Madden NFL 25 News Post

Madden NFL 25 Video Interview: Total Control Passing, Ball Hawk, Interceptions & More

10:27 AM - July 2, 2013 by Steve_OS

MyMaddenPad has posted an interview with Madden NFL 25 Creative Director of Football Gameplay, Rex Dickson. Shopmaster and Rex discuss the tweaks that have been made in Total Control Passing, Ball Hawk, interceptions and more. Good info here.

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Member Comments

# 1 roadman @ 07/02/13 12:46 PM

Heck ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good find, Steve.

I love, right off the bat, Rex mentioned, typical of Madden in the past, we bring out a new feature and then drop it the next year. Now, we want to continue to improve features we introduce.

Good answer.

# 2 azdawgpound @ 07/02/13 01:02 PM

I agree with road im glad EA's not dropping the new stuff they added in and are fixing the bugs. I just hope with ball hawk and other new one they added in for db's wont make for ton's of int's like in 13. so hopefully they have both those tuned and bugs worked out. 25 sounds like it could be best madden in yrs if like stated they worked on things brought them and tuned them to work right.

# 3 NicVirtue @ 07/02/13 01:12 PM

I REALLY hope there is an option to turn the Ball Hawk feature off. I have no idea who really had a problem with going to catch the ball when you actually hit the catch button. I mean I understand that this game is for pick up and play fans too, but at least let us hardcore/simulation guys be able to turn the blasted thing off. Nothing infuriates me more than controlling a WR and watching him run past the ball not even TRYING to catch it. Adding to the fact that you can no longer strafe as a WR, making jump balls unrealistic and work more in the DB's favor. WR's turn around and face the ball in those situations and it shouldn't have been taken out the game due to the Rocket Catch. Instead of removing it, they should have looked to make it better and less cheesey. Now you have to hope and pray you get the right animation to box a DB out.

# 4 killerx2 @ 07/02/13 02:10 PM

I think this proves that the next gen will be much better imo. downgrading the ball hawk feature is fine, but the pass game should stay almost the same. it's great they admit their AI isn't good enough to deal with, but I heard the AI is much improved in the next gen.so imagine when the passing game becomes simulated almost to perfection.not in madden 25, but maybe in madden 15.until that point it's nice to see them taking out exploits.

# 5 NDAlum @ 07/02/13 02:55 PM

I loved every single word out of his mouth. As an unofficial leader of the "anti-lead passing crusade" I felt as though he was speakly directly to me!

# 6 Hiro1 @ 07/02/13 03:25 PM

Man I loved this interview. As a good ball hawk myself in previous maddens before ball hawk was implemented I felt My advantage on defense was slightly diminished. Happy it was toned down and add now you can branch out and go for the hit is amazing news.

Total passing one of my pet peeves. Nearly impossible to stop online. If the defensive player is on your intended target's inside shoulder lead outside and vice versa. Hearing him say TE streaks will no longer be an easy exploit is music to my ears. Give my Lbs the ability to jam and knock wrs/TEs and RBs off their route when the cross the middle and I will be in heaven.

# 7 Facts @ 07/02/13 04:07 PM

Absolutely love this Madden Dev team. Heard and seen nothing but great things since they came in in the middle of Madden 12.

# 8 strawberryshortcake @ 07/02/13 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NDAlum


	I loved every single word out of his mouth. As an unofficial leader of the "anti-lead passing crusade" I felt as though he was speakly directly to me!

Maybe I'm mistaken, but isn't lead passing essentially throwing the football to a spot in the field ahead of the receiver so he can go get it, instead of directly throwing the ball to where the receiver is at? Isn't lead passing basically used to throw the receiver open?

If so, how is lead passing a bad thing? Isn't lead passing realistic? If it's overpowering, then you have to program a smarter but a realistic defense.

The one thing I hated about Alex Smith (ex-49er's quarterback, now the Chief's new QB) was that he would never really lead his receiver. He would wait until the receiver was completely open before he would pull the trigger. Aaron Rodgers is one of those elite QBs that knows how to lead his receivers. He throws them open.

In other words, hypothetically, Alex Smith would have zero chance throwing against a Deion Sanders, a Darrelle Revis, lockdown corners because Alex Smith doesn't lead his receivers. Aaron Rodgers hypothetically would be able to pick those corners apart because he leads his receivers. Aaron Rodgers throws his receivers open.

I found this video years ago (NFL FEVER), isn't leading a receiver a realistic feature that needs to stay put and polished? Apparently in NFL Fever, you can literally throw the football to any spot on the field, and the receiver has to literally go get. You can probably start it at around the 2:20 mark. Also look at the 3:15 mark.

