Madden NFL 11 News Post

Madden NFL 11 Blog: Locomotion w/ Videos and L.T. Screenshot

02:53 PM - April 7, 2010 by Steve_OS

EA Sports has just posted another Madden NFL 11 blog. This one focusing on locomotion.

Quote:


	"Obviously, players in pads can�t run the same speed as a world class sprinter coming out of blocks but their acceleration curves have the same shape. They get up to around 80% of their top speed relatively quickly, but the last 20% is stretched out further (it takes the Olympic guys around 60 meters to hit 100% of their top speed). Once I had the curves created, I tuned them around combine 40 times and 100 meter times of players who ran track in college. I then passed that info on to Ratings Czar Donny Moore so he could set speed and acceleration accurately for our rosters. In total, we have 24 different curves that we can tune to control everything from how a player's speed increases over time (based on acceleration and speed ratings), to how much he can turn based on his current speed (driven by the agility rating). That level of control really lets us differentiate players on the field. It is now possible for our ratings guys to make players that are quick over 10 to 20 yards, but get smoked at longer distances. A 90 speed player can now run the same 40 time as a 99 speed player, but lose over longer distances. I have a video here to highlight this. I created two players. The first is 99 speed, 90 acceleration (#99, on the top in the video). The second is 90 speed ,99 acceleration (#90 on the bottom in the video). The players race for 90 yards in the video. As you can see, the player with higher acceleration jumps out to an early lead, but gets passed at around 40 yards by the higher speed player. The animations aren't final (particularly the initial move that plays), and I still have some fine tuning to do on how we map the acceleration and speed ratings into our set of curves, but you can see how powerful acceleration is going to be in Madden NFL 11."

Game: Madden NFL 11Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 41 Valdarez @ 04/07/10 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tengo Juego


	Why did he just run in circles?

Too much time at the race tracks.

# 42 Valdarez @ 04/07/10 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trojan Man


	Wow! Just, wow! I am elated that agility will affect players so visibly, such that the quick twitch turnarounds will actually produce stumbles by players without elite agility ratings. I'm hoping that even those top-end agility guys will still not be able to do some of the directional changes possible in this year's game, but this is already an incredible difference. Even more impressive to me was the video on acceleration. I've never seen a football game that translated this rating so well. Beyond cool. I can imagine how this will separate short area possession route guys who can make it happen in 10-12 yards from guys with long speed who can outrun you over longer distances. This is really phenomenal work.

APF2K8 had a clear distinction between acceleration (Quick Feet) and Speed (Speed Burner). The easiest to see was quick feet which affected their ability to get to top speed and was critical for making turns, or pretty much doing anything that resulted in a slow down / speed up scenario.

# 43 Artman22 @ 04/07/10 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NavigatorD83


	I hope they are working on other animations as well . Mainly the qb throwing the ball and the wr catching.

Yes I AGREE. Animations were very ugly at times in madden 10. I hope they really worked on Animations.

# 44 Valdarez @ 04/07/10 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wEEman33


	April - Tecmo Bowl May - Backbreaker July - NCAA August - Madden Football fans should have plenty to keep them busy this summer.

You had me at Tecmo Bowl.

# 45 Valdarez @ 04/07/10 04:45 PM

Good blog, locomotion definitely looks improved over prior years. The only thing I noticed was that in the first second, the 99 acceleration rated player jumped to a 2 yard lead in the first second. That means every 4.5 points = a 1 yard advantage. That seems a little much. Last year they made a big push to spread the ratings out. Lets hope that in the final game the acceleration rating will be spread out more so that it takes 20+ points (or more) to gain an extra yard in the first second.

Something else we have to keep in mind is how does it feel from a control standpoint. It's one thing to see it, it's another to play it and be able to judge whether the control is accurate or not. Only reason I bring this up is there are definitive problems from a control/responsiveness standpoint on the slower game settings and I hope the new locomotion engine doesn't suffer from the same problem.

# 46 DaveDQ @ 04/07/10 04:46 PM

This is something that I have been looking for for a long time. I'm interested to see how it plays out because while I really like some things in Madden, I feel the game engine is far too old and stagnant. Adding momentum could be a major positive.

# 47 adub88 @ 04/07/10 04:48 PM

Just out of curiosity, will there be any NFL talent doing some mo-cap for Madden '11?

# 48 Hova57 @ 04/07/10 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valdarez


	Good blog, locomotion definitely looks improved over prior years. The only thing I noticed was that in the first second, the 99 acceleration rated player jumped to a 2 yard lead in the first second. That means every 4.5 points = a 1 yard advantage. That seems a little much. Last year they made a big push to spread the ratings out. Lets hope that in the final game the acceleration rating will be spread out more so that it takes 20+ points (or more) to gain an extra yard in the first second. Something else we have to keep in mind is how does it feel from a control standpoint. It's one thing to see it, it's another to play it and be able to judge whether the control is accurate or not. Only reason I bring this up is there are definitive problems from a control/responsiveness standpoint on the slower game settings and I hope the new locomotion engine doesn't suffer from the same problem.

yea hopefully they can get it tweeked right that if your playing on normal or slow speed its the same.

