Madden 11

[sportdan30]

There were a lot of informative videos last week but I didn't post links, seems like no one cares about football yet.

The whole Gameplan / GameFlow thing is a wait an see for me. It has the right intentions, but we'll see the results.

Truth be told NCAA looks more interesting to me at this point.

I'm excited about both games. They each seem to show a lot of promise this year.

[TCrouch]

I'm sort of liking what we're hearing from the Madden folks. . .of course quite concerned that we've heard nothing about Online Franchise updates.

The latest trailer has Johnson specifically say "It will revolutionize how you play football online".

Whether that means it's some 6-on-6 mode or something similar, or improvements to the online franchise remains to be seen, but I doubt they just stand pat on the online franchise mode.

[Danimal]

Well 3 on 3 was kind of confirmed. Gamestop had it in their product description and then pulled it down.

Weather that is what they mean I have no idea. I don't see how Online Franchise plays into their mantra this year though.

[tmdba37]

I'm sort of liking what we're hearing from the Madden folks. . .of course quite concerned that we've heard nothing about Online Franchise updates.

The latest trailer has Johnson specifically say "It will revolutionize how you play football online".

Whether that means it's some 6-on-6 mode or something similar, or improvements to the online franchise remains to be seen, but I doubt they just stand pat on the online franchise mode.

Hmm. . .I thought the "revolution" they were referring to was gameflow and these 30 minute games that they keep harping about. . .that is still puzzling to me. . .I mean if you like playing a game, you're going to play it if it takes 1, 5, 50 hours to play. . .I know that's a bit of a generalization, but I guess when I think/thought of issues with Madden, game length was never an issue. . .

I don't know what 3-3 or even 6-6 gets them though from a feature perspective. . .that kind of multiplayer sort of works on Defense, but on offense--I just don't see how that brings anything fun/extra to the game. . .plus if it is 6-6. . .who's going to really want to play video game fullback?

Per online franchise, they mentioned in both videos the data they gathered from millions of online games. . .it'd be interesting to see what the split was between general online and online franchise driven matches. . .I have to imagine that the online franchise had to contribute if not expand their numbers a bit. . .if I were them, I'd probably have started developing a robust online franchise that would be offered as DLC and try to take advantage of folks who enjoyed online in 10, but would love their online franchise experience to be just like their offline.

Regardless, it'll be interesting to see what they have to say about it in the near future. . .

[Danimal]

Hmm. . .I thought the "revolution" they were referring to was gameflow and these 30 minute games that they keep harping about. . .that is still puzzling to me. . .I mean if you like playing a game, you're going to play it if it takes 1, 5, 50 hours to play. . .I know that's a bit of a generalization, but I guess when I think/thought of issues with Madden, game length was never an issue. . .

No they specifically said online in terms of revolutionize. As for game length they have plenty of data that says they are right. Also I will tend to agree their demographic is now guys in their 30's - 40's and I know if I can play a game in 30 minutes I am all for that.

I also think Gameplan and Gameflow are much closer to how coaches, coach. Being a coach in my past and responsible for calling the offense, I can tell you I had specific listings for down and distance, personnel etc. So the game plan feature works well, the Gameflow is the gimmicky party to me.

Now depending on what you read, I think you can use Gameplan without GameFlow. Meaning if you use GP and you have 15 plays in your list for 1st and 10 then you choose from those 15 or hit a button to get the whole playbook. I have no idea if that is really how it works though.

I don't know what 3-3 or even 6-6 gets them though from a feature perspective. . .that kind of multiplayer sort of works on Defense, but on offense--I just don't see how that brings anything fun/extra to the game. . .plus if it is 6-6. . .who's going to really want to play video game fullback?

I'm going to agree here, I never once tried Co-op. Online Team Play works well for a lot of sports, the 2 it doesn't IMO is baseball and football.

Per online franchise, they mentioned in both videos the data they gathered from millions of online games. . .it'd be interesting to see what the split was between general online and online franchise driven matches. . .I have to imagine that the online franchise had to contribute if not expand their numbers a bit. . .if I were them, I'd probably have started developing a robust online franchise that would be offered as DLC and try to take advantage of folks who enjoyed online in 10, but would love their online franchise experience to be just like their offline.

Regardless, it'll be interesting to see what they have to say about it in the near future. . .

One of two things is going to happen and I know I am playing captain obvious here.

1. OF is going to be identical to offline franchise. My hunch is this is the case and the reason we didn't get those promised server upgrades last year was because they are blowing this feature out.

