Madden 09 News Post

Two Weeks of Madden 09, and Official Patch News!

01:00 AM - August 26, 2008 by Ian_Cummings

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.

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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
Stability issue when exiting Madden ’93 in CE version: This has been fixed.
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.
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.
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.
Play call screen hitch: We found and fixed a bug that was causing a noticeable hitch when exiting the play call screen
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.
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.
Defensive Preplay Mis-cue: We found and fixed an issue where defenders would leave their man wide open in a Cover 3.
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.
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

# 221 roadman @ 08/27/08 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stux


	Why can't they just do another patch for instead of the DLC and combine that with a fix for the franchise freezing?

Madden is allowed two free patches to the public.

# 222 BezO @ 08/27/08 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFuture15


	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.

You don't seem to be coming back to answer questions, but, how are these not one in the same? Do patched fixes not make their way into next year's game?

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	They had to go gold around that time to guarantee their release date.

A working product should always trump a deadline.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	Amazon has Wired ones for 21 bucks. You really have 3 choices: Get a cheap wired one and do the workaround, sell the game and get what you can for it now or just let it collect dust and continue to be frustrated. Options 1 and 2 seem like better options imo.

I'd go with option 4. Contact EA customer service and request a full refund. They don't give refunds directly, but they will ask you to send them your game with a copy of the receipt. They will send you a sealed copy that you can then return to the store. I did it last year even a week or so after the store's 30 day return policy.

The excessive thanks puzzles me as well. IMO the thanks should be DELIVERED to the customers that have purchased a game that needed this much work, then put up with it instead of returning the game. I can understand why folks are happy about the patch, but realize you are the customer. You already thanked them when you handed over their $60. That $60 gives you the right to a working product.

I like the car analogy a few pages back. For the critics, change the wheel to air conditioning, heat, air bags, ect. Yeah, the car will drive, but you paid for frills. I can't imagine many people falling over themselves to thank the dealer for fixing their car weeks after they paid for it. In fact, the dealer would probably throw in some extras to discourage a suit.

# 223 roadman @ 08/27/08 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BezO


	You don't seem to be coming back to answer questions, but, how are these not one in the same? Do patched fixes not make their way into next year's game? A working product should always trump a deadline. I'd go with option 4. Contact EA customer service and request a full refund. They don't give refunds directly, but they will ask you to send them your game with a copy of the receipt. They will send you a sealed copy that you can then return to the store. I did it last year even a week or so after the store's 30 day return policy. The excessive thanks puzzles me as well. IMO the thanks should be DELIVERED to the customers that have purchased a game that needed this much work, then put up with it instead of returning the game. I can understand why folks are happy about the patch, but realize you are the customer. You already thanked them when you handed over their $60. That $60 gives you the right to a working product. I like the car analogy a few pages back. For the critics, change the wheel to air conditioning, heat, air bags, ect. Yeah, the car will drive, but you paid for frills. I can't imagine many people falling over themselves to thank the dealer for fixing their car weeks after they paid for it. In fact, the dealer would probably throw in some extras to discourage a suit.

I like the car analogy as well.

If the car I bought is offering a recall, (I've had a few) I'll take the vehicle into the dealer to get problem corrected for free. I haven't contacted CS for an automaker offering a recall because they are addressing the situation for free as they should.

# 224 aholbert32 @ 08/27/08 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BezO


	You don't seem to be coming back to answer questions, but, how are these not one in the same? Do patched fixes not make their way into next year's game? A working product should always trump a deadline. I'd go with option 4. Contact EA customer service and request a full refund. They don't give refunds directly, but they will ask you to send them your game with a copy of the receipt. They will send you a sealed copy that you can then return to the store. I did it last year even a week or so after the store's 30 day return policy. The excessive thanks puzzles me as well. IMO the thanks should be DELIVERED to the customers that have purchased a game that needed this much work, then put up with it instead of returning the game. I can understand why folks are happy about the patch, but realize you are the customer. You already thanked them when you handed over their $60. That $60 gives you the right to a working product. I like the car analogy a few pages back. For the critics, change the wheel to air conditioning, heat, air bags, ect. Yeah, the car will drive, but you paid for frills. I can't imagine many people falling over themselves to thank the dealer for fixing their car weeks after they paid for it. In fact, the dealer would probably throw in some extras to discourage a suit.

That "working product should always trump a deadline" contradicts your analogy. You say the car (madden) drives meaning that madden works but above you say it doesnt and shouldnt be released.

Also that statement sounds nice but its not practical when you have contractually mandated deadlines and a billion dollar business. I would love to see Peter Moore go to his shareholders (Full disclosure: I'm one and I also own 2k stock) and explain that EA had to miss its release date causing EA to breach its exclusive agreement with the NFL, cost the company thousands of dollars and caused the share price to drop because a few hundred (if that many) people on a few internet boards were complaining about missing or broken features. All things that can be fixed later with a patch.

