NHL 11 - Catch-All

So last night I started up a game with auto-aim, and my Blues lost a tight game to Columbus 4-3. Kind of heartbreaking after being up 3-2 in the 3rd. But I decied to give manual aim with the same two teams a try. This time I won 3-1. ?Now I'm scoring. don't know why.

This morning I decide to see if it was real, I played to HUT games and blew out the CPU 3-0 and 3-1. Boyes is now lethal, scoring 3 goals in the two games.

So the practice is helping. But I have to say, auto-aim actually more fun. I enjoy the game of getting into position for a good shot a lot more than trying to nail down my aim when I get there. But maybe playing with auto-aim every ow and then trains me to find better spots to take shots?

BTW, there is a work-around for the two goalie problem I discussed earlier. Yu have to take everyone out of your line-up and re-build it. I had done that, and it seemed to work. Last night I saw a dev had posted this as a work around on the EA forums.

Here's a few examples of what I mean by picking good scoring chances.

first, another goal by my Lethal weapon, Brad Boyes. This was from this afternoon, and is an example of the type of goals I think most of use would hope are in the game. This is with manual aim, on Pro difficults. I'm playing with my HUT team, The Phog, in Germany jerseys (becasue my daughter thinks Germany is cool).

http://www.easports.com/media/play/v...

This next one, form the same game, is another nice attempt, foiled by the fact that it is a not so lethal weapon, Riley Cote of the Flyers. It's a simialr play, and I got off a nice shot. the difference is Boyes has been trained up to a 90+ Shot, and i asniper. Cote is an enforcer who has scored one goal in his 156 game career.

http://www.easports.com/media/play/v...

Next is is nice clean goal from one of my weaknesses. I love to take slapshots with my D men and hope for a lucky goal, or a rebound. Bergeron has a nice shot, that I have trained up quite a bit, too.

http://www.easports.com/media/play/v...

These were just to show that I am starting to find the net with manual aim. I still suck pretty bad, and have much less luck on All-Star than Pro. But I think the game is fine, and can be tuned to be even better.

This last one is for whoever posted a video of sneaking a goal in through the five hole. I thought it was in this thread, but I can't find it. But I just one upped whoever it is, by scoring through two five holes in one shot! I wish I could slow it down, because it was a thing of beauty.

http://www.easports.com/media/play/v...

So, the new tuner update is out, and it interesting to say the least.

Sept 15 (gameplay balance) *Scheduled to deployed at 2am PST / 5 am EST on Sept 15th.

The primary goal of this update is to increase goal scoring and decrease the advantages of solo, dangler style play in favor of more passing.

The specific changes are:
-Increase shot accuracy overall.
-Increases to shot power in some situations.
-Increase friction on dive.
-Increase poke check effectiveness.
-Face-off tuning, primarily to help CPU in certain situations.
-Decrease fatigue rate during odd man situations (when clock is scaled and you are limited to two lines).
-Decrease teamplay penalty for missed pass attempts.
-Small increase to pass receptions (online games and HUT, offline can adjust using slider).
-Small decrease to puck control (online games and HUT, offline can adjust using slider).
-Narrowed the range of the agility effect.

As usual we will be monitoring the effects of the changes and will continue to make adjustments to balance gameplay. For offline players these changes are on Tuner V1.02 (except those noted as online/HUT only).

The effects on my scoring with manual aim has been negligible. More than anything, my shots totals took a big hit, as the CPU defense is pretty ramped up. Playing HUT feels more sluggish and less fun overall. But I am getting used to it, and it is not bad.

So I played a couple of Play Now games, using the Blues against the Flyers. The first game was more of the same. It was a tight, hard fought game, that I lost early in OT, 2-1. So I cranked up a ame with auto-aim and the same teams. Let's just say auto-aim is fun. I blew out the Flyers 6-0, and it wasn't really that close.

I also discovered a bit of my problem with scoring on manual aim. The game still shows you where you have the sticks, and since I have been using manual almost exclusively, I'm still aiming even though the CPU is taking care of it. My first four goals were to the opposite corner I was aiming at each time. Instead of the wide open corner, the CPU was popping it into the smaller opening. Apparently, I just really don't know what the heck I am doing. But this also seems like a cool way to learn a bit about where to aim.

I have one other theory based on things I have read over at OS. People have claimed that the goalie is i reacting to your aim before you let loose with the puck. So on auto-aim, the goalie might be reacting to the the user aim, but leaving himself open to the CPU shot. Just theory, and might be bogus.

