Madden NFL 16 News Post

Madden NFL 16: Quarterback Play Gets Reworked

05:27 PM - June 15, 2015 by Steve_OS

The ground game has gotten quite a bit of attention in the past couple of years from the development team of Madden NFL. This year, its the passing game's turn -- as detailed on a new blog from EA Sports.

Quote:


	"Air Supremacy revolutionizes passing and catching on both sides of the ball with new user and AI mechanics. There is also a new multiplayer catch interaction system with more than 400 new two-player catch animations with a wide variety of outcomes."

What This Means: EA appears to be bringing it on both sides of the ball when it comes to the passing game. Everything about QB and WR play seems to have been reworked. This starts with a new handoff system that will hopefully fix a lot of the longstanding issues with play-action and quick passing plays. The handoffs themselves should look much better too.

Also new this year is a new quarterback locomotion system. These new mechanics are going to enable you to roll out to pass, or basically roll-out in a passing stance. This will keep you from suffering a huge accuracy drop off as throwing on the run will. You'll be able to toggle between pocket passing, rolling out, or scrambling with a single button push as well.

Computer QB AI Gets Reworked

Quote:


	"For many players, the most requested change for Madden NFL 16 was an overhaul to the CPU QB AI. We spent several years developing a new AI architecture called �Behavior Coordinator,� which allows us to create a more granular set of behaviors to a given situation. This not only helps deliver the most challenging CPU QB�s to date, but also creates a clear distinction between different types of QB�s. The game you get from Tom Brady (pocket passer) is dramatically different than the behavior you will see from dual threats like Mariota or Newton. Each style of QB will now react to situations differently, based on their traits."

What This Means: Hopefully there is going to be a much greater distinction running an offense with Peyton Manning vs. running an offense with Cam Newton. That's what we hope this means. We'll see, in execution, how this plays out on the field. EA is claiming this has changed how the AI calls plays, how it perceives pressure, how it manages situations in-game -- along with robo QB and a dink-and-dunk offense.

The new passing mechanic of the body-relative throws will add an additional layer as well.

What do you think of the potentially improved quarterback play in Madden NFL 16?

Game: Madden NFL 16Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / PS4 / Xbox 360 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 24 - View All

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Member Comments

# 21 roadman @ 06/16/15 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ


	OK, I've got to give some props to the Madden team for listening to the SIM community! We've been asking for several of these game improvements for years, so nice to see that our words haven't fallen on deaf ears and that the development crew is really invested in making these changes happen. The crew at Tiburon has deserved to get knocked for some of the decisions made over the years, so I think it's only right to pat them on the back when they do something well. I didn't see a mention about signature throwing motions ... JP or anyone else that's seen the game, do you know if those are in Madden 16?

This right here, this was my point about penalites too and it's just not penalities that have been upgraded. Again, if everything works as advertised.

# 22 jpdavis82 @ 06/16/15 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ


	OK, I've got to give some props to the Madden team for listening to the SIM community! We've been asking for several of these game improvements for years, so nice to see that our words haven't fallen on deaf ears and that the development crew is really invested in making these changes happen. The crew at Tiburon has deserved to get knocked for some of the decisions made over the years, so I think it's only right to pat them on the back when they do something well. I didn't see a mention about signature throwing motions ... JP or anyone else that's seen the game, do you know if those are in Madden 16?

I'm not sure on that, I just know like Clint said there are some new mechanics.

# 23 tnixen @ 06/16/15 02:18 PM

QB signature throwing motions would be fantastic

NFL2K had wonderful QB Drop Backs and it's about time Madden did too!!

# 24 FreeGordon12 @ 06/16/15 02:59 PM

Did it really? Because in that e3 vid the way Big Ben threw that pass to Antonio looked so damn cringeworthy. Animations are still buns!

# 25 Malcd9583 @ 06/17/15 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpdavis82


	I'm not sure on that, I just know like Clint said there are some new mechanics.

Well as I read through post after post on this site the one question nobody really asked you was, I wanted to know if the bad qbs still make inaccurate passes like in madden 15? I sure hope they didn't remove it.

# 26 adriano @ 06/19/15 02:11 PM

Question for anyone who played the game at e3. We're you able to throw the ball away from the safeties? I hate when you aim for a open area, and the pass is still thrown at the safety..

