FIFA 15 News & Discussion Thread

I tried Park The Bus in the demo so imagine my surprise to find Glen Johnson making a central run between Chelsea's CBs in the 94th minute!!
 
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Ok, to rebalanace a bit of negativity today!...

Finally managed a proper spell of FIFA last night, rather than grabbing the odd friendly when i had a spare 10 mins.

Started a Prem League (Tournament mode) as Newcastle just to get a feel of the Prem stuff, stadiums etc.

Got through about 5 games and found it really enjoyable. I'm not gonna lie, the presentation helps mask a lot of issues, but I find the gameplay ok actually - cant decide if its better or worse than 14. Some better, some worse I spose.

I like the feeling that everything is free and on a knife edge with the ball physics. Had lots of passing go astray (semi, power assist off) which makes you really concentrate.

Struggled in most games (pro), cant remember them all but;

Started home v Man City. Went 4-5-1, and about 2 notches up from Park The Bus! Lost 1-0 and think only had 1 shot, but was happy with how i played and battled and was probably how a game v City would play out so it felt good.

Going into Villa away, I was 2-0 down inside 10 as they just blew me away. Couldnt believe it after doing so well v City. Anyways, claw one back for 2-1 before HT and they score after 60 to make it 3-1. They make it 4-1 with 10 to go before I net a consolation at the end to make it 4-2. But it was probably the PERFECT premier league game.

Lots of pace, end to end (but not basketball), mistakes, hard tackling etc... really nice.

Also nice to have the little bits of presentation pop up and talk about the upcoming games you have etc.

Played a few more games and didnt get a win, but definitely enjoyed the games which were all close apart from Villa.

I probably wont carry that on - I'll start a career mode in the Prem and probably do a League 2 Tournament as Southend or something, but i dont think its as bad as people are making out too be honest. Change is always hard to take.

I remember in the heyday of PES, every new one was lauded as a disaster until people got used to it and it went on to be the 'best in the series'. I get that feeling with FIFA15.
 
mjp said:
I tried Park The Bus in the demo so imagine my surprise to find Glen Johnson making a central run between Chelsea's CBs in the 94th minute!!
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Yea but c'mon, thats Glen Johnson! :D

Too be fair, you are right and it is annoying - I put Chiek Tiote on "dont join attack" but he was always pushing on into the final 3rd. They havent fixed it.
 
pboreham said:
Yea but c'mon, thats Glen Johnson! :D

Too be fair, you are right and it is annoying - I put Chiek Tiote on "dont join attack" but he was always pushing on into the final 3rd. They havent fixed it.
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Hahaha! Great point! (And to be fair, I did have him set to "Always overlap").

On your other post, I'm more in the "I like it" side than the "this is shit and I can't defend!!" brigade.

It's fun. It reminds me of FIFA07 which I loved as it felt fun and had the first attempts at being a virtual Sky Sports game.

I too have had games where I've not won (I can barely score at the mo) but the intensity of the match, how I've had to think about what I'm doing, all makes for a good enough game for what I'm after these days.
 
pboreham said:
i dont think its as bad as people are making out
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Is that the most we can hope for nowadays, "it's not that bad"? :D

Sad truth is that it is, I suppose. I thought by the time I was 30 we'd be in virtual footballing wonderland (especially with the new consoles). Instead it's "well this one has presentation that masks some issues" and "this one is alright but still has the same CPU cheats from years ago"...

It's not fair.

:CW:

Seriously though, I think the fact that you've said "the presentation helps mask a few issues" (or words to that effect) demonstrate that as soon as that novelty wears off, it'll be difficult to enjoy.

Saying that, after Pu6hy mentioning manual passing, I'm wondering if it's worth giving that a go against a lower AI to try and balance it all out as best as possible. Until FIFA 16 at least.
 
Well I have to say I'm really disappointed. What's weird to me is that I really liked the feel of the demo. It got me really excited for the game, and I couldn't understand why people on here were moaning about it so much - particularly the defending.

Then I bought the game and started playing it online.

Wow, it's so fast it's just like playing a 90's arcade game. Way too fast. The defending is an absolute joke too - I had massive holes all over the place, and not by over-using the pressure button either. Long balls are still overpowered, and even worse, virtually every team I played had strikers who could absolutely outpace my defenders, which meant there was nothing I could do to stop opponents from barging through my defence.

I've played 7 games online so far, and the lowest scoring game was a 3-3 draw.

Players clash into each other and fall over themselves so much that it's a joke. An opponent scored a freekick against me from about 50 yards out, with Joe Hart just standing there, watching it fly right over his head. The replay was comical.

I'm sorry but so far I consider the game to be so bad it's unplayable. I actually booked the day off work as a treat to myself today so I could chill out with a few beers and play online, and now here I am at midday with just a free day to myself. Seriously. I think I'm gonna go into town for a bit now instead of playing this.
 
