romagnoli
Misses Retri
- 7 August 2004
Maybe I need to get out more, but...
Given the amount of criticism people are directing at FIFA 10 at the moment (most of which IMO is out of frustration at how brilliant certain aspects are while others are still lacking), I really do think we should knock up a collaborative piece of some sort which explains exactly how FIFA should fundamentally change the in-game mechanics so that (a) assisted games aren't ping pong fests, (b) through balls aren't perfect, (c) dribbling in single player is as effective as in multiplayer, (d)casuals and hardcore players alike can defend without having to spam the pressure buttons and (e) shooting has that level of variety you got in PES 5 (ignoring Adriano).
Forget bugs for the moment, and forget any features or modes (except single and multiplayer/online) - I'm talking on-the-pitch, deliberate design choices.
An awful lot of the little/big issues we want to see changed are intrinsically related - lobs are prevalent because keepers are so good at saving normal shots because shots are generally weak because creating shooting opportunities is easy because passing is child's play because dribbling is so hard because pressuring is so easy because the defensive AI is quite passive because physicality is so important because players have perfect control etc etc.
EA can't just change one thing slightly without the balance of the rest of the game being affected. Consequently we can't say "EA just need to stop ping pong passing", or "EA need to improve the crappy AI". If, for all the posts we make about it, we actually want something done then we need to look at the whole picture and how to improve the balance of everything after making little changes like this. If we suggest one or two focussed fixes then EA will tweak to improve that area but other aspects will remain unchanged or imbalanced and we'll have a new exploit/pet hate come to the fore.
We can't just say "all manual is far more realistic, let assisted noobs have their scripted cheap wins" because then manual controls will continue to be marginalised and less effective than assisted controls rather than getting the attention and recognition they deserve. We can't say "manual controls are unrealistic because they don't take stats into account as much, I'll keep assisted thanks very much" because assisted isn't very stats-centric either - everyone seems to pass and control the ball pretty damn well in my experience.
Next year's edition is in the best position of all FIFAs to implement a far more balanced gameplay system - all the tools we need are in place. The animation system is untouchable; there are more skills and tricks than most people will think to use in a single match; 360 dribbling is in and already damn good for a first attempt; a new dynamic lighting system (so all stadia can have night/day/dusk!!) would be great but that can be left to the artists; Manager Mode would stand to benefit a lot from making the gameplay more realisic and varied, and any off-the-field concerns are down to Marcel Kuhn to work on separately to on-the-field play (and he's got a hell of a lot to prove).
All gameplay changes that we crave, that would slow the game down and give teams that individuality we need, can work within these existing tools. Supposing EA let us, as a forum of bloody geniuses, have the keys to all the little sliders and switches behind the scenes that control every aspect of what the AI thinks, how the players move, and what the ball does when struck. What would the absolute perfect setup be that would work across assisted, semi and manual? How do you make West Ham play like West Ham, Tranmere play like Tranmere, Bolton play like Bolton, Barcelona play like Barcelona, and Juve play like Juve, while still allowing for a giant killing scenario?
Chris is an excellent contact for passing on the end product of this sort of thing as we've seen with the Emirates playtest and the MM buglist, and I think we have a really good spread of knowledge across the control settings here. I think between us we could cut through the thousands of inane bullshit posts on the official FIFA forums and give EA the right guidance to create the game that the hype implied this year. Rather than venting every time we spot something that's wrong, why not actually explain what is wrong and what would be right, and what effect that would have on the game when playing noobs/exploiters/the CPU. The end result, in my opinion, should be that we balance the game so that assisted, semi and manual players love the game and can compete against each other at long bloody last.
Ok, now cross out the Maybe at the top.
I may say one or two contentious things in here as far as you're concerned; go with it or humour me, rather than derail the thread! I may have got something wrong in your opinion but it still took fucking ages to type so give me that at least!
Given the amount of criticism people are directing at FIFA 10 at the moment (most of which IMO is out of frustration at how brilliant certain aspects are while others are still lacking), I really do think we should knock up a collaborative piece of some sort which explains exactly how FIFA should fundamentally change the in-game mechanics so that (a) assisted games aren't ping pong fests, (b) through balls aren't perfect, (c) dribbling in single player is as effective as in multiplayer, (d)casuals and hardcore players alike can defend without having to spam the pressure buttons and (e) shooting has that level of variety you got in PES 5 (ignoring Adriano).
Forget bugs for the moment, and forget any features or modes (except single and multiplayer/online) - I'm talking on-the-pitch, deliberate design choices.
An awful lot of the little/big issues we want to see changed are intrinsically related - lobs are prevalent because keepers are so good at saving normal shots because shots are generally weak because creating shooting opportunities is easy because passing is child's play because dribbling is so hard because pressuring is so easy because the defensive AI is quite passive because physicality is so important because players have perfect control etc etc.
EA can't just change one thing slightly without the balance of the rest of the game being affected. Consequently we can't say "EA just need to stop ping pong passing", or "EA need to improve the crappy AI". If, for all the posts we make about it, we actually want something done then we need to look at the whole picture and how to improve the balance of everything after making little changes like this. If we suggest one or two focussed fixes then EA will tweak to improve that area but other aspects will remain unchanged or imbalanced and we'll have a new exploit/pet hate come to the fore.
We can't just say "all manual is far more realistic, let assisted noobs have their scripted cheap wins" because then manual controls will continue to be marginalised and less effective than assisted controls rather than getting the attention and recognition they deserve. We can't say "manual controls are unrealistic because they don't take stats into account as much, I'll keep assisted thanks very much" because assisted isn't very stats-centric either - everyone seems to pass and control the ball pretty damn well in my experience.
Next year's edition is in the best position of all FIFAs to implement a far more balanced gameplay system - all the tools we need are in place. The animation system is untouchable; there are more skills and tricks than most people will think to use in a single match; 360 dribbling is in and already damn good for a first attempt; a new dynamic lighting system (so all stadia can have night/day/dusk!!) would be great but that can be left to the artists; Manager Mode would stand to benefit a lot from making the gameplay more realisic and varied, and any off-the-field concerns are down to Marcel Kuhn to work on separately to on-the-field play (and he's got a hell of a lot to prove).
All gameplay changes that we crave, that would slow the game down and give teams that individuality we need, can work within these existing tools. Supposing EA let us, as a forum of bloody geniuses, have the keys to all the little sliders and switches behind the scenes that control every aspect of what the AI thinks, how the players move, and what the ball does when struck. What would the absolute perfect setup be that would work across assisted, semi and manual? How do you make West Ham play like West Ham, Tranmere play like Tranmere, Bolton play like Bolton, Barcelona play like Barcelona, and Juve play like Juve, while still allowing for a giant killing scenario?
Chris is an excellent contact for passing on the end product of this sort of thing as we've seen with the Emirates playtest and the MM buglist, and I think we have a really good spread of knowledge across the control settings here. I think between us we could cut through the thousands of inane bullshit posts on the official FIFA forums and give EA the right guidance to create the game that the hype implied this year. Rather than venting every time we spot something that's wrong, why not actually explain what is wrong and what would be right, and what effect that would have on the game when playing noobs/exploiters/the CPU. The end result, in my opinion, should be that we balance the game so that assisted, semi and manual players love the game and can compete against each other at long bloody last.
Ok, now cross out the Maybe at the top.
I may say one or two contentious things in here as far as you're concerned; go with it or humour me, rather than derail the thread! I may have got something wrong in your opinion but it still took fucking ages to type so give me that at least!
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