EA SPORTS FC 26

[dannyfc2]

I've heard that there's a dedicated "live gameplay team" (responsible for patching the game) for both "Competitive" and "Authentic" modes this year - which I wasn't expecting - so hopefully we do see changes like this through the lifespan of the product.

If pass speed was slower and error was introduced, it would be so much better - but I think it would probably throw off the gameplay balance too much for them to commit to it. Suddenly all build-ups would fail because of the lightning speed of defensive repositioning and constant defensive pressure - but tone that down and then it's far too easy because there's so little defensive AI...

Also, I truly don't think "pass error" can exist, in the sense of passes being off-target, because the ball isn't truly free - so I would bet that's a "needs a new game" thing.

The problem for me is I'm online only, so that community feedback will always veer towards making everything snappier/twitchy to cater to the e-gaming nonsense.

But you're right, with this Authentic mode they're specifically trying to cater to divergent tastes so in theory that will become more fine-tuned to what we'd want. Just a shame they're not willing to give an online mode to experience that.

The assisted passing in Competitive is weird, the errors are more from the direction being locked to a different player than you intended. I did find I was misplacing more passes when I came up against better opponents, but I thought last year's game was better at penalizing careless first time passes which added some tension when trying to pass out from defence.

Even in the best PES games, the certainty in pass accuracy was always weakness. Unless you went full manual, you could easily chain first time passes without much thought. And going manual was always a compromise, it just created an artificial difficulty rather than solve the root cause.

A developer that could make the ball become a freer entity or more physics based would completely revolutionize football games, Imagine a game that could emulate all the little bobbles and ricochets, so the user had to time the input of dribble, pass or shot for a clean connection.

It would be the the first game to properly simulate the uncertainty of possession you experience in real football, which is the missing ingredient. The midfield battles, the scrambles in the box, the turnovers from loose touches and the value of players who can get it under control quickly. The absence of it is what makes these games feel more like hockey or basketball, when it's just cycles of each team taking turns to attack.

There's a very basic online cricket game that is entirely physic based - Foddy.net

I had a moment in Covid where I envisioned learning to code and coming up with a football equivalent, but realised it would take me decades of my life to ultimately come up with something much inferior. Still, I'm sure one day there will be the technology or talented enough individual that could replicate something similar into a playable football game.

 

[ThePelicanator52]

The game visually looks ugly for a ps5 game. It already looked ugly for a ps4 era to begin with. Look at PES 17-18. Heck even PES 14 looked so much better than this. Just having higher poly and high res textures do not make a game look good. Look at the pc port of FIFA 09, it was based on PS2 engine but the way lighting and player models were shaded, looked visually pleasing. Same goes with fifa 06 rtwc, which overall looks better than current fifa games.
This particular breed of art style they stuck with, especially with FIFA 19 onwards just looks bland. On top of that, they just downgraded the visuals from fc 25.

And yeah, I think too much animations made dribbling feel awful. On older games like FIFA 14/15/16 when the players moved to your input, there was a tactile feeling to it because the players would snap from one direction to other. This feeling is completely missing on last few fifa games.


It's been almost 10 years. I wish they moved on from Frostbite engine to something else [but definitely not unreal engine] that at least made modding possible again.

It's the damn grass. I don't know how they did it, but going from FIFA 16 and 17, with immaculate pitch shading and contrast, to this washed out astroturf is mind-boggling. Also the player models are plain terrible. Boots look like they're 2 sizes too big, ankles twist and flop around unnaturally. Oh well, $2B more for Ultimate Team

 

[Topaz]

O

I think it is Tech Debt.
EA has been committing to AI/ML like many companies in tech.
For example, they have committed to Hypermotion but if you see the trend, this tech is making the game worse year after year.

Motion Capture was hierarchy wise, an older or outdated technology but it worked because it was/is perhaps the more simpler to implement technology.
With HyperMotion, they are talking about utilising 1000s of hours of gameplay videos but the integration is so difficult that its impossible for them to fix it now or even pivot or change things.
PLUS, the game is already making them billions so why do it!

