What needs to be done: Madden 13 - schnaidt1's Blog

schnaidt1's Blog

What needs to be done: Madden 13

Posted on October 29, 2011 at 08:33 PM.

(10)

i know there are alot of these all over threads and so on. but i feel the majority of them are strictly repeating the same things we want over and over again, which yes are necessary, and i will post them in this also. but i just dont see many people posting anything very creative ideas for the game, if they do they are very vague or would never be seen done. so my goal is to break down the madden game and list additions i think are necessary for madden 13 to join the likes of nba 2k11 and mlb the show.

GAMEPLAY:

- foot planting/cuts: foot planting needs to be instituted in this game, i know they added locomotion for madden 11 but without footplanting, people just take players and run and move them around so fast and in ways that a real human can not do.

-the entire passing game: lets be honest, passing is dull in madden. all anyone does is run quick slants, screens, or verticles. but why do they do it? cuz thats really the only thing that truly works properly. there is no trajectory on the passes. i understand if its a bullet pass but on just regular throws. i lineback will jump up and swat a pass down intended for a receiver more than 10 yards behind him. not to mention the lead passing is horrendous. i swear if i see another year of madden with that stupid animation where the ball has been thrown behind the receiver so he does that stupid turn and catch. all over the field. doesnt matter field position, they do it. THESE ARE NFL QBS. it should not happen that much. and when it does, they should have animations for it that look smoother after the catch.

that leads me to my next point for passing. we need true lead/route based passing. similar to that of all pro 2k8. the passing in that game is so true and pure.

-Interactions: we need better Oline and Dline and Wr and CB interactions, the ones in the game are just piss poor.

-PENALTIES, PENALTIES, PENALTIES: apparently the folks at ea sports only believe that holding, clipping, and facemask are penalties that happen. there is no pass interference, no illegal contact after 5 yards, no DEFENSIVE holding, no intentional grounding, no illegal hands to the face, no block in the back (clipping is block in the back below the waist). this is a game made to mimic the nfl, how can we not have all the penalities in the game. no just listed as a slider, but actually work!!

TENDENCIES: player traits was an "ok" start. but it really isnt that great. what needs to be added is player tendencies. something u only see on the player edit screen. what you do is make a scale of 0-100. and give each player a rating for how often they hold, the get pass interference, they drop passes, they make sideline catches, they fumble, they throw interceptions, they get beat on a pass rush or by a wr, they jump the route, they bite on play action, they throw short or medium or long passes, what receiver they throw to most, how often they tuck and run, etc. they list can go on and on for tendencies for players that can really incorporate a whole new feel to the game. here is the best part. DPP effects these. based on how they player is doing. this rating can fluctuate by up to say 20 points in either direction.

player traits are okay, but they are just way to vague, and waaay too few. think about it. now when u play a qb like sanchez. his tendency would be pretty high to throw short passes. so you can scheme ur defense to do that when playing him.

IMMERSION: immersion is what i feel really gets us in the game instead of playing it. alot of things can help get someone immersed into the game. and on the next gen i just feel like this is an area where i feel like madden needs some help.

-COMMENTARY: ok yes, this is the obvious one. we need commentary that has the same audio the whole game, no repeated lines a whole game, how bout saying the players name? or commentary that makes sense. fact is we need commentary that of the likes of nba 2k and mlb the show.

PRESENTATION- ok yea madden did broadcast cam. but other then that, everything got dull quickly. like the intros? 2 players...thats it? really. and the same 2 everytime? and half the nfl the announcer doesnt even say their names? u can tell it was a 1/2 crap job. personally i think they keep the players running out of the tunnel (need to add more then 11 guys running out however). after that kick to some cool cut screens of the qb warming up. or key players stretching. that is waht they do in real nfl broadcasts. then show the entire starting line up during the game. talk abuot more than 1 player. talk bout if a rookie is starting. etc. do this for both teams. also. we need way more stat banners, and better ones. the in game stat banners are far too rare and weak. i want an improvement on that. i also want season stats for other players so far, or how they did in the previous game. previous matchup with this team if its a division rival. comparision between so far this year and last year. play off race. division race. there is soo much to add and talk about to make us feel immersed in the game.

another thing we need is scores from around the league. do a lil box that constantly updates scores like they have in real life. or do a ticker that comes up every few minutes. if playing a later game. highlight the days big time performers.

crowd chants need to be redone. u can tell its like 20 ppl. it sounds bad.

