Madden 2010 News Post

Madden NFL 10 Q&A Blog with the Dev Team

12:32 PM - September 2, 2009 by Ian_Cummings

Hey guys -

We're back in full force now after our wind-down, and we've been working on a "FAQ" blog to put out. Posting on forums and answering questions directly on Twitter just hasn't been widespread enough (since we keep getting the same questions asked), so this seemed like the best logical idea.

I've definitely been trying to read everything from the community, but I figured I'd open it up to make sure we gather all the most important questions in one place. We'll close this up by the weekend and try to have the blog out next week.

ONE REQUEST: NO DISCUSSION - JUST QUESTIONS.

To get the big one out of the way:

"When is the first title update coming out, and what is in it?"
The first patch is done on our end and in the hands of 3rd party for approvals, so I *think* we'll be able to release all the details about what's in the 1st title update in the official FAQ blog.

So...fire away!

Game: Madden NFL 10Reader Score: 7.5/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 141 Mofficial @ 09/02/09 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaTrojan


	They can at least patch so that in offline franchise people can enjoy the wildcat.

Amen.

# 142 British Bronco @ 09/02/09 06:36 PM

Ian

First of all thank you for coming here to get feedback on the game. I'm really enjoying the gameplay this year - thank you to all of the team and yourself for your hard work. It is appreciated on this side of the Atlantic!

My questions concerning the patch are as follows.

Q1. Sim Stats - Is there a way of cutting down on the total number of sacks? I've simmed multiple seasons and got out the calculator. Each team in a simmed season is averaging 48 sacks a season. The actual figure should be 32 (source Pro Football Reference.com). Very surprised that noone else has noticed this before.

Q2. Sim Stats - Is there a way of increasing the average number of points scored by each team over a season? Should be 22 points per game (source Pro Football Reference.com). - in simmed games it is currently about 20.5.

Q3. Sim Stats- Is the problem identfied by others with the average ypc of RBs going to be addressed? I think this is why the team rushing averages are too low - average rush yards per game should be 116 yards (source Pro Football Reference.com), in simmed games it is 88.

Q4. Injuries - These work fine generally but is there a way of generating in-game injuries to players that are not involved in a collision? I've played 2 entire seasons as a test and my Offensive Linemen are not getting a scratch. I'm also seeing more offensive skill players are getting hurt than defenders in-game, I suspect because of the hitting mechanism that generates injuries percentages. Injuries in simmed games works fine across all positions it's just the in-game injuries that don't seem balanced.

Thanks very much for your time. Looking forward to the patch so I can start my franchise properly!

# 143 TheWatcher @ 09/02/09 06:38 PM

I'm curious to know if skintones and body builds can be fixed via roster update, or if it's a patch situation?

It's annoying to see so many skintones way off. It makes guys not look like themselves, and it really hurts when it's a big time player. The worst ones are Adrian Peterson who is about 3-5 shades too light and Thomas Jones who also has the problem as well as Laurence Maroney. There are a number of others.

As for body builds, one glaring build being off is LaDanian Tomlinson's... he is still too thin.

# 144 Mofficial @ 09/02/09 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWatcher


	I'm curious to know if skintones and body builds can be fixed via roster update, or if it's a patch situation? It's annoying to see so many skintones way off. It makes guys not look like themselves, and it really hurts when it's a big time player. The worst ones are Adrian Peterson who is about 3-5 shades too light and Thomas Jones who also has the problem as well as Laurence Maroney. There are a number of others. As for body builds, one glaring build being off is LaDanian Tomlinson's... he is still too thin.

This is very very true.

# 145 Mofficial @ 09/02/09 06:54 PM

Why is it that when i'm controlling a defender, and the cpu jukes me, my player automatically goes into his "just got juked let me fall down like he cut upfield while I took a bad pursuit angle" animation? I didn't get faked out, so why should the player I'm controlling get faked out?

# 146 KANE699 @ 09/02/09 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWatcher


	I'm curious to know if skintones and body builds can be fixed via roster update, or if it's a patch situation? It's annoying to see so many skintones way off. It makes guys not look like themselves, and it really hurts when it's a big time player. The worst ones are Adrian Peterson who is about 3-5 shades too light and Thomas Jones who also has the problem as well as Laurence Maroney. There are a number of others. As for body builds, one glaring build being off is LaDanian Tomlinson's... he is still too thin.

Skin tones can be changed and Donny will be changing them, as long as they don't have unique faces, body builds can also be altered but are determined on player weight. LT could probably be thickened up though.

# 147 Mofficial @ 09/02/09 06:59 PM

Why do WR's whiff on blocks or run around in circles when trying to block corners?

