Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by LBzrule

It was originally something I was showing the 2k devs. Out of respect for them I'll just leave it that way. But the issue is clear IMO. If the defenders in Madden 2010 are tied to the QB, like 2k8 then having a pocket will only be significant when the QB is under center. If they are going to have the defenders tied to the QB then they need to have the DE's and OLB's get up the field a lot faster. To me, in 2k8, that was the problem when people lined up in shotgun. The pocket did not set up fast enough and joe cheeser with a 6'6 QB and 6'6 WR's were gonna give you hell. In such games I didn't even play defense, I just made sure I got the ball last so I could score and seal it. I hate that kind of game. I just want to try and make sure that no stone goes unturned with respect to cheeze tactics (offense in particular) for Madden 10

Nothing wrong with them being tied to the QB, that's the virtual end point, but they need to have better pathing logic in there. Are you sure the LBs are tied to the QB? I have seen LBs take paths that definitely don't match the QB's movements. Many times the LBs paths in APF2K8 don't make any sense at all.

[KILLAKAVOR]

CHECK MY BLOG....NEW MADDEN 10 MAIN MENU SCREEN

[ChubbyBanana]

Quote: Originally Posted by KILLAKAVOR

CHECK MY BLOG....NEW MADDEN 10 MAIN MENU SCREEN

First off, it was the Madden Blog.

Second, please don't post things that have no relation to the thread topic (Spam)

Just a warning.

[TombSong]

Sorry I am late to the show. Little time today.

LB, I KNOW the play you speak of, LOL. I HATED that play. Was a high percentage completion on that play. Just never realised the reason why it was successful.

I am not gonna doubt the linemen being tied to the QB because I have seen linemen/lb do some strange stuff. I have also noticed that the better a LB/DL speed was and if they had the sack master/pass rush ability they took better angles at the QB's.

So I think player ratings played a part to some degree in what we were seeing happen.

Thats said, You can get outside the pocket pretty quick from shot gun with the right QB in the shotgun like you said.

Here is what I think needs to be discussed and looked at:

Against a team thats not noted for having a pass rush, shouldnt I be able to get outside the pocket ? Shouldnt that team be made to have to take chances more and have to blitz to keep me in the pocket ?

You are right in the linemen need to get up field faster, but it should only be a impacting event when the dline is good or a massive blitz is coming. If any dline can pressure the QB without having to blitz then we have the madden "all teams play alike" problem all over again.

I think this is something that 2K did right. If you wanted the madhouse crazy pressure just from your dline without any blitzing, you had to invest your gold silver bronze talent pool to get linemen.

Most know I rolled with a studd front 4 and generic backfield for most of my online teams and I gave up alot of yards on the ground because of my scrub LB's and safties, but the dline made them look great on passing downs because of the pressure they put on the QB.

None of the Devs are talking balance, none of them are talking about what you are trying to get fixed.

All I am seeing is a natural part of football being turned into a feature gimmick...Pro Tak. Ok, we can witness 9 men pile up. Cool,
now what about the meat of the game.

How many defensive fronts can I come out in ?

How can I disquise my coverage pre snap ?

How many line stunts can I call that actually stop certain offensive line strategies ? Dont just give me the ability to shift my men and it means little to nothing strategy wise.

Will people actually have to game plan teams dominate players ?
(I want that fear of players in Madden that people had of Earl Campbell in 2K)

Can my offense come out in one formation then switch to another ? (I use this to try and get people out of certain defenses or cause them to play certain defenses when needed)

I am starting to get nervous about what Madden 2010 is gonna ultimately be because I aint hearing seeing alot of football things being discussed by any of the devs. I am just seeing Pro-tak marketing. While I am getting stoned on pro-tak the buzz is being killed by Work In Progress videos and no footage of how its gonna actually impact how we all play each other.

Long pretty animations that are made to bring about functionality in a game that breeds deep strategy is good.

Short un natural looking animations that have no game impacting, strategy inducing effect is just smoke and mirror, lets get the money and run for another year "features"

But we will see 8/14

[CreatineKasey]

^^^

I have heard some rumblings from the developers about the rating spread and how that affects gameplanning. I even remember LBzrule talking about how his Ravens defensive stars really stood out and had a significant affect on the outcome of many plays.

If that's the case, we will ideally get some of the feel we get when we play legends on APF. It's necessary, because once you've played football with strategy that correllates to real life (at least somewhat) it'll be impossible to go to something else.

I'd be very interested in reading what measures are took to balance the game. Football games should be treated like strategy games... balancing different strategies and concepts to make the game have hard and soft counters... just like real football and other strategy games. Add in the element of surprise and voila... you'd have a game that'd be hard to put down for the cerebral player.

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by TombSong

I am starting to get nervous about what Madden 2010 is gonna ultimately be because I aint hearing seeing alot of football things being discussed by any of the devs. I am just seeing Pro-tak marketing. While I am getting stoned on pro-tak the buzz is being killed by Work In Progress videos and no footage of how its gonna actually impact how we all play each other.

It would be great to get a couple of blogs on offensive / defensive strategies.

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by LBzrule

Try now, but I'm going to take it back down soon.

Ok, now I'm going to have to disagree. I played several games tonight and paused to watch the line play on it, as well as the blitzing LBs. The LBs are definitely keyed in on the QB (and not their lane), but I don't see them making their cuts/slants based on the QBs motion. Their choice of angle is random as far as I can tell as is when they determine to cut. Sometimes it's before the QB comes to a stop, sometimes it's before. It's all over the place.

One other thing regarding the blocking that's going on in APF2K8 that I failed to mention earlier with regards to the example Ian used in his blog; selecting the blocked player and performing a reach tackle could have gotten hands on the runner. Even with that said, Ian's point still stands, the block kept the defensive player in the blocking animation where their only choice was to perform a reach tackle (the only branch in Madden terms I guess), and prohibiting them from simply turning around getting off the block and running up field after the runner.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Valdarez

Ok, now I'm going to have to disagree. I played several games tonight and paused to watch the line play on it, as well as the blitzing LBs. The LBs are definitely keyed in on the QB (and not their lane), but I don't see them making their cuts/slants based on the QBs motion. Their choice of angle is random as far as I can tell as is when they determine to cut. Sometimes it's before the QB comes to a stop, sometimes it's before. It's all over the place. One other thing regarding the blocking that's going on in APF2K8 that I failed to mention earlier with regards to the example Ian used in his blog; selecting the blocked player and performing a reach tackle could have gotten hands on the runner. Even with that said, Ian's point still stands, the block kept the defensive player in the blocking animation where their only choice was to perform a reach tackle (the only branch in Madden terms I guess), and prohibiting them from simply turning around getting off the block and running up field after the runner.

I did get to see the above video by LBz and LBz was right. The Wheel LB had a lane to charge to the QB, but somehow targeted the LG and tried to go to the outside. The lane was as wide as a semi to pull through.