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Madden 09 News Post

Well as I post this it’s officially been exactly two weeks since Madden officially launched, and wow it sure has been a busy time for us. I truly hope everyone is enjoying the game, and I wanted to drop an update on some things we’ve been working on for our 2nd patch. We feel that without a doubt this encapsulates the top issues we’re hearing from the forums and community leaders, and hope that this list truly makes Madden NFL 09 the ultimate sports game for you.
  1. Kicking play disconnect: If two opponents play a game with two different camera angles, in any situation where a game winning or tying kick was to be made, a disconnect could occur. “ActionCam” forces the game to go into slow-motion to add drama to these late kicks, but unfortunately the Classic camera does not, thus forcing the “disconnect”. This has been fixed…and FYI all cameras will still be able to be used after the patch.
    Workaround until the patch: If possible, ensure that you and your opponent have the same camera type chosen before starting an online game.
  2. Stability issues in the play call / halftime highlights / postgame highlights screens (especially in Franchise mode after training games): This was a hard one to track down as not everyone was seeing it , we did find the issue however with some Instant Replay / cache corruption, and have a fix ready for patch 2.
    Workaround until the patch: Save and re-boot after any point where you have entered the game. We learned that the likelihood of this issue appearing is magnified after multiple loads into and out of the game engine. From what we’ve seen so far, people that have tried playing only one game at a time (or even one Franchise training session at a time), and saving/rebooting afterwards, have had zero crashes.
  3. Stability issues with Madden IQ end of game popup: This has been fixed.
    Workaround until the patch: Always choose “No” at the Madden IQ end of game popup.
  4. “WR direct snap” exploit: Cheesers found an exploit to direct snap to a WR for easy short yardage gain. Not only are we fixing this play (i.e. we aren’t removing it), we are also going to be re-setting records for anyone with a winning record that has been found to be using this play.
  5. Franchise Progression / Regression (or lack thereof): The lack of higher numbers was a tuning value that I think everyone agreed was just too low. This has been juiced up so you should see more realistic progression now.
  6. Edited players don’t progress: Players were not progressing after their jersey number (or pretty much any other attribute) was edited. This has been fixed.
  7. Stability issue when exiting Madden ’93 in CE version: This has been fixed.
  8. Deep ball glitch: Some enterprising gamers found a way to throw a deep ball while crossing the LOS and hit a receiver wide open at a decent rate. We addressed this by making sure the DB will no longer break on the ball when the QB crosses the line while throwing.
  9. CPU running out of bounds: This bug appears when the CPU tries to switch hands while running to the sidelines. This is fixed for patch 2.
  10. Penalty sliders ineffective: A common complaint from the hardcore community was the lack of effect from the penalty sliders. We increased these substantially for patch 2.
  11. Field degradation: Another common complaint was the lack of field degradation. Our effect was very subtle, which was also getting overshadowed by our lighting and post effects, so we increased this effect for the patch.
  12. Stability issue with the Eagles and a full ring meter: We found and fixed a rare issue where the gamer could run into stability issues while using the Eagles in mini-games with a ring meter that was completely full.
  13. Play call screen hitch: We found and fixed a bug that was causing a noticeable hitch when exiting the play call screen
  14. Prevent Defense issue: We found and fixed an issue where defenders sharing a deep zone/prevent assignment would loosen their coverage (because they thought the other guy was covering for them), which allowed the receiver to get behind them even though they were in Prevent.
  15. Brett Favre stats: With the late addition of Brett Favre, we were not able to get his Career and Season statistics into the game for the roster update. This has now been added for patch 2.
  16. Defensive Preplay Mis-cue: We found and fixed an issue where defenders would leave their man wide open in a Cover 3.
  17. CPU quick-snap: A very common complaint on the forums was the speed at which the CPU snapped the ball. We added a random length of time (no less than 5 seconds) for the CPU to wait and even make pre-play adjustments.
  18. Online playbook switch: We fixed a small annoying little issue where playbooks were re-setting to the defaults after the playbook select popup was closed.
I hope this makes everyone quite happy. :-)

The patch is being tested as I write this and will be sent off for verification in the morning, so we are targeting less than a 3 week turnaround from today for this to hit the general public. (Woohoo!) We will also make sure to provide updates as the patch progresses through the 3rd party approval process. As a side note, as of this moment there have been no changes to database schema, so you won’t have to re-start your Franchise or delete any files.

