SportsGamer Community: Will there be an expansion in the number of national teams? Any new leagues in the game?
David Rutter: We are not announcing any news about new teams, leagues or player licenses until the Leipzig Games festival in August.
SGC: Will there be referees and linesmen in the game?
Rutter: Yes.
SGC: Will the game expand on the improved freedom of play from Euro 08 (Euro 08 gave more control over players and the ball didn't seem as tethered to the feet)?
Rutter: We have done a lot work this year on responsiveness, and by responsiveness I mean control of the players both on and off the ball. So weve improved dribbling, trapping (when the player goes to gain control of ball), passing, shooting and heading. In all of these areas of interaction -- with the player attempting to gain control of the ball, gaining control of the ball and what you want to do with it -- have been massively improved. It has almost been our No. 1 priority from Day One.
SGC: Regarding the pace of the game can we expect it to be slower, like FIFA 08, or faster, like Euro 2008?
Rutter: You can expect both. This year we are enabling you to customize and change the game speed to suit your style of play. From within the MyFIFA09 settings, in the advanced menu, you will see an option called game speed. At Normal, the game will play the same as Euro 2008. At Slow the game will play at approximately the same speed as FIFA Soccer 08. At Fast the game will play slightly faster than Euro 2008.
SGC: Will gameplay be a lot smoother?
Rutter: If by smoother you are asking if we have eliminated chopping and changing of directions and players losing control of the ball due to trapping problems, then the answer is yes, the game will be much smoother. We have dramatically increased stability in things like holding onto the ball, dribbling and passing out of trouble, for example. You get a much more fluid style of gameplay and a lot of this has come about because of work we have done with responsiveness. In FIFA Soccer 09 players can dribble more effectively and you can get around players better. The game is much more responsive in trapping as well, when ball comes into your feet or or into your chest. Players now can gain control, move with the ball or release it into a safe area more quickly and realistically. It is much smoother in jostles as well because we have a far more realistic simulation of the interaction between two football players using strength, speed or technique to muscle the ball or tackle the ball from another player.
SGC: Has the passing system been changed in any way?
Rutter: Yes. We worked a lot on animation and control of passing to make it more responsive and satisfying when playing the game. We have also worked on the intelligence of players and their ability to pass. This year players are far better at recognizing when other players are in the way and blocking direct passing routes. So highly skilled players will try to bend the ball into the path or feet of the players they are trying to get the ball to, if a player is in the way. Similarly, with through balls youll see some excellent passing and recognition of where you are trying to pass the ball to is significantly improved as well.
SGC: It was mentioned that there will be 50,000 possible tactics changes (40 ways of defending and 500 ways to attack). Is this true and, if so, how will it work exactly?
Rutter: You are referring to our new feature Custom Team Tactics. The way we have done this is bucketing football into three different stages:
1. Defensive when you dont have the ball.
2. Attacking Build Up Style for when you gain the ball and move into the final third.
3. Attacking Chance Creation, which is how you behave within the final third of the field.
The way it works is there are a number of different tactical slider bars within the game that you can customize. So for Attacking Build Up Style you can customize speed of build up, passing style, or position. For Attacking Chance Creation you can customize passing, crossing, shooting and positioning. For Defensive, you can change pressure, aggression, team width, and defender line. This enables you to completely change the dynamic of your team to suit your style of play or the style of play that you feel the team you have chosen should play, or a fantasy of how you would like that team to play. The way this works is very cool because it is not just the actual actions that will be undertaken by you and CPU controlled players but also the support play of players around you. So it you set your tactical sliders in Build Up to short passing game, expect your midfielders to position themselves closer and expect a short pass compared to if you were playing a long passing game and they were further up the pitch, running onto long balls, expecting to knock them down on attack. So this is actually a very powerful tool and we hope to have some videos created soon to show you exactly what we are talking about.
