I HOPE THEY DONT CHANGE THE RUNNING GAME NEXT YEAR

[Kelvarr]

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mike06 said:
Aside from those two things, I think it is well done, albeit the RB's fall forward for yardage, or are rolled forward for yardage way more often than they should be.

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How can you say that? Whens the last time youve really seen a running back in the NFl completely stuffed the second he is hit without falling forward for at least some yardage?

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It's not so much that they fall forward for some yardage (1 yard or so), but I am talking when I have 2-3 defenders hit him head on and should eliminate his forward progress, only to have one of the defenders go into the tackle animation of wrapping him up and pulling/rolling the RB over him to tackle him. This usually results in 3-4 yards gained.

That is what I meant by that comment

[mike06]

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LBzrule said:

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mike06 said:
Aside from those two things, I think it is well done, albeit the RB's fall forward for yardage, or are rolled forward for yardage way more often than they should be.

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How can you say that? Whens the last time youve really seen a running back in the NFl completely stuffed the second he is hit without falling forward for at least some yardage?

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It does happen sometimes. Just ask Jamal Lewis versus TN a week ago. Ughhh I hate to remember it. If somebody has an 8 or 9 man front and they have good defensive players, you aint going nowhere. Were the Titans that successful against everybody? Not really, because other teams had adequate passing attacks hence they couldn't stack the box. But since the Ravens passing game was in question, they decided to stack the box and stop the run and that's what they did. Doesn't mean I want them to "change" the running game per se. Just get the Dline to do better at occupying blockers and get the LB's to either flow faster or hit gaps faster and of course tackling, while not overly horrible could use a little work.

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You nailed exactly what i meant. When i basically said 'RBs always fall forward" i mean when they are running. Like Jamal Lewis did in the tenessee game he couldnt get barely any forward momentum because of the d-line and extra LBs clogged the holes and made him basicall stop to find a place to run....as far as ESPN NFL FOotball goes id like to see more action from the d-line like looking at the running back, find where hes going and attempt to clog the hole. Maybe also slowing him down by getting an arm on him and stuff like that.

[Stevo]

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digitalandroid said:
Maybe just take out the head-on tackle slide to left animation . And the running game is perfect.

VC! You got a perfect running game! just take out that one animation! DONT RUIN THE RUNNING GAME NEXT YEAR. LEAVE IT ALONE VC!!

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C'mon now, you have to be crazy to not admit that the running game is overpowered. How can you say it is perfect without one animation when Ricky Williams and Eddie George can break up to 5 tackles in one run.(Literally) How many times has Ricky broke 5 times this year, last year, his career! NONE! This is one reason I don't play Online much anymore (only against my friends) because all these people run 95% of the time and could break off 60 yard runs with ease. I've improved my defense a lot now though. (I could shut down some runners) But Ricky, Eddie, Faulk, and Garner are extremely overrated. Also, runs to the outside are money plays because the defense takes HORRIBLE angles to tackle the ball-carrier. (It's almost pathedic) And like LBz says in a lot of the threads, the Linebackers just automatically gets sucked in to blockers and don't play like they should on a toss play.

The computer is fine (with sliders) but there still is some problems. This game is the best football game, but the running game is the ONE thing it HAS to fix. I thought the running game was great last year. (a challenge but realistic, only needed a higher breakaway speed) Sorry about the long rant, but if VC doesn't change this next year, well, I dunno how pissed I'll be... It's selfish to say the running game doesn't need to be changed.

[Triggerfish]

Excellent post,Stevo....the points you made are well known by now and I'm sure will be addressed in the new game.What amazes me is they never even patched it for this game or came out and acknowledged it! I guess they are afraid if they did no one would buy the next one because it would be perfect!

[Lisa_Bonami]

The running game needs work....definitely. First thing they need to tweak or smoothen out is the sharp 8 way angles players can transition to at the drop of a dime. Not only does it look horribly "8-BITish" but it too easily and effortlessly creates opportunities for big gains especially online. Players can too easily cut against the grain to avoid pursuing tacklers. In fact, simply cutting against the grain is so effective that it almost ommits the juke functions. This is most notable online......

Secondly, it is almost a bit too systematic how runningbacks will almost always shed the first hit.

Even tho I dont really think Fever 2004 is a very deep game, I think they handle the running animations very well. It has a very fluid feel to it. Altho the the tackling engine suffers a bit from motion capture touch tackling syndrome.....similar to what Madden also suffers a bit from.

[Rocky]

The initial running game is fine to me. I love the control of the runners....the charge and chain are great as well as the variety of moves you can pull off. I also love how you can set up your blocks and if you don't think a RB can run full speed after setting up a block......watch Ahman Green or Stephen Davis run(and those guys aren't even all that fast).

Actually, most of the issues can be fixed in this game with slider/player rating adjustments. First off, the slow RB's are too fast. Guys like George and Bettis should have SPD ratings in the low 70's. There also not great tackle breakers anymore either. LB's and even D-Linemen should have SPD and AGL increases. The DB's should have better Run Coverage ratings as well.

[Blue_Monkey]

Some sort of system has to be created so you can make quick, sharp cut backs. Like the right stick left/right.

Usually on any run play, succesful or not, there tends to be at least 5-6 people around the RB. It's just that they aren't able to go into animations like in a game. They need certain physcial elements to be able to tackle. Not in ESPN. If the running game (and yards-after-catch game) dynamics are changed more towards realism like this, it adds so much more fun to the whole game.

But RB break tackles need to stay, definitely. They usually look a lot more dramatic than in real life but watch almost any run in the NFL in which the RB has at least a little room and he'll probably break at least one tackle. It just doesn't look exactly the same as in the game.

Oh, and the D-line is WAY too anemic in this game. It just looks like the O-line and D-line are blocking each other. Yes, I know that one of D-line's objectives is to keep blockers away from LBs but not like this. They're supposed to still play the run that's coming at them. And in reality they flow amazingly well to the play and are able to get to the RB and that's why you talk of a team's D-line first when talking about their run defense.

[Lisa_Bonami]

folks, im strictly basing my comments on this game's running attack from observations made from online play only. If you play against an WORTHY opponent online, you will see how much the running /blocking/ or pursuit of this game needs some serious tweaking.

Last year's running attack online, somehow was alot more realistic and balanced. Play against a good player with Ricky Williams or any other top flight back and you will see how bloated their yardage gains will become. Im not exactly sure what the problem is but I mentioned.....above some things