Madden 2010 News Post

Madden NFL 10 Blog: The Importance of an Early Community Day (New Screenshot Included

06:59 PM - April 13, 2009 by Ian_Cummings

Check out the new Madden NFL 10 blog. This one features the importance of an early community day.

Quote:


	"On April 10, we flew in 8 of the most hardcore Madden fans for a marathon testing day to get an extremely early look at our Alpha build and provide feedback based on where the game is thus far. You may ask, �What is new about this? Haven�t you had community events in the past?� Yes, we have done these before, but there are some key differences."

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Member Comments

# 121 KANE699 @ 04/13/09 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adembroski


	That's not Ian, that's us.

Prime reason I didn't write anything down, I wanted them to be able to read my suggestions, not read over them.

# 122 KANE699 @ 04/13/09 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boucher


	You put the biscuit in the basket my friend

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxplosive1984


	As soon as they found out that being one could get them an all-expense paid trip to Orlando.

When I see someone pass me in my insane ocd knowledge, I will hand off my title.

End concieted statement. lol

# 123 green94 @ 04/13/09 09:00 PM

WOW! Great screenshot!!!

# 124 bowdown2shadi @ 04/13/09 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adembroski


	That's not Ian, that's us.

So are those the pages yall turned in at the end of the day?

# 125 c dizzy m baby @ 04/13/09 09:03 PM

Is that fog in the screen? That looks like a cool weather effect along with a rain type thing.

Im pretty sure that is TJ look at the shoulder, he is number 84, so he needs his hair.

I have been saying this for awhile, but the opening in Hasselbeck's style of facemask needs to be wider, while the opening in the Facemask Adrian Peterson wears should be thinner. The openings are the exact same size in the game.

Im still not convinced that #8 is wearing a flak jacket.

May just be me, but the neon of the glove looks a little off

# 126 callmetaternuts @ 04/13/09 09:08 PM

Can some one post the blog in here? I cant access it

# 127 NFLHITMAN @ 04/13/09 09:12 PM

The importance of an early community day for Madden NFL 10 (and a new screenshot)

Posted On: Apr. 13, 2009 12:50 PM EST By: EA_IanCummings 0 Comments

Hello Madden fans, welcome back for another Monday Madden NFL 10 blog from the development team. It has been a very busy couple of weeks, including the release of 3 (real) blogs in 2 weeks:
- Adaptive AI in Madden NFL 10 [link]
- A first look at Franchise mode improvements [link]
- Using layered blending, dynamic branching, and animation steering for sideline catches [link]
Since we just released a new (rather large) feature on Friday in Adaptive AI, I figured I�d use today�s blog to go over something that we as a team are all extremely happy about, which is the Madden team�s first ever �Community QA Day�.

On April 10, we flew in 8 of the most hardcore Madden fans for a marathon testing day to get an extremely early look at our Alpha build and provide feedback based on where the game is thus far. You may ask, �What is new about this? Haven�t you had community events in the past?� Yes, we have done these before, but there are some key differences.

Previous community days usually took place around a week or two before the game was set to go �gold�. This meant we could show a typically much more polished game, but on the downside it meant that there was very little time to make any changes. A quick google search reminded me that last year�s 09 community event took place on May 30, 2008 (http://www.pastapadre.com/2643/live-blog-madden-09), as opposed to this year�s event on April 10 (nearly 7 full weeks earlier!). This gives us so much more time to address feedback on our new features and on existing features. As far as I know, we�ve NEVER had anyone have a hands-on this early in the process�it�s quite a refreshing change.
This year Phil Frazier and I actually hand-picked 8 community members off of OperationSports.com based solely on the quality of their posts. None of them had ever been to the Tiburon studio before, and as far as I know, none of them had even really see an early build of Madden (or really any game for that matter). We decided to change this up because we knew the guys we picked were very critical but also typically every single post was well thought out. Many of these guys have been known around the Madden and 2k communities for years and years. Previous community days typically featured more �community leaders� � the guys that ran sites. Not to say that those guys weren�t providing feedback, because they obviously always did get us some amazing stuff, but we wanted to try something new and get the guys that we thought were extremely critical and had in depth knowledge of our former competitor�s products as well.

