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THE OFFICIAL NHL 13 THREAD


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I would like to see EA incorporate actual standup style animations for goaltenders. I think we're all aware standup goaltending is far different from butterfly goaltending, yet the game offers only the butterfly with "style differences" being merely variations in the player's attributes.

It would be tremendous to see certain retired goaltenders appear in this game playing as they did during their careers. To see Kirk McLean kicking at pucks and shuffling from side to side would be extraordinary.

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Inside Look: Brodeur’s Authentic Mask in NHL 13:

It started at E3. In Los Angeles for the Stanley Cup Finals and excited about
NHL 13
, the Brodeur family made their way into the Los Angeles Convention Center to get their hands on the game.

brodeurfamily.JPG

Martin’s older brother Denis Jr. on the left, his three sons on the right

After Denis Jr. watched his nephews play a few games of
NHL 13
against Producer Andy Agostini, he seemed puzzled. He told Andy that the game looked great and he was really excited for it, but he asked why his brother’s mask didn’t match his mask in real life.

brodeur_01.jpg

Front view of Martin Brodeur’s authentic mask in NHL 13

The conversation that followed went something like this:

Andy: Well it’s not possible to include every goalie’s authentic mask in the game because these masks require licensing deals to secure the rights and those rights are usually held by the artist who created the mask, not the goalie.

Denis Jr.: Uhhh, Andy…Marty owns the rights to his own mask design. He made sure of it when we worked with the artist.

Andy: Really?

Denis Jr.: Ya. So that means you can get Marty’s authentic mask in-game right? We want it in game.

Andy: Well, can you get me some reference shots so we can build it?

Denis Jr.: 100%

brodeur_02.jpg

Side view of Martin Brodeur’s authentic mask in NHL 13

Let’s be honest, Marty’s mask looks sick and we’re really excited to have it in
NHL 13
. That being said, we get it and understand that as a hockey fan, you want to see your favorite goalie’s authentic mask included in-game as well. So why can’t we include every NHL goalie’s mask?

brodeur_03.jpg

Eye-level view of Martin Brodeur’s authentic mask in NHL 13

Who owns the likeness rights to a goalie’s mask?

It usually depends. Mostly it’s the artist, sometimes as in Brodeur’s case, the goalie themselves own the rights. So I bet we can guess your next question.

So why not just cut a licensing deal with the artist for the rights to include the mask in-game?

Well there are bunch of reasons, but here’s what it most often comes down to:

Often, the artist has used imagery that is fine to use in an artistic manner, but not for a licensed product. For example,
features Lionel Messi and Ned Flanders from the Simpson. The fact that licensed imagery is included in the design would prevent us from ever being able to recreate the mask in-game.

http://www.easports....-mask-in-nhl-13

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Inside Look: Brodeur’s Authentic Mask in NHL 13:

It started at E3. In Los Angeles for the Stanley Cup Finals and excited about
NHL 13
, the Brodeur family made their way into the Los Angeles Convention Center to get their hands on the game.

brodeurfamily.JPG

Martin’s older brother Denis Jr. on the left, his three sons on the right

After Denis Jr. watched his nephews play a few games of
NHL 13
against Producer Andy Agostini, he seemed puzzled. He told Andy that the game looked great and he was really excited for it, but he asked why his brother’s mask didn’t match his mask in real life.

brodeur_01.jpg

Front view of Martin Brodeur’s authentic mask in NHL 13

The conversation that followed went something like this:

Andy: Well it’s not possible to include every goalie’s authentic mask in the game because these masks require licensing deals to secure the rights and those rights are usually held by the artist who created the mask, not the goalie.

Denis Jr.: Uhhh, Andy…Marty owns the rights to his own mask design. He made sure of it when we worked with the artist.

Andy: Really?

Denis Jr.: Ya. So that means you can get Marty’s authentic mask in-game right? We want it in game.

Andy: Well, can you get me some reference shots so we can build it?

