Dissecting the Madden NFL 18 Features Reveal

[jbd345]

As a graphics guy, im just hoping that teaser was not much cgi and only "touched up" for more effects. Hopefully we get some footage with e3 and ea play. But if they've pulled an '06 and and madden 25 again, I may wait a year. Using the terms "photo realistic" is a huge, huge risk.

[roadman]

Simfballcritics teaser take.

Way more info to come less than 30 days from now.

[jbd345]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Simfballcritics teaser take. Way more info to come less than 30 days from now.

Good to hear him say he has seen frostbite and the stadium does indeed look like that in game. Still skeptical but ea play can't come soon enough. Really interested to see new era field in the snow.

[Atax1s]

Every year we get these people that go,"Looks like a no buy from me." Only to come back after the next trailer to say,"Oh, I'm in now." I wish the mods would delete those as it would clean up the comments. Tired of the same thing every year. As for the game, I expect some touch ups to CFM. It doesn't mention any improvements but it doesn't mean they aren't there. They don't mention the story mode at all in the feature list but we all know it's there from the trailer. I'm also looking forward to improved animations and physics from the FrostBite engine.

[ShaiLeGran]

I think the old Madden engine was really holding the game back. Ignite proves with FIFA (imho) that the animations and graphics (stadiums, weather, lightning, replay system) are there. FIFA looks more real to me then Madden ever did, so hopes should be high that we are going to see a more refined, better looking, better playing Madden. Of course, it is year one on Frostbite, so let's wait and see where they have put their focus on.

[lilrosati56]

Quote: Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas

CFM will be better but by how much, who knows. Like with Big Decisions, was the game better with it? Probably. Would it have been any worse without it? Not at all. My guess is that there aren't any major additions and most of what was done is tuning and tweaking. Gameplanning will probably see the most attention with how shallow and poorly done it was, regression, probably goals again, maybe scouting again. I think we'll probably see coordinators but not position coaches and I don't think they'll have much of an effect on anything outside of maybe some XP discounts or GamePlan boosts. On one hand I like it because it means they'll be working on some aspects that they haven't really implemented fully and need a lot of attention and they'll be able to start actually making them better rather than adding new stuff and leaving them behind. Then on the other hand there is so much that needs to be added/changed or shouldn't be there that I just wish they'd start tearing the bad stuff out and do it the right way. Last year was a complete dud and this year looks that way too as far as new additions but for features that are already in it could be really positive depending on how they execute which is obviously suspect but still.

I'd say the Big Decisions was plain dumb.....I've harped on this before, but why the arbitrary restrictions on on contract negotiations? Why the never ending trade requests for the same players? I've bought the last two editions and have been bored by each of them witihin a month or two. I won't buy again until 1) XP is completely removed and 2) Find someway to keep me informed about the rest of the league.

[primo_80]

I'm pretty disappointed to see them roll out another game mode and not focus our attention on player movement and football fundamentals. The main takeaway I got from the teaser is their devotion to recreating the NFL atmosphere. I've always thought scanning player faces and modeling stadiums were cheap, low-hanging-fruit ways to improve the perceived quality of the game, or to draw comparisons to other AAA sports games. The commitment to face scans (on top of generic body models) improves player recognition and raises the fidelity of cutscenes, but it emphasizes the rough edges of the game.

I know it's not going to happen, but I had hoped this new developer crew would have moved toward recreating player movements as a way to identify their real-life counterparts. Also, that cutscenes could be eliminated one day in favor of using the play clock for real-time, strategic substitutions. Basically, I think they could suspend disbelief better if we never had to see close-ups, but instead recognized players by their body mechanics.

Regarding the new career mode, how fun is it going to be if player controls aren't overhauled? I'm just skeptical because, in my mind, reinvented controls and animations for the base game are required before this new mode is relevant. If the mode is just Superstar with layers of managerial control in the way that Owner mode is to Coach mode, that's one thing. But there is an obvious hole, at least regarding WRs, in user control. I'm sure many of you played Superstar games at WR. I haven't played Player games in the last few years, but there aren't route-running mechanics that I've noticed. Well, right-stick to make cuts counts i guess. It's just bland is what I'm trying to say.

I'm not counting it out before seeing it, but I think it's more probable than not it will be slapped on over existing mechanics, given some new camera work, commentary, goals system, etc. but will not add distinct positional controls or control refinements.

[johnnyg713]

Quote: Originally Posted by primo_80

I'm pretty disappointed to see them roll out another game mode and not focus our attention on player movement and football fundamentals. The main takeaway I got from the teaser is their devotion to recreating the NFL atmosphere. I've always thought scanning player faces and modeling stadiums were cheap, low-hanging-fruit ways to improve the perceived quality of the game, or to draw comparisons to other AAA sports games. The commitment to face scans (on top of generic body models) improves player recognition and raises the fidelity of cutscenes, but it emphasizes the rough edges of the game. I know it's not going to happen, but I had hoped this new developer crew would have moved toward recreating player movements as a way to identify their real-life counterparts. Also, that cutscenes could be eliminated one day in favor of using the play clock for real-time, strategic substitutions. Basically, I think they could suspend disbelief better if we never had to see close-ups, but instead recognized players by their body mechanics. Regarding the new career mode, how fun is it going to be if player controls aren't overhauled? I'm just skeptical because, in my mind, reinvented controls and animations for the base game are required before this new mode is relevant. If the mode is just Superstar with layers of managerial control in the way that Owner mode is to Coach mode, that's one thing. But there is an obvious hole, at least regarding WRs, in user control. I'm sure many of you played Superstar games at WR. I haven't played Player games in the last few years, but there aren't route-running mechanics that I've noticed. Well, right-stick to make cuts counts i guess. It's just bland is what I'm trying to say. I'm not counting it out before seeing it, but I think it's more probable than not it will be slapped on over existing mechanics, given some new camera work, commentary, goals system, etc. but will not add distinct positional controls or control refinements.

You make some good points. And I can't disagree with you on most, but just remember one teaser trailer does not mean the team did not focus on player movement and fundamentals.

You are spot on with the point on substitutions. This is something that people have been asking for and the developers have continued to chalk it up to console performance etc. Madden is the only sports game that still uses cutscenes (to my knowledge). I thought that would have changed by now.