After playing FIFA 2004 for about a week, I've played about 40-50 games, and along the way, I've encountered quite a few bugs.
The main bug that is most noticeable happens in game. For some reason, there is a glitch that occurs to the player models, usually with substitutes that have been made during or before the game in the swap menu just before you begin. What happens is the player's kit will key out and you will see the "inside" of the player, which is a baby blue color, usually it doesn't stay that way for very long, maybe a second or two at the most, but what it does is it keeps flashing randomly for the rest of the game. I usually notice this bug when I use Arsenal, and while wearing their yellow and blue away kits, but I think it happens to other teams as well.
Another bug I've noticed is that sometimes, the audio goes nuts. Some of the channels of the audio just stop playing and the crowd is nearly silent, if the crowd was chanting, it cuts in and out. Also, the commentary cuts in and out as well and lags by 30 seconds to a minute or more. It also affects the gameplay, if this is happening, if you get a card, or the ball goes out of bounds, it doesn't cut to the next animation of the card being given, or the throw in or goal kick or corner, instead, you can run around and go anywhere on the field or off of the field, but if you have the ball, you can't kick it. The PS2 unit seems to be having problems reading the disc and makes a funny noise. I know it's not my PS2 because I can put any other game in it and it works just fine, even after hours of play.
There is one other bug I've noticed that happens during the game. It usually happens after halftime. In the upper right hand corner of you screen, in the first half, it says EA Sports Live, well...after halftime (I think it happens after you view a replay in the first half as well) it won't say EA Sports Live, it will Say EA Sports Highlights. It's like when it shows the highlights during half time, the thing gets stuck on EA Sports Highlights, and doesn't go back to EA Sports Live as it should. I don't even know why that thing is on the screen in the first place. Seems pointless to me.
Also, I've found a coding exploit. The computer defenders can be exploited pretty easily. If you hold the R1 button, that makes the defender come after you and attempt to take the ball from you, if you don't hold the R1 button, but instead tap it everytime the ball is on your player's foot, the defender will not attempt to take the ball from you.
Most of the other things that I've noticed are things that are not in game issues. Most of them happen in career mode.
Say Thierry Henry was injured during a game which took place on March 12, 2004, if you look at your injury report, it will say something like he is due to return on March 5, 2004. How is that possible? He got injured on March 12, 2004, there will never be another March 5, 2004! Instead, it means that he will return on April 5, 2004. You have to add a month for some reason, due to the glitch.
Another thing, In your training menu after the weekend game, you can assign certain areas to train your players in: sprints, shooting, passing, heading, tackling, technique, etc. Say I go into the menu, last week I assigned Ray Parlour to train on sprints, shooting, and passing, when you try to change the skills assigned, it will only let you change the first skill, even if you have enough points left. To fix it, you have to clear the training table, then assign the skills you want.
After you complete a season, and you look at the fixtures calendar, it shows that all of the games are on Monday, rather than on Saturday, as if the FA has moved all games to Mondays.
If anyone else has noticed any of these things, I'd like to know about it, I'm sure everyone else would like to know as well.
The main bug that is most noticeable happens in game. For some reason, there is a glitch that occurs to the player models, usually with substitutes that have been made during or before the game in the swap menu just before you begin. What happens is the player's kit will key out and you will see the "inside" of the player, which is a baby blue color, usually it doesn't stay that way for very long, maybe a second or two at the most, but what it does is it keeps flashing randomly for the rest of the game. I usually notice this bug when I use Arsenal, and while wearing their yellow and blue away kits, but I think it happens to other teams as well.
Another bug I've noticed is that sometimes, the audio goes nuts. Some of the channels of the audio just stop playing and the crowd is nearly silent, if the crowd was chanting, it cuts in and out. Also, the commentary cuts in and out as well and lags by 30 seconds to a minute or more. It also affects the gameplay, if this is happening, if you get a card, or the ball goes out of bounds, it doesn't cut to the next animation of the card being given, or the throw in or goal kick or corner, instead, you can run around and go anywhere on the field or off of the field, but if you have the ball, you can't kick it. The PS2 unit seems to be having problems reading the disc and makes a funny noise. I know it's not my PS2 because I can put any other game in it and it works just fine, even after hours of play.
There is one other bug I've noticed that happens during the game. It usually happens after halftime. In the upper right hand corner of you screen, in the first half, it says EA Sports Live, well...after halftime (I think it happens after you view a replay in the first half as well) it won't say EA Sports Live, it will Say EA Sports Highlights. It's like when it shows the highlights during half time, the thing gets stuck on EA Sports Highlights, and doesn't go back to EA Sports Live as it should. I don't even know why that thing is on the screen in the first place. Seems pointless to me.
Also, I've found a coding exploit. The computer defenders can be exploited pretty easily. If you hold the R1 button, that makes the defender come after you and attempt to take the ball from you, if you don't hold the R1 button, but instead tap it everytime the ball is on your player's foot, the defender will not attempt to take the ball from you.
Most of the other things that I've noticed are things that are not in game issues. Most of them happen in career mode.
Say Thierry Henry was injured during a game which took place on March 12, 2004, if you look at your injury report, it will say something like he is due to return on March 5, 2004. How is that possible? He got injured on March 12, 2004, there will never be another March 5, 2004! Instead, it means that he will return on April 5, 2004. You have to add a month for some reason, due to the glitch.
Another thing, In your training menu after the weekend game, you can assign certain areas to train your players in: sprints, shooting, passing, heading, tackling, technique, etc. Say I go into the menu, last week I assigned Ray Parlour to train on sprints, shooting, and passing, when you try to change the skills assigned, it will only let you change the first skill, even if you have enough points left. To fix it, you have to clear the training table, then assign the skills you want.
After you complete a season, and you look at the fixtures calendar, it shows that all of the games are on Monday, rather than on Saturday, as if the FA has moved all games to Mondays.
If anyone else has noticed any of these things, I'd like to know about it, I'm sure everyone else would like to know as well.