I think without a doubt the day overall was a huge success. We collected mountains of incredible feedback, from incorrect facemasks to a few money plays to logic issues with blocking. I kept referring to these guys as the �dream team of testers�, and they delivered for us big time.
The rough agenda was as follows:
10:00 � 11:00 � Introductions, expectations, �creative pitch�
11:00 � 2:00 � Franchise play (play or sim�whichever you prefer)
2:00 � 3:00 � �The Lab� (Focus: General Gameplay and AI Feedback in practice mode).
3:00 � 4:00 � Tour, Roundtable / Q & A
4:00 � Whenever you want to leave � Multiplayer or games vs. CPU
At the beginning of the day, we had each attendee give a brief intro about themselves as we went around the room, and as they talked I brought up one of their most critical posts that they�d ever made of EA. When it got around to TheWatcher, he even brought out a version of NFL 2k5 and said �if you can�t beat this, I�m going to be playing this at the end of the night� which got a nice laugh from everyone, including us. He never did play 2k5, but unfortunately our dev kits don�t play retail games anyway so I can�t say for sure whether he was converted.

Next I actually presented the group a trimmed-down version of our �creative pitch� � the actual presentation Phil and I give to folks like Peter Moore and other executives within EA to get our game concept approved. After giving them the basic rundown, we then let them loose on the game along with an accompanying �feature companion document� that listed nearly every major and minor feature along with an �intent� of each feature. This way they could go through the game how they pleased and provide feedback on whether they felt we were hitting the intent of our design or not. For example, this would be a page in their companion document, and below that is a shot of just a few of the sheets I received back at the end of the day:
Feature: Simulation Gameplay Overhaul
Intent: To make the game play much more realistically through the following features:
- Slower game speed
- Stretched player ratings
- Dramatically changed turn rates
- Direction change animations
- Momentum & prep steps while sprinting
- Different jukes & spins while sprinting
- Lower �tolerance� amount on tackles and blocks (much less suction)
- Much lower �warp� amount on catch animations
- Normalized speed on all animations
- Forced QB dropbacks

Just some of the feedback on the feature companion sheets sitting on my laptop.

After the guys had their hands on the game for about 6 hours, we had a little break and gave a quick tour of the studio. Our final destination of the tour was our main conference room:

The big conference room on the 5th floor of the EA Sports Tiburon building

At this point we all sat down and had a roundtable on the top positives and minuses they were seeing so far. Everyone had the ability to basically list out their �game killers� � the issues that they felt were absolutely most hampering the game. I sat there with our mindmap software and took notes, so here�s a small snippet of that feedback:

You can see we have plenty of feedback to work from and some great stuff here from our hardcore fans. Often times it is very easy to get used to things after you stare at them for so long, so having this kind of in depth feedback from a fresh set of eyes (well, 8 fresh sets) is going to prove immensely helpful in us reaching our goal of the best version of Madden NFL football in history.
On a side note, just so everyone knows, the guys didn�t end up leaving until 4:00 am!
So to sum up � again I think all can agree that it was a very positive experience, and I personally believe this one day community event is one of the most important things we have ever done within the Madden franchise to create a quality product. The sheer amount of feedback on every single detail on our early build is going to be instrumental for us to keep the polish level high. We as a team have always believed that staying in constant communication with your customers is the best approach to making an iterative sports title, and this event proved that theory out on all levels. Many thanks to our attendees: adembroski, BezO, dave374, Joborule, KANE699, LBzRule, rgiles36, and TheWatcher.

And just because it�s Monday, and many might be expecting some actual news on the game, we figured we�d be good bloggers and drop a new screenshot. Forgive our current lighting and skin tone tuning that is still in progress, but I thought you all would dig the new accessories.
Enjoy!

# 128 callmetaternuts @ 04/13/09 09:16 PM

Thanks for posting Hitman.

Sounds great Ian and co. Very impressed with alot of the new features, the willingness to let us in and voice our opinion on an unfinished game and show us some screen caps. Awesome stuff.

