Madden 11

[Kalyx triaD]

Originally Posted by Destructoid.com Each of the 32 NFL teams has its complete playbook represented in Madden. Cummings gave me another startling statistic: while each playbook has, on average, 350 plays, gamers tended to stick to a mere thirteen of them -- that’s only 3.7%. Most folks have their own “money” plays -- the ones that they go to when they absolutely need to pick up some yards -- and they might have a short list of standbys as well. But those plays probably span a small cross-section of the entire playbook; the game doesn’t really encourage you to (or demand that you) explore the playcalling screen. Having established that playcalling in Madden is flawed, what could EA Tiburon do to fix it -- and make it more realistic? After all, as Cummings noted, a real coach doesn’t flip through hundreds of plays in the forty seconds that he has to pick one; instead, all the plays at his disposal are broken down by situation -- for example, he might have four different plays that he likes to run on 2nd-and-short, and he’ll choose one of them. Tiburon’s solution to the playcalling problem is a complete redesign called GameFlow. GameFlow takes playcalling out of your hands -- “the coordinator is calling the plays for you,” said Cummings. Instead of fumbling through formations in the playcalling screen, you simply hit A (X on the PS3), and the computer selects a play for you based on the situation. But GameFlow isn’t merely “Ask Madden” in disguise; it’s a brilliant revamp of a system that’s been around for so long that you probably didn’t even think it could be done better. In one stroke, it vastly streamlines and shortens the process of playing a Madden game, while incorporating real NFL football in an unprecedented way. In designing GameFlow, Tiburon looked at NFL game film from the 2009 season to determine each team’s playcalling tendencies. From that data, they created a bank of plays for each offensive situation you might find yourself in. Say you’re playing as the Colts, and it’s 1st-and-10. If you hit A/X to use GameFlow, the computer will pick from a selection of plays that the Colts actually tended to run on 1st-and-10 last year. In addition, every play in the game (offense and defense) has a corresponding voice-over that explains what it's designed to do, or what to look for. Of course, if you’re scoffing as you read this, fear not: you can always press X (square on PS3) to delve into your full playbook, just like the old days. But Madden 11 even takes the extra step of encouraging old-school playcallers to use GameFlow by including a complementary “gameplanning” setup. If you shudder to think of the CPU picking a play for you, then you can go in and customize the banks of plays yourself, so GameFlow will be choosing from your list of plays. For example, if you decide that you don’t like what the Giants called on third-and-short in 2009, then you can set one to fifteen plays that you want GameFlow to pick from in that situation. Since you’re likely to have preferences among that list of plays, gameplanning includes an iTunes-style five-star weighting system -- a play with a 4.5-star rating will be chosen much more often than one with two stars. The same setup applies for defense, only the situations correspond to the formation in which the offense is lined up instead of a particular down and yardage. Best of all, you can use your gameplan online. I’ve discussed GameFlow in depth, but it’s just one of a host of improvements and additions to Madden 11. “We scrapped our entire locomotion engine and rewrote it,” said Cummings, launching into a discussion of the much more realistic movement of the players in this game. The agility rating means something in Madden 11 -- players have momentum, meaning that they’ll have to actually plant a foot before switching their direction. And now, instead of simply going for the guys with 99 speed, you’ll want to consider their acceleration, too: a lower acceleration attribute means that a player will take longer to reach his top speed, which gives defenders a better chance of catching up to him before he takes off for the end zone. Along with the all-new movement system is a new dual-stick control setup for ball carriers. Tiburon took inspiration from EA Canada’s NHL and FIFA games, stripping out a “turbo” button and mapping specific moves to the right analog stick. The upper half of the right stick controls your upper body, while pushing left, right, or down will affect your legs. By pushing upward, you can lean forward to “truck” a defender (like you’d do with, say, Brandon Jacobs). You can then roll the stick to the right or left to lean in those directions, which will avoid the brunt of a hit. The more impressive motion comes from the new “legs” controls, though. Madden 11 finally gives you the ability to approximate the dirty, ankle-breaking, how-the-hell-did-he-do-that moves of an agile running back such as Chris Johnson. Flicking the RS right or left will plant the respective foot, and since your player will plant as quickly as you can move the stick, you can “bounce” on your feet, shifting your weight left and right until you decide on a direction and make one last cut to go there. Combine this with spin moves (push downward, then roll left or right), and you can make defenders look silly. The dual-stick setup in Madden 11 allows for more nuanced ball carrier control than I’ve ever seen before. (Note: Tiburon is bringing both the new locomotion engine and the dual-stick controls to NCAA Football 11.) Tiburon has also made a couple of other upgrades to the gameplay, fixing issues that have plagued the series for years. At long last, they’ve implemented sideline catching AI, so receivers will do their best to keep their feet in-bounds while holding onto the ball. Feel free to bring fade and out routes into your repertoire this year! The sight of a receiver dragging his toes brought a smile to my face. In addition, Cummings told me that “run blocking has received a major overhaul.” Cummings showed me a visual representation of this: you’ll see the assignments of your offensive linemen laid out in the pre-snap play art. And when I ran a sweep, I noticed that my lead blocker who was pulling to the outside no longer peeled off his man and left him free to tackle me; instead, he remained engaged in a block. Madden 11 also looked better than its predecessor, and art director Mike Young explained that the team hadn’t even put in its improved lighting model yet. (As you can see, they’ve also made an effort to include more accurate player faces.) Not only is Tiburon building on the success of Madden 10, they’re doing what gamers have always demanded of them: going out on a limb and innovating. GameFlow is a big risk -- as Cummings noted, “It’s kind of a radical change.” That’s the type of iteration that keeps a long-running franchise fresh and at the top of its game, and Tiburon looks to be doing it right.

