Madden NFL 15 Developer Livestream - Presentation and Graphics

[The JareBear]

Yeah, the gamma or something is way off in the stream. No way the colors were represented accurately in the stream.

[jpdavis82]

Quote: Originally Posted by The JareBear

Yeah, the gamma or something is way off in the stream. No way the colors were represented accurately in the stream.

First Stream

Today


Look at their suits and the difference in detail

[MossMan84]

Quote: Originally Posted by PacMan3000

Just watched the stream archive. Not sure why, but after the great first stream, this one was quite disappointing. I really wish that Madden would improve the lighting for 1 pm games. Everything looks so utterly washed out by the sun. I'm looking at the helmets, and both the Steelers and Chiefs helmets are so washed out by the sunlight, they almost look translucent. I just don't think it looks realistic at all. And worse, I don't think it visually looks good. It affects the color of the grass, there's no contrasts or shadows anywhere. Everything looks flat and visually boring. Lighting at 4 pm, on the other hand, looks quite good. I thought halftime was improved. Commentary matched what was being said. The one issue I have with it, and with the presentation in general, is this overall rushed feeling. It's like they are trying to hurry me through a game that I paid for. It's like when you travel to a city but only have a day to really experience it--you're there, but you really didn't feel like you got a true sense of it because you were rushed. That's how I feel about the Madden presentation. When QB's walk up to the line, the camera cuts to a super close up of Big Ben or Foles. Great. Looks perfect. But it stays on screen for literally 1.5 seconds. Too short. Or replays, which for some bizarre reason start too LATE and end about two seconds too EARLY. The replay is supposed to show you what happened, but instead, the replay is immediately dropping you into the play as it's happening. It's akin to a breaking news story on your local TV channel dropping you back into your regularly scheduled programming--you've missed the start (or potentially the end) of the show. In short, you're not getting the entirety of the replay. On top of that, the replays are super close up. It can look OK at times. And I like the cross fade and such. But as a presentation whole, you have a replay that begins two seconds too late, ends a few seconds too early, and is shot from such a tight angle that you have no concept of how the play was constructed. This, too, is the problem with the halftime replays, as well. I wish they would stop rushing the gamer. Just build a solid presentation package that's true to life, and have the people who don't want to see it button through it. Because at the end of the day, whether you trim the presentation and take short cuts, the people who don't care for it aren't going to care for it period--no matter what you do. But there's a lot of people who DO want to see this stuff, and you're not allowing the actually presentation to breathe and depict what we see on Sundays.

Good post; My sentiments exactly! When they are constructing madden and testing, whos eyes are they using, because the camera angles are killing this game for me! Even last year some camera angles just kill me with this zooming in all the time! At least during game play let us have the option to have zoom on or off! This is why the custom cam is so huge but its not in the game! Why do they keep making me play from their cameras instead of my own personal cam? Dont tell me that you can adjust the cam either because it just a bunch of preset cams that still zooms in all the time so I cant see whats going on!

[engrishbwudd]

Really would like to see some footage of the game played on Slow. Transitional animations go into hyperdrive and it kills some of the immersion for me. The pre and post play animations definitely look better though. Maybe that's due in part to the fact that I'm making the transition from 25 on the ps3.

Still wish I saw some passes that missed the mark, though. Alex smith looked like Peyton.

[RogueHominid]

I don't see how the problem could be the stream itself when the helmets on PIT, for example, look quite black, have a nice sheen, and seem about right.

Relative to those, the jerseys are a totally different color and look nothing like real life. As a Raiders fan, I'm worried that OAK's uniforms will look similarly horrid.

The difference here is one of relative colors and shading, not the feed. As another poster pointed out, the black accessories look appropriately black, so it's not that the feed isn't capable of delivering the right colors.

It may be hyperbole to say that the PIT jerseys and KC pants glow because EA wanted to show off the pads, but I wouldn't put it entirely past them to decide to fudge on realistic appearance to showcase the "next-gen" ability to render textures within and beneath the jerseys.

I think in general Madden still has lots of trouble achieving realistic lighting looks, and this is even more pronounced when you get into domed settings and certain low-light settings.

[WakeUp_YoureDreaming]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

First Stream Today Look at their suits and the difference in detail

Good catch.

[jaynral]

Man, I have never had so many up and down emotions about I game. I was actually super excited after seeing the stream but this stream wasnt that impressive...Yeah, I like the new camera views and the graphics But there was 5 things that still upset me...1) still no sense of anxiousness or pressure in the pocket...Playing QB is about trusting your linemen and having composure in the pocket...didnt see or feel none of that 2)the LOS needs to be more crowded and hectic on inside running plays..part of playing RB is being patient and finding the the lil openings and 3) In the last video, the coverage was much aggressive but this video is seem everybody was especially that out, corner routes...4) still too many tackles where the offensive is running full speed, get hit momentum immediately stopped and going backwards and 5) I saw alot of perfect passes....More incompletely passes brings realism or even some tip balls.......honorable mention...still seeing the jerky moves but not that bad....All in all, Im still getting the game...i need some football especially college didnt come out!

[OhMrHanky]

yeah, i don't know what happened here. I have been pretty positive about what I've seen thus far for Madden 15, and the last feed really seemed to show some quality stuff. But, in this feed, the gameplay killed me a little. I am all for incompletions and dropped passes from time to time on open players, but I think I saw 3 or 4 wide open drops that just didn't look realistic. I'm hoping to be able to slider out the appropriate amount of drops, but this particular video stream has me worried. And, I don't want too many Ints like we saw in 25, but here again, a couple of wide open easy Ints that are just dropped. This is where they need to have the QB throw the ball differently. If the player is covered, have a quality QB throw it where NOBODY can catch it. Then, u don't need a botched int animation. So, the animations are still a bit off. I'm still liking the overall gameplay I'm seeing compared to 25, but something in this vid stream just felt a little off.
As to the actual purpose of the feed, presentation, I'm not totally sold on it, either at this point. They're getting closer with the replays, but they are still zoomed in too much, so you don't see the whole play or get a better feeling of what happened in the play. And, I have to say, with the whole cinematography talk going on, the actual replay shots are from cameras attached to someone's foot or something. WAY TOO LOW ANGLE for my taste and too low angle for a real game. Replays, and the game in general, are shot from a somewhat above the field of play looking down kind of angle which shows you more of the field, and simply put, is what you really see on Sunday, so I'm not sure what all the low angle footage is about and was in the last 2 games, so I'm not feeling that. They show a replay from field level a few times, and you can't really see the play because the angle they're choosing must GO THROUGH people to see the player with the ball, so idk, this needs work. It is better, but they're still off. And, speaking to the emotion. Here again, they're moving in the right direction with individual player emotion after the play. HOWEVER, what is up the Jags head coach after a HUGE sack by his team? What does he do? Does he celebrate with his Defense? Does he pump his fist as if to say, "Hell yeah!!! Way to sack him, boys!!!" NO, he does not. Instead, he shakes his head in disgust as if his QB was just sacked. So, I don't even know what to say about that. They're still having trouble giving the proper emotions. I just don't understand that. My team sack qb = my head coach happy, other head coach unhappy. My team qb get sacked = my head coach unhappy, other head coach happy. That just doesn't seem like very complicated AI logic to me, but madden still struggles with it. I think this game will be better than 25, and will be one of the best maddens yet, but I think I'm going to have to mess with sliders to get it working appropriately.