THE OFFICIAL NHL 13 THREAD

[250Integra]

The (major) problem is not the game-play or all these new gimicks,

its the online servers and how crappy it is to be a high-ranked team in EASHL for PS3 - it literally can take up to 45mins - 2 hours to JUST find and play a game without either:

1) dodging

2) some sort of dressing room glitch

3) unable to connect to any teams

4) game freezing up / ready glitch

Even if they fix those things, there's a huge issue with lag when playing teams not in the western server (with the majority of teams in the east). Words cannot express how long my team and I have spent staring at a loading sign practically every night until we disbanded because of these issues.

Until they fix this, EA can go f*ck themselves.

[DollarAndADream]

The (major) problem is not the game-play or all these new gimicks,

its the online servers and how crappy it is to be a high-ranked team in EASHL for PS3 - it literally can take up to 45mins - 2 hours to JUST find and play a game without either:

1) dodging

2) some sort of dressing room glitch

3) unable to connect to any teams

4) game freezing up / ready glitch

Even if they fix those things, there's a huge issue with lag when playing teams not in the western server (with the majority of teams in the east). Words cannot express how long my team and I have spent staring at a loading sign practically every night until we disbanded because of these issues.

Until they fix this, EA can go f*ck themselves.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Sounds great ^^

Gonna get it since I didn't bought NHL 12.

[Pears]

The skating looks soooooooo much better and realistic.

[Strawberries]

online bagm hell yeah

[SeaBass]

I realize that the point of the game is to make money for EA Sports but every year for the past 3 years I've been disapointed when I bought the game and tried it out. I don't know how the developers cannot feel a little guilty about selling basically the same game every year. It seems like they just slap a new cover on the disc and box and ship i out.

Some of the player head shots are two to three years old. The very least they can do is upgrade those.

The create a team options also need to be expanded. I don't see what the big deal in adding more team names and logo options. Have a expansion team option. Allow users to create custom jerseys for their favorite team and use them i game. Let the user design goalie masks. Have a retired player list that has hundreds of former players that can be selected for use.

While I realize that draft rankings change from week to week, have a downloadable realistic prospect rating system for the CHL players. I'm tired of getting Yakupov, Murray, Rielly, Dumba and Ceci all in the same draft with 4th, 5th, and 6th rounders. It doesn't have to be perfect but would be a very easy upgrade.

Make the fighting more enthusiastic and not so staged. I like fighting but it gets old when every fight looks the same and the characters repeat the same actions in the cut screens every time. While your at it, change the frickin Stanley Cup presentation that you've been using for 5 + years! Make the team photo have a full team on it instead of a dozen players or so.

On BeAGM, fix the contract problems. I don't want to develop a young play for three years in the minors only to have to pay him over 3 million after never playing a game in the NHL! If a player is on the Free Agent list for weeks on end, start decreasing his salary demands quicker. This will solve the problem of players rotting away unsigned.

Basically what I'm saying is fix the presentation and give us some added features and stop trying to adjust the skating physics every year.

After seeing some of the changes they have made over the last ten years, it seems to me like most of the things I mentioned would not be that difficult to do.

Hopefully someone at EA in charge of design ideas actually reads this forum. If not, they're not doing their job.

End of rant.

[DollarAndADream]

"

EASHL, the EA SPORTS online hockey league has received a number of new improvements including the ability to choose club captains, a region based matchmaking system designed to reduce lag and the addition of procedures created to encourage users to play through a full EASHL game."

I'm really loving the addition of captains.

I wonder what these "procedures created to encourage users to play through a full EASHL game" are.

[250Integra]

"

EASHL, the EA SPORTS online hockey league has received a number of new improvements including the ability to choose club captains, a region based matchmaking system designed to reduce lag and the addition of procedures created to encourage users to play through a full EASHL game."

I'm really loving the addition of captains.

I wonder what these "procedures created to encourage users to play through a full EASHL game" are.

[Ṣpiderman]

Funny that the updates aren't really even updates. EA does it once again with new features that are already in the game or were in the past.

This is the third year where they've said "real physics". You would think they would get it right.

Region based match making already happened in NHL 12. Not even a new feature lol

[AndyBernard]

Online Be a gm so far is the only hook... That stanley cup thing is stupid and a money grab. All hut is a money grab.

