Ai players still are not able to take proper angles when defending. They target the puck carrier's back shoulder instead of correctly angling out the puck carrier. Additionally, they are way to passive and err too much on the side of "staying with their man", playing many situations like a corner in the NFL rather than a hockey player.Some examples, all on Superstar difficulty with CPU difficulty adjustment maxed:The first and second forecheckers both take an angle at the back shoulder of the puck carrier, and do not cover any passing lanes or skating lanes in the process, allowing a very easy, mindless breakout.The winger responsible for Trouba charges at his backside, taking a horrible angle, letting him walk by. All the other defensive players do nothing either, allowing Trouba to take an uncontested slapshot from the low slot.Just awful in every way. All the defending players are so passive and take such horrible angles Braden Schneider looks like McDavid playing against a Pee Wee team.These were all from the 1st period. Again, on Superstar with maxed CPU difficulty adjustment. Why bother trading or signing players in Franchise, or trying to level up your character in Be A Pro, if the game plays like this? Why would I need to get the next McDavid if my third pairing defenseman can make the same plays he can?

@NeonSkyline21 Man, when you talk about my setup, at least have the decency to see what the setup is all about….The problem with @PernellKarl027 sliders is that they just nerf skating ability without making any actual changes to AI (because you CAN'T affect AI tendencies with EA NHL's slider offerings).- First of all, every players in the NHL have been edited from almost head to toe. This is why, I work on the X version and GetThePuckOut works on the PS5 side of things. The players react and play differently. Again, it’s not just a slider set. And YES you CAN affect AI tendencies a bunch. We’ve tested this through and through in numerous Settings…At the moment we are still editing ALL forwards just so that they can be a tad more creative and miss the net on occasions when they deflect the puck. Not a SURE thing like the game is setup to be. We are aiming at a 100% ORGANIC gameplay.That goes to show you that every little details is taken into account. If you only knew how tedious and how long it takes to edit just one player… Imagine 600 or so…So yeah, your players will skate slower and be much less agile but then you're missing out on the speed of the game.- Second of all, players have been clocked with having real NHL speed. We’ve done some test with McDavid and a few other players, and they achieve the same speed as in real life. Heck, our skating speed is at 100 and the Puck Carrying speed is at 90% ! That’s the first thing I wanted was to have the speed of the real game to a Tee.Also, playing "player lock" isn't always fun.- I suggest playing Player Lock for different reasons, but I sometimes play as the whole team and plenty of guys using the Setup also and the game plays the same… I never forced anyone to play PL…Having a guy bobble a puck because he tried to skate with it isn't "fun." - I don’t know what you did or what Settings you used but this statement is so wrong 😑 You can look at all my videos and this is not true at all. Stop making false claims or assumptions… The only times guys will sometimes bobble the puck is when the puck is bouncing, like in real hockey you know…Peace ✌️

Nailed it. I, too, play offline on the hardest difficulty and have the same stuff happen. All I can do now is go into the settings and make my skating sliders lower. It’s the only way to even things out since defensive AI is nonexistent. It’s insane how easy it is to either blow straight by defensemen, OR push them into a corner and then just spin back for crease cheese.

@Jagavekov Nailed it 100%. It’s something that’s been bothering me too this entire time since the X factor launch. Even with the thread I made about the teammate and CPU AI, it’s just become so aggravating

I strongly encourage any of you that want a simulation experience to give @PernellKarl027 's slider and player setup a try. His videos are a great looking experience if that is what you desire. @BoredJason13 @Cote12

@KlariskraysNHL The videos do seem great and I’m impressed with how much work was put into it! Unfortunately, it doesn’t help how clunky and neglected franchise mode has been for a while. Nor does it work for someone like me who wants to control an entire team, with period lengths less than 15 minutes.I think what would be preferable would be if the massive multimillion dollar company would just make gameplay that more closely resembled the sport their game is supposed to simulate—especially when they charge almost a hundred dollars for it and then release it so bugged that there’s an immediate need for updates and patches.I’ll keep messing with sliders.

Offline AI is awful, makes offline modes unplayable from a hockey perspective

35 Replies

xsaw2121
New Adventurer
2 years ago
I mean in all fairness the online AI is is awful unfortunately we have a billion dollar company who can't program AI either that or they just don't care to both are options The AI has been terrible in this game since they went to the next gen on PS4 🤣 at this point you just beating a dead horse man they're not going to do anything about it they haven't done anything about it and I don't expect them to at this point
f2l4k99eqj12
New Rookie
2 years ago
I think the thing I am most disappointed about in this years game is that it is becoming obvious they are adding things for the sake of adding things in order to advertise they have made additions to the game. It does not appear they have any goal of making this a realistic hockey game. That is fine if that is the case but my hope has always been that was the goal. I think this might be the first year I am playing this game and I say to myself, they are not making this game for you any more. The goal celebrations, the x-factor, the pressure meter, etc. None of these make the game better. None make the game more like real hockey. I think I will just have to accept that the hockey video game era might just be over for me. From 2009-2014 I feel like they were on the right track. I am just not sure about the direction the game is going any more.
Jagavekov
2 years ago
@Sega82mega wrote:
HI (Human intelligence ) is still superior AI.

And I guess it need to be that way, how fun would it be If the AI swept the floor with us.

But maybe its not asking too much, to both have a smart AI that act as humanly possible and also find ways to get around the AI and win games.

I guess our expectations on AI gets higher the better it gets.

I can swear if you place AI side by side from the NHL 14, you would see a huge diffrent, but to follow it this close from year to year dosent make the progress as clear and impressive as if you look at it over time.

But ofc im not gonna bash down a thread like this, thoose videos from TS is a good example were the AI could develop their hockey sense to something better.
Humans still have advantages over AI in some ways, but some of the things I am talking about here, computers are actually BETTER than humans and have been for a long time. Calculating the trajectory of something based on speed and direction is better done by computers than humans. This was the case for the way that bots aimed the rocket launcher in Quake or Unreal Tournament 25 years ago. They calculated where you were going, and shot the rocket there. I'm pretty sure on the highest difficulties they could be perfect with their aim.
Calculating where a player with the puck is skating and taking an appropriate angle at them to not let them get by you is the same thing. 25 years later, with far better technology. It is inexcusable that the NHL AI is not better at this. Same thing for CPU D-men judging gaps, they either back in and allow easy zone entries or get caught flat footed (doesn't help that it seems like everyone skates faster with the puck but that is a different issue).
If bots in FPS games from 25 years ago can aim Rocket Launchers perfectly, EA Sports can have CPU AI players take better angles now.
SemiUsual
2 years ago
I don't remember if there's been an NHL where the defence was actually good, though.
BoredJason13
Seasoned Veteran
2 years ago
@SemiUsual I feel like 20 was the last time it was average at best. But 20 was also the last time it felt like everything worked and you could live with the dumbassery of the small stuff

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Offline AI is awful, makes offline modes unplayable from a hockey perspective

35 Replies

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