[RoXer]

Presentation is whats holding this franchise back. I played the demo of NCAA Basketball 10 a while ago and commented on how awesome it was that you could switch between CBS and ESPN style broadcasts.

Could you imagine if EA took full advantage of the NFL license by incorporating all the network broadcasts into their game? NFL network, FOX, CBS, NBC, ESPN for Monday Night Football?

During the loading screens, the game cuts to the pregame crew of whichever broadcast you selected. If it's in a season, they talk about earlier games, show highlights, discuss matchups for the game you selected. If it's just a quick game they talk about previos games between the two teams, interesting facts, whatever. When it's done loading, Bob Costas/James Brown/ whoever the fuck send it out to Al Michaels/Jim Nantz/ whoever the fuck but only after a CGI Faith Hill sings Football Night/Hank Williams get us ready for football while showing actual highlights of your season during the montage. Cut to a panoramic shot of the stadium with realistic crowd. If it's a Ravens game, a CGI Ray Lewis comes out and does his thing. Realistic intros for each team. The play-by-play announcers talk about keys to the game that actually mean something. EA cuts a deal with the NFL to record the audio feed of the announcers to use it in the game in weekly updates.

That's where this game should be right now. The technology is available to provide updated audio clips for the broadcasters every week to make it feel like you're actually watching a game.

I don't give two flying shits about the playbook.

[Kalyx triaD]

>>> NFL 2k5

[Requiem]

Yeah, the presentation of the Madden games leaves a lot to be desired. But the new movement sounds awesome.

[FearedSanctity]

[DaveBrawl]

Originally Posted by FearedSanctity

[D Mac]

Originally Posted by FearedSanctity

sucks

[Team Sheep]

I love Madden 10, was a huge improvement. Hope this takes yet another leap forward.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Box Art featuring QB Drew Brees:

[Team Sheep]

Weird logo.

[Kalyx triaD]

Looks like it did for the last... 5 years?

[Gonzo]

Originally Posted by Kalyx triaD Looks like it did for the last... 5 years?

Nah, font is different.

[Kalyx triaD]

Ah, I see now. Military?

[DAMN iNATOR]

Yeah that's sorta what the word "MADDEN" on the box looks like is a military stencil type font.

Anywho, I'm not too big on the whole concept of completely giving up my ability to call my own plays. I know it says if you don't like the sound of it you can make like a custom playbook of your own for certain situations, but it will limit the amount of custom plays you can substitute in...I hope they'll at least have a way of toggling GameFlow on and off.

[Kalyx triaD]

Pressing X will give you the same old complete playbook.

[Funky Fly]

These sports games should be every other year with Roster updates during the gameless years. It's be nice to see real development on these titles.

[D Mac]

Originally Posted by Funky Fly These sports games should be every other year with Roster updates during the gameless years. It's be nice to see real development on these titles.

Yeah as long as people keep buying them every year and making them more money, it aint happenin.

[Gonzo]

Originally Posted by Funky Fly These sports games should be every other year with Roster updates during the gameless years. It's be nice to see real development on these titles.

Yeah. I won't support another EA football title until there is a new engine based on some sort of technology that resembles real world physics. That is unlikely to happen until the next round of consoles, but, so be it.

[Big Fat Mike]

Tim Threebow

Tim Kneetoe

[D Mac]

More Madden NFL 11 Info

lol that is awesome. OBAMA

[RoXer]

Gunna set up the league thing tonight probly

[FearedSanctity]

LOL, so when EA is told the game needs better presentation. They add yelling, a serious business narration over the usual SB celebration, 5 seconds of parade and for whatever reason meeting the president?

