Madden NFL 10 Blog: The Importance of an Early Community Day (New Screenshot Included

[NYyankz225]

Quote: Originally Posted by Valdarez

Thanks for clarifying your point. I now understand your position fully, and realize that the 1000+ games I have played, the community site I run, and the host of videos I have posted means I know nothing of the game. And, for the record, I am legally blind in one eye, so your comment is extremely perceptive on multiple fronts. So are canned animations your basis for claiming there is less control? Because both games have canned animations, and both are pretty random when a play is being made from what I have seen / played of Madden and APF2K8. I think you would have had more of a leg to stand on with the instant directional changes in Madden which definitely give you more control, just not in a realistic manner. I agree that most animations (other than user moves) are not under your control. They are canned, but that's the same for both games. I just want the QB drop back to be fluid, consistent in how I control them, and to allow me to adjust without penalty if I do so properly (in other words don't penalize me for reading a blitz, stopping early to make a throw).

First of all, besides the fact that I had not meant blind in a visual sense, but simply as a metaphorical way of showing an understanding of how games are made, I hope I didn't offend you by my comment. Blindness is nothing to joke about and I know some close people who suffer from eye related issues that makes their life hell. Obviously I had no idea about your situation but I hope I didn't cause you to be upset.

Anyway, both definitely do have canned animations and Madden definitely isn't immune. The biggest issue is user catching which has been an issue in earlier next gen Maddens specifically. You can press the "catch button" early with almost no penalty as the actual catch or jump animation will only trigger when the ball is close to the player. In 2k this is superior because if you press the jump button your player WILL jump/go for the catch regardless...but that's the only area. As far as running and player interaction 2k has always had more canned animations.

Madden has been moving to a branching (the ability to trigger/interrupt an animation to go into another based on user input/the situation) system which is far superior to the 2k method. It allows a much more dynamic feel, but the penalty for more openness is that it requires a lot more work to make sure if looks/feels "realistic". I'm confident that Madden will make HUGE strides in this aspect and this will be the thing that blows people away. This branching and layered animation system will play a big part in the new pileup feature.

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

IMO major improvement to something that has been a problem in the Madden series for the past 4 years can't be a "game killer", but I can understand your concern.

I think the difference that it sounds like you are looking at it from a software perspective, itemizing the defects based on criticality (for some reason I want to say Flawless Victory now... but I digress) as you warrant it. The gamers are obviously going to rank these items differently, based on their expectations / desires.

When you say 'warp' catch, to me that's the defensive superman float interception, where the DB slides in the air floating one to two yards towards the ball, even though their body movement may have had them going in an opposite direction. That's what I'm calling Warp, and that's in my top 10 list of items that break Madden, and ruin the passing game for me. Is my definition different from what you have labeled as a Warp?

[coach_ruckus]

NYyank
have you ever played real football?

[floridagatorfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by coach_ruckus

ok lets go back. now lets talk football101 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJrZRGmCiJA now watch that and let me know if any of these were answered at Ea madden day #2 have you ever played football in high school or just any football im not trying to be funny but have you. once you answer that ill go on

What's funny is after watching that you don't come across as arrogant as you have from your posts on the forums. If you gave this same approach on the forums things would probably be much less heated and actual intelligent conversations about the game rather than a bunch of bickering back and forth.

Rather than posting how stupid of questions people are asking and how much they love hand towels, post some of the questions you would like to see addressed or specific examples of the "x's and o's" that make All Pro better than Madden because I would agree that right now All Pro has the best gameplay of any football game.

