Madden NFL 10 Q&A Blog with the Dev Team

[bomza]

Thanks very much Ian. We all really appreciate you being there.

First of all, thank you for all the improvements you have made. I think you had a very ambitious agenda this year. And the improvements make it leaps and bounds ahead of last year. Unfortunately since you didn't have a whole lot of time to get everything done, there are serious issues I feel which have crept into this year's Madden 10.

I will only bring up the ones I personally have experienced, (that have been mentioned by others as well), that I feel should be addressed in an upcoming patch. I'm 53, have played Madden since the first PC days, and these really are the most important issues and you can throw away your other lists. Just kidding.

My one question is, will the following "issues" with Madden 10 be addressed in a patch?

Most important problems - Affects game enjoyment
1) Blitzers with a clear shot at the QB inexplicably changing directions and not sacking the QB
(I think some plays are programmed as play action that shouldn't be - I have a saved example)
2) Ball morphing through the receiver to be intercepted by DB standing behind him (It's NOT just in the replay)
3) Player morphing through runner trying to make tackle when CPU is using R-stick (I have an example saved)
4) Way too many broken tackles for TD's - should happen much less with 4 or more tacklers - I see this a lot
5) No way to save a flipped defensive or offensive audible this year
(Menu says "Toggle side" but it toggles defense and offense audibles instead)
6) Shortened overall instant replays

Patch/DLC desires
1) Option to turn off certain referee cut scenes such as the chain gang and the TD conference
2) Legacy/customizable control configuration
(Or at least the ability to switch RT/LT for sprint and RB/LB for last receiver)
3) Customizable camera angles (Or at least Madden Classic camera angle) that can also be used for replay saving

Lesser problems
1) Replays which cut off at the goal line
2) Poor CPU clock management.
(Went into shotgun and scored TD from my 30 when it was up by 7, 50 seconds left, and I had no timeouts)
3) Female announcer at half saying I "lead" 14-14, or saying I'm ahead by 7 when I'm down by 7. Other game announcers goofs
4) Game freezes occasionally when exiting a game in franchise
5) Game freezes occasionally when using rewind and instant replay near each other
6) Tweak fight for the fumble against the CPU so it's not impossible
7) Way too many holding penalties on field goals and extra points
8) More variety in penalty calls - some are never, ever ever called

Maybe for next year
1) Blockers and receivers making rather impossible ice slides to block and make catches.

Others' complaints
To all the people whining about the computer defensive AI and how easy it is to pass to the flats, I see NCAA 10 has addressed the flats issue, and maybe in a patch you can make the R-stick hot routes out of the backfield less sharp. I remember this was done before and it worked. Your fix for next year should be a way defensively to hot route cover the flats, or a way for the defense AI to remember the hot routes that were called and not just the plays. This should also help fix what people are complaining about when they mention the poor "adaptive AI".

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Good luck on the upcoming (hopefully two) patches.

[KANE699]

Quote: Originally Posted by dave374

The biggest things for me: A) Not every team in the NFL plays the Eagles' D - lighten up on the blitzes. Every offline game I play, the CPU thinks it's playing Jim Johnson's D. I'm cool if it's Philly, Pittsburgh or a true blitzing team. Otherwise, I hate this crap. B) At the community event, you said adaptive AI worked. It doesn't. Period. I feel bad as a community day "elite 8" guy who comes across as a liar. Adaptive AI does not work whatsoever. It's a disgrace. C) Short/flat passes - see point B. If I wanted to be a cheesy arse, I could throws flats and cross patterns all game. I love the real NFL, so I choose not to. But this is another area where adaptive AI isn't adaptive. I absolutely accept the criticism of OS guys as a member of the "elite 8". I feel like l've let them down after three weeks of playing this game. I'd like to defend myself personally by pointing out I only played the game 12 hours pre-release, but I understand any criticism the "elite 8" have faced for this game's shortcomings. ALL THAT SAID, I still love playing this game. I just wish some of these weaknesses never reared their ugly heads.

The blitzing offline just kills it for me sometimes. I dont know what it is but they will run an engage 8 an I will be in a 4 receiver set and am immediately able to complete the pass for a big gain, that'd be fine if it was rare, but it happens so often that this game is becomming increasingly easy.

At one point on all pro I actually lost 3 games, im not sure if its because ive gotten better, but even with the Bill Harris v3 sliders the offline game is still incredibly too easy, I miss the challenege I had on community day where the cpu was tough and actually played like their real life counterparts.

[BigBlue]

Ian:

Is there the possibility of 'toning down' the ability to 'break out' of gang tackles for big runs? It's a cool feature, but it happens a bit too often. I guess my real contention is the end result of the break outs . . . TDs. There's never a defender in position to 'clean up' in case of a break out and that's what makes it a bit unrealistic.

Thanks!

BigBlue

[BigBlue]

Ian,

Two more suggestions please. Unranked online gaming should give us the freedom to adjust sliders and game speed. I understand that Ranked games needs to follow a set default in order to rank the players.

But, if I'm playing my buddies, I should be allowed to set my quarter length (which we can), game speed and slider settings.

I don't believe there's a way to make it happen this year, but maybe next year?

Also, many of us miss the profile stat tracking. I like tracking my personal stats (games played, wins/losses, career and game avg stats). for offline games. Can you talk a bit about what went into the decision of removing this and if it'll be back next year?

Thanks again,
BigBlue

[SteelerSpartan]

1. Pro Tak Gang Tackle breakouts need to be toned down big time...It should happen once or twice a season not every other game

2. Way too many over the shoulder catches....they look horrible when they occur when they're not supposed to.

3. CPU AI Blitzing....everybody else covered this well

4. More effective gameplay/Penalty sliders.........can I get some Off/Def Pass interferences??

5. Run blocking specifically on pulling plays..

6. Are there any animations that result in the D-Line just pushing the blocker straight back into the backfield??? The "Win" animations ive seen have all been this weird slide move to either left or right. Ironically the only time a D-linemen comes straight through a blocker is when he beats a double team

7. Can we please mix up the chain gang scenes so its not obvious the outcome. So it can be a little more dramatic

8. Give us an option to turn off the camera switch while ball carriers go to the ground

[gabs485]

Are you going to bump up the frequency of Instants Replays? I get 4 or 5 a game at most and I play 11 minutes quarters.

Too many over the shoulder grabs, is this going to be fixed?

Are sims stats going to be fix?

Could you please turn up the In game Music volume?

What happened to fans reacting to what was happening on the field? Also Crowd volume seems to have only to 3 levels. Completely Quite, Cheering, Low Yelling.

[johnprestonevans]

1) Whats happening with the Broadcast Cam? When can we expect it?

2) Are you guys addressing the instant replay issues? (have them showing all big plays, TDs, 1st downs, interceptions, close plays) and not being cut off.

Thanks.

[UpTheIrons]

Add a 10-second runoff option? This would allow users to have 5 extra seconds to call audibles, hot route, change blocking assignments, etc.

Add ability to send offensive players partially in motion? This would allow users to determine whether zone or man-to-man...without triggering an across-the-field animation.