The Overpowered Goalie Problem - Finding a Solution

[Brodeur30]

I know this has been discussed in other topics but the problem persists and I think it's important to have a topic about this so that something can be done about it.

The issue is multi-layered, it's primarily how's how fast the goalies are, how even if you lower a goalie's speed to the lowest value, they don't slow down very much, and this affects how easily Goalies can knock down skaters. The main issue that I'm trying to address is the all too common breakaway-skate-into-goalie-fall-down before getting the shot off sequence. Or when a Goalie chases the puck behind the net and as a skater you are trying to get to the puck but the goalie is there, you know if you run into the Goalie collecting it you will instantly fall down. This problems holds back a gameplay element of going hard towards the puck when the goalie is there. Instead we have been conditioned to slow down and not touch the goalie because he's so dangerous. Going hard towards the puck, even if the Goalie is there trying to collect it, is missing, and if I run into him, so be it, I want to fight the Goalie for the puck or at least stay upright while trying. I don't necessarily have to knock the Goalie down as he's collecting it or if he's possessing it, though that would be very satisfying, but even if we could create a skater barrier from the Goalie so easily knocking us down is no longer commonplace, it would really add some realism and depth to the gameplay. As a skater you pretty much have to avoid the Goalie at all costs. It would be so much more fun to run into be able to run into him and not be flattened every time, whether or not interference might be called.

Now some might say that the overpowered goalies are part of the charm of NHL 94 and there's something to be said there, but I'm looking for ways in which we can stay upright when interacting with the goalie, or even to bump into the goalie, like on a breakaway, maybe sometimes you lose the puck but stay upright, maybe sometimes you get wobbled while the goal ie unaffected, this I've seen before, it can happen organically but it's very hard to reproduce it, or maybe you bump into the Goalie and the Goalie loses his balance for a change and you keep the puck and you shoot it by him when he's stunned. I'm looking at this from an animation standpoint to see if we can implement some new animations or a kind of barrier code, for the players, to protect them from the Goalie, or conversely to remove the protection and superpowers that the Goalie has. It would be to lower the Goalie's speed below the lowest attribute limit so he moves even slower. He doesn't need to move as fast as he does to gather the puck in most cases especially with superpowers. And I think part of what causes skaters to go down so easily when they bump the goalie is due to the actual speed that the Goalie moves at. It's like the Goalie speed roster attribute isn't balanced properly. Even at 1 or 0 it's not slow enough. If we could make the goalie speed even slower than the attribute scale minimum, I think it would create more balance when there is a bumping between goalies and skaters.

As I indicated, I have seen certain animations between a breakaway skater and a goalie in which the skater gets bumped by the Goalie but does not go down, instaed he sort of does a dance and loses his balance for a moment. It's the same animation that players who lose a Fight do when they stagger towards the penalty box. Those kinds of animations are in there, and can be triggered and it's a matter of getting those animations to occur more often instead of being knocked down so easily. Part of it would relate to certain attributes, weight of the skater, etc, but I've found that these don't make all that much difference to how often they fall when colliding with goalie. I think the biggest issue is the speed that the Goalie is able to move at. If we can reduce that below its normal limits, I think we would have much better and more balanced interaction between goalies and players and more depth to the gameplay.