Backbreaker News Post

Backbreaker Video: Developer Diary #1

03:43 PM - February 5, 2010 by Phobia

Check out the Backbreaker Developer diary #1 video.

1:03 - Legs driving breaking a tackle and keeps going
1:07 - Same thing
1:27 - Sack QB then Fumbles LOOKS NICE!!!!

Pros
Looks beautiful
Tackles and interactions are amazing

Cons
A lot of warping
Catch animations look funky

Overview
Looks promising but still looks too rigid, too much warping, and a general lack of polish across the board still.

Hope they can fix some of these issues because the engine alone is worth owning the game.

Game: BackbreakerReader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 51 - View All

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Member Comments

# 21 Phobia @ 02/05/10 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Afrikan


	ummm...I just checked your post over there...and I didn't see anyone blast you... and you say "they"...can you give some examples, before calling anyone "biggest group of immature idiots" you have ever graciously neglected yourself to?

Well maybe ripping was a bad word, but being a complete immature *** is not looked at well in my eyes. Act like a child and expect to get treated like a child. That entire forum is filled with immature kids. Just reading some of the back and forth there is horrible. If you disagree then that is your own perception but I have the right to have my opinion. Just like you have the right to your opinion.

# 22 Phobia @ 02/05/10 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wEEman33


	Who knows what difficulty that video was on, so it may have played a part in the coverage being so bad. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about the AI until the final product is in my hands. For now, let's just marvel at how great the player-to-player contact looks!

That I will say looks AMAZING. The tackles, broken tackles, contacts, look phenomenal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

# 23 TheKasmar @ 02/05/10 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phobia


	That would be interesting . Seeing a true 1 on 1 battle of WR/CB would be a thing of dreams. I am mostly interested in the secondary at the moment. Some key looking issues out there.

Issues with a brand new football franchise are inevitable. I have high expectations of BB and will be disappointed if key elements are missing from the game however, this delevolper diary has exceeded my expectations of what the BB team was capable of. I went from 10% rental to maybe purchasable. So, while the secondary and OL/DL interaction might be suspect, I still remained impressed overall.

# 24 Phobia @ 02/05/10 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheKasmar


	Issues with a brand new football franchise are inevitable. I have high expectations of BB and will be disappointed if key elements are missing from the game however, this delevolper diary has exceeded my expectations of what the BB team was capable of. I went from 10% rental to maybe purchasable. So, while the secondary and OL/DL interaction might be suspect, I still remained impressed overall.

I have had the game preordered for well over a year now. I will buy the game regardless of how it turns out.

But the developer Diary did not impress me. If anything it made me less impressed than I have with the game. There are things that it does really well. You can quickly tell that from the video. But being that I take X and O's very serious, I went through and rewinded over and over every frame and went through each person and assignments. There is some sketchy things going on in the defense.

Granted there is still months of tweeking to do and they can improve many of the flaws possibly. But I just was expecting a little more polish from a game only 3 months away.

-The running I can deal with even though it looks so stiff.
-The catch animations I can deal with them looking strange
-The pass off the back foot I can deal with

So hopefully they can fix the AI issues and give us quality playbooks. Because the online portion of the game is ultimately what will make this game fail or a BB2. If there are exploits out the wazoo and it makes the Online not fun to play then you will see it get huge complaints and this will drive people right back to Madden or NCAA

# 25 TheKasmar @ 02/05/10 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phobia


	I will buy the game regardless of how it turns out.

Wow, technically I'm more critical then you.

# 26 TheWatcher @ 02/05/10 05:37 PM

This game looks like it's going to be a blast. Those camera angles are just drool-inducing.

I think this game is going to be a lot of fun. I just think the people looking for an incredible franchise mode, or perfect interactions, and perfect AI are going to be disappointed. It's not going to happen anytime soon in any football game, and certainly not one on its first time out.

I'm looking forward to new experiences, and I'm hoping this game is successful so that we get more from them and other companies. The Football video game market can come back to life, and by back to life I mean having a number of competing choices. It's just going to take some guts and some smaller developers with a serious drive to do it. I'm hoping this is just the beginning.

# 27 Gusto1 @ 02/05/10 05:44 PM

This game will be a good change pace and bring about change in other games hopfully.

# 28 Phobia @ 02/05/10 05:46 PM

Example of weird AI

:29 sec - WR jumps for ball and makes catch. CB trailing him turns away from WR

:37 Sec - QB passes ball over middle on post route to WR. Right side Safety runs AWAY from where the ball is being passed, even though he has his shoulders square to the QB at point when ball is being passed and is in air. He was in position to make a big hit on WR.