As any tech company, you obviously want to get rid of tech debt but for EA its so clear that they cant get out of it!
Watching the Community Shield now its so apparent that this game is far far off from being called a SIM.
(FIFA 14-17 were miles ahead of this because of Motion Cap tech, even if old tech, worked so well implementation wise)

Yep. They fell for the AI bubble and now it's too late. They invested too much money and resources and stitching together stuff to get it to work. You can easily see it on FIFA 22 old-gen vs FIFA 22 new-gen. Huge difference in positioning. The thing is, they did positioning well with FIFA 16 and FIFA 17 they can easily port to next gen but until leadership changes and admits they made the wrong decision(which will never happen), we will continue to see this static boring game every year.

 

[Sami 1999]

It's the damn grass. I don't know how they did it, but going from FIFA 16 and 17, with immaculate pitch shading and contrast, to this washed out astroturf is mind-boggling. Also the player models are plain terrible. Boots look like they're 2 sizes too big, ankles twist and flop around unnaturally. Oh well, $2B more for Ultimate Team

Uglier grass, the way the player's are shaded also looks ugly. Look at games like rtwc 06, pes 18, mgsv etc where the player skins are shaded in a very visually pleasing manner. Even FIFA 12 looked great overall. They just downgraded the cloth physics too and day/overcast/sunset lighting looks awful compared to 16, 17. These things may seem trivial, but you expect them to be perfect for a 60-70$ game.

Remember when they showed that fake ignite engine footage of fifa 14? 12 years later and we still haven't seen the cloth physics and lighting shown on that trailer.

 

[pootball_furist]

Yep. They fell for the AI bubble and now it's too late. They invested too much money and resources and stitching together stuff to get it to work. You can easily see it on FIFA 22 old-gen vs FIFA 22 new-gen. Huge difference in positioning. The thing is, they did positioning well with FIFA 16 and FIFA 17 they can easily port to next gen but until leadership changes and admits they made the wrong decision(which will never happen), we will continue to see this static boring game every year.

This!

Since all the games from FIFA 17 are in frostbite, migrating the Defensive AI positioning just for Authentic Mode should not be an issue but definitely will need rework w.r.t Opposition AI behaviour.
IMO, if they do this, community will get what they want. (Even if the animations will be super ugly hypermotion SHIT!)

But, as you said, leadership will have to admit and take this decision that "We wont be able to give our customers a proper Authentic mode as long as we stick to this model/engine/AI which was catered for Ultimate Team only"

IMO, if they even use the FIFA 17 base for Authentic mode and get rid of that (10,000 hours) of gameplay/animations capture through AI thing, we will still have a much better game.
Just a remastered FIFA 17 gameplay base for authentic mode with subtle improvements will be a proper Authentic mode.

Also, if we want to fix the current Hypermotion Animation System for Authentic, we will have to retrain it. (It at all its an actual model)

The current system is trained to produce faster animations and overlapped animations to ensure maximum responsiveness. Hence, we see so many fast, borken and non human like animations.

 

[drigOrange]

Today I was thinking and wanted to share it with you.
Soccer is the greatest sport in the world. All these virtual games are garbage, pathetic, and limited, which unfortunately became that way to satisfy the desires of FUT fans.
Their mentality is completely different. No one cares about simulation. Physics, AI, immersion, and complexity. Their mentality is similar to fans of FPS games, LOL, and Fortnite.
- Building super squads. Being competitive and having fast, lag-free movements. Nothing else matters!
Pro-players pride themselves on using Rio Ferdinand's CARD as a STRIKER. For God's sake, the abyss we've reached.

So, what would be the solution?
EA should work on two distinct games, as happened with the DIRT series.

Look at the huge difference. Don't they say they listen to offline fans who are asking for a faithful simulator? So, this is the way to go.



Kids enjoy Dirt, its arcade concept and mechanics. Serious, demanding drivers, obsessed with perfection and realism, choose Dirt Rally.
We'd have EA FC 26 Ultimate Online and EA FC 26 Simulator. Everyone would be happy, receiving dedicated attention.

