NHL 2K10 News Post

NHL 2K10 Developer Insights: Gameplay Mechanics Part I & II

04:36 PM - August 11, 2009 by We Want The Cup

Check out the NHL 2K10 Developer Insights going over gameplay mechanics.

Part I

Quote:


	"The first improvement in NHL 2K10 that I�ll talk about is a minor change that goes a long way. Passing will not require you to let go of the pass button anymore. The pass is triggered upon the press of the button now. This basically means you can pass loose pucks by holding down the pass button while skating to it, and you can keep it held to chain passes around the ice. Once the player receiving the pass gains control of the puck, he will immediately pass the puck if you have the pass button held down. This is something that really helps the cycle in the offensive zone a tremendous amount. That, combined with the AI awareness changes, make the game a huge improvement right off the bat. I�ll get to those AI changes in a future Insight. And don�t worry about people trying to exploit this. Your passes will be a bit less accurate when performed this way, and the speeds will drop if you aren�t passing at the proper angle. Also, like I mentioned before, the player does have to accept the pass before getting rid of it, so it won�t just shoot off his stick once it touches the puck."

Part II

Quote:


	"First up, we have the new Stick Lift mechanics. One of the biggest issues that we had as a dev team was figuring out what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. We really didn�t want to go with the simple press of a button that plays a generic stick lift animation where the stick just rises above the player�s head. We wanted to really capture the hard physical aspect of the NHL. So we went into the lab and decided that we wanted our stick lifts to be a nice medium between a check and a stick tie up. Some of you out there that hit the ice know it�s not just about trying to whack the stick as much as it is about using your body to help get in between the opponent and the puck. Understanding what we wanted, we headed to the rink to capture 200+ variations of 2 person stick lifts. Players in the game will actually use both their bodies and sticks to attempt to take the puck away. It�s these two person animations that really separate us from the competition. Some of the variations that you can expect to see in the game are lifts where the players tie up, lifts where the puck carrier shields the puck or angles away from the defender, clean steals by the defender, lifts where the puck handler gets his stick knocked away but he kicks the puck back to himself, and lifts where the defender ties up the stick and kicks the puck away."

Game: NHL 2K10Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 23 - View All

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Member Comments

# 21 MizzouRah @ 08/12/09 01:19 PM

WWTC,

Just curious.. do we have area intros during season play now instead of only exhibition and playoffs? It would be a shame to miss many of them if they are only for playoffs!

# 22 Money99 @ 08/12/09 01:38 PM

From WWTC at 2khockey.net:

Quote:


	I'll explain the "ratings boost" thing. NHL2K3 through 2K9: Hall of Famer, if Human and CPU speed burst effect sliders were set to 50, the CPU is faster than you. NHL2K10: No matter what the difficulty, if a slider is set to 50, that is what you get. No under the hood changes based on difficulty to give the CPU a boost. You can still put the CPU Slider to 100 and the User slider to 50 if you want, but no difficulty gives the CPU faster players than you.

So with sliders, yes the CPU can have a boost over your players.
I just hope there's a slider for CPU intelligence. But it appears that it might.
I hope that today's blog will dig deeper into that aspect.

# 23 We Want The Cup @ 08/12/09 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Money99


	From WWTC at 2khockey.net: So with sliders, yes the CPU can have a boost over your players. I just hope there's a slider for CPU intelligence. But it appears that it might. I hope that today's blog will dig deeper into that aspect.

Even on Hall of Fame difficulty, we will not be giving speed boosts to the CPU. I'll get more into that in my next blog

# 24 Fiddy @ 08/12/09 02:11 PM

kudos cup, solid write up man. you just gave me nhl 2k 10 fever!!

since our mets are stinking it up lol..

# 25 Fiddy @ 08/12/09 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigH2k6


	What I like about the Ovi dekes is the execution and the dekes performed are supposed to be based on player ratings which is a welcome difference from EA's everyone dekeds the same way (hoefully this is different for NHL10 )

agree, love seeing bums so to speak try these moves and them losing the puck.

i to hope nhl 10 has this as well.. man, gonna be a great hockey season with 2 solid games!! wooo

# 26 tabulaRasa @ 08/13/09 04:11 AM

Liking the blog. Sounds good to me.

# 27 Money99 @ 08/13/09 09:30 AM

Another great update.

First, I'm really interested in seeing all of these contextual animations and how they'll work.
I think it'll be really cool to be able to use a guy like Datsyuk to pick pockets over a player like Pronger.
It's also great to hear how the attributes of the players are tightly intertwined with the animations or what happens on the ice.

I also love hearing about the changes to the fighting engine. No more will I have to worry about guys like Toews or Nash dropping the gloves whenever anyone wants to dance.
Or the fact that a guy like Toews could even come close to beating down tougher opponents like Getzlaf or Lucic.

Like Scott said, it appears hockey gamers are going to be the winners this year.

# 28 slickdtc @ 08/13/09 10:03 AM

Echoing Money's thoughts, another great update from the Dev Insights Blog. I think this is the best thing 2k Sports has done since Top Shelf Tuesday's. Probably even better, since it's getting a little deeper then just releasing screenshots, videos, and feature lists. It explains things, and that's what's most important. Too many questions come about from the screens, vids, and lists.

