EA UFC 4

Zero-Cool · 13-07-2020 7:01pm

Seeing a lot of complaints about striking and takedowns being the same buttons, sounds like it will definitely take some getting used to.

https://twitter.com/GeoffHarrower/status/1282736127619657729?s=19

Zero-Cool · 13-07-2020 7:10pm

Geoff giving some valuable tips

https://twitter.com/GeoffHarrower/status/1282738500178030593?s=19

stephenl15 · 13-07-2020 7:17pm

Can you not advance position on the ground unless you use legacy controls?

martyos121 · 13-07-2020 7:23pm

stephenl15 wrote: »

Can you not advance position on the ground unless you use legacy controls?

Was wondering the same. Really don’t like the new ground system and I can’t imagine it’ll grow on me or any long time player. Switching to legacy now, hopefully it’s similar to 3.

stephenl15 · 13-07-2020 7:26pm

martyos121 wrote: »

Was wondering the same. Really don’t like the new ground system and I can’t imagine it’ll grow on me or any long time player. Switching to legacy now, hopefully it’s similar to 3.

I must switch. I'm wonderboy v usman. Absolutely getting mauled.

martyos121 · 13-07-2020 7:32pm

Based on my first online fight, clinch KOs are going to be very common in the early days of this game. It’s pure chaos, but fun.

Zero-Cool · 13-07-2020 8:03pm

Can ye invite people to private match? Would be a good way to learn the mechanics with ye on here.

Zero-Cool · 13-07-2020 8:07pm

https://twitter.com/GeoffHarrower/status/1282753249397755904?s=19

Zero-Cool · 13-07-2020 8:47pm

I managed a few games and it feels weird. 2nd game back to legacy controls was way better, had a great battle with Conor vs jorge. The clinch feels great but no idea of the controls. New knee on belly is class. Lots more flow striking going from position to position feels good.

The new sub system is like undisputed 3, only did it once so not sure of it.

There is an invite option so I'll be in around 10 for the night if any of ye want some scraps.

How Soon Is Now · 13-07-2020 9:09pm

So if u compare the gameplay directly to 3 does it play better or?

Has anything changed massively or is it small changes?

Zero-Cool · 13-07-2020 10:25pm

How Soon Is Now wrote: »

So if u compare the gameplay directly to 3 does it play better or?

Has anything changed massively or is it small changes?

It's weird, it feels more arcadey and messy but 3 was a bit as well if you were just spamming punch. I need to figure out the mechanics and differences though but the game is getting blasted online. The majority of complaints is about the new ground game which is horrible but switching back to legacy controls fixes that.

stephenl15 · 13-07-2020 10:36pm

Have legacy mode but can't get back into it. Don't know what I'm at on the ground for the most part

stephenl15 · 13-07-2020 11:04pm

Takes too long after the fight. Just let me get into the next one

Axwell · 13-07-2020 11:30pm

Zero-Cool wrote: »

It's weird, it feels more arcadey and messy but 3 was a bit as well if you were just spamming punch. I need to figure out the mechanics and differences though but the game is getting blasted online. The majority of complaints is about the new ground game which is horrible but switching back to legacy controls fixes that.

Do you miss out on anything by switching back to legacy? Is it really that horrible or is it just a case of people complaining because it's new and not taking the time to learn it. Usually I find in games if they change the controls its for the better and just takes a bit of getting used to and giving it some time rather than switching back to legacy.

stephenl15 · 13-07-2020 11:34pm

Axwell wrote: »

Do you miss out on anything by switching back to legacy? Is it really that horrible or is it just a case of people complaining because it's new and not taking the time to learn it. Usually I find in games if they change the controls its for the better and just takes a bit of getting used to and giving it some time rather than switching back to legacy.

New controls are very weird. You get a submission direction, g&p direction and get up direction, no matter what position you're in. So if you go sub direction it either goes for sub, or advance to a position where you can get a sub. So you don't really know what position you're going for

Zero-Cool · 13-07-2020 11:43pm

Axwell wrote: »

Do you miss out on anything by switching back to legacy? Is it really that horrible or is it just a case of people complaining because it's new and not taking the time to learn it. Usually I find in games if they change the controls its for the better and just takes a bit of getting used to and giving it some time rather than switching back to legacy.