 

[naczelnik5]

@drigOrange This won't happen because to create a football game with simulation elements, one that would satisfy fans of realism, EA would have to create a game completely from scratch, modeling and improving on what we had in FIFA 16 or 17. But why would they do that if such a game would only generate a fraction of the profits that FUT generates?

 

[dontellmama]

The animation of FIFA 09 PS3 ver. still looks great.

 

[DaWolf]

There is such a big gap in the market. Im 100% sure that if a company (like 2K) would create a football game aimed totally towards realism - they would take over the market in a couple of years and make billions. Im old now, I've seen it before All the kids would turn to the realistic one bit by bit. The only problem is the licences but you could get around that as well (only real national teams + all real players for the FUT mode with fifpro+ edit mode).

 

[oldbox]

EA should work on two distinct games, as happened with the DIRT series.

It is unlikely that this will happen. It's like with television. Television benefits the owner of global television, but not the TV-heads who watch and listen to TV every day. EA creates games for money. I think 9 out of 10 players who are willing to buy the same game every year don't need realism and football aspects. And EA won't cater to 1 in 10, who want "realism", because there is no benefit in it. Who needs "realism"? Old players who started playing football games in the pre-Internet era. These are old maniacs who now spend more time editing than playing the game (it's a joke️ …but it's true).
Personally, I don't need a new football game. No matter what the innovations are, it will be the same game.

 

[drigOrange]

I understand your arguments, which are wise. But this isn't about anything official or "concrete," but rather a utopian dream. lol

But let's see.
A soccer simulator game, EA, could also make billions selling items, but all of them would be based on the seriousness of the sport.
- Classic jerseys;
- Training center;
- Stadium improvements and expansions (trophy gallery);
- Having an open world to explore.
No exaggeration. There are millions of ideas, based on Football Manager and NBA 2K, that would hit the market like a bomb.

Then, people in their 40s and 50s would play and support the project, which would provide realism, quality, and immersion, but in an honest, non-predatory way.

These people would feel valued and say:
- Wow, this is what I always dreamed of as a kid/teenager.

The proposal would be a new game. Bringing an Online Career Mode, creating interaction, like soccer.
There would be Season Mode. Friendlies. Tournaments. With a solid, realistic foundation/structure.

There would be no more paranoid madness with sliders or full manual controls; everything in this game would be perfectly unique, evaluated and studied to be faithfully reproduced.

Of course, I'm just a distant and humble dreamer, so limited in words, but perhaps one day this revolution will come to fruition.
And I think that having FC 26, with authentic gameplay (from the EA development team), could be the trigger, and who knows, maybe incredible things will come in the future.

I'll stop here, so as not to be abusive...

 

[FC Bayern]

Today I was thinking and wanted to share it with you.
Soccer is the greatest sport in the world. All these virtual games are garbage, pathetic, and limited, which unfortunately became that way to satisfy the desires of FUT fans.
Their mentality is completely different. No one cares about simulation. Physics, AI, immersion, and complexity. Their mentality is similar to fans of FPS games, LOL, and Fortnite.
- Building super squads. Being competitive and having fast, lag-free movements. Nothing else matters!
Pro-players pride themselves on using Rio Ferdinand's CARD as a STRIKER. For God's sake, the abyss we've reached.

So, what would be the solution?
EA should work on two distinct games, as happened with the DIRT series.

Look at the huge difference. Don't they say they listen to offline fans who are asking for a faithful simulator? So, this is the way to go.



Kids enjoy Dirt, its arcade concept and mechanics. Serious, demanding drivers, obsessed with perfection and realism, choose Dirt Rally.
We'd have EA FC 26 Ultimate Online and EA FC 26 Simulator. Everyone would be happy, receiving dedicated attention.

It's ironic you've picked these games as the comparison. EA Sports bought Codemasters who make these games, another sim game was in development. They combined it with the official WRC game, which turned out more sim-cade, than full sim. And recently, the WRC license has been lost AFTER ONE GAME, and the people who made all these games basically got disbanded.

