Madden NFL 15 News Post

It's 2014, And Madden's AI Is Still Playing on Rookie

08:55 PM - November 20, 2014 by RaychelSnr

Things are bad when you’re practically begging for the CPU to put up a stop.

It was the 12th time that drive I had run the same play: HB Dive right up the center. My Eagles had a significant lead, and I wanted the opposing defense to force me to pass the ball. As you may have already guessed, that never came to fruition.

On that 12th play, LeSean McCoy cruised into the endzone for a touchdown. Why was it so easy? Because despite my repetition in the playcalling, the CPU refused to stack the box. Better yet, they would often spread their defensive line in a QB contain. Why? Why wouldn’t they try and stop me, when I’m making it so very easy for them?

The answer is simple: Madden’s AI doesn’t adapt. This is more prevalent in the playcalling than anywhere else, and it’s especially noticeable as the game carries on. No matter the score, no matter the time left on the clock, the CPU fails to adapt defensively.

What a shame it is, that in the year 2014 we still have to abide by house rules and dumb ourselves down to the CPU’s level.

It’s 2014, and Madden’s AI is still wrong.

Game: Madden NFL 15Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / PS4 / Xbox 360 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 42 - View All

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Member Comments

# 1 charter04 @ 11/20/14 09:48 PM

Is that on All pro or All Madden?

# 2 kjcheezhead @ 11/20/14 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charter04


	Is that on All pro or All Madden?

Honestly, he ran hb dive 12 times in a row. Should it really matter if it's on all pro or all madden? What makes it worse it that EA touts adaptive ai as a new feature seemingly every year.

# 3 Gorilla Glass @ 11/20/14 10:09 PM

That's funny because if I run the same run play continuously, my running backs cough up the ball.

Maybe the game is different for lower tiered teams.

# 4 mike24forever @ 11/20/14 10:15 PM

If only my WR would fight for balls thrown to them. I play in the S.O.S. League and we don't switch when the ball is in the air, and they look like deer in headlights watching CB's and SS's catching the ball.

# 5 charter04 @ 11/20/14 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	Honestly, he ran hb dive 12 times in a row. Should it really matter if it's on all pro or all madden? What makes it worse it that EA touts adaptive ai as a new feature seemingly every year.

It matters because when I play on all madden it seems like the CPU knows what I'm running a lot of times. It is still messed up. The CPU doesn't adjust enough and aren't "smart". I play most of my games against humans in a OL CFM so I don't have to deal with most of the worst stuff.

# 6 Jarodd21 @ 11/20/14 11:23 PM

It adapts to almost everything else besides running plays up the middle. For some reason the DTs won't shed any blocks against the run up the middle. They shed blocks up the middle against passes.. I'm hoping to see one last patch to address that issue and the USER pass coverage.

# 7 BadAssHskr @ 11/20/14 11:50 PM

I dont know, but im basically toast aftet that Chiefs game.....

# 8 Fist Of Kings @ 11/21/14 12:09 AM

A major problem that I feel is overlooked mainly because of how bad the qb sack issue is, but I feel it's just as game breaking. When I first got the game, I thought it was 'tough' to run, mainly because I did mostly inside runs where defenders would make tackles through their blocks, or gaping wholes closed as soon as I accelerated. But the ai couldn't handle outside runs, especially in a 2 te set.

It was an easy 150 yards a game. If defense worked properly, I would have to mix up my playcalling, but instead in this game I would purposely 'mix' it up with inside runs just to help out the ai. So now we're dealing with highly accurate robo qbs across the board, yet they even nullify that by taking sack after sack, killing their own drives so they struggle to score. Then on defense they can't even make basic adjustments, so they give up a lot of points, meaning that for us offline players we're dealing with a broken game that is too easy and you have to house rule yourself, and even then it's not enough.

I shouldn't have to house rule myself with a game that comes out every year and said this was the smartest playing madden ever. 3rd and inches? They're not pinching their lineman. I motion my TE left?(the strength of my O-line) They randomly shift to the right or do nothing despite the obvious disadvantage that the defense is in. They hyped 'new' features like the tackle cone, which is just a tackle prompt and button change to what we had before, while ignoring that this game can't make basic defensive adjustments, even worse that much older football games can.