SGC: Are they going to fix the player switching problem? (when you want control of one player and the game gives you another)
Rutter: We think we have made some big improvements here as well. Depending on your style of play you are always going to satisfy one group of people and disappoint another. For instance, some people like to switch to the player closest to the ball in a defensive situation so that they can immediately rush in for a tackle while others like to select the next closest player so they are in position more appropriate for their defensive style. At the moment the game is not able to tell which one of those two types of people you are. So sometimes it will switch to what you think is inappropriate. What I would suggest is within the game setting try different options to suit your preference. Go down to auto switching and decrease it all the way down so there is no auto switching help or all the way up if you dont want to be concerned with switching your players.
SGC: Will the goalkeeper play more realistic in FIFA 09? In FIFA 08 and Euro2008 they either seemed super-human at times (defending almost everything) or made inexcusable mistakes (taking goals from midfield, watching the ball fly over his head on a cross or giving up too many rebounds to inside the box.
Rutter: We have made lots of improvements to the goalkeeper. We have had whole development cycle of work on the goalie. The goalie will have improved positioning and will be much more aware of defenders and their positions. Also, if the goalie makes a dive in the wrong direction he will try to recover by trying to get an arm or leg into the path of the oncoming ball to deflect it wide.
SGC: In the past, when the goalies went up for the ball, they always seem to get it without anyone challenging them. Will players challenge goalies for balls in the air in FIFA 09?
Rutter: Definitely. As part of the improvements we have made in physical play you will see significant improvement in all in-air collisions. We are now able to consider player weight, strength, and power, plus the direction of all the players on the pitch when determining outcomes of challenges in the air. So when players jump up in the air together you will see appropriate and realistic interaction between them. Larger players will collide and push over smaller players. Overcommitted players who miss time jump will stumble, and if the goalkeeper leaps to grab the ball but realizes hes not going to get to it he will punch it out. Goal keepers are Interesting characters in football and this year you will see them run the length of the field to participate in last minute corner kicks and free kicks if their team is trailing to try to help out.SGC: Will there really be a 10 vs 10 online play???
Rutter: Yes there will. We were really happy with the way 5 vs 5 was received last year and we stated a year ago that our key target was to deliver an 11 vs 11 virtual World Cup by 2010. We are pleased to announce we are the bulk of the way there with 10 v 10 thats up to 10 players playing against up to 10 players in Be A Pro: Online Team Play.
SGC: Any improvements to online leagues?
Rutter: We have done a lot of improvements to make sure that people are playing with appropriate players of similar abilities and you will also be able to see the Did Not Finish % for players, and match up with players who are manual vs semi or assisted in controller configurations. Other than that we have not made any improvements to our standard online league modes. Now having said this, we are preparing to make some announcements regarding online features at the Leipzig Games Convention in August. Stay tuned.
SGC: How will Be a Pro be improved this year? What new features were added specifically for that portion of the game?
Rutter: We were very pleased that so many people enjoyed playing Be A Pro last year and I think everyone acknowledged that while the experience was great the longevity of the mode was limited. So this year we decided to expand Be A pro into a 4 season long career mode. Youll be able to play as or create a professional football player, play on pitch as part of team and gain experience points for competing a number of tasks both on a per game and per season basis. Once you gain those points you will be able to apply them to your attributes and try to grow your player into a better football player. Now depending on your status within your team and where you are playing, you also have a chance to get noticed by the national team coach and called up to the international team or you may already be there if you have picked a high profile football player in the first place. Once there you will be given the opportunity to compete in the International Cup with an aim of becoming a national legend. In addition, if you get fed up playing with the player you chose, for the first time, we are enabling you to change your player and allow the CPU to control your pro player while you play with someone else. Or if you are mid campaign and a friend comes to play a game of FIFA with you hell be able to play with you, either on your side or against you to try to spoil your campaign.
SGC: Any new "amazing" features, like NHL and NBA are getting?
Rutter: We really focused on improving our core gameplay this year and we have expanded Be A Pro to a career mode and 10 v 10 online. I feel like Custom Team Tactics is a very cool addition to the game as well. But thats not all -- we also have some really cool stuff to announce at the Leipzig Games Festival that I think you will be impressed with.
