Madden 12 News Post

Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog: Tuner Sets and Surprise Onside Kicks

08:00 PM - February 6, 2011 by Steve_OS

The Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime blog is online. Tuner sets and surprise onside kicks are in.

Quote:


	""Tuner Sets", introduced in the NHL series and brought into NCAA Football last year, are hugely important to the development of sports games in that they allow us to tune and tweak many existing parts of game code without the major delay that comes from a full title update requiring 1st party console manufacturer approvals. A quick addition to my hacked surprise onside kick code made this feature easily tunable post-ship, and thus much safer against any exploits that may crop up. This isn't the only thing in the tuner sets obviously...we are in the process of moving as many items into these as possible, from gameplay tuning to franchise data to even presentation aspects. We are excited to the possibilities this will open up to our fans in being able to provide live feedback and having us act on it in near real-time. The days of shipping a disc in a box and forgetting about it are long gone, and we want to be at the forefront of blazing new trails in reacting to our audience and improving the game quickly."

Read the entire blog right here, along with a short video showing off the new surprise onside kick, in action.

UPDATE: The podcast is now on iTunes, for those that couldn't listen to it, via the blog.

EDIT: Per Ian Cummings

Quote:


	"RE: surprise onside, you pick a normal kickoff, then hit the B (or Circle) button as the last press on the meter. Your opponent has no clue!"

UPDATE #2: Via Ian

Quote:


	"Since so many people have asked...surprise onside as of today is only allowed 2x per team per game. That value is also in the tuner set."

Game: Madden NFL 12Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 44 - View All

Madden NFL 12 Videos

Member Comments

# 81 roadman @ 02/07/11 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	That is kinda odd. That's like asking "do you want us to fix the breaks on your car, or install a GPS?"

That's because Ian was dead set against putting in surprise onside kicks and put up a obviously biased poll to swing the poll in his favor. If you didn't know Ian was dead set against it initially, and didn't see the poll, hard to make the above comment.

Since that time, Ian had a change of heart and a change of mind, so, the poll that was posted at that time is irrelevant at this time.

Too early to comment about PA being fixed.

# 82 ryan36 @ 02/07/11 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 31


	Where did it say that Ian did a poll on whether they should add surprise onside kicks or fix PA? Did I miss this?

Ian took a poll here on OS awhile back... a month or so ? (I don't quite remember)

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	That's because Ian was dead set against putting in surprise onside kicks and put up a obviously biased poll to swing the poll in his favor. If you didn't know Ian was dead set against it initially, and didn't see the poll, hard to make the above comment. Since that time, Ian had a change of heart and a change of mind, so, the poll that was posted at that time is irrelevant at this time. Too early to comment about PA being fixed.

I don't know that Ian put up a biased poll... I think he was just asking- either way if I had to guess I'd say PA is fixed.

# 83 ThaShark28_316 @ 02/07/11 12:52 AM

Now batting, Ian Cummings...

1 for 1 with a double.

Good job.

# 84 roadman @ 02/07/11 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryan36


	Ian took a poll here on OS awhile back... a month or so ? (I don't quite remember) I don't know that Ian put up a biased poll... I think he was just asking- either way if I had to guess I'd say PA is fixed.

Just my opinion, but if you asked me, the poll is slanted one way.

Are you really going to answer on-side kicks with that question?

Just saying.

# 85 BlueNGold @ 02/07/11 01:44 AM

Wow. Nevermind the surprise onsides and tuners (both good additions), the most notable thing to me is how good the game looks at this early stage.

Can't wait for more info. Will this be the only news for the month or will we be getting anything else before March?

# 86 BlastX21 @ 02/07/11 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Details


	I'm in favor of the surprise onside kick. It exists in reality. If you're going to argue against reality, there's not much to say. I'm happy with today's info. It's the best Madden Super Bowl Halftime Blog so far. (Well yeah, out of three. Still.)

Understandable, but the play is only a real as the user calling it. Irl you may see three or four surprise onside kicks in a season. But I guarantee you, there will be guys online using it every single kickoff. Then there will be another group who use it at least once a game. Thats contradictory to this "reality" that we both want.

The only way they should implement it, at least in my opinion, is if they give the receiving team an additional option to do a normal return while still looking for the onside kick. It would lessen the return game slighty but protect against the onside.

# 87 BlueNGold @ 02/07/11 01:58 AM

About surprise onsides, I think it might be best if they only allow them to be done in certain situations.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think I've seen a team with the lead do a surprise onside kick in real life.

# 88 PGaither84 @ 02/07/11 02:05 AM

49ers called this a number of times under Mike Nolan. This is not called often, but 32 teams and 16 weeks, it's not as rare as people may think either. What was rare was the Super Bowl. In fact, the Monday after, at our local indy book store, the owner said to me "what a call! That was like a video game!" I laughed and said "yeah, funny thing is.. you can't actually do that in the video game." Well, now you can.

I am glad it is in the game, like the wildcat, and I wish you could really use the Wildcat like it was intended instead of how it works now, but thanks to online jerks this will be another eye roller.

I like NCAA, and I like NCAA after using PlayMakers custom sliders, so I would guess that the tuner feature is a good thing. Also, as Ian wrote, it means we could/should get more "patches" without them really being called patches, and they can spend more time patching other areas of the game for title updates. i don't see how this isn't a good thing all around.

# 89 PGaither84 @ 02/07/11 02:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueNGold


	About surprise onsides, I think it might be best if they only allow them to be done in certain situations. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think I've seen a team with the lead do a surprise onside kick in real life.

Unless my memory is fading, in 2008 after taking the lead in a tight 10-10 game on the first drive of the 2ed half, Arizona tried a surprise onside kick and turned it into a two score lead and obliterated any momentum the 49ers may have had at half time.