# 27 Datninja619 @ 06/19/15 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Smif


	From what ive seen in the GT gameplay video, dropbacks seem to look better but releases are still bad.

Yes, yes. The way the ball comes off the QB hands is not in sync. I know that's a picky complaint, but it is what it is.

# 28 ggsimmonds @ 06/19/15 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Smif


	From what ive seen in the GT gameplay video, dropbacks seem to look better but releases are still bad.

Is that the video where Kap takes a stupid sack immediately after Rex said they improved QB AI?

As an offline CFM guy, improved QB play is arguably more important than the bigger features they have announced. When I heard about it it was almost enough to put me back in the buy camp, but then I saw that sack and it made me wait. Granted, I have not watched all the gameplay vids but I am unsure of how much of an improvement we will see.

# 29 jpdavis82 @ 06/19/15 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggsimmonds


	Is that the video where Kap takes a stupid sack immediately after Rex said they improved QB AI? As an offline CFM guy, improved QB play is arguably more important than the bigger features they have announced. When I heard about it it was almost enough to put me back in the buy camp, but then I saw that sack and it made me wait. Granted, I have not watched all the gameplay vids but I am unsure of how much of an improvement we will see.

I may be wrong, but doesn't Kaepernick turn his back to the pass rush in that video after he avoids the first sack? If that's the case, there's no way he could realistically see that coming from behind him.

# 30 mjavon @ 06/19/15 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggsimmonds


	Is that the video where Kap takes a stupid sack immediately after Rex said they improved QB AI? As an offline CFM guy, improved QB play is arguably more important than the bigger features they have announced. When I heard about it it was almost enough to put me back in the buy camp, but then I saw that sack and it made me wait. Granted, I have not watched all the gameplay vids but I am unsure of how much of an improvement we will see.

While that sack was bad, it is the one instance I've seen of a cpu taking a "bad" sack. Overall I don't think it will happen very often at all. You can't expect the game to be smart 100% of the time. I'm more than happy with 95% of the time.

# 31 ggsimmonds @ 06/19/15 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpdavis82


	I may be wrong, but doesn't Kaepernick turn his back to the pass rush in that video after he avoids the first sack? If that's the case, there's no way he could realistically see that coming from behind him.

No, in this vid he drops back, stands perfectly still, then runs himself right into a sack when there was no immediate pressure. It was a perfect example from last year where a QB would create sacks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjavon


	While that sack was bad, it is the one instance I've seen of a cpu taking a "bad" sack. Overall I don't think it will happen very often at all. You can't expect the game to be smart 100% of the time. I'm more than happy with 95% of the time.

You may be right, but my single biggest issue with madden last year was the sack issue and EA's handling of it. So that is what I am on the lookout for. It is like if they say they mostly fixed warping, but then you see an instance of warping. Sure it might be an aberration, but we don't want to get burned again.

The play the AI was running was smash. All options were covered, but part of the improved AI should deal with that. Kap is a mobile QB, in real life he would move around in the pocket (if not take off running) to try to create something. Instead he just stood there.
On a unrelated note this is also why I am not a fan of plays with symmetry. If the smash is not there on one side than more often than not it will not be there on the other side. Hence we get freezing QBs. In my games I usually run a smash/curl flat combo

# 32 The JareBear @ 06/19/15 08:22 PM

I agree.

The issue isn't just that Kap took a weird sack, it's that it was such an issue last year that we can't help but be a little worried about seeing it happen again, even if it's just once in all the E3 vids

# 33 ggsimmonds @ 06/19/15 09:13 PM

In fairness I just watched the video of the Giants vs the Titans and gotta say...AI QB looks amazing. That video put me leaning towards a buy lol.

I'll probably switch my stance 50 more times until release.

# 34 Enigmatic52 @ 06/21/15 10:58 PM

I'm big on QB animations ever since playing All Pro-Football. Those animations are the only reason I fire it up every now and then. Then QB passing is just so addictive. So ever since then, the QB animations have been make or break for me.

The Drop Backs are much improved. Especially the play action and hand offs. But the throwing motions are still unpleasant to look at. It's an eye sore.

# 35 CaliDude916 @ 06/22/15 05:47 AM

I agree with others that QB throwing motions look bad. I could have swore authentic QB throwing motions were added a few years back? Did they remove them? Not really a big issue, but definitely an eye sore to see.

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