Passing game overhaul (my opinion)

[johnnyg713]

First and foremost, EA NEEDS TO BRING FUN TO THEIR FOOTBALL TITLES!

To do this we need to talk about controls -
for me the passing game is boring because it doesnt take that much skill. You hit the recievers icon button and the qb throws him the ball. You can have a much simpler system without any icons over the receivers head.

To take a page from just about every other sports game, you move passing to just ONE button (right trigger). Where the qb throws the ball is based on his body position (left stick) and where he is looking (right stick). For rookie difficulties bring back the qb vision to get the hang of the qbs vision. Where you are looking is where the qb is going to throw the ball ( this will obv be easier and more forgiving for higher rated qbs, If you have a poor qb, you have to time your throws perfectly. Also for higher rated qbs the quicker and easier it is for them to turn their head and get themselves into the position to throw, but remember the better the receiver you have the better he makes you look).

The trigger is the best option because it is the most pressure sensitive (think of it as taking the page right out of NHL and again arm strength is obv tied to ratings). The longer you hold down the trigger the harder you throw the ball. To finally fix the lob pass and long bombs? Just hold L trigger before you throw and the qb will put air under the ball. This may seem complicated at first but i garuntee will be second nature. A qb usually knows before the play he's going to lob it or go long. L trigger will even make you hesitate the long pass (think of it as calking the arm back which is very realistic). How to dump the ball to the Running back? Hit RB (have to be facing him of course or else its intentional grounding). Under pressure? Hit LB to throw ball away (again make sure your facing sidelines and hold it down long enough so it gets out of bounds, it could potentially be picked off or intentional grounding). Scrambling would b a face button.

Quick list of all possible throws:
Standard throw or Bullet pass - RT (pressure sensitive)
Lob or Hail Mary - LT (puts touch on) then RT (pressure sensitive)
Dump pass - RB
Throw away - LB


Take a step back and look at games like fifa and nhl. Do you guys ever complain about passing and not being able to pass it to the right guy? No because 99% of the time its user error, the pass wasn't aimed properly or you put too much or too little on the pass. One example that I can quickly explain is when you are charging up a pass in NHL and you have your man lined up but you pass it too hard and he has a bad "puck handling" rating. He has trouble receiving the pass, this can be implemented the same way.

There is a risk and reward for each throw you make just like in real life. Say you see a receiver coming across the middle but a line backer is there, hold LT before you throw and try and lob it over his head. If you have a poor rated QB you risk throwing a duck. Or you see a wide receiver streaking down the side line and quickly decide to air it out to him, LT will make you lead him but takes more time. However just using RT might cause poor qbs to under throw their receivers resulting in an incomplete pass or getting picked off.

I think this would make the passing game feel extremely fresh and unique to different qbs and recievers based on their ratings.

How ratings will tie in
What this game needs is route based passing. I know this has been a huge topic on these forums so I won't go into any detail.

What I want to talk about is how to make route based passing relevant and actually mean something in terms of ratings. Pretty simple. The qb has a route passing rating. The higher his rating, the better he places the ball.

Same goes for the receiver, A route running rating (pretty self explanatory) and a "ball awareness" rating. If its a elite reciever, he will know more often than not when the ball is in the air and can sometimes make plays even when he hasn't completed his route. If its a receiver with a lower rating, he will never catch the ball unless his route is complete and he's ready to look for the ball.

Expand on this a little more and you can start having a qb/receiver chemistry rating. If they play together long enough and a receiver becomes a qbs favorite target, then it will boost his ball awareness rating and the qbs throwing rating.

[NateDogPack12]

I disagree with removing the icons. I don't see how that would be possible with multiple receivers on one side of the field. Mastering that intricate delivery system based simply on body positioning would be so difficult, many would put the game down altogether.

There's a reason QB vision was taken out of games. It just didn't work.

[PowerofRed25]

As NateDog said, you're going to run in to all sorts of problems with multiple receivers in the same area, or even worse multiple receivers along the same vision line but at different depths. Routes like Shallow Cross would be a mess because there is no possible way to differentiate between the shallow route and the in route.

You need the receiver icons, there is no other way to do it. That said, there can be tweaks to that system to allow for better passing. Just building off the single button idea and the whole L2 discussion that OS went through for a few months, why not make the shoulder buttons useful in the passing game.

WR Button = Regular pass, held for bullet pass (like now)
L2 + WR Button = Over the shoulder fade
L1 + WR Button = Back shoulder fade/sideline throw (depending on route)
R1 + WR Button = Low throw (purposely thrown down so only the WR can get it, the better spectacular catch rating, the more likely they go get it)
Hold R1 = Throw away

All of these would require DB/WR interactions and a better route running system.

[whodat7]

Wish all of you guys could somehow get EA to see your ideas. All ideas, good and bad are more innovative than what they've been doing.

[johnnyg713]

Quote: Originally Posted by NateDogPack12

I disagree with removing the icons. I don't see how that would be possible with multiple receivers on one side of the field. Mastering that intricate delivery system based simply on body positioning would be so difficult, many would put the game down altogether. There's a reason QB vision was taken out of games. It just didn't work.

From what I remember the Qb vision didn't work because you still had to figure out which button to press after you were done looking down field. If you just had it so that you hit one button when a receiver was in your line of sight i think it would have worked. However I do see your point with the multiple crossing routes.

What do you think about the length of the "shadow" is determined by UP and DOWN on the RS not just LEFT and RIGHT. If there is a shallow cross you would have to keep the end of the shadow low, to throw it to the deeper cross youd simply have to hold up to make the shadow longer

[return.specialist]

this:

Quote: Originally Posted by johnnyg713

...move passing to just ONE button (right trigger). Where the qb throws the ball is based on his body position (left stick) and where he is looking (right stick)...

plus this:

Quote: Originally Posted by johnnyg713

Standard throw or Bullet pass - RT (pressure sensitive) Lob or Hail Mary - LT (puts touch on) then RT (pressure sensitive)

equals a passing system that might well require too much precision.

I personally would be in favor of EA eliminating the 'Leading the Receiver' with the Left-stick feature, because it seems to interfere with my assuming control of the receiver.

Though I would be in support of both the Left and Right Trigger being involved in the passing system. Perhaps controlling Pass-Arch and Velocity, respectively; pressed and held prior too pressing the receiver button (eliminating the current tap or hold system).

This would allow for more control over the pass it's self, and passes thrown too hard or soft, high or low would influence receiver behavior.

Additionally, with a system such as this, the Triggers could be quickly tapped and released to perform a pump-fake in the corresponding direction. I feel that the current pump-fake model completely inhibits quarterback function and almost guarantees a sack. Also, this may result in multiple pump-fakes, if a user changes their mind, which would add to realism.

However, I don't know how well any adjustments, fixes or overhauls would fair in the absence of

Quote: Originally Posted by PowerofRed25

...[improved] DB/WR interactions and a better route running system.

yes,

[ActLikeYouCrow]

i havent played a game with a cursor based passing system but that seems like the best way to go to me. it was nfl gameday 2004 or something or another where you would throw to a spot rather than just to a receiver. add that and realistic physics and youve got something that requires skill

[drummerguy1989]

I haven't put much thought into various control schemes, but it seems that the passing game, at least against a team with great Defensive Linemen, is pretty tough as is, with getting sacked and all. lol