Madden 2010 News Post

Made a small change this week...

09:28 PM - February 6, 2009 by Ian_Cummings

I set weapon icons and any/all other graphical options all to off by default (like the weapons, icon hints, big pre-play controls menu, etc). So now when you play Madden 'out of the box', it looks ultra clean and pristine. To everyone I showed, they sort of breathed a sigh of relief when looking at it...just "pure football" again. The only thing you see is the score bug (which has been redesigned from 09 btw and I think pretty much everyone will dig it).

But before we ship it like that...what do you guys think? Do you prefer it that way? Do you use the pre-play menu? For our mass amount of buyers, do you think they need the helpers like the icons, weapons, pre-play menu, etc?

Game: Madden NFL 10Reader Score: 7.5/10 - Vote Now
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# 41 mastershake88 @ 02/07/09 08:06 AM

take the weapon thing out all together...It's time madden returns to it's roots.

# 42 dano562003 @ 02/07/09 08:52 AM

[quote=Guillotine 1;2039160191]Ian-

Yes! Hell Yes, leave 'em off, or set them to on with the option to turn all icons off...even after the snap. Heck, I have been talking about this for a few days now.

This opition is already in the game if Im not mistaken.

# 43 johnprestonevans @ 02/07/09 08:57 AM

I think as long as there is an option to turn weapons on and off then shipping it off as a default is fine. I think they are useful to some players - I personally like seeing the missmatches in pre-play, but its not a game breaker if I do not. I like the idea of being able to personalize Madden as much as possible. Im all about whatever makes it look more authentic. Sounds like your "clean" revision is truer to the game of NFL Football. Thats eactly what I want to see. Thanks.

# 44 countryboy @ 02/07/09 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA


	It's 100% more awesome.

lol

# 45 JMD @ 02/07/09 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA


	I set weapon icons and any/all other graphical options all to off by default (like the weapons, icon hints, big pre-play controls menu, etc). So now when you play Madden 'out of the box', it looks ultra clean and pristine. To everyone I showed, they sort of breathed a sigh of relief when looking at it...just "pure football" again. The only thing you see is the score bug (which has been redesigned from 09 btw and I think pretty much everyone will dig it). But before we ship it like that...what do you guys think? Do you prefer it that way? Do you use the pre-play menu? For our mass amount of buyers, do you think they need the helpers like the icons, weapons, pre-play menu, etc?

Excellent move. I always turn all that stuff off. One thing that really bugs me about playing ranked games online is seeing those foolish Icons under the players feet. My guess is , if you're playing Madden on line in a ranked game, you know enough about football to know who is what on every team in the NFL.

# 46 SageInfinite @ 02/07/09 10:28 AM

Leave em off by default. Just give players the proper tools to learn how to play the game.

# 47 djordan @ 02/07/09 10:58 AM

Ian,

The key here is options. Every time I buy a new game first menu I goto is the options menu. Last year there was an option to turn the weapons off for online but if your opponent had them on, then they would show up for both teams. I hope that little glitch is fixed. All you have to do is give players options to turn a certain feature on or off. Don't just make it force us to either play with a certain option on or off.

# 48 rainesdaddy @ 02/07/09 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exonerated


	Imo. Default on is more sensible. Hardcores know how to turn this stuff on, and it takes like 2 seconds. But for the first time or newer players, they're gonna fked trying find how to turn the hints on. New players may not know the game has hints, weapons, etc. And they're have a harder (vs the hardcore turning it off) trying to turn stuff on. So leave them default on, everyone who wants em off has no trouble turning them off. Everyone who wants them on, will be confused and throw the game out the window.

i see your point. but if they are casual gamers they shouldnt get frustrated with how to do anything, here's why. how many times do you think a hardcore even glances at the manual, we usually remove plastic, open case, insert, and begin. casual gamers can read how to in the manual. off, one less thing to set up.

# 49 poster @ 02/07/09 11:16 AM

Ian, please turn these things off.

A franchise ticker or stats ticker showing up at the bottom of the screen would be ideal though.

# 50 Sausage @ 02/07/09 11:22 AM

As pointed out earlier having it off by default is great to me, after a few minutes in practice it is pretty easy to remember. Like someone posted maybe there can be tutorials that explain adjustments, and what each one means for the casual gamer. Pure football is coming back, I like the sound of that.

# 51 RogueHominid @ 02/07/09 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LBzrule


	With the weapon icons, I think you will do fine without them. You did fine without them in the past. Unless you are going to program specific abilities and attach it to weapon icons so that players with certain icons have special animation sets, I just think the game would look alot cleaner without all of that stuff in there.

Co-sign. The only reason to have ability icons is having signature abilities that link to animations and performance potentialities only available for that ability. Otherwise, you have ratings, and those are a sufficient indicator of what a player can do in the Madden system.

# 52 thejake @ 02/07/09 12:05 PM

OFF sounds great to me.