Yeah like Stephen said, it's like as if they made grappling for street fighter players. "Oh you're on the ground? Choose stand up, strike or sub by pressing a direction, no transitions, awful for any grappling fans.

Axwell · 13-07-2020 11:52pm

But surely the ability to transition still exists and its just a new way of doing it and figuring that out vs it being removed and only there for legacy?

martyos121 · 14-07-2020 12:14am

Great 10 fights or so there against Zero, the game is pure chaos at this point and even doing the same things yields different results most times, but it’s fun and there’s definitely the base of a solid game in there.

It’s very clearly a beta though, lots of issues to iron out by the looks of it.

Zero-Cool · 14-07-2020 12:25am

Axwell wrote: »

But surely the ability to transition still exists and its just a new way of doing it and figuring that out vs it being removed and only there for legacy?

I tried man but the 'simplified' grappling is meant for people who don't even know what a transition is. They are really trying to open it up to the casual audience and i can't blame them as the sport is too niche to make fifa/madden money so they are trying something but it shouldn't be the default option.

They said they simplified the sub game but it's chaos, last one was much more understandable.

Anyway, great fights with Marty including grappling only. The clinch definitely takes getting used to and still don't know what I'm doing really but when you start chaining takedowns to scrambles to clinch to takedown, it can flow really nice. Lots of broken bits in the beta like my fighter completely freezing to my transitions disappearing so i can't get up. Then there are weird ones which might be intentional. Anytime i postured up, i could only throw strikes until i was pulled down. Equally, when Marty posted up on me, all my grappling options went and i could just block or avoid punches until i auto pulled him down.

I think they are adding some moves to simplify the ground game but they are just confusing at the moment.

It's unpolished (worrying for a game out in a month even if it is beta) like the presentation seems off, like the ref points to both at the start and you can choose an emote but it's very disjointed. But saying that, in the messyness, there are some great this going on that pop out.

One thing though, if you taunt and get hit clean, you are going to sleep

How Soon Is Now · 14-07-2020 12:39am

Holding off on a pre order for now so!

Thanks for all the info lads Ill be keeping a close eye on developments though hopefully things have improved by time we get to play final game.

Axwell · 14-07-2020 1:20am

Sounds a bit ridiculous if people using one set of controls have way less moves and options than those that play legacy. God help anyone knew to the game playing anyone thats played before if thats the case. Seems like an unfair advantage/disadvantage.

Finally got sorted with my beta code so will try get a few games in and report back my thoughts. Probably gonna hold off preordering it though until closer to launch to see what the devs come out and say after the beta and try to get an idea how old the beta is and how much work has gone in since. Id imagine (and hope) it could be an old beta that they held off on releasing with everything going with covid and its a lot more polished by now.

Axwell · 14-07-2020 4:38am

Played about 10 fights there, first impressions are just horrible not impressed at all. After 1 fight i switched to legacy and changed the camera to classic..the new control system is garbage. 2 years pretty much to get this at the end of it is awful. I know its a beta but the stuff that needs fixing is part of the new gameplay and wont be changed.

Small tweaks to graphics and animations, ruined the controls to the point you have to swap to legacy and in general nothing in the beta that shows a huge leap or improvement. Granted its only the only mode and one weight division but thats enough to see the core gameplay and if that doesnt feel good then Its kind of irrelevant how much career is improved or the different modes.

If I buy it then its purely for the love of mma and the pick up and play factor but based on the beta I certainly wouldnt be rushing to pre order it.

Axwell · 14-07-2020 6:00am

Played it a good bit more and the impression hasnt gotten any better. Takes forever to get past the end of a fight, then the menu appears on top of everything which stops you requesting a rematch..you have to leave the menu then hold triangle to rematch, it should be quick and simple to do...awful ux. Ground and pound and grappling seems broken even in legacy mode...like really broken. Fighters just raining down punches and nothing you do is able to counter it. Submissions also broken, shape for the defending fighter is way too big, you literally cant escape or avoid the sub, way too easy for the attacking fighter. Overall probably on a 6/10 at this stage.

