2006 FIFA World Cup: Developer Interview

Mar 29, 2006

This is Joe Nickolls' umpteenth project with Electronic Arts, but 2006 FIFA World Cup is no less important. In fact, the producer lights up when he talks about his new title, going on about the wicked-fast Michael Owen or the sheer power of Ruud van Nistelrooy, star of Nickolls' pick to take the cup, the Netherlands. We sat down with Nickolls and picked his brain on everything from PKs to star players. Here's what Joe had to say.

IGN: So we already have FIFA 06. We already have RTWC. Tell me about the decision for World Cup 06 and your goals for the title?

Joe Nickolls: I wanted to make a game that was both a fun, accurate soccer game and a true celebration of the event. This is the real deal! It's our biggest event title ever with 127 teams, full qualification in all 6 zones and lots of other features to keep gamers busy for a long time. I wanted to make a game that people would come back to again and again - and so far the feedback has been great!

IGN: The star-player feature is new to soccer games. Tell us why you added the feature, how it plays out in the game, and give us a few examples of stars and how we should play them.

Nickolls: If you know who the stars of the game are - you'll already know what they're capable of in real life. To highlight them, we identify them by adding a star icon over their head. Now that's purely visual - where the star element comes into play is on the pitch. We have a number of different types of players in 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Take for example someone who's great at shooting outside the box like Michael Ballack from Germany or Frank Lampard from England. Their particular talent is picking up the ball and hitting the target from a distance. But if you're looking for someone that's dominant in the air when the balls being crossed into the box, go for someone like Jan Koller of Czech Republic, who's heading ability is one of his key strengths.

IGN: On the 360, this is already your second soccer game in a few months. How have you improved the gameplay in such a short amount of time?

Nickolls: The team that made 2006 FIFA World Cup is a different team than our colleagues over on FIFA. We read a lot of forums, and have listened to a lot of fans and chose to work on the areas of the game that people have asked about the most. The result is a game that is more responsive, with a new shooting model and more accurate representation of the stars. I believe that if you're going to do a good job on something - focus on that - and that alone. Our AI team is a small focused group of people that I believe, have delivered on the mandate to create a fun, responsive soccer title.

IGN: You're trying to make a very international title. What's the difference from playing in England, to Africa to the finals in Germany?

Nickolls: The environments are quite different. The stadiums, lighting conditions, the grass condition, and the crowds all vary from place to place. Playing in Africa will look hotter and drier, while playing in Europe is more temperate.

The crowds play a big part here as well. Fans will wear the team colors and look and sound like the fans they are. And that goes for the sound effects as well. We took great care in recreating atmospheres in each stadium to sound like it will in the event itself.

IGN: In Global Challenge, you get to recreate 40 classic moments from the World Cup. How did you narrow the field to 40?

Nickolls: That took a lot of work! We wanted to give people a broad view of the World Cup experience rather than just focus on the games that most people remember, so we chose to add some lesser known - but still significant matches to the mix. It's important to balance those scenarios so you get a good variety of challenges to complete. A few of the World Cup Finals that users will be able to replay with modern teams to re-write history are:

England 1966: England won 4-2 over Germany after Extra Time

USA 1994: Brazil won on penalties over Italy

Mexico 1986: Argentina won 3-2 over Germany

Argentina 1978: Argentina won 3-1 over Netherlands after Extra Time

IGN: That big globe is cool! Where did you get that?

Nickolls: Everyone loves the globe. We called the folks up at NASA and they provided a great 3D model of the planet. We then thought about GOOGLE EARTH and asked them where they got their photos. They pointed us to the company that takes the satellite imagery and a few phone calls later, they were moving the satellite to take pictures of all the German stadiums!

It looks really cool and when people play 2006 FIFA World Cup, they'll zoom from outer space right into the stadium before each match starts.

IGN: How did you capture the emotional intensity of the World Cup in terms of audio, visuals and gameplay?

Nickolls: We are located in Canada, but my team is about 80% non-Canadian. We have people from all over Europe, Oceania and Asia working on the team - and they each bring their own input to the game. We're all huge sports fans at EA and when you get to work on a title like this, it's pretty easy to get caught up in all the emotion. We then transfer that to the game. Our Art Director from Sweden recently joined us from Hollywood, and put a lot of what he knows from movie making into the visuals in our game.

Our Audio Team is second to none - and have done yet another amazing job. We've got national anthems for all 127 countries, accurate crowds, chants, drums.

Finally our commentators are Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend from the UK, and you'll be hard pressed to find a better team anywhere.

IGN: What unlockable content is included in the game?

Nickolls: We've got players, kits, balls, and AI unlockables.

IGN: How did you redo PKs and why did you do it?

Nickolls: We use a new 'nerve' system where the longer you wait to shoot - the more the pressure will go up. Your 'sweet spot' indicator will start to move around and depending on your player's composure rating, that sweet spot will be large or small. The keeper also has a greater role in a two-player match, the more you jump around and wave your arms, the harder it will make it for the player that's taking the shot.

And let's face it - many games in World Cup are going to be decided in the shootout - so we had to do it justice!

IGN: Shooting is now different than the old hold-button-for-power shot. Explain the new shooting mechanic for us.

Nickolls: It's all based on who has the ball. Here's how it works: The longer you hold the shoot button down, the higher the angle of the shot. The power and accuracy of your shot is determined by a few things like the ability of the striker shooting, where they are and what foot they take the shot with, what kind of a shooter they are (long shot or a clinical finisher) and their accuracy skill rating.

It provides a much more realistic experience than previous soccer games. It also really blows-out the superstar element of the game too as they're the ones more likely to pull-off outrageous shots compared to less skilled players.

IGN: What players have signature moves and what are they? Are there special shots and passes in addition to dribbles?

Nickolls: We have 150 players with enhanced attributes that you'll notice when playing. Michael Owen from England is really fast, Francesco Totti from Italy is strong and accurate, Ruud van Nistelrooy from Netherlands is a menace in the box - you'll notice these things right away.

Players like Ronaldhino from Brazil has his signature 'flip-flop' move when dribbling, Zinedine Zidane from France has the 360 spin etc.

Best of all - you'll notice the CPU controlling these players and pulling these moves on you - it's not just a skill move in for user controlled players. That's important because the AI has to control the star players as they would be in real life. A few games against the big teams will make it pretty clear.

IGN: How has FIFA 06 done in terms of catching up to Winning Eleven, a franchise that is considered to have the better soccer gameplay?

Nickolls: I believe that when people pick up 2006 FIFA World Cup, they'll notice great gameplay and their heroes in-game will play like the heroes they know and love.

IGN: What does a World Cup game need to have?

Nickolls: Atmosphere, authenticity and be a fun game to play. This is World Cup we're talking about - and we've made a game that perfectly reflects the event.

IGN: What was the biggest challenge in creating this title?

Nickolls: The toughest thing was deciding what things to focus on. There are millions of FIFA fans all over the world and we truly do read what they say in the forums. And when you make a game in 14 languages - you need to make sure you get it right.

We would have loved to add even more to the game too but they won't change the date of the World Cup in Germany to suit us so we had to stop at some point!

IGN: How do you feel about the final product?

Nickolls: I'm really proud of this title. Everyone we show it to really notices the amount of work we've put into it, from the lighting in the stadiums to the responsiveness of the players. This game is about 7 times bigger than 2002 FIFA World Cup, and I think people are going to be both surprised and happy with this product.

IGN: Thanks Joe!

Note: All screens are from the Xbox 360 version.

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