Where Madden's audio needs to go.

[dougdeuce]

*Warning*
This is a long post

First off, before I say what I have to say, I think it’s important that I give you some background information on me.

I’m a musician of 17 years who started playing in the 5th grade band. I’ve been in 7 separate bands over the last 10 years where I have played drums and guitar as well as being a vocalist.

I am currently enrolled at The Art Institute of Seattle where I am finishing up completion of their Associate’s degree in audio engineering. At the school I have done many projects that included recording and mixing bands, recording and mixing voice over’s, as well as doing post production work for films.

I also currently have an internship with Clear Channel where I do audio editing, mixing and voice over work for stations that include, but are not limited to, KISS 106.1 and KUBE 93.3.
Outside of both of those I also have a part time job at a Blockbuster where I have access to free game rentals and therefore play a lot of games. Well, as much as I have time for at least, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that I’m usually a pretty busy person.

Why do I think this is important for you to know? I think you all should know that I have a pretty good grasp on what audio should sound like, and have a pretty good idea of what’s feasible to accomplish for this game.

That being said, I wish to thank you in advance for taking the time to read this, as it is on the long side.

On the field sounds
Let me just say that the “Madden” broadcast doesn’t feel like it’s an official NFL broadcast. I feel like I’m watching something scripted when I play this game, because it sounds like I am hearing Foley sounds rather than field recordings. The problem with that, is an NFL broadcast isn’t a polished presentation, it consists entirely of field recordings.

I believe that too much production is going into the sounds of the game, and that it is forcing gamers to lose their suspension of disbelief.

Player impacts

All of the player impacts sound very “beefy” right now, as though some sound design elements are being used to color the sound. This should be removed for the most part. When I watch a linebacker come through the line and put his facemask into a running backs chest, I don’t hear a beefy collision, I hear a slapping sound similar to a “WHAP!” or a “CRACK” than it is a “CRUNCH”.

There is far too much coloring of the player interaction sounds. This was OK ten years ago when an NFL broadcast was much simpler than it is today, but today’s broadcast is a thing of beauty. Thursday, Sunday and Monday night broadcasts have so many cameras and microphones out there that you are seeing and hearing the game the way it truly is.

My suggestion is that you record sounds through the same microphones and outboard gear that the NFL uses during their broadcasts, and put those sounds directly into the game. I know there is an urge to color the sound with plug-ins, and give them a “bigger than life” feel to them, but in doing that you are taking the broadcast feel away from us.

Your other option would be to team up with the NFL Films people, and go through their audio catalogues for the purpose of sampling actual in game broadcast elements. Find impact sounds, and just transfer them into the game. Sure, there is a lot of programming involved in this, and most likely wouldn’t be a very quick process, but it would sound amazing in that it would be accurate.

Commentary

What I propose for commentary would be an even more time consuming process, but would be well worth it.

There are many things which make the commentary sound more scripted than natural, and this would be an uphill battle to remedy this situation for sure.

Infliction

The biggest thing that pulls me away from the commentary is Hammond’s infliction. It doesn’t sound to me like he’s looking at the same play that I am.
Sure, Collinsworth sounds more natural in part because he is doing color commentary, and therefore offers a more generalized opinion on player performance, rather than describing what is happening on the screen, but he also is better skilled at reading a voice over than Hammond is. Perhaps that has to do with the tone of Hammonds voice, but my opinion is he just lacks the skill to be a voice actor.

My suggestion here would be that you hire a commentary team that has more voice over talent. It seems to me like EA is approaching on air personalities with job offers when they should be having auditions instead. I’m sure a lot of these commentators would be more than happy to audition to be in Madden.

Actors audition for movie parts, they audition to play roles in FPS and RPG games, why not sports games?

If they do audition to be in Madden, then whoever picks the talent needs to re-evaluate his criteria.

The Psychic play-by-play calling

This seems like it might be more of a programming thing, but I feel rather strongly that this applies equally to the script writing.

This happens frequently on penalties, where the flag comes out and Hammond say’s “Looks like this one’s coming back”.

More frequently during an actual NFL broadcast I will hear the commentators SPECULATE on what they think it might be. Occasionally they will have seen the infraction themselves, and more confidently let us know, but for the most part they just report the flag and where it was thrown.

When Hammond tells me the penalty before I see the ref signal it, I begin to wonder why the refs are even there. The commentary needs to be written more from the perspective of responding to the play than reporting it.

Wrong play call

This definitely has more to do with programming.

When I’m on offense and I fumble the ball and recover it, KEEPING POSSESION, I should never hear Hammond say, “And we have our first turnover of the day”. Ever.

I am speaking for everyone when I say that when the wrong line of commentary is triggered during a game, it is the quickest killer to our suspension of disbelief. We need to believe that the commentary team is watching the same thing we are watching, or we become reminded of the fact that we are playing a game, rather than experiencing one.

That’s all that needs to be said about this, and I’m sure we all agree.

On field / in stands voices

During an NFL broadcast, I do occasionally hear player voices somewhat clearly. I also, occasionally (when the camera is focused on them) hear individual voices from the crowd. However, the voices I hear when playing Madden are in my face all the time. These need to be mixed so much quieter in comparison with the rest of the game.

The crowd in general

I would really like if the crowd in this game felt more like it was reacting with the play, rather than reacting after the play. This does feel improved this year, but still feels like it needs to sound more like it is experiencing the same game I am.

So, in general I think that there is a lot good about what was done this year, but these things listed above are the major killers to my (you guessed it) suspension of disbelief. With these fixes, I feel like I would enjoy more of an authentic broadcast experience with the bonus of controlling the action. What a difference it would make, I assure you.

Thanks again for reading what I had to say,

DougDeauce

[dougdeuce]

Sorry the thread was blank, I wrote in word and a bunch of smilies showed up, so I had to edit them out.

Thanks!

[yungmizzou]

i agree with you in every sense lately I have just been listening to music while playing. Madden's sound game has been horrible and always will be, they never seem to do anything about it, even after years of complaints. EA just slacks, thats it, period, ban me gimme my minus points for dissing EA o well.

[dougdeuce]

Quote: Originally Posted by yungmizzou

i agree with you in every sense lately I have just been listening to music while playing. Madden's sound game has been horrible and always will be, they never seem to do anything about it, even after years of complaints. EA just slacks, thats it, period, ban me gimme my minus points for dissing EA o well.

I think in all honesty that their sound design team is close, but just needs that extra attention to detail to be what could be an award winning audio department. I think that everything I would like to see could be accomplished, as long as it was the intention from day 1.

Reach for perfection, to achieve as close to it as is possible.

[dougdeuce]

Bump.

Sorry, but I put a lot of thought into this thread, and I would like to hear what you guys think. It's hard for me to believe that you guys don't feel the same way.

[vaderdog]

For me, anything they can do to get rid of CC and TH would be an upgrade. I'd rather listen to toddlers cry, metal rakes on a concrete sidewalk, or ten Paris Hilton wannabes trying to have a conservation than what they have currently. And just so you know, I mute them immediately. If only John Madden would just gobble some turkey legs instead of telling me for the 10th straight year that you want your linemen to block well every play

[lostintravise]

Nice write up, man! I have to appreciate the time and thought you put into that one. Especially so in that I agreed with everything that you said.

[dougdeuce]

Quote: Originally Posted by lostintravise

Nice write up, man! I have to appreciate the time and thought you put into that one. Especially so in that I agreed with everything that you said.

thanks man! I think this is really important