# 9 dghustla @ 07/02/13 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strawberryshortcake


	Maybe I'm mistaken, but isn't lead passing essentially throwing the football to a spot in the field ahead of the receiver so he can go get it, instead of directly throwing the ball to where the receiver is at? Isn't lead passing basically used to throw the receiver open? If so, how is lead passing a bad thing? Isn't lead passing realistic? If it's overpowering, then you have to program a smarter but a realistic defense. The one thing I hated about Alex Smith (ex-49er's quarterback, now the Chief's new QB) was that he would never really lead his receiver. He would wait until the receiver was completely open before he would pull the trigger. Aaron Rodgers is one of those elite QBs that knows how to lead his receivers. He throws them open. In other words, hypothetically, Alex Smith would have zero chance throwing against a Deion Sanders, a Darrelle Revis, lockdown corners because Alex Smith doesn't lead his receivers. Aaron Rodgers hypothetically would be able to pick those corners apart because he leads his receivers. Aaron Rodgers throws his receivers open. I found this video years ago (NFL FEVER), isn't leading a receiver a realistic feature that needs to stay put and polished? Apparently in NFL Fever, you can literally throw the football to any spot on the field, and the receiver has to literally go get. You can probably start it at around the 2:20 mark. Also look at the 3:15 mark.

They didn't say it was removed they said it was toned down. In real life if Jermichael Finley is running streak on the right hash. A. Rodgers does not throw the ball outside of the left hash and Finley breaks off his planned path completely to catch a ball thrown 5-10 yards to his left. in real football this does happen from time to time. But it's not something that teams are running routinely for hundreds of yards a game.

The post above me is correct. I'm hoping that with the ignite engine and the implementation of ball physics in NBA Live & FIFA that Madden is up next year. I think the madden determined that blocking was the most important thing to focus on in this cycle.

As previously noted hopefully on Gen 4 with the additional contextual AI calculations we'll see more adaptive coverage and lest robotic predictable coverage.

For Example when running Tampa 2 i'd like to see my MLB staying with the deeps middle threat instead of stopping because he is in a Yellow Zone.

# 10 dghustla @ 07/02/13 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by misterkrabz


	I have zero confidence that game play will different in any recognizable way. Unless my guy on defense jumps precisely when I hit the button they can tweak the AI all they want and it won't amount to much. All they're doing is programming the user control out of the game which is the exact opposite of what they need to do to make things right. The design is flawed and they just keep trying to polish a turd. The "ball hawk" feature is bad game design....all they have to do is make the player respond to user input and not try to program in canned responses to pass defense situations but they refuse to do it. Listen to the laundry list of "bugs" this guy mentions about' last years game. Those have been problems for 10 years. What is sad is they are incapable of recognizing them in development or they never would have been there. So no, I'm not holding my breath that we'll see anything all that different.

I agree that Ball Hawk takes the "user" out of a user interception. Did you watch the interview? The guy just acknowledged that there was a disconnect before. That once they added features, in the past that was it. Regardless of how many exploits came from it. He said moving forward that each year they are going reevaluate those features and make adjustments until they feel comfortable that there are no exploits. EA is not taking a loss on Madden but they are not maximizing Madden's profitability for the exclusive license. And they are taking a beating in public as being one of the worst companies in the US. I strongly feel that under this new leadership they are committed to making a better game with this current team. They are now partners with Microsoft, partnerships come with expectations and especially expectations of quality. EA knows they need to start delivering on GEN 4 right out the gate.

# 11 Bmore Irish @ 07/02/13 06:11 PM

Yea, hopefully by "toning down" the total control passing he means no more magical route adjustments. Totally kills realism in the passing game. Like others have mentioned, individual ball physics is the answer, but hopefully we'll at least be able to use total control passing in a realistic enough way this year.

# 12 NDAlum @ 07/02/13 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strawberryshortcake


	Maybe I'm mistaken, but isn't lead passing essentially throwing the football to a spot in the field ahead of the receiver so he can go get it, instead of directly throwing the ball to where the receiver is at? Isn't lead passing basically used to throw the receiver open? If so, how is lead passing a bad thing? Isn't lead passing realistic? If it's overpowering, then you have to program a smarter but a realistic defense

I'm assuming you did not play Madden 13 based on this post. Lead passing was poorly implemented and easily exploitable. I fully support lead passing based on QB/WR ability. Total control passing in Madden 13 was an exploitable gimmick that left the defense in the dust.

# 13 tril @ 07/03/13 01:37 AM

what does toning down the leadpassing actually mean. does that mean more incomplete passes or better AI.
and the ball hawk/interception feature should just be a manual catch button and also be used for receivers, not just for defense.

they could have just implemented this on the offensive side of the ball which would in turn make lead passing more difficult.