It makes us very stoked to be able to make this many changes for a patch, and do them based directly on community feedback. There are always going to be folks that are upset if what they felt was a top issue wasn’t addressed, but I’ll state again (as I have before) that we have to keep balancing this work against Madden NFL 2010. The longer we keep going on patches, the less we can add to the following year’s product. On a side note, there is also a Franchise stability issue that we have been investigating, and we are working feverishly to get this figured out. We will update on that issue as soon as we can. As for the items above, I personally feel that we have hit a very good balance of top items because many of these issues can actually detract from an enjoyable experience, which is obviously the last thing we want.

And now that this patch is nearly out the door, I figured I’d drop some more good news… We have officially started building the TOTALLY FREE “Sim Madden Gamer” DLC pack, which includes Accelerated Clock, a “Classic” Controller Configuration, CPU Sliders, and Community Gamerpics for 360. I’ll state again that there’s no promise that this goes through, but we have nearly every one of these features actually ‘done’ internally, so now we have to figure out how to get Microsoft and Sony to allow us to release them.

Thanks everyone – keep the feedback coming, and let's keep this train a-rollin'!

Ian Cummings
Senior Designer, Madden NFL 2010

Game: Madden NFL 09Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: NDS / PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 88 - View All
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Member Comments
# 181 aholbert32 @ 08/26/08 05:23 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottD413
What about CPU clock management?? You guys seem to have workarounds for everything else that is broken, but there is no workaround for this. I cannot believe EA isn't fixing this! It all but ruins the single player experience!

i dont run in to this much. Ive seen the random timeout bug once but the cpu has been fine in most of the games I've played.
 
# 182 destroyer @ 08/26/08 05:26 PM
If the patch does really fix all these problems and the DLC pack is released, I will get Madden again. I had 09 for like 5 days and returned it for ps3. I can wait.....

I've been waiting for a fun, good, quality football game since madden 2005.....so waiting isn't a problem
 
# 183 SoonerSandie @ 08/26/08 05:26 PM
So...my franchise, and by extension for me Madden, is useless for the next few weeks?

I guess it is better than nothing, especially if Progression/Regression will be fixed.
 
# 184 skatepro56 @ 08/26/08 05:36 PM
i don't really feel like skimming through all the pages, but will this patch fix the freezing? i appreciate the progression fix, i'm very thrilled about that, but....is there really a point unless you can continue your franchise? the progression is AMAZING..but if your chise doesn't advance more than 2-3 years, i don't really see much of a point. again, i appreciate the work to make the game better, but i think the freezing is this games biggest issue, so i hope a fix is part of the patch
 
# 185 kiddlex @ 08/26/08 05:51 PM
Awesome news!! The DLC () is icing on the cake!!
 
# 186 BlackRome @ 08/26/08 06:11 PM
Can they adjust the play clock to the length of time for a game.

So if your in a 5 minute game the play clock should be 20-30 seconds.

I don't mind people running that's football. But the amount of time your given to call a play is ridiculous. I spend to much time sitting an wiating than playing. It made me realize why I like 2k bball so much. It's constant action.

They have to either cut down the time to call pays or bring back the accelerated clock.
 
# 187 03MstGT290 @ 08/26/08 06:11 PM
Great news! This is definitely something I wanted to hear and the DLC would only add to the fun experience with 09! So, at least 21 days from now, it's a full go!

 
# 188 italianguy @ 08/26/08 06:21 PM
Sounds good to me. I think after that patch and the cpu sliders is good enough unless some big eye opening things pop up but I would be happy if this was the last patch because I'm happy with the game and this new patch will just make other things much better.
 
# 189 xV3L0CiTY @ 08/26/08 06:22 PM
I'm really hoping it's 3 weeks max.

Then when the regular season starts I can get my franchise going.
 