DYNAMIC WEATHER!!!

pre snap play: this one is big for me as a guy who played qb. the animations madden has for a qb making audibles and audjustments are pitiful compared to what u see in college or nfl. watch any qb play. they are leaning forward. they are talking to a player. pointing thins out. motioning with their hands for a player to go in motion. i wanna see and hear way more from the qb when he is making adjustments. speaking of which. we need to have way more hot route options, especially to dictate a diff between a tight end and a runninback and where they are at on the field. we also need way more audible options. the lack of audibles is sad. formation audibles would be a very nice addition too.

formation subs. this is a must!!

FRANCHISE/IMMERSION

CHEMISTRY: team chemistry is huge part of the nfl these days. give a team a ovr team chemistry rating. that rating will help determine how well they play as a unit on the field. aahh but the real addition is sub chemistry categories. example: wr core, offensive line, secondary, linebackers, d line, special teams, qb with his wr core.

ok why add this? well because people love making trades in franchise. and in some ways u can really cheat the cpu into getting trades that really benefit the user in a long run. now when u make any trades or any player leaves ur team. if he had a major role. you will see chemistry take a hit for that area. so if your team changes qbs. it may take a few games for the qb to get a chemistry with his wrs going. this will help you feel what its like to have ur team grow as a unit. or what its like when mass overhauls need to be made.

an extention onto this is knowledge of the playbook. this works both defensively and offensively. first. a new attribute needs to be added. we can call it "learning" or something. anyway. what this does and affects is all rookies. and any player making it to a new team. or if a new coach is brought in. ex. based on a players learning rating, it will set how fast he learns the new playbook. (this also makes preseason a lot more important to play cuz as a user if you play, you get a learning boost) so lets say a team goes and grabs a new wr in the offseason, or signs him from the free agent market after week 2. he bring him in. say his learning rating is a 72. u choose to play him in your week 3 game. for his rating and his 1 week with the team. say he has a knowledge of 12 plays. what that means is u can call those 12 plays when he is in the game and he will know what to do. but if u call a play he doenst know, he will run the wrong route. this also adds a whole new dynamic to trading players. u can see ur team take a hit in the chemistry area but also in knowledge of playbook. same thing. if a new defensive coordinator comes in. it may take a while for your team to adjust to the new defenseive scheme. all this is true to the nfl....oh hey, that line sounds familiar.

player morale should be added, players want to be traded, or want new contracts, etc. we saw it this offseason with carson palmer, chris johnson, we see it with matt forte and etc. morale should be included and depending on the players morale, give him either a boost or decrease in his personal ratings. and depending on how serious it is, give your chemistry a hit.

trade logic has to be improved. the cpu never offers trades, never counter offers. never accepts future draft pics. wont tell you what it wants for a player. nothing. i know trades arent a huge part of the nfl. but it doesnt mean this area can be left the way it is.

scouting took a slight step forward this year. but its still waaay too easy to build up a team. first of all. no potential rating should be given through the whole scouting process. in fact. potential should only be given once pre season starts. and it should be as a variable. example. potential ranges between a D+ and a B-, its too soon to tell )something your scouts would say to you) and i personally think potential should not be set in stone until after a whole season has been played. during preseason ratings can be unlocked to help see who to cut. just no potential. also. free agency and free agent pool. potential should not be listed. once you sign them to your team. it will give their rating. or potential range if they havent played a year.

SOME OTHER FRANCHISE ADDITIONS: the ability to build a new stadium without relocating, some sort of newspaper or dynamic headline/story tracker. maybe a radio show again. practice squads are a MUST!! holdouts!!

something i think should be added strictly as a convenience factor is a reduction of what ratings are shown for each position. example if i want to look at a offensive linemans ratins, i have to scroll through all these ratings that done apply to him. keep them in the game, just only showing in the edit player area. for each postion show only what matters. THANK YOU!

GRAPHICALLY: graphically madden 12 looks good, but it needs expansion, the new hdr lighting in ncaa 12, all the equipment from ncaa 12 needs to be added. their should not be a single player in the nfl that i see wearing something i cant put on him in madden. also, snow. snow games are actually bad graphically. now the snow falling looks very good. however they need to add fog or make it thicker, anything to make it harder to see. also. the snow never piles up. its the same on the field the entire game. no..parts of the field that players are not on should get thick and u cant even see the yard marker or anything. its like this in all pro 2k8 and its pretty cool.