# 90 khaliib @ 02/07/11 02:16 AM

BlastX21;2042100918

"Understandable, but the play is only a real as the user calling it. Irl you may see three or four surprise onside kicks in a season. But I guarantee you, there will be guys online using it every single kickoff. Then there will be another group who use it at least once a game. Thats contradictory to this "reality" that we both want."

That's why I said they should take this out of the gamers hands by making it tie into the ST Coach's ratings. Depending on his Game AWR or Aggressiveness, this play should run through the ST Coach. With it out of Gamer's control, it adds value/reason to hiring a ST Coach.

At some point, Coaches will have to matter in this game (maybe by 2014) because as it stands, they play absolutely no role in the game at all.

# 91 PGaither84 @ 02/07/11 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by khaliib


	That's why I said they should take this out of the gamers hands by making it tie into the ST Coach's ratings. Depending on his Game AWR or Aggressiveness, this play should run through the ST Coach. With it out of Gamer's control, it adds value/reason to hiring a ST Coach. At some point, Coaches will have to matter in this game (maybe by 2014) because as it stands, they play absolutely no role in the game at all.

I asked if there were a way to turn on auto kicking [like coach mode is really just auto passing] as a feature, and possibly a feature for online play.

# 92 BlueNGold @ 02/07/11 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PGaither84


	Unless my memory is fading, in 2008 after taking the lead in a tight 10-10 game on the first drive of the 2ed half, Arizona tried a surprise onside kick and turned it into a two score lead and obliterated any momentum the 49ers may have had at half time.

Thanks.

Well, it's definitely going to be interesting to see how this is used online.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not against this feature and am all for getting things that we see in real life.

# 93 PGaither84 @ 02/07/11 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Details


	Things that we see in real life. Exactly. The addition of surprise onside kicks was an absolute necessity.

Is that a jab at he Wildcat from a Phins fan? If so, I approve. I hate the Wildcat, but I want it to work right in the game.

# 94 Bellsprout @ 02/07/11 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nab_Impervious_XII

I approve of the new scoring bug. I like it a lot.

I was sick of looking at the current one, since they've had it for 2 years. The new one's smaller, which is excellent, because the current one was huge.

# 95 brett the jet favre @ 02/07/11 03:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MizzouBravesFan


	Surprise onside kicks eh...like it but can see it getting abused online.

thas all we are gonna see online hah!

# 96 Meast21Forever @ 02/07/11 03:43 AM

a few things:

- happy about the tuners. that's going to improve the game. the way this team worked well into december patching and updating madden 11, tuner sets will only improve madden 12 further.

- surprise onside kicks won't ruin online play. get a grip people. obviously they'll tune the ai to be aware of it. and if it does work once, ok then. but if it works more than once, that's on you. if someone wants to do that every time, make them pay. the risk outweighs the reward.

- why are people surprised how good the game looks 'for an early build'? it's madden 11 updated. not to say it's not a different game, but it isn't like they built it from scratch. they're just adding things. it looks pretty similar to 11 to me aesthetically aside from the score bug at the top.

- this blog is about as exciting as i expected. ian's not going to come out and release all the updated franchise info when the game doesn't ship for another 7 months. he's just feeding us baby birds what he's allowed to.

- is it me or does ian's controller look worn out?

his pads are all shiny

- still a bunch of individual players out there. each one is kinda wandering around doing his own thing. after playing nba 2k11 for so long, it'd be nice to see a player or two come together and hit helmets or high five or something. they recovered an onside kick, a few guys celebrated to themselves, and then it's off the field at the exact same rate of speed lol. a bit robotic almost. 2k11 spoiled me i guess

# 97 erich20012001 @ 02/07/11 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meast21Forever


	a few things: - happy about the tuners. that's going to improve the game. the way this team worked well into december patching and updating madden 11, tuner sets will only improve madden 12 further. - surprise onside kicks won't ruin online play. get a grip people. obviously they'll tune the ai to be aware of it. and if it does work once, ok then. but if it works more than once, that's on you. if someone wants to do that every time, make them pay. the risk outweighs the reward. - why are people surprised how good the game looks 'for an early build'? it's madden 11 updated. not to say it's not a different game, but it isn't like they built it from scratch. they're just adding things. it looks pretty similar to 11 to me aesthetically aside from the score bug at the top. - this blog is about as exciting as i expected. ian's not going to come out and release all the updated franchise info when the game doesn't ship for another 7 months. he's just feeding us baby birds what he's allowed to. - is it me or does ian's controller look worn out? his pads are all shiny - still a bunch of individual players out there. each one is kinda wandering around doing his own thing. after playing nba 2k11 for so long, it'd be nice to see a player or two come together and hit helmets or high five or something. they recovered an onside kick, a few guys celebrated to themselves, and then it's off the field at the exact same rate of speed lol. a bit robotic almost. 2k11 spoiled me i guess

This is the first thing I noticed, and something that if fixed, can bring a lot to the game. They need to make a team feel like a team. It brings life to a game.

# 98 dickey1331 @ 02/07/11 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett the jet favre


	thas all we are gonna see online hah!

Did you read the blog?

# 99 Step2001 @ 02/07/11 07:12 AM

Players need to have a Special Teams Rating & Allow us to set our Special Teams Units. So much more......

# 100 RynoAid @ 02/07/11 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Line


	ok then, someone wake me up in six months when all the info is already released. im not going to sit here and pretend that this was news worthy

I think any info you get 7 months in advance is newsworthy.. especially if it includes info on tuner sets. The onside kick info was just to bury the lead...

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