Concept behind player models - Art & Style
Joe Nickolls
Line Producer - FIFA Street 3
One of my first tasks upon taking over the FIFA STREET team was to breathe some new life into the project. Part of that plan was to transition the game from current generation consoles into next generation consoles. The first thing we wanted to do was make sure that the look of the game reflected the type of game we were making, and this meant changing the look of both the players and the environments. The first mistake people make when thinking about next gen consoles is that it’s “all about graphics”. The power of these new consoles gives us much more than that. More memory and engine power gives us things like quicker rendering for environments that feel alive. Animations that run more smoothly and A.I. that can react to more situations than ever before. And that all translates into how the game looks and plays.
This is an arcade football game, so the moves and tricks need to reflect that. While FIFA Street has real football fundamentals and A.I., many of the moves are “over the top”, especially in “GameBreaker” mode. When you’re in that mode it’s not uncommon to see cartwheels and flips over opposing players, and moves that are derived from martial arts and parkour. And if there’s one thing that looks out of place - that’s photorealistic players doing crazy over the top moves. That’s why our character art style falls under a more “heroic” stylised look than photo-realism. We immerse you into our art style so our gameplay and animations feel right at home in the game.
Our art team got to work quickly on looking at as many different treatments of the players as possible. The one directive for the art team was “You can do anything you want, but the players must be treated with respect and fairness.” Our caricatured style emphasises the player’s natural characteristics, but doesn’t make them look “goofy”. If anything, our art style makes them more recognisable than ever!
With that intent, we came up with a number of revisions on the players. First they were too big, then too small, then they were too cartoony and then too realistic. We finally settled on an art style that captures the athleticism of the players yet keeps them recognisable from a distance. And all of that plays into the style of game we’ve made.
When you go up for a bicycle kick with someone like Peter Crouch, the thing you’ll notice is the long legs flying through the air. Run up against someone like Wayne Rooney, and you can see from his stature that he’s not going let you get by easily.
Longer legs, broader shoulders, it all adds up to emphasise players natural characteristics. And when people see the faces of our players - I’m sure they’ll love the look. Each player really looks like their real-life counterpart...only in a stylised way. We’ve also emphasised the body shape and height of the players, so there’s no doubt who you are when you’re dribbling the ball down the pitch, the rooftop park, or the shipyard docks, etc etc.
Speaking of environments, we’ve done the same treatment with the environments. Stylised players MUST play in a stylised world, or they’ll look out of place. And it goes a lot further than just geometry. Texture, lighting and shading all play significant roles in our game. If you’re playing in our Eastern European riverside level, it should feel like it’s in Eastern Europe. If you’re playing a match on our Oil Rig in the Atlantic at dusk, it should feel that way.
Reflecting water, blowing sand, palm trees and neon skyscrapers all cast different light effects and we have captured those different treatments in all our levels.
FIFA STREET 3 is the most stylised sports game we’ve ever made. There are places to play our game that you wouldn’t naturally expect. While we hit the “staples” with places like Samba, our South American level in a parking lot, we also play at the beach and on a roof deck in the Mediterranean. We have authentic sounds of each place we play as well that adds to the flavor of each venue.
It was important to us that if you were to walk by a kiosk or store window that was playing FIFA 08 and FIFA STREET 3 side by side - you would know at a glance that FIFA STREET 3 was a different experience. And thanks to a stylised look for both players and environments...you will
Specialists
Justin Sheffield
Lead Designer - FIFA Street 3
When we sat down to design FIFA Street 3 we focused on gameplay, as it is obviously the cornerstone to a good gaming experience. Because this is a game that takes an arcade street approach to the game of football, it was important that we focus on elements of the gameplay experience that would be quickly recognised as football fundamentals, but that at the same time added a lot of depth and variety every time you sit down to play it. Our answer to this two-fold goal wasn’t to have you to troll through spreadsheets of attributes, but rather to have the game call out groups of specialists amongst all these world-class players: The Finisher, The Enforcer, The Playmaker or The Trickster.
Each player in our game is still rated in seven different categories - strength, skill, pace, passing, shooting, defending and goalkeeping. These ratings help to define the basic skill level of the player. On top of that, the players assigned to one of the specialist types have access to different skills and animations in their area of expertise, whether it be dribbling, passing, shooting or tackling.
As you control these different specialist players on the pitch, you’ll notice that each character feels different when performing certain gameplay tasks. At the same time, you’ll discover that certain abilities are available to one type of player but not to another. This gives players with similar attributes a different feel on the pitch - we’ve basically added ‘attitude’ to the players as a playing attribute. Because so many of our players are fast and skillful, creating specialists differentiates players by the style of play that they excel at in an arcade setting.
Specialists make for more than just different players on the pitch, though - the combination of different components is key to making a successful unit. For example, a team comprised of all Enforcers plays and feels very different to a team comprised solely of Tricksters. In FIFA Street Challenge Mode, you get to experience both sides of this equation - as you play a series of matches against all-star street teams with different combinations of specialists. It really makes you change your style of play to get the most out of each mix.
Now, let’s break down the different specialists.