Zero-Cool · 14-07-2020 7:47am

I was tempted to cancel preorder but as this combined my 2 favourite things (games and mma), I'm just gonna plough through and hope the finished product is better.

I read that with submissions, the faster you move, the bigger your colour gets, making it easier to be subbed. Slow, steady movements make it smaller but any time i used or, was just a hectic mess. What it needs is a good write up by dev or game changer on how the mechanics work and what will be fixed.

Martial Mind (GC) has said he just can't get hyped for this between things he wanted removed and things he didn't want added. Apparently a few things where all game changers agreed on something and devs went against it.

Mr Blobby · 14-07-2020 4:11pm

Played a few games today and i'm not impressed.

Going to need to learn the ground game more as i'm just getting destroyed
with punches and cant seem to defend anything.

The stand up hasn't changed too much but i feel like its lost some fluidity or that could just be me not knowing all the controls yet.

Zero-Cool · 14-07-2020 4:12pm

Had 1 online fight, other guy was good, nice back and forth until he took me down. I was in half guard and he postured up. I was blocking punches and then tried to escape but like last night with Marty, i had no transition directions pop up so i tried to block again but he wouldn't block either, just ate open shots until ko'd . The worse part is, i don't know if it's a glitch or part of the new ground game to allow people get in strikes. He messages me ' Well Played'. The message button is cool but needs things like '**** off'.

As for the player card that I previously ragged on, it's kinda cool. You can purchase famous quotes (you get a ton of coins from playing the previous games) and i have Chael's " You absolutely Suck!" when i play against someone now. There is one legendary quote you can't buy...."BOOM... Roasted!" :pac:

martyos121 · 14-07-2020 4:16pm

Only noticed the customisation options last night, you can change your profile picture, player card background and add a flair too as Zero just pointed out. “Send me location” is the best 2000 coins I’ll ever spend on anything.

Also there’s a cake and chicken background, DC would be thrilled.

Mr Blobby · 14-07-2020 4:29pm

The ground and Pound is actually terrible.

Zero-Cool · 14-07-2020 4:55pm

Mr Blobby wrote: »

The ground and Pound is actually terrible.

I'm hoping it's just broken in the beta.

clsmooth · 14-07-2020 5:29pm

Anyone get a beta code for PS4? I applied when the link was posted in here but haven’t received anything in my email.

Zero-Cool · 14-07-2020 6:03pm

clsmooth wrote: »

Anyone get a beta code for PS4? I applied when the link was posted in here but haven’t received anything in my email.

Yupp, few of us got it yesterday, did you check your spam?

Axwell · 14-07-2020 6:06pm

clsmooth wrote: »

Anyone get a beta code for PS4? I applied when the link was posted in here but haven’t received anything in my email.

If you applied on time etc then get on to EA Help on twitter if its no in your spam/junk mail. I am ps4 but received an xbox code..got on to their chat support and was a waste of time, told they were aware of the issue and keep an eye on social media for an update..eventually got a reply on twitter and the lad verified I was on the beta list and just gave me a code.

martyos121 · 14-07-2020 6:24pm

Just countered an opponent’s guillotine into a Von Flue choke and got the win. That was great to see, finally a positive in the ground game.

Zero-Cool · 14-07-2020 6:28pm

martyos121 wrote: »

Just countered an opponent’s guillotine into a Von Flue choke and got the win. That was great to see, finally a positive in the ground game.

Who did you use for that? Was it L2 and R2 to counter?

martyos121 · 14-07-2020 6:43pm

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Who did you use for that? Was it L2 and R2 to counter?

Usman I think. It was during the opponent’s submission, there was a prompt to counter. Really cool transition.

Axwell · 14-07-2020 6:50pm

Saw the option during a fight last night, think it was as simple as just pressing X?

Zero-Cool · 14-07-2020 7:06pm

I saw prompts as well but they were so fast, i couldn't even tell you what symbol they were. Must depend on sub skill and stamina.

