[Matt Holme]

Hey guys,

As you all know, over the past few months we had been selecting questions from this forum and sending them into EA to find out more about FIFA 2001 and to contribute to their popular FAQ pages.

Well now that FIFA 2001 has been released in most countries and we already know or have experienced most of the features of the game, EA would like to begin answering questions about the future of FIFA games.

So this is your chance to post your comment and questions on features that weren't included in FIFA 2001 and to ask EA questions about the future FIFA games they'll be developing.

As always, each week we'll be selecting 10 questions from this forum and sending them in direct to EA where they'll be answered and displayed on the official EA FIFA 2001 and our own FIFA 2001 Online.

Thanks guys,
Matt

 

[Mentholica]

In the past you could, if the last defender was defeated, let the keeper come out of his goal. surprisingly this feature is not available in version2001, why? It looks odd that the keeper is just standing there and you can't do a thing about the striker that approaches your goal...put this back in the next version..

---gotta be menthol---

 

[bArAphAn]

In the future, the user should have a sort of manager-like position in a season in which tactical knowledge makes up more than just gameplay.The match should have a TV presentation type of environment in which it adds up realism to the game.As far as the Leagues, here in the USA who would rather have an Israeli or Greek league rather than an Argentinean or Mexican league.The EA people say they have contracts with other companies, but which?One more thing, why is the Portuguese national team not on the PSX version?

 

[athena]

I would like to know if possible why certian teams that were said to be included in the game were not. I know about Licensing issues but in the past you have inserted teams such as Nigeria or Iran. Even if these teams would not allow you to use their correct jersey or flags, you could have still put them into the game.

It is unfair to many, many of your fans (I one of them) to purchase the game and then notice that a team that we were told would be in the match is not.

I hope this is one of the questions sent to you guys because I think it is one that many of us fans who have followed you throughout the past years would like to know.

Thank you.

 

[ToonArmy]

I was wondering if next year you will be doing a FIFA 2002 Road to the World Cup? If it could be a little like an improved FIFA 98 RTWC that would be awesome. Please don't forget that we need to play leagues as well though, maybe you could cut down on leagues next year if you need space, just keep in the big leagues (England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Scotland, Netherlands, USA). It would be great to be able to choose our national team squads again as in FIFA RTWC 98.
Graphically I would like to see a better representation of the national teams kits. The club teams look absolutely AWESOME this year but the national teams kits leave a little to be desired, we need logos of the national federations as well as kit manufacturer (i.e Umbro, Adidas, Nike etc..) with their distinctive little trademarks and lines. I'll ask again why do we the FIFA fans, still do NOT have player names on the back of the jerseys? It is a feature that has been in Madden, NHL and NBA Live for years and it was even in EURO 2000, please , PLEASE implement this feature and keep it there from FIFA '02 on. Also it would be great to have more stadiums from around the world (Stadium Australia in Sydney) and others rendered. I do miss the Virtual stadium and the fly over of the ground including spectators walking into the stadia, that was a nice touch, please bring that back. I would also like to see a better rendered crowd as in NHL 2001. Anyway enough now of the graphics.

As for gameplay, we need dynamic weather conditions (which I thought we were getting this year on PC , nope only on PS2), and we need it to affect play. I have read your posts on saying that it would not be fun, but i think it is fair to say that most of us think that is erm well bollocks. If you are going to have weather its got to affect the way the game plays. Look if people don't want their players to slide around thy can set the weather to sunny 100% of the time.
Please, please make the computer controlled team make subs for tired players or just for tactical substitutions. EA says if it's in the game it's in the game, well not here, not to many football matches are played where there are 0 subs made from a team let alone 20 games in a row with no subs. Injuries need to put players out for varied lengths of time (say between 1 and 12 matches). Please stop the superman goalies. Instead make it a little harder for the player to get the shot on goal with the players shooting ability rating having a direct affect on their ability to get the shot on target. Goals need to be able to be scored every so often from free kicks near the 18 yd box. This I believe is also a symptom of superman goalies. If a one on one situation arises then make the keeper come out to try and thwart the attack. Goalkeepers are not immune to red cards you know EA! As yet never in a FIFA game (and I've been buying them since FIFA 96) have I seen a keeper carded or even penalised for that matter, please make it so keepers can take out strikers for penalties, cards etc...
We also need more info on the games played so when we look at the schedule we will not only see the score but also the goal scorers. It would be awesome to be able to watch matches played by the other teams (CPU controlled) in league play. As the season draws to a close for example sometimes I would love to watch that Manchester Utd v Arsenal match to help decide the championship. Please also make midfielders chime in on the attck and score goals as well. I'm sick to death of looking at the top goalscoring charts and seeing it look like this:
Shearer 24 (as of course I'm always NUFC!)
Cole 9
Phillips 8
Kanu 8
Rebrov 7 etc...
It's just not possible.
Oh and please get rid of the bloody 360 spins, they really annoy me. Anyway enough rant about gameplay.

