NHL 13 Info

[Jason]

The more I play it, the more I like. I'm going to use my $15 credit from Madden towards the purchase of NHL 13, which also comes with a $15 credit.

[Jason]

Just pre-ordered my copy from Amazon with my $15 credit from Madden. I'm really enjoying the demo and looking forward to the full game.

[Jason]

Anyone else getting NHL 13 besides Brent and myself?

[Jason]

My copy just shipped...should be here tomorrow.

[Ted]

I will be on the mainland next Tuesday so will get it then.

[Jason]

IGN has posted their review: NHL 13

I really enjoyed my time with NHL 13. And if you’re a hockey junky like me, chances are you will, too. For a full-price title, gamers get so much more than mere roster and tuner updates (which come for free and with regularity, by the way). You also get robust online and offline modes that could potentially keep you busy for hundreds of hours.

NHL 13 may have some problems and inconsistencies, but they barely detract from the quality product EA Canada has put out this year, one that may just keep you warm on those cold, dark nights when you should be watching the real thing but are forced to play it on your console of choice instead.

Overall: 8.5 Great

[Jason]

Was prompted to download a new Tuner set tonight. Apparently now gameplay changes made in it:

Name: 1.01
Date: 09/13/2012
Notes: Fixes the issue where every shift would begin at a faceoff in Be A Pro when a User would sim to next shift.

Also, I'm starting to get comfortable with skating backwards on offense, but don't understand why they would also map Vision Control to the same button. Is it possible that the manual is flat-out wrong?

[Jason]

What's the best way to play defense in this game? I tend to switch to the defender closest to the puck holder, but that causes my players to be out of position all the time. Should I try to stick with just controlling one player on defense?

Also, I hate to sound like the whiners at OS, but EA really needs to fix the penalty issue in the game. I play fairly aggressive and never get called for anything.

[Ted]

have you turned the penalty slider all the way up for both you, the cpu, and your ai teammates?  Also change the referee to authentic post whistle.  We get more than real life penalties with everything up and authentic and have to tone down the post whistle scuffles in order to remain realistic.  This is on 12.  I'm assuming the same for 13.

[Jason]

Yeah, I have the slider turned all the way up for both. It's definitely an issue with 13. The latest tuner (1.03) was supposed to help but didn't.

[Jason]

Tuner 1.04 released on 9/28:

All Modes

   
• Greater chance of penalty being called if a player is tripped (stumbles will now be considered trips)
• Pokecheck less effective in HUT
• Goalies less vulnerable on shots from distance on the rush on Game Styles Normal and Hardcore.
• Decreased AI ability to make long stretch passes when Users were calling for a pass.

Offline

   
• Increase penalty calls across the board
• Increase effect of CPU Opponent and CPU Teammate penalty sliders
• Increase chance of slash being called on stick lift from a bad angle
• Increase likelihood of interference being called
• Increase chance of CPU clearance being played over the boards
• Increase chance of boarding, charging and hitting from behind being called
• Increase time CPU will finish checks after puck is released

[Ted]

Glad to see penalties addressed aggressively as I was getting the same problem as you.  Will try out the new tuner and see whats up.

[Jason]

So I guess you did pick it up last Tuesday. Other than the penalties, what do you think of it?

[Ted]

I think it is good enough to move away from NHL11 now, but Jake isn't convinced.  The penalties do seem to be called a bit more in tuner 1.04, but it still is too low even on max sliders. 

The hitting is ridiculous and I had to drop that slider down because guys would go flying at the smallest nudge from a defender even just standing still in one spot.  This is on superstar.  The hitting animations seem to have taken a big step backwards since 11, they just don't look right or look like they match what is happening on the ice.

Those are the biggest negatives.

The strongest positives are better defensemen, stronger teammate AI in all aspects, and a stronger willingness to shoot by AI teammates especially defensemen compared to 11.  I play locked to the RW so it makes a huge difference compared to what it was like before.

They totally fixed the fatigue system and the fatigue slider actually works.  It worked well in 11 and I seem to remember it didn't make a difference in 12.  Now the fatigue is really good and I see quick shift changes all the time, sometimes less than a minute at the later stages of a period.

Goalies are exceptionally weak high to the stick side and it almost feel like an exploit to try and score with wristers there.  The saving grace is that I see the AI on both sides exploit that spot consistently so at least the game is balanced in that respect.

Fights and intimidation seem to be a non factor now.  They were a big part of 11.  The fights don't bother me so much, but I miss the intimidation from both sides in this version.

Steps forward.....steps back.  Totally playable.

[Jason]