This could at least get something productive done and maybe even get Ian in here making responses and listening. However, the way these last few pages have been going with basically just jabs back and forth with people calling each other stupid, if I were Ian I wouldn't bother looking at the rest of this thread.

edit: it took me so long to make this post there have already been multiple comments so hopefully this is already happening

[mKoz26]

Quote: Originally Posted by MRxAmazing

Madden 10 accessories What we DO have: -Towels -Primary/Secondary TC Gloves -HANDWARMERS! -Flak Jacket? [referring to the Matt Hasselbeck SS] -Spats? [referring to the Michael Clayton SS] What we DON'T have [or aren't aware of]: -Eye black -Neck pads -More cleat styles and TC cleats. -New mouthpieces -New chinstraps -Loose sleeves -Half sleeves -http://tinyurl.com/df8thj Is there ANY chance we'll see some of this stuff in Madden 10? Stuff like eye black, TC cleats, and neckpads I can't believe aren't in as of now. I think that's crazy. Being a Giants fan, I KNOW where Tuck is at all times because I always see that neck roll. I feel like I could be missing some stuff, so add to it if I did.

That Jamarcus Russell picture is just a cut up peice of under armour. That ain't no accesory

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by NYyankz225

First of all, besides the fact that I had not meant blind in a visual sense, but simply as a metaphorical way of showing an understanding of how games are made, I hope I didn't offend you by my comment. Blindness is nothing to joke about and I know some close people who suffer from eye related issues that makes their life hell. Obviously I had no idea about your situation but I hope I didn't cause you to be upset.

Nahhh, no worries there. Most people don't believe me when I tell them as I still play sports, tons of video games, and sit in front of a monitor all day long (which doesn't help, thank goodness for 65" TVs and 26" monitors!).

Quote: Originally Posted by NYyankz225

This branching and layered animation system will play a big part in the new pileup feature.

I read about the branching mechanism last year, but I'm not really sure where it came into play in the game. It might be there, but if it is, the game speed makes it impossible for me to discern it from the game in general. To be fair, I only played Madden for one week, and about 12 to 15 games into the season (couldn't finish it) just long enough to get my 1000 points. That's all I could take of the game (no offense), so I don't claim to know Madden all that well, but I think I know APF2K8 better, or at least as good, as anyone in the community.

[lgxjames]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

Please read my posts in this thread. We have obviously made drastic changes in many areas related to blocking. What that means in game development is often a total re-write or scrapping of much of the code that was previously used. This is like the 4th or 5th post saying the same thing - that we should have addressed X, Y, or Z from DAY ONE and I guess I understand the concern but it's frustrating because we DID address it from day one. But nothing from before applies anymore...when you scrap old systems you have to re-tune everything. Second, as for 'warping' and 'suction', those terms are used inside our company differently from what you all use them as. Suction as you know it is all but eliminated on tackles and wraps and such. Catch warping as you know it has been improved drastically from last year...but there is still some stuff that we're working on. IMO major improvement to something that has been a problem in the Madden series for the past 4 years can't be a "game killer", but I can understand your concern.

Im starting to wonder how you do it, How do you even maintain sanity with all this, I would have just stop showing up...Infact before every post you reply to Ian you should paste in a picture of the previous regime just as a reminder what we are transitioning from, Maybe then ppl will relax a little and understand this is a process and not a magic marker

[NYyankz225]

Quote: Originally Posted by Valdarez

I think the difference that it sounds like you are looking at it from a software perspective, itemizing the defects based on criticality (for some reason I want to say Flawless Victory now... but I digress) as you warrant it. The gamers are obviously going to rank these items differently, based on their expectations / desires. When you say 'warp' catch, to me that's the defensive superman float interception, where the DB slides in the air floating one to two yards towards the ball, even though their body movement may have had them going in an opposite direction. That's what I'm calling Warp, and that's in my top 10 list of items that break Madden, and ruin the passing game for me. Is my definition different from what you have labeled as a Warp?

It can certainly mean both, but I'm sure Ian would consider any inconsistency in distance between two animations/objects as warping. Ie a ball in the air at eye level "warping" to a player's hands in front of his chest, or, as you mentioned, a player's catch animation "warping" him to location of the ball. Hopefully Ian answers this in more depth though and I'm curious how he solved the issue of the latter.