The First Official Feature For Madden NFL 10!

[swiftychampleone]

Quote: Originally Posted by mike95

I'm glad you recognize the problem with INT's and are working to correct that. I don't see the need to focus on facial expressions in a football game.

Huh? I say WHY NOT? It's an nice touch that makes the game better, IMO. We really need to cut the staleness out of Madden in the best way possible.

[The Sim God]

IAN

run commit & pass commit SHOULD BE eliminated.

awareness should be the only thing that matters for run/pass commit.

[BezO]

Good stuff!

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

So I'm passing it off to you guys: - Where else would you like to see PA active?

• When WRs, RBs & TEs are running routes, they shouldn't look for the ball until after the last break in their route. So if the ball is thrown early, he doesn't react. Even if a user takes control, the user shouldn't have time to recover and get to the ball.
  Also, even when the ball is not thrown to them, route runners should look back at the QB after that last break in their route.
• When blocking, linemen, TEs & RBs should look for defenders and shouldn't attempt to block defenders they can't see. Linemen without an immediate threat should always be looking for someone to block, and should go help someone after a second or 2.
• A ball carrier should be aware of potential tacklers.
• A QB should not only go through his progressions, but he should(or shouldn't) be aware of pressure. If someone is coming from the backside and the QB doesn't turn his head to see, he shouldn't react.
• DBs, LBs & d-linemen(zone blitz) should be looking for WRs in their zone & at the QB.

I hop each player's PA with be ratings based.

I know you all feel most users want immediate control, so consider giving the swat button dual actions like you to for stiff arm/switch hands. The swat button could trigger a swat if the DB is aware of the ball, but would trigger a "look for ball animation" when he's not yet aware of the ball. And the same for pick attempts.

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

- Are there any new attitudes would you like do see?

Intensity, disappointment, elation, pain, determination, surprised...

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

- Do you have any suggestions on the best area you think we should actually use the attitudes that we’ve created?

Before/during most actions... tackle attempts, swat/pick attempts, catch attempts, jukes/spins/stiff arms/breaking tackles, persuit... basically every action should have an attitude attached.

[vabeachboy19]

Ian,

This could be a great feature. Heres the 2 main things that need to happen in my opinion to make this great.

1. DB Awareness- My first suggestion is that the 'strafe' button should basically be changed to a 'LOOK' button on defense. Now anyone that has played madden the past few years know that the strafe is over powered and contributes to maybe 70% of interceptions. And the main trouble with this is that a defender can be running full speed with his back to the ball and once the strafe button is pressed the db will immediately turn around(with no penalty) and be able to jump straight up in the air.THIS IS JUST NOT POSSIBLE IN REAL LIFE and frustrates me most about madden. Now with my suggestion, if a db is running down field with his back to the ball, once the "LOOK" button is triggered the db will turn his head and attempt to find the ball.Now once he finds the ball he will be able to make a play but most importantly the user must release the turbo and actually slow the defender up before attempting to JUMP. So basically it is momentum bassed. If the defender is at full sprint he should only be able to raise his arm/arms, dive to try to deflect, or maybe a small bound depending on rating. Now if you are able to get into position and release the turbo and slow the defender to a near stop, now the defender should be able to GATHER HISELF AND JUMP!. This would DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE THE INTERCEPTION PROBLEM IN MADDEN/ EA SPORTS FOOTBALL.

2. QB Awareness- First let me say the qb head tracking looks great in the small video shown. Now lets talk about qb 'performance' based on head tracking. The main thing that needs to happen here is that if Mcnabb is looking at Curtis on a fly down the left side of the field and the user decides to dump it off to Westbrook in the right flats..once the user presses the button to throw to Westbrook, Mcnabb should have to TURN HIS HEAD TO FIND WESTBROOK IN THE RIGHT FLATS, TURN HIS SHOULDERS AND ATTEMPT TO STEP AND THROW WITH PROPER FOOTWORK!! this is HUGE in my opinion and something that madden is lacking and would make the passing experience great. Now to get a little deeper, if the qb is feeling pressure and has good awareness, then the qb should 'rush' the pass (ie, not step and throw) which would result in side arms, throwing off back foot, throws without stepping to receiver; which should create loose spirals, over/under throws, and a dramatic reduction in accuracy(of coarse depending on qb ability)

