REAL Total Control (Not Arcade)
[Update (1/23/24)] Towards the bottom of this post, you will see my original post that I posted a few months ago (it may be worthwhile to first start your reading down at my original post). Since...
Forum Discussion
What do you think about the user having full control of the stick at all times, meaning that they would be responsible for getting their stick in position for puck pickups and pass receptions?
Maybe one of the shoulder buttons is a pickup/receive pass button and you hold that down and move it to where the puck is. Based on your player's attributes, you get more/less forgiveness with how close you are to the puck.
To me, that seems like a true next-gen evolution of the skill stick. Fighting for possession of the puck would actually be fun, rather than now, where it is hoping your player's attributes to make them go into the puck pickup animation better than your opponent's.
Is this too ambitious? Is it too involved for more casual players? I think it might be fun for them too, especially with settings to allow the mechanics to be more forgiving based on difficulty level or whatever.
@Jagavekov
Don't take this as an offense please.
But it's one of those idea that sound great on paper but would probably translate terribly in game. Just look for example at how hard it is to time perfectly manual one timer and yet all we have to do is swing back and forth on the right stick. Almost nobody use it, it's not worth it, you just swing the air most of the times. At the pace the gameplay is, it would be extremely hard positioning your stick with pinpoint precision to catch a pass unless there's still a pretty good pass reception assistance. If simply catching up a pass become too much of a challenge, poeples are going to lose interest. Gotta remember this is not a full blown simulation Microsoft style, it's just a videogame to have fun on a sport we love.
Don't get me wrong, Adding a few things that require skills, okay...but the game need to stay accessible for as many as they can too. I don't think pass reception is the right target to add skill based elements.
Puck pick up on loose puck though, now there's maybe something to do with it and your idea sound more fit to this.
That's just my opinion btw, nothing more nothing less.
@Tigidooh wrote:@Jagavekov
Don't take this as an offense please.
But it's one of those idea that sound great on paper but would probably translate terribly in game. Just look for example at how hard it is to time perfectly manual one timer and yet all we have to do is swing back and forth on the right stick. Almost nobody use it, it's not worth it, you just swing the air most of the times. At the pace the gameplay is, it would be extremely hard positioning your stick with pinpoint precision to catch a pass unless there's still a pretty good pass reception assistance. If simply catching up a pass become too much of a challenge, poeples are going to lose interest. Gotta remember this is not a full blown simulation Microsoft style, it's just a videogame to have fun on a sport we love.
Don't get me wrong, Adding a few things that require skills, okay...but the game need to stay accessible for as many as they can too. I don't think pass reception is the right target to add skill based elements.
Puck pick up on loose puck though, now there's maybe something to do with it and your idea sound more fit to this.
That's just my opinion btw, nothing more nothing less.There would certainly still need to be assistance in picking up a puck. But also, if such technical skills were available, the gameplay could be slowed down to more realistic speeds which would make it more manageable to position the stick appropriately.
I really appreciate the time, thought, and effort that you put into this, OP. You did a really good job of working this out.
That said, I don't think such deep controls belong in a game like EA's NHL. I think this is too complicated for a few reasons and would absolutely alienate players of which there are already very few of. For one thing, any control scheme that requires either a pro/elite controller or the use of the "claw grip" is likely a non-starter for EA. You can't expect your playerbase to adopt an entirely new way of holding the controller and you certainly can't expect them to be using any controller type other than the one that comes with the console.
That said, I feel like this would be right at home in a true hockey simulation-style game if one were to ever be made. Think of it like this (for all you skateboarders out there): your control scheme is like the skate game "Session" vs. the classic "Tony Hawk" games. Or even if you look at EA NHL as more equivalent to EA's Skate games, your "Session-style" control scheme is still way more complex than that.
Again, I really appreciate the document you made and the thought you put into this. I'm sure it would be a revolutionary way to play virtual hockey.
Yes exactly! I like the way you think.
This is exactly what I’m looking for with the new Defense controller layout that I’m proposing; take another deep look at the diagram. It’s the main reason I started this whole idea in the first place.
Actually, the “Defense” layout could be called the “Without Puck” layout. Whether or not you’re on offense or defense, if you don’t have the puck, the Skill Stick is used entirely to control your hockey stick.
However, you wouldn’t need a shoulder button to pickup/receive, you simply need to have your stick in the correct position. As @Tigidooh mentions, it would be necessary to have a lot of assistance receiving the pass (otherwise it could get too sloppy out there). But, like you said, “Based on your player's attributes, you get more/less forgiveness with how close you are to the puck”.
(Something would have to be done to my new control layout to include one-timers. Maybe this is when, as a person without the puck in your offensive zone, you’d have to hold LB to activate one-time shots on the Skill Stick. Because otherwise, pushing forward on the Skill Stick would just put your stick out in front of the player which would be useless. )I don’t think this is too ambitious. In fact I think it’s what the game is missing. And, ultimately, the game should simply offer more modes of play from “Pure Arcade” to “Pure Simulation” with tiers in between.
@ssoliz91
--the game should simply offer more modes of play from “Pure Arcade” to “Pure Simulation” with tiers in between.--
Now I will sound like the guy that only has negative thoughts on everything lol 😅 ...Actually, it's both, positive and negative...
Pure Arcade and Pure Simulation modes are actually an awesome idea but there's a real problem that come with this....the size of the nhl community. Spliting the community in half once more would be pretty hard to take. Now you have to imagine most of the modes we have now...and double that. I can already hear the crickets singing in the lobbies and the search time doubling or more. The outcry would be huge.
In other hand, it could be a great addition to solo mode or versus mode such as HUT.
Maybe if the game was only on one generation and the entire community altogether, it could work out...but until then, I'm not so sure. You would be best working out a well balanced in-between arcade-simulation close to what you get now.Fair enough; it is a small community relatively speaking.
Here’s a wild idea:
What if they stopped releasing a game year by year and simply made one game/app that perpetually updated and evolved. So it wouldn’t be called NHL 24, 25, 26, etc., it would simply be called NHL. And instead of paying a one-time fee every year, you pay a monthly fee of $5 (USD) which would come out to $60/yr.
- This would keep the entire community inside one game/app making online matchmaking so much better.
- It would also be a good way to attract new players, as it wouldn’t be such a heavy financial commitment to try out the game for the first time.
- It would also remove the headache of every year losing progress and needing to start over in whatever mode you play.
- Of course they could always generate more money with in-game purchases for the next level of customization that people like in games like Call of Duty.
- If you want, you can always use old rosters from years prior when playing with your favorite teams offline or in Online Versus.