Denis Jr.: 100%

brodeur_02.jpg

Side view of Martin Brodeur’s authentic mask in NHL 13

Let’s be honest, Marty’s mask looks sick and we’re really excited to have it in
NHL 13
. That being said, we get it and understand that as a hockey fan, you want to see your favorite goalie’s authentic mask included in-game as well. So why can’t we include every NHL goalie’s mask?

brodeur_03.jpg

Eye-level view of Martin Brodeur’s authentic mask in NHL 13

Who owns the likeness rights to a goalie’s mask?

It usually depends. Mostly it’s the artist, sometimes as in Brodeur’s case, the goalie themselves own the rights. So I bet we can guess your next question.

So why not just cut a licensing deal with the artist for the rights to include the mask in-game?

Well there are bunch of reasons, but here’s what it most often comes down to:

Often, the artist has used imagery that is fine to use in an artistic manner, but not for a licensed product. For example,
features Lionel Messi and Ned Flanders from the Simpson. The fact that licensed imagery is included in the design would prevent us from ever being able to recreate the mask in-game.

http://www.easports....-mask-in-nhl-13

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More about Presentation Overhaul – NHL 13:

The
EA SPORTS NHL
team development team has been working hard to deliver major innovations that will change the way you play the game, such as
,
,
,
and many more.

Presentation elements are as important to bringing an authentic hockey experience to your favorite console as gameplay. In
NHL 13
, we wanted to make sure the presentation overhaul matched the gameplay overhaul we’d undertaken this year. From lighting, to stadiums, to player models, our goal was to ensure that the game looks as good as it feels.

NHL13_PIT_MIN_Crosby_stop3_WM_resize.jpg

Dynamic Skate Spray

Graphics

Shadows have been completely redone this year as we’ve modeled the stadium lights after their real-world counterparts. What that means is that players can now cast shadows on other players on the ice, something that we’ve never had in the series before.

Anyone who’s been on the ice in an arena knows that the overhead lights don’t just make you cast one shadow, but multiple shadows an element we’ve brought into the game this year with the angle of the shadows determined by the positioning of the overhead lights in relationship to the player. This also more accurately simulates how shadows interact with the ice surface.

Lastly the way players’ facial features shadow themselves has been greatly improved this year, becoming much more accurate. Character shading has also been completely rewritten for
NHL 13
. Lighting better simulates indirect and ambient light.

New bounce maps simplify and improve the way that we’ve been able to create realistic lighting effects by mimicking bounced light from ice surface on to players. For example when a player crosses the red line you’ll be able to see light and colour transference from the ice to the player’s skates and socks.

All of these lighting calculations are performed in linear HDR (high dynamic range) space. This dynamic range exceeds the range of what current TVs can currently display (without dynamic range exposure), so we’re lighting for the future of your living room.

The team also added what’s called SSG (Sub-Surface Glow) lighting effects. This simulates how light looks when it passes through skin such as players’ ears and noses.

There are also all new HDR reflection cubemaps, a fancy way of describing how the enviroments are reflected on players’ helmets and visors. To capture all of this detail the development team went to the home of the Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena with a special 360 degree camera to capture images. This allowed them to better model reflections in
NHL 13
.

A lot of post special effects have been added or reworked this year as well. These include:

· Film grain

· Dynamic colour cube – Filmic colour grading of final renders

· Camera Motion Blur

· Exponential fog – Adds atmosphere and depth to environments

The arenas in the game have been upgraded this year with improvements to:

· Lighting – from the ice surface to the nose bleed seats lighting ins now better simulated in all environments.

· Coverage Maps – Players, equipment, nets, particle effects and other things that fall inside the shadowed areas of the playing surface will appeared to be shadowed.

· More accurate dynamic ice wear – Ice will only show signs of wear in areas that players have actually skated.

Skate Spray

True Performance Skating changed the way we animated our skaters. With those changes in animation we also reworked skate spray this year adding procedural skate spray. This means that skate spray in based on velocity, angle, and relative direction of skate movement to the player.