2. Nothing will change, they will claim they didn't have time. The only reason I am hopeful is this is not the case is I think we would be seeing or start to see leaks on how low the OF participation was.

Since we haven't and since NCAA OD are hugely popular (because they are done right) I am thinking it is option 1. Plus my inside source, the one who leaked me the Gus Johnson news (Terry is my witness I told him 2 weeks before it officially leaked) is totally mum. Not sure if that is good or bad.

[Brando70]

I mean if you like playing a game, you're going to play it if it takes 1, 5, 50 hours to play. . .I know that's a bit of a generalization, but I guess when I think/thought of issues with Madden, game length was never an issue. . .

There's a lot of fat in the presentation, though. They could speed up the time it takes to get back to the playcalling screen, speed up the snail's pace guys take to get to the line (which would make it easier to use the higher accelerated play clock times), and definitely speed up the playcalling by allowing more customization. If I could take an existing playbook and just rearrange it to my liking that would help. I also think they should have the accelerated playclock throughout the game. It's kind of silly how you hit the two minute mark and have time to run five minutes worth of offense.

A few tweaks like that probably shaves 10-15 minutes off the game.

I feel pretty positive about the game next year. Despite the problems Madden 10 was the first next gen version where I felt like EA gave a s*** about the game. If they don't royally cock it up with some new features, I think they could make a really good game next time out.

[GTHobbes]

I know I'm in the minority but I'd much rather have in-game saves than some feature that shortens the games to 30 minutes or less.

As for the videos that have been released, I'm with Dan in that I'm much more interested in NCAA than Madden at this point, based on what I've seen (which sucks since I'm not much of a fan of college football). The gameplay graphics in the Madden 11 videos look remarkably similar to Madden 10, IMO. Maybe they'll apply a good amount of polish between now and June when Madden goes gold, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Danimal]

As for the videos that have been released, I'm with Dan in that I'm much more interested in NCAA than Madden at this point, based on what I've seen (which sucks since I'm not much of a fan of college football). The gameplay graphics in the Madden 11 videos look remarkably similar to Madden 10, IMO. Maybe they'll apply a good amount of polish between now and June when Madden goes gold, but I'm not holding my breath.

Take this for what it is worth but according to the EA Art Director they haven't even put the lighting package and upgrades into Madden yet. Plus I have a feeling we're getting a big presentation announcement that Gus is just a part of.

I think they are keeping the announcements low key this year, since last year they promised the world and gave us a continent and rightfulyl took heat for it. If I were them I would keep things in check and hope to over deliver with the final product.

The only reason I am so up on these 3 football games is moderating the forums at OS. Forces me to read all this stuff.

[Danimal]

http://maddennfl.easports.com/blog.acti ... meplanning

This just up today I guess on GP & Gf, going to read now.

[Danimal]

2 biggest reason to like GamePlan (minus Gameflow) for me based on that article.

As an aside, you can also create game plans for the CPU. If you really want to change how the computer plays you can finally do that. If your team (or another team) changes their play calling style throughout the year you can update their game plan and keep them playing true to life. This adds a new level of customization to franchise mode. Even if you know how your friends like to call plays, you can set up a game plan to have the CPU play like them so you can practice.

Another key note about gameplans is that you can use them with or without GameFlow. Let's say you want to play with the old style play-calling screen. If you do, the "Ask Madden" option is actually totally replaced with "My Gameplan", which then gives you all your pre-planned plays right there for you in each game situation.

[Gangrel]

Maybe it's because I suck at football games, but I'm actually pretty intriuiged about Gameflow.........

[wco81]

I don't know what 3-3 or even 6-6 gets them though from a feature perspective. . .that kind of multiplayer sort of works on Defense, but on offense--I just don't see how that brings anything fun/extra to the game. . .plus if it is 6-6. . .who's going to really want to play video game fullback?

I'm going to agree here, I never once tried Co-op. Online Team Play works well for a lot of sports, the 2 it doesn't IMO is baseball and football.

It depends on whether they're committed to making the feature work or it's just a one-off checklist item.

I've been waiting for this for a long time, since the multitap days on the PS1 where the football games supported the peripheral and even before in arcade games like Cyberball.

Triple Play in those days supported multitap too, so you could set it up to have one player control the pitcher and another player control all the other fielders or the outfield or the infield. On offense, you would alternate at bats and the runners on base was controlled by the player not batting. Made double steals and hit-and-runs easier to execute and more fun.

