Official Madden 2006 Impressions Thread

[Bill_Abner]

Doing it the old fashioned way makes QB awareness for human players actually impact the game -- that's really what the cone is about IMHO. Used to be you could completely ignore that stat on your QBs ratings, now you can't.

It may not be the best way to implement it, but at least it's implemented.

Give the Inquisitor a cigar. This is why I like it. In the old way your accuracy had nothing to do with who you were looking at. I could lock on to my right end, then decide to throw it to my left flanker without any drop in accuracy. Now, with a QB like Dilfer, if I try that it's going to be way, way, off target. I went into practice mode to see just how much throwing way outside the cone affected accuracy and hoo boy..it's ugly. To me, this is why it's not a gimmick, it makes it so much easier for a human to control a Manning than it does a Dilfer. It actually makes some of the human controlled ratings matter when it never used to be the case. For years people (me included) complained about how the AWR rating was useless, well -- not anymore. It's not perfect but it's a very good step.

And in Madden it's easier to complete a short pass than it is a bomb. (unlike NCAA) Even using the cone I am completing 50-60% of my throws with Dilfer, but I'm also throwing INTs because his vision is limited and I have a habit of forcing throws, which is a huge no no this year. WR drops are great. I see drops when a DB smacks a WR or he tries to catch a ball in traffic. Drops to wide open receivers are rare. Based off of only playing a smattering of games, I cannot fathom how a football nut could prefer NCAA to this game.

Of course, Superstar mode is an enormous waste of code, money, and devlopment time and franchise mode still has major AI holes, but from a purely gameplay perspective, I'm happy thus far.

Anyway, I personally think running backs should have a cone too. I want a super fast HB with great accel. and a crappy AWR to be hard to use. I want it to be very hard for me to do a cutback run with a guy like that whereas a Curtis Martin should suffer no penalty by cutting back across the grain. Get Probst on the horn!

[pigpen81]

Scoop, Danimal, lets try the franchise spawn. It sounds like a blast.

[Danimal]

Scoop, Danimal, lets try the franchise spawn. It sounds like a blast.

Both of you check your pm's I am trying to set this up with people I think might be interested and actually commit.

[dbdynsty25]

BD:

I believe as you increase difficulty, the cone descreases...or so I'm told. I use Feeley so it sucks all the time....not sure if it decreases the Manning/Favre/Brady entire field cone. Does anyone know for sure that skill level decreases the cone size?

[bdoughty]

BD:

I believe as you increase difficulty, the cone descreases...or so I'm told. I use Feeley so it sucks all the time....not sure if it decreases the Manning/Favre/Brady entire field cone. Does anyone know for sure that skill level decreases the cone size?

Also be sure and check and see if playing in the rain/snow decreases the field cone. We all know that water causes shrinkage.

[Leebo33]

Based off of only playing a smattering of games, I cannot fathom how a football nut could prefer NCAA to this game.

I was thinking the same thing last night (and I like NCAA quite a bit). It's going to be hard to go back and play NCAA now. I don't miss the dropped passes, impact players, or composure one tiny bit. I do miss the right stick jukes and presentation though.

The thing I really like so far is that, besides CPU punt length, I don't think I'm going to have to mess with a slider on default All-Pro for quite a long time. I've never had this much realism and variety out of the box in an EA game. If I can cut down on my interceptions then I will have great stats with 15 minute accelerated quarters.

I saw the animation last night where someone on punt coverage jumps across the goaline and swats the ball down inside the 5 and my jaw dropped.

[MizzouRah]

Wow, alot to digest in this thread.. but after reading Leebo's comments I'm getting this one today at Circuit City. It's nice to hear the game plays well on AP defaults and for the most part the cone vision feature sounds interesting.

I do wish the transition from NCAA to Madden was closer, I hate having to press different buttons between the two games. I understand the gameplay should vary from college to Pro, but EA should make it easy to play a season in NCAA then play a season in Madden without having to remember button assignments.. oh well.

[TheTruth]

Based off of only playing a smattering of games, I cannot fathom how a football nut could prefer NCAA to this game.

I was thinking the same thing last night (and I like NCAA quite a bit). It's going to be hard to go back and play NCAA now. I don't miss the dropped passes, impact players, or composure one tiny bit.

