NHL 16 News Post

How EA Can Bring Fans Back to NHL's Franchise Mode

04:22 PM - October 21, 2015 by RaychelSnr

Overhaul The AI

In a year where FIFA 16 and NBA 2K16 both made tremendous improvements to their on-field/on-court AI, it's sad to see NHL 16's CPU skaters still aimlessly wandering at times.

AI teams still struggle to gain possession inside the offensive zone, mostly due to poor decision making coming through the neutral zone. On many shifts, they will either hesitate and zig-zag around the red line before launching a futile dump attempt, or they'll skate the puck in a straight line down the side boards where you can easily crush their oncoming forward with a check.

Read More - How EA Can Bring Fans Back to NHL's Franchise Mode

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# 1 northmen24 @ 10/21/15 04:47 PM

All they need to do is read these boards and maybe hire a couple of us who break the game down.

Put in a slider system more like madden (a scale of 0-100 instead of 0-6 or 4) also expand the sliders like they were in the 2K series below is sliders from NHL 2K5

General:

All-Star
Game Speed: 2
Period Length: 10 Minutes
Penalties: On
Fighting: 1
Speed Burst After Fight Win: Off
Puck Friction: Full
Ice Friction: 0
Freeze Puck Time: 4
Goalie Freeze: 0
Glass Break: 0
Net off Moorings: On
Pinning: On
Offsides: On
Icing: Auto
2 Line Passing: Off

Advanced:

Manual
Manual
Manual
Manual
Referee: All
OT: 10 min OT, 5 on 5 SO
Clock: Accelerated
Clock Type: Auto
Last Minute Real Time: On
Penalty Time: OFF
Roughing: Full
Elbowing: Full
Cross Checking: Full
Boarding: Full
Charging: 25
Interference: Full
Slashing: Full
Hooking: Full
Tripping: Full
Spearing: 17
Penalty Shots: Full

CPU/Human

Goalie: 1/1
Offense: 6/4
Defense: 6/4
Speed Burst Effect: 1/2
Speed Burst Time: 4/5
Speed Burst Recovery: 14/12
Fatigue Effect: Full/Full
Fatigue Recovery: 6/6
Fatigue Time: Full/Full
Hitting Power: 5/3
Shot Accuracy: 5/5
Pass Accuracy: 0/8
Pass Speed: 5/5
Pass Interceptions: 5/5
Rebound Distance: 5/5
Shot Blocking: 6/6
Puck Retention: 0/0
Puck Control: Full/0
Goalie Anticipation: 0/0
Goalie Cover Depth: 5/5
Goalie Saves: 0/0
Goalie Wraparound: Full/Full

Audio Presentation:

Menu Music Volume: Full
Menu SFX Volume: 30
Commentator Volume: Full
Announcer Volume: 30
Crowd Volume: 21
Chants Volume: Full
Arena Music Volume: 24
Arena SFX Volume: Full
Arena Horn Volume

THATS HOW YOU DO SLIDERS

# 2 Tsuki @ 10/21/15 05:02 PM

TEAM STYLES/SIGNATURE PLAYER STYLES/PLAYER SEPARATION.

^should be priority number one. It is sad that the NHL franchise will be the last to attempt to establish this into their gameplay.

Right now every player moves/shoots/checks etc the same regardless of overall. My biggest gripe is that in 2k if I attempted a triple double with brian scalebrine I would actually have problems doing so based on his animations given to him by his ratings, and in NHL I can go in with any scrub and pull a hat trick easily.

I suggest that the NHL series could be the first game to actually "hide" player overall, and just rate players on their core abilities with a GOAL of trying to re-create how each individual player actually plays. Badges like in 2k something just try something different jeez.

# 3 joshdm21 @ 10/21/15 05:26 PM

I think MLB the show sets the standard for a franchise mode...for example id love to be able to hire coaches and have there systems change how my team plays and the players I(theGM) need to have on my roster. also would like the sim stats to be more realistic. im a huge offline franchise player and the nhl16 be a gm mode is average at best.

