Previously I mentioned how it’s been a first for EA SPORTS to have a dedicated story-driven Champion Mode alongside an enhanced Legacy Career Mode. Another first now comes with the demo that allows gamers to play head-to-head online until end of day February 17th. The beta period serves as an opportunity not only for fans of the series to get a taste of the game with their friends, but also as a means to gather feedback for the development team, who will have the ability to tweak certain aspects of gameplay without title updates.
“This year, we have set the game up so that we can update several game play variables online and deploy them fairly quickly without having to patch the game,” explains Gameplay Producer Brian Hayes. “With these ‘Tuner Sets’ we can make slight adjustments to stamina, punch power, counter windows, boxing ratings, and Create Boxer XP growth for online and offline gameplay. For offline gameplay alone, we will be able to adjust AI and Legacy Mode logic if we are finding that these can help make for an authentic in-ring experience.”
As I also manage the NHL community, who first used the Tuner Sets, I know that both the community and developers have benefited from not having to go through the longer process of providing title updates. Hayes goes on to say that not all gameplay aspects can be changed — however, judging by the comments from some demo players, the game may not need any changes at all.
“Fight Night Champion goes into a new direction as it continues the quest of capturing the essence and vision of the sport of boxing while building off of its previous foundations in a significant attempt to be considered one of the best sports games ever created,” says Anthony Lynn aka Indigo72 on PSN of UntilTheNextRound.com.
Ant was one of seven community members we invited participate in an early feedback session back in October of 2010. This group brought along a multi-page wishlist for the dev team and, so far, the demo is being regarded as much improved, especially in the online virtual ring where a lot of the cheese and sometimes unrealistic play from Round 4 has been removed.
To this point, online connectivity has been solid as over 1.5 million bouts have been played online and we hope gamers can continue to play during the time online is available to receive that continued feedback. You’re also welcome to comment below with your feedback on the demo or if you have any questions that I may be able to field on behalf of the developers.
Check my previous entry here on the PlayStation.Blog for the Full Spectrum Punch Controls video. And today, I’m providing some diagrams from the Controls Tutorials Blog on our FNC homepage along with some basics to get you started with the demo. But first you have to go download it…so do that NOW!
FSPC enables you to use the Right Stick to throw punches. Flicking the Right Stick to the Left will throw punches with your left hand, while flicking the Right Stick to the Right will throw punches with your right hand.
When you flick the stick at different angles, the boxer will throw different punches. Flicking the Right Stick Upwards will throw Straight punches, flicking the Right Stick to the Side will throw Hooking punches and flicking the Right Stick Downwards will throw Uppercut