Now, these games have all been on Pro difficulty. But I have been playing on All-Star last year on auto-aim, and it sure seems like I need to be there again. Despite the offensive output, I have not touched any sliders. I'm comfortable that I can manipulate the sliders to make it quite a bit tougher, and also increase the CPU production. In fact, I'm comfortable with the idea of being able to do that with manual aim, as well. I've been hesitant to do so because you cannot adjust sliders in HUT or online play. So it was worth it to get a good feel for the game on settings I wanted to play on.

I'm torn. If I go with the auto-aim, it means giving up on HUT and online play, but I the feel for the game is much more fun for me. If we actually get a league going, which is looking kind of doubtful, it will be worth continuing on with manual aim, and trying to get better. But for offline play, I tihnk things are where we could really enjoy them right now.

For all the joking Coldforged and I did about the "Pokemon" nature of the Ultimate Hockey league, it's pretty frickin' fantastic. I had to start over once because I got myself stuck in a "pay real money for cards or you can't continue" situation, but with the second play through and a little bit more foresight, I'm doing alright so far. My first line has 3 NHL players, two of them being "rare" cards and I think I have a good strategy to avoid running out of contract cards again.

Has anybody else given this game mode a whirl?

PsychoKillerZ wrote:

For all the joking Coldforged and I did about the "Pokemon" nature of the Ultimate Hockey league, it's pretty frickin' fantastic. I had to start over once because I got myself stuck in a "pay real money for cards or you can't continue" situation, but with the second play through and a little bit more foresight, I'm doing alright so far. My first line has 3 NHL players, two of them being "rare" cards and I think I have a good strategy to avoid running out of contract cards again.

Has anybody else given this game mode a whirl?

I'm enjoying it. But I'm not fond of the online games, as it is just the same steam of cheesing idiots that you get in any pub games.

The real downside is that every darn tuning update changes the way HUT games play, even offline. I'm kind of tiring of the changes, and have begun playing more games with the Blues, as I can get my sliders set, and have a consistent game. All of the changes to the tuners seem to be aimed at appeasing the EASHL crowd. So poke checks have gotten too effective, and goalies are slowed down. My last offline HUT game was 7-5 because the goalies are tuned for online games.

I will probably come back to it at some point, if they settle on a tune package. I Brad Boyes on my first line, and it has been a blast. I actually have 3600 or so pucks. I think I can make it to 7500 for the big pack. I am out of training cards, but I have a slew of contract cards.

If we could just play some exhibition games with friends, it would make the mode a lot better. As it is, it's kind of a solo game that you are forced to play online.

I have only played one game online for the reasons you state. I'm having a blast with it offline though. It's hard for me to believe I will ever be able to afford the Jumbo packs. I got up to about 5000 before, but I was so strapped for cards I had to splurge to keep going. Maybe when I get a decent enough team to play in the higher level tournaments I will earn enough for those packs.

PsychoKillerZ wrote:

I have only played one game online for the reasons you state. I'm having a blast with it offline though. It's hard for me to believe I will ever be able to afford the Jumbo packs. I got up to about 5000 before, but I was so strapped for cards I had to splurge to keep going. Maybe when I get a decent enough team to play in the higher level tournaments I will earn enough for those packs.

Playing in tournaments is the best way to maximize puck accumulation. If you can win one with a 2000 bonus, you can score 3600-4000 in four games. I still have a losing record, but my team is pretty well stavked to win easier tournaments now.

I also have Tim Thomas in goal for 36 more games.

If I could use auto-aim in HUT games, I'd be really happy. But I did lose a tourney game to Columbus 7-5. So I am picking up on manual aim much more now.

I think the main problem I have with winning the higher tournaments is goal tending actually. My highest rated goaltender is about 65 I think. It's incredibly frustrating to have to play near-perfect defense in order to give myself a decent chance to win. That's why I usually stick to the one and two star tournaments.

PsychoKillerZ wrote:

I think the main problem I have with winning the higher tournaments is goal tending actually. My highest rated goaltender is about 65 I think. It's incredibly frustrating to have to play near-perfect defense in order to give myself a decent chance to win. That's why I usually stick to the one and two star tournaments.

I got Tim Thomas pretty cheap on the trading block. I think it was like 850, or something. It is worth your time to target certain needs every now and then and see what you find. You never know when you hit it at just the right time. I think other 80+ goalies were going for 3000 or more.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your back-up goalie also loses a game every time you play. So keep all of your 50+ goalies around to throw in as a back-up.