# 4 TDKing @ 10/21/15 05:43 PM

Player separation !!! And Bring back GM connected with custom season length and league sliders. Shorter seasons for offline and online.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

# 5 AdamJones113 @ 10/21/15 06:44 PM

What an article jyoung! I sincerely hope you passed this along to the developers, because this is a fantastic list with the priorities in the right order.

What can I even add? Perhaps effective sliders and more of a community (this community's) influence. Wish I could have written something like this for my packet. I focused a little more on gameplay, but this article brought up some excellent points.

I hadn't really thought about it much, but having played a Madden CFM this year really made me pine for GM Connected. An OS GM Connected would be amazing... assuming the gameplay is improved and less robotic, which you adroitly placed before all.

Great work.

# 6 Dazraz @ 10/21/15 06:50 PM

Great list. Why are we still suffering lag on Menu Screens with today's technology. Madden is the same. Why can't EA sort. MLB The Show & NBA 2K have far more detailed Menus & they are really slick.

# 7 Simple Mathematics @ 10/21/15 10:18 PM

Absolutely fantastic article. I agree with every single point in there. EA needs to see this. Please send it to them if you haven't already.

# 8 Nickflyers @ 10/21/15 10:33 PM

100% Agreed! Allow us to customize OUR BAGMs.

Allow us to edit ANYONE's ratings during a BAGM
Allow us to CREATE OUR OWN DRAFT CLASSES(and share them) ala 2k Series
Dynamic Rivalries
Coaches(NHL 2k5 had this, geez)

Basically combine NHL's gameplay w/ 2ks Franchise mode = Happy hockey fans

# 9 Vikes1 @ 10/22/15 12:18 AM

Yep, great list!

# 10 Money99 @ 10/22/15 08:56 AM

Fantastic article Chris!
Not sure where to begin as you basically hit every nail on the head. I’m not even sure there’s anything to add really.
(The one thing I’d love to see is separate ratings for each position. Several NHLers play more than 1).

Perhaps the best way to add to this list is to simply agree and highlight the areas that I feel need the most work.
And certainly, in my mind, the biggest issue this series faces (and has faced for decades) is the lack of real player separation and differential.
Playing an 82-game season feels like playing 82 exhibition games against the same team and players.
Admittingly, I didn’t purchase NHL16 this year, but it sounds like it’s no different than NHL15, 14, 13… which I did own.

The sad part is, the list you provided has basically been the same wishlist NHL fans have been clamoring for, for over a decade now.
I don’t see it changing anytime soon.
This series is what it is. It won’t matter how many new and powerful consoles hit the market. It won’t matter how often these points are raised.
You can set your watch in what you can expect from the NHL series;
- No player separation
- Dumb AI
- No neutral zone pressure
- CPU cheats/boosts/tilt – whatever you want to call it.
- Super shallow franchise mode/options
- Limited sliders

It’s really sad to think that at one time, the NHL series outsold Madden.
Contrary to what the developers and producers believe, you CAN make a realistic hockey game and make it fun for the masses (see NHL2K5 - which outsold NHL2005).
At the very least, with the proper sliders, you should be able to provide a game that fits everyone’s tastes.
But it all starts with player separation (which affects the CPU too!!!!!) and a deep, robust and engaging Franchise mode.

# 11 jake19ny @ 10/22/15 09:12 AM

This article is spot on sadly my personal feeling is EA does not care about offline gamers nearly as much as online and HUT. The lingering offline issues, remaining bugs from last year in offline mode, lack of attention to detail in the offline modes, and the recent tuner debacle, all support my theory.

# 12 Vikes1 @ 10/22/15 09:44 AM

I agree with Money99. Imo too, NHL is what it is....take it or leave it. I'm guessing this is pretty much the way of things for possibly the next several years. On-line play seems to carry the greatness attention. Sadly, at the expense of off-line.

