Madden NFL 12 Interview with Ian Cummings - SOK and Tuner Sets (ESPN The Gamer)

[Steve_OS]

ESPN's Jon Robinson interviewed Ian Cummings, as they discuss the recently announced surprise onside kicks and tuner sets, coming to Madden NFL 12.

Quote:

Jon Robinson: You mentioned the tuner sets that will be in "Madden NFL 12." Can you explain how that addition will benefit gamers? Ian Cummings: Anytime there's a bug or an exploit after launch, the majority of time you have to patch it. And doing a patch or a title update requires approvals and you need to resubmit the game. The whole process usually takes about four-to-six weeks to turnaround, from the day you make your fix to the day it gets out to consumers. But with tuner sets, it's not every little piece of code. These are small pieces of data that we are able to update in real time. We can do a little bit of testing on our end, then push it out right away. If you think about how roster updates work, that's the way a tuner set would work. Instead of waiting on the turnaround of the approvals, we can apply the fix right away. If there's any type of problem where there are too many fumbles or the offensive line isn't blocking right, tuner sets are perfect because you can make the change, get it in the game in a couple of days, and then gauge the reaction from that and make changes accordingly. It really allows you to go back and forth with the community and make the game better for everyone."

[jeremym480]

So.... surprise onside kicks are now limited to one per game. interesting.

Also, I'm still wondering if the CPU will attempt these. Anyone know?

[davidd]

Thats cool, I guess they had to limit it or else you would have had people flaming his twitter in massive droves whining about cheezing.

I personally can't wait to hear what they have to say about online franchise. I have never joined or had one yet because I didn't feel like it was up to the level that it needed to be to spend the time on it.

[adfletch71]

Ian and the development team need to concentrate on the fundamentals of football. Ian took over in 2010 and the gameplay is still behind in alot of ways...ol/dl interactions, wr/cb interactions, ratings doesnt matter much, presentation is miles behind MLB the Show & NBA 2k series, the list goes on and on. Since u are the only NFL game in town, get the fundamentals down and concentrate on the other gimmicks latter. Its going on Madden 2012 and NFL 2k5 and ALLPRO 2008 still blows this series away in alot of areas. As long as EA has the license, the improvements will come at a snails pace, we have 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 tp prove this.

[sniperhare]

I'm hoping we finally get the ability to edit draft classes and players (including being able to edit height and weight, and for that to matter) and for Madden to have a working practice squad and IR so we can have accurate rosters.

They also need to fix FA and the franchise tags, so teams get extra draft picks like they do in the NFL. After all "If it's in the game, it's in the game."

[PGaither84]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian Cummings

[...] If there's any type of problem where there are too many fumbles or the offensive line isn't blocking right, tuner sets are perfect because you can make the change, get it in the game in a couple of days, and then gauge the reaction from that and make changes accordingly. It really allows you to go back and forth with the community and make the game better for everyone.

Well, I would hope that after having a talk about it here on OS after madden 12 comes out, we could actually help EA tune All-Pro to be more simulation style instead of having to resort to slider sets.

[JerseySuave4]

lets get the running, passing, blocking, coverage, tackling, hitting, catching right before we start worrying about things like surprise onside kicks. The passing styles and running styles still dont look great, hits and tackles need to look more realistic, coverage needs to be better. Give the defense some attention and make the defenses unique so the Jets 3-4 isn't the same as the Patriots 3-4 which isnt the same as the Steelers 3-4. Make punts and kicks actually blockable every now and then (this is more a problem in NCAA Football since it happens more often in college football instead of the pros).

The things like tuners and surprise onside kicks aren't the things that are going to bring back the hardcore Madden gamer that has been there since the early 90s. The guy who was loyal for so many years who now is tired of shelling out $60 each year for a roster updated gimmick game. NFL players are athletes. The way they move in real life, the speed, athleticism, agility, strength they show is missing from the game. When a guy is running full speed his feet are moving fast, his knees aren't 90 degrees the whole time. When a guy make a cut back its not just plant the foot and he's going the other direction. When a guy goes to make a tackles its not always a dive or suction like tackle where things stop and the guys just fall where they are. It depends on the speed both players are running, the angle, the size of each guy, the strength of each guy, does he run through the runner, does he bounce off the runner, does he stand the runner up as they fight for yards, does he wrap and roll, does he wrap and drive him down, does he just destroy the guy. You dont get real tackles in the game.

Get the football part of the game right and win back the fans and then you can worry about things like surprise onside kicks.

[khaliib]

Why not give gamers access to edit or create threshold sliders for these things that gamers can tweak to their liking? Otherwise, the same thing that happen to NCAA will happen to Madden in regards to the Tuners.

The truth is that there are too many perspectives about what is realistic and there really is not a middle ground the game can be tweaked to.

Look at gamer response at the "Under The Hood" editing NBA 2k11 gives.

Just build the game as you normally would and set such threshold sliders as default and let gamers decide.

Man, at some point EA will need to stop trying to break through the wall to get to perfection (no video game can be) and just provide the tools so gamers can go over or around that wall to achieve the best gaming experience for themselves."

Oh, well!!