Fight Night Round 4

[Scott_Arm]

Very happy about 60fps. I liked directional blocking, but I can do with just low and high.

They really didn't demonstrate the physics in that video, which is weird. The animations looked about the same as before. In fact, it pretty much looked exactly what we might have seen in one of the previous games. Hopefully they'll start rolling out regular videos so we can really see what the difference is in the physics.

 

[patsu]

No motion sensing ? I played one of those motion sensing boxing arcade games before. Wouldn't mind one at home !

EDIT: Make it so, EA. Then you can do an article to compare FN4 and WiiSports for the larger casual audience. ^_^

 

[Scott_Arm]

This is a better writeup than IGNs ... http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/news/story?id=3968745

They say there is absolutely 100% collision detection, so the boxers never clip. Punches will glance off the other fighter. Also, if you throw a headshot, it doesn't matter if he's ducking or standing, the shot will go towards his head. So it will be more important to time your blocks and body movement.

 

[Acert93]

Sounds interesting. The fact they are trying to evolve the gameplay in core areas that mimick the sport sounds encouraging.

 

[Inquisitive_Idiot]

The muscle simulation is very impressive! Also, unlike FNR3, the characters faces seem to react to being punched in real time, rather than just during the haymaker knockout sequence.

Muscles on Ali's back GIF

 

[Scott_Arm]

The muscle simulation is very impressive! Also, unlike FNR3, the characters faces seem to react to being punched in real time, rather than just during the haymaker knockout sequence.

Muscles on Ali's back GIF

Yeah, that's pretty cool. One thing that's weird looking at the gif is the punch animation. I know that's in slow mo, but it almost looks like the punch slows down before it lands on his target. There doesn't seem to be any impact at all. Maybe Tyson worships Ali so much that he's pulling his punches

 

[RobertR1]

Yeah, that's pretty cool. One thing that's weird looking at the gif is the punch animation. I know that's in slow mo, but it almost looks like the punch slows down before it lands on his target. There doesn't seem to be any impact at all. Maybe Tyson worships Ali so much that he's pulling his punches

Yeah I noticed that also. The boxers aren't "finishing" the punch and driving it in. The hook tyson is throwing to the body should be a digging punch with a lot of acceleration to the point of contact. The acceleration in the punch as it gets close to the end of the punch seems to be lacking.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Yeah I noticed that also. The boxers aren't "finishing" the punch and driving it in. The hook tyson is throwing to the body should be a digging punch with a lot of acceleration to the point of contact. The acceleration in the punch as it gets close to the end of the punch seems to be lacking.

I'm hoping things like that will be fleshed out before the game is released. In that particular gif you can't even see the punches landing, and you can't see if there is a visible reaction from Ali or deformation on the body.

 

[Scott_Arm]

I wonder if they'll include more useful views than the standard side view. Think the first person view from the PS3 will make a return? I'd like a view where you could see both of your opponents arms/hands more clearly.

 

[patsu]

The muscle emulation/simulation is certainly eye candy. Would be most interesting to see how the entire character animation catch up with fast user input (Argh, twitch vs lag).

First person view would be interesting. I wonder how much resources motion sensing takes. Would be a shame if the developers did not attempt it at all.

 

[Scott_Arm]

I have a feeling they've simplified some of the animations for responsiveness. They targetted 60fps, so they obviously are looking for quick responsive controls rather than eye candy.

One thing I was hoping to see mentioned specifically was animation blending. A lot of times you'll see fighters get hit mid-punch and they'll continue to follow through with their punch while going off balance. If they could blend the punching animations with the ragdoll on flash knockdowns, and with wobble when hit by big shots, I think they could have some really unique and realistic player reactions. It may well be in there, but I've never heard them mention animation blending specifically, which is kind of a buzz word.

 

[patsu]

Well, let's see what magic they can come up with. There is only one (or two) character on-screen most of the time. If they don't do the animation right, it may feel weird with the realistic skin (uncanny valley).