Yep, I really like the way this game plays. Much more so than NCAA. I can actually pass in this game..even with the cone vision. I like the cone vision as well. I completed 50% of my passes in my only 2 games played on all-pro.

Sully..about the online franchise. So what happens when your team is suppose to play another human team? You use the spawn online game thing?

[Bill_Abner]

Based off of only playing a smattering of games, I cannot fathom how a football nut could prefer NCAA to this game.

I was thinking the same thing last night (and I like NCAA quite a bit). It's going to be hard to go back and play NCAA now. I don't miss the dropped passes, impact players, or composure one tiny bit.

Yep, I really like the way this game plays. Much more so than NCAA. I can actually pass in this game..even with the cone vision. I like the cone vision as well. I completed 50% of my passes in my only 2 games played on all-pro.

Sully..about the online franchise. So what happens when your team is suppose to play another human team? You use the spawn online game thing?

Yeah, good question..

[Sully]

Based off of only playing a smattering of games, I cannot fathom how a football nut could prefer NCAA to this game.

I was thinking the same thing last night (and I like NCAA quite a bit). It's going to be hard to go back and play NCAA now. I don't miss the dropped passes, impact players, or composure one tiny bit.

Yep, I really like the way this game plays. Much more so than NCAA. I can actually pass in this game..even with the cone vision. I like the cone vision as well. I completed 50% of my passes in my only 2 games played on all-pro.

Sully..about the online franchise. So what happens when your team is suppose to play another human team? You use the spawn online game thing?

I'm not too familiar with the online franchise, but it's my understanding that you would use the spawn game online feature to play another user in your franchise.

[HipE]

Based off of only playing a smattering of games, I cannot fathom how a football nut could prefer NCAA to this game.

I was thinking the same thing last night (and I like NCAA quite a bit). It's going to be hard to go back and play NCAA now. I don't miss the dropped passes, impact players, or composure one tiny bit. I do miss the right stick jukes and presentation though.

The thing I really like so far is that, besides CPU punt length, I don't think I'm going to have to mess with a slider on default All-Pro for quite a long time. I've never had this much realism and variety out of the box in an EA game. If I can cut down on my interceptions then I will have great stats with 15 minute accelerated quarters.

I saw the animation last night where someone on punt coverage jumps across the goaline and swats the ball down inside the 5 and my jaw dropped.

I played some more Madden last night, then switched back to NCAA to see what I thought. I think I actually prefer the gameplay in NCAA, it feels much more loose and exciting, at least against another human player. Having the right analog stick controls in NCAA is a huge deal to me, it feels so outdated and unnatural to be using the triggers to juke and do defensive line moves in Madden. When playing against the computer, I prefer the AI in Madden, but the game can get pretty dull at times. Maybe it's just because I've gotten used to the big plays every drive in NCAA and the fast speed of the game. I really wish the controls were the same in the two games though, especially the timing of the kicking meter. It is nearly impossible for me to switch from one game to the other without having major problems control wise, it drives me crazy to send every kickoff or punt out of bounds the first half of the game every time I switch between the two.

[pk500]

I do wish the transition from NCAA to Madden was closer, I hate having to press different buttons between the two games. I understand the gameplay should vary from college to Pro, but EA should make it easy to play a season in NCAA then play a season in Madden without having to remember button assignments.. oh well.

The more I play Madden 06, the more I'm apt to forgive EA for not having identical controller configurations with NCAA and Madden. There are just SO many more pre-snap and after-snap options with Madden than NCAA that it would be tough to make identical controller setups.

Take care,
PK

[Danimal]

I do wish the transition from NCAA to Madden was closer, I hate having to press different buttons between the two games. I understand the gameplay should vary from college to Pro, but EA should make it easy to play a season in NCAA then play a season in Madden without having to remember button assignments.. oh well.

The more I play Madden 06, the more I'm apt to forgive EA for not having identical controller configurations with NCAA and Madden. There are just SO many more pre-snap and after-snap options with Madden than NCAA that it would be tough to make identical controller setups.

Take care,
PK

For some things sure, but the left and right on the R Analog stick aren't even used. They could have replicated the jukes 100%, not sure why they wouldn't.

[Sully]

Here's some detailed instructions for user vs. user online franchise games...

here is what u do...

