Today's blog is focusing on not just Madden 10, but the Madden franchise in general, and what EA Tiburon (and EA Sports in large) can do to improve their product.
Artificial Intelligence
This has been a big issue in Madden for a long time. The computer does smart things, questionable things, and downright dumb things. For a franchise that boast they have the best computer A.I., it doesn't accurately simulate what NFL players do. For instance, if a player gets beat on a certain route, the computer will not adjust to either the route or the player who is making the play, as shown in this video:
This has been a big issue in Madden for a long time. The computer does smart things, questionable things, and downright dumb things. For a franchise that boast they have the best computer A.I., it doesn't accurately simulate what NFL players do. For instance, if a player gets beat on a certain route, the computer will not adjust to either the route or the player who is making the play, as shown in this video:
So what does Tiburon need to do: Ask themselves one simple question, "Do NFL players behave this way and if so how do we express that in gameplay?" Also they need to add an element of coaching (what real NFL coaches and players do every Sunday and practice the days up to the game.)
More Animations
This is maybe one of the simplest things to accomplish. Madden has too few animations and the animations that they use for some things are either unnatural or unrealistic or maybe even both. Here's an example of more animations without the benefit of video.
A running back is making a catch in the flats and the ball is thrown slightly over his head with no one around him. That would be the time for a leaping/jumping catch. Instead, Madden has it for everything. Lead a receiver too far running in place jump catch. Also, what's needed is re-addition of signature running styles. Too many guys look like their jogging at half-speed (a.k.a Tron Jogging.) More tackling animations are needed, more catching animations are also needed, and I'm glad that this catch in last year's game, the dreaded spin catch, was eliminated. That animation has caused me too much heartache, and right on cue here it is:
This is maybe one of the simplest things to accomplish. Madden has too few animations and the animations that they use for some things are either unnatural or unrealistic or maybe even both. Here's an example of more animations without the benefit of video.
A running back is making a catch in the flats and the ball is thrown slightly over his head with no one around him. That would be the time for a leaping/jumping catch. Instead, Madden has it for everything. Lead a receiver too far running in place jump catch. Also, what's needed is re-addition of signature running styles. Too many guys look like their jogging at half-speed (a.k.a Tron Jogging.) More tackling animations are needed, more catching animations are also needed, and I'm glad that this catch in last year's game, the dreaded spin catch, was eliminated. That animation has caused me too much heartache, and right on cue here it is:
New Commentators
Cris Collinsworth, Tom Hammond, Alex Flanagan, and Fran Charles do a serviceable job, but they don't seem excited at their job. My solution is to bring back the EA Sports Radio guy, but since I'm the only person who liked that guy, the other alternative is to bring the entire cast of Monday Night Football, yes this includes the cast of Monday Night Countdown. This presentation has been done in video game form by the team at Visual Concepts.
Cris Collinsworth, Tom Hammond, Alex Flanagan, and Fran Charles do a serviceable job, but they don't seem excited at their job. My solution is to bring back the EA Sports Radio guy, but since I'm the only person who liked that guy, the other alternative is to bring the entire cast of Monday Night Football, yes this includes the cast of Monday Night Countdown. This presentation has been done in video game form by the team at Visual Concepts.
Something else that I would like to add, but I'll save it for later.
New Ratings System
Many a person has complained about this especially T.J. Houshmandzadeh. How this would work is that only one player per position can be rated a 99, however the skills and attributes can be 99 (or in some cases 100.) Second, awareness would be the second main stat for everybody. Without awareness players would be mindless drones. Third, a reworking of the speed system/threshold. My suggestion is for every point difference in speed there should at least be a yard of separation to show the really fast guys from the slower players. The next question is how would acceleration be determined? Acceleration would be a little harder to do, but give me about a week and I'll be able to express it into words.
Other things that I would like to change is anything related to throwing. There would be five different factors; throwing power and accuracy can stay, but the third would be throwing velocity (how fast the ball comes out), fourth, throwing under pressure (how well can the player handle duress), and finally, throwing in inclement conditions (i.e. snow, rain, high humidity, etc.) These are just a few things that I'd change, but not everything that would be.
New Ratings System
Many a person has complained about this especially T.J. Houshmandzadeh. How this would work is that only one player per position can be rated a 99, however the skills and attributes can be 99 (or in some cases 100.) Second, awareness would be the second main stat for everybody. Without awareness players would be mindless drones. Third, a reworking of the speed system/threshold. My suggestion is for every point difference in speed there should at least be a yard of separation to show the really fast guys from the slower players. The next question is how would acceleration be determined? Acceleration would be a little harder to do, but give me about a week and I'll be able to express it into words.
Other things that I would like to change is anything related to throwing. There would be five different factors; throwing power and accuracy can stay, but the third would be throwing velocity (how fast the ball comes out), fourth, throwing under pressure (how well can the player handle duress), and finally, throwing in inclement conditions (i.e. snow, rain, high humidity, etc.) These are just a few things that I'd change, but not everything that would be.
Clipping (Too Many Morphs in the Game)
Every video game has clipping issues, that's unavoidable, but just about every play in Madden has some sort of warping and collision detection issues that you can make jokes about.
The easiest solution to fix this (scrap the entire engine and make a new one based on physics). Money is no object for EA and they should focus on eliminating the unnecessary morphs (or preferably create a new engine. I'll give you the benefit EA if you do that, but we know you won't.) The warping can also be due to the lack of animations that the game desperately needs.
Money Plays
This has been around sports games for a long time (since the Genesis days) and I think it's time to get rid of money plays once and for all. What is a Money Play? It is a play that can be called in any situation and it will get you a first down EVERY TIME. They do not exist in real life and they should not exist in video games (if you claim to be "REALISTIC" or "SIMULATION-BASED" then be that.) An example of a money play was the first video on the page.
Use Playstation 3 as Source and Port to Xbox 360
People can be upset with me for saying this, but if the PS3 is used as the base, then a majority of issues could be fixed (everything except ratings, commentators, and money plays.) This has been done before with Burnout Paradise and neither version suffered anything game breaking that I know of. More memory equals better game and quite possibly more sales.
The people who wish for me to do some suggestions/fixes for franchise, I can't help you there because I haven't jumped into franchise mode, yet. Still disappointed about Madden 09's franchise and 08, 07, and 06. But if 10's franchise is anything like 09, I'll give out a few fixes:
People can be upset with me for saying this, but if the PS3 is used as the base, then a majority of issues could be fixed (everything except ratings, commentators, and money plays.) This has been done before with Burnout Paradise and neither version suffered anything game breaking that I know of. More memory equals better game and quite possibly more sales.
The people who wish for me to do some suggestions/fixes for franchise, I can't help you there because I haven't jumped into franchise mode, yet. Still disappointed about Madden 09's franchise and 08, 07, and 06. But if 10's franchise is anything like 09, I'll give out a few fixes:
- Trade logic (1,2,3 round picks for Adrian Peterson, I'll pass and so should the CPU)
- Return of Owner Mode
- Player Progression/Regression more dynamic (Big year ratings increase; Poor/disappointing year ratings decrease; Consistent stats from year to year consistent ratings increase)
- Everything from Madden NFL 04 (that includes create-a-play)
No comments:
Post a Comment