Ncaa 14-GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENT MANIFESTO(Official gameplay improvement thread)

[General Butt Naked]

1. BLOCKING ENGAGEMENTS

Most everyone agrees that blocking engagements should be the main focus in Ncaa 14 and Madden 14, but many do not describe what it should be like or how it should be applied. I will attempt to do so and I hope u guys will chime in if u agree or disagree.

As the game plays now, blocking remains stiff and sticky. Once u get engaged there is not much u can do except attempt a dline move or manuever urself sideways/backwards to disengage from the blocker. There is minimal movement back and forth and no movement horizontally. Pass protection is stale because of Offensive tackles that produce the paddy cake animation, which takes too long to occur allowing the QB to throw the ball without pressure. Dt's don't get any push (neither do DE's) allowing the QB to sit in the pocket comfortably. All these issues have been discussed. And now I will offer an image/idea of what blocking should be like in the next installment of NCAA and Madden.

There needs to be more involvement when engaged in a blocking engagement. When engaged, there has to be more control than just pressing the right stick in a direction and hoping it works. My suggestion is that the movement of the L stick, when engaged, should be important in regards to the blocking outcomes.

The movement of the L stick within an engagement should determine the direction and movement of the block. For example, If im a DT and the offense runs right, once I engage I should be able to manuever the block towards the runner, if the blocker also "agrees" to move it that way. once engaged if i move the L stick right towards the runner and the blocker also moves the L stick right then the block would move horizontally towards the right. If the blocker does not compensate for my movement towards the right then I will gain an angle towards the RB, which will eventually allow me a better chance to disengage the block depending on how the blocker recovers. Lets say I gain the initial advantage in the block by pushing my L stick right earlier then the blocker. we would remain in the block until my angle towards the RB or whatever direction im heading forces him to hold me. Lets say the blocker get the initial advantage and gets to the right of me in our engagement. Now i must manuever the stick back and to the right to allow myself to follow up the play, however I will be losing ground because the blocker is moving me back faster but my goal would be to pursue the ball carrier. moving the L stick backwards allows me to recover much like how the blocker would recover if I initially beat him to the right. Once engaged, u won't always be allowed to disengage a block by moving backwards. (sometimes u would because the blocker would no longer pursue u if u ran directly backwards) To disengage u will have to use a disengage move, like the ones that are in the game now or u move ur defender at such an angle that would make him hold u, thus making him let go. Essentially u could remain in a block for the entire width of the field. however this would almost never happen because of attribute effects and pursuit angles.

So now we have a framework for attributes to take affect for blockers and blockees. Strength dictates the back and forth. Accleration affects back and forth because of the initial burst off the line, and pass blocking because the initial burst backwards to get in good position for the pass block. Run and pass blocking would allow u to get in the correct position/angle for the block and to sustain that position. And so on. For all of this to work tacklers have to be able to tackle while engaged in a block. the infinity engine allows this. I understand the cpu would not be controlling the blocker, however in theory they are moving an imaginary L stick.

2 man pass blocking could be implemented with this idea. The two blockers would provide a new pivot point two where the defender would have to negotiate around or through. So if the blockers were close together they would be able to push the defender backwards more effectively but would reduce the radius around them. If the blockers were spread apart a little, it would give the defender an opprutunity to burst through but would make the radius around them bigger, thus making getting around them harder. Of course the lineman and defender would constantly be adjusting, so the positioning and pivot point would change quite often.

Signifcantly reduce the amount of blockers and blockees falling down. This should only happen when their are tremendous attribute mismatches within the block (LT vs CB).

In the future take into account momentum of the blockers.

Introduce many new animations to blocking engagements that will allow these blocking scenarios to be expressed. It shouldn't even feel like an animation, it should feel like one continual motion between two players.

Stop the win or lose scenarios when a dline move is used. the moves should help u either gain an angle or disengage, if u use one and it isn't successful, perhaps u lose ground or an angles rather than falling on the ground.

In conclusion, I have introduced an application of blocking engagements that will eliminate sticky blocks, will create a pocket that will allow pressure, but doesn't necessarily always result in a sack. an application that allows dlineman to pursue the run game horizontally, and while still engaged in a block. significantly reduces win or loss scenarios and keeps blockers and blockees on their feet.

2. PLAYER MOVEMENT

Most agree that player movement has been an issue in previous installments. Moving forward, I would like to introduce a concept that should be aspired to in further developments of Madden and NCAA.

First off, I think its a given that player movement needs to be almost entirely overhauled. I think the biggest problem is the change of direction animations that are expressed when running. I often find myself running horizontally when attempting to stop, then redirecting and running the other way. The player does not plant his feet, rotate his hips, and explode in the other direction moving forward in that direction. Instead he stops in a stand still animation (this animation needs to removed from the game), then moves horizontally without rotating his hips, and sidesteps while still looking forward. In my eyes this is the biggest problem with player movement (change in direction player movement). There needs to be a lot changed so let me get into how player movement should be or what should be aspired to.

Think Fifa 13. This is my general idea with some other modifications. When u change directions in fifa u will notice that the player will plant his foot, rotate his hips, and explode in the other direction and it is all done on the L stick. So now u understand the general idea but let me get into my additions.

Momentum, along with player characteristics should determine player movement (keeping in mind how player movement in fifa is expressed). An example, If I have a 245lb power back moving vertical at full speed and I move the L stick 90 degrees to the left (without centering the L stick), my momentum will effect his movement. Instead of planting and exploding 90 degrees left, the back will continue to move forward but will lean his body slightly left in attempt to change his direction, thus altering his path slightly to the left until he can make a complete turn. Of course his attributes will effect how sharp he can make his turn, with smaller more agile backs being able to change course faster. Now if the back were not moving at full speed he would be able to plant and change directions but his momentum in the example prevents this. Continuing, if he were a smaller more agile back he could plant and explode faster, depending on his attributes. Now, If instead of moving the stick immediately in a 90 degree direction I decided to center the L stick to slow down, (this deceleration should be expressed as well, from all out sprint, to run, to jog, to standstill) then I would be able to plant and explode.

A couple ideas, centering the L stick while running should make the player slowly come to a halt, how long it would take would depend on how fast he is already moving. When the player comes to a stop he should be standing upright, not squatting like he does currently in the game.

There has to be more in between speeds players can move at. Right now, it seems if there are two speeds, full speed and complete stop. the speed should be determined by how far u are pushing the L stick forward. If your barely moving it forward then he should slowly creep, similar to a RB approaching an offensive line attempting to read his blocks. Holding the L stick all the way up makes him run at full speed. And I think a good idea is to express the full out sprint that a player is in when u have the L stick all the way up and u are pressing the sprint button. Allow that to be expressed, the transition between those two speeds, as it is now u can't even tell the difference. I think u get the idea, the L stick has to be more pressure sensitive in player speed and accleration.

[XSmooth]

Bring back cheats, yo. After 4-5 months of playing the game as sim as possible I put the game down....but with cheats, the game can have a totally new life. 75%more fumbles. Unlimited field goal range. Auto coffin corner. Super jumping. 75%more break tackles. That was some fun ish back on ps2.

Blah.

[General Butt Naked]

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