MODIFIERS!! ok bare with me on this, i think each position should have a modifier. example, change passing to pump fake is R stick like NCaa, then make L2 a modifier for a pass with more touch. or something. as a running back. you really have 2 types, speed and finesse backs, and power backs. each back will be dicated what type they are. the highlight stick will then be specific to them with how they juke and cute and so on. now if they press and hold l2. they try running like a power back to maybe get an extra few yards. they highlight stick then becomes that of a power back with stiff arms and trucking and pushing ppl out the way. when u use it however there is a risk-reward. you can either get aroudn the defender or get those extra yards but if you get hit hard because u failed, u are more likely to fumble. picture the exact oppsite for a power back. adding more highlight moves to the highlight stick and adding l2 as a modifier makes accomplishing the moves you want more simple i feel.

the whole modifier idea came to me because of that damn hit stick! i hate that thing! why, because when i am playing someone on the defensive line. madden made the swtich to the highlight stick for defense, but all the time the game thinks i am trying and hit stick so i do that animation. i get so mad. how bout now in order to hit stick, you have to hold R2 and flick the highlight stick in any direction and u hit stick. outside that. a bull rusher has his own set of moves associated to him with the highlight stick. when you press L2, the highlight stick gives him access to the abilities of a finnesse pass rusher. (opposite occures of finesse rusher of course). of course this comes with a risk reward. reward u get past a guy for a sack or tackle. risk you get lit up and pancaked.

that is all i have for now, those are my ideas on what i think would set madden 13 up with the classics. sorry for this being so unorganized and not punctually correct. i hope that it doesnt make it too difficult to follow.

Comments

# 1 Profet @ Oct 29

This is awsome and very true on every aspect I buy and play Madden because it has the real NFL teams and quiet Frankly the only Football game out there All Pro Football was good but without real teams and players it just does not hold my interest Backbreaker was good but was more Arcade than a Simulated football experience all of what you mentioned was very true and if EA makes the changes you mentioned it would be an awsome football game especially the Immersion factor it never feels like you are in the game it's just play and then on to the next game and the commentary is God awful what were they thinking !!! They could have done much better but when you have the NFL License and no competators you can pretty much put what you want on the shelf but EA's Madden will soon come to an end just like the Live series cause the consumers do not Lie and hopfully come 2013 2K will get its SHOT again at an NFL Football Game. Nice Read

# 2 Runnin with Scissors @ Oct 29

All great points. The one point I agree with the most is penalties. I have cried for at least, at least, an attempt at implementing the penalties that are seen on Sundays with every new gen rendition of this game. I think that alone would do wonders for the sim. experience.

# 3 Dr. Poe @ Oct 29

Madden just needs to be fun. They just need to find a blend of realism and fun. Madden AI has to cheat in order to make the game competitive. They need to just add the small things in the game. They need to make stars be stars. They need fix line play, where they actually open holes.
Commentary should be dynamic and up to date. There should be overlays of other games that are currently being played. 2k5 had it where it would switch to another game real quick and then switch back to the current game. Madden just needs to put more effort in the game.

# 4 schnaidt1 @ Oct 30

i am glad you agree! the thing for me is the immersion. the presentation and commentary doesnt make you feel immersed well at all. you just cant get lost in this game in franchise mode.

i just really feel like adding things like chemistry, player morale, player tendencies, and playbook knowledge would add such a dynamic for this game. i have so many ideas with all of these but if i were to write them all down and go in depth and give a full example of each. it would be over 10 pages long. which i would def write if any EA developer see's this and is curious.

they already said they would upgrade commentary this year. if they do indeed upgrade the commentary, add some stat banners, add footplanting, then add the team chemistry and chemistry sub roles, playbook knowledge, player morale, and player tendencies, fix trade logic and penalties and add a lot of new animations. this game would be legendary.

shoot, ill do the the work on chemistry and playbook knowledge and tendencies all on my own for them! for free haha

# 5 hoop xyience @ Oct 31

GREAT BLOG. Man you nailed it and put a stamp on it..

# 6 tril @ Oct 31

good points TNT713.
Id also like to see live substitutions (seeing the players go to the sidlelines, and vice versa). This woudl go along way for TOP on both sides of the ball.
and would also require some strateguy with subs, cuas esubbing different packages woudl take certain amounts of tiem on the clock, potential for delay of game penalties would probably increase etc.

# 7 schnaidt1 @ Nov 1

i didnt want to change the passing interface or pre snap... u interpreted wat i said wrong.

all i want for passing is to be able to press l2 that gives me a middle between a lob pass an a bullet pass, aka touch

the pre snap is fine, what i want is more animations when making them. like the qb turning around barking signals, pointing to diff parts of the field, etc. most qbs do alot of movement pre snap. all we have in madden is the hot route animation. if i change a receiver on my lefts route, the qb still points to the right