In the link below, they hype the improved ai, but I often saw the opposite, like my defenders swatting balls even though they were in a position to go for the pick.

http://www.easports.com/madden-nfl/n...e-player-sense

# 9 kingsofthevalley @ 11/21/14 06:33 AM

I was having this same problem because I really like to play smash mouth, up the gut football. What seems to have worked for me, is the reduction of the Run Block slider. I'm currently set at 15, and might drop it down to 10. Last game I played, I averaged 2-4 yards up the middle with an occasional 6-8

# 10 @marcusjiles @ 11/21/14 12:28 PM

Wow, you read the NHL roster post, then come read this... It's... maddening lol. How does this happen and nobody has to answer for it?

# 11 BenGerman @ 11/21/14 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charter04


	Is that on All pro or All Madden?

I was playing on All-Madden, at the time. I haven't played enough of All-Pro to know if it makes a difference, but I'll look into it.

# 12 EarthboundMysfit @ 11/21/14 06:07 PM

I beat the CPU 77-0 on All-Pro, the other day using only 2 plays on offense and one play on defense. Ravens Wheel and HB Dive on O, and Will Sam Safety Blitz on D.

My usual spread is not even 30 points, when I mix up play calling. So to use the same exact plays over and over, yet more than double my spread was interesting, to say the least.

Another log in the OP's fire, from my perspective(with my experiment). I mean, Completing 80% of my passes with one singular play is and should be an embarrassment to the EA Tiburon Dev. Team, in this day and age.

# 13 Eddie1967 @ 11/21/14 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRealHST


	Why do people think 2K would magically fix this after not making a football game in 6 or 7 years, like they will just swoop and and solve everything. Doesnt work that way just look at NBA Live playing catch up.

It's not about fixing anything it's about adding competition. I am not a live fan and EA does have a reputation of putting out a bad effort regardless of the competition but it would at least give consumers another option. The sad part is the other games did things that mimicked real football that Madden still doesn't do and that is sad.

# 14 Fall_DIFH @ 11/22/14 12:26 AM

This isn't like the live series where it was stopped because it was just far inferior to 2k and the fans eventually played the better game. 2k football had things that still don't exist in Madden today way back in 2005 like the option to choose what you wanted to challenge on a particular play for instance.

2K stopped making football because of the license, not because it was falling behind like Live did. It had the ability to customize draft classes and a weekly gameplan prep in franchise mode nearly a decade before Madden did.

# 15 CaseIH @ 11/22/14 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRealHST


	Why do people think 2K would magically fix this after not making a football game in 6 or 7 years, like they will just swoop and and solve everything. Doesnt work that way just look at NBA Live playing catch up.

Exactly, and 2k isnt the same company it once was either that tried to do right by the customer. I never thought I would say this, but 2k has passed up EA on the scumbag list. Just look at how the NBA2k team has shafted the old gen users, yet oddly enough EA has supported Madden on the old gen game and patch issues. Granted it could and should be better than it is, but I will give EA credit for doing something. Back in the day when 2k was trying to make a name for themselves they were all about the gamer, but the last few years especially the last 2 they have lost all morals. Now Gameplay wise NBA2k on the old gen plays a very good game, but so did NBA2k14, and 15 is just a roster update of 14, with a few new animations, and a slight tweak defensively in a good way. But the game has issues, and it has issues that have been revelant for a few years now yet they refuse to fix it or acknowledge it.

I actually quit buying Madden a few years ago because of how poor it was and alogn with how EA did things, but overall I have enjoyed Madden15 with the right slider tweaks of course. Its far from perfect and the issue in this thread are definitely problems, although i dont have a easy time winning games against the AI, and actually stuggle quite often, but I have made it harder with sliders, plus I havent played Madden in a few years so Ims ure that has made a difference. Along with the fact that my health I know plays a part in me struggling to win at times.

