Madden 12 News Post

Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog: Tuner Sets and Surprise Onside Kicks

09:00 PM - February 6, 2011 by Steve_OS

The Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime blog is online. Tuner sets and surprise onside kicks are in.

Quote:


	""Tuner Sets", introduced in the NHL series and brought into NCAA Football last year, are hugely important to the development of sports games in that they allow us to tune and tweak many existing parts of game code without the major delay that comes from a full title update requiring 1st party console manufacturer approvals. A quick addition to my hacked surprise onside kick code made this feature easily tunable post-ship, and thus much safer against any exploits that may crop up. This isn't the only thing in the tuner sets obviously...we are in the process of moving as many items into these as possible, from gameplay tuning to franchise data to even presentation aspects. We are excited to the possibilities this will open up to our fans in being able to provide live feedback and having us act on it in near real-time. The days of shipping a disc in a box and forgetting about it are long gone, and we want to be at the forefront of blazing new trails in reacting to our audience and improving the game quickly."

Read the entire blog right here, along with a short video showing off the new surprise onside kick, in action.

UPDATE: The podcast is now on iTunes, for those that couldn't listen to it, via the blog.

EDIT: Per Ian Cummings

Quote:


	"RE: surprise onside, you pick a normal kickoff, then hit the B (or Circle) button as the last press on the meter. Your opponent has no clue!"

UPDATE #2: Via Ian

Quote:


	"Since so many people have asked...surprise onside as of today is only allowed 2x per team per game. That value is also in the tuner set."

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Member Comments

# 141 The GIGGAS @ 02/08/11 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hova57


	I believe EA should take on the role of making games that is true to the sport regardless of the fan base sector. Making the onside sneak on two times a game is great. Someone who isn't that up to date on this will try to do it more than twice . they should have illegal procedure penalty and tack 15 yards

But what you're suggesting isn't true to the sport. In real life, you can try as many onside kicks as you want. There is not a penalty against them.

# 142 greenegt @ 02/08/11 10:55 AM

I'm happy that they announced something so early in the year. Tuner sets are a great thing and the surprise onside kick is a nice gameplay add. The last few years, I've ended up alternating between NCAA and Madden as my football game for the year. This year is Madden's turn, and I've got high hopes for this year's title. Can't wait for more info.

# 143 sb24 @ 02/08/11 11:38 AM

As long as you have 3 types of kickreturns this wont be a problem. You should have onside recovery, safe return, full return. If a guys trys a surprise onside vs a safe return, he should lose 70-80% of the time. If he kicks deep while the guy is in a safe return, the return should be not be as effective as when you pick full return. Now if the guys pulls a surprise onside against a full return, he should get the ball 70-80% of the time.

# 144 johnprestonevans @ 02/08/11 11:45 AM

It continues to scare me how off the mark EA Tiburon is with their direction and focus with Madden. I know there are still 6 more months until the release of Madden 12, but seriously - to "kick off" details about your flagship game with surprise onside kicks and game tuning shows a frightening lack of ability to create some buzz among the community.

How often are we going to use surprise onside kicks in the game anyway? Aren't gameplay tuning sliders a fundamental requirement in all sports games these days? This is not a back-of-the-box feature we should get excited about. It simply helps us fix a broken game ourselves. Sure it is needed in this case, but talking about them now does not bid well for the game.

The worst part about this blog is what is NOT being said. Where is the big game changing feature or update? Call me impatient, but I would think that leading with your trump card and showing the community your dedication to fixing gameplay and presentation would garner our best expectations. I know there is a lot more to come, and I sincerely hope that EA is doing things to fix fundamental issues (animations, commentary, lack luster broadcast presentation) rather than adding tiny gimmicks again this year.

# 145 jeremym480 @ 02/08/11 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sb24


	As long as you have 3 types of kickreturns this wont be a problem. You should have onside recovery, safe return, full return. If a guys trys a surprise onside vs a safe return, he should lose 70-80% of the time. If he kicks deep while the guy is in a safe return, the return should be not be as effective as when you pick full return. Now if the guys pulls a surprise onside against a full return, he should get the ball 70-80% of the time.

I hope that's the way it is...

I also wonder if you can chose which side to do an onside to.. like left, right or down the middle.

Lastly, will the CPU do a surprise onside kick and if so, what logic is used in calculating that decision? Is it random or is it somehow factored into the a coach rating? Hopefully, a detailed blog about onside kicks and kickoff returns drop soon.

# 146 jeremym480 @ 02/08/11 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnprestonevans


	It continues to scare me how off the mark EA Tiburon is with their direction and focus with Madden. I know there are still 6 more months until the release of Madden 12, but seriously - to "kick off" details about your flagship game with surprise onside kicks and game tuning shows a frightening lack of ability to create some buzz among the community. How often are we going to use surprise onside kicks in the game anyway? Aren't gameplay tuning sliders a fundamental requirement in all sports games these days? This is not a back-of-the-box feature we should get excited about. It simply helps us fix a broken game ourselves. Sure it is needed in this case, but talking about them now does not bid well for the game. The worst part about this blog is what is NOT being said. Where is the big game changing feature or update? Call me impatient, but I would think that leading with your trump card and showing the community your dedication to fixing gameplay and presentation would garner our best expectations. I know there is a lot more to come, and I sincerely hope that EA is doing things to fix fundamental issues (animations, commentary, lack luster broadcast presentation) rather than adding tiny gimmicks again this year.

You said it.

