The exciting 2014 World Cup entertained millions of fans worldwide, but it also served as inspiration for the developers at EA Sports.
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In a post on the PlayStation Blog, the developers explain how the story of Tim Howard--and the other goalkeepers who stood out for their nations at this year's tournament--motivated the team to create better, smarter goalkeepers than in FIFA games past.
"It felt for a lot of the World Cup that the standout position was the goalkeeper," explains Nick Channon, Senior Producer. "Tim Howard from the USA had the record for the most saves in a game. That was something we didn't see coming--just how the World Cup became a story of the goalkeeper.
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"In many World Cup tournaments before, you've seen the story of a specific striker or two that are going for the golden boot. This year it felt much more like the goalkeepers were stealing the show."
The focus on goalkeepers shows: we recently covered the developers' improvements to the position in regards to animation and A.I., which were shown off in a new trailer (below). The superior horsepower provided by the PlayStation 4 (and presumably, the Xbox One) allowed the developers to achieve more nuance than before.
"We've been working on goalkeepers for two years--it's a very complex position both in the real world and in FIFA 15. We wanted to provide something that felt very different. Previously, if we wanted to add more animations around the goalkeeper then we needed more memory. What we've now got with PS4 is a system where the goalkeepers are evaluating significantly more often, so obviously they're more intelligent."
The post goes on to explain how this means goalkeepers who react more naturally to a developing play. In past titles, the A.I. would make a decision and stick to it, often failing to adjust to what was happening on the pitch. In FIFA 15, keepers will change their course in response to the play in front of them, thanks to the added processing power. This applies to animations too, which can be used on the fly.
"We can now branch animations at any point. Previously if the ball was heading to the top left corner of the goal, but takes a deflection along the way, the keeper would dive for the top left corner. Now you'll see the keeper try and get back the other way. These are only things that we can do with the power of the new generation of consoles."
FIFA 15 launches in North America on September 23 for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC. The release dates for Europe and the U.K. are September 25 and 26, respectively.