Gameflow idea

[fugazi]

Soccer video games, even at their best, require some suspension of disbelief. And this not simply because it is a simulation.

A lot of what we see in real football matches has to do with mentality. World Class players can be found on virtually every team, and when a team plays well, the confidence and arrogance boost is visible. The same thing happens when a team throws a tantrum, starts to lose badly, or concedes.

Their should be a mentality meter-type thing. It doesn't necessarily have to be a meter. Any device that can be interpreted on-screen by the player as, to oversimplify, 'High' or 'Low' will do; and this device much be a mechanism that is calculated into the overall fixture.

Then, mix this with the strategy controls...'full attack', 'counter', formation A,B, etc....Do you really want to urge your team to be extra-aggressive if they are 'down' on themselves, or do you play more conservatively, string some passes together, and restore some assuredness?

These are the sorts of interactions between player as manager / player as player / and the game that I think could finally add that extra dimension that we look for. The games play wonderfully, I am quite fond of WE8 and 9, paticularly the latter. I like FIFA08 a bit, too....but I am always wanting something a small conceptual level higher.

this "emotional/mental' continuum could even go as far as 'rivalries'...I am sure that you all have teams that you develop a special distaste for in your MLs or MMs...Aston Villa...bastards...Atletico Madrid...honestly, i just feared Torres...tons... This data could easily be part of something that is tracked. Other things are, some of them useless...so why not your 'history' with a team...Imagine, lining up against those blankety-blanks from Wherever FC and they being fully 'aware' that your last meeting was a physical foul-fest in which 2 players were red carded, etc...and your team had won...on a questionable PK in the closing minutes.......seriously...I don't know that I could ask for much more than that.

that's it.

[Heshi]

We've already had something like that momentum thing in FIFA about ten years ago...

[clean-sweep]

Quote: Originally Posted by Heshi

We've already had something like that momentum thing in FIFA about ten years ago...

certaintly not as developed as the heshi's idea.
Yea FIFA and especialy PES need that sort of thing cause it get on my nerve when im totaly in control of a game and the oppositon keep on pushing forward and dribble past my defense like crazy when im leading 4-0 with 5min to go and score a beauty goal when they suppose to be tire and unbelief.
thats what PES especialy need, some heart/emotion to their game,PES seem so much robotic sometime.
Its a little bit better on FIFA side but like hesha said a definatly more deeper process should be apply with the new gen consoles.

[koshi]

I like the idea.

I think it would be really cool if it was implemented so that you REALLY saw it in the way the players move, so that if they were down they would be a bit more sluggish and disconnected... And if they were up would play with more enthusiasm, energy, and teamwork.

If it were indicated in the players themselves, there wouldn't have to be any type of meter on screen.

It could work many ways too, like for example with a highly favored team coming in thinking they just have to show up to win... And the opposing team surprising them with an early goal... Giving the favored team a kick in the arse with the realization that they have to start playing.

[fugazi]

exactly, koshi...exactly. What is more, this seems to be something that could be implemented relatively easily, while at the same time adding something very significant that we are otherwise lacking

[koshi]

Quote: Originally Posted by fugazi

...this seems to be something that could be implemented relatively easily...

It's tricky though. Other games have done this type of thing, and it often seems to come off as being cheap.

I guess you'd have to come up with some sort of rating system for it, like a SPIRIT rating... For both the overall team and individual players... With the individual effecting the overall team.

In other words if you have a bunch of players with a high spirit rating, then the team would have a high spirit rating... And this team would not be easily effected, and always maintain their focus.

Whereas if a team had players with a varying level of spirit rating and a low/middle overall team spirit rating... They would be more susceptible to lackluster play, because the individual players with a low spirit rating would sometimes drag a team down.

And then maybe you could have a coach's ability that effected this rating for both the team and players, depending on how good a coach he was... Like Sir Alex more or less always having his team ready to play...

I don't know, there's a lot to factor in.

[koshi]

I guess the main thing to determine would be:

What are all the situations where players with a low spirit rating become effected?

Also, it seems that in real life you'll sometimes see players become disheartened... And then regain their fight over time... So their spirit fluctuates...

So you'd also have to determine what situations brought these players back up to speed... Whether it be teammates with more composure than them giving them a boost, a fine play on the field, etc...

Yes, it gets complex...

But it could be done.

[koshi]

^ And then also... How the players are effected... What does it do to them?

Lower their reaction time? Their pass accuracy?

Well... It would be a nice addition, if done right.

[fugazi]

WE already has a mentality rating, and FIFA might have something similar...

I agree, it would take some thinking, but in the end I think it still falls under the realm of 'simple'.

Cards and concessions, and runs of dominant opposition play should all affect the side/individuals negatively...this could mean less pacey passing, throwing hands up...not running into space effectively...

Now, this wouldn't have to happen ALL the time while your team/dude was down...just to increase the likelihood of bad play, and of course, vice versa when your guys are up...

either way, I could see people pulling their hair out over an irresponsive player (it already happens)...i still think there is a way to bring this important aspect of futbol into the video game simulation.