# 225 aholbert32 @ 08/27/08 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	I like the car analogy as well. If the car I bought is offering a recall, (I've had a few) I'll take the vehicle into the dealer to get problem corrected for free. I haven't contacted CS for an automaker offering a recall because they are addressing the situation for free as they should.

I'm sorry the car analogy is ****ing stupid. This isnt a car. You didnt pay thousands of dollars for this game. If there is a problem with Madden you dont run the risk of getting injured, injuring someone else or damaging someones property. The reason they fix your car for free on a recall is because there is a safety issue not because they are concerned with customer service. The car company is trying to avoid a lawsuit.

Thats not the case with Madden so its a bad anology.

# 226 bad_philanthropy @ 08/27/08 01:53 AM

I'm just really glad that we're getting these fixes so soon after the game has been released. It does definitely provide a great example as to what the benefits of releasing the game later are. I think there is a great opportunity to save the hassle of patching so many things and delivering a higher quality product to the shelves right off the bat by releasing the game in September. It could even be a great promotional event, they could release it at 12:00am after the first game of the season. "Watch the games then go buy Madden."

# 227 roadman @ 08/27/08 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	I'm sorry the car analogy is ****ing stupid. This isnt a car. You didnt pay thousands of dollars for this game. If there is a problem with Madden you dont run the risk of getting injured, injuring someone else or damaging someones property. The reason they fix your car for free on a recall is because there is a safety issue not because they are concerned with customer service. The car company is trying to avoid a lawsuit. Thats not the case with Madden so its a bad anology.

I know the car analogy is a bad one. I agree you can't compare a $20K vehicle to a $60 game.

I was merely trying to point out that car companies and some game companies fix errors for free. That's as deep as I wanted to go with the analogy. They are similar up to that point.
It's not comparison after that.

Yes, beyond that, car companies have recalls because of safety reasons.

# 228 justblaze09 @ 08/27/08 02:04 AM

*bows down*

Thank you.....just thank you. Hopefully there isn't a mistake like the one NCAA ran into for the PS3 (which really didnt exist)

# 229 PVarck31 @ 08/27/08 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	I know the car analogy is a bad one. I agree you can't compare a $20K vehicle to a $60 game. I was merely trying to point out that car companies and some game companies fix errors for free. That's as deep as I wanted to go with the analogy. They are similar up to that point. It's not comparison after that. Yes, beyond that, car companies have recalls because of safety reasons.

Am I missing something here? The patches are free. The DLC is going to be free right? Why are we talking about car companies fixing cars for free.

# 230 PVarck31 @ 08/27/08 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	I'm sorry the car analogy is ****ing stupid. This isnt a car. You didnt pay thousands of dollars for this game. If there is a problem with Madden you dont run the risk of getting injured, injuring someone else or damaging someones property. The reason they fix your car for free on a recall is because there is a safety issue not because they are concerned with customer service. The car company is trying to avoid a lawsuit. Thats not the case with Madden so its a bad anology.

Im sorry but I disagree. My game froze the other day and I threw the disk and almost hit my dog. Could have been bad.

# 231 Tyrant8RDFL @ 08/27/08 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ankido


	My main concern is the CPU blocking. Have you guys even looked into this as to why blockers do random crazy blocks that make no sense what so ever? Why would a blocker avoid an on coming defender to run across the opposite field to make a tackle? People are complaining about the run game but it has nothing to do with sliders. I honestly think sliders cannot fix this and it seems to be an issue with the blocking overall. I've tested this on all settings and the CPU is stupid at blocking. Am I the only one who sees this? I will try my best to show you with a video but it really screws the game up. I'd rather have Robo QB and a fixed blocking system.

Wow man I seen this also, and noticed it alot. The run game is only tuff cause of how the O Line Blocks. They at times totally ignore the defender right in front of them and either do 2 things, block someone in the 2nd level of the defense, or double team someone, and just let the D lineman that was right infront of them right through.

Ian can this be address anytime before the next madden, if not plz see what u can do to correct it for 2010. Thxs Ian and keep up yopur efforts homie, its really appreciated.

# 232 Captain Obvious @ 08/27/08 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrant8RDFL


	Wow man I seen this also, and noticed it alot. The run game is only tuff cause of how the O Line Blocks. They at times totally ignore the defender right in front of them and either do 2 things, block someone in the 2nd level of the defense, or double team someone, and just let the D lineman that was right infront of them right through. Ian can this be address anytime before the next madden, if not plz see what u can do to correct it for 2010. Thxs Ian and keep up yopur efforts homie, its really appreciated.

its been like this in madden forever. suction blocking. its very hard to run in between the tackles cause you get sucked into a tackler. when you spread your D-line to fan and do an outside rush they immidiately find the tackle and engage with him, they do nothing to avoid them. no pocket is formed, its the great ***ing wall of china. they dont do speed rushes because theres like a ****ing magnet on the O-line and they are always drawn to them and not the qb. and when they do disengage the ball is already out the qbs hands. they need to revamp the whole engine to git rid of the suction. like i said, they need to MOtion capture players at each position.

i dont know how to do it but i dont care either, just get it right, im paying 60$ for it, i think we deserve something more realistic than the arcadish game weve been getting for years.

