DB/WR Interactions Are Vastly Improved in Madden NFL 16, According to EA

[gjneff]

Re: DB/WR Interactions Are Vastly Improved in Madden NFL 16, According to EA

Sounds good in writing. It's got to play well though. I kind of wish the catch type would be automatic based on ratings. Not sure we need another varied control for something like this, but it sounds promising.

This needs to be part of a dynamic set of tendencies for the way players play and not just what they are good at. Some players have a "tendency" to do something when their skills say they should do something else.

[Trick13]

Re: DB/WR Interactions Are Vastly Improved in Madden NFL 16, According to EA

I have to say that I am, up to this point, very impressed with what has been released/ showcased.

The DB/WR interactions that have been available for viewing so far are a vast improvement over anything we have seen previously from EA.

That being said, there is still a little disappointment for me in the way the system works, or the controls for it.

In years past attempting catches would often result in a reception and then the hurdle animation playing out of context - so are we now going to see "possession" catches leading into diving animations?, RAC receptions becoming stiff arms???

I would have prefered a system where "possession" attempts were on the R1 or bumper - logical as that is cover up ball, and then RAC/Aggressive attempts being tied to "pressure/timing sensitivity" on the Y/triangle, which would have left dive for desperation attempts on passes where diving made sense and then have L1/bumper be the user option of attempting to swat/knock away INTs. Even possession attempts could have been made "timing" sensitive tap = snatch and tuck away, press = catch and fall, and hold = sideline feet in and catching while going to the ground.

All of that would have allowed the user to dictate the attempted animation while allowing the ratings/tendency/traits system to dictate success or failure.


I like the idea behind the different catch styles giving us back some control on the user end over the attempt made, but feel like controller timing is going extinct - not a fan of that trend.

That brings me to defense in the pass defending area of this system - does the user have the ability to "play ball" for the swat attempt or is every "play ball" input have my defender attempting a pick??? And "play receiver", does that leave the user any control over timing a hit versus attempting to swat the ball out as the receiver pulls in the ball???




One of my biggest gripes with Madden goes back to the arrival of the 360 console and the death of the best video game control layout ever - the PS2 Madden control layout which supplied a bit of "integrated or forced" realism because you had to release the sprint/acceleration button to perform moves that require "footwork setups" and allowed for the "cut moves" we see every single game day from just about every ball carrier who ever runs with the ball in their hands.

The natural progression of that superior system would have been to allow for certain combos - example stiff arm/strip ball was directional based on left or right trigger - so you could have had cover ball become the holding in both triggers and wrap up tackles being the same input. Holding one side and tapping the other could have been - for offense - tucking the ball with one arm (less effective compared to full cover ball) and tapping the other to reach out and punch some defenders facemask or swipe at incoming tacklers arms. Defensively, holding one trigger in while tapping the other could be the type of half wrap and swat at ball that we see repeatedly in the NFL on strip sacks and ball carriers. Again the effectiveness would be dictated not only by ratings but also by the timing of execution.

These are the types of controls - where user control input both the pressure or length of time the button is depressed coupled with actually timing the control input - that is, for me, a huge reason the game is not as fun as it was in years gone by.

Just to be clear, ratings would/should dictate success/fail rates of attempted animations, but animation pools - just like with passing trajectories - should be tied to timing of the input and the type of input utilized...

[Hooe]

Re: DB/WR Interactions Are Vastly Improved in Madden NFL 16, According to EA

Thanks CM, any chance you were able to notice if the db shading affected the play at all? Ex- did playing with inside leverage force an outside release? And if so did that affect the play (especially on the shot plays, forcing a throw into coverage or closer to the sideline)?

Thanks again for the updates

I will play around with that today and get back to you.

[roadman]

Re: DB/WR Interactions Are Vastly Improved in Madden NFL 16, According to EA

One thing that needs to be added back to Madden is defensive lock. I should be able to have my best defender following the oppositions best WR. I think it was a error with being able to do this only b/c they allowed you to put multiple players on defensive lock so if they were to limit it to only 1 or 2 players being allowed to do this you would think that should eliminate the problem.

Is this similar to what you are looking for?

QUICK ADJUSTMENTS

Defensive quick adjustments give users the ability to adjust any of their defenders on the field without having to manually switch to the defender. Simply select the group (DL, LB, DB), choose individual adjustment, select the defender and set the assignment.

This addresses a long-standing legacy issue that put the defense at a disadvantage when it came to pre-play adjustments.

[Mr.Smif]

Re: DB/WR Interactions Are Vastly Improved in Madden NFL 16, According to EA

From the videos im not seeing much wr/db interaction before the ball is thrown, during route running. This has me a little worried, can someone confirm their is receiver/defender contact/interaction before the ball is in the air.

[Skyboxer]

Re: DB/WR Interactions Are Vastly Improved in Madden NFL 16, According to EA

Is this similar to what you are looking for?

QUICK ADJUSTMENTS

Defensive quick adjustments give users the ability to adjust any of their defenders on the field without having to manually switch to the defender. Simply select the group (DL, LB, DB), choose individual adjustment, select the defender and set the assignment.

This addresses a long-standing legacy issue that put the defense at a disadvantage when it came to pre-play adjustments.

No.. I mean I LOVE they added it as I've been wanting this for a while but that's not the same. This is assignment audibles.

We want the ability pre-game to set up a certain CB (or whoever) to always cover/follow a certain WR the whole game if he was on the field. I would sometimes also set a certain LB to be on a RB during certain games etc..

[redsox4evur]

Re: DB/WR Interactions Are Vastly Improved in Madden NFL 16, According to EA

No.. I mean I LOVE they added it as I've been wanting this for a while but that's not the same. This is assignment audibles.

We want the ability pre-game to set up a certain CB (or whoever) to always cover/follow a certain WR the whole game if he was on the field. I would sometimes also set a certain LB to be on a RB during certain games etc..

I think I get what you are saying...like last year the Patriots always had Revis set up against whatever team's best WR no matter where he lined up on the field. Is that close to what you are talking about?