Edit Player Question Answered by Ross

[Roscosuper]

I actually got an answer from Ben Ross (an NHL dev) concerning the edit player feature. I inquired about the ability to change faces and the lot from which to pick from. Here was his response

You can't change licensed players faces but with Edit player back, you can change all of their equipment (including all of the additions we have added down to skate lace and sock tape colours/styles, etc. and actually facial hair despite not being able to change the structure of their face).

I know it was just an example, but you will be happy to know that we have a unique head for Matt Martin this year.

And yes, there are a lot more heads to pick from in Create Player -- the art team added over 200 new heads.


So, Ross states the art team added 200 new faces (I believe he means the generic faces, right?) but we won't be able to assign them ourselves to licensed players. Meaning, if the face assigned to a Trevor Daley, resembles more of a Beau Bennett, oh well.


Here's the link: there are other questions answered. It's actually a thread about gameplay, but it got hijacked into EASHL and other stuff, so I took a shot.


http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/li.../10341715.page

[mcavner]

Quote: Originally Posted by Roscosuper

I actually got an answer from Ben Ross (an NHL dev) concerning the edit player feature. I inquired about the ability to change faces and the lot from which to pick from. Here was his response You can't change licensed players faces but with Edit player back, you can change all of their equipment (including all of the additions we have added down to skate lace and sock tape colours/styles, etc. and actually facial hair despite not being able to change the structure of their face). I know it was just an example, but you will be happy to know that we have a unique head for Matt Martin this year. And yes, there are a lot more heads to pick from in Create Player -- the art team added over 200 new heads. So, Ross states the art team added 200 new faces (I believe he means the generic faces, right?) but we won't be able to assign them ourselves to licensed players. Meaning, if the face assigned to a Trevor Daley, resembles more of a Beau Bennett, oh well. Here's the link: there are other questions answered. It's actually a thread about gameplay, but it got hijacked into EASHL and other stuff, so I took a shot. http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/li.../10341715.page

I'd be fine with the actual scanned faces being locked from editing - but you just know they're going to lock all the NHL player's faces even though 9/10ths of them are the generic ones.

Hey EA - if you assign a generic face to a player, let us have access to the library of 200 faces so we can change it to something more accurate. This goes for the generated rookies.

They have 200 generic faces and I still end up with four or five guys on my team with the same face every single year. Who here hasn't traded someone just because he has the same face as someone on your team already? Anyone? Exactly.

Just brutal, brutal, lame, and lazy, and prideful game design. Let us fix it for you. It's OK - we understand you're busy. There's a face somewhere in those 200 faces that I could use for Chris Neil.... but the one you chose sucks, EA. And the face for Mark Stone - that's perfect for Jared Cowen.

Let's not pretend you're going to ever scan most guys - just open up all the editing (except for actual, license faces that were scanned) and let us choose.

Please. Pretty please. With a cherry on top.

[Roscosuper]

Well, the question would be, what constitutes a "licensed player" (as the term Ross used in his response)? Is it simply a player that is a real life player and through his league is allowed to be represented in the game. Or is it a player that has had an actual face-scan and whose likeness is allowed to be used in the game?


Here's an interesting fact: in the old-gen version there were players such as Lubomir Visnovsky and Paul Martin who had actual cyberfaces that were on disc, but were not assigned to them in the database and not used in the game. Because we had a database editor, we could assign them their intended cyberface and not a generic one. Did the "license" expire for these players, or did EA just not like quality of the cyberface itself being that it was an older version?

[mcavner]

Or, more to the point of the real problem - what constitutes "editing a player."

As the gamers think editing a player means giving them an accurate appearance and ratings, whereas EA thinks "editing a player" means giving them green stick tape...

[Moose24x]

Quote: Originally Posted by mcavner

I'd be fine with the actual scanned faces being locked from editing - but you just know they're going to lock all the NHL player's faces even though 9/10ths of them are the generic ones. Hey EA - if you assign a generic face to a player, let us have access to the library of 200 faces so we can change it to something more accurate. This goes for the generated rookies. They have 200 generic faces and I still end up with four or five guys on my team with the same face every single year. Who here hasn't traded someone just because he has the same face as someone on your team already? Anyone? Exactly. Just brutal, brutal, lame, and lazy, and prideful game design. Let us fix it for you. It's OK - we understand you're busy. There's a face somewhere in those 200 faces that I could use for Chris Neil.... but the one you chose sucks, EA. And the face for Mark Stone - that's perfect for Jared Cowen. Let's not pretend you're going to ever scan most guys - just open up all the editing (except for actual, license faces that were scanned) and let us choose. Please. Pretty please. With a cherry on top.

Couldn't say it better myself. You don't want us changing Ovechkin, Crosby, Toews, etc. ...guys whose actual scans are in the game? Makes perfect sense to me. A guy like Leo Komorov or Jori Lehtera who had default face #1 last year (essentially middle eastern looking) despite being fair haired Finns? Let us fix it. Why not? You can't seriously tell me "licensing" dictates Lehtera be almost black in the game. So let me fix it. I get it. You're working on other stuff. Not every player cares. Some do. Let those who do fix the faces that are terrible. There is nothing "licensed" about blond haired pale skinned Scandinavians being brown in the game.

[N2J NY]

Are there plans for a current gen NHL View?

[TheWarmWind]

Quote: Originally Posted by Moose24x

You can't seriously tell me "licensing" dictates Lehtera be almost black in the game. So let me fix it. I get it. You're working on other stuff. Not every player cares. Some do. Let those who do fix the faces that are terrible. There is nothing "licensed" about blond haired pale skinned Scandinavians being brown in the game.

Unfortunately the licensing is done through a collective bargain with the NHLPA. I obviously have no idea what the actual terms of the agreement are, but I definitely could picture a scenario where the NHLPA demanded that EA NHL 16 players would be unable to edit the appearance of the players NHLPA represents. I'd bet even getting to change beards was a big deal with them. The NHLPA can have some strange demands.

[bigwill33]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheWarmWind

Unfortunately the licensing is done through a collective bargain with the NHLPA. I obviously have no idea what the actual terms of the agreement are, but I definitely could picture a scenario where the NHLPA demanded that EA NHL 16 players would be unable to edit the appearance of the players NHLPA represents. I'd bet even getting to change beards was a big deal with them. The NHLPA can have some strange demands.

Was thinking the same thing. And we might be on to something with that line of thinking.

But you know what would help? If EA would be transparent, in the least bit, and come out and simply tell us these things. One quick explaination would squash a lot of unrest in a lot of these situations.

Look at scea and how they are pretty transparent with their development process. They come and they explain stuff once and it becomes gospel here. We may not all like or agree with the reasoning, but at least we understand and then when others come in and ask the same question the answer is provided by other members of the community, with proof from a higher authority.

What a concept!