# 190 BIGROC @ 08/26/08 06:46 PM
Is it at all possible to give us a unified user stats section instead of having to go through the rings in order to see partial user stats? This is such a simple thing and I can't understand how the devs just completely overlooked this. I'm sure some folks like the rings stuff...But I would prefer to have a way to see my stats like win-loss, yds per game passing and rushing...efficiency and the like...It isn't even like there is a '6th' level or 'level 0' where the stats are unified on one screen, and that kind of baffles me. Why not do something simple to give people like me who love to see stats, and could care less about the rings, and who really can't stand having to go to each ring and add up the wins and losses just to see my overall record.
 
# 191 countryboy @ 08/26/08 07:00 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Deadly
BUT WHAT ABOUT ROBO QB!? He is the biggest problem in the game!
this is being addressed via cpu sliders. Now the only thing is hoping that Sony/MS approve the DLC.
 
# 192 countryboy @ 08/26/08 07:04 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian
CPU running out of bounds: This bug appears when the CPU tries to switch hands while running to the sidelines. This is fixed for patch 2.

Penalty sliders ineffective: A common complaint from the hardcore community was the lack of effect from the penalty sliders. We increased these substantially for patch 2.

Field degradation: Another common complaint was the lack of field degradation. Our effect was very subtle, which was also getting overshadowed by our lighting and post effects, so we increased this effect for the patch.

CPU quick-snap: A very common complaint on the forums was the speed at which the CPU snapped the ball. We added a random length of time (no less than 5 seconds) for the CPU to wait and even make pre-play adjustments.

These things here, along with hopefully the inclusion of accelerated clock, have me so excited, as they were my biggest gripes with the game.
 
# 193 boooey @ 08/26/08 07:30 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrcain
I sold my copy of the Collectors Edition for $26. Three days before I see this!!!
hurry up and check your local Target.. u may still be able to get the Collectors Edition for $44
 
# 194 steelersfan7 @ 08/26/08 07:45 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelerSpartan
Great news about patch 2.....but please get us some CPU Sliders!!!
 
# 195 teewee @ 08/26/08 07:51 PM
first i would like to say thanks for doing anything i know you dont have to. But there is a couple of issues that are making me disslike the game. 1 is the cpu pass rush it sickens me on replays when I see DE,DT run around or right in front of my OL untouched while they just stand there with hands up while Im getting sacked that has to be a glitch. and if they do try and block I see De,Dt do that rediculous swim move that is unrealistic to reach the QB in 1 & 1/2 seconds. I cant beleive no one else has mentioned this issue. 2 the play of the CB's and safties the unrealistic things Ive seen are almost comical turning in mid air on dime to tacle players after leaping to swat the ball in a different direction. if you jump and miss and the player catches the ball you will not tackle him you will fall or stumble in the direction you jumped. one last thing same subject the eyes in the back of their heads. I seen the correct animations in the game to justify seeing the ball just make players look for it. and everone cant be in on every play I promish you the game will much more realistic remember your slogan "if its in the game",not the other way around.
 
# 196 steelersfan7 @ 08/26/08 07:52 PM
Thanks EA, thanks for listening to us. Can't wait for the patch.
 
# 197 edubbs @ 08/26/08 08:01 PM
It's a shame fatigue could not be addressed.
 
# 198 SoxFan01605 @ 08/26/08 08:05 PM
Well, despite the negative tone many are trying to inject in this thread (which seems to be the standard in the Madden forums) I see nothing but positives. The majority of the major issues have been addressed and the others have been acknowledged and are either being researched or planned for DLC. I know there will always be things people find wrong, but I really don't see anything but positives from this. Yes, they should have released the game without these issues. Yes, there are still things that will hold Madden back from being great. I just don't see the point in griping about "woulda, coulda, shouldas." What's done is done. EA has their money and doesn't really have to do anything, yet the developers have done quite a bit of work in these past two weeks...and still seem to be angling to make the game better. If nothing else, an effort that I can't recall ever being shown from a Madden development team is clearly there now. Good work, IMO!
 
# 199 Tweeg @ 08/26/08 08:05 PM
OMG You guys fixed progression? We shall see I guess...but I reallllyyy hope so because this game does seem very good on the field.
 
# 200 BIGROC @ 08/26/08 08:27 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by edubbs
It's a shame fatigue could not be addressed.
the fatigue was explained...and you could always up the auto sub % to have more frequent subs automatically, or do them yourself with the (Y) button in play calling screen.
 


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