I am writing this post mainly because I am home, and bored, on a Saturday.
It must be realized that most (and I say most because I do not have "precise" statistics like some
) people who purchase FIFA 2004 don't even come to this forum. Suffice to say that a good majority of people who attend this forum regularly aren't happy with this year's FIFA release.
Talking about boycotting will not affect anything, whining about the game on these forums will not do anything. If anyone really truly wished to get some progress (in terms of having the game tweaked the way they wanted) you guys would be organizing either a petition or simply flooding EA with ideas and suggestions for next years release.
I have seen a million posts on why people don't like the game, and this one is the most ridiculous of all. Let us make EA pay! right. Let us make Microsoft pay... Either way you look at it this babbling won't change anything.
I will admit, this year's addition to the FIFA series is far from perfect, however, it is not some terrible satanic incarnation a lot of people here have made it out to be.
EA has made many advances in this title. Remember the days when the ball was glued to your player's feet? The endless hours of cross scissor kick, cross scissor kick? We now have a defensive line which marks well, and makes it so you cannot run from one end of the pitch to the other and score. In terms of game play EA has hit the nail on the head, this game is VERY realistic (perhaps that is the reason a lot of people are ticked, they can't stand that they know Carlos all about the game )
Sure, there are bugs which most likely should have been fixed pre-production, but when you take one step back, we all have to realize how good a product this really is.
My biggest beef with this game is the menu system, and career mode. They are relatively sloppy and unintuitive, and compared to releases such as FIFA 2002 the game has far fewer options. Heck, in FIFA 2002 I could play as Canada if I wanted to. However, when it comes to graphics, sound and game play, which are all the big parts of the game, one has to admit that FIFA is unsurpassed. PES3, while fun, is way more arcade style and a lot less of a true football simulator.
Though this year's FIFA may be a disappointment to many, there are MANY people who do not want to hear you guys whine about it constantly. The game is tons of fun online, and provides hours of entertainment when not online. For one year worth of work, I'd say the game is damn good.
I am a computer engineer myself, though I specialize in digital and logic circuits, I have an accute appreciation for programing and software design. Developing a football game is probably one of the most difficult things to do. Incase people have not realized football (soccer) is an incredibly dynamic game. You have 22 players on one field, playing constantly with ONE ball for two 45 minute halves. Each player has his/her different characteristics, the way they travel, dribble, run, shoot etc. To be able to incorporate a type of Roleplaying streak into a football simulator is quite difficult, especially one where AI is extremely predominate.
The AI required in the game is immense, and is bound to mess up from time to time. If you think about it, every player must be constantly controlled by a separate AI algorithm based on that player's stats, that makes 21 players (when only one human is playing) which the computer must control by itself. The program must mark itself, make runs, attack, shoot, pass etc while allowing one human to arbitrarily take control of the player "closest" to the action and give that player specific instructions. In addition, in order for the game to be authentic, the ball must be it's own object as opposed to a possessive variable. Then you have to incorporate physics (which thankfully they decided to add to this years addition). The aerodynamics of the ball are dictated by its spin, the spin is dictated by where the player hits the ball, the player is dictated by its algorithm, and the algorithm is dictated by the stats and base level code initially input. All the while you have to take into account how the player and ball will realistically react to one another (physically).
So now you have a game, in which each player is essentially his own program, functioning differently, while interpreting where the rest of the team (other programs) is at, and chasing after a dynamically moving, physically correct (in terms of physics/kinetic motion) object. In addition, they have to conform to a pre input formation, playing tendency (attack, defend, neutral), defensive strategy, offensive strategy... Pretty darn complex, and on top of that put some nice looking graphics with some real people's faces on the players, turn the sound into the atmosphere of a 76000 person audience and it turns out to be quite the complex game. On top of that the game is produced in the span of a year, and I haven’t even mentioned updating all of the rosters for a bajillion teams, getting as many names and faces as you can (while negotiating for different rights to use different logos and teams), and deciding what everyone's stats are (basing it on consistency as much as possible), then incorporating a roleplaying mode dependant on game play and allowing player's stats to change dynamically as well.
That is quite a bit, and though I will agree there are bugs in this year's FIFA addition, I will whole heartedly say that it is the best, THE BEST, Soccer simulation known to man at this point in time, short of going out and playing a game of footy yourself. There are going to be quirks to this game, but one thing I have noticed, is that the only times I get frustrated with this game is when it is my fault. It takes a fair amount of skill, and practice to be able to play this game competently, I have spent hours and hours playing, and I can honestly say that for every hour I played I enjoyed the game logarithmically (Where fun is a function of time). Now that I can play the game the way EA originally envisioned it being played (not picked up one day by some individual who figured they could play it no problem because they "know" football) and I can say, it is one hell of a game.
I know this was a long post, but as I said, I am boREd! And surfing through these forums doesn't do anything but find posts of people who are too unskilled and impatient to play the game properly. This forum should mainly be about things like "Join this ladder" or "This is a neat trick" or "I traded these players" or "I could own you with Man U any day" Not EA must pay!
Looking at the game, the time and effort alone put into this game has made EA pay alot. The true test of the company should not be derived by consistently critisizing its products, but by how the company reacts, (In this case in terms of patches and updates). I cannot wait to see how much better next year's addition will be.
Either way, that is a small piece of my mind. Now excuse me while I go back to my new and improved FIFA 2004. And stop all yer whining!
