Madden NFL 25 Connected Franchise Q&A with Josh Looman

[tfctillidie]

Quote: Originally Posted by bucky60

Now see, I hate the XP, goals, progression system, so I just don't care about screwing up goals. Why shouldn't editing be an option to turn on and off. If someone wants to keep the integrity of the goals, set the options to only allow certain editing, such as position changes, during the off season. For those of us who think having to concentrate on meeting goals for player progression and manually progressing is unrealistic and takes away from the real purpose of football, let us have full editing. We really don't care if it breaks a part of the game (goals) that we feel is a horribly unrealistic way to set up progression. If someone doesn't want to edit, then don't edit. Options, make everybody happier. I would love an option for realistic vs XP/Goal progression.

Except your game would crash, and that's not exactly permitted by MS or Sony as it wouldn't make it through their testing.

[Trick13]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheDelta

Well, you said it yourself, you're comparing apples to oranges. Storylines are a nice fluff part that doesn't have any effect on the rest of the system or actual gameplay. Asking to just be able to "turn off" XP is completely unrealistic. There has to be SOME kind of player development system in a franchise mode, and they won't include two of them just for fun.

I do think that the XP system could be slightly modified by EA to allow for some semblance of the potential system. To do so would mean having a toggle on/off for each individual attribute. Meaning the commissioner could set up a league where speed, agility, acceleration, throw power, development, and hit power are turned off. This would mean that development would be what you drafted (or in terms of current players what you "inherited"). Couple that with an option to lock in auto progression and you have the basic workings of the potential system within the XP system and I believe everyone would be happy.

I would personally turn off the physical attributes I mentioned, leave development on and leave XP to manual for a mixture, where guys in our league could emulate "project" players who take a while to develop - building up XP for purchasing faster dev traits - it in my mind sort of replicates players making a jump from small schools or simple college systems and needing more time to develop into quality NFL players - ie Miles Austin...

[MrBill]

Let me know if you guys have any follow up questions that haven't been answered yet. I have an interview with Mike Young (Madden Producer) set for this Friday afternoon.

[jpdavis82]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrBill

Let me know if you guys have any follow up questions that haven't been answered yet. I have an interview with Mike Young (Madden Producer) set for this Friday afternoon.

Nice, look forward to it.

In the CFM deep dive blog, he mentioned that commentators will talk about season standings, stats, last week's game, etc... Can he elaborate on this? Is this Jim and Phil talking about it or the twitter feed?

Will there be any kind of pregame, halftime, post game, or weekly wrap up show in CFM? At least highlights of our games at halftime and not just a scripted montage?

What other improvements have been made in the commentary? Do Jim and Phil appear onscreen at any other times in the game besides the pregame?

Have there been more qb cadences added? What about stadium songs and sounds? They never seemed to work in Madden 13. What about player chatter? In the audio webcast last year Matt Bialosuknia gave an example of some chatter in the huddle with Cam Newton but that was never in Madden 13.

How are the camera angles and replays this year? Last year they seemed to regress compared to Madden 12. Mainly because the replays were too slow and seemed unnatural.

[jpdavis82]

Ok I got my presentation questions out of the way.

For owner mode will the attendance in the game show that fans are unhappy? If the game shows the fans attendance is low but I go into a game and the stands are full, the attendance rating is pretty meaningless.

Will the weather still cause a place like Lambeau Field to be half empty when it snows or rains? That would never happen in real life. I played a game in Madden 13 last week where it was light rain and the stands were half empty, that would never happen.

Will we be able to place injured players on the PUP list? Can you guys make it to where we can move a player to another position due to a major injury? I.E. if my MLB goes on IR, can I move a OLB to MLB to make sure I have enough MLB's?

[movethechains11]

Will the imported draft classes be as unpredictable as they used to be?
Will the storyline draft classes be available when we do not use imported classes?

Really happy they added them back instead of the fake story lines but then again after the second year I don't use them.

Ultimate wish is to have draft classes like NBA 2k has

[jpdavis82]

Quote: Originally Posted by checkwreck

Will the imported draft classes be as unpredictable as they used to be? Will the storyline draft classes be available when we do not use imported classes? Really happy they added them back instead of the fake story lines but then again after the second year I don't use them. Ultimate wish is to have draft classes like NBA 2k has

I already know the answer to the second question is yes. They have new storylines too, and I believe Trey Wingo and Adam Schefter are doing the draft stories this year. Josh Looman talked about it in his call in on the GC Radio show last Monday. He said if you want the NCAA imported classes but don't want the storylines, import draft class. If you want the full experience with the new storylines, don't.

[LorenzoDC]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrBill

Let me know if you guys have any follow up questions that haven't been answered yet. I have an interview with Mike Young (Madden Producer) set for this Friday afternoon.

Thanks. My question is really about CPU AI. We've heard some things from Josh Looman about CPU AI when it comes to roster management, but for Mike Young, I'd really like to know more about in game AI.

For in game CPU AI, here are some things I'd like to know:

• Will the CPU try to make first downs? In M13, the CPU has no awareness of the importance of moving the sticks, so even if you adjust sliders to favor the CPU more to help it sustain drives, you still have to try to over power it a bit to get more intelligent play calling and play execution. Also, CPU receivers often run out of bounds before the 1st down line.
• Will the CPU be able to give any weight to the weak links on the user controlled team to maybe target a weak DB, for example, or make the receiver to that side the first read?
• Will the 1:01 time out bug be gone?
• Can the CPU have any ability to audible out of a play if the defense is, say, looking like it's selling out tot he run?
• Can the CPU adjust in game to favor, say, passing, if early success in the passing attack looks better and the run is getting stuffed (or vice versa)? Or will the CPU stick to a rigid game plan no matter how the game is going?
• Of course, will the bad run/pass balances be fixed across teams, especially for teams like the Packers and Patriots?
• In CFM, if the Jaguars sign a highly rated Andrew Luck 4 years in, will they still run a play book that mostly runs and dumps off short passes, or will the CPU be able to adjust pass/run balance, say, in the off season, based on that season's personnel? In other words, can the CPU recognize that Andrew Luck in not Blaine Gabbert and adjust its playbook or play calling accordingly?
• Will the CPU do a better job of emphasizing the passing attack when behind before the last 2:00 of the 4th quarter? In M13, if the CPU is down, say, 2 touchdowns with 8:00 remaining it will still default to its regular play book, running frequently, and passing short and medium. The CPU should be taking more chances when behind. It does this in the 2:00 drill, but by then the game may be completely gone.

I know you can't probably get to all of those. A common element of all of them is whether or not the CPU can do any dynamic assessment of play calling based on in game situation (down and distance, or time and score). There's also a little bit of playbook adjustment to personnel, at a minimum, the CPU's own personnel. You get the idea.

Thanks!