fight night 3 demo for 360 on live

[Mendel]

few more points about the demo


positive:

+The damage done to the models' faces seems to be done pretty well. Their faces get constantly more messed, eyes get sealed shut, wounds open and blood spills. nice.

+The models are reasonably high polygon and their skin shaders are quite nice.

+the knockout slow motion thingie... it's really the real deal, what they showed in the ps3 announcement. very nice.

negative:

-but the aforementioned knockdown slowmo seems to always be quite closely to the exact same animation. The blow always comes from one side or the other, I haven't seen such animation for a blow that came from a hook or whatever you call a punch that connected in a vertical kind of motion... similarly, if the knockdown punch was aimed at the chest, no special effects.

-the hdr/bloom is a bit overblown and seems to wash out some of the detail away from the skin shader.

edit:

Oh and gameplay related... when I get knocked down, do I need to do something to help the fighter get up? Usually I would assume I'd have to hit A repeatedly but the game gives no such hint and I seem to be getting up even if I do nothing so I'm kind of confused there

 

[Jogi]

I have played this demo for couple of hours and sadly overall this game seems to be bit worse than earlier two.

+ nice textures
+ nice models
+ nice HDR + bloom
+ nice motion blur (in the game..)

- 30fps in fighting games, WTF
- somewhat stiff animation
- better blending between different action animations could help
- guys move like they were boxing underwater
- sluggish control -> lag between action & visuals

Nice frosting but this game sucks compared to earlier versions.

 

[Scott_Arm]

There's just something fundamentally wrong in the way EA makes its animations for their sports games. It's not the individual animations though, they're nice... but the transitions from one animation to another, that's where every single EA sports game fails.

A lot better animations (and transitions thereof) exists today for current gen games.

Compare FIFA games with Pro Evolution, the difference is huge.

Compare NBA live with NBA 2k series... 2k wins hands down. EA players look like robots in comparison.

Compare NHL06 and NHL2k6. the difference is huge again.

Now look at FN3 and you get a sense of deja vu and know someone could do things so much better

I agree with pretty much everything you said.

Some things I've noticed about FNR3. The transitions between animations are bad. The fighters appear very stiff, like the have a pole rammed up their asses. A lot of the punches don't appear to have any weight. They needed to have some kind of blending of animations. A lot of animations are reused from the last game, especially when a boxer is getting up from a knockdown. I'm thinking this has more to do with yearly releases than anything else. EA games usually go through a 2 or 3 year transition before they go through a complete overhaul. I'm hoping the next installment will be for next-gen consoles only, and will show a marked improvement in all aspects of gameplay. I'm a huge fan of the previous two games. When I found out FNR3 was comin' out for the 360, I thought it might hamper my plans on waiting until all of the next-gen consoles were out before making my choice. The game really doesn't like like it's different enough to warrant me buying an expensive console. For anyone that doesn't have a lot of experience with the first two, I'd totally recommend this game.

 

[mckmas8808]

But SoTC had laggy unresponsive controls -- the character feels "heavy" and there's a perceptible lag between hitting a button, and the character actually doing something. (I only played the demo disc.)

Like ERP says, it's all a trade-off.

And it's a trade-off that I will be willing to accept. See that ERP (just in case you are making a next-gen game). For example, in Madden these days a lot of the offensive moves feel less responsive than they used too back in the PS1 days.

On Madden 96 you can change direction, do spin moves, etc on a drop of a dime. Today changing direction takes a split second longer. Doing a spin move takes a split second longer. Even diving after an offensive player takes a split second longer than the old days.

NBA Live is the same way. I would rather things be more realistic (slower but lifelike), than fake (faster but too arcade like) if you know what I mean. But like others have said there does have to be a balance.

 

[hey69]

I have played this demo for couple of hours and sadly overall this game seems to be bit worse than earlier two.

+ nice textures
+ nice models
+ nice HDR + bloom
+ nice motion blur (in the game..)

- 30fps in fighting games, WTF
- somewhat stiff animation
- better blending between different action animations could help
- guys move like they were boxing underwater
- sluggish control -> lag between action & visuals

Nice frosting but this game sucks compared to earlier versions.

exactly

 

[scooby_dooby]

I have played this demo for couple of hours and sadly overall this game seems to be bit worse than earlier two.

+ nice textures
+ nice models
+ nice HDR + bloom
+ nice motion blur (in the game..)

- 30fps in fighting games, WTF
- somewhat stiff animation
- better blending between different action animations could help
- guys move like they were boxing underwater
- sluggish control -> lag between action & visuals

Nice frosting but this game sucks compared to earlier versions.

'

i couldn't disagree more. the game is faster than previous version, more hectic, and more balanced beause haymakers are much harder to throw now.

the controls are spot on, and there is no problem with the punch speed at all. Roy Jones is FAST! I would say you are having problems with teh punch control, try using the face buttons instead.

this is much improved over the previous versions, and will make for much more visceral, and exciting fights with my friends. This is the best boxing game ever made bar none.

 

[mckmas8808]

Well scooby looks like there were other people that felt like me. Why don't you talk to them the way you dogged me out? I was just giving you a honest opinion.

 

[Tap In]

I can live with the somewhat stiff animations but what bugs me is the camera angle.

