Here is the 4th installment of the developer Q & A for NHL 16 EA via their Ask EA NHL page. There are already some great questions and answers as well as some additional feature information on EASHL mode. Checkout the questions below.
Will there be in-game simulation in be a gm?
Sim Intervention is back in the game and will be a part of Be A GM.
Will we be able to hire coaches this year in GM mode? If not, are there plans to add this in the future?
You will not be able to hire coaches this year in GM Mode. It is something that we are continuing to look into.
Will there be a Zamboni racing mode?
There will not be a Zamboni racing mode.
Will there be warmups?
No. There won’t be warm-ups in NHL 16. We have spent all of our time as a gameplay team this year focusing on the core balance of the game during play with a specific emphasis on core mechanics.
Are the animations back where the offensive players try hard to stay on-sides by dragging their leg a little at the blue line, or any other animations to help the players stay on-sides better?
Yes, one of our gameplay engineers spent time specifically tuning how players use a dragged skate to stay onside. We have seen some great moments where players are just barely onside using the technique before receiving a pass.
In EASHL, will we be able to play 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 5v5 (like in the past) or is 6v6 the requirement?
Playing 6s in EASHL is a great way to experience the game mode. However, we know that isn’t the only way our fans want to play the game (that plus sometimes it’s just difficult to get your friends together to play at the same time!). You will be able to play the same way as before where teams can enter gameplay with at least 2 human controlled players.
Can you update the roster more frequently in NHL 16? For comparisons sake, MADDEN updates the rosters weekly.
We are currently assessing the feasibility of more frequent roster updates. The most challenging part for us is the total number of leagues and players that need to be updated and are often dependent on one another. As an example, we cannot update just the NHL without making the corresponding changes to the AHL for players that have moved up or down.
Can you still play as your EASHL pro in Ranked OTP?
Hi Martin, thanks for your question. You can play as your EASHL Pro within EASHL while OTP players will use skaters from the authentic team rosters.
Can you show us some of the excitement and pitch up and down of Doc’s voice that you promise? I think it was awesome they way you changed from Gary Thorne etc but Doc is all about his excitement so that was a bit disappointing. But good that you fix it! Do you have any plans on making the intros longer? I love them and always watch them, feels more like a real game on NBC.
We have added a lot more contextual intros so that Doc and Eddie can follow along even closer as you progress through a season and take on different opponents. As examples of the detail, they even understand how you have fared on a long road trip or how important the final game of a home stand is before heading out on the road. They will track team and player success in the league and the new NBC overlays will back up all the stats and provide even more detailed information. As far as Doc’s level of excitement, that was the great challenge our audio team took on when Doc joined our team. For NHL 16, we wanted to try and get even closer to the level of energy fans have grown to expect when Doc calls a game. Doc can now get extra excited when a team is really putting on the pressure or trying to score late in a close game. Extra attention was also put into his goal calls.