All fine and well suggesting EA should do this, when EA ruined a beloved company. If the F1 license goes, say goodbye to Codemasters

 

[nicetoknowyou]

 

[Ezequiel Vanzin]

Man, it really must not be easy to make a soccer game, because there was another company that launched it a while ago and didn't like the game either. I don't remember the name of the game, I think it was UFL. I think it would need a really big team. Only 2k would be a hope, but they don't want it that much and they don't want to acquire a FIFA license. I need us to either play the way it is because there is no other competitor or we play the old soccer games, no way out!

 

[amartingil]

This is by far a much more authentic, realistic, and well-rounded gameplay experience than what EA is likely to deliver with FC26.



The fact that they are relying on sliders to create their so-called “realistic” gameplay already shows how lazy the approach is. Sliders are essentially broad adjustments that affect multiple parameters at once, when in reality each of those should be fine-tuned individually to achieve quality gameplay.

For example, changing the sprint value in the sliders may simultaneously alter top speed, animation cycles, turning times, dribbling pace, touch frequency, and the way attributes influence sprint speed, all at once. This often creates more problems than it solves. That’s why lowering acceleration has historically caused gameplay issues, reducing sprint speed makes player control feel sluggish, and increasing pass error tends to feel random rather than contextual.

Authentic gameplay needs to be built around detailed adjustments to the internal gameplay profiles, exactly as we modders do.

It’s even possible to have different gameplay profiles within the same game (FC25 already has separate ones for 11-a-side, Volta, and Rush), so it’s hard to understand why EA still bases its so-called “authentic” mode so heavily on sliders.

 

[Gunslinger]

Fortunately this year you can set custom sliders and they don’t reset if you change to authentic and then go back to custom.

 

[nicetoknowyou]

This is by far a much more authentic, realistic, and well-rounded gameplay experience than what EA is likely to deliver with FC26.



The fact that they are relying on sliders to create their so-called “realistic” gameplay already shows how lazy the approach is. Sliders are essentially broad adjustments that affect multiple parameters at once, when in reality each of those should be fine-tuned individually to achieve quality gameplay.

For example, changing the sprint value in the sliders may simultaneously alter top speed, animation cycles, turning times, dribbling pace, touch frequency, and the way attributes influence sprint speed, all at once. This often creates more problems than it solves. That’s why lowering acceleration has historically caused gameplay issues, reducing sprint speed makes player control feel sluggish, and increasing pass error tends to feel random rather than contextual.

Authentic gameplay needs to be built around detailed adjustments to the internal gameplay profiles, exactly as we modders do.

It’s even possible to have different gameplay profiles within the same game (FC25 already has separate ones for 11-a-side, Volta, and Rush), so it’s hard to understand why EA still bases its so-called “authentic” mode so heavily on sliders.

I've read in several places that there aren't just sliders, there are two separate cores that can be updated independently of each other. And regarding modders, there's a bit of everything. Some gameplays are bad and unbalanced, they touch some parameters, they don't even test 10 games, they give you a list of changes half of which are pure blah blah blah. Some are worth it, then there's everything.

 

[amartingil]

I've read in several places that there aren't just sliders, there are two separate cores that can be updated independently of each other. And regarding modders, there's a bit of everything. Some gameplays are bad and unbalanced, they touch some parameters, they don't even test 10 games, they give you a list of changes half of which are pure blah blah blah. Some are worth it, then there's everything.

I know there will be an "Authentic" toggle that triggers internal adjustments to animations, physics, and more. The problem is, the vanilla Authentic preset still relies partly on sliders, when all of it should be handled internally. Sliders should then be left for the user to fine-tune the experience, because major slider tweaks usually end up breaking more things than they fix.

