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FIFA 12

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J-Mc-:
Yes it's a bit premature, but I've just found an article with quotes from David Rutter about some of the changes in the new game.

Set pieces are getting a complete over-haul aswell and it looks like quick throw-ins may be included into the game!

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EA Sports is hard at work on FIFA 12, and has detailed some of the improvements you can expect to see when the game releases later this year.

Despite huge critical celebration of FIFA 11, EA Canada producer (and Brit ex-pat) David Rutter has promised that the studio isn't resting on its laurels for the next game in the series.

The producer told the latest issue of OPM UK that EA has an "enormous shopping list" of improvements it wishes to make in its new game - and specified a few areas that the studio's already working on.

"I think we did a great job with the Personality Plus feature [in FIFA 11," he said, "but the the teams [AI] doesn't support that quite as much as it should.

"As an example, a team doesn't spot that if Peter Crouch in the area, they can lay a load of high balls onto his head."

Rutter also revealed that set pieces are getting a complete overhaul, and that EA isn't happy with interruptive in-game loading screens.

"Set-pieces are still a bit lame," he candidly admitted. "I get frustrated by not being able to do quick throw-ins, not being able to quickly select my free-kick takers, on the fly stuff. We're somewhat last-gen in the way the game cuts [before those things]."

Rutter also commented on where the FIFA series is headed in more thematic terms - addressing the developer's wish to add more "soul" into proceedings.

"Those moments where you take one [player] tp his old club and the boo boys come out, or his old team are more aggressive in the tackle towards him. SO you think: 'Wow! FIFA understands not just the game of football, but the sport and passion behind it'."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/284890/news/fifa-12-ea-details-improved-ai-set-pieces/

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FIFA 11 has sold over three million copies in the UK alone - out performing its nearest rival, PES, by almost 10:1.

We caught up with FIFA Creative Director Gary Paterson, Scottish ex-pat and Aberdeen fan, to learn about how EA approached FIFA 11, where they felt it succeeded - or failed - and what lessons can be learned for the inevitable announcement of FIFA 12, with expectations higher than ever...

Have you been surprised by the success of FIFA 11?

I don't know about surprised, but we were definitely nervous following FIFA 10. When you're on top it's a different challenge, and I think it's going to stay that way.

We purposefully went a little bit more hardcore - trying to get (players) to think about how you play. But then there's the silent majority who probably just want to pick it up, play, and have fun, and I think some of the reviews reflected that.

Did reviewers get what it was trying to do?

Some did, some didn't. I think our feature execution was strong, but not enough for some. That's the challenge. The features were there to alleviate the hardcore players' concerns, but we couldn't go far enough - not as far as we wanted - because we didn't want to alienate the vast majority.

How do we get around this?

We worked quite closely with the community last year, and 35 or so of them came here last April to play early versions of the game, and give feedback.

They email us back and forth, we're on the forums speaking to them. We're trying to go as far as we can in the direction they're looking for. But the vast majority want to fulfill football dreams.

Say Arsenal got beat 3-2 by Tottenham - you might want to reverse that scoreline. You don't want to sit there and learn how to play for ten hours before you can suss it out.

What were the hardcore players' main concerns?

The two main areas - bar bugs and minor exploits, which we're on top of - are what they call 'ping-pong' passing, and high pressure. So if you play online a lot - the really good players will pass, pass, pass and when they defend, they'll just be high pressure and sprinting at you the whole time.

So the pressure's too strong, fatigue isn't strong enough, passing is too easy. We changed the fatigue model and I think we've got some success, but not as much as the hardcore want.

We also added pro-passing with more contextual error and attribute affects. We made some progress, but some ideas didn't make it. Like changing defending to be less easy, and more tactical. Again, we have to make a game for everyone. That's the challenge for us.

How have people reacted to the Personality Plus system?

Mixed. I think some people saw the value, other people - especially the hardcore - wanted us to go further.

I think with Personality Plus we could have backed it up with more visual cues for what we're doing because there's a lot of stuff that happens under the hood.

We had a database during development that listed all the effects of all the attributes, and it was really, really long - I think the visual cues, or maybe the commentary cues, just wasn't there. We needed that to convince more people that it was actually doing something.

So how do you 'fix' it?

You could have Andy Gray comment on something you did, like, 'he was obviously trying to find that hole but...' for a through ball or killer pass that went awry.

We could also use replays - show some information about what was supposed to happen and how that went wrong. It's a tricky one, but that's the one area I think PES gets the benefit of the doubt, and we don't tend to.

The challenge is we've got almost 700 teams. There's a vast gambit of attributes that we have to deal with compared to PES. And so sometimes those affects will be subtler than they appear in PES but the attribute range is greater for us.

How does the critical and commercial success shape your thinking for FIFA 12?

It's a huge challenge. Do we change it up? Fundamentally change how you defend? Or shoot or pass?

This year we might have 8.5 million users or so who know what they're playing and they enjoy that.

If we mix it up and say 'there is no pressure button', how are people going to be able to defend?

How can you add to the atmosphere in career mode?

I feel like gameplay's getting harder and harder to improve on... and I think 'match day atmosphere' is something we need to invest in.

(We tell Gary how we invent 'stories' for our players in PES Master League). I think the idea of creating stories through the year is something we're very interested in as well.

It's about creating a football world you immerse yourself in, things like, you know, the Rooney story (his contract wrangle that dominated the media last year), is definitely interesting for us.

Things to do while the transfer window's closed is certainly something that we're looking at.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/290230/interviews/fifa-12-its-a-huge-challenge/

Buzz Killington:
A tad early! ;D

I can think of 4 improvements:
*More than one dressing room in clubs.
*Fix through balls, especially chipped ones.
*Make real GK's realistic and not superhuman.
*Fix the ridiculous R1 shots which go in from anywhere.

mbroon:
FIFA 11 is a game of exploits, high pressure and assist whores. Manual players are shat on. EA know it, but they won't change it, because that would probably mean lost sales to the kids guilty of making it so.

FIFA 12 will be the same. And of course there will also be a lot of bugs.

I'll still buy it though.

bradigor:
I didn't buy the game this year, just didn't feel they fixed any major issues with the game.

I ended up much preferring the flawed PES 2011. The main reasons were that Pro Evo felt like playing a game of football as you see it in your mind (stunning move, cracking goals, etc), FIFA felt like it tried to recreate ALL of the game, even the dull bits, but not very well.

It feels like EA Sports are slowly undoing all the good work of Fifa 08 & 09. My fear is that the same happens with the NHL series.

Zlenpasha:
I recieved FIFA11 as a gift, otherwise I would have not bought it.
Having never played Pro evo I turned to it this year and it is in every way that matters a better game of FOOTBALL. Haven't played Fifa for a long time now and I don't think I will (maybe World cup, that one is fun).

Major shift should happen to even consider buying Fifa 12 and I don't see the desire on EA's part.
They are milking sheep with Ultimate team and having a good time doing so. Why waste resources when you don't need to. They'll sharpen up animations, bring in a stupid mode or two, add some trinkets into the managerial mode and that is it. The gameplay in essence will remain the same and I'm sick to death of that football looking sharade.

Fifa 12, no thanks.

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