 

[Scott_Arm]

I also hope they fixed the rag doll ... it looked really really weird. The bodies looked weightless and moved in jittery abnormal ways. They also bent funny and bounced up and down off the matt and the ropes. When the bodies fall, they should go down like a ton of bricks. I want to see guys hit the canvas like when Lewis knocked out Rahman in their rematch.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Physics trailer:http://www.gametrailers.com/player/47659.html

The punches still look weak to me, and not nearly as fast as in a real fight, but the contact physics are really impressive. Maybe the shoulder roll will actually work! I will almost exclusively use fatass James Toney in my pursuit of old-school throwback fight mastery.

Edit:
I looked at it a couple more times. It is very cool. I'm not sure I've ever seen a game where they had accurate collision detection like that on a human character. Lots of vehicle/racing games have very accurate collision, because it would be really weird if your cars bumper clipped through a railing, wall or car. Most fighting games, or action games you'll see punches go through another characters body, or you'll see players react to attacks that clearly do not make contact. The way that punch slides up over the other boxers shoulder is very very cool. It's subtle, and you might not notice it at first, but it's really neat. I read someone describing a player throwing a jab at a boxer that was ducked in front of them. The opponent stood up as the jab was detracting and it lifted the players are. That's pretty cool! The inside fighting is pretty cool. James Toney's head is pushed right against the other fighters body.

I really hope they max the punches look snappier though. That needs to be improved. The punches look a little too much like arm punches at times and they don't seem to land with a lot of impact. That's been a problem through the games so far. Maybe that'll be one thing they fix in round 5.

 

[Arwin]

The accelleration of the movement seems wrong. Other than that it looks very good, though a bit uncanny valleyish for obvious reasons. But it could be a lot better if they improved the current punch movements, which seem to occur completely at a lineair speed. There should be various forms of accelleration on them depending on the force of the punch.

 

[Scott_Arm]

The accelleration of the movement seems wrong. Other than that it looks very good, though a bit uncanny valleyish for obvious reasons. But it could be a lot better if they improved the current punch movements, which seem to occur completely at a lineair speed. There should be various forms of accelleration on them depending on the force of the punch.

Yeah, it looks like they reused a lot of animations for the punching, which are ok, but still not very realistic.

They did say in an interview that your character would aim his punches towards the opponents head. Before if you threw a jab, it would go straight out, so if your opponent was ducking, you'd throw it exactly the same as if he was standing. In this one they said your jab would go towards his face, even if he was ducking. So to use the body movement properly you'll have to time it to duck under shots.

I'd say there are a lot of positive, and the glancing blows look very good. It is a little disappointing to see old animations that take away from the authenticity.

 

[Scott_Arm]

A little bit of physics talk ... http://blog.fightnight.easports.com/archive/2009/04/14/producer-video-physics.aspx

 

[RobertR1]

A little bit of physics talk ... http://blog.fightnight.easports.com/archive/2009/04/14/producer-video-physics.aspx

That's good stuff. They seemed to have really stepped up the gameplay from round 3. Can't wait! noticed Toney actually going to a shoulder roll when he get on the inside. That was sick!

 

[Scott_Arm]

That's good stuff. They seemed to have really stepped up the gameplay from round 3. Can't wait! noticed Toney actually going to a shoulder roll when he get on the inside. That was sick!

If they'd taken Round 3 and remove the parry, the game would have been twice as good.

The physics is a huge improvement that I've been waiting for. Unlike some other games where the physics are really just for cosmetic purposes, the physics really should have a big impact on the gameplay. The difference between a hard knockout blow and a glancing blow with be fractions of a second, and inches.

One thing I really hope they go into more detail about is the footwork. The footwork int the other games was kind of useless other than to steer yourself out of the corner. They really need to improve the footwork so you can cut off the ring and circle your opponent more effectively. Like, if I'm fighting a southpaw, I want to be able to be able to sidestep and throw a hook over his jab. In the other games everyone seemed to walk at the same speed forwards, back and side to side They didn't really have to step and plant their feet to throw a hard shot.

And I was hoping for some kind of online created boxer mode, but I assume they'd be advertising that already if it was in. Maybe next year.

 

[RobertR1]

Good call on the footwork. It would be nice to be able to get use proper lateral movement and counter punching. Oh btw, Goldie finally retired......plenty of time to work on his fishnet poses now!