Progression passing... I think it could work... It might even be awesome...

[spit_bubble]

Edit: Better idea for target based passing posted below...

Thread title should read:

"Target based passing... I think it could work... It might even be awesome..."

And yes, it would be awesome. It would better simulate the QB position, bringing another realistic layer to the game, essentially simulating both where a QB is looking... As well as a QB's ability, or inability, to manipulate the defense with where he is looking.

Here's the setup:

Thumb on the left stick to control the feet. Thumb on the right stick to target a receiver. R1 button to pass the ball. R2 to pump fake.

No vision cone. No Tecmo Bowl style cycling. Just a quick flick in the direction of the receiver to target him. And if two receivers are in the same line of sight, another quick flick to target the receiver further down field.

For QBs with low awareness, you could limit the number of times they are allowed to switch targets. And for QBs with really low awareness, rookies especially, only let them target one receiver per play.

For QBs with higher awareness, they would be able to target receivers without any limitations, so that they could look off safeties and deliver pump fakes.

And this would not replace icon passing. It would be an addition.

[spit_bubble]

Just thought of another idea...

Get rid of icons all together, and use the right stick to select your receiver, then press a button to throw. There would still be some sort of indicator for the highlighted receiver, but it would only be on one receiver at a time. You could then use it to simulate looking off a safety, by having one receiver highlighted, only to quickly switch to the intended receiver at the last moment.

I kind of like this better, though it might get kind of tricky when two receivers are in the same vicinity.

[spit_bubble]

Quote: Originally Posted by spit_bubble

Just thought of another idea... Get rid of icons all together, and use the right stick to select your receiver, then press a button to throw. There would still be some sort of indicator for the highlighted receiver, but it would only be on one receiver at a time. You could then use it to simulate looking off a safety, by having one receiver highlighted, only to quickly switch to the intended receiver at the last moment. I kind of like this better, though it might get kind of tricky when two receivers are in the same vicinity.

And building off this...

You could have the highlight indicator appear over each WR in progression. So for the example above, the highlight would automatically appear over the quick out (read 1), then it would move on to the curl (read 2), etc. But you could also switch the indicator with the right stick if you wanted to. So you would have both the structure of the progression of the play, along with the freedom to improvise as you see fit.

[Tyrant8RDFL]

Quote: Originally Posted by spit_bubble

I'm starting to envision an evolution of the icon based passing system, one that has QBs going through read progressions, and one that deals with QB ratings in a more realistic manner. Mind you, these are just ideas for discussion... Possibilities... What could be, and not what should be. The basic premise There would still be icons used for passing, but they would appear one after the other, mimicking a QB going through his reads. Example: A basic play from a 3 WR set, with the X receiver running a quick out (read 1), the Y receiver running a curl route (read 2), and the Z receiver running a deep post (read 3). Once the ball is hiked no icons are shown, but when the passing window opens for read 1, the icon pops up. Let's say that route is covered, so on to read 2, the curl route from the slot... Same thing, icon doesn't appear until the passing window opens... Etc. More advanced use Obviously that is very basic, but let's say the same play is called against a defense with just one safety deep. The QB sees this and knows beforehand that he might have a chance with the deep post. He then focuses on the pass rush instead of his first read, pump fakes to the curl route to draw the safety up, then lets fly to the deep post in single coverage. Okay yes, you could still do this type of thing with the current icon based passing system, but let's factor in QB ratings. QB awareness, composure, and scrambling ratings Say we're running the same play but with a QB with low awareness, composure, and scramble rating. In this circumstance he drops back, but the icon over read 1 doesn't pop up due to the low awareness rating. So he goes on to the next progression, the curl route, only to have a different icon pop up than what was there presnap... All because of the low composure rating. By this time the pass rush in on, he scrambles outside the pocket as the play breaks down... WR Z comes back towards the line, and the QB sees him and throws him the ball, but a low scramble rating effects his accuracy outside the pocket and the ball sails high. I kind of like the possibilities of this. I think it would add a little more depth and realism, without being a complete overhaul. I don't know, I haven't really fully thought it out, but just thought I'd bring it up here for discussion.

It kind of loses the idea of you reading the defense before hand, and you being solely responsible as to where your first read should be.

The windows popping up for in proper sequence makes the game very easy for you. Where you might have been looking for the deep route first , and totally missing out that the quick route was the route that was going to be open. It is like a guide making things simple for the gamer.

I think your idea is good for a training, but not live game play. Players need to be responsible for which WR should be the first read.

I feel the best way was to simply have the icon appear only on the WR your looking at, and that is it.

How to execute this is simple. Hold down the right trigger right when the ball is snapped. Hit the icon of the WR you want to look at, and follow it up by hitting his Icon again. Don't feel his is open then just hit the next icon of the WR who is your 2nd read.

It is real simple, and realistic. You will be totally responsible for making the right read at the snap of the ball. Also note for backs coming out of the backfield. Just his their icon to throw the ball.

The procedure I mentioned is only for routes being ran beyond the line of scrimmage, not backs flaring out of the backfield.

[spit_bubble]

Quote:

It kind of loses the idea of you reading the defense before hand, and you being solely responsible as to where your first read should be...

I don't think you lose the necessity to read the defense. You still have to have some sense of who is open and what the defense is doing.

It basically just makes it easier to use playbooks you aren't familiar with.

Quote:

...I feel the best way was to simply have the icon appear only on the WR your looking at, and that is it. How to execute this is simple. Hold down the right trigger right when the ball is snapped. Hit the icon of the WR you want to look at, and follow it up by hitting his Icon again. Don't feel his is open then just hit the next icon of the WR who is your 2nd read. It is real simple, and realistic...

I agree, the single WR being targeted is a lot more realistic, as it simulates who the QB is looking at... And could be programmed to look off safeties...

Though I think using the right stick would be a lot easier, just a quick flick in the direction of the receiver, and that receiver would be highlighted (by an icon, or whatever). And if that guy is covered, another quick flick to target a different WR... With a single pass button to deliver the ball...

And you could combine the two, that is this targeting method and this progression method, so that the progression happened automatically and targeted the reads for you... And as soon as you used the right stick it would override the automatic progression...



You could even separate the two, with an option to toggle the automatic progression on or off, so that if users wanted to go through the progressions themselves they could have that option.

[spit_bubble]

Quote: Originally Posted by spit_bubble

I agree, the single WR being targeted is a lot more realistic, as it simulates who the QB is looking at... And could be programmed to look off safeties... Though I think using the right stick would be a lot easier, just a quick flick in the direction of the receiver, and that receiver would be highlighted (by an icon, or whatever). And if that guy is covered, another quick flick to target a different WR... With a single pass button to deliver the ball...

And for QBs with a low awareness rating you could make it impossible for them to target receivers under certain circumstances... Like if the WR has already run his route... Or if the QB has moved outside the pocket and the WR is on the other side of the field...

Whereas a QB with a high awareness rating would be able to target any receiver at any time.

[spit_bubble]

They could also introduce this new passing method as another option, and simply keep the old icon based passing, for the inevitable crowd of people who would bitch and moan about the new passing system.

And for those unaware, icon passing has been around since the very first Madden. Sure, certain designs have endured the test of time, and for good reason... But there's a lot about playing quarterback that hasn't been addressed in video games. I think we're about due here.

[SteboSSK]

All these ideas sound good on paper but overall it will make the game quite complicated and avoided the pass rush would be a pain in the ***. The last thing EA needs to do is change the passing controls and replace it with some new gimmick.