They may not go #1 as often as everyone would like, but in our current office league draft I was the first human to pick at #25, and the 3 60+ QBs were all gone. I had to take the 53-rated one.

I will be getting the PC one.

An hour ago, none of the new IGN shots were working for me (except for the thumbnails.) This site appears to have most of the same new shots:

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/10842/...h-Screenshots/


The one showing on screen action looks good. I like the camera angle. Of course, I can't wait to see the game in videos more.

I figured most FOFC members would be getting the PC version.

The screen shot you're talking about EF reminds me what FPS 2006 could have looked like.

This game might be the closest we ever come to the all time great FPS series... and that's tough to digest with EA being the developer. :)

Not to threadjack, but WHERE DO YOU WORK? Office league:eek: ? Thats like a pervereted fantasy of mine:p

Will NCAA draft files work with this game?

It's why I'm keeping my expectations LOW. This could be a dream game. Then again, it could be an unmitigated disaster.

Serious question here for everyone, what would you consider a game killer for this one? I don't expect everything to be handled right, but my serious hope is that the in game AI is reasonable. I want very, very few "WTF was that?" type moments.

I'll forgive stats that are a tad off or a draft AI not perfect or even a statstic tracking type bug. I'm just worried this is going to be like a vast majority of EA game before this where if you try coach mode and watch a play, things don't look, feel or play out right.

BTW, this isn't a game bashing post. I will be getting the game and my hopes are high. It's only my expectations that are low.

..and it's the #1 reason to get it on the pc, plus the price should be about $20 cheaper.. but patches are GOOD.

If the FA and drafts don't have reasonable AI, then the game will be shelved. Considering it's the games primary focus, I'm hoping the AI is quite good.

All versions are 40 bucks.

That's unusual.

Of course, EA has always came out with patches that fix the type of things I'm talking about, right?

The PC patch was a crutch EA used for years and failed miserably a majority of the time with. Usually the patch was "wait til next years game, we'll take care of the problem there and call it a feature"

So for you it's the AI in the draft/FA periods. (ie: the roster build up) It's the opposite for me. With a 30 year maximum (and probably much less if I were to watch every game I coached), I want the on the field stuff to have some logic behind it.

I guess we'll see if they get either portion of it right or not.

I can deal with moderately reasonable off the field AI (no offense to Jim or Arlie, but every football game, sim and console, has only had what I would call "moderately reasonable" GM AI). I'll forgive a few "WTF!?" things happening with the AI management

It's the on the field AI that I won't be able to get passed if they mess that up. If there are even a few "WTF!?" moments per game, then I'll be disappointed. I know they should have players make mistakes. Players make mistakes in football. We watch games and go "WTF are you doing!?" at the players. But I'm talking about things that just are unexplaiable.

Example: Playing NFL2k5 back when it came out, I called for my OLB to blitz. I run the play and notice no pressure on the QB from that side so I check the instant replay to see what happened. What I saw on the replay defied logic. My OLB decided that instead of blitzing, he would just run around in a circle for a few seconds...then blitz (by then, the pass was thrown) Those sort of things will bother me to no end, especially in a game like this.

True.. I also like being able to get better rosters and well, look at what modders have done to MVP via PC.

I'm anxiously waiting on some reviews just to see and read what the game is like - IGN, Gamespot, etc..

Well said and I agree. Mistakes are A-OK. I want to watch my rookie QB miss a wide open WR and throw it into double coverage. That happens. Hell, it happens with veteran QB's. But if, for example, everytime I called for the deep post the QB looked off of him and dumped it to the RB before the WR ever made the break? I'd be pissed off beyond belief. (that very thing was in both NCAA and Madden two years ago. Neither was fixed until the following years title)

I think you guys have confused me. On the one hand, I'm seeing talk about how you're keeping expectations low, then somehow expect this first generation game not to have the same flubs inherent in almost every 3D game ever made, including NCAA and Madden from EA.

My expectations are a management AI somewhere in the mid-point between FOF and Madden, and a gameplay engine slightly below Madden. It's completely unrealistic to expect that a first generation game to be have a superior game engine than Madden in this situation. Personally, I would prefer a tight personnel management AI with the usual 3D AI nonsense. This game would be useless to me if it had the greatest gameplay AI of all time where players act realistically but has management AI of Football Mogul.

My fear is that this is merely going to be Madden with RPG elements. If the finances, roster management and gameplay are not any deeper than Madden is, this will be the most major football sim disappointment since FB Pro '99.