My first (and only) online quick match was a scrappy 0-0 mostly played in the midfield and around the edge of each other's boxes, with only a handful of shots on target each. It was actually an enjoyable match and a far cry from the 5+ goal games that seem to be reported as the norm on here. This was on assisted/semi in Ultimate Team as well.

That's just one game and I could have been lucky for it to play out like that.
 
I really do hate the existence of manual controls because of the way in which they tend to stop a lot of manual players from having intelligent discussion about the topic.

With the option to use manual, semi-assisted or assisted controls, FIFA (and now PES) has divided the community up into people who simply aren't interested in each other's plight, or who think that the answer to fundamental problems with the AI is to change the controls. Guess what? The AI will still suck, and as your thumb gradually becomes more competent at pointing in certain directions, you will find yourself faced with the same problems.

PES 2011 had it right in principle, making everyone play with semi-assisted controls while also giving you the option to hold L2 to play a manual pass. Different control schemes divide the community, lead to pointless squabbles over which control scheme is most 'realistic' (which always gets confused with which is hardest instead), and gives the developers the easy way out of any criticism of the game by saying something offensively dismissive like 'Try manual controls :)'.

It is ENTIRELY possible to design an assisted passing/shooting control scheme which is extremely realistic, requires skill to use effectively to build intelligent moves, and is part of a cerebral yet fun football simulation. In fact I can't imagine how a manual control scheme could ever be more authentic and 'sim' than the most realistic assisted setup humanly possible - and god knows I've spent several years trying to imagine both.

I want there to be a natural difference between basic passers who tend to aim straight for the recipient, and more intelligent tempo-dictating players who aim slightly ahead/to the side of the recipient in order to inform the recipient's next move. I want some players to fail to make certain passes because they haven't yet looked over their shoulder and so don't know where the recipient or the defenders are, rather than just passing in the direction I've moved my thumb. Why should shooting be manual? Why would Falcao aim 10-15 yards wide of the goal? Shouldn't he be aiming for just inside the post, and the context of the position, body posture relative to the ball, pressure, keeper position and composure of the player in the scenario itself inform how accurate the shot is?


I don't particularly mind manual in and of itself. In fact I think it's ideal for Clubs / BAP, where you control one player and your ability with your thumb doesn't transfer across to every player, and everyone on the pitch can therefore play the game with a clearly different level of vision and intelligence. In that context, aiming wide of the goal is MY fault, so manual shooting makes sense. It's not like Career mode, where I should be conveying my intent to the player on the pitch for him to then execute to the best of his abilities. In BAP / Clubs, the player is ME. I already know my intentions, and executing them is my responsibility alone.

What I do mind is that manual still doesn't allow for the level of individuality that you could get from an ideal assisted / semi-assisted setup, but never from the manual game without sacrificing a sense of coherency and consistency (which is essential for learning how to improve your game). But the very notion that assisted could be more realistic than it currently is will never be given the time of day by a lot of people due to a combination of pride, ignorance, stubbornness, and a genuine insistence that the player with the pad should define the exact angle and weight that professional footballers should apply to a pass, even though their ability to correctly measure such passes is what distinguishes them.

Right now I don't think FIFA or PES has very much individuality in the passing game at all, and I have no doubt in my mind that it's because the devs have absolved themselves of all responsibility for dealing with this area of the game, tying inaccuracy to the thumb rather than to the footballer. The public will entertain themselves based on how much of a challenge the game then feels (or how amazing they appear to be at the game if they're using assisted) without noticing the difference between a Ferdinand and Phil Jones, or seeing why Mata is a more technical #10 than Rooney, or why Strootman distributes the ball better than de Jong. And that's what a football game needs in order for me to want to play it all year round.
 
romagnoli said:
I really do hate the existence of manual controls because of the way in which they tend to stop a lot of manual players from having intelligent discussion about the topic.

With the option to use manual, semi-assisted or assisted controls, FIFA (and now PES) has divided the community up into people who simply aren't interested in each other's plight, or who think that the answer to fundamental problems with the AI is to change the controls. Guess what? The AI will still suck, and as your thumb gradually becomes more competent at pointing in certain directions, you will find yourself faced with the same problems.

PES 2011 had it right in principle, making everyone play with semi-assisted controls while also giving you the option to hold L2 to play a manual pass. Different control schemes divide the community, lead to pointless squabbles over which control scheme is most 'realistic' (which always gets confused with which is hardest instead), and gives the developers the easy way out of any criticism of the game by saying something offensively dismissive like 'Try manual controls :)'.