Tricksters
Tricksters are the definition of a street football player. They are fast, skilled and like nothing more then to leave opposing defenders in their wake. They have a unique set of skill moves and have a higher success rate for pulling off spectacular two man beat moves such as nutmegs and spins. They are also highly skilled at trapping the ball in one fluid motion so stringing together spectacular tricks is easier then ever. Some of the top Tricksters in the game:
Ronaldinho (Brazil), Blanco (Mexico), J. Cole (England), C. Ronaldo (Portugal)
Playmakers
Playmakers are your best all around players. They are great at passing, whether it be short, off a wall or crossing from the wings. They also possess a cannon for a shot. Anything inside the opponents half is in their range so make sure to try some longer shots with these players. Some of the top Playmakers:
Kaka (Brazil), Fabregas (Spain), Gerrard (England), Pirlo (Italy), Rosicky (Czech Republic)
Finishers
Finishers are in the team for one reason: putting the ball in the back of the net! They can shoot the ball from a variety of heights and angles and in ways other players can only dream of. Bicycle kicks, volleys and diving headers are all in their repertoire - the more spectacular the better. Some top Finishers:
Crouch (England)' Eto'o (Cameroon), Henry (France), Klose (Germany), Rooney (England)
Enforcers You always need some players to do the hard work and this is where the enforcers come in to play. Enforcers are strong, physical and clearly the best defenders on the pitch. They never met a tackle they didn't like and they take pride in showing the skilled players a thing or two when it comes to countering the move. Some of our Enforcers:
Gattuso (Italy), Terry (England), Puyol (Spain), Vieira (France)
Specialists make FIFA Street 3 jump off the screen - with their spectacular moves and unique feel. It’s a new gameplay experience from any other football title I’ve ever worked on - or played! When I sit down to play, I’m personally a big fan of a finisher up front, with a couple of playmakers supporting and a trickster taking up the rear. It’s a much more finesse approach than when I play on the real pitch. I tend to play as a no-nonsense defender to make up for my lack of skills, but hey, that’s why we make the games rather than the real thing!
Environments - Exotic Locales
Joe Nickolls
Line Producer - FIFA Street 3
When we set out to re-create the FIFA Street franchise, we did a lot of focus group testing and research. We found that making both the players and the environments photorealistic went against the kind of game people wanted from the FIFA Street franchise. People were asking for a game to play with their mates that felt and played like an arcade experience. So for us, it simply didn’t make sense to try to re-create a FIFA 08 look in a game like this. So after a lot of research we set out to create a new game look while creating a new gameplay engine using the technology from NBA Street and the FIFA 08 game engines
The first question we considered was where would people think it would be interesting to play a street soccer title? The usual places like Brazil, England, etc came up right away - so we tackled places like that first. We used the movie Ginga as an inspiration for where people were likely to pick up a ball and play - and that turned out to be ANYWHERE! If you have some room and a ball, you’re set. One of the first places we chose was Riverside. This is a European locale on a bridge overpass. There’s a river running alongside of it and the rest of the city sprawls out in the background. We also made the decision to not “wall the whole play area”, as it’s just not realistic to have ‘invisible’ walls. The ball can, and will go out of play from time to time - but not enough to impede gameplay.
We have included 7 places to play, with an additional 3 places available to download. These places include Beach, Rooftop, Mediterranean, Samba, Shipyard, Riverside and Oil Rig. The Oil Rig level was one of those places that people really have no business playing football - but it would be cool if you could. And that’s what is behind some of our choices. You see FIFA STREET 3 is NOT a football simulation like FIFA 08. It’s an arcade experience based on skill moves, over the top action and unique presentation. It does have a very robust engine though, and the players make use of their skills in each environment. There are places with lots of walls to bounce shots and passes off of, which adds another dimension to the game. One of my favorite moves is to lob the ball up over the goal and have another player come in with a diving header off the rebound. You can’t do that in a green field in a simulation game - but you can in FIFA STREET 3.
One thing we missed out in prior titles was to give representation of an Asian level. For that we created our rooftop play area. With real estate being a premium in places like Hong Kong and Tokyo - we drew inspiration from the many rooftop playing surfaces in the city. Our Rooftop level feels a bit like Blade Runner meets downtown Tokyo in its styling. And there are advantages and disadvantages to playing there - as some walls are able to be “played-off” and others will send the ball 50 stories down to the street!
The environments also have an element of life to them, from moving foliage to the flame jets on the oil rig, giving each environment its own vibe. Running up the fence in the beach level will have the fences “giving way” under the weight and will move accordingly. And during gamebreaker moments, you’ll see the entire area come to life as it moves with the music in game.
The key to our environments is that it’s an alternate reality. Our players are stylised to complement the animations and action in the game, and as a result, the environments must match the players in it. When the animations were applied to photorealistic players and environments, the feedback from our research indicated that gamers wanted a more colourful and vibrant place to play. And the players had to look like they belonged in that world - so that’s the path we chose. We sent a photographer all over the world with a digital camera to find interesting places to play, and the material we got back showed a wide variety of places and surfaces to play on. We then hand modeled all of the buildings and gave them a slight “geometric twist” so that nothing felt linear and level. Add in the audio that varies from each place, and you’ve got a place to play football that you haven’t seen before.
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