1:13-1:14 - Yellow jersey WR makes post grab over middle and same Right Safety turns and run in wrong direction AGAIN on a similar play. Taking him out the play. Not only that but at the start of the play he has his back to the WR with NO ONE past him......strange funky Ai there.

2:29-2:30 - TE out to the side line. The defense looks like it is doing a zone blitz out of a cover 3. You got the linebacker sliding over to the sideline to read his zone, then the CB is playing a deep zone. CB instead of reading play just turns his back to the WR 15 yards off him and runs straight bee line to his zone location. No Ai awarness. Easy completion to TE.

2:31-2:36 - Same thing over and over. You can clearly see the weight of the defensive players taking them out the play over and over.

2:48 - WR goes up to make a jumping catch. Watch right side of screen. Linebacker is just frozen in place not moving not reacting to pass. NOTHING

3:15 - CB is in perfect position for pick but runs AWAY at last sec from WR. He is literally a few feet from ball and runs completely out of position. AGGGG this is becoming a eye sore for me now.

Sorry guys I went through and made a point to find the issues and there is plenty. I did not think there was that much in such a short video but there is a ton and they are BAD!!

# 29 Phobia @ 02/05/10 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Afrikan


	well that seems like someone else is grabbing that defender and moving him away so the WR can make a catch, and just to show footage of the catch animations.. I mean, it has been stated that in past videos there almost all of them is with another user controlling the defense.....and it is not CPU so something like this... "3:15 - CB is in perfect position for pick but runs AWAY at last sec from WR. He is literally a few feet from ball and runs completely out of position. AGGGG this is becoming a eye sore for me now." I can see how that happens.... I think we should wait for the demo before really jumping to conclusions... I mean, they make the game...if this was a big deal (and it would be big deal if it releases like that) I'm sure they would be taking their time to finish up the game properly... it was posted in the past by the headman at NatrualMotions, that there was really no time line or rush to finish the game...and it would be released when it is properly ready.

Hummmmm maybe so, but I am just skeptical to believe that. Mainly because of how complex football is and the level AI needs to be.

# 30 CreatineKasey @ 02/05/10 06:44 PM

If they can make solid head-to head gameplay, this game looks like a keeper.

Some mo-cap animations do look really stiff, but I think a lot of the realistic details and other Euphoria based features more than make up for it.

I can't pass judgment on the passing and stuff until I actually see gameplay, again that was a teaser reel.

I totally agree with their assessment about the "God view" sucking the life out of some games. It took me awhile to get into M10's super-distance view. I'm definitely looking forward to the new, sucked in camera angle. In theory, I prefer that.

It'll be great to go into a football game and not be able to just call a monster game right off the bat. For years now I've been able to succeed instantly in games given my familiarity with the views and football. Maybe this new view will give some much wanted growing pains and new perspective on football.

Regardless of how the game ends up as a whole, I bet there will be certain aspects of it that will feel irreplaceable when going back to trying Madden. That's a really good thing.

# 31 Phobia @ 02/05/10 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill2451


	while I know there will be flaws, more likely than not some bad AI, missing features, head scratching bugs, etc, here is what I'm excited about... the future This is arguably the most significant "game engine" change in gaming history... by far the most significant change in the last 2 generation of consoles for years and years mo-cap has been the only way to go, and euphoria is the first engine to really change that... I truly believe this is the beginning of a monumental shift in how video games work. For years and years development teams have simply been adding animations, every year they tout "200 new goalie animations added, etc" and despite that, mo-cap will never be able to satisfy sports gamings future goals... developers have made better strides in mo-cap, making the animations possible to "break out of" to create a chain, etc, but it will always feel "canned" (bb's word, I know), it will always feel a bit scripted Backbreaker is our first peak into the future... and while it will obviously have flaws, for me it is the symbolism the game holds, the technology driving it, that excites me. physics based engines (not necessarily even euphoria) will be the wave of the future... and I'm excited to see the first one in action, despite the flaws it will have

Completely agree Bill

# 32 t11 @ 02/05/10 07:12 PM

This AI is hopefully going to fixed. It really sucks to see the BB Ai resemble the Saints Secondary

# 33 Valdarez @ 02/05/10 08:32 PM

I LOVE they are taking a 3rd person view approach to the on the field action. That's something many football games miss, and I never understood why they keep pulling us back, out of the action.

