Operation Sports Press Row Podcast Part 2 with Victor Lugo-Infinity Engine 2

[jpdavis82]

I saw this on the home page, but I didn't see it anywhere in the Madden Forums so I thought I'd post it here.

Yesterday in the midst of the Connected Franchise info unveiling, this was released and I think overlooked, so hopefully people can check this out now. Sounds like the Infinity Engine is going to be a lot smoother and they have some tools/resources to tune things with it that they never could in Madden 13.

http://operationsportspressrow.libsy...nfinity-engine

[jpdavis82]

Cliff notes, I am just now getting a chance to listen to this and wanted to share some of the things I observed.

They went to EA London and worked with the guys over there on creating tools to help them tune players individually. Last year Victor wanted to have these kind of tools but was unable to get them to work properly.

These tools and mechanics they have now will allow them to tune players individually, including tuning specific times of a players muscle tension and how their ratings affect physics. This will apply to the blocking, stiff arms, tackles, etc... One example given was with trucking, a kicker would have the weakest stiff arm in the game, whereas a guy like Marshawn Lynch will have one of the strongest. They did several matchups of players at all different sizes, positions, and ratings. Their goal with this was to make physics respond accordingly to a players size, momentum, and ratings. With the ability to tune a specific players muscle tension now at specific times, they can have players tense up exactly when they want them to, which creates more realistic outcomes and players falling more naturally. They lined up the biggest possible guy and the smallest possible and everyone in between to try and create the most realistic outcomes. At first they had guys that were stronger than humans sending guys weaker than the weakest players in the NFL flying in the air making them do backflips. This was toned down to where a collision between two players will happen realistically based on size, momentum, and ratings.

They said this makes a big difference on the offensive line too, creating new interactions with the new blocking logic and techniques. Victor said the difference in the o-line in NCAA is even greater, when you take a guy from a small division 2 school and put him up against a lineman from a school like Alabama there's a huge difference now and he's going to get crushed unless his size and ratings are similar.

They have added contextual awareness and greater AI for post play so players will be more aware of each other and not just run into each other and trip or fall all over the place.

In the future they want to add more and more purely physics based plays(dive tackle in M25 is purely physics based, no animation for it.) while at the same time including the animations that give the game a more authentic look and not lose a player's signature style. I.E. AP's running style vs a generic HB's.

[BV11]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

The example given was a kicker would have the weakest stiff arm in the game, whereas a guy like Marshawn Lynch will have one of the strongest.

Because a kicker's stiff arm rating is totally relevant. It seems like the stiff arm is going to be the main thing that is physics based, which kind of sucks.

Would be nice if this applied more to blocking and solo tackles, etc. If they used an example of using a kicker at O-Line getting absolutely destroyed I would be happy, because a kicker at O-Line has worked in the past.

More excited to see what they are doing on next gen this year with the Infinite engine.

[jpdavis82]

Quote: Originally Posted by BV11

Because a kicker's stiff arm rating is totally relevant. It seems like the stiff arm is going to be the main thing that is physics based, which kind of sucks. Would be nice if this applied more to blocking and solo tackles, etc. If they used an example of using a kicker at O-Line getting absolutely destroyed I would be happy, because a kicker at O-Line has worked in the past. More excited to see what they are doing on next gen this year with the Infinite engine.

Hang on a sec, updating my post, I forgot what he said about the O-line and blocking. This does apply to the o-line and solo tackles too.

[secondsolution]

This has me intrigued. Hopefully they will show it off at E3 in some gameplay videos.

[MrSerendipity]

I definitely like the sound of it and I think they're on the right track. But I'd be surprised if they were able to fit all of those mechanics into this game. I wouldn't expect it to be fully developed without bugs until next year's game.

[kbomb1upc]

I would have loved to see the smaller player do backflips after getting hit, that would have been hilarious.

[jpdavis82]

Quote: Originally Posted by BV11

Because a kicker's stiff arm rating is totally relevant. It seems like the stiff arm is going to be the main thing that is physics based, which kind of sucks. Would be nice if this applied more to blocking and solo tackles, etc. If they used an example of using a kicker at O-Line getting absolutely destroyed I would be happy, because a kicker at O-Line has worked in the past. More excited to see what they are doing on next gen this year with the Infinite engine.

Sage, why would you like this post after I pointed out that o-line and solo tackles would be included, not just stiff arms? Seems like you always like a post with a negative slant.