# 14 al2k4 @ 07/03/13 12:12 PM

on the ps2 version of madden there was a lead pass sensitivity option that allow you to put the ball any where around the wr but was dropped. It's tricky because both the QB and the WR isn't psychic and could lead to some unrealistic plays, like turning a deep route instantly to a 5 yard slant. Sometimes the defense just pick up the route and you got to look elsewhere, throw the ball away or eat a sack.

# 15 WFColonel56 @ 07/03/13 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tril


	what does toning down the leadpassing actually mean. does that mean more incomplete passes or better AI. and the ball hawk/interception feature should just be a manual catch button and also be used for receivers, not just for defense. they could have just implemented this on the offensive side of the ball which would in turn make lead passing more difficult.

Play the ncaa demo and it will tell you exactly what they mean by it. Its pretty easy to tell the diff between M13/NCAA 13 pass leading to NCAA14

# 16 infemous @ 07/03/13 01:05 PM

Sounds promising but the talk of 'bugs' are embarrassing. The ball hawk feature is a bug in itself. It needs to be dependent on ratings to be worthwhile. The angle a player takes to that ball needs to be dependent on their ability. The triangle and L1 button should be amalgamated too. Just hit triangle. If a player has bad awareness they may go for the INT they won't be able to make. If a player has good awareness and isn't in position to make an INT, they will deflect the ball.

A player with bad ratings will not be as effective as a player with good ratings any more.

Also, DBs need to be able to be hit hard and made to drop the ball. WRs need to be able to box DBs out too, so that physical things such as size and strength, catching ability, intelligence etc. etc. actually are taken into account.

DBs need to be forced to live within our laws of physics and not be able to jump 4 foot high while trailing the WR by 3 yards and blindly pluck a ball out of the air.

# 17 roadman @ 07/03/13 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infemous


	Sounds promising but the talk of 'bugs' are embarrassing. The ball hawk feature is a bug in itself. It needs to be dependent on ratings to be worthwhile. The angle a player takes to that ball needs to be dependent on their ability. The triangle and L1 button should be amalgamated too. Just hit triangle. If a player has bad awareness they may go for the INT they won't be able to make. If a player has good awareness and isn't in position to make an INT, they will deflect the ball. A player with bad ratings will not be as effective as a player with good ratings any more. Also, DBs need to be able to be hit hard and made to drop the ball. WRs need to be able to box DBs out too, so that physical things such as size and strength, catching ability, intelligence etc. etc. actually are taken into account. DBs need to be forced to live within our laws of physics and not be able to jump 4 foot high while trailing the WR by 3 yards and blindly pluck a ball out of the air.

I don't feel the talk of bugs is embarrassing at all.

I'd rather they admit it instead of sweeping it under the carpet as they did in the past.

Agree with everyting else in the post.

# 18 infemous @ 07/03/13 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	I don't feel the talk of bugs is embarrassing at all. I'd rather they admit it instead of sweeping it under the carpet as they did in the past. Agree with everyting else in the post.

Sorry I didn't really make it clear in my post, but the fact that everything is being admitted to as being a bug is embarrassing. How can they ship a game with so many fundamental 'bugs'?

It seems that calling an oversight a 'bug' is more acceptable to EA, while to me, it isn't. A bug and a bad creative decision are as bad as each other and should not be in the game.

I want EA to own up to legacy issues and actually fix them, not call poorly implemented features, bad design or whatever a bug, try and give it a quick fix and then carry on adding more poorly tested and implemented things into the game.

I want them to reveal what each rating and each slider does. Right now, we are all guessing. As developers, they should include that info in the goddam manual.

Thanks for agreeing with everything else in my post tho! Excuse the poor grammar lol

# 19 roadman @ 07/03/13 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infemous


	Sorry I didn't really make it clear in my post, but the fact that everything is being admitted to as being a bug is embarrassing. How can they ship a game with so many fundamental 'bugs'? It seems that calling an oversight a 'bug' is more acceptable to EA, while to me, it isn't. A bug and a bad creative decision are as bad as each other and should not be in the game. I want EA to own up to legacy issues and actually fix them, not call poorly implemented features, bad design or whatever a bug, try and give it a quick fix and then carry on adding more poorly tested and implemented things into the game. I want them to reveal what each rating and each slider does. Right now, we are all guessing. As developers, they should include that info in the goddam manual. Thanks for agreeing with everything else in my post tho! Excuse the poor grammar lol

Don't worry about grammar on a messageboard, no grammar police from me.

As far as the manual, I think every game has been cutting back on those.

Heck, ratings and sliders would be nice to be explained.

I did like Rex though admitting they were bugs from the previous year and trying to fix them instead of the past and just ignoring that stuff and moving on the next new great feature.

That's where I was coming from on that note.

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Madden NFL 25 Video Interview: Total Control Passing, Ball Hawk, Interceptions & More