37 minute interview with Rex Dickson on Madden 18

[reverend_heat]

https://youtu.be/AjMvCipV87k
Audio cuts out a bit in the first few minutes.

[LastExit]

Thanks for sharing the link.

[Cowboy008]

For those who have listened to it was there any real info on Madden 18?

[adembroski]

* Massive legacy issue sweep; "We've gone through about 35 or 40 of the top legacy issues in Madden, everything from a slower player chases down a faster player from behind to man coverage doesn't cover corner routes ever, I could go on and on, purples don't play purples. Hard flats get sucked out from the flat. Over and over and over, this list of recurring themes. We've managed to fix almost all of them..."

[jfsolo]

The numerous legacy fixes sounds great, Rex's new love affair with competitive mode though, does make me wary about the level of attention sim mode got and will get in the future.

This was a second hand recording of the interview, I expect that when the original interviewer releases it tomorrow all of the missed dialogue will be there.

[DeuceDouglas]

For those who don't want to watch...

0:00 - Competitive gamestyle helps reduce things like dropped INT and QB throwaways

0:25 - Next big piece of this whole thing, outside of playstyles, is something they call "Legacy" (legacy issues). They make a list of community wants, executives come in and tell them what they want and then there's nobody left to work on legacy issues. Says they've gone through 35-40 of the top legacy issues in Madden: Slower player catches faster player from behind, man coverage doesn't ever cover corner route, purples don't cover purple, hard flats get sucked out from flats. They made legacy issues a priority. Then says only top 20 legacy issues. Fixed juking, "Awesome in 18."

2:00 - Q: Any idea for M18 that Rex wanted in 18 that didn't get in. Rex says he had an idea for story mode that didn't get in that he wanted that they're going to take the next year to build on and get into 19.

12:00 - Rex says Madden is his dream job and that he's not going anywhere. Has a lot of work left for him to do.

12:30 - MrGS talks about Ian Cummings quitting out of nowhere mid-development for M12 and asks Rex if he knows anything about it. Rex says it wasn't as nefarious as it might sound. Says Cam Weber was brought in during that time and that a new Exec. Producer will shake things up. Cam had a meeting with Ian and says he thinks Ian was getting fed up with the brunt of community anger and rage and was ready for a change and that Cam wanted some 'fresh blood'. Cam hired Kolbe Launchbaugh who was designing MUT 13 through MUT 16 and Rex to lead his gameplay team. Cam brought a lot of his guys with him and Ian decided to move on. Rex credits Ian with giving him a strong base to start with for Madden.

16:00 - Rex says his vision was "Authentic Football Simulation" and adding things that you see in the NFL that aren't currently in the game (pass trajectories, gang tackling) as well as cleaning the ugly, non-marketable stuff up.

18:13 - Rex says they nerfed user pass rush on Competitive setting. Says if you're playing on Competitive you can't be playing on the D-Line.

19:16 - Mr. GS asks if he has anything to do with MUT at all. Rex says he has more and more involvement this year. Not so much until last year when he started playing it a lot more. Says he meets with two MUT designers weekly to talk about social media information and strategy. Has more influence with those guys than ever before.

20:29 - Asked what "the year of the user" means. Says it means a lot of things. When he plays competitive setting he feels like the random is his fault. Random being for example throwing picks. Doesn't feel classic "he was wide open, I threw it to him, randomly a dice rolled an overthrow and I threw a pick." Says big difference when you feel like almost all the outcomes are your mistakes or skills versus dice rolls. Says he's started enjoying competitive more because you always feel control of your outcomes which is a big change for Madden.

21:45 - Says they brought back the juke. Says he knew there was a problem when competitive players were taking dives instead of getting tackled. Says jukes are crispy and awesome. Says a user can't hold Y while playing defense anymore. Says user input and timing are more of a factor.

"Highlight Coverage thing"/Coverage assignments helps user understand what your job is in coverage. If you select an LB it will show you connecting lines to WR's you're supposed to be covering. Helps people who couldn't play secondary feel comfortable because lines explain to them who to cover.

25:35 - Says he's never had more fun playing Madden than he's had this year, especially on Competitive game style.

25:55 - Asked about a CoD-esque Beta. Rex says they've had closed Beta's and that because of the Frostbite-port they can't do a beta or closed beta this year.

27:50 - Mr. GS asks if Rex could see them going back and taking a lot of things from NCAA. Rex says "You mean like Coach Adjustments?." Says he has a huge idea about driving emotion into the game that he can't talk about. Coming into the next 2-3 years because a lot of people that would work on that are working on the new story mode this year.

[reverend_heat]

Yeah it was kinda disheartening to hear Rex fawn over MUT and competetive, can't help but feel like sim is getting swept under the rug more and more each year. The interviewer talked specifically about how if you play at Seattle, it should be super loud, screen shake, receiver can't hear audible calls, stuff from NCAA. Sad to hear stuff like that is 2-3 years away because of story mode. I would take that on field presentation stuff over any story mode for sure.

[TheBleedingRed21]

So I am guessing that coverage assignments are totally not what we hoped for.. how can you mess that wording up knowing the community is craving matchups so bad.