Madden NFL 18 Will Feature the Frostbite Engine, What Does That Mean For The Game?

[timhere1970]

I really hope they knew a coupe of years ago they were going to frostbite for 2018 and have used at least a couple of years to build a great madden instead of just trying to stuff the same ole' into a new engine.

[Mattanite]

As some people have rightly pointed out, the new engine is just that, a new engine in which to build the game.


It does not mean that Off ball injuries, true step for all players or advanced physics magically appears in the game unless they choose to develop that.


It doesn't magically fix legacy bugs or make CFM more in depth unless they choose to develop that.


Whilst I'm trying hard to be an outright sceptic without good reason I am also not jumping on the hype train. A wait and see approach after the games release is needed.


This will be touted as a "back of box" feature no doubt. I hope there is enough room on that back cover for all the other improvements they are going to make :P

[Big Bankhead]

I just feel like they're going to bring all of the same animations and code to frostbite and everyone will have the same issues again. I'm definitely not believing in any pre release hype over an engine change this year.

[combo87]

The direction EA is going is the same direction every other business in entertainment is going: quick entertainment, micro transactions.

CFM players make up roughly 10% of the purchasing market and 0% of the post-purchase market. There is just no reason to improve single player gameplay at this point. And for years they've made minor improvements while taking giant leaps backward.

In my opinion, when you factor in the gains and the losses, Madden CFM remains unchanged with no improvements for the past 6 years.

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by combo87

CFM players make up roughly 10% of the purchasing market and 0% of the post-purchase market.

[citation needed]

Last I was told by people at Tiburon, Franchise is still their most popular mode in Madden with respect to total unique users, while MUT has better user retention. People still want to take their favorite team to the Super Bowl, fear not. However, the people who play MUT play more games of Madden and over longer periods of time than people who prefer Franchise.

In fact, one of the biggest problems Franchise mode currently has, from Tiburon's perspective: according to their analytics, prior to M17, somewhere between a third and a half of all online franchises which were ever started in a given Madden release do not complete Regular Season Week 1 of the first year of the mode. To that end the mode has a severe user retention problem. From a designer's standpoint, what good are development time / money investments in things like the draft, offseason free agency, player progression, etc. etc. if half the users who ever touch Franchise are never even seeing the benefits of those additions?

That retention problem is why you saw for M17 changes in how the mode constantly engages users to perform tasks - Big Decisions, for example - and why you also see features which let users get through games faster - such as Play The Moments.

[Brightline]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

[citation needed] Last I was told by people at Tiburon, Franchise is still their most popular mode in Madden with respect to total unique users, while MUT has better user retention. People still want to take their favorite team to the Super Bowl, fear not. However, the people who play MUT play more games of Madden and over longer periods of time than people who prefer Franchise. In fact, one of the biggest problems Franchise mode currently has, from Tiburon's perspective: according to their analytics, prior to M17, somewhere between a third and a half of all online franchises which were ever started in a given Madden release do not complete Regular Season Week 1 of the first year of the mode. To that end the mode has a severe user retention problem. From a designer's standpoint, what good are development time / money investments in things like the draft, offseason free agency, player progression, etc. etc. if half the users who ever touch Franchise are never even seeing the benefits of those additions? That retention problem is why you saw for M17 changes in how the mode constantly engages users to perform tasks - Big Decisions, for example - and why you also see features which let users get through games faster - such as Play The Moments.

The question i would love answered is what percentage of players which player franchise completed at least 2 seasons in a franchise involving at least 2 human players.

I have 0 evidence or proof but my feeling is the number is less than 1%.

[fistofrage]

A new engine is needed. But I would imagine it will take years to get it fully implemented without bugs and glitches.

The upside is a new engine should facilitate new sliders which have been broken in one way or another for years.

This may lead to a much more customizable user experience.

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brightline

The question i would love answered is what percentage of players which player franchise completed at least 2 seasons in a franchise involving at least 2 human players. I have 0 evidence or proof but my feeling is the number is less than 1%.

That would be an interesting question to know the answer to. Unfortunately, I don't have it. Given how many people drop off before the first season even starts, however, I do think your guess is reasonable.