# 147 johnprestonevans @ 02/08/11 11:57 AM

I just hope there are some FUNDAMENTAL improvements to this year's game. I'm tired of seeing a new coat of paint laid over a crumbling wall. Instead of hearing about a type of play that hardly ever gets called, it would be better to hear about how the kick returns themselves have been fixed. I'm sure there will be some bigger news in the months ahead. But unfortunately this initial blog does not get any hype going for me.

# 148 Senator Palmer @ 02/08/11 12:00 PM

If you want to limit the surprise onside to 2 a game for online matchups, then you gotta do what you gotta do, but I really hope there is no limit for offline games. Not that it's something I'm going to abuse -- heck, I could see myself not using it at all, but there's no limit in real life.

And I hope that when I'm playing against the CPU, it will attempt a surprise onside every now and again. Maybe, as others have mentioned, it could be tied to a coaching rating. Since they gave a 'swagger' rating to the players last year, maybe this year they can give a 'Bill Parcells Big Balls' Rating or something.

# 149 The GIGGAS @ 02/08/11 12:25 PM

# 150 jeremym480 @ 02/08/11 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRealHST


	So.....the big annoucement was....Onside Kick? ummm.... whatever, im done with Madden forvever....

Quote:

Originally Posted by fhhs63


	Making tuners only tells me one thing....the gameplay will be so bad that we'll need tuners.......

this statement tells me one thing.... You have no idea what tuners are.

# 151 MrSkagTrendy @ 02/08/11 12:29 PM

Where's the emotion from Philly? Where's the scramble of players fighting for the ball?

this is what it needs to look like!

# 152 KyGamerLT @ 02/08/11 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator Palmer


	If you want to limit the surprise onside to 2 a game for online matchups, then you gotta do what you gotta do, but I really hope there is no limit for offline games. Not that it's something I'm going to abuse -- heck, I could see myself not using it at all, but there's no limit in real life. And I hope that when I'm playing against the CPU, it will attempt a surprise onside every now and again. Maybe, as others have mentioned, it could be tied to a coaching rating. Since they gave a 'swagger' rating to the players last year, maybe this year they can give a 'Bill Parcells Big Balls' Rating or something.

No limit in real life because how many times do you actually see it a game? 2 time rule is great and still keeps the realism.

# 153 The GIGGAS @ 02/08/11 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyGamerLT


	No limit in real life because how many times do you actually see it a game? 2 time rule is great and still keeps the realism.

There shouldn't be an arbitrary limit, IMO. The risk involved should be enough to reduce the usage. That means that there has to be a very small chance of actually getting the ball back.

# 154 RGiles36 @ 02/08/11 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnprestonevans


	The worst part about this blog is what is NOT being said. Where is the big game changing feature or update? *Call me impatient*, but I would think that leading with your trump card and showing the community your dedication to fixing gameplay and presentation would garner our best expectations. I know there is a lot more to come, and I sincerely hope that EA is doing things to fix fundamental issues (animations, commentary, lack luster broadcast presentation) rather than adding tiny gimmicks again this year.

I usually agree with most of your points -- especially as it relates to presentation. But yeah, impatient is definitely fitting in this case. We were warned that it would be a small nugget, and that's exactly what it was. I too wish it was something substantial enough to chew on til the next information comes out, but that's not the way they market their game this far out.

# 155 TDogg09 @ 02/08/11 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgiles36


	I usually agree with most of your points -- especially as it relates to presentation. But yeah, impatient is definitely fitting in this case. We were warned that it would be a small nugget, and that's exactly what it was. I too wish it was something substantial enough to chew on til the next information comes out, but that's not the way they market their game this far out.

Which is because of this: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/114/1148006p1.html

They have no competition because no matter how good another football game is (even better than Madden), it can't compete with the NFL. Madden has no competition, therefore no need to tell us why we should buy the game yet (because they know a lot of people will get it anyway because of the license). They withhold the information to keep our interest in the only NFL option we have.

# 156 RGiles36 @ 02/08/11 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TDogg09


	Which is because of this: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/114/1148006p1.html They have no competition because no matter how good another football game is (even better than Madden), it can't compete with the NFL. Madden has no competition, therefore no need to tell us why we should buy the game yet (because they know a lot of people will get it anyway because of the license). *They withhold the information to keep our interest in the only NFL option we have.*

That, or because we're barely into the 2nd week of February.

# 157 Joborule @ 02/08/11 01:59 PM

Looking at the video again, is that chew up dirt on the ground once the camera changes? Maybe some love was given to the grass this year?

# 158 Hova57 @ 02/08/11 02:23 PM

if they put any emotion in the game they not goin to show it.

# 159 frankrizzo380 @ 02/08/11 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sb24


	As long as you have 3 types of kickreturns this wont be a problem. You should have onside recovery, safe return, full return. If a guys trys a surprise onside vs a safe return, he should lose 70-80% of the time. If he kicks deep while the guy is in a safe return, the return should be not be as effective as when you pick full return. Now if the guys pulls a surprise onside against a full return, he should get the ball 70-80% of the time.

this my friends, as long as there is a "ying to the yang" or a "left to the right" then there should be no worries from the off/online community at all.... now with that said, im sure im never gonna "normal kick" ever again lol. and praise sweet little 8lb 6oz baby Jesus for tuner sets, gotta love a game that will finnaly have unlimited tweaking capabilities, this was great (at times) for ncaa but its seams as though they were actually limited on what they felt like tuning i guess lol

# 160 econoodle @ 02/08/11 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRealHST


	So.....the big annoucement was....Onside Kick? ummm.... whatever, im done with Madden forvever....

1. Who said there was going to be a big announcement?

2. The announcement wasn't onside kicks, those were already in Madden.

3 Bye.

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