Jayhawker wrote:

I got Tim Thomas pretty cheap on the trading block. I think it was like 850, or something. It is worth your time to target certain needs every now and then and see what you find. You never know when you hit it at just the right time. I think other 80+ goalies were going for 3000 or more.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your back-up goalie also loses a game every time you play. So keep all of your 50+ goalies around to throw in as a back-up.

I noticed that about the back-up goalie, which makes total sense since they'd obviously have to be under contract to sit on the bench. Not much of a choice for me as I have exactly 2 goalies in my entire collection.

I seem to get a ton of goalies whenever I get a pack.

Maybe we should arrange some trades.

Y'know, i'm sure there's some legal hoops to jump through, but does anyone else find it silly that EA doesn't have rosters through the first 2-3 games, and won't for another week or two?

Yep. All I'm waiting for to start my Be A GM Franchise.

/Toronto 3-0 - Woohoo!

So I've been pouring a ton if time into NHL 11 the last few days. The start of the season has me ready to go. I decided to hammer out some sliders, so that when EA releases the opening day rosters I'm ready to hit the ground running on a season.

First, these sliders are heavily based on mkharsh's sliders over at OS. But he has moved on to creating a Superstar level of sliders, while I actually tuned these to make them easier for us geezers. If you want something more challenging, I'd check that thread I linked to out.

What I really like about his sliders are some interesting choices he made that makes for a pretty realistic style of play. For one, fatigue is a big issue. By halfway through a period, you will be deciding to put in the freshest line, and it will be as low as 50%, and in the yellow. If you spend a great deal of time on the PK, it could be worse. Managing your lines becomes important. He also sets acceleration to zero. Basically, if you get yourself out of position, you are going to have to really work to get back. It slows the game down, while also forcing you to be more methodical in what you do.

He had the pass accuracy, receptions and interceptions all set to zero. This made for a great sloppy feel for the game, but I found that it was too much for me. So I bumped the human side up to three. You will still miss and bobble passes, but I can get me passing % of to around 70% now. I was down around 50% before, but the CPU was still in the mid 70's.

I also play with auto-aim on. But with these settings I am getting around 25-40 shots a game, and my percentage ranges up to 20% or so. So scoring has been fairly realistic. But I am super happy with these.

Without further ado:

Game Settings
All-Star
10 minute periods
offsides delayed...icing on...injuries on
penalties: maxed
post-whistle: authentic
penalty time scaling: 5
fighting: 1 (of 2)

GENERAL
tuner set: latest (currently 1.05)
cpu aid: hardcore
broken stick freq: 3
game speed: 2
attribute effects: maxed
fatigue effect: human 4 / cpu 5
fatigue recovery: both at 2
injury occurrence: both at 6
puck control: human 2 / cpu 1
player acceleration: both at 0

A.I.
created plays: user pref.
AI learning: maxed
cpu diff. adjustment: 4
cpu strategy adjustment: maxed
BAP / hum. strategy adjustment: 0
cpu face-off diff: 4
fight diff: 5
cpu penalties: maxed
cpu teammate penalties: maxed

PASSING
pass assist: 4
manual passing: on
pass speed: 2
saucer pass speed: 3
pass accuracy: human 3 / cpu 0
pass reception ease: human 3 / cpu 0
pass interceptions: human 3 / cpu 0

SHOOTING
shot accuracy: human 3 / cpu 1
shot power: both at 3
slap shot accuracy: human 2 / cpu 1
slap shot power: both at 2
one-timer accuracy: human 3 / cpu 1

CHECKING
hitting assistance: 3
aggression: human 6 / cpu 5
hitting power: human 1 / cpu 4
stick lift effectiveness: both at 2
poke effectiveness: both at 2

GOALIES
goalie passing: maxed
goalie cover puck freq: 3
goalie screen effect: both maxed
goalie reaction speed: human 5 / cpu 2

Well, Coldforged and I had a pretty nice game. I took a 1-0 lead in to the 3rd period, only to give up the tying goal with about 11 seconds left. He outshot the crap out of me in the OT, but no one scored.

But T.J. Oshie opend up with a goal in the shootout, and a Boyes followed it up with a second shot, as I took the shootout 2-1.

I think it is about time we start getting some games in. This game is too good to die on the vine.

Jayhawker wrote:

This game is too good to die on the vine.

Yep. Hit me up anytime if you see me online. Pretty much the only game I play right now.

For those that care, EA has said that rosters will be out Tuesday morning. It does seem like it has taken longer than it should, but hopefully it will be worth the wait. No word on the patch, although I am enjoying the game just fine as is.