[DollarAndADream]

I'll probably buy the limited edition thing just so I can get NHL 13 money so I can buy some upgrades for my EASHL guy.

[Armada]

Thank god.

NHL 12 was garbage. The AI was stupid, the gameplay was stupid and the addition of legendary players being the biggest addition made it the worst EA NHL game on current gen consoles.

This is a huge step forward, congrats EA and don't forget guys this is the first announcement, there are many to come. As of right now it looks good.

Now with all that info released, I hope presentation has been greatly improved.

On a side note, I don't understand why everyones saying "Oh they're adding something that they already had". Look at it this way, when a new console comes out those whole design of a game has to be completely changed and re-made with a whole new system, anything that was on PS2 or XBOX wasn't as good as now and I welcome these additions they brought back and improved with open arms. When it comes to a sports game like EA's NHL, they don't have as much time and resources as a big game company has just like Bethesda, Rockstar, etc... to make a game.

[Steve Carell]

"The AI will be much better this year" - said no one ever.

[RyanKeslord17]

Why don't they start by making the goalies at least half decent? Like seriously, today I was in a game, outshot the other guy 31-9.... He beats me 5-1. Absolutely brutal. And the goals he scored were literally all my goalies fault. Meanwhile, his goalie was outstanding, making save after save, doing the splits, everything. My goalie was Quick, his was Niemi. I'm pretty damn sure Niemi isn't even close to Quick.

Fix your whole game EA.

[Armada]

Why don't they start by making the goalies at least half decent? Like seriously, today I was in a game, outshot the other guy 31-9.... He beats me 5-1. Absolutely brutal. And the goals he scored were literally all my goalies fault. Meanwhile, his goalie was outstanding, making save after save, doing the splits, everything. My goalie was Quick, his was Niemi. I'm pretty damn sure Niemi isn't even close to Quick.

Fix your whole game EA.

[Pears]

Does 'updates to HUT' mean no salary cap?

[Spotted Zebra]

_{which would translate to lets watch me beat a kid who spent 60 bucks getting Hall,Stamkos , Lundqvuist, with an AHL squad}

[Armada]

_{which would translate to lets watch me beat a kid who spent 60 bucks getting Hall,Stamkos , Lundqvuist, with an AHL squad}

[Pears]

This is always fun!

[Rozzy]

NHL 13

22 Things We Know About NHL 13

A few weeks ago we had a chance to lace up our skates and take to the ice with NHL 13. Can the series regain its balance after slipping slightly last year? Here is what we learned.

GAMEPLAY

1. Previous NHL entries featured speed differentiation between players, but the developer is the first to admit the skaters lacked explosiveness. For NHL 13, EA Canada has completely reworked the skating engine, which its marketing team is dubbing True Performance Skating. This year speedy wingers like Marian Gaborik have the ability to fly by defenders. Players reach their top speed by either reaching full stride in a straightaway or by the user pressing the L3 button. Giving players control of their speed bursts allows them to time when they want to turn on the afterburners, which can be extremely advantageous when splitting defensemen or accelerating alongside the boards to avoid a check.

2. Going fast has its limitations. Players will get fatigued faster, and only elite players like Sidney Crosby are able to stickhandle and take accurate shots while skating at top speed. If you are flying down the wing as fast as your player can skate and you try to make an aggressive turn toward the net, your player may lose his footing and wipe out. The controller will give players feedback by rumbling when they are pressing too hard.

3. EA Canada conduced a study and found that NHL players glide nearly 40 percent of their time on the ice. In NHL 12, players glided less than one percent of the time. With the limitations imposed by moving at top speed, most players are better off accelerating and then using their momentum to glide into position to take a shot or make a pass. "We wanted to capture why Henrik Sedin rarely goes at his top-end speed," says producer Sean Ramjagsingh. "He's always in control and it seems like he slows down the entire flow of the game."

4. To build the new skating system, EA Canada has added over 1,000 new animations. Players will dig their skates hard into the ice when making abrupt changes in direction, and it takes them a second to gather their momentum when quickly stopping and skating in the opposite direction. You will also see skaters subtly dodge defenders who mis-time their checks.

