Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

[callmetaternuts]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

awesome blog and really looking forward to diving into how this all works, and seeing it on the field.

[TombSong]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

Note to the rest of you. I can appreciate yall wanting to give Ian mad props for what he shows and it is warranted, but keep in mind. We have the DEVS ear.

You have to visualise you playing what he is blogging and almost see what the end results can possibly be and ask meaningful questions about as many things that can help him possibly see something he may not have thought of and help tweak/improve the game.

Our goal is to make sure we help him give us what we are asking for. We can shower him with man love on release day when we are all playing this joint till 4am in the morning because they delivered on what the promised.

[djKianoosh]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

@Valdarez, towards the end of the 2k video clip you'll see the back run right past him the engaged defender. what EA is saying is that the defender should be 'aware' that the ballcarrier has passed him and should try to disengage and pursue.

[djKianoosh]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

... We can shower him with man love on release day when we are all playing this joint till 4am in the morning because they delivered on what the promised.

4am? that's it? you mean you're not gonna be up all night and all weekend long?

[hollywood21]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

Dammit Ian!

U sure know how to make a grown man cry. LOL. Im preordering Ian football 10. Can't wait to see the runblocking blog.

Keep up the good work romo.

[icomb1ne]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

So can we get some double teams in pass blocking or what?

[TombSong]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

4am? that's it? you mean you're not gonna be up all night and all weekend long?

If the game delivers, I might not sleep at all, LOL

[Ian_Cummings]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

I really like the comparison with APF2K8 that game does so many things well (except sales, heh), but then, it's a game I know really well, so I can relate to it more than Madden. Definitely makes it easier to connect features / functionality that way. I'm probably in the minority on that one though.

I don't quite see where the defender doesn't recognize that someone is running past them in the video below. I have seen animations that I have been unable to break (particularly in the coverage game), but I'm honestly not sure what I'm supposed to be seeing in the clip below (pointers anyone?).<object width="600" height="405"></object>

Seems pretty obvious to me (in the 2nd one especially). The defender is within arm's reach of the ballcarrier, and could easily tackle him, but gets stuck in an animation and ignores the ballcarrier. The 2nd one he is moving laterally while the ballcarrier runs past him for at least 10 yards...if they had branching he could have just pushed off and run after him.

[Bgamer90]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

Love it. Pro Tak is making this game better in gameplay in various different ways. The ability to break out of blocks will make the defensive game a lot more realistic and fun to play.

[adembroski]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

Dammit Ian!

U sure know how to make a grown man cry. LOL. Im preordering Ian football 10. Can't wait to see the runblocking blog.

Keep up the good work romo.

ROFL

[Valdarez]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

Seems pretty obvious to me (in the 2nd one especially). The defender is within arm's reach of the ballcarrier, and could easily tackle him, but gets stuck in an animation and ignores the ballcarrier. The 2nd one he is moving laterally while the ballcarrier runs past him for at