Madden NFL Designers Podcast #2

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by jWILL10

SMH. This is utterly ridiculous. I'ma have to be plain honest on this post. To the part in bold, YES! That's what the users on this site want! We want EVERYTHING sim, not just gameplay. That goes for presentation, penalties, etc. If you have the goal of creating the ultimate sim, then the penalties should work on ANY DIFFICULTY OR SETTINGS. The problem is, the only penalties that work are Holding, False Start (but only for human-controlled teams), and Facemask. But, on default settings, the PI penalties don't work AT ALL. It would be one thing if you were keeping it down to a minimum to make the game end quicker and to make it enjoyable for casual gamers, but if that were the case, then ALL the penalties would be turned off. But, as it stands, on default settings, Holding gets called at a decent clip, False Start NEVER gets called on the CPU (maybe because the CPU never does a two-count), Facemask animations occur too often, and PI NEVER gets called. Also, I would like to comment on the fact that most of this thread has been negative, especially with some of your posts, Ian. All I've read on here, is how you and your team CAN'T get something done, and you HOTLY debating with some of the users on here. THIS is the reason why everyone questions this team, and the reason why Madden sales are down 18% this year: the disconnect between your team and your base. You're the ONLY dev I've seen on here in my 2 years since joining, that will ARGUE with his base. I have yet to see any of the 2K, SCEA, or even the Elite devs do this. To compare, the NCAA team is holding a "wishlist tournament" on TheGamingTailgate.com to let the community decide (or at least vote) on what new additions are gonna be on NCAA 12's agenda. I can barely imagine any such thing happening with this team. http://bit.ly/ey5XtQ What happened to "the customer is always right"? Every suggestion that has been made in this thread is logical, and possible. But, you've just been giving us reasons why stuff can't be done, or just plain arguing with us. And, I'm not bashing at all, and even the amount of bashing from other users has been almost non-existent in this thread, save for a couple posts. I'm just sayin', man. This is ridiculous...

I agree with some of your points, but disagree with some as well.

I'm sure the casuals, out of the box, don't want a 2 hour game filled with penalties and what not. My son is 15 and there is no way he will sit down and play a 2 hour football game. Heck, I don't want a 2 hour game, unless there are saves, I just don't have the time or patience to sit down in front of the TV and play a sports video game for that length of time.

If the sliders are working properly, including penalty sliders and all the other sliders, then I will adjust the game accordingly from there. Even in NBA 2K, you can adjust the sliders to your hearts content and not play a 2 hour game.

Give me options, that's all I care for.

[rooney8]

Firstly Madden11 sales are down 18% for October compared to last year. They did well August and September so are probably up on last year.
I don't see where two hours is coming from. With gameflow and accelerated clock on full and like fifa give an option to have cutscenes to a minimum and you would struggle to make one hour with all the penalties in the world.
Roadman in Madden11 sliders can get realistic stats and scores but not gameplay.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by rooney8

Roadman in Madden11 sliders can get realistic stats and scores but not gameplay.

I thought that goes without saying. Just not interested in a football game that goes 2hrs.

As I said, 2k hoops doesn't drag on that long.

[guaps]

Quote: Originally Posted by rooney8

Firstly Madden11 sales are down 18% for October compared to last year. They did well August and September so are probably up on last year. I don't see where two hours is coming from. With gameflow and accelerated clock on full and like fifa give an option to have cutscenes to a minimum and you would struggle to make one hour with all the penalties in the world. Roadman in Madden11 sliders can get realistic stats and scores but not gameplay.

The cutscenes in Madden have annoyed me for years (I even once twitted Ian Cummings if they had any statistics on how many cutscenes are skipped in Madden, as I though it might reduce time more than GameFlow).

FIFA 11 and NHL 11 have almost no cutscenes and only a few replays out of the box (both cutscenes and replays can be skipped instantly, if needed). Those games are very playable to me, because the presentation makes me feel like I'm playing a game rather than watching one. One of the things I feel many developers (other than EA Canada) have misunderstood when developing their sports games.

[rooney8]

Quote: Originally Posted by guaps

The cutscenes in Madden have annoyed me for years (I even once twitted Ian Cummings if they had any statistics on how many cutscenes are skipped in Madden, as I though it might reduce time more than GameFlow). FIFA 11 and NHL 11 have almost no cutscenes and only a few replays out of the box (both cutscenes and replays can be skipped instantly, if needed). Those games are very playable to me, because the presentation makes me feel like I'm playing a game rather than watching one. One of the things I feel many developers (other than EA Canada) have misunderstood when developing their sports games.

Agree 100%. I would love a way to minimize the number of cuscenes.

[SteelerSpartan]

Quote: Originally Posted by rooney8

Agree 100%. I would love a way to minimize the number of cuscenes.

There should always be a way for both.....Options!!!

2k and The Show kill Madden in Presentation...and its time for EA to drop the "Beyond Broadcast" stuff and get some TV network people in there to help show them how to make it all flow like we see on TV

[Phixius]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

I thought that goes without saying. Just not interested in a football game that goes 2hrs. As I said, 2k hoops doesn't drag on that long.

What's with all this 2 hour talk? Most Madden games last at least an hour and most NFL games are 3 hours. No one told people to play when they have somewhere to be in 30 minutes or play 6 games in one day.

The most logical solution is to play the game when you have the time. Football is a strategic sport that requires patience. I want time to develop my strategy and have time to make adjustments. I'm not going to figure out my opponent in just one drive. I can't read the defense in a pre-snap and make the necessary adjustments in 5 seconds. I can't read the offense and make adjustments to motion shifting or an audible.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Phixius

What's with all this 2 hour talk? Most Madden games last at least an hour and most NFL games are 3 hours. No one told people to play when they have somewhere to be in 30 minutes or play 6 games in one day. The most logical solution is to play the game when you have the time. Football is a strategic sport that requires patience. I want time to develop my strategy and have time to make adjustments. I'm not going to figure out my opponent in just one drive. I can't read the defense in a pre-snap and make the necessary adjustments in 5 seconds. I can't read the offense and make adjustments to motion shifting or an audible.

It's Ian that mentioned about playing a game out of the box in 2hrs with penalties. His point was the avg gamer doesn't want to play a game out of the box in 2 hrs.

You are missing my point. I know all NFL games are 3 hrs, but I lead a busy life with three kids and a wife. I don't have time for a 2 hr game, unles I can save a game. Madden doesn't offer that. All I care about is getting in realistic game play with realistic stats in approx. 1 hrs time and I'm a happy camper. All of us lead different lives, that is why it's important to have options. If you want to play a game for 2 hrs and have the time for it, hopefully EA puts up a slider option for that. That option just isn't for me.

Never said football wasn't a strategic sport. Really don't know where that came from.

I don't have a time issue, I can play the game in an hour. I thought Ian's point was that if they up the penalties out of the box, the game will hover around the 2 hr mark.