# 13 brandon27 @ 10/22/15 11:25 AM

Spot on writeup. I don't necessarily agree with adding Legends to the Franchise mode. I guess if it's an option, then sure. Why not?

I'd also want to see the sliders completely changed, on the 0-100 scale, broken down more like the list in a reply here previously.

Season length is a big one too. Now that the period by period sim feature is back though, I'm not too concerned, sometimes I enjoy simming through to the 3rd period, then joining the game to try and have a big comeback win or something like that.

I think NHL 16 is my last EA NHL until the AI is completely overhauled for all the reasons mentioned in this piece though. The AI's offense is the same thing over and over, and as much as they want to deny it, the ice definitely tilts at times. It's just not enjoyable to play in its current state, there's too many things that happen in hockey every shift, that aren't even close to replicated properly in the game.

To me, the AI is the biggest step to revitalizing franchise mode, simply because it will actually make people want to play through a season.

# 14 GlennN @ 10/22/15 02:13 PM

Agree completely with drastically increasing player separation. Also agree with other folks that we need to be able to edit within BeAGM, including incoming draft classes, and they need to make the sliders work better. I would add to that list, the player search feature has to come back (and improve). We need much better stat tracking (so the player card has year by year stats for the entire careers, how obtain, all-star teams made, cups and awards won, etc.).

# 15 desperado462 @ 10/22/15 02:18 PM

I agree about editing player attributes during a season. There is NO REASON to not have this. Too many times players that are a 74 in the game should be up around 78-80 by the middle of the real NHL season as they may begin to "break out" in real life. We should be able to adjust these ourselves to keep up with the real world without having to start BEAGM all over again.

# 16 DJ @ 10/22/15 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikes1


	I agree with Money99. Imo too, NHL is what it is....take it or leave it. I'm guessing this is pretty much the way of things for possibly the next several years. On-line play seems to carry the greatness attention. Sadly, at the expense of off-line.

Great article and I'm in agreement with many of the long-time posters (Money, Jake) here. And yes, Vikes, unfortunately with the NHL series, you have to choose to either accept the game for what it is or save yourself the frustration and not play it.

It's a sad truth for hockey fans and offline gamers, but we've been making these suggestions for years now and nothing changes.

# 17 JG1986 @ 10/22/15 03:08 PM

Yeah, I decided that was it for me. I'm not going to bother with the series anymore. It just is not worth the frustration; watching your skaters wander aimlessly, laggy menu screens, no customization, and awful AI. Traded it in for a used copy of MLB The Show and voila, haven't even thought about NHL since. I don't want to have this attitude about the game, but I have no choice. The entire game/staff needs to be overhauled.

# 18 ericromain @ 10/23/15 01:16 AM

I really want to play a franchise or season mode, but I want the rosters to always match real life. I hate how today you start a season and within a week the rosters are out of date, and 3 months in they're completely off.

Great article. They mode needs an online component. I hate playing AI offline, and i hate the team shallow team management of HUT. If only they could combine human opponents with the immersion of BaGM.
I agree on the menus, they are infuriatingly annoying.

I wish the stats were more detailed. I don't think they've expanded on them in a decade.

# 19 Therion7 @ 10/23/15 08:32 AM

Not displaying the Season total when your player scores a goal is horrible.

The season totals gets displayed at other times during the game if the player is highlighted so why not at the most important and interesting time? It boggles the mind. It's the bare minimum! It's Season Mode! Not 82 successive exhibition mode which is what it feels like.

Online is all about progression so why not pay a bit of attention to make offline feel like you're progressing through a real NHL season with real NHL stats being peppered into the actual game rather than lost in a sterile, clunky off-ice menu interface?

If the player who has notched a point on a play is in the top ten of points in the league, the game should be displaying a small window showing these league leaders and where that player is in it. Minimum stuff really. Wouldn't it be great to also have the records listed if you approach them? If you're not allowed to display certain player names, fine. Just show us the record stats. We'll know who achieved it!