I do think more than 1 company making a game is a good thing, because it makes companies step up their game and want to do right by its customers. I think thats why the NBA2k crew went from doing things right, to screwing its customers, because they have no competition. But anyone thinks that 2k after being out of football for a while now could come right in an even come close to competing against Madden is just fooling themselves. I do wish there was another company that would get into football again, but it would be atelast a few years before they were capable of competing against Madden.

I will say this while Im know nothing about making video games, my guess is out of all the sports games football is probably the hardest to make, just because of what all goes on in each and every play, where as basketball does have plays it dont have the action nor the contact in any play of that like football, and baseball is probably the easiest game of all to make, although 2k could never get baseball right, or even close to being average even,lol, thankfully we have MLBTS for baseball

# 16 kjcheezhead @ 11/22/14 10:52 AM

Just for the hell of it, I tried this myself on all madden, Packers (me) vs Vikings. I ran the hb dive out of the shotgun flex doubles formation and got the exact results as the OP. 12 plays, 72 yard touchdown drive on the first drive of the game.

3rd down is when I broke my longest runs. Minnesota would switch to a 3 downline man set and edge rush opening huge holes when I only needed 3 or 4 yards. They even did it on the 12th play, 3rd and goal from the 1.

# 17 tanchl @ 11/22/14 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRealHST


	Why do people think 2K would magically fix this after not making a football game in 6 or 7 years, like they will just swoop and and solve everything. Doesnt work that way just look at NBA Live playing catch up.

You have missed the point entirely. It's about the competition. 2k could just release their game from '04 or '07 and it would be good enough. When competitors are forced to "one-up" one another, it's only going to benefit the consumer. We video game consumers have been absolutely fleeced these past 10 years.

# 18 Fist Of Kings @ 11/22/14 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanchl


	You have missed the point entirely. It's about the competition. 2k could just release their game from '04 or '07 and it would be good enough. When competitors are forced to "one-up" one another, it's only going to benefit the consumer. We video game consumers have been absolutely fleeced these past 10 years.

Exactly, and the 'fixes'(if we get them and if they work) are probably a lot slower since they are the only company that can make nfl games and have milked that license for all it's worth.

Despite being a known problem, look how long it has taken ea to address wr/db interactions...which they are saving for madden 16. Then they came out and dismiss the obvious qb holding on to the ball problem as an issue. I wouldn't deal with this mess if there were competition, I'd just play the other game. Live, like Madden has also been terrible, but they've canceled games because it's competitor were so far ahead and able to put out good games. The only reason madden hasn't done this is that there is no competition. You either play madden, or nothing at all.

# 19 Trackball @ 11/23/14 08:45 PM

Why should they fix this?

Who's going to compete?

/cynicmode

# 20 fistofrage @ 11/24/14 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	Things are bad when you’re practically begging for the CPU to put up a stop. It was the 12th time that drive I had run the same play: HB Dive right up the center. My Eagles had a significant lead, and I wanted the opposing defense to force me to pass the ball. As you may have already guessed, that never came to fruition. On that 12th play, LeSean McCoy cruised into the endzone for a touchdown. Why was it so easy? Because despite my repetition in the playcalling, the CPU refused to stack the box. Better yet, they would often spread their defensive line in a QB contain. Why? Why wouldn’t they try and stop me, when I’m making it so very easy for them? The answer is simple: Madden’s AI doesn’t adapt. This is more prevalent in the playcalling than anywhere else, and it’s especially noticeable as the game carries on. No matter the score, no matter the time left on the clock, the CPU fails to adapt defensively. What a shame it is, that in the year 2014 we still have to abide by house rules and dumb ourselves down to the CPU’s level. It’s 2014, and Madden’s AI is still wrong.

I agree with your comments on this issue, the lack of penalties, and other issues. My question in why did you give it such a high score?

The game honestly deserves around a 5. This is 2014, the franchise has been around 20 years and this still feels like a first or second year effort.

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It's 2014, And Madden's AI Is Still Playing on Rookie