1. Create a franchise offline and save it

2. Go to play week and uncheck the game u want to play then click A, a drop down menu with spawn game should be there, click that. it will ask u to export the game, do that, it will save to your hard drive. I name that file with the 2 teams abbreviation...WasPhi, so i know what teams are playing and who is home. When u spawn a game online the person who sets up the game first is the home team, u'll see what i mean once u play.

3. Save your franchise file and then head on live.

4. On the main menu click on EA Locker

5. Click the black button on your controller to upload, use the right or left triggers to find the spawned game file u saved...WasPhi example from step number 2.

6. Click the game file to upload it to your locker room.

7. Once u see it in your locker room then click it again to make public, I havent tried it being private yet.

8. To play the game vs another human, your opponent will have to go to your locker room, click on view EA Locker, and find the file and download it to his locker room.

9. Head to the main menu and click Game Modes then Spawn Game, the file should be there. The home team should click the file first, it will ask u to Spawn this game, click yes. Once the home team has done that, then the visiting team owner does the samething. The room should be created real fast. Thats it, .

10. Once the game is completed, save it to your hard drive, it will ask u to do all this after the game.

11. Head offline, load your franchise file, go to the play week and click on the game, it will ask u to merge the results, click that and the stats are uploaded.

*Its best that u and your opponent are on voice chat when u are online, makes it alot easier.

[pk500]

That's true, Dan. I do like the offensive jukes and defensive line moves mapped to the right stick in NCAA 06, but I can live without having it in Madden 06. Hopefully it will be remapped for next year's game.

Take care,
PK

[HipE]

Does the vision cone have any impact at all if you just hold the r trigger and then double tap the receiver button to move the cone and then pass? It seems that almost everybody is manipulating the cone in this matter, but wouldn't Vick do just as well passing as Brady if you are using it this way? It kind of defeats the purpose of having different sized cones for each player if you can just lock on to your receivers with a tap of the button.

[GridIronGhost]

I dont mind the vision cone or SS modes, but there's something missing that I enjoyed from last years game.

THE CHEERLEADERS ARE FREAKIN MISSING!......GAME KILLA! (it's going back)

[Leebo33]

I dont mind the vision cone or SS modes, but there's something missing that I enjoyed from last years game.

THE CHEERLEADERS ARE FREAKIN MISSING!......GAME KILLA! (it's going back)

That's better than what ESPN did wrong the last couple years...give the Steelers cheerleaders.

[Toper]

I played some more Madden last night, then switched back to NCAA to see what I thought. I think I actually prefer the gameplay in NCAA, it feels much more loose and exciting, at least against another human player. Having the right analog stick controls in NCAA is a huge deal to me, it feels so outdated and unnatural to be using the triggers to juke and do defensive line moves in Madden. When playing against the computer, I prefer the AI in Madden, but the game can get pretty dull at times. Maybe it's just because I've gotten used to the big plays every drive in NCAA and the fast speed of the game. I really wish the controls were the same in the two games though, especially the timing of the kicking meter. It is nearly impossible for me to switch from one game to the other without having major problems control wise, it drives me crazy to send every kickoff or punt out of bounds the first half of the game every time I switch between the two.

I checked out Ncaa last nite, also, and the biggest thing I noticed was how much BRIGHTER and LIVELIER the graphics looked....ESPECIALLY the grass textures. I guess that a "side effect" of the implementing the passing cone was that EA had to make Madden look intentionally "duller" so that they would have something for the cone to "brighten" up? Too bad that we don't have the option of lighting up the whole field if we play with the cone off.

Other observations:

- Madden punt return programmers missed their meeting with the Ncaa punt return programmers this year.

- Madden WR (especially the top tier) get better separation against their defenders on pass plays. New pass catch/defense animations really add alot to madden's passing game over Ncaa. Also, Madden WR catch what they're suppossed to catch, and drop what they're suppossed to drop. I couldn't ask for anything more from Madden's passing engine this year.

- Somewhat related to sharing control schemes, is why can't they import Ncaa's classic cam over to Madden? That view is absolutely PERFECT for both the run and pass. (I know there's a custom cam in madden...if someone wants to post the ncaa classic cam settings for this, I'd be happy to try them)

- I really HATE how Madden's kick meter comes down progressively faster when you use more power, instead of staying constant like in Ncaa...it's been like this ever since they switched to this new meter.