Overall, I like the realism of the game, but the player models all look the same. That I don't like any more. I wish they could have provided more uniqueness to them over the last couple of years of development.

Anyone notice the slow down and celebrate as they walk into the end zone towards the end? Sure does look like 2K5/APF2K8 had some effect on the game.

# 34 stlstudios189 @ 02/05/10 08:34 PM

I am getting impressed.

# 35 kjcheezhead @ 02/05/10 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valdarez


	I LOVE they are taking a 3rd person view approach to the on the field action. That's something many football games miss, and I never understood why they keep pulling us back, out of the action. Overall, I like the realism of the game, but the player models all look the same. That I don't like any more. I wish they could have provided more uniqueness to them over the last couple of years of development. Anyone notice the slow down and celebrate as they walk into the end zone towards the end? Sure does look like 2K5/APF2K8 had some effect on the game.

Yeah that camera view is awesome. One of the most exciting parts of this game for me so far.

I gotta say, I'm a little concerned about what I'm seeing out of the ai, but I didn't have a high expectation in that area from a football game in it's first run anyways. Not only that, but I'm not Peyton Manning, if I'm playing qb with that camera, I'm gonna need guys that open to find them, lol.

# 36 mgoblue678 @ 02/05/10 09:11 PM

Sure there was some issues in that video but we have to remember this is their first attempt at a football game and we have no idea what difficulty level the game was being played on which could have accounted for some of the things that didn't look too good. The animations did seem a little stiff as well. I also wish the players weren't so identical looking but we haven't seen the editing tools the game has yet so maybe there is way to make the players at least somewhat unique looking.

Both the camera angles and the interactions between the players looked phenomenal. Tackling and interaction between the lines in particular looked amazing. Looks at the very least this engine would work wonders in the areas of o-line vs d-line interaction and tackling if it was implemented right in any other game as well. The double team blocking being in there is very impressive as well. I also like the idea of pulling off spin and juke moves using the analog stick.

Overall I was impressed by that video and even though I know the game will probably have some issues I am still buying it for the amazing things the engine looks like it can do in certain areas.

# 37 Valdarez @ 02/05/10 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	Yeah that camera view is awesome. One of the most exciting parts of this game for me so far. I gotta say, I'm a little concerned about what I'm seeing out of the ai, but I didn't have a high expectation in that area from a football game in it's first run anyways. Not only that, but I'm not Peyton Manning, if I'm playing qb with that camera, I'm gonna need guys that open to find them, lol.

I wouldn't expect a whole lot out of the AI in a first release, especially since they had a limited team from what I have read.

# 38 JayBee74 @ 02/05/10 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheKasmar


	Do blown assignments happen in football? Maybe the secondary didn't look good because they're poorly rated. Are people purposely ignoring the good play were the secondary responded at 28 sec.

I know the angle and positioning say otherwise, but the number (17) indicates that the guy who caught the ball was a wide receiver.

# 39 JayBee74 @ 02/05/10 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgoblue678


	Sure there was some issues in that video but we have to remember this is their first attempt at a football game and we have no idea what difficulty level the game was being played on which could have accounted for some of the things that didn't look too good. The animations did seem a little stiff as well. I also wish the players weren't so identical looking but we haven't seen the editing tools the game has yet so maybe there is way to make the players at least somewhat unique looking. Both the camera angles and the interactions between the players looked phenomenal. Tackling and interaction between the lines in particular looked amazing. Looks at the very least this engine would work wonders in the areas of o-line vs d-line interaction and tackling if it was implemented right in any other game as well. The double team blocking being in there is very impressive as well. I also like the idea of pulling off spin and juke moves using the analog stick. Overall I was impressed by that video and even though I know the game will probably have some issues I am still buying it for the amazing things the engine looks like it can do in certain areas.

The possibilities of O-Line/D-Line interaction have me excited about the game. Still strange to hear English guys talking American football, because you know they were force-fed soccer when they started kicking inside the womb.
Like to see more on pass defense-remember this is only Backbreaker Developer Diary #1

# 40 Perfect Zero @ 02/05/10 10:26 PM

I must say that I am a bit more impressed with this video. There are some things that need ironed out, especially with the defense and the missed assignments. Most of the corners looked like they had no clue what their role was on the football field.

I am liking the OL/DL interaction; hopefully it will transfer well into the game. The quarterback's throws look a bit off for some reason, and the catches aren't as fluid as they could be, but that might just be some bugs in the first go around. I still doubt that the franchise has any real future, but they are doing their best to sell the engine.

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