HOW ABOUT A PROPER HALFTIME/POSTGAME SHOW? Still no? 6 years still not enough to do what 2k did on the fucking PS2? Christ.

[RoXer]

lol WHERE IS THE CROWD? Please tell me this just some demo glitch and won't be in the real game.

[Skippord]

are you playing as the Jaguars?

[Disturbed316]

Not impressed with the demo, seems like everyone has forgotten how to catch.

[RoXer]

Originally Posted by Disturbed316 Not impressed with the demo, seems like everyone has forgotten how to catch.

Nah, I was tearing it up with Peyton. Running against the Jets was a different story though. The game ended 3-6 but I was doing a lot of bonehead moves.

[RoXer]

Disgusting

- I love Gus Johnson but I guess I only love him in real life because he is terrible in this game.

- There's no crowd noise. None. I think they did it so you can hear the coordinator but hopefully that will be fixed when the real game comes out. And then there's no sound or music or anything when showing highlights. Weird.

- Speaking of the coordinator, I had to turn it off because he was fucking annoying and didn't add anything to the game. I can't imagine anyone will be using that feature.

- GameFLOW is terrible. Just terrible. Couldn't even play a whole quarter with it.

- Hot Routes/Line Shifts/Coverage is now used with the D-Pad. I don't like it but I can get used to it. They probly changed it to make GameFlow easier to use.

- Kicking meter will take some getting used to. Missed some easy FGs on overtime which killed me.

- Had difficulties running the ball, but that was against the Jets so...

- After every quarter, the same cutscene plays. Your QB is talking to a coach who sprays invisible water into the QB's mouth.


ugh

[Evil Vito]

Yeah I'm not willing to plop down $60 on this.

[Legendary624]

First play through:

27-13 victory for the Jets. Shon Greene- 13 carries for 153 yards.

Now keep in mind this is second year player Shon Greene. Not Chris Johnson or even AP. I think I'll stick with NCAA this year. Nothing really impressed me in comparison with last years version. I assume the repetitive cut scenes and audio will be fixed for release day. Anyways, I'll probably have a different opinion after another play through but I'm highly skeptical. I'll pass.

[FearedSanctity]

-Gus Johnson is cool. This game makes him a joke.

-Running is stupid hard.

-Gonna take forever to remember that turbo is gone.

-This coordinator thing can fuck off. Same with GameFlow.

-Like the new kicking meter. The old spinny cone with the line was retarded.

-Agree with the stupid cutscene after every quarter.

Several other things that aren't worth my time.

If EA would stop doing what they'd like with the game and actually listen to the fucking fans Madden would be solid every year.

The joke about Madden being nothing but a roster update every year isn't even relevant anymore. The last few years they just keep cutting and raping current features while half-assedly adding something we had back in Madden '04 every once in a while.

You've found a way to shorten online games? Cool. Problem is you fucked up several other things in the process.

[RoXer]

Canceling my preorder. I'll just Goozex it.

[alvarado52]

Originally Posted by RoXer Canceling my preorder. I'll just Goozex it.

Then youre gonna have to pay $10 to play online if EA has something to say about it.

[RoXer]

1000 Goozex points = $50
Online = $10
Plus I'll have to wait a few months

And I forgot I used a coupon so it's $55.10 from amazon. I guess I'm not cancelling my preorder.

[D Mac]

You guys it's just a DEMO. They probably had to cut some shit down to make it into a reasonable download size.

[Emperor Smeat]

Based on the Nintendo Power review for the Wii version, it looks like the commentary is going to be the weakest part of the game like last year.

They said it repeats way too much but did say adding Gus Johnson was a good idea even if he doesn't fit well with Madden in his debut.

[Gonzo]

Tom Hammond's voice was so annoying to me.

Bring back John Madden commentary.

[D Mac]

Originally Posted by Gonzo Tom Hammond's voice was so annoying to me. Bring back John Madden commentary.

And Al Micheals.

[D Mac]

Yeah I like Johnson. He get's more exited then Hammond.

[Kalyx triaD]

http://kotaku.com/5601063/classic-pr...into-madden-11

[RoXer]

The guy who left a comment hit it on the head. If their goal was to slow down the speed of presnap hotroutes (something I can get behind), they should have simply added an animation of maybe the QB motioning to the player and the player motioning to the QB and not allow another change until that animation is complete. Maybe like 2-3 seconds. It doesn't seem like much but like the author said:

"I can do better than that on offense. I could slide protect left, streak both split ends, drag the tight end and call blocking assignments for both backs out of the shotgun and snap the ball, coming to the line with ten seconds on the play clock."

That can burn off 16-20 seconds easily while still keeping the controls the same. NCAA 08 had something similar to this, but only for away teams in loud stadiums.

That can be another attribute too. Player Composure or something. I'm all for it.