Blocking Failure Animations

[steebu]

Although many gameplay issues frustrate us quite a bit, one that particularly rankles me is blocking.

I once called an option play from the Ace formation (two TE, one on each side, single back). The playbook shows that the blocking scheme is "Zone Block Straight Ahead". Instead, the RG pulled to his left, the LG pulled to his right, and the LG ended up running in place since he ran into the C. The play, of course, got blown up in the backfield.

OK, seriously. If you are an OL with an AWR rating of -8 and you're told to zone block straight ahead there is NO reason why you should pull.

I don't know if this is just bad programming or logic, but one way to help us believe what's happening is to have blocking failure animations. Whiffing a block happens all the time in real life, so why not include it in the game?

If I call a pass play and the DE beats my OT to the outside, what usually happens is the OT stands in place and moves to the opposite side, allowing the DE to come free. For example, my LT will take a few steps inside to the right, allowing the DE to beat him. This (stepping inside) should NEVER happen in real life, particularly if there isn't a blitz. Seeing that is so incredibly frustrating!

Now, it's possible that the game code is simply "rolling the dice" and determines the DE beats the OT. That's fine. But if I see the OT stepping away from the man he's supposed to block, that immediately makes me think that something's wrong with the game. Why not play an animation that shows the OT attempting to block the DE? For example, lunging with his arms but just gets beat by a speed burst or spin move?

Likewise, let's say the DT blows up an inside running play because he beats the G. Right now the G would do something stupid, like pull, or go the opposite way, or just stand in place as the DT blows by him. Just play an animation of the DT throwing the G to the ground or something.

Perhaps the worst is perimeter blocking. Since I run option quite a bit (and I was hoping to have a separate option thread months ago talking about what needed to get fixed in the option) perimeter blocking is key! Do you know how frustrating it is to have a 2-on-1 situation with a ballcarrier and a blocking WR vs. the SS, only to have the WR suddenly "warp" to another location, allowing the SS to make the tackle? I would find it much more palatable and believable if the WR tried to block and whiffed; either he completely missed or the S just beat the block.

So, in summary, failure is fine. I can totally understand a guy getting beat. But showing WHY you got beat would go a long way towards

1. making the game more believable
2. minimizing the "stupid EA programmers!" comments

So, my $.02. More failure animations, please! :-)

[Pokes404]

I'm not totally positive that blockers do stupid things because the computer decided that they got beat by the defender ... I think the blocking logic is just that bad. I can forgive some blown assignments if the defense is bringing extra people, loading up the box, or you're running an intricate play. What I can't stand is when I call a HB Dive, everyone has a man right in front of him, and they still can't figure out who to block. All they had to do was hit the guy opposite them.

I've heard some devs say that they can't represent true option blocking because they can't leave guys unblocked as it would mess up the blocking logic. Considering what the blocking logic is like normally, that's scary.

I can't stress this enough, EA must improve the locomotion physics and blocking AI this year. The gameplay will never live up to expectations as long as these two critical aspects of the game are so broken.

[orangee]

What can you expect if his AWR is -8?

[gator3guy]

Fixing the blocking logic and animations would go a long way in making the gameplay better.

[henson]

Quote: Originally Posted by gator3guy

Fixing the blocking logic and animations would go a long way in making the gameplay better.

+1

[nighttrain32]

If there are more whiffing animations then there will be a lot more OL vs DB whiffs blocks which sucks and never happens in real football but EA thinks a pulling guard in space directly in front of a corner will get thrown like a rag doll.

[PantherBeast_OS]

Well from what they said in the blog about going back to the good old days of ainmations and gameplay. I am sure Oline/Dline is going to be on top of their list this year finally. Trying to make gameplay good again.

[LBzrule]

Trust me you do not want the whiffing. It is in Madden 10 and it happens way too much especially by HB's and FB's who stay in to block. They do it on a consistent basis and let the defenders come right to your QB.