Could you also please improve the crowd chants? Sorry but they sound horrible this year.

Sorry about the length of this post but if EA could implement all these features we will have an awesome game for FIA 2002 and beyond!

P.S Congratulations on FIFA 2001 it is a good game, despite what some others may think and is about 1000x better than FIFA 2000 which was in my humble opinion by far the worst ever in the FIFA series.

Thanks for reading.........


[This message has been edited by ToonArmy (edited 11-07-2000).]

 

[NYR2119935]

We need more than 5 stadiums!!!!!!
At least 1 from each league
more if possible

------------------
hockey, sim racing, Taco Bell, Metallica, CART

 

[scoughlan]

The difficulty levels need a high level of tuning. All that happens in World Class level is the computer uses skill moves to get past 2 or 3 or even 4 defenders to be one on one with the goalie. This is easily the most annoying part of the game. Everything else is acceptable in my opinion but what are you going to do to rectify this? The computer AI really MUST be able to shoot and score from outside the box as should the player, it has ruined Fifa 2001 and all the good points of it are brought down by this one VITAL feature.

 

[Edmundo22]

Question for EA:

Regarding gameplay - When will EA redesign the ball physics and dribbling engine??

 

[Khamyre]

Well I'm not sure if EA will actually read this. Here's hoping.

I went out to buy the game tonight, not because I was excited about playing a new game, but I wanted to see if FIFA2001 was really as bad as everyone says it is. I was willing to cough up $40 to check this out. No I have been playing FIFA ever since it came out on the Genesis machine so I feel pretty confident that I am a good judge of the game. OK Here goes. Firstly I'll start off with the good!.

1. Gorgeous graphics and great all round attempt at bringing an atmosphere to the game.

2. Kits, etc all seem good.

Right now with the bad!

1. Substitutions. Why doesn't the computer ever make substitutions from a tactical or fatigue reason. It feels like cheating that you can take off a tired player while the computer cannot.

2. When you see passes in real life they are played 'IN TO SPACE' not directly to the player all the time. This means that most times a player is receiving the ball he is going to be under pressure. You can play through balls yes but only along the ground, NOT over the top. Passing into space would be a good addition.

3. Speed. Why can't FIFA do what NHL did and have a set of sliders for various aspects of the gameplay. This is one of the most brilliant ideas I have seen in a sports game and I feel FIFA could do with it. Passing accuracy, passing speed, etc.

4. You just don't ever feel quite in control of the players, there is just that 'something' missing with the controls.

If FIFA2002 has NO graphics updates and all the time and effort was put into the gameplay I would be very happy. I don't want better and better graphics at the sacrifice of the gameplay. I think even FIFA programmers must admit deep inside that the game is just an arcade game and if they really do love football then they must see that it is not very realistic when trying to simulate the greatest game on earth.

I used to really look forward to EA FIFA games being released but the last few have been terrible. I know some of the forum posts are quite 'extreme' when pointing out the faults with the game but ignore the insults and really start paying attention to it. I cannot believe EA do not take this personally.

Just stop bowing down to the $$$ dollar and make a really great game that you and the users can be proud off.

No more work on the graphics. They are great OK? they do not need any more work at all. PLEASE leave them alone. Concentrate entirely on the gameplay and please go to a real life football match and see what goes on. Then work on the gameplay.

Good Luck.

 

[mcfish]

i have a top of the line computer and fifa 2001 doesn't even work for me. I called tech support and tried everything i could do to fix it. It's a kernel32 error. Before releasing another game, please fix this game.

 

[Valen]

Just bought Fifa2001 and my initial reaction - INCREDIBLE!
There has been a LOT of improvement with features over FIFA2000, which i thought sucked. After playing for awhile though, some of the old problems begin to resurface. I will highlight these problems which i hope will be fixed in future FIFA versions.

