NHL 17 Q&A #2 - Collisions, AI Improvements, New Goalie Cam, No Roster Sharing & More

[Steve_OS]

NHL 17 Producers are answering questions on their Ask NHL page, similar to how they did it last year. If you have questions, make sure to submit them here.

We've posted some of the questions and answers below, click here to read them all.

Will there be improvements to stick on body/stick on stick collisions?

Yes, we have made improvements to how we recognize stick-on-stick and stick-on-body collisions to determine if the puck should come free. We still don’t run full physics reactions for stick on stick though as players don’t currently have enough control to pull their stick through and evade in ways they can in the real world. That is why we still want to produce the right incidental contact effect on the puck though to reward defensive positioning. We have also made updates to how the puck comes loose when it collides with sticks, skates and bodies to ultimately reward good defensive position.

Has Opponent (or team) AI improved?

Yes, there have been a lot of improvements to both Offensive and Defensive AI to improve the flow of the game and the reliability of your teammates. You will see off puck defenders doing a much better job of sticking with their man and recognizing potential passing options as bigger threats. Those players will also utilize net battles to tie up players in front unchecked for long periods of time. On offense, the AI is smarter how they are moving the puck and in general has more flow during breakouts.

Will there be any added camera views for game action in '17?

We have added a new camera for goalies that will be available at launch.

What improvements have you made to make goaltending more fluid and stand out verses previous years?

For goalies we have introduced a new save mechanic where they can make blocking vs reactionary saves. When they have the ability to get their body in front of a shot, they will -- using their chest and shoulders to block pucks rather than making reactionary limb based saves. For Player Controlled Goalies we have also updated the mechanics to get to the post quicker using reverse VH and butterfly leans to really seal up against the post. We have updated our precision movement to give more control and allow you to control the speed using the analog stick. We also made a lot of improvements to responsiveness by allowing you to exit out of animations – for example if you want to drop back down to butterfly before fully standing up. That's just some of the improvements we've made to goaltending this year.

Will you guys consider the ability to make public rosters to share throughout the online community? It's a huge success with Madden and it generates over 13,000 shared rosters, playbooks and sliders per year.

Shared rosters will not be a feature for NHL 17 but we will consider it for future iterations.

[kariya05]

No shared rosters = no buy. Whoever does their ratings are by far the worst of any sports game.

[Retropyro]

No shared rosters, no connected franchise mode. Seriously?

[Caniac94]

Yeah no roster sharing is a huge deal breaker for me. Not worth the purchase for the same game.

[AdamJones113]

I still like to delude myself into thinking I started the movement to get reverse VH in the game

[brandon27]

Meh... no roster sharing may be enough to make me pass on this one. Especially given how awful EA's rosters always are.

I really dont see a whole lot of improvement going on here. I'm going to have to really think about this one. I don't think I'll be buying at launch now though unless something changes between now and then. With this coming out in September though, with Madden before it, FH3, F1 racing, new nascar game. I just dont think I'll find the time right away for this game and EA's struggle with rosters and ratings.

I'll get it at some point, I know that, it's fallen down the list though.

[qdas]

A lot of "no, but...." answers sprinkled in with some fluffy, brag to us about the new features questions. No roster sharing is a massive issue. The inability to create a custom camera is pretty pathetic as well. They don't seem to really be listening much to their community at all. These exclusive licensing deals with the various sports leagues have got to go. You know damn well roster sharing would be in this year if there was another game offering it. Not updating season stats during the season as well. A few days of coding for one person and it's there. There are wish lists full of this stuff and somehow it gets passed over. I'm in the no buy category as well.

[bad_philanthropy]

Ugh, they are having trouble integrating the ECHL into Franchise. That sucks. I've said it for damn near a decade now. Franchise needs all leagues in the game integrated into one franchise, GM, owner, whatever mode like FIFA's career mode.

I know, enormous work and no resources for the NHL team.