5. Pressing and holding the left trigger activates back skating. This can be extremely useful when positioned along the blue line in the offensive zone, opening up new shooting angles. Being able to turn and skate with forwards or pivot into a back skate is also a boon on defense, but mis-timing your pivot could leave you flat footed and create an opening for an offensive player to blow past with a well-timed speed burst. In our limited time with NHL 13, this dynamic created an interesting cat and mouse game between defenders and forwards. Since you can't skate backward as fast as attacking players skate forward anymore, Knowing when to back off, when to turn and skate, when to close the gap, and when to attempt a check requires much more awareness than in past games.

6. The real-time physics introduced a couple years back are being tweaked to account for the new sense of speed and momentum on the ice and to add more fidelity. Ramjagsingh says they are starting to see more subtle behaviors like knee-on-knee collisions.

7. EA has tweaked goaltender performance to open up the five hole for more scoring opportunities.

8. For the first time in the series, goalies now have individual limb control, which introduces more save possibilities and could also result in more deflection goals off their arms and legs.

9. Last year many fans complained that the CPU didn't take enough

penalties. EA Canada plans to make this a focus this year.

EA SPORTS HOCKEY IQ

10. For several years, users have questioned the sketchy player AI. This year the development team hopes to dispel this complaint once and for all with EA Sports Hockey IQ. "This year we've invested more effort in AI than in the last three years combined in terms of effort," Ramjagsingh says.

11. The new AI system helps players understand situations as they develop on the ice and react to them accordingly. For example, thanks to the new EA Sports Hockey IQ, goalies are much more aware of situations like odd-man rushes. Before, goalies only knew where the puck was. Now, they anticipate player positioning and react realistically to 2-on-1s, 3-on-1s, and 2-on-0s. They may cheat and play more out of the net to challenge a shooter, or sit back to avoid giving a trailing player an open net. Now that they are willing to cheat, desperation saves and scrambling goaltenders are much more common.

12. EA is also working on making sure teammate AI knows what to do when you have an odd-man rush on offense. If you cross over into their lane, they will know that they should criss cross and position themselves for a scoring opportunity.

13. Part of the AI work includes making sure there is better player differentiation on the ice. Fourth liners will go into corners more aggressively and finish their checks.

14. If you're not happy how your lines are performing you can tweak their behaviors with a new set of strategy sliders. On offense, you can control your players tendencies to carry vs. dump the puck, cycle vs. shoot, skate with efficiency or energy, or go down to block shots or not. On defense, you can use the sliders to determine whether or not your defensemen should pinch or hold the line and whether they should cycle the puck or shoot. If you want to create a fourth line that dumps and chases 100 percent of the time, you now have that option.

15. When the CPU AI employs the dump and chase, it's smart enough to try different types of dumps. Their options include ringing the puck around the boards, attempting a cross-ice dump, or shooting the puck off the back wall.

16. EA has redone every single forecheck in the game so teams employ their real-life strategies. This includes aggressive or passive 1-2-2, 1-3-1, and even the 1-4 the Tampa Bay Lightning used against the Philadelphia Flyers during last year's Stanley Cup playoffs.

17. In addition to selecting your team's forecheck, you can also tweak their bias between hanging back in the neutral zone and a more aggressive

trapping game.

18. Each team has its own custom AI template to start. You can create a new system or adopt any of the 30 templates for your own team.

PRESENTATION

19. Much to the dismay of some fans, both Gary Thorne and Bill Clement return to the broadcasting booth. EA recorded commentary for the new features like True Performance Skating and some league information that will keep their comments up to date.

20. NHL 13 has a completely redone the lighting engine. New light maps replicate the look of each of the arenas in the game, and the developers also added more colored light. You will now notice light bouncing off objects and self-shadowing.

21. The developers upgraded the rendering for skates, socks, pants, jerseys, gloves, helmets, etc. so they are much more detailed. You can see the stitching in breezers, and gloves will have scuff marks. Visors also properly reflect light.

22. EA has moved away from non-interactive cutscenes. NHL 13 now uses the AI to drive the players after the whistle and the developers implemented true broadcast camera angles to capture their activity.

We saw a lot more of NHL 13, but that's all we can share right now. Look for more updates on how EA plans to improve the Be A GM mode in a couple weeks.

NHL 13 comes out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 11. For more on the game's Stanley Cup Collector's Edition, click here.