Skate spray also now sticks to players, goalies, boards and the glass.

NHL13_OTT_Karlsson1_WM_resize.jpg

Animated power rings can be seen in the background

Power Rings

The arena power rings have also been overhauled adding:

· Full animation

· Context – PowerRings now react to situations such as Home Goals, Home/Away Powerplays, Home Wins and more.

· Lighting – the light cast from Power Rings now affects the lighting of elements around them. They also more closely simulate real-world LED screens.

One thing we’ve learned over the years is that while making a game that feels like hockey to those people who play it is important, more people experience the game by watching their favorite team on television than actually lace up skates on a regular basis.

With that in mind, we wanted to make the game feel much more like you were experiencing it as a television broadcast which is why we worked on a New Broadcast Presentation.

This year we are moving away from using traditional canned cut scenes and we ensured that between plays we were to cutting in on the real time action.

This means we’ve added AI Driven Post Whistle elements which include:

· Players are now where they are on the actual ice, which adds continuity to all post whistles scenes.

· Broadcast cuts to realistic broadcast camera angles.

· Players now react in real time to events. You’ll see players looking up at the scoreboard to see a replay, grimacing in pain after being hit or adjusting a pad after delivering their own bone crunching body check.

NHL 13
also includes a new gameplay camera the True Broadcast Camera which replicates a real world broadcast camera. Unlike the Broadcast camera, the True Broadcast camera is anchored in place and moves, swivels and zooms like to better simulate hockey coverage on television. Users can also now select multiple gameplay cameras as their shootout and penalty shot camera.

We’ve also adding new touches to the commentary adding:

· Replay Analysis

· Updated core commentary

· The commentary team will also interrupt what they’re saying to talk about big moments such as great saves or big hits

Replays

Replays now get stronger, more accurate analysis which means that the game will now:

· Choose the correct highlights to show, even if it’s been a long time between whistles the team will be able to focus on the best play within that sequence.

· Players featured in the replay are highlighted in real time after the whistle.

· Commentary speaks to the highlights with specific detail.

Making sure that during replays the cameras match what you’d see in a real broadcast was also important. For that reason we’ve added a Net Cam angle as well the replays will use a goal line camera and a new camera motion that will track and zoom the action like a real camera operator would.

Also added are new highlight packages to highlight things like:

· Team Packages: Missed Opportunities, Team Hits, Team Breakaways

· Player Packages: Multiple Assist Night, Blocked Shots, One Timers, Point Shots, Net Presence

The between period and post-game flow of the broadcast has also been changed with new highlight packages as well as the commentary team recapping a final highlight in detail while explaining how that play impacted the period or game.

Winter Classic

The Winter Classic Returns to
NHL 13
as we add the 2012 Winter Classic which saw the Philadelphia Flyers face the New York Rangers.

Showing off a number of element effects the Winter Classic looks beautiful. The venue is in sunny conditions, a contrast with the night in the snow at Heinz Field from
NHL 12
(which is also included in
NHL 13
). It also features authentic Winter Classic uniforms, coach attire, fan clothing and props.

New Front End

The development team also reworked the menus to more closely mimic a real world sports broadcast.

kline-image17.jpg

This includes the ability to dynamically update the menus with video content throughout the year including highlights and real NHL footage.

When you first boot up
NHL 13
, you’ll be asked to select your favorite NHL team. This will customize your menus and other aspects of the game. You’ll be able to follow along with your team’s actual real world schedule as your team’s next opponent will show up in the front end and will also update as the default game in Play Now.

kline-image14.jpg

Your favorite team will now be be selected by default in many game modes. Pick the wrong team? Don’t worry, you can still change it in the My NHL Menu.

Making the game look as much like the hockey you know and love is just as important as making sure gameplay feels right. Even the small things that you might not notice at first go a long way to making
NHL 13
the closest thing to real hockey without actually needing to learn how to skate.

http://www.easports....overhaul-nhl-13

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