I'm hoping it's a text sim first, Madden engine 3D display second.

If the AI is drafting or signing FA unreasonably, or the stats are outside of the realm of possibility are the two main game breakers for me. However, what is reasonable AI? That is the tricky thing. We blast games that have teams draft a DE with a high pick despite having 2 great DE's. However, look at the Saints this year. They have a boat load of RB's including Deuce who is quite talented if he can come back from his injury, other needs, yet they took Reggie. I'm willing to give the AI some latitude. Like you, I just don't want too many WTF moments from the draft or FA signings.

Great point and I would probably do the same (draft Bush) given the chance.

I'll still miss the FPS style interface. :p

I can't believe it is still over a month til this comes out. Wasn't the original date in April sometime? That would have been perfect because with the draft I think I had the strongest itch to play a football sim. Plus I have held off playing FOF or TPF because I don't want to get burnt out on football sims for when Head Coach comes out.

I'm glad they moved it back if it leads to a higher quality release, however, I'm also jonesing for some football now and am getting back into one of my FOF SP Careers.

And that is the problem. I'm betting it's going to be the other way around. Very pretty to look at, but not so great under the hood.

Subtitled "Eva Longoria"

I'd like to get under her hood.

When your down there, tell me exactly how far I crawled up inside it.

Me too.

If that's the case, I won't buy. I'm going to wait on the reviews from sites and FOFC'ers who buy it on release day. :)

Any news from E3? Has E3 started yet?

Maddennation is supposed to have a video interview from E3 as well as a preview with many user submitted questions answered either tonight or tomorrow. They also have videos and previews of NCAA and Madden already up. NCAA on the 360 looks great with no more suction blocking. I can't wait to see the head coach features once they are up.

Here is some more info on the game I ran across.

http://www.vgsinet.com/newsletter/Madden-Vol3.pdf

That was actually posted a few pages ago, but it still has good info.

Damn it man, you trying to steal my thunder?

Sorry :o I didnt' realize it was already posted.

Maddennation's material isn't up yet, but they say they have multiple videos and spent about an hour getting questions answered by the producers. However, Gamespot's E3 preview is up now. They only spent a few minutes trying the game out. Not much new, except for this little tidbit of info which I hadn't heard before:

..... we noticed individual scouting reports on nearly every player on every team you face in the regular season--a pretty cool feature and one that will likely be invaluable for the more hardcore virtual coaches out there. That said, the organization of all this information can still be a bit confusing—some menus are available through by pressing the directional pad in one of four directions, while others are available by moving through various objects in your office, such as the computer, the phone, and so on. As such, it's sort of tough to tell where you need to go to access what information but, considering the depth of data on hand, organization is almost sure to be a problem.



Here is a link to the entire preview:

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/...ml?sid=6150930

Thanks for that link EF. This game sounds like it has a ton of depth, which also could mean more chances of buggies.

Sounds like this a preview of the console version. Just handling the GM/Coach aspects of NFL and NCAA console games is just excruciating.

Agreed. Another reason why I plan on buying the PC Version.
Also, I agree with Todd that it is more chance for bugs, but I'm glad they are being ambitious rather than making it too simplistic.

Dola -

Maddennation has their first two videos up. There are quite a few more coming tonight or tomorrow. Their site is getting hammered, so expect a long wait to see the videos. Q&A should still be up later today.

Link to video thread:
http://www.maddennation.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=55253

Is this game getting much attention outside of people like us?


BTW, thanks EF27 (and others) for all the links and stuff. It's nice to be getting all the info without actually having to do any searching. :)

Alright, from the video I just watched, it looks like it's a step into my dream game concept I have had for a while.....

I am hoping EA doesn't mess this up....it looks awesome!

You should sue. :D

Just watched both videos, and while it's hard to tell from limited video, I definitely like what I'm seeing. A couple of the camera angles look great.

I have only been able to see 1 vid, and I am more scared now than ever of disapointment, because what I just saw makes the game look amazing.

Dont you let me down EA or heads WILL roll!!!!

RAC's post on Maddennation is up. Here is a link:

http://www.maddennation.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=55270


Some highlights (and lowlights for me):

First the good:

- Players can get hurt during practice and this happens more often with more contact drills.

- Assistant Coaches will each have their own philosophy and personality. They will conform to your schemes, but once they leave you they will run their own scheme with wrinkles from your scheme added to their game!