But it was mostly an afterthought feature, so it was harder to pass to a human-controlled WR. Pass would try to lead him and if the second player wasn't controlling the WR in a steady direction, pass would be way overthrown. You could try to have the second player sit the WR in a seam in the zone and Madden engine would still try to lead him. So a lot of times, we tried to run decoy routes, to open up other WRs.

GameDay let you execute some pancake blocks (though every block you connected on resulted in a pancake). It wasn't realistic but it was fun, because you could celebrate every time you made a good play, even if it wasn't a scoring play, because it was hard to pull off.


Now, is EA willing to refine the feature in future years? Like maybe revise the passing model so it's easier to throw to a human-controlled WR or easier for players to improvise. Maybe also improve the lead blocking feature they tried to implement a few years back.

They would also have to give you communications options so that you could talk to just your teammates or everyone in the game.

Finally, they'd have to track user stats (or else everyone would want to be QB) for categories like drops, YAC, number of times targeted vs. number of completions, completions for first down, etc. Also number of pancake blocks and YPC on plays where the second player blocked, etc.

There are ideas they could explore but it's a matter of whether they're committed. This is a niche feature even among devoted Madden players, at least at first some guys may give it a go but unless it lets you play games the way you want (for instance, this year, the only way to play All-Madden level online was to pay for a DLC) and it has comprehensive stat tracking with user stats and achievements for those non-QB stats and accomplishments, people will just go play singleplayer.

Of course the online connections for multiplayer, along with chat, has to be reliable, unlike NBA2K or MLB The Show, which apparently has problems with any online game.

[GTHobbes]

Maybe it's because I suck at football games, but I'm actually pretty intriuiged about Gameflow.........

I like the idea, also. But my problems with Madden have never had anything to do with how plays are called, and I'm not even sure I'll have the time or the interest in putting together extensive game plans (I'd rather spend my time playing). Cool idea, but I'd rather see them spend their development time on other areas of the game.

[Brando70]

2 biggest reason to like GamePlan (minus Gameflow) for me based on that article.

As an aside, you can also create game plans for the CPU. If you really want to change how the computer plays you can finally do that. If your team (or another team) changes their play calling style throughout the year you can update their game plan and keep them playing true to life. This adds a new level of customization to franchise mode. Even if you know how your friends like to call plays, you can set up a game plan to have the CPU play like them so you can practice.

Another key note about gameplans is that you can use them with or without GameFlow. Let's say you want to play with the old style play-calling screen. If you do, the "Ask Madden" option is actually totally replaced with "My Gameplan", which then gives you all your pre-planned plays right there for you in each game situation.

I dig the CPU gameplan option, too, especially if they let you sub players in. In the developer video Ian said something about being able to tweak the Titans gameplan and have Chris Johnson outside as a receiver for a specific play. That would be great for helping the CPU use its talent better and be more challenging in addition to being more realistic.

The other thing is that, while I like the idea of Ask Madden, the level of playcalling is so hit and miss, plus with it being Madden, it reduces the already low level of immersion in Madden. Having a coach calling plays based on input you put in would make that a lot more interesting.

[Danimal]

Gus Johnson officially confirmed.

EA has a new blog on it and several sites have articles, use google

The EA blog also goes over stadium chants and music. Kind of cool to hear J-E-T-S..

[GTHobbes]

New blog from Tiburon about Franchise improvements...for Madden 12:

"The Madden team couldn’t be happier with how the community and press have responded to the features we’ve announced for Madden NFL 11 so far. GameFlow, Game Planning, Locomotion, Dual Stick Control, improved offensive line play and blocking, the addition of Gus Johnson- everything we’ve done to the game was to make Madden NFL 11 more authentic, more responsive, and deeper than ever before. So, thanks to all of you who have helped validate this direction and continued to show your support for the franchise. We’re all getting ready for E3 and are looking forward to announcing yet another major feature- this time for online. So, tune into GTTV’s E3 All Access Special on Spike, tonight June 11th, at 11:00 PM EST, hosted by Geoff Keighley and Supermodel Marisa Miller to get the inside scoop.