I saw a leak that LW fighters might be added to beta, someone's character select screen glitched and he could pick khabib, poirier, etc but they wouldn't load.

martyos121 · 14-07-2020 8:25pm

Zero-Cool wrote: »

I saw prompts as well but they were so fast, i couldn't even tell you what symbol they were. Must depend on sub skill and stamina.

I saw a leak that LW fighters might be added to beta, someone's character select screen glitched and he could pick khabib, poirier, etc but they wouldn't load.

Makes sense because one of my daily objectives is to win 5 LW fights, unless EA are just trolling.

Zero-Cool · 14-07-2020 10:19pm

I'm on if anyone fancies a few scraps.

stephenl15 · 14-07-2020 10:27pm

Zero-Cool wrote: »

I'm on if anyone fancies a few scraps.

Yep just on now

Zero-Cool · 14-07-2020 11:41pm

stephenl15 wrote: »

Yep just on now

Good fights man. It's such a messy game. Subs are broken, you'd nearly want a gentleman's agreement not to go for them. Ground and pound is so weird, like effort starts striking gets locked into it while the defender just blocks and then auto breaks posture. Ea dev said this is on purpose for to inactivity but that's bollox.

We had some good stand and bang wars, some great ground battles as well but it's not satisfying trying to finish someone on the ground.

Nate is a stamina machine but his kicks are horrible and he bleeds so easily, just like real life

I've heard Anik say a few times now "oh we might see a doctor stoppage" mmmm no we went Jon cuz it wasn't coded into the game.

Zero-Cool · 15-07-2020 12:09am

Dev answered my question about freezing during ground and pound. I'm still a bit stumped but need more practice with it. Must try it with some of ye during the week, get into full mount and take turns attacking and defending.

If the opponent is postured up, you're in the new GnP system. It's a somewhat isolated mode that focuses on striking and defense in grappling. While some transitions/escapes are possible, they're not the same as in regular grappling/wrestling. Holding R2 puts up your block, but your arms have health of their own and eating too many shots with weak block up will crush your block.

You need to use head movement and posting to survive longer, more technical exchanges. Just like the standup. You can't turtle forever.

Zero-Cool · 15-07-2020 9:26am

Just posted on reddit that Beta is now closed. You might still be able to play today but that will be it.

Zero-Cool · 15-07-2020 10:17am

Overall, I'm still looking forward to the full release. I have a feeling this will be the last UFC game by EA though. Reading a post from a dev on Operations Sports forum just sounded like he was sick of the whining, nothing they try is good enough or misunderstood and tbh, I'd probably be the same working on something for years only to have it ripped apart.

Anyway, I just long for an MMA experience like EA MMA career mode where I felt like I was efficient all round (like any mma fighter) but still learning little bits of advanced moves from different gyms. I'd try keep it standing but always felt that if it went to the ground, I could lock in a specific sub, full control of my fighter. I never got that feeling with EA UFC games.

Hoping career mode is interesting at least.

Zero-Cool · 15-07-2020 10:20am

Message from the devs on the beta:

Hey EA SPORTS UFC fans,

Thank you for playing the closed beta! As we’ve adapted to new work environments and extraordinary circumstances to develop games from home, a beta has been more critical for us this year than ever before.

One of the biggest challenges we’ve had to face is our ability to stress test servers and QA for bugs and tuning at large scale. The closed beta has enabled us to ensure we launch UFC 4 with the highest degree of stability and polish possible. That wouldn’t be possible without your help.

We’re also reading and listening to your feedback. It’s impossible for us to reply to all of it directly across forums and social platforms, but we hear you and appreciate the passion and constructive feedback for us to make this the best EA SPORTS UFC yet.

A lot of feedback we’ve seen so far is centered on gameplay controls and tuning. One of our goals this year was to address long-standing community feedback to improve the grappling, clinch, submission systems, and takedown controls; implementing more user-control and responsiveness, as well as the ability to combine grappling with seamless strikes as so many UFC fighters do in real-world MMA.