- First I've heard of hiring specific scouting directors.

- It's confirmed that owners will have different personalities, some will spend money like crazy, others won't.

- They don't use the NFL Draft chart for trading picks, but they use a similar point system to decide on how trades should work. They also use an "advanced" trading module for non draft picks that will make trading much more realistic than Madden.

- This is a negative possibly depending upon how it is implemented, but it sounds like players will not "completely" bust, but will vary in how quickly they develop. However, well scouted top 5 picks are going to eventually be good players.

- Live draft in which you have 5 minutes to pick. If you don't pick in that time, your scouting director will make the call. 45 seconds between computer picks, so you better be ready to make a trade quickly if you want to move up.

- They reiterated how trust works, and I think I'm going to like it. I want to try to balance all of the egos of my staff, including my scouting director, coaches, etc. Also, piss a GM off enough and they won't trade with you anymore. Same for agents and their clients.

- The scouting director can look at 8 guys per week throughout the calendar year. This can be guys on the opposing team, free agents, or guys who will be in next year's draft. At the combine, you can scout 25 guys in more depth.

- You can put guys on the IR.

- Wide variety of reasons and timing for coaches to retire.

Negatives:

- Biggest: No in game saves :( :( :(

- No expanded squads, no practice squads.

- The playbook creator only allows for a limited creation of "gadget plays."

- No firings mid season, only at the end of the season.

- Coaches that you face twice a year don't make adjustments based on the earlier game, but the producers hope to add this to next year's version.

- They took out the ability to "lure" away assistants from other teams with a promotion. Instead, assistants will decide that they are ready for a promotion and will announce themselves as FA's looking for a better job and you can bid on them in the pool with other teams also competing for their services. That might be good if it was done for game balancing purposes.

- The playbook editor allows you to customize existing formations and make plays with your customized formations or their base formations. That feature wasn't viewable at E3.



I'm still anxious awaiting this game after reading it, but I hope that there are some busts in the game. I'm also really disappointed that there are no in game saves as I imagine 15 minute quarters would take at least an hour to play.

yes, this is a must buy for me.

ACK

- Biggest: No in game saves

That blows. I hate when I can't save during a game.

no in-game saves doesn't REALLY bother me. just means that if i only play part of a game before i have to turn off the computer I can quit and replay it later...adds to the length of time it takes to finish a career, which IMO is a good thing.

I hope that coaches that you face twice a year will learn from what you do the following year, at least that would be a start.

other than that, nothing really "bothers" me, although I think 45 seconds for computer picks might be really quick in the draft unless there's a "pause" feature? then again hopefully it will be slidered/hacked on the pc version

the other thing I am afraid of is the scouting director's scouting and to what extent that can be automatically done. it's quite a pain in NBA Live for example, to have to stop your auto-simming when you're trying to tank a season or have a "development season" in order to scout rookies and order your coaches around. but i guess that's okay.

If the game is as good as hyped (and invariably it won't be) then I'd bet the house on the next Solecismic footy game being TCY. Which is a shame for me personally since I have no interest in college and would buy the next FOF regardless of this game.

But if the game is solid, it would impinge upon fof sales in the next X months.

IMHO

This seems like a positive to me. A "complete" bust, a la FOF is too much. A player doesn't suddenly lose potential -- in fact, by definition of potential, he never loses it at all. I guess I think about Joey Harrington or Ryan Leaf -- those guys still had the potential after they've been cast off (which is why teams kept taking chances on Leaf), but they're not approaching that potential as fast as they should. But of course, like you said, it depends on implementation.

No in-game saves is okay with me. If I can deal with it in FM, I can deal with it here.

Anyway, I think I'll be able to resist on this one, and wait for some reviews. A few years ago I realized I had no interest in Madden, so if this is Madden Lite, I'll have no interest in it, either.

I really doubt that Jim would base what product he would sell based on what EA makes, no matter how good NFLHC is.

Obviously I don't know anything really.. but whilst I suspect you are correct that the simple fact that there is an EA game in the arena wouldn't put someone of character off, if such a game was as good as (say) FM, then it would become a yard stick that everyone measured other football games against.

If you're going to compete with something like that you need to be confident that you're either significantly better on the same terms or different enough to satisfy a niche.

compare the prospects of releasing a product in THAT market verses the still untapped (by major publishers) market of college football and it would appear (to me at least) that there would be more money to be made in the short to medium term competing against 'air'.