- Don't know why, but default All-pro on Madden is alot more playable than default All-American on Ncaa. I think difficulty-wise, EA really made Madden more approachable this year with the almost beginner-like default Pro difficulty, bigger running lanes, and better pass protection.

- NCAA gamespeed is faster (which I like).

- Didn't realize how limited playcalling/formations were on Ncaa...I felt really limited in what plays I could call (with the usual 10-20% plays that just never work). With Madden, not only is there a bigger selection of plays to call, but it seems like they would all "work" for a given situation.

- I don't think there are ANY money plays in madden. I love how you can stop ANY play if you know it is coming (on both offense and defense)...THIS is all I ask from a football game. I don't think there are money plays in Ncaa, either, but there are definitely "goto" plays that work better than others (like play action passes against a zone).

Overall, I prefer the gameplay improvements in Madden enough that it made it tough for me to finish a game of Ncaa (especially in the passing and playcalling department). I think Ncaa still has value in multiplayer, but all other game modes (single, multi, and franchise) will be just Madden for me from here on out.

Toper

[jimd]

Does the vision cone have any impact at all if you just hold the r trigger and then double tap the receiver button to move the cone and then pass? It seems that almost everybody is manipulating the cone in this matter, but wouldn't Vick do just as well passing as Brady if you are using it this way? It kind of defeats the purpose of having different sized cones for each player if you can just lock on to your receivers with a tap of the button.

I was wondering the same thing. I have been just holding down the R-triggger and then double-tapping the button to whoever I want to throw to--mainly because that's how they teach it in the tutorial. Am I missing something? Are most people using the R stick to move the cone?

[Danimal]

Does the vision cone have any impact at all if you just hold the r trigger and then double tap the receiver button to move the cone and then pass? It seems that almost everybody is manipulating the cone in this matter, but wouldn't Vick do just as well passing as Brady if you are using it this way? It kind of defeats the purpose of having different sized cones for each player if you can just lock on to your receivers with a tap of the button.

I was wondering the same thing. I have been just holding down the R-triggger and then double-tapping the button to whoever I want to throw to--mainly because that's how they teach it in the tutorial. Am I missing something? Are most people using the R stick to move the cone?

The R Trigger method I related to snapping your head around to someone. I'm not sure how someone can say it defeats the purpose. Just because you have your vision on someone doesn't mean you will complete the pass.

Also scrambiling causes your cone to lose focus on your receiver, which is a nice touch,

[Leebo33]

- Madden punt return programmers missed their meeting with the Ncaa punt return programmers this year.

Has anyone messed with the CPU punt sliders? I haven't been able to return a punt yet for more than 5 yards and 95% are fair catches.

[MizzouRah]

I do wish the transition from NCAA to Madden was closer, I hate having to press different buttons between the two games. I understand the gameplay should vary from college to Pro, but EA should make it easy to play a season in NCAA then play a season in Madden without having to remember button assignments.. oh well.

The more I play Madden 06, the more I'm apt to forgive EA for not having identical controller configurations with NCAA and Madden. There are just SO many more pre-snap and after-snap options with Madden than NCAA that it would be tough to make identical controller setups.

Take care,
PK

I guess you're right pk, I haven't played Madden yet, but it seems like a common gripe for those who play both games and I wonder why the kick meter is different?

[btmmayor]

Does the vision cone have any impact at all if you just hold the r trigger and then double tap the receiver button to move the cone and then pass? It seems that almost everybody is manipulating the cone in this matter, but wouldn't Vick do just as well passing as Brady if you are using it this way? It kind of defeats the purpose of having different sized cones for each player if you can just lock on to your receivers with a tap of the button.

I actually wish the double tap feature was not in the game. Hold the trigger and tap the button twice and the whole idea of the passing cone is bypassed completely. Its no different than throwing a pass in the 2005 version except for the extra button press. Obviously, nearly every Madden cheeser online will manipulate the cone this way. Too bad, as I think the passing cone goes a long way in taking care of that QB cheese play online.

[matthewk]

- Madden punt return programmers missed their meeting with the Ncaa punt return programmers this year.

Has anyone messed with the CPU punt sliders? I haven't been able to return a punt yet for more than 5 yards and 95% are fair catches.

I'm very interested to hear moe about this. One of the things that still bother me about 2k5 is the lack of variety in the return game. Sound like this may be the case for Madden this year as well?