FIFA 17 may have traits like realistic player models and impeccable-looking stadiums, but realism is lacking massively.
A dynamic weather system.
Thankfully, this happens to be something the new Frostbite Engine specialises in – and has been put to good use in the recent Need For Speed reboot and Battlefield 1.
It’s even features in Mass Effect: Andromeda (below) – another title powered by Frostbite.
Frostbite director Jonas Skantz told Dream Team Gaming his team is developing “groundbreaking gameplay innovations” – which could allude to dynamic weather in FIFA 18.
Speaking to Metro last year, EA DICE’s Patrick Bach explained why weather is so much more than just a “pretty effect”.
“We often talk about these different dimensions in Battlefield, where you have the rock, paper, scissors and then you marry that with the destruction and you create unpredictability from different angles. And with the layer of weather we actually change the way you play in a very drastic way,” he said.
“So, if you have the tactics of being a sniper and it starts to rain then you probably have to change tactics. And the same with fighter planes, once the fog rolls in it’s like, ‘Okay, this is not as effective anymore, so I probably need to go back on the ground’.
“It’s not only a pretty effect, it actually changes the way you play the game.”
Dynamic weather has featured in Pro Evolution Soccer games for the last couple of years, but has been absent from FIFA.
If executed correctly, it would add a whole new layer of tactics to gameplay – especially in Ultimate Team.
For example, weather taking a turn for the worse could negatively affect player ground speed, passing accuracy and injury probability.
Players could fall over more easily, goalkeepers could be more likely to fumble fast shots… the list is endless, and would all help add an extra level of realism to the game.
FIFA 18 creative director Matt Prior revealed the publisher will use the Cologne Gamescom conference in August as a springboard for FIFA 18 news about FIFA Ultimate Team.
“Ordinary we don’t announce much about Ultimate Team around this time because we’re in the run up to Gamescom – that’s our big FUT showcase,” he said at a FIFA 18 event in London.
In the quest to make FIFA 18 the most realistic football game ever, they could very well be revealing the feature then.
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