By the way, you can try my gameplay mod. It’s like taking the red pill (hope you’ve seen The Matrix). You won’t believe how good FC25 can feel. And no, I don’t charge a penny… at least for now 😅

 

[final lap]

I will buy this, like I do every year. I will support via Patreon all the amazing modders like Anth James' and then I will probably go back to FIFA 17.
Even though the work they do is commendable (hats off to you specially, Anth) I cant get over the dreaded 1v1 defending system. Why do I have to struggle to get my players to at least behave in a manner in some way reflecting actual football?
I don't want to sound like a broken record but honestly, anybody that chooses to play these newer games instead of say, FIFA 17, I will never understand. Its such a breath of fresh air what we had and has been taken away. Just try it, the teams actually defend like a team, the physicality is amazing. Remember when FIFA had fouls? seems so long ago, FIFA 17 although not perfect, does have fouls. Even "The Journey" is a great mode. Only downside is of course the lack of mods for FIFA 17. I wish I had the knowledge and the time to work on this. I have neither. All I can do is hope and support anyone willing and able to do so.

 

[Sami 1999]

There is such a big gap in the market. Im 100% sure that if a company (like 2K) would create a football game aimed totally towards realism - they would take over the market in a couple of years and make billions. Im old now, I've seen it before All the kids would turn to the realistic one bit by bit. The only problem is the licences but you could get around that as well (only real national teams + all real players for the FUT mode with fifpro+ edit mode).

Only thing 2k will make are slot machines with fancy animations and then hire a football player to salivate looking at the gambling machines.



I'd really love to see a world cup game though. We haven't had a World cup game for last 12 years!

 

[Madmac79]

Don't want to be a broken clock, but as of now I still have to understand where these two separate cores exactly come into play. All the "authentic" videos I saw until this moment do have 1 vs 1 mechanic, laser passes, crazy fast control and turns with ball glued to the feet, AI players that don't look aware.. leaving aside all the promises they made when the trailer came out, I genuinely don't get what we are supposed to look for that justifies the thought of as many as two different teams working on each version?

Without mentioning Fifa 17, I also agree that modded FC 25 looks miles better.. a video of it recently came in my youtube timeline, it's day and night with every authentic mode one I saw and I'm not even a great fan of it (modders like Anth did incredible job and I'll always praise them to death, sadly tho the way those new chapter are fundametally built they just aren't for me)

 

[nicetoknowyou]

I know there will be an "Authentic" toggle that triggers internal adjustments to animations, physics, and more. The problem is, the vanilla Authentic preset still relies partly on sliders, when all of it should be handled internally. Sliders should then be left for the user to fine-tune the experience, because major slider tweaks usually end up breaking more things than they fix.

By the way, you can try my gameplay mod. It’s like taking the red pill (hope you’ve seen The Matrix). You won’t believe how good FC25 can feel. And no, I don’t charge a penny… at least for now 😅

I understand your point. With EA, you really don't know what's true and what's false. I'd rather not give my opinion until I try it for myself.

I'll gladly try your mod!

 

[dannyfc2]

Don't want to be a broken clock, but as of now I still have to understand where these two separate cores exactly come into play. All the "authentic" videos I saw until this moment do have 1 vs 1 mechanic, laser passes, crazy fast control and turns with ball glued to the feet, AI players that don't look aware.. leaving aside all the promises they made when the trailer came out, I genuinely don't get what we are supposed to look for that justifies the thought of as many as two different teams working on each version?

Without mentioning Fifa 17, I also agree that modded FC 25 looks miles better.. a video of it recently came in my youtube timeline, it's day and night with every authentic mode one I saw and I'm not even a great fan of it (modders like Anth did incredible job and I'll always praise them to death, sadly tho the way those new chapter are fundametally built they just aren't for me)

Not saying you're wrong but honestly I think with every football game you have to try it yourself to get a proper feel. I don't think I've ever watched one remotely and thought it looked anything like football, even the best PES games.

 

[Madmac79]

Not saying you're wrong but honestly I think with every football game you have to try it yourself to get a proper feel. I don't think I've ever watched one remotely and thought it looked anything like football, even the best PES games.