NHL 13 Title Update Coming Next Week

Gameplay Updates

   
• Separated ability for backwards to forwards pivot for ‘with puck’ and ‘without puck’ and made it quicker to pivot without the puck.
• Poke checking â€" fixed bug causing players to always miss to the same side of the puck.
• Goalies will be more aware of shots right off a faceoff in the offensive zone.
• Goalies will have a harder time dealing with screens.
• Ability to tune shooting back against the grain so it can be less accurate/effective than shooting with your weight behind the shot and moving towards your shooting direction.
• Ability for players to be more susceptible to lose the puck when getting hit while skating backwards with the puck at speed.
• Prevented desperation shots from knocking the puck away from the goalie minimizing the strategy of diving at the goalie to knock the puck loose.
• Fixed shootout logic in GM Connected to include both locked and unlocked users.
• Allowed BAP games to resume from simulation in the middle of a shift (fixed crash when sim intervening).
• Fixed goals screening goalie stat.
• Goalie has a better chance of squaring up to shots from far out.
• Improved orientation of off-puck players in one-timer situations.
• Improved AI behavior against a back skating puck carrier.
• Fixed hit power sliders so only the hitter’s slider value matters.
• Fixed AI players occasionally standing around looking at the puck when resuming from simulation in BAP.
• Fixed BAP being taken off the ice after a short shift that results in a stoppage.
• Fixed rapidly spinning players in BAP when resuming from simulation.
• Ability to tune players puck control coming out of a 45 glide deke.
• Ability to tune CPU pass error on long passes.
• Improved puck hop behavior when it hits the boards.
• Pokechecking effectiveness range tweaked. Players with better stick checking skill will stand out more compared to players with lover ratings in that category.
• Tuned goalies and shooting accuracy to ensure shots in the slot/middle of the ice are more effective than shots from sharp angles.

Presentation and Graphics

   
• NEW - Added unique (green) Reebok 20K EA Sport branded skates and stick to the RBK pre-order pack (XBOX).
• NEW - Added unique (blue) Reebok 20K EA Sport branded skates and stick to the RBK pre-order pack (PS3).
• NEW -2012 Winter Classic Jerseys (PHI / NYR) now selectable in regular game modes.
• Reduces frame rate jitter on the Xbox 360 as experienced by a number of players in all game modes but was most noticeable in OTP/EASHL (XBOX).
• Replay Wipe timing fixed.
• Commentary for replays won’t continue if a replay has been skipped.
• Action Tracker post effects (barrel distortion on net cam) is working correctly.
• Tampereen Ilves home/away jerseys now displays correct logo.
• Dynamic board ads added to Toronto’s stadium.
• Snow on players/goaltender/environment now fades out more smoothly/realistically.
• Flag holders in the Winter Classic stadium now stand correctly at all corners of the flag.
• Lulea HF center ice logo now displaying correctly.
• Transition wipes should no longer hold on white frame longer than necessary.
• Boston jumbotron no longer white; has proper textures (PS3).
• Rare occurrence of skate spray not lining up correctly with action now fixed inside of the Action Tracker.
• Shuffling of NIS’ has been improved.  Less chance of seeing the same NIS inside of the same game.
• Goalie stick mirroring has been corrected.  Blade will now be pointing in the right direction during shootout NIS’.
• NHL Moments Live snow build up on ice will now work correctly.
• Calgary Flames now have proper logos on helmet for both Home/Away.
• Prevented replay speech from playing over top a fight or if goof off is skipped.

Hockey Ultimate Team

   
• NEW - implement training duration item so training items can last for multiple games.
• Addressed an issue where some users were not getting Puck rewards for playing games and would sometimes get a Loss for actually winning games.
• Fixed an issue where players would continue to receive the Happy Hour bonus if they never disconnect from the EA servers and continued to play HUT games.
• Fixed an issue where after playing a game against the Team of the Week or a team from the Leaderboards screen, the wrong roster would be downloaded for all of the teams in the EAUHL 24/7 league when playing a Single Player game.
• Item Pack Art EASST Player Premium Pack art now shows Promo and not Deal.
• Fixed an issue where players would see an error message with missing text when bidding on the same item over and over until while being out bided by another player.
• Applied training boosts are no longer used up for players in the user's Scratched Roster.
• If user has a Stanley Cup edition item in their starting lineup, they are no longer able to add that same player from the New Items screen, thus resulting in them having 2 of the same players in their lineup.
• Fixed an issue where users are not getting wins for opponent DNFs when playing Online Tournaments against the same opponent twice.
• Fixed a crash that occurred when a player enters the Watch list and highlights a sold (green outline) item.
• Online Tournament opponent searches now check for player skill level and team star rating.
• Fixed the crash issue when applying Consumable items to some of the players in the New Items screen.
• Addressed an issue where spamming in and out of a challenge team game will cause a blank lineup screen to appear.
• Fixed an issue where users would advance through tournament rounds by entering the tournament tree and then playing through a regular non-tournament game (online and offline).

Be A GM

   
• Addressed an issue where players that should not be considered waiver eligible were being listed as waiver eligible.

Be A Pro

   
• Tuned off season player growth effect on the BAP player EXP Growth.
• Fixed an issue where the player’s BAP team would not sign FA’s or RFA’s to contracts.

GM Connected

   
• New - Trade messaging has been added to the mode.
• Speed up Hub loading times.
• Improved responsiveness when scrolling through the Main Menu to reduce accidently scrolling past the option players want to select.
• Improved scrolling when looking to selecting a team on the trade player screen and select team screen.
• Users should no longer be able to adjust the gameplay sliders during a CPU game.
• Improved responsiveness of league search screens.
• Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause a crash when bringing up the player list on the Trade Player screen.
• Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes crash while backing out of the mailbox screen.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the game to crash while loading into the GM Connected HUB.
• Fixed a rare crash that could occur when proposing a trade to a CPU team (also fixed in Be-A-GM).

Online Team Play / EASHL

   
• Addressed an issue where team members from different regions could not match up together in a club practice and the matchmaking would fail as a result.
• Fixed PS3 microphone fluctuations when not set in HQ mode.
• Resolved an issue with EASHL matchmaking where it was returning the captain’s versus skill level instead of the club’s skill level.  This will improve the accuracy of matchmaking.
• Addressed an issue where Hockey Shop Boosts were being unequipped to the player’s EASHL Pro upon reboot of their console.