Madden NFL 11 Blog: Run Blocking Improvements

[moneal2001]

Quote: Originally Posted by Only1LT

Interesting theory (not really), except for the fact that there are MANY games that have only one difficulty level.

What games are they. Probably games where what you do doesn't effect the outcome of the game (you can play the same mission over and over again until you get it right), like GTA.

No two gamers have the same skills. I may be a better at the running game than you, just an example. I can average 250 yards rushing on the default sliders. You average 90 yards on default sliders. The sliders allow both of us to tweak our games so that we get more realistic stats. Same with the passing game or any other part of the game with a slider.

[Only1LT]

Quote: Originally Posted by moneal2001

What games are they. Probably games where what you do doesn't effect the outcome of the game (you can play the same mission over and over again until you get it right), like GTA. No two gamers have the same skills. I may be a better at the running game than you, just an example. I can average 250 yards rushing on the default sliders. You average 90 yards on default sliders. The sliders allow both of us to tweak our games so that we get more realistic stats. Same with the passing game or any other part of the game with a slider.

You may be better at completing a Gay Tony mission than me too. You might be better at beating Sephiroth than I am. And on and on. There are varying levels of ability for anything under the sun, yet the fact remains that there ARE games that have only one difficulty. I was merely pointing that out to the poster who seems to think that this can not possibly work, when it has been going on since games have been in existence, that's all.

I am not even saying that there shouldn't be sliders in the game. The fact that you need to adjust them to get "sim" results is a clear sign to me that the default settings are flawed though. I don't see how this is not obvious to everyone, but I digress.

My whole point is that I don't think that having the AI behave in an unrealistic manner is the way to tune difficulty. Whether they are moronic to the point that they watch runners run past them, or psychic to the point that they break for balls before your receiver does without even looking back. I am of the opinion that the focus should be on one realistic difficulty level, where things happen as close to real life as they can possibly code it. For anyone that disagrees with this, again, I submit that the devs DO have in mind, one difficulty that they think should be the default, most realistic gameplay. How could they call their game a sim if they believed that none of the difficulties behave in a sim like manner (marketing maybe), so it stands to reason that THEY feel one of them does. I think that they have not done a good job in this regard.

Number two, even if they do have multiple difficulty levels in the game, you will never make me believe that the way it is done now, is the best and only way to do it. That's just my opinion. If you think that this is the best and only way to do it, then we have to just agree to disagree.

[moneal2001]

Quote: Originally Posted by Only1LT

You may be better at completing a Gay Tony mission than me too. You might be better at beating Sephiroth than I am. And on and on. There are varying levels of ability for anything under the sun, yet the fact remains that there ARE games that have only one difficulty. I was merely pointing that out to the poster who seems to think that this can not possibly work, when it has been going on since games have been in existence, that's all.

The point that I was making is that I may be better at completing the Gay Tony mission than you but the game doesn't hurt you for not being able to do it, you just start it again. Madden does hurt you for being worse at running or passing or even defense, unless you like to restart a game every time you have a bad play. That is the reason for different difficulties and sliders.

[Only1LT]

Quote: Originally Posted by moneal2001

The point that I was making is that I may be better at completing the Gay Tony mission than you but the game doesn't hurt you for not being able to do it, you just start it again. Madden does hurt you for being worse at running or passing or even defense, unless you like to restart a game every time you have a bad play. That is the reason for different difficulties and sliders.

There is no difference. If you are not good at GTA you will die until you get good enough to complete the mission. If you are not good enough at Madden, you will.... lose, (OMG, how terrible) until you are good enough to win. You know, kind of how it is now. Believe it or not, there are people that have to work their way up to be able to beat rookie. Should they have a super rookie mode to accommodate them?

The bottom line is that there is no difference between this and any other game. You play until you attain a level of proficiency that allows you to pass a level, or win a game. Absolutely the same.

This is off topic though, so I'm done. You can try and make a special case for Madden, or for sports games in general, but there really is none. Trying to do so is, to borrow from a previous poster, "over thinking".

[BezO]

Quote: Originally Posted by s38s38s

Nice try but the sole purpose of the "Rookie" difficulty is to make it easier for the user. Simply put the sliders are in the user's favor and severely handi-cap the CPU A.I.. If you want the sliders even where both sides react equally I suggest you request a vid done on All-Pro.

IMO, difficulty should not effect CPU AI. I think difficulty should effect the effectiveness of user stick moves, being more lenient with the timing. I think it should help the user perform up to player ratings.

For example, help the user break tackles even if they don't use the controls. Same with shedding blocks. Make throws, jukes, ect effective even when the user's timing is off with the controls.

With the new play calling feature, maybe call a better game for users on the lower levels.

[PocketRocket]

Quote: Originally Posted by BezO

IMO, difficulty should not effect CPU AI. I think difficulty should effect the effectiveness of user stick moves, being more lenient with the timing. I think it should help the user perform up to player ratings. For example, help the user break tackles even if they don't use the controls. Same with shedding blocks. Make throws, jukes, ect effective even when the user's timing is off with the controls. With the new play calling feature, maybe call a better game for users on the lower levels.

Gotta disagree with the bold part of the statement. There are certain things that should increase or deccrease depending the difficulty level. The AI is one of them. The CPU should make stupid mistakes when on rookie, rather that reducing things like speed, agility, strength, breaking tackles, and route running shouldn't move. Things that should change should be, PRC, catching, awareness, stamina, and pursuit should take a hit.

In a nutshell, in my opinion, players should not be stronger and faster when increasing the difficulty level, they should make less mistakes, and adjust quicker as the difficulty increases. On rookie, there should be more blown coverages and missed assignments, more dropped balls and teams should wear down quicker.

[Obelysk]

My question is, will the Elite NT demand to "keep" the double teams? In other words in the video I see the guard and center double the DT but then one of them disengages and goes after the LB. So will a guy like Vince wilfork demand to "keep" both lineman occupied because he is an elite NT/space eater?

[shttymcgee]

Quote: Originally Posted by Obelysk

My question is, will the Elite NT demand to "keep" the double teams? In other words in the video I see the guard and center double the DT but then one of them disengages and goes after the LB. So will a guy like Vince wilfork demand to "keep" both lineman occupied because he is an elite NT/space eater?

I know that this is something that alot of people have been harping on, but in all honesty, that's not really the way it works. Yes, some noseguards are better than others, and some certainly do demand extra attention, but if you guys watch some film, you would see that even these players do not get doubled all the time, nor do they make combination blocks up to the next level impossible. The whole idea behind zone plays is predicated on combo'ing blocks up to LB's and secondary people, teams don't scrap the schemes, most adjustments require the center to chip on the shade, instead of going to the three if the nose is in some sort of 1-gap alignment. The main reason that these guys are effective in the run game is that you can't get them moving laterally, but it is my belief that the edge players and the 3 technique tackles play a much greater role in stopping the run. To each his own, I guess.