I'm a progammer myself and all of that is so, so simple and cheap to do. It is beyond frustrating. Yes, the NHL team might be a small team but I don't think that is a valid reason to not add little touches like this that actually add so much to the game. We're talking a bit of polish here - it's a week of work for two people maximum and the biggest chunk would be where to place the thing on screen. Replace the NBC logo for a few seconds, goddamn! They don't have scores around the league, so they only have to worry about the two teams on-ice when doing a simple integer sort after a goal. Easy! Hey, I quite like the mascots but I'd have immersive stats over them any day of the week!

It's poor in 2015 to not have something like this in a league's flagship game. It's their only console game, so the NHL should be getting a bit more involved because it seems EA aren't doing too much to enhance the league's reputation by delivering a stellar title. If I didn't feel intimidated by the huge amount of controls listed for NBA 2K16 I'd give that a try because it looks so immersive. And you know what? I'm not a basketball fan right now, but I like sports games and have played basketball games in the distant past and enjoyed them. Who's to say that getting to grips with NBA2K16 wouldn't give me more of an interest in following the actual league itself? Video games can have that kind of power. It's a cruel irony that hockey delivers a pedestrian console experience.

Stat rant over.

I'm also increasingly annoyed at how you can see the ice completely and instantly clear of players for a few frames just after the final buzzer before the end of game cutscene starts. Total immersion killer. Why the game was allowed to ship with that sort of nonsense is a mystery.

QA must have picked it up and someone must have said "No, that's fine like that". It's not though. It looks absolutely amateur. Shift the camera to point at the scoreboard or something if you need to disguise what's going on. That wouldn't be too hard as the game does have a a dynamic camera system.

I love hockey, and I've loved and loathed certain years of this franchise. This year? I only like it. It could and *should* have been so much better. It should not have shipped with framerate stuttering, it should have had penalty sliders that work as expected out the box and it should have had a whole raft of offline improvements.

I get some enjoyment from playing 16 but a lack of competition is slowly killing this series. The last title I really had a great time with for months was NHL 11. Expectations were lower but I loved the custom music, had some good goal variety and the goal celebrations were better. I could forgive the samey AI and other foibles. Scoring was rewarding, player separation was easy to fix and I could freshen it up with new tunes now and again. 5 years later? Is the offline game on a new powerful console any better at all? Is it more immersive? More involving? More customisable? More rewarding?

It's none of those things. Strip the shinier graphics away and you find that the game has all of the same old problems in the AI department; foibles now magnified because as the visuals approach realism, identical behaviour becomes much easier to recognise and less forgiveable. All of this exacerbated by areas where the game really is a downgrade. That makes me a little bit sad.

# 20 Money99 @ 10/23/15 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Therion7


	If I didn't feel intimidated by the huge amount of controls listed for NBA 2K16 I'd give that a try because it looks so immersive. And you know what? I'm not a basketball fan right now, but I like sports games and have played basketball games in the distant past and enjoyed them. Who's to say that getting to grips with NBA2K16 wouldn't give me more of an interest in following the actual league itself? Video games can have that kind of power.

I can attest to this.
Like you, I'm not a huge basketball fan.
But after purchasing NBA2K12 and 13, I started watching more games, paying attention to the league and even listening to the NBA channel on XM during my commutes.

The game was so good, it made a fan out of me.
Baseball and hockey are still my main loves, but I would say I'm at least a casual NBA fan now.

Some things I'd love to see in Franchise Mode:
- wrap-up show
- out of town highlights
- Expansion/relocation
- arena modifications
- uniform alterations - even create a 3rd jersey
- BaGM includes running European teams and CHL teams.
- Getting FIRED as a coach and having to interview for a new job - which may also include having to work in Europe, AHL or CHL.
- Full stats and stat overlays showing season and career stats for players.
- 5-man celebrations
- AMPED playoff atmosphere.

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