Producer blogs on NHL 08 improved gameplay
And just to settle the score against the competition, EA Sports‘ NHL 08 (for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) producer David Littman recently made a blog entry for the next hockey sports title and passed new gameplay features and improvements that players might be interested to know. And according to him, from now until shipment, fans of the game can keep checking blogged updates on new developments.
But first, let’s see what EA Sports has in store for the new hockey successor to NHL 07, featuring cover athlete Eric “Gunner” Staal this time around. Littman pointed out that all the NHL 07 skating issues have been addressed and that players should have complete, 100% control over each of their players.
“Overall, our goal is to create the tools and the brain of an NHL player, input them into our game, and then leave the rest to you,” blogged Littman. So expect brief flicks on control sticks should equate to a precise unique reaction on a player in the game, like a 10% tap in one direction should reflect a player zipping in that location in 10% speed accordingly.
And how about stopping to line up the right pass or shot? That’s been improved, too. In any case, the length of time it takes for you to tap the stick on your gamepad, the controlled man will take that long to stop. A simple tap backwards makes a brief controlled halt, and tapping back forward again will cause your player to skirt in that direction again.
And skating has also been improved to the point that animation and gameplay mechanics become more practical and realistic. Teammates on the defense positions will now keep to the blue lines, facing their upper torso toward the puck so that they’re always ready to receive a pass from the puckhandler.
Cross-over turns are now just controlled by a genuine, quick roll of the stick, if you want to skirt behind the goal for example to clear up a newly retrieved puck for a new offensive dash toward the opponent’s end. He also adds that it keeps player’s speeds up while allowing them to change direction.
Skill Stick features in NHL 07 have been further developed to practical levels in NHL 08, and the team behind NHL 08 will also be addressing goals trickling past the goalie and new team-based AI. More on that once they come in.
Via EA Sports
And just to settle the score against the competition, EA Sports‘ NHL 08 (for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) producer David Littman recently made a blog entry for the next hockey sports title and passed new gameplay features and improvements that players might be interested to know. And according to him, from now until shipment, fans of the game can keep checking blogged updates on new developments.
But first, let’s see what EA Sports has in store for the new hockey successor to NHL 07, featuring cover athlete Eric “Gunner” Staal this time around. Littman pointed out that all the NHL 07 skating issues have been addressed and that players should have complete, 100% control over each of their players.
“Overall, our goal is to create the tools and the brain of an NHL player, input them into our game, and then leave the rest to you,” blogged Littman. So expect brief flicks on control sticks should equate to a precise unique reaction on a player in the game, like a 10% tap in one direction should reflect a player zipping in that location in 10% speed accordingly.
And how about stopping to line up the right pass or shot? That’s been improved, too. In any case, the length of time it takes for you to tap the stick on your gamepad, the controlled man will take that long to stop. A simple tap backwards makes a brief controlled halt, and tapping back forward again will cause your player to skirt in that direction again.
And skating has also been improved to the point that animation and gameplay mechanics become more practical and realistic. Teammates on the defense positions will now keep to the blue lines, facing their upper torso toward the puck so that they’re always ready to receive a pass from the puckhandler.
Cross-over turns are now just controlled by a genuine, quick roll of the stick, if you want to skirt behind the goal for example to clear up a newly retrieved puck for a new offensive dash toward the opponent’s end. He also adds that it keeps player’s speeds up while allowing them to change direction.
Skill Stick features in NHL 07 have been further developed to practical levels in NHL 08, and the team behind NHL 08 will also be addressing goals trickling past the goalie and new team-based AI. More on that once they come in.
Via EA Sports