Refereeing is VERY inconsistent. Tackles from behind go unpunished many times, and last ditch tackles on players who are through on goal don't produce the red cards they deserve. And there are too many direct red cards for normal slide tackles. All these don't happen in the real world.

I jumped straight into world class and found it amazingly hard, but that's only because the computer makes their players do spin moves each time i make a tackle. It looks so stupid everyime they do 5 spins in a row. There are many more realistic skill moves that weren't included. Even the move where you flick the ball over yourself is unrealistic, though it does look cool.

I found the commentary to be inconsistent with the gameplay, as they tend to overexaggerate.

The faces are ok, but some younger looking faces would be nice.

Too often injuries occur without fouls given, so the game should force you to kick the ball out. Injured players should remain on the ground, rather than walking around and still actually managing to perform that STUPID spin move.

Players don't seem to run and make space for themselves, which makes the passing a little difficult.

Can't think of anymore at the moment, when i do i'll post back here.

 

[cody]

I would really like to know if there will ever be more managment stuff in the games(training, formation) and it would be AWESOME if you could improve your players skill!!! thanks

 

[Sterio]

EA have to get rid of these special moves and try to actually watch a player dribble by cutting the ball left or right. when the player runs with the ball he's actually pushing the ball in front of him and he then might have to push the ball past an opposing player with speed? If there are too many opposing players, WELL he'll have to pass the ball off to someone else who may be in the clear.
the 360 spin will make winning games very easy even in "world class" mode
It was easy in fifa99 and even easier to win games in fifa2000 in "world class"
EA must redesign the dribbling engine if they are to capture the magic of "total football"

 

[sip]

Overall the game is good but personally speaking I would like to know why the snow environment was excluded from Fifa 2001, it adds variety to the game and when releasing a new game arent you suppose to enhance the game overall not enhance certain parts and degrade others.

Also 5 stadiums is abit of a joke I think EA's saying "quality not quantity" is just not good enough, I think our support over the years entitles us to think that we deserve more than just 5 stadiums.

I also think EA in future should specify what each platform has in relation to features cause as you know we PC lovers all expected rotating adboard, dynamic weather effects ect but now realise this was only implemented in PS2, also why were they only implemented in PS2.

Lastly will EA be think of implementing a whole new engine therefore creating a new era of gameplay, personally speaking I think its time.

Thanks Matt,
sip...

 

[SCTW]

Hi guys! you made some good points, i thought i would mention that i have a website dedicated to the improvement of the FIFA series which has a "WISHLIST" that you can add to. feel free to check it out at www.fifa2002.gq.nu

SCTW
www.fifa2002.gq.nu

 

[Zambrotta]

When will you finally get rid of that Fifa99 gameplay???

We need:

1) Realistic dribbling
2) Realistic passing
3) Realistic shooting

You expanded the court, but now CPU tackles you from 5 meters away (incredibly unrealistic).
You DID NOT change the game's physics in regard to the bigger court.

Passing and dribbling was great in FIFA 98 - change it!

For shooting: Why not show the a rectangle depicting the goal when pressing the shooting button, whit a cursor flickering in the middle. With left/right/up/down you can place the cursor, but with "draw-back" effect plus higher difficulty to place the cursor the longer you hold the button. This would finally allow you to place the shot where you want it and would allow shots missing the goal from close range.

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Big Man]

CHANGE THE TRANSFER SYSTEM!!!
EARN MONEY WHEN YOU WIN A MATCH OR A CUP OR SOMETHING..

AND SO AN BUY YOUR PLAYER.. YOU CANT BUY EXAMPLE FIGO VERY EASY IN REALITY..
BUT IN FIFA GAMES YOU CLICK ON THE PLAYER AND ITS YOURS...

YOU MOST CHANGE THIS SYSTEM!!!!!!!!

 

[PerthGlory]

Have EA ever played ISS??

If so what are there opinions on it and are they ever going to include a sim mode for the football fans?

 

[Malinwake]

I want the indoor mode back!!!!!

 

[Valen]

Some more problems

I'm currently playing season mode with Real Madrid. EA need to work on a lot of things. The Champ's League format is all wrong, as the game allows more than one team from one country to be in the same group.

The performance charts page should be updated so that league goals and european goals are recorded separately.

These problems made my game less enjoyable..