Well, sort of. Don’t worry, this isn’t another April Fool’s joke!
Over at the official FIFA forum, the next-gen Gameplay Producer for FIFA 10 (Santiago Jaramillo) has posted a list of what we can expect from the game. From what we’ve been told the list of features that will be included has now been “locked down”, meaning that the new features have been decided upon and work on the game is now in progress.
Manager Mode: Many of you have suggested several improvements for Manager Mode in FIFA 10. While we won’t be able to address all of them this year, I can tell you that many of the issues you mentioned will be solved for FIFA 10. We know that Manager Mode is one the most important in the game, and as such it received a lot of attention from the development team this year. This means having more realistic results in sim matches (i.e. more realistic league table); having a more compelling transfer system; improved atmosphere, player growth, and many more. In the end, it is a matter of prioritizing and have a plan that will continue to improve MM not just in FIFA 10, but in all the FIFAs to come.
Flick Passes: We are constantly trying to improve our passing system, and part of it is adding variety. Last year we implemented swerve on through balls, so that skilled passers could play more effective through balls. Flick passes are definitely part of the game. What we have to ask ourselves is whether we want them to be contextual (such as back heel passes in the game right now) or using the R1 or RB modifier.
Ball Physics: We made changes to the ball physics last year, and it became what I think is the most realistic ball behaviour in-air that we have had. However, there were a few problems that we did not have time to fix, such as the ball bouncing too fast after it hits a player. We are working this year to polish this feature and fix issues such as this.
Defensive Line Height: We always need to have a balance between defending and attacking. At the moment, the attacking team has an edge when it comes to ground and lofted through balls. I think part of the problem is that the defensive line defends too high at times, and that our lofted through balls are too accurate. We are definitely aware of this issue and we hope that it will be much improved for FIFA 10.
General Gameplay: As I mentioned before, there is only so much we can do in one development cycle, so we won’t be able to address all of the concerns at once. That said, in FIFA 10 we hope you get a much better gameplay experience through improvements in all of our areas: CPU AI, set pieces, physical play, defending, positioning, goalkeeping, etc…
Sounds good! Santiago is currently asking for your gameplay suggestions so if you’d like to tell him what you want to see tweaked in FIFA 10 directly, you can visit his forum topic here.