Give me control of my perspective. I'd prefer to be fighting from an over the shoulder 3rd person (or even first person) perspective.

Maybe the full game will have camera options?

 

[mckmas8808]

I can live with the somewhat stiff animations but what bugs me is the camera angle.

Give me control of my perspective. I'd prefer to be fighting from an over the shoulder 3rd person (or even first person) perspective.

Maybe the full game will have camera options?

Damn that's the best idea I've ever heard for a boxing game. Lets hope the final game does have it. If not you need to give EA your resume.

 

[scooby_dooby]

have you played it yet? can't you understand the problem with proclaiming a game has "the same animations as ps2" without ever actually playing the game?? The issue was you haven't even played the game.

People feel alot of different ways, some people are saying the game is slow, however my buddy described it as "savage", so obviously opinions can vary.

Read some of the proffessional previews though, most of them give some props to the animations..

 

[SanGreal]

I thought the game was really slow and unresponsive at first.

I've seen spent a significant amount of time with it and I love it. Can't wait for the final version -- I'm getting tired of beating the crap out of these 2 guys

 

[mckmas8808]

have you played it yet? can't you understand the problem with proclaiming a game has "the same animations as ps2" without ever actually playing the game?? The issue was you haven't even played the game.

Me not playing the game should have never been the issue. Do I or anybody else have to play with something to have an opinion about it? Hell you are talking great stuff about HD-DVD in the other thread, but have you actually seen HD-DVD movies in real life? We don't have to play something to have an opinion.

Why is it that when I said the game's graphics look great you never said, "play the game first then comment"? Again just to let you know I'm only upset the animation everything else that I've seen and heard seems great. And I'm not dissing the Xbox 360 in anyway.

 

[liverkick]

But SoTC had laggy unresponsive controls -- the character feels "heavy" and there's a perceptible lag between hitting a button, and the character actually doing something. (I only played the demo disc.)

Like ERP says, it's all a trade-off.

Ill have to disagree with you there, well with the statement that its a trade off at least. It is different in that inertia is actually represented in your character, something you dont find very often in games so it takes a bit to get used to. I guess thats where the perceived lag comes from. But there's never any point in game where the control and visual feedback isnt consistent with your intended input. There's no "response" problem whatsoever. The demo was a bit buggy in control so maybe you didnt get the best impression from it.

As animation gets more complex, dynamic and adaptive between character and environment maybe this type of inertia is something players will have to get used to?

edit- butchered spelling of inertia

 

[ihamoitc2005]

30fps

- 30fps in fighting games, WTF

This is very bad. Are you sure of this? DOA4 is 60fps no problem.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Me not playing the game should have never been the issue. Do I or anybody else have to play with something to have an opinion about it? Hell you are talking great stuff about HD-DVD in the other thread, but have you actually seen HD-DVD movies in real life? We don't have to play something to have an opinion.

Why is it that when I said the game's graphics look great you never said, "play the game first then comment"? Again just to let you know I'm only upset the animation everything else that I've seen and heard seems great. And I'm not dissing the Xbox 360 in anyway.

uggghh...because animations are directly controlled by the person playing, for the millionth time...

the player can not twitch his finger and suddenly make the GFX go bad, he can not suddenly change the gameplay, what he can do is make the animations look like total crap.

 

[mckmas8808]

uggghh...because animations are directly controlled by the person playing, for the millionth time...

the player can not twitch his finger and suddenly make the GFX go bad, he can not suddenly change the gameplay, what he can do is make the animations look like total crap.

Scooby I still don't know what you are arguing about here. Are you really that mad at me that I think FN3's animations should be a little better? Or is it that I've just haven't played the game? At least 50% of the people that I've seen post about playing the demo say that the animation needs to be a little better.

That's not saying the game will be bad.

 

[Synergy34]

I would say you are having problems with teh punch control, try using the face buttons instead.

I second that. Try a combo of using the face buttons for your jabs and the stick for the hooks, upper cuts and haymakers. You can do some super fast jab combos with the face buttons. Don't lift you thumb up either, place it in the middle of the jab buttons and kind of roll it side to side.

 

[zRifle1z]

Scooby I still don't know what you are arguing about here. Are you really that mad at me that I think FN3's animations should be a little better? Or is it that I've just haven't played the game? At least 50% of the people that I've seen post about playing the demo say that the animation needs to be a little better.

That's not saying the game will be bad.

Your opinion has been clearly stated, Scooby has made his as well. Why not just let it go and the thread can can continue on topic? This is a DEMO from EA, a company notorious for taking shortcuts, that looks fantastic and should be played to get a feel of what the final game may play like.

 

[weaksauce]

Ok then, now lets leave animation and talk about something else:

Look at this pic:
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/9/0,1425,sz=1&i=97756,00.jpg

I'm not gonna tell what I think looks so much better in this pic compared to 360.
I'm gonna ask you, would this be achievable?
On any system.
Hell lets say we have a blue gene computer and some really nice coders.
Do you think we'll see any of that, with real physics, reactions that looks good and all?
If 360 version actaully looks like this, can you show it?

Edit; found some old crazy stuff:
http://www.ps3insiders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1&goto=nextoldest

 

[rosman]

Look at Mohammed Ali

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/fightnightround3/media.html?mode=all

Bill Gates playing his x360 ( damn this man should give me some money for my holidays )