Looks like they really put a lot of work into stick lifts. They didn't just put it in there and say hey it's there. They put the effort into making it so every stick lift can have a different outcome and it's not just hit or miss.

I'm really excited for stumble shots. Not only will it contribute to the fluidity of the game, but also because I have a feeling we'll see some really cool, unique goals come from it.

Finally, probably what I am most excited for (from what was described in this blog) is incidental contact. I spent a little time with NHL 08 on the PC, and I really loved getting into position when racing back for a loose puck with my D-man even if he was slower then the forechecking forward and using my body to shield him away from the puck. That's one thing sports video games, and NHL games specifically, have always failed at. Speed is always #1. Well, now maybe tough as nails defensemen will be valuable as they should be able to outmuscle the speedier guys -- if they can get in between them and the puck before they streak past them.

Anyway, I just wanted to post this screenshot. Probably my favorite one of NHL 2k10. It's old, but I just wanted to show it off because it was never a "featured" screenshot:

I just think that looks so cool.

# 29 original6 @ 08/13/09 02:25 PM

Great info, Cups. Looking forward to seeing some of these new features implemented in some gameplay footage. BTW, very glad to see a separate shot speed slider. I've been asking for this the past few years.

# 30 kerosene31 @ 08/13/09 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baa7


	When the CPU goes into pressure mode, CPU players are much quicker to react. I can easily and literally spend two minutes trying to pick up loose pucks in my end, yet the CPU always gets to them first. That bit of game programming has been discussed here on OS and elsewhere by many, many posters. On top of that, their passes become much faster. They whip the puck around in the zone 2-3 times faster than it's possible for the User to ever do. If there aren't speed and agility cheats in effect here, what are they?

I still can't believe people think that NHL 09 does not boost the CPU on higher difficulty levels. NHL 09 does not use a speed cheat, but the CPU players most definitely get an acceleration and turning advantage. This is why you can seemingly never get away from the CPU players, even if your player is faster. You make big circles on the ice while the CPU players can turn much tighter and quicker and accelerate sooner.

What angers me most about 09 is my passing. Heaven forbid I get up a goal or two, my passes magically start hitting sticks and not connecting. This never, ever happens to the CPU, but hits human players all the time. This isn't offbalance passes by players who are covered either.

Just because NHL09 is a little more subtle about it doesn't mean it isn't there. Every sports game uses CPU boosts.

Don't even get me started on the CPU magic puck magnet.

# 31 kerosene31 @ 08/13/09 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RealmK


	Knew it was only a matter of time. I wonder sometimes if people understand what upping the forecheck actually means, defenders will play tighter and attempt to cut off passing lanes more. Again like I said earlier and god knows how many times, if I can win 50% or more of 50/50 puck battles on superstar theres no way the AI gets an advantage, I'm not one of those guys with insanely great stick skills nor do I notice any "boost" of any sort between my players and the CPU's. I'm starting to think the few vocals about it, mainly baa and yourself either chase alot or just don't make good clearing decisions in your own defensive end. What convinces me even more is two seperate dev team members clearly state the game doesn't have that sort of thing.

The CPU does up the pressure, but they also turn faster and tighter than you and accelerate faster.

Set up a game with a really, really fast player (Afinogenov on the Sabres works). Now, every time there is a fast change of direction in the play, make your 180 turn and head the other way. Pause and watch the replay. You'll see much slower CPU players turning faster and accelerating while you are still making your circle.

I pass from one wide open guy to another wide open guy... and they miss. It has nothing to do with good or bad passes. If there is nobody in the way of it, and neither players are covered, it is a good pass. We don't have the NHL10 passing system yet so a pass is a pass. My passes aren't blocked by the CPU, they magically go off skilled players sticks for no reason at all. It starts to happen anytime you manage to make a few too many good one timer goals.

None of this really has anything to do with what you are talking about, but go ahead and keep telling me I am not a good player. It really helps your argument a ton.

If you really think NHL09 or any other $60 sports game actually "out-thinks" you, you are living in denial. No sports game has ever, or will ever do what you are describing.

# 32 kerosene31 @ 08/13/09 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baa7


	And I thought I was the only one that happened to, which is why I never mentioned it. FIFA is programmed the exact same way. When the CPU needs an advantage, your passes magically start finding CPU players. Instead of sending the ball 10 yards up the pitch, the pass will mysteriously dribble off your player's foot and end up ten feet in front of you... right where the CPU player is standing! Tacky game programming, ugh.

The passing thing happens if you click on too many one timers in a game.

Don't even get me started on Fifa. Fifa is 1000x worse in all these areas. At least NHL09 is still fun to play overall and nowhere near as cheap.

The amazing thing is that people look at us like we're nuts. As if they never get up by 3 goals in a game and have the CPU start scoring on weak wristshots from the blueline.

# 33 Cardot @ 08/13/09 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baa7


	And I thought I was the only one that happened to, which is why I never mentioned it.

Yeah, add me to that vocal minority. Aside from what you described, I just couldn't stop those last minute backhand floaters from the blue line (NHL 08....didn't get '09). Very annoying.

# 34 savoie2006 @ 08/13/09 07:45 PM

Quote:


	If you really think NHL09 or any other $60 sports game actually "out-thinks" you, you are living in denial. No sports game has ever, or will ever do what you are describing.

.....Crap do I feel stupid now. NHL09 just out thought me last night!!

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