What I am trying to figure out Ian... is why do the players universally take horrible pursuit angles when there is a pursuit rating??? I'm really not understanding. And even if it's because they have poor pursuit ratings (a la Offensive personnel) they don't have the common sense to take the best pursuit angle to prevent a TD?

# 148 Mofficial @ 09/02/09 07:01 PM

In a response to the a thread about LBs not making tackles,

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnalnirvava


	its the blocking and tackling first the blocking has to extend to players other than the OL, Te and WR has to block better, 1. the Cb on the outside is unblocked 70% of the time because most Wr has a 25-40 in run blocking so they wiff the block or run in circles most times and that Cb comes and tackle the ball carrier that one less for you LB 2. the DL gets free because the OL tries to pick up blitzers that the Te should handle, 3. plays dont last long enough for Lb to get off a block and make a play, the tackling is too sure for weaker players .

can you attest to this?

# 149 Dianwei32 @ 09/02/09 07:07 PM

What happened to giving us the ability to edit any player's attributes mid-Franchise?

# 150 bonannogiovanni @ 09/02/09 07:07 PM

Ian, is it possible to patch the game so that acc clock runs off even inside the two minute warnings? This way no huddle offense would be a must for the trailing team (added realism).

# 151 thereisonly1#1 @ 09/02/09 07:10 PM

1. was the game ever given a thorough beta testing?

2. Do you guys plan on overhauling the engine since this one has reached its limits?

# 152 Argooos @ 09/02/09 07:16 PM

Dear Madden Developers,

Big fan of your work, but I have a few questions:

General questions:

Has any work been done on customizable camera angles? The ability to adjust the camera in the same way we can in instant replay would be fantastic. I'm specifically thinking of the ability to set the camera so that on defense I'm looking at my players' backs, just like I do on offense. I'd also like to be able to see the sidelines when I'm throwing sideline passes

Will we ever (as users) be able to import things like portraits and team logos into the game?

Are there plans to add more logos for created teams? Even the alphabet would be good.

Why don't height and weight seem to matter in gameplay or player ratings? It seems to me it would be a simple matter of linking the player's height and weight to certain attributes. For example a high weight could cause a player to have lower speed and agility but higher hit power and strength. Also editing height and weight should change a player's overall rating.

Offline Franchise questions:

Will Potential ratings ever be editable? Part of the fun with past franchises was developing poor players into good ones. Now, if I see a player has "D" potential, why should I bother trying to develop him? Now what if that "D" player happens to be my favourite player?

Will we ever be able to turn on an option to be able to edit players in franchise mode? I believe this would make a lot of people more happy with the product because they would then be able to fix many mistakes/glitches themselves.

Are there plans to create portraits for the pre-created draft classes? It would add a lot to playing franchise mode deep into several seasons. A team full of blank faces has much less character than one with faces. If you're wondering where to get the faces, I'm sure Madden fans would be willing to donate photos of themselves.

Are there any changes planned for player progression? As it currently stands it is not realistic in the least. In reality a player may start the season good enough to be a starter, but as the season progresses he may regress or his backup may progress to the point where the depth chart must be changed. This is especially the case with the preseason, where players' "ratings" are constantly changing. I would suggest having progression occur at the end of the preseason and then several times throughout the season. This alone would make the preseason worth playing. As it currently stands there is no reason to actually play the preseason games. With progression the way it currently is, a player who has the ratings to be the starter in pre-season will almost certainly be the starter (barring injury) right through to the playoffs. That's not realistic.

What variables are player progressions based on? I would hope that it is a combination of age, potential, stats compared to others at his position, and stats compared to others on his team. It shouldn't be just one of the four, but a combination. A player should only get full (very high) progression if he is not too old, has good potential, has better stats than his teammates, and compares well against others in the league at his position. If one of these areas is lacking, it should lower his progression. That being said, offseason (but only offseason) progression should have some elements of randomization - sometimes a player seemingly randomly gets very good or very bad between seasons.

Are there plans to increase roster limits? Real NFL teams carry more players than the teams in Madden. The game should have a rather large roster limit in preseason. This, coupled with player progression at the end of the preseason, would make this part of the game one of the most interesting of the whole season. During the regular season there should be a practise roster as well as roster spots freed up by placing players on injured reserve.

Why are depth charts and substitutions limited by player position? This eliminates the possibility of something like Seneca Wallace lining up at wide receiver or Mike Vrable lining up on offence. It's not realisitic and dratically limits what we can do in the game. If I want my third string QB to also be the fourth string wide receiver, why can't I do that? Also, if I want to sub a linebacker into my goaline formation on offense, why can't I do that?