The challenge we faced in doing so was simple: the lack of available button inputs remaining on the controller. With UFC 3, adding RPM Tech to the stand-up game allowed players a great deal of control over their movement and striking, but it came at the cost of complexity in the controls and using more button combinations. The result was that players struggled with the new controls at first, but overwhelmingly became advocates for them as they surpassed the 4-5 hours-of-play milestone and became more comfortable with complexity.

In UFC 4, we solved for the challenge of lack of available button inputs by implementing a tap vs tap-and-hold mechanic to strikes, clinch and grappling. This allows us to increase the depth of control and fluidity, but - not unlike UFC 3 - it comes at the cost of another learning curve to adapt to the new control scheme.

Here’s some good news to look forward to on that topic:

In just two days, we’ve received an astounding amount of data and feedback to help improve this system and are already hard at work to implement it for launch. We can’t say it enough: thank you! We’ve learned more about the mechanics and tuning from one technical test than we’ve been able to in months of work-from-home testing. This is incredibly valuable and will make the game better in a variety of ways.

The full game will include much better onboarding tutorials for the new controls and all of the new gameplay features in UFC 4. The closed beta was purely a gameplay technical test and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to include the menu tutorials or the Career Mode onboarding into the beta build. For the final product at launch, getting used to these new controls to take full advantage of the features should be much more seamless and enjoyable.

For those of you that try the new ground game controls and decide that it’s not for you, the menus provide the option to switch back to UFC 3 legacy controls at any time.

Last, but not least, the beta is just a small window into the final game. We can’t wait for you to try out the new modes like Blitz Battles, the new Career Mode, the Connected Fighter Profile for customized fighters, and all the other great new features in UFC 4.

We’ll be ending the closed beta tonight at midnight (12:00 am PST)****. Thank you again for your continued support and we can’t wait for you to play more UFC 4 on August 14.

Check in on the official UFC 4 website for more info and deep-dive looks on all the gameplay features, new modes, and more. We’ll be rolling out even more details about the changes and features coming to gameplay on July 21.

- The EA SPORTS UFC Team

How Soon Is Now · 15-07-2020 5:16pm

Fair play for all the info! Without it I would of jumped on the pre order ha!

I'll leave it till last minute now to decide what I'll do.

Zero-Cool · 15-07-2020 5:20pm

How Soon Is Now wrote: »

Fair play for all the info! Without it I would of jumped on the pre order ha!

I'll leave it till last minute now to decide what I'll do.

Well I'm still hoping people get it as we need to fill the usual Boards UFC Tourney

How Soon Is Now · 15-07-2020 5:23pm

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Well I'm still hoping people get it as we need to fill the usual Boards UFC Tourney

Its usually a day one purchase for me so I'm hoping the final version improves!

Has there been any mention of a patch for next gen consoles or will they leave it as is until the next game?

Zero-Cool · 15-07-2020 5:25pm

How Soon Is Now wrote: »

Its usually a day one purchase for me so I'm hoping the final version improves!

Has there been any mention of a patch for next gen consoles or will they leave it as is until the next game?

No mention and that's interesting in itself. If UFC doesn't / didn't renew the contract, EA probably don't want to waste money on a next gen update that would be free like their other sports games. Pure speculation from me, I'd love to know about the contract renewal process and when/how it gets worked out.

Zero-Cool · 15-07-2020 11:57pm

Was waiting for this, Martial nails this, especially the problem with the ground grappling. Any of us that have played together, we all do the same thing when it goes to the ground......we wait. Wait for someone to move so you can deny and then get grappling advantage so your next transition is almost a certain. It's so rare you see that irl. Sure you get some stalls while both are planning their next move and that bjj is like chess waiting to counter your opponent but mostly in mma, they're always moving on the ground, scrambling to advance position, block, reverse. If you do that in ea ufc, your stamina shoots down and you get mounted or you're shot when you stand up.

Ground grappling in this isn't fun and their attempt to fix it with simplified grappling doesn't change the core. Also the not being able to transition when someone postures seems almost cartoony where they just want 'casuals' to hammer strikes to try finish the fight. None of that is gonna get fixed for the main game imo. BJJ is my favourite A of MMA and i understand it must be incredibly difficult to code a good ground game but it's just not fun in this game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKPIj8R3N44

EA UFC 4

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