I'd like the new jersey code. Any word on when that's coming out?

I say we plan a night soon to play some games against each other.

Well dudes, just picked this up. I'll get back with my thoughts once I have the game on Thursday, but hopefully we can play each other!

I should be finally picking this up, especially with Black Friday Best Buy deal of $34.99. Looking forward to getting back into hockey, since I passed on NHL10. ESPN3 thru XBL is pretty awesome, so I can keep up with the NHL action. For me, real life and the game feed into each other until I have an all-consuming addiction.

spedman wrote:

I should be finally picking this up, especially with Black Friday Best Buy deal of $34.99. Looking forward to getting back into hockey, since I passed on NHL10. ESPN3 thru XBL is pretty awesome, so I can keep up with the NHL action. For me, real life and the game feed into each other until I have an all-consuming addiction.

Welcome! Unfortunately, ESPN does not carry any NHL games. I've heard rumors that they may pick up the NHL again next year, which should provide covergae like we get with the NBA now.

Crap! You're right. ESPN streaming on 360 only has highlights of NHL games, no live events or archived games. That sucks hard. I am now a sad panda.

Geeze I'm a lagging fool in sports right now. After pm'ing Jay' about hoops and I got College Hoops 2k8 (with file share real rosters) and playing it. That and Madden 2k11. NOW NHL 11. I was on the verge of NHL 10 after some talking to Jay', but with Black Friday around the corner maybe I'll try and get the Best Buy deal. But then I'll be up to my eye balls in sports games with hardly enough time to be proficient in any if I play them all! Gadzooks...I'm doomed. (maybe I'll just settle for NHL 10 and play when I can in my corner). I've not really played hockey on-line (or otherwise) for 4 years or so (I think we all had something going with Certis, Mr. Green, Swampy and Jay' at one time (and others...probably Coldforge for sure).

Anyway, am I understanding correctly that you Jay' and others are actually thinking of playing on-line now?

Would love to play online more, but I'm not sure it is in the cards. It's kind of hit or miss. Worse, you can't use auto-aim online, which is a deal breaker for many of us. I've actually got decent with manual aim, but I still find auto-aim to provide a better experience overall.

Feel free to hit me up for a game, though.

Is it bad that I'm much more likely to play NHL today because of the alternate jersey code finally being released?

TheCounselor wrote:

Is it bad that I'm much more likely to play NHL today because of the alternate jersey code finally being released?

You are so bad. I need to get more NHL time in. NCAA 11 keeps sucking away at my time.

With the patch and my sliders as I have them set now, the game is near perfect for me now. I wish you could start up a franchise and have it use the sliders from your profile. I why do I have to re-do the entire batch?

But I'm anxious to start a Blues season in which Oshie doesn't break his ankle.

Donan wrote:

Geeze I'm a lagging fool in sports right now. After pm'ing Jay' about hoops and I got College Hoops 2k8 (with file share real rosters) and playing it.

Going off-topic here, but there isn't really a thread for this.

I'm curious how you are enjoying CH 2K8. I saw that is just was voted Best Basketball Game of the Decade over at Operation Sports. Not only by the staff, but also by the community. It beat out NBA 2K1 on the Dreamcast for top honors. In fact, the staff and readers also awarded Best Franchise/Dynasty Mode of the Decade, too. It beat out MLB: The Show for the top spot in that category.

On-topic, NHL 10 won for Best Hockey Game of the Decade.

I haven't really been playing much NHL because I'm finding it increasingly difficult to score. Maybe it's an aiming issue, as I prefer manual aim, but I used to be able to be competitive against All-Star difficulty, and now I'm hopeless. I played a game against Pro difficulty AI last night, and won in overtime, but scoring still seemed too hard. Did they change the tuner sets or something? Maybe I'll try auto-aim, but it sure seems like something is different.

TheCounselor wrote:

I haven't really been playing much NHL because I'm finding it increasingly difficult to score. Maybe it's an aiming issue, as I prefer manual aim, but I used to be able to be competitive against All-Star difficulty, and now I'm hopeless. I played a game against Pro difficulty AI last night, and won in overtime, but scoring still seemed too hard. Did they change the tuner sets or something? Maybe I'll try auto-aim, but it sure seems like something is different.

I just started playing NHL 11 this week and I'm finding it really hard to score as well. I'll outshoot my opponent about 3:2, get open shots from the slot that get saved every time and when the computer gets the same (or even a point shot) they'll ring it in off the post. I might have to move the game off the default sliders.