(Lol, I didn't even get into mentioning the large online community EA supports, and one which they give everyone one free year of membership, and don't whine about that, considering when you buy their next release of FIFA, which you all will, you will get yet another free year of FIFA)
It must be realized that most (and I say most because I do not have "precise" statistics like some
) people who purchase FIFA 2004 don't even come to this forum. Suffice to say that a good majority of people who attend this forum regularly aren't happy with this year's FIFA release.Talking about boycotting will not affect anything, whining about the game on these forums will not do anything. If anyone really truly wished to get some progress (in terms of having the game tweaked the way they wanted) you guys would be organizing either a petition or simply flooding EA with ideas and suggestions for next years release.
I have seen a million posts on why people don't like the game, and this one is the most ridiculous of all. Let us make EA pay! right. Let us make Microsoft pay... Either way you look at it this babbling won't change anything.
I will admit, this year's addition to the FIFA series is far from perfect, however, it is not some terrible satanic incarnation a lot of people here have made it out to be.
EA has made many advances in this title. Remember the days when the ball was glued to your player's feet? The endless hours of cross scissor kick, cross scissor kick? We now have a defensive line which marks well, and makes it so you cannot run from one end of the pitch to the other and score. In terms of game play EA has hit the nail on the head, this game is VERY realistic (perhaps that is the reason a lot of people are ticked, they can't stand that they know Carlos all about the game
)Sure, there are bugs which most likely should have been fixed pre-production, but when you take one step back, we all have to realize how good a product this really is.
My biggest beef with this game is the menu system, and career mode. They are relatively sloppy and unintuitive, and compared to releases such as FIFA 2002 the game has far fewer options. Heck, in FIFA 2002 I could play as Canada if I wanted to. However, when it comes to graphics, sound and game play, which are all the big parts of the game, one has to admit that FIFA is unsurpassed. PES3, while fun, is way more arcade style and a lot less of a true football simulator.
Though this year's FIFA may be a disappointment to many, there are MANY people who do not want to hear you guys whine about it constantly. The game is tons of fun online, and provides hours of entertainment when not online. For one year worth of work, I'd say the game is damn good.
I am a computer engineer myself, though I specialize in digital and logic circuits, I have an accute appreciation for programing and software design. Developing a football game is probably one of the most difficult things to do. Incase people have not realized football (soccer) is an incredibly dynamic game. You have 22 players on one field, playing constantly with ONE ball for two 45 minute halves. Each player has his/her different characteristics, the way they travel, dribble, run, shoot etc. To be able to incorporate a type of Roleplaying streak into a football simulator is quite difficult, especially one where AI is extremely predominate.
The AI required in the game is immense, and is bound to mess up from time to time. If you think about it, every player must be constantly controlled by a separate AI algorithm based on that player's stats, that makes 21 players (when only one human is playing) which the computer must control by itself. The program must mark itself, make runs, attack, shoot, pass etc while allowing one human to arbitrarily take control of the player "closest" to the action and give that player specific instructions. In addition, in order for the game to be authentic, the ball must be it's own object as opposed to a possessive variable. Then you have to incorporate physics (which thankfully they decided to add to this years addition). The aerodynamics of the ball are dictated by its spin, the spin is dictated by where the player hits the ball, the player is dictated by its algorithm, and the algorithm is dictated by the stats and base level code initially input. All the while you have to take into account how the player and ball will realistically react to one another (physically).
So now you have a game, in which each player is essentially his own program, functioning differently, while interpreting where the rest of the team (other programs) is at, and chasing after a dynamically moving, physically correct (in terms of physics/kinetic motion) object. In addition, they have to conform to a pre input formation, playing tendency (attack, defend, neutral), defensive strategy, offensive strategy... Pretty darn complex, and on top of that put some nice looking graphics with some real people's faces on the players, turn the sound into the atmosphere of a 76000 person audience and it turns out to be quite the complex game. On top of that the game is produced in the span of a year, and I haven’t even mentioned updating all of the rosters for a bajillion teams, getting as many names and faces as you can (while negotiating for different rights to use different logos and teams), and deciding what everyone's stats are (basing it on consistency as much as possible), then incorporating a roleplaying mode dependant on game play and allowing player's stats to change dynamically as well.
That is quite a bit, and though I will agree there are bugs in this year's FIFA addition, I will whole heartedly say that it is the best, THE BEST, Soccer simulation known to man at this point in time, short of going out and playing a game of footy yourself. There are going to be quirks to this game, but one thing I have noticed, is that the only times I get frustrated with this game is when it is my fault. It takes a fair amount of skill, and practice to be able to play this game competently, I have spent hours and hours playing, and I can honestly say that for every hour I played I enjoyed the game logarithmically (Where fun is a function of time). Now that I can play the game the way EA originally envisioned it being played (not picked up one day by some individual who figured they could play it no problem because they "know" football) and I can say, it is one hell of a game.
I know this was a long post, but as I said, I am boREd! And surfing through these forums doesn't do anything but find posts of people who are too unskilled and impatient to play the game properly. This forum should mainly be about things like "Join this ladder" or "This is a neat trick" or "I traded these players" or "I could own you with Man U any day" Not EA must pay!
Looking at the game, the time and effort alone put into this game has made EA pay alot. The true test of the company should not be derived by consistently critisizing its products, but by how the company reacts, (In this case in terms of patches and updates). I cannot wait to see how much better next year's addition will be.
Either way, that is a small piece of my mind. Now excuse me while I go back to my new and improved FIFA 2004. And stop all yer whining!
(Lol, I didn't even get into mentioning the large online community EA supports, and one which they give everyone one free year of membership, and don't whine about that, considering when you buy their next release of FIFA, which you all will, you will get yet another free year of FIFA)
, anyway I have the game and I think it's okay but there are things that should be fixed in the next FIFA game.