# 233 roadman @ 08/27/08 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjv31


	Am I missing something here? The patches are free. The DLC is going to be free right? Why are we talking about car companies fixing cars for free.

Ok, maybe it's late and my brain is dead.

I'm not trying to compare car companies to video games, it could be a widget for all I care.

All I was saying that video games have fixes(ie patches, DLC) free, and new cars with errors are fixed for free.

The bottom line for me is I'm happy when any company will fix or add to my enjoyment of the product I bought. I hope that makes sense.

I wasn't the one that brought up the car analogy, it's been a continuation.

# 234 BezO @ 08/27/08 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	That "working product should always trump a deadline" contradicts your analogy. You say the car (madden) drives meaning that madden works but above you say it doesnt and shouldnt be released.

One is a direct response, the other is a thought about the general tone of the thread. A company releasing a broken game to meet a release date is one scenario. Customers falling over themselves to thank that company for fixing the broken product they were sold is another. 2 independent thoughts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	Also that statement sounds nice but its not practical when you have contractually mandated deadlines and a billion dollar business. I would love to see Peter Moore go to his shareholders (Full disclosure: I'm one and I also own 2k stock) and explain that EA had to miss its release date causing EA to breach its exclusive agreement with the NFL, cost the company thousands of dollars and caused the share price to drop because a few hundred (if that many) people on a few internet boards were complaining about missing or broken features. All things that can be fixed later with a patch.

Signing a contract that doesn't allow you to reschedule releases in the software business is a bad move.

If EAs customers spoke as loudly as its shareholders, it would be a lot more than a few hundred, and they wouldn't be buying the game. Then what? How much would would EA lose then? But this website is proof that some of EA's biggest critics don't even hold them accountable. Naturally, EA acts on the behalf of the people that do hold them accountable. For business purposes, I don't disagree with you, but this is a sports video game site. I don't consider EA's contractual obligations when I critique their game. There's ALWAYS a good business reason to short loyal customers of a cash cow product.

# 235 BIGROC @ 08/27/08 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BleacherCreature


	Thanks. But how does this differ from a patch? You need to download either way. Unless you have the option for DLC? Can you tell I'm new to the online game thing?

Don't tell people you're slow because you are a NY sports fan, tell them it is because you are from upstate NY and you are a huckleberry....NY sports fans are by far some of the brightest on the planet....unless you listen to talk radio call in where wfan and 1050 find the biggest ******s on the planet to call in and comment.

DLC is a set of packaged good specifically for a game, and extending its usefulness in some way...sometimes it is as unlockables like clothes/weapons/items/quests to use in a game...or like expansions to games like Shivering Isles was for Oblivion.

# 236 Bat @ 08/27/08 07:19 AM

Has any Ea developers mentioned why the weather effect is not working in the Psp version? I know the Psp is bottom of the totem pole but you think you would realize during testing when choosing a rain or snow game and its always sunny out, it would be a quick bug to catch.

# 237 COMMISSIONERHBK9 @ 08/27/08 08:23 AM

question will the ps3 get a sim madden gamer or something like that?

# 238 Illustrator76 @ 08/27/08 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFuture15


	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.

THANK YOU IAN! You guys are about to see a grown man cry.....

# 239 dafilthymofo @ 08/27/08 09:43 AM

There should be a game team and a patch team. The game team works on the new game each year and the patch team works on the old game each year.

# 240 SoxFan01605 @ 08/27/08 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick buckeyes7


	jetpac shut up madden 09 is gay who cares if they fix it or not madden 09 is the worst in the series and they basically went back to 06 and rushed the game.yeah it has awsome graphics but the gameplay is weak.ncaa 09 is a way more fun and exciting game.user catches on ncaa is more realistic then on madden because on madden they make to wrer you get and have but they drop it or miss it completely.i am a madden fan but this year is the first year that it did not live of to the hype.i should have just rented it instead of being like every other idiot and wasting money for a game that is not even good and way to boring.they don't even have adam jones which is gay.they need to bring back the ea radio guy he was alot more fun and exciting gameplay wise i love madden 08 better and ncaa 09 but graphic wise madden 09 wins it but thats' it.ncaa has great graphics too.ncaa 09 is a much more realistic and fun and exciting game.do not buy madden get ncaa 09 instead!

ilikebadenglishbecauseitcanbefuntoreadbutonlyifyou makeblanketstatementswithitthatarentsupportedbyany thinganditsfuntojumpfromtopictotopictooiwonderwhys omanypointsgetlostinthemaddenthreads

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