As an Art Director it’s important to me that the game look as realistic as possible. The user should look at our game and compare it to what they see on TV every Sunday. When we started this cycle we knew Madden was already a good-looking game, but we wanted to reach an even higher level of quality.
We started by bringing NCAA’s HDR lighting and dynamic exposure system over, but applying it in a more realistic, true to broadcast way. The dynamic exposure will improve presentation by exposing the game similar to the way professionals shoot the action on Sunday. To be clear, this is just a way to allow more or less light in to our virtual camera so we can better display the great details in the game. A Multi-Vector lighting system was added on top of the HDR to represent a more realistic lighting model, especially at night when the artificial lighting hits the players from a lot of different directions.
Fortunately the new presentation elements don’t just pertain to the on the field action. A new “home” hub menu system has been added that keeps you up to date with all of the latest news and happenings all across the Madden NFL Universe. The menu system itself has been overhauled throughout the game and provides a more streamlined “social media” feel that is easier to navigate and much more user friendly. The team has adopted a more futuristic approach to the menu system and animations which is both bold and appealing to the eyes as it brings all of the aspects relevant to sports gaming and places them all in one easy to understand and use hub. These changes are immediately obvious to any longtime fan of the Madden NFL series.
^^ chill dude, they already said that they included new facemasks if you watch the webcast for NCAA 13. They said they added new Revo Speed QB face masks.
Man I truly hope they added new adidas and under armour cleats as well...they might as well add adidas, under armour, and nike gloves...it can't be that hard...at least I think. Lookin' at reggie bush wearing offensive linemen cleats gets annoying.
That Seahawks pic is a thing of beauty. Still bugs me that we don't have the ability to take in-game photos like in NCAA and other sports games.
Good news on the menus, too. Honestly, that was one of the biggest turn-offs to Franchise Mode for me last year. The menus were horrible. You had to press a button just to access the menu and then whatever you were doing (looking at stats, editing depth charts), you were bounced completely out of the Franchise Menu and had to start all over again. Too many button presses made it annoying to really dig around and look at team and individual stats.