In the meantime, we’d like to address some areas of the game that we know are hot on many of your radars, specifically the Franchise and SuperStar modes. Last year we delivered Online Franchise and while it was received very well by community and press, the usage was among the lowest for any of our gameplay modes. What this said to us was that Franchise mode as whole needed more than just a new access point, it needed a complete refresh. As most of you know, Franchise mode debuted in Madden NFL 99 on PlayStation, and since then, we’ve been adding on layers and layers of code each year to make it the most authentic experience possible. As console technology has evolved, it’s become increasingly more difficult to evolve the mode in-kind, since we are handcuffed by the limitations of the code from so many years in the past. To re-write Franchise mode to take full advantage of the PS3 and Xbox 360 would take well over a year to do, which is why we’ve taken the approach we have up until now. With that in mind, we made the decision to focus this year’s development on making the core areas of Madden NFL better, namely the AI, animations, playcall, and online play. While that meant not making any major overhauls to Franchise or SuperStar, we were still able to make some notable improvements while we prepare for the future. Specifically, we improved franchise stats (especially season rushing yards and season sacks), in-game injuries, Super Bowl presentation, NCAA Draft Class tuning, and we even completely re-created over 8000 players in 32 draft classes. We also added the new Meadowlands Stadium as the 2014 Super Bowl site. However, the biggest addition to Franchise mode this year is Game Planning. This year you have the ability to create a new Game Plan for every game in Franchise if you choose to do so. If you’re playing the Colts or Saints, you can focus your defensive Game Plan around Manning or Brees. If you’re playing a team with a great secondary like the Eagles, you can focus your Game Plan more around running the ball. You can save off a separate Game Plan for every opponent you face and if they add new players after year one, you can go back and edit that Game Plan to account for those changes. This new feature allows you to be the coach that you always wanted to be.

We feel great about where we’ve taken the foundation of Madden NFL and are ready to refocus on building Franchise and SuperStar from the ground up. We have already assembled a team fully dedicated on setting the vision for what Franchise and SuperStar modes can and should be in the future. Since we are starting with a clean canvas heading into Madden NFL 12, we want the community to help us shape our direction- starting NOW. Let us know what you’d like to see in Madden career modes in the future. We’re not just looking for small add-ons either. We want your big ideas. What would revolutionize career modes in your opinion?"

http://maddennfl.easports.com/blog.acti ... eAndUpdate

[Rodster]

Good stuff GT

[Brando70]

Last year we delivered Online Franchise and while it was received very well by community and press, the usage was among the lowest for any of our gameplay modes.

Translation: get ready for another half-assed OF with no salary system or CPU roster moves.

Sounds like offline franchise is getting a band-aid instead of the surgery it needs. It amazes me that a one-man game like Front Office Football can outperform a huge team like EA in this area.

[GTHobbes]

"Pay for Boosts" in Madden 11 OTP

http://www.pastapadre.com/2010/06/12/pa ... p#comments

Which will be great for those who also buy the online scouting reports:

http://www.pastapadre.com/2010/06/08/th ... e-scouting

That is, if they have any $ left after buying Online Pass, Madden Ultimate Team (which is where Madden franchise REALLY went...thanks Josh Looman!) and Madden Arcade.

[GTHobbes]

OTP video at IGN:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/109/1096833p1.html

Good thing the new audio isn't final. Maybe it will be sold separately also.

[wco81]

Buy better attributes?

They better indicate in the game setup which players have purchased those, so they can be avoided.

[XXXIV]

Last year we delivered Online Franchise and while it was received very well by community and press, the usage was among the lowest for any of our gameplay modes.

Translation: get ready for another half-assed OF with no salary system or CPU roster moves.

Thats not good.

Not comparing you in anyway to the super f***in disgusting filth at BP but EA you are corporate scum in your own little special/hobby gaming way.

[Danimal]

Good thing the new audio isn't final. Maybe it will be sold separately also.

Stop trolling.

[Danimal]

I'm just catching up on this news and I think the lack of updates to Franchise and Online franchise is complete s***. Now they are saying they want users input? WTF have they been getting for 3 years, I personally sent a message with at least 40 improvements.

I don't care what anyone says, someone made a conscious decision to make NCAA a better product this year because it has twice as many new additions as Madden.

What an utter and complete lackluster edition Madden 11 is going to be. I sure as s*** hope NCAA turns out to be as good as it sounds or else I won't have a football game to play this fall.

[wco81]

Actually, I'm kind of hopeful after reading the OTP preview on IGN.

I'm sure they won't get it right the first time but they have to start somewhere and if they take feedback, maybe they could make this interesting.

So the secondary players on offense can do their own presnap adjustments like WR hotroutes or RB flipping the play? Hmm, the QB has the last word by picking certain types of plays or audibling.

But they have to get the connection and the communication down or else it could be more frustrating than fun.