It is ENTIRELY possible to design an assisted passing/shooting control scheme which is extremely realistic, requires skill to use effectively to build intelligent moves, and is part of a cerebral yet fun football simulation. In fact I can't imagine how a manual control scheme could ever be more authentic and 'sim' than the most realistic assisted setup humanly possible - and god knows I've spent several years trying to imagine both.

I want there to be a natural difference between basic passers who tend to aim straight for the recipient, and more intelligent tempo-dictating players who aim slightly ahead/to the side of the recipient in order to inform the recipient's next move. I want some players to fail to make certain passes because they haven't yet looked over their shoulder and so don't know where the recipient or the defenders are, rather than just passing in the direction I've moved my thumb. Why should shooting be manual? Why would Falcao aim 10-15 yards wide of the goal? Shouldn't he be aiming for just inside the post, and the context of the position, body posture relative to the ball, pressure, keeper position and composure of the player in the scenario itself inform how accurate the shot is?


I don't particularly mind manual in and of itself. In fact I think it's ideal for Clubs / BAP, where you control one player and your ability with your thumb doesn't transfer across to every player, and everyone on the pitch can therefore play the game with a clearly different level of vision and intelligence. In that context, aiming wide of the goal is MY fault, so manual shooting makes sense. It's not like Career mode, where I should be conveying my intent to the player on the pitch for him to then execute to the best of his abilities. In BAP / Clubs, the player is ME. I already know my intentions, and executing them is my responsibility alone.

What I do mind is that manual still doesn't allow for the level of individuality that you could get from an ideal assisted / semi-assisted setup, but never from the manual game without sacrificing a sense of coherency and consistency (which is essential for learning how to improve your game). But the very notion that assisted could be more realistic than it currently is will never be given the time of day by a lot of people due to a combination of pride, ignorance, stubbornness, and a genuine insistence that the player with the pad should define the exact angle and weight that professional footballers should apply to a pass, even though their ability to correctly measure such passes is what distinguishes them.

Right now I don't think FIFA or PES has very much individuality in the passing game at all, and I have no doubt in my mind that it's because the devs have absolved themselves of all responsibility for dealing with this area of the game, tying inaccuracy to the thumb rather than to the footballer. The public will entertain themselves based on how much of a challenge the game then feels (or how amazing they appear to be at the game if they're using assisted) without noticing the difference between a Ferdinand and Phil Jones, or seeing why Mata is a more technical #10 than Rooney, or why Strootman distributes the ball better than de Jong. And that's what a football game needs in order for me to want to play it all year round.
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Completely agreed. Passing is the most important fundamental in football and has been overlooked over the years over control schemes. I feel there is exactly the same individuality in passing in videogames now than it was 10 years ago, even though we have much better physics, a lot more button cmobos and modifiers and modes. Great insight!
 
Nah there was better passing individuality in PES ten years ago. Although I'd say it's the only thing left that FIFA hasn't emulated and improved upon from that series.
 
Not enjoying this at all. Can't quite put my finger on why but defending seems really difficult compared to the early access even though I thought it was the same? Playing against the CPU on legendary and world class, leaking goals for fun.
 
Tactical defending is certainly a lot tougher; it seems if you don't time the challenge perfectly - and I mean perfectly - the AI will just skip through it as if it didn't exist. The only option to counter that is timing to perfection (obviously), or switching to Legacy Defending, which is simply a button hold to take possession away from the opposition. This takes away a vital element of enjoying the game, though.
 
Why the hell would I want better assisted controls to do my passing for me? So just tap the button and let the players attributes take over? That's just as bad as what we have now on assisted. It's just assisted but different. Not for me. Do something with manual with regard to individual attributes but assisted and just tapping a button? No ta.
 
PU6HY said:
Why the hell would I want better assisted controls to do my passing for me? So just tap the button and let the players attributes take over? That's just as bad as what we have now on assisted. It's just assisted but different. Not for me. Do something with manual with regard to individual attributes but assisted and just tapping a button? No ta.
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Yes. The outcome of tapping the button should then depend on his passing accuracy stat, his body position, fatigue, pressure, etc. Manual ignores all of that imo and depends solely on your input; stripped of everything individuality. Might as well get rid of stats then since it's all up to us to decide.

Agree with @Romagnoli.
 
Scutch said:
Tactical defending is certainly a lot tougher; it seems if you don't time the challenge perfectly - and I mean perfectly - the AI will just skip through it as if it didn't exist. The only option to counter that is timing to perfection (obviously), or switching to Legacy Defending, which is simply a button hold to take possession away from the opposition. This takes away a vital element of enjoying the game, though.
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agree. yet to try the defending on the full version ps4 but tactical defending was perfect on the demo, you just have to time it right which is how it should be..i dont like legacy defending anymore as it takes away the skill - similar to PES 15 where you just hold X down and its like a homing missile and completes the tackle for you
 
Lami said:
The outcome of tapping the button should then depend on his passing accuracy stat, his body position, fatigue, pressure, etc. Manual ignores all of that
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Completely disagree.

