How a Design Element From Fallout 3 Could Make For a Great Football Game Innovation

[Steve_OS]

Gameshark has posted an article about how a design element from Fallout 3 could make for a great football game innovation.

Quote:

"Football games, if you believe the sales numbers, don’t need saving. By football games of course I mean EA’s Madden franchise and to a lesser extent its little brother: NCAA Football. But for people like me, people who love the numbers of the game as much as the action, there remains a missing element to today’s next-gen football games. I grew up when home videogame systems were first introduced to the public. The sports games were crude and realism, if you wanted to control the action, wasn’t part of the equation. When I was a kid, thanks to my father, I turned to board games like the Statis-Pro series to simulate real NFL, NBA, and MLB games, and what stood out most were the numbers."

[scott209]

this coun't work online how can the other player defend you

[ffyfe7]

Very interesting, having played Fallout 3 I found V.A.T.S. very cool and unique. Its sounds very cool but I feel that the Madden & NCAA faithful wouldn't like this feature. I would be all for it as long as its an option and not mandatory.

[lostintravise]

This sounds like a really cool idea.

[monkeybutlerz]

A unique idea to say the least.

[Hellisan]

We already have a view of the field from 30 feet above the field. If that wasn't enough of an advantage, it is proposed that the game pauses as we look over each of our receiving options? I can see the point the guy is trying to make, and I too would like the ratings to mean more than they do, but this isn't applicable to football in any way. Maybe if the game was doing this behind the scenes - making Manning decide where to throw the football based on his reading of the coverages and such - it might be worthwhile.

[Bill_Abner]

"it is proposed that the game pauses as we look over each of our receiving options?"

No, that is not quite what I proposed. If you could scan the field and look over your options, with the game paused then it would defeat the purpose.

When selecting your intended target the game zooms and pauses, exactly like Fallout 3, and then you are presented with percentages (for completion, incompletion, and interception) for that one target. The percentages are different based on where you are trying to locate the ball in relation to where the defender(s) is. Once you make your decision on who to throw to, there's no going back. You simply get to choose your location (chest, hands, feet, in front, behind, etc.)

[shnuskis]

Interesting. This could work online then. The defense could counter on how to defend as well. It would create a chess game within the passing game.