# 53 NYyankz225 @ 02/07/09 12:11 PM

Why not have the best of both worlds? Why not only have it during the presnap "Play art" view? That way when you're viewing your play on offense or defense you can still see the "impact players" but you don't need to see it when the action is going on. I know there's that "matchup" feature with the L trigger but to be honest I've never used it. Have icons show up only through the view playart feature by default, with the option to completely remove it/add it.

That way you have all the obtrusive "clutter" (play art and icons) on one completely optional screen.

# 54 BigDuke @ 02/07/09 12:14 PM

Not sure if someone mentioned it yet, but instead of on/off only, why not have them off by default with the option of showing them via pre-play button toggle? It think as the franchise years progress, we players will be less familiar with the opposing team's weapons. It would be helpful to see who is lined up where during pre-play. You could even include them with the existing coach's pre-play toggle.

As a comparison, it would be similar to how we could view pre-play composure for players via button toggle in last gen NCAA football.

# 55 BigDuke @ 02/07/09 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYyankz225


	Why not have the best of both worlds? Why not only have it during the presnap "Play art" view? That way when you're viewing your play on offense or defense you can still see the "impact players" but you don't need to see it when the action is going on. I know there's that "matchup" feature with the L trigger but to be honest I've never used it. Have icons show up only through the view playart feature by default, with the option to completely remove it/add it. That way you have all the obtrusive "clutter" (play art and icons) on one completely optional screen.

Exactly what I was thinking...and at the same time. Cue Twilight zone music.

# 56 NYyankz225 @ 02/07/09 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigDuke


	Exactly what I was thinking...and at the same time. Cue Twilight zone music.

Wow...that's eerie.

Great minds think alike I guess

# 57 splff3000 @ 02/07/09 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by countryboy


	I prefer off. 2) Could it be possible to tying the pre-play menus on/off to the skill level chosen? Say for Rookie/Pro they are on and for All-Pro/All-Madden they are automatically off? Or if you had a choice of say like Hardcore/Casual or something along those lines.

I agree with this and all the others like this. This is a good idea. If you're playing on all pro or all madden then you pretty much know how to play madden and don't really need a preplay menu, but you could still have an option of pushing the R3 button to bring it up just for those that might need a reminder.

# 58 thudias @ 02/07/09 01:08 PM

On or off doesn't make a difference as long as we have an option switch.

# 59 Ian_Cummings @ 02/07/09 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exonerated


	Imo. Default on is more sensible. Hardcores know how to turn this stuff on, and it takes like 2 seconds. But for the first time or newer players, they're gonna fked trying find how to turn the hints on. New players may not know the game has hints, weapons, etc. And they're have a harder (vs the hardcore turning it off) trying to turn stuff on. So leave them default on, everyone who wants em off has no trouble turning them off. Everyone who wants them on, will be confused and throw the game out the window.

So just to give a little insight, honestly this was definitely my first thought. But as I thought a little deeper...realistically is a person new to next-gen Madden going to do any pre-snap adjustments? I think they more likely feel overwhelmed when they see all these options. All of my friends nowadays say "Madden is too hard to play now", but I mean the core mechanics are the same from when they played 5 years ago - call a play, snap it, throw it, run, etc. IMO, it's the overkill with a million options that are always in their face that contributes to the panic. It immediately can invoke the feeling that "maybe I don't know what I'm doing" if you aren't using every one of those options. So I know the knee jerk thought is to think that we need to give more info for casual gamers, but that can often be detrimental when you go overboard.

We could also probably debate whether that many "casual" Madden gamers even exist on next-gen...do a lot of people out there spend $300+ bucks on new hardware and probably $1k at least on HD setups and stuff when they have no clue how to use a controller or have never seen a game of football? Wii on the other hand...

# 60 thudias @ 02/07/09 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA


	So just to give a little insight, honestly this was definitely my first thought. But as I thought a little deeper...realistically is a person new to next-gen Madden going to do any pre-snap adjustments? I think they more likely feel overwhelmed when they see all these options. All of my friends nowadays say "Madden is too hard to play now", but I mean the core mechanics are the same from when they played 5 years ago - call a play, snap it, throw it, run, etc. IMO, it's the overkill with a million options that are always in their face that contributes to the panic. It immediately can invoke the feeling that "maybe I don't know what I'm doing" if you aren't using every one of those options. So I know the knee jerk thought is to think that we need to give more info for casual gamers, but that can often be detrimental when you go overboard. We could also probably debate whether that many "casual" Madden gamers even exist on next-gen...do a lot of people out there spend $300+ bucks on new hardware and probably $1k at least on HD setups and stuff when they have no clue how to use a controller or have never seen a game of football? Wii on the other hand...

Wow very good points...I change my vote to Off by deault. I like the sound of having it basic and you can add things if you like.

Yes you can be a casaual Madden Gamer on NexGen. The casual Madden gamers probably spent the 300 for hardware for games like Halo and first person shooters etc.. They buy Madden to pass time between those types of games. Ahh that was a total guess, I only own sports games and Rockband.

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