# 129 Hotlanta @ 04/13/09 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by c dizzy m baby


	Is that fog in the screen? That looks like a cool weather effect along with a rain type thing. Im pretty sure that is TJ look at the shoulder, he is number 84, so he needs his hair. I have been saying this for awhile, but the opening in Hasselbeck's style of facemask needs to be wider, while the opening in the Facemask Adrian Peterson wears should be thinner. The openings are the exact same size in the game. Im still not convinced that #8 is wearing a flak jacket. May just be me, but the neon of the glove looks a little off

Nah. If you look at his shoulder pads you can see the bottom part of the 3. That is definitely Deion Branch

# 130 Nature_Boy @ 04/13/09 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProjectSRT


	Gotta give more props to EA(that is becoming a trend this yr). I was afraid they were just gonna fly some ppl out who had already pre-ordered their copies of Madden 3 years in advance, but the story of the individual pulling out the copy of 2K5 has proven me incorrect and had me quite surprised. So again, good job by EA bringing out ppl who truly can help make the game better. The screen shot looks great. Love that EA is really paying attention to detail. Details, atmosphere and presentation is what will make this game last. If those are all good, then expect me to playthrough a full season in Madden for the first time since Madden 05. I think EA has a winner in Mr. Cummings and his team.

Ditto!

# 131 NFLHITMAN @ 04/13/09 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon22


	Lucky, EA didn't pick me to come down there for community day. EA would not be making a replica NFL 2k5 garbage. The only reason people praise that game as did I, was because it was the close's representation to the NFL. NFL 2k5 came out in 2004 and this is 2009. Time to think above and beyond NFL 2k5. Leave Yesterday as Yesterday.

OK we can use APF 2K8 as a reference also. The gameplay, animations, sideline interaction, commentary and more are head and heals above the latest version of Madden.

The old joke in the 2K Community was... If you want shiny helmets buy Madden but if you want Gameplay buy 2K!

# 132 drae2 @ 04/13/09 09:44 PM

Good job guys. I wanna see what all those who have said that we're just feeding into EA's hype machine are going to say now.

# 133 Rocky @ 04/13/09 09:47 PM

The Hasselbeck shot looks good--except I would like to see that icy glare in that situation (ala Madden 06 and 07).

# 134 knucklez @ 04/13/09 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeler99


	I still don't understand why you left the big "vertebrae" looking hump down the middle of the helmet (Hasselback)? There are NO helmets in the NFL that have that dramatic of hump down the middle of the helmet ..... It's simply a slightly raised (but flat) area.

I don't get it either. I started a thread on this awhile back. I don't understand why they ever made those helmets look like that in the first place. It's supposed to be a flat strap that goes across the top.

# 135 Rocky @ 04/13/09 09:58 PM

Just more nitpicking. The screen looks really, really good.

But the football. It is simply too big and is quite frankly intrusive. Is there anyway we can make it smaller just by a smidget?

# 136 PGaither84 @ 04/13/09 10:05 PM

HAND WARMERS!!! OMG, AWESEOME!

*runs around like an 8 year old*

I like the towel, but... HANDWARMERS! OMFG YEAH!

*insert a white person dancing... poorly*

# 137 TequILLa @ 04/13/09 10:07 PM

The screenshot looks good, but his hand....lol...it looks like he throwing up WESTSIDE on the ball. For people that don't know what I'm talking about...http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ima...=operasport-20

# 138 Valdarez @ 04/13/09 10:15 PM

Ahhh.... MindManager. One of my favorite tools. Best tool ever to make it look like you have done a whole lot of work, when you really haven't. It always seems to impress management because it has itemized lists, and pretty pictures. The two basic building blocks of managerial communication.

I honestly can't imagine building software without customer interaction, or a really good product management / business analyst duo in place. You really need both, but nothing beats customer interaction, as long as you can keep the number of customers to a minimum.

I see EA doing a lot of smart things from a software development perspective, but the history for the game is bad, bad, and more bad. '09 was supposed to be better, and other than the grass being prettier, better commentary, Madden Rating, rewind, and a really bad online league implementation, it played / felt like the same game from a game play perspective, and not a game I enjoyed on any level.

