kelvinmak's Blog
A while back there was an article on the OS front pages about Playstation Magazine’s interview with FIFA’s executive producer David Rutter. In it was a quote that baffled a lot of us, about FIFA 14 having individualized AI for all 11 different positions on the field.
A few OSers ridiculed it—and rightly so—since a) there are more than 11 positions in soccer if you count those who play between the lines, and more importantly b) just because players play in the same position doesn’t mean they have the same role—both Andrea Pirlo and Javier Mascherano are defensive midfielders (unless you’re Guardiola), but they can’t be more different. So having AI for those positions without taking into context the player’s job in the team’s overall tactic sounds rather ridiculous.
Personally, I was on vacation at the time, so I just sort of skimmed it, chuckled, turned off my laptop, and went out to explore beautiful Vancouver. I didn’t really pay it any mind because it just sounded like something that was, like friend of the blog Matt10 mentioned in the initial news post, more of a misguided concoction from the marketing department than anything else. (In hindsight, maybe I could’ve hopped on the crosstown bus to Burnaby to ask for clarification.)
Anyway, I re-read the article yesterday for another piece that I’m supposed to be writing (sorry, OS bosses, got carried away with this one), and I noticed two things: One, the “individualized AI for 11 positions” wasn’t actually a direct quote from Rutter, so maybe he meant something a little different from what was written. And two, the actual quote that Rutter actually gave, that immediately follows that line about positional AI, was this (emphasis mine):
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It’s something that doesn’t enter the discussion very often when we’re talking about player individualization—a lot of times we focus solely on the behavior of the player with the ball and how they can “feel” more different, and that makes sense since he’s the player that sets everything in motion, plus it’s also something FIFA can stand to improve on (if they would only use the whole damn range of their ratings scale). But by the same token, it’s just as important for the other 21 men on the pitch to react accordingly, based on what they know about the strengths and tendencies of the ball carrier.
From what I can gather, currently the AI controlled, off-the-ball players behave according to the following factors:
- Where the ball is located on the pitch
- His team’s strategy
- His traits
- User inputs (manually initiating a run, like we’ll be able to do in the upcoming PES)
What those players aren’t doing, at least it’s nowhere near obvious enough, is realizing who has the ball, and factor that in their decision making. To use the Alonso/Mascherano example again, one would guess the wingers will position themselves differently depending on which one of those defensive midfielders has possession— stay tighter if it’s Mascherano, anticipating the short pass; and spread the pitch if it’s Pirlo, waiting for the long diagonal—and currently that’s not something that’s obvious in either FIFA or PES.
It’s the same thing on the defensive end. Right now there’s still too much of a one-size-fits-all defending philosophy at work. Yes, there are some concepts that won’t change no matter who you’re defending, but there are also others that do. You wouldn't defend Cristiano Ronaldo the same way you defend Dirk Kuyt, will you? And wouldn’t it also change things up depending on the ability of the defending full back?
Granted, a lot of this is the manager’s call (and pardon the tangent, but it would be a wonderful idea for FIFA or PES to implement something akin to Football Manager’s Opponent Instructions interface for a deeper tactical experience), but there should at least a bit of room for the AI player to make some sort of judgment call. Currently, soccer games rarely take into account the ability and tendencies of both the attacker and the defender himself—context, basically—and make decisions accordingly.
So ultimately, good for FIFA to try to make some headway on this. Having said that, of course, here comes the mandatory let’s-not-get-too-ahead-of-ourselves caveat. Rutter did mention that it’s going to be an ongoing process, so chances are we may only notice this for a moment or two in each match. Plus in the example he gave, he still talks about players by their positions, and not their actual roles, so we’re probably some ways away from the AI actually being conscious of who, or at least what distinct type of player, is carrying the ball.
But still, this is important because the way the other 21 players react to an “individualized” player with the ball is just as important as individualizing that player himself, and it usually doesn't enter into the conversation. If you really think about it, it can also help immensely in distinguishing between teams’ tactics based on the players they have—horses for courses and all that—so props to FIFA for, at the very least, starting to go down that path and explore its possibilities.
kelvinmak
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Things that are essential are more tactics. I still don't understand how the game doesn't allow you to keep your defenders deep, like just outside their box, ignore the offside trap and 'park the bus', without messing with sliders IN GAME.
Likewise, I still don't understand how EA don't understand that a player's preferred foot means they are more likely to, and better at, controlling the ball and dribbling with that foot. Its not just about shooting and passing. Also, if they dribble with their stronger foot, you can pass with it more simply and keep the flow going.
Penalty taking styles are also all sorts of horrendous, that hasn't even changed since 05 or something. There are very few penalties you'll ever see where a player's feet leaves the ground... Some horrible animations for penalties unless you side foot it.
I just don't believe EA could get such a crucial thing as understanding the skills of every player on the pitch and contextualising it without fixing the glaring issues that I just mentioned, which really aren't that important but reinforce the soul-less criticisms of the game.