I know this is a long read but I PROMISE if these things are included in Madden 2010 us TRUE football Sim fans will be satisfied.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by BezO

Good stuff! When WRs, RBs & TEs are running routes, they shouldn't look for the ball until after the last break in their route. So if the ball is thrown early, he doesn't react. Even if a user takes control, the user shouldn't have time to recover and get to the ball. Also, even when the ball is not thrown to them, route runners should look back at the QB after that last break in their route. When blocking, linemen, TEs & RBs should look for defenders and shouldn't attempt to block defenders they can't see. Linemen without an immediate threat should always be looking for someone to block, and should go help someone after a second or 2. A ball carrier should be aware of potential tacklers. A QB should not only go through his progressions, but he should(or shouldn't) be aware of pressure. If someone is coming from the backside and the QB doesn't turn his head to see, he shouldn't react. DBs, LBs & d-linemen(zone blitz) should be looking for WRs in their zone & at the QB. I hop each player's PA with be ratings based. I know you all feel most users want immediate control, so consider giving the swat button dual actions like you to for stiff arm/switch hands. The swat button could trigger a swat if the DB is aware of the ball, but would trigger a "look for ball animation" when he's not yet aware of the ball. And the same for pick attempts. Intensity, disappointment, elation, pain, determination, surprised... Before/during most actions... tackle attempts, swat/pick attempts, catch attempts, jukes/spins/stiff arms/breaking tackles, persuit... basically every action should have an attitude attached.

I love the idea thats bolded.

BezO, you and I don't always agree on things, but once again man, damn good insight.

[dawgs18]

Sounds good so far.

It would be nice to have animations match up with game score. Example, I don't think players would be celebrating they made a tackle while being blown out. Or the whole offense celebrating after a first down while losing 30-0 in 4th qrtr.

Keep it coming!

[RogueHominid]

Really cool stuff! From reading the description, I did wonder, though, if the PA would actually create a necessary delay between switching targets and acting on them or if it would just mean that instead of leaping miraculously without the head turn the DB would now leap miraculously as he's turning his head. I know the post mentioned delay as a possibility, but I'm still wondering just how it is going to be interpreted.

Ideally, there would be a built-in reaction time that would force players to gather and redirect before acting on a new target.

I could see a really cool implementation of this tech used in the rendering of zone coverages. Good zone defenders are masters at locating the immediate and imminent targets in their zones and reacting promptly. Guys who aren't so good either don't see targets sometimes or move from them before they've cleared their area of responsibility. PA could help distinguish these different kinds of defenders. And it could help create a signature style for CBs who are "peekers"--the guys that look back to the QB to read the drop and either make a big play or get turned around.

This is a wonderful effort! Thanks so much for the time and care.

[youALREADYknow]

Quote: Originally Posted by Trojan Man

Ideally, there would be a built-in reaction time that would force players to gather and redirect before acting on a new target.

This has been one of my major pet peeves in EA football games and is the reason why user INTs are so easy to come by for anyone with decent stick skills.

I think EA wants to leave 100% of the game control in the user's hands and it basically leaves us in godmode while the CPU is left with piddly amounts of AI to combat our movements.

There should never be an instance where I can switch to a defender in coverage with their back turned to a play and instantly initiate a catch animation.

Hopefully using procedural awareness will allow defenders to have to make eye contact with the ball before going for the ball in catch animations AND will turn catch animations into swat animations if the ball is in the air and the defender has not found the ball with their eyes. This would not only result in far less cheap interceptions, but would make WR/CB interaction more complete.

I'll also be interested in seeing whether the Awareness rating finally has a specific use instead of being the all-knowing rating.