I bought the game used, and I have bought every other EA game used since the NFL exclusivity deal that ruined football gaming as we knew it. I have passed on round 10 to 15 games now from EA, making the net loss of that transaction for them 4 Madden titles, and 8 to 10 other titles, for a loss of $600 to $1,000 just from little ole me. On a side note. I really shouldn't be buying so many games new anyhow. What am I, made out of money???

Hats off to the guy that brought the 2K5 game, though I believe it's gameplay was far surpassed by APF2K8. 2K5 does however, provide a really good example of how presentation should work, something Madden '09 still could not match up to roughly half a decade later.

EA has always been smart on the marketing side. It will be interesting to see if the changes that Ian has listed are real, or just another pitch. I'm hoping it's real, and the game play changes are there. With so much community / fan interaction, if the game fails to live up to the hype this year, it won't just be the marketing guys that have been misleading in an attempt to garner our hard earned money.

That's the first time I have seen 'slower game speed' in a blog. I knew you guys were addressing the ratings overall, and the QB passing speed was being addressed, but didn't realize the overall game speed was being addressed. This is a good thing. The game is simply too fast to enjoy right now. I personally enjoy a game that is just a little slower than the real thing, as it allows me to take part in the game more as it unfolds, add to the realism. Madden is far too fast, and APF2K8 is just a hair too slow (though I prefer APF2K8's slow approach over Madden's speedy gonzales approach). What's really strange is that Madden used to be the tortoise of the football franchises, but when it made the leap to the 360 and they doubled the frame rates, they got a huge helping of endorphins making the game seemingly faster year, after year.

I see the blocking is listed on the MindMap, which is a good thing. I used to think APF2K8's blocking was bad, then I played Madden '09, and the blocking in that game made APF2K8 look uber Godly. Madden has OLineman letting DT's through on the 3-4 plays consistently (looks like a timing thing), and then the TEs, FBs and lineman that pull will constantly miss their blocks and run upfield. I have seen 3 blockers run upfield as one defensive DB ran right through them. They never even acknowledge he was there. No attempt what so ever was made to make the block. It's horrific and utterly ruins the running game.

My ratings for the new features (with 5 being highest/lowest score):

o Slower game speed +++++
o Stretched player ratings +++
o Dramatically changed turn rates +++
o Direction change animations +++++
o Momentum & prep steps while sprinting (isn't this the same as changed turn rates?)
o Different jukes & spins while sprinting +
o Lower �tolerance� amount on tackles and blocks (much less suction) ++
o Much lower �warp� amount on catch animations --- (how about 'zero' warp amount)
o Normalized speed on all animations ++++
o Forced QB dropbacks -- (why should a QB be forced to drop back?)

The fact that warping Ints are still in is a huge, huge negative.

Average Score: +1.2 out of -5/+5 scale.

That's a 6.2 for a 10 point scale in case that's confusing.

# 139 Dawkins#20 @ 04/13/09 10:20 PM

I haven't gone throough 17 pages of this thread but when i saw the mind map i was a little put back. The alpha build seemed to have all the gameplay problems as last year in terms of run blocking, OL/DL interaction. I would have expected some change here .. has this been discussed at all?

# 140 LBzrule @ 04/13/09 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CapnKill


	Good blog, very informative. You know I think tourney players get a bad rap. You guys have to remember these guys play for $$$ and they'll obviously do whatever they can to win and how can you blame them? It's not Tourney players that should get a bad rap, its the people that make the game that allow the glitches used by tourney players that should get a bad rap. If you make a game with no glitches, or exploits, then no one can use them. Tourney guys know alot more about football than some of you think, and I seriously doubt they will all of a sudden suck at the game if glitches / exploits are removed. Ok, well, I've always wanted to throw that out there so this was my shot and now back to the regular scheduled program

I wasn't commenting on them as a whole I was just commenting on something I would think they wouldn't like just by the sounds of it. But it is not as bad as it sounds.

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