Manual passing takes into account body position, strong foot and passing stats of the player and has done a pretty good job of this in particular in the last couple of Fifas (talking about 13 and 14 here) in the sense that those two have altered manual so it's less manual than it used to be, it's more of a slightly semi-manual in them, 15 does seem to have reverted to a bit more manual whilst still taking into account body position/foot/player stats.
 
Lami said:
Yes. The outcome of tapping the button should then depend on his passing accuracy stat, his body position, fatigue, pressure, etc. Manual ignores all of that imo and depends solely on your input; stripped of everything individuality. Might as well get rid of stats then since it's all up to us to decide.

Agree with @Romagnoli.
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As much as I find myself disagreeing with PU6HY and agreeing with Romagnoli's devastating post, this kind of misinformation really grates. I don't know whether we've been explicitly told at any point, but as far as I know, manual takes into account all the same things as assisted.

The contextual error comes in after the aiming takes place, and hence affects both assisted and manual. Anyone who plays manual for even a short period will notice that indeed, error does exist. There isn't a great deal of error - but then there isn't on assisted passing either. Almost all of errant passes on assisted are because the game misinterprets what you want and tries something that will not work.

An open question - should the way that assisted aims be dependent on player attributes? It's a tricky one to answer, and it gets to the heart of the limits of player attributes in the game. My current feeling is no. In my mind, the user should be choosing the pass, and the assistance should be looking at the input and context to try and work out what the user wants to do. Whether it comes off, is of course down to context and player attributes.

In either case, to echo Romagnoli's sentiment, EA have got to look into the control schemes that govern passes, crosses and shots. I would be elated to hear that EA were scrapping the assisted/semi/manual paradigm and attempting to build a single, better scheme. What that single better scheme should be is quite a complex question, but almost anything would be better than the status quo.
 
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Lami said:
Yes. The outcome of tapping the button should then depend on his passing accuracy stat, his body position, fatigue, pressure, etc. Manual ignores all of that imo and depends solely on your input; stripped of everything individuality. Might as well get rid of stats then since it's all up to us to decide.

Agree with @Romagnoli.
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That's exactly what I prefer. In this day and age we should be having more input into the game. I can get from one end of the pitch to the other with my eyes closed on assisted. Absolute joke.
You can have manual with attributes too if that's the case. One players touch is crap. His passing is crap so he needs put more on the pass. He can't ping it as good so a longer press is needed. He has a softer shot so needs a longer button press. The way you guys bang on its still a tap of a button with no consideration of power or aim. If it gets rid of the absolute crap that is ping pong then brilliant but I much prefer it being me that has input into the aim and weight of the pass otherwise it's just tap, tap, tap which my young son can do easily.
 
Anyone else this the LOD/Antialising is pretty "choppy/bad"? Especially on the ref/linesmen close up and when playing (PS4). I cant remember what it was like on the demo as I'v been playing PES.

Other than that, had a fantastic two first games. Can see I'm going to like football games alot this year in-general.
 
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Placebo said:
Completely disagree.



Manual passing takes into account body position, strong foot and passing stats of the player and has done a pretty good job of this in particular in the last couple of Fifas (talking about 13 and 14 here) in the sense that those two have altered manual so it's less manual than it used to be, it's more of a slightly semi-manual in them, 15 does seem to have reverted to a bit more manual whilst still taking into account body position/foot/player stats.
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Agreed. The comment above though about tapping the button. Fuck that!
 
People don't choose Manual controls because they think it is more realistic or authentic. They choose Manual controls for the control, the feel and the challenge.

Being forced to aim and weight your passes/shots can be a more immersive and rewarding experience. It is very tactile and quite demanding. In comparison, the quick-tap and auto-aim of Assisted can make your eyes glaze over.

So I think that using realism as an argument against Manual is missing the point a bit, because that's not why people choose it.

Rodelero said:
There isn't a great deal of error - but then there isn't on assisted passing either. Almost all of errant passes on assisted are because the game misinterprets what you want and tries something that will not work.
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Agree so much with this ^^^

It's mis-leading to describe manual as making a poor passer as accurate as a good one... because you complete your passes on Assisted too. In fact more so, because there's less margin for error.

And if we're talking about good/bad passers being represented with individuality... what about vision? Awareness? Intelligence? Quick decision making? The connection of the boot with the ball is only one part of a pass. From your all-seeing top-down perspective, Behrami operates with the same intelligence as Xavi. You're the one making the decisions, so how could you ever truly represent an intelligent playmaker.

The point being that we make some concessions for the benefit of control in the video game.
 
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I definitely find that a passer with good vision will help you get those through balls into the right places versus a similar stat passer without good vision, even on manual.
 
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