Will teams in the offseason get relocation offers? For example the Bills should probably get a relocation offer from the city of Toronto at some point in playing their franchise.

Why are player substitutions only availiable in the playcalling screen? I think a lot of people would appreciate a player substitution option outside of games or even in the start menu options in-game.

Why is there no reset button for player substitutions?

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Sorry it's so long.

-Argooos

# 153 SaintsNATION32 @ 09/02/09 07:32 PM

i can careless bout M10 PATCHES its out lets start focusing on m11 all i want is al michaels to join colinsworth for commentary maybe add a 3rd guy an get people we can relate to..2k5 did that great wit espn sportcenter an BERHMAN....get indepth wit fellas ya made a good game in m10, LEts make the greatiest game ever in m11. DON'T LET A GAME OVER 5 YRS OLD....still hunt yall....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9O6jKorLRo

LET"S GO FELLAS.....THE HELL WIT M10 PATCHES......LET'S GET M11 ROLLIN.

# 154 LHaze30 @ 09/02/09 07:37 PM

You added a coach mode this year but you can't use it in an online franchise. Is there a way to patch this so we can play coach mode in an online franchise? If not, I am just curious as to why it was not included this year.

# 155 gbeazy @ 09/02/09 07:49 PM

For Osh Kosh ba Josh Looman, can we get a roster update for Head Coach 09? Will pay real money

# 156 Mofficial @ 09/02/09 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaintsNATION32


	i can careless bout M10 PATCHES its out lets start focusing on m11 all i want is al michaels to join colinsworth for commentary maybe add a 3rd guy an get people we can relate to..2k5 did that great wit espn sportcenter an BERHMAN....get indepth wit fellas ya made a good game in m10, LEts make the greatiest game ever in m11. DON'T LET A GAME OVER 5 YRS OLD....still hunt yall.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9O6jKorLRo LET"S GO FELLAS.....THE HELL WIT M10 PATCHES......LET'S GET M11 ROLLIN.

I'm all for m11, but if they can't get m10 right, I really don't wanna focus on m11. I believe if they put the same effort they put in this year, and really deliver m11 will end all talk. But can we please fix m10? It sucks that a game this good isn't as enjoyable as it should because of all of these legacy issues. If they can fix these problems up by december I'll gladly turn all my attention to m11. But m11 isn't gonna be any good if we don't fix the problems that 10 and 09,08 and 07 had that 06 started (i'm just speculating

) once we get these straight, then we can focus on m11 because only then will m11 be as good as it should.

And since we're not supposed to be having a discussion, here is my other question(s) Ian: How does fatigue work? And does it last for the entire game? What setting will allow defensive players to be tired in the 4th quarter after 3 quarters of pounding the rock and not be subbed? I really can't tell how fatigue impacts ratings and performance in-game. Can you show us how it does these things and show us what to look for?

# 157 kehlis @ 09/02/09 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaintsNATION32


	THE HELL WIT M10 PATCHES......LET'S GET M11 ROLLIN.

Generally speaking, working on patches for 10 IS working on 11.

# 158 Darkleaf @ 09/02/09 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PYA-MUSTANG86


	- Will the excessive holding calls on FG's be addressed? I was on the 25 yard line down 28-26, with 10 seconds left I make the FG, it gets called back for holding. So I'm on the 35 make it again and get called for holding again. Thank God I had Mason Crosby, cause what was a 42 yard FG turned into a 62 yard FG and I bearily made it for the win. It was online and you can't adjust the sliders.

The holding on field goals will be fixed it's the only thing we know for sure that's in the first patch.

# 159 jf28 @ 09/02/09 09:00 PM

Will the patch fix the prominence of holding on FG's?

Will it help stop the fact that QB's could sense blind side pressure way too well?

Will fight for fumble be toned down a bit? It often happens on plays where clearly one player has the ball and the play should be blown dead.

Will the awful CPU punting be fixed?

Not sure if this is possible to patch, but will you add separate ST sliders for CPU and humans?

This is more for next year, will you add back features from last gen that inexplicably haven't been in the game (run/pass commit, some form of pre or in season progression, player morale, etc.)?

# 160 swanlee @ 09/02/09 09:02 PM

I only have a couple of issues with the current game

1. Replay's are to in frequent, we need replay's after every major play and TD.

2. Holding calls on the offense on point after attempts. Definate bug as they happen to much. I had 5 in a row on the CPU offense after they scored a TD. They ended up missing the extra point they were pushed back to far.

3. Broadcast camera needs to be patched in.

4. Slants are to easy

5. CPU QB gets rid of the ball to many times when they should have been sacked.

6. Halftime Extra Point show always has the wrong yardage as the total yardage for the half for both teams.

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