I totally agree with you that one generally have to try it first hand to have a full idea, but I played 23 and tried 25 enough before refunding it (just to name the most recent ones, cause I can't really fully enjoy a Fifa since the 1 vs 1 thing was implemented anyway) and all the things I despised about them are still there.. if 26 is not really different from what I'm seeing, I doubt I'll feel anything new pad in hands (even if I'm not excluding to buy and refund it this year too)

I also agree with you that no past game totally looked like the real thing, but no one expects that, most of us asks for way less, mostly to bring things there were already there like logical AI positioning/behaviour and coherent ball control, or at the very least to keep EA accountable of the things they promise that sadly don't looks like they are there at all.

Doesn't sound like crazy expectations to me.. (although they probably are anyway in this landscape)

 

[barcamanmessi]

Amazingly better than we saw previously.

 

[HeWillKnockFourTimes]

Amazingly better than we saw previously.

This isn't anything new but the commentators are so bad

 

[barcamanmessi]

No one really listens to the commentators though,

 

[dannyfc2]

I totally agree with you that one generally have to try it first hand to have a full idea, but I played 23 and tried 25 enough before refunding it (just to name the most recent ones, cause I can't really fully enjoy a Fifa since the 1 vs 1 thing was implemented anyway) and all the things I despised about them are still there.. if 26 is not really different from what I'm seeing, I doubt I'll feel anything new pad in hands (even if I'm not excluding to buy and refund it this year too)

I also agree with you that no past game totally looked like the real thing, but no one expects that, most of us asks for way less, mostly to bring things there were already there like logical AI positioning/behaviour and coherent ball control, or at the very least to keep EA accountable of the things they promise that sadly don't looks like they are there at all.

Doesn't sound like crazy expectations to me.. (although they probably are anyway in this landscape)

It's not an unfair expectation - I've mostly avoided football games over the last 10 years for the same reasons.

EA FC 25 was my first FIFA game since 2016, and despite it's flaws I was surprised there was enough there for me to get some enjoyment out of it. There's some interesting mechanics I'd not seen in older football games, (physicality, variations of passing/dribbling controls), but it is reliant on being able to look past the worst elements.

But I also think that applies to every football game ever released to some extent. There's were many flaws in the peak PES games that you had to look past, however I agree 20 years on the standard is still shockingly poor.

If you can get trial for EA FC 26 I'd give it a go. For me it's addressed many things I hated about EA FC 25, however I'll admit AI positioning is still a major weakness so may not be enough for what you're looking for. There's more active engagement in the defensive AI, but still feels far too open and 1v1 focused at times.

Personally I quite enjoy the 1v1 elements which is maybe why I have a higher opinion of it. I've always been bias toward using dribbly/techy players, so as long as I can unlock a defence without having to resort to fancy skill moves I'm happy. I really enjoyed FIFA 15 and 16 for the same reason, and hated the move to Frostbite since it lost all of that.

That's one aspect I think eFootball really lacks. Any video I watch shows the same basic patterns of pass and move plays with no real physical contact or defensive engagement. I can enjoy slow build-up play, but there still needs to be space for creativity or inventiveness. What the old PES games got right was making dribbling somewhat difficult, but still allow the opportunity for a mazy run or to send a defender the wrong way if timed right.

 

[DaWolf]

Amazingly better than we saw previously.

This does look quite nice to be honest. Curiously better lightning and movement. First goal is pretty cool as well (bend on cross).

edit: 2nd goal is awful though gk stuck on the line, weird ball physics.

 

[saturator]

Amazingly better than we saw previously.

The speed game is far too high. I have seen many videos of FC 26 bêta with a slower rythme.

I think the toggle "Authentic" was on but not the sliders "Authentic". It's the speed of everything at 50 in EA FC 25.

I'm not worried about the game. Ball physics are better, the ball didn't go to high in the sky on a lob pass, that a good point.

You can tweak with the new sliders introduced on FC 25, like cross frequency, aggressivity on tackle, speed construction, skill. These sliders work very good.

With its, I have penalty, more aggressivity from the CPU.

FC 26 will be a better game than FC 25, with a deeper career mode. That's a good news.

I don't want the full online career mode. It's maybe the last offline career mode. No more oldgen support next year so I think EA will introduced many features