# 49 rudyjuly2 @ 04/07/10 05:07 PM

I really like the emphasis on momentum and acceleration but that second video didn't really show me acceleration. It just looked like the one guy got a head start. I thought the one guy got a head start (like Seinfeld in the race) and as soon as he was spotted two yards the other guy started catching up. I think it would be better if it was spread out over 5 yards rather than being so tied to the first step and then have the faster guy gain ground. I'm sure it's still being fine-tuned but it's certainly a good step in the right direction.

Edit: same thoughts as Valderez

# 50 xanmank @ 04/07/10 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sniperhare


	Now if they fix blocking and improve the offseason of franchise mode* i will have little to complain about.*

Is that how you say "That's a Bingo?"

# 51 guaps @ 04/07/10 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valdarez


	Good blog, locomotion definitely looks improved over prior years. The only thing I noticed was that in the first second, the 99 acceleration rated player jumped to a 2 yard lead in the first second. That means every 4.5 points = a 1 yard advantage. That seems a little much. Last year they made a big push to spread the ratings out. Lets hope that in the final game the acceleration rating will be spread out more so that it takes 20+ points (or more) to gain an extra yard in the first second.

I though of the same. I hoped to see the 99 acc. receiver create a gap to the speedy receiver during the first 15-25 yards, but instead it looks more like locomotion just gives him a head start and he's unable to create a larger gap after that - I know the animations aren't final and launch day is months away, but still it's very noticeable.

Anyway one of my biggest concerns for Madden 11 is still player awareness, but I'm hoping that locomotion can/will affect how defenders reacts to a pass or player they can't seen coming? No more running full speed and jumping straight up in the air. Which makes me wonder if locomotion will affect jumping at all?

# 52 Mr_Riddick @ 04/07/10 05:22 PM

Good point.

# 53 Droopy03 @ 04/07/10 05:24 PM

This is a good look +1

# 54 Tengo Juego @ 04/07/10 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valdarez


	Good blog, locomotion definitely looks improved over prior years. The only thing I noticed was that in the first second, the 99 acceleration rated player jumped to a 2 yard lead in the first second. That means every 4.5 points = a 1 yard advantage. That seems a little much. Last year they made a big push to spread the ratings out. Lets hope that in the final game the acceleration rating will be spread out more so that it takes 20+ points (or more) to gain an extra yard in the first second.

This may, or may not, have something to do with it...

Quote:


	The animations aren't final (particularly the initial move that plays), and I still have some fine tuning to do on how we map the acceleration and speed ratings into our set of curves

The square stance looked a little odd to have those two players start out in. It's why it looked so strange.

I'm also with you on stretching the ratings. The difference from 95-99 speed should be a 1-3 yard advantage, but 90-99 is a too close of a gap.

# 55 shadthedad @ 04/07/10 05:51 PM

Good news for the Maddenites. People have been preaching for years that Madden need's some form of a physics based engine. Couple this with last year's pro-tack and this will be a solid Madden. I still believe Madden Armageddon (2012) is shaping up to be the Madden to end all Maddens.

# 56 noshun @ 04/07/10 05:52 PM

The vids were kinda weak. I guess it looked okay, but the running looked off. 2nd vid was much better.

# 57 huskerwr38 @ 04/07/10 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by o Mass Murda o


	i feel ya man. it does seem that way. i hate this lil feeling of optimism i just got cuz i been here before. i am a lil hyped tho. i just hope this doesnt go the way of the Community Day reportings of the changes they saw and the "Green Screen Vids", where things got dumbed down so much from the blogs that most of the stuff was unnoticeable, unrecognizable, or just flat out lost in transition. with all that said...looks good so far!! def a good start and i want to see where we go from here.

What "green screen vids" are you referring to? I don't think I was around here to hear about that.

# 58 shaneralphie1993 @ 04/07/10 06:01 PM

I just saw this.. it looks pretty good. hopefully it will work out like its supposed to be. AND I WISH I COULD HAVE A HIGH-RES PIC OF LT!!!!!!!!

# 59 huskerwr38 @ 04/07/10 06:02 PM

I hope the leg turnover is MUCH faster, it is too slow, even the 99 speed guy looks like he's lumbering down the field.

# 60 Valdarez @ 04/07/10 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guaps


	I though of the same. I hoped to see the 99 acc. receiver create a gap to the speedy receiver during the first 15-25 yards, but instead it looks more like locomotion just gives him a head start and he's unable to create a larger gap after that - I know the animations aren't final and launch day is months away, but still it's very noticeable.

I wonder if they will add break away burst in there like there's in APF2K8 where a player gets a short burst of speed. Players do this all the time, where you see a player run faster than a player you never thought they could out run.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guaps


	Anyway one of my biggest concerns for Madden 11 is still player awareness, but I'm hoping that locomotion can/will affect how defenders reacts to a pass or player they can't seen coming?

No way, that's the game AI/logic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guaps


	No more running full speed and jumping straight up in the air. Which makes me wonder if locomotion will affect jumping at all?

I believe they said that's one of the things they were hoping to solve. I think that's a combination of an animation + game AI issue (my best guess).

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