the number of calls, specifically that 10 minutes is some sort of hard-coded threshold. There seems to be a significant difference between the number of calls on 9 minute periods compared to 10 minutes. Or I've finally lost it completely (ooh, unintentional Radiohead reference)...

GAME SPEED: 0
PUCK CONTROL: 1
FIGHT DIFFICULTY: 3
FATIGUE EFFECT: 6
AI LEARNING: 6

I like the pace/flow of SPD/ACC at 0/1 and the maxed out fatigue effect punishes you for leaving guys on the ice. Puck control at 1 makes for some sloppy play and probably helps to keep it a bit more realistic in terms of who can do what with the puck.

FATIGUE RECOVERY: 1
ACCELERATION: 1

Again, ACC @ 1 provides a nice flow to the game (for me). You have to be a little smarter with your angles to puck since you can't turn on a dime. I feel this also cuts down on some of the goofy stuff the AI can do. I've been getting great TOI numbers and distribution with FR @ 1. Big-time d-men will play 25+ mins for the CPU while top forwards will often crack the 20 min mark. For the user this really helps with special teams, but the only drawback is that you could probably play your top lines a little too much if you're smart with your changes. I get good TOI numbers, but I try to roll my lines as a real coach would...

HITTING POWER: 0
AGGRESSION: 4 (up one, my teammates seem a tad more useful)
POKE EFFECTIVENESS: 5

The patch sure seems to have made the AI (on both sides) more puck-aware, so I don't see the need to have aggressiveness jacked up. I'm still seeing a good blend of positional play and puck-chasing when appropriate. Poke @ 5 seems to balance well with PC @ 1, plus I still think it helps to generate some tripping calls. Hit power is a no-brainer for me...

PASS SPEED: 0 or 1 (see below)
SAUCER PASS SPEED: 2 or 3
PASS INTERCEPTIONS: 6
GOALIE PASSING: 6

Pass Speed @ 1 provides a nice balance, but I've been fooling with it @ 0 of late. It seems to make the AI less pass-happy, but there is a trade-off in that there will be occasional super-slow passes. I guess that might compensate for the relative lack of off-target ones, but it does feel a bit off when it happens.

I don't use the saucer pass nearly as much as I did in 08, but will occasionally use it to move it around the boards. If you go with normal pass speed @ 0, you may want to drop saucer to 2; otherwise, the default of 3 seems reasonable. I highly recommend using the manual slap-pass technique to move the puck into space or for bank-passing. Goalie Passing @ 6 seems to make the goalies come out to play the puck more, but I've also edited a lot of the goalies puck playing frequency. FWIW, Mkharsh has tried these out and said he noticed the same thing. I'm assuming he didn't edit...

SHOT ACCURACY: 3
SHOT POWER: 3

Here's where I made a change after the patch, dropping ACC to 3 from 4. I've had the following scores -- 3-1, 5-2, 4-3 (SO) and 2-1 (OT). Even before the patch I was starting to see some high-scoring games (for myself & the CPU) with ACC @ 4. I'll monitor my GF/A over the course of 10 dynasty games and take it from there...

SHOT BLOCKING: 6 (mkharsh suggests 5 if you're not seeing enough goals)
HOOK EFFECTIVENESS: 5 (attempting to eliminate a few holding calls to keep PPs in line)
PENALTY SHOT FREQUENCY: 6
GOALIE COVER: 4

Defense, defense, defense! I love me some good defensive hockey, so all of these are aimed at tightening up that side of the game. I know Redshirt said Hook Effectiveness has no effect, but I see more pinning along the boards and have a harder time carrying the puck with it maxed. I had it at four prior to patch under the theory that it caused the AI to do the annoying machine gun cross checking in front of the net (Catcatch's idea), but that seems to be toned down post-patch. PS Freq hasn't yielded many calls in all my offline games, but I haven't seen many times it should be called. There's also the theory that it causes the AI d-men to play higher up in the NZ. If true, that would be another reason to have it maxed, as they still tend to back off a bit more than they do in the real NHL. Goalie Cover @ 4 seems to cut down on floaty rebounds the goalie can't corral, but I still see plenty of nice kick-outs on low shots and some rebound goals.

XBOX

[jsquigg]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwiggy33

If I'm not mistaken there is a lack of offsides awareness in 09, which was awesome. Unless 09 was the year they made the AI more aware of not going offsides. I can't remember. I'm just sick of players not going offsides from the past few releases of NHL. It's obviously a huge part of hockey and all EA did was change it so that people online could just fly through games with no whistles.

You are correct, although it ticked me off once when I hit a stretch pass to a player all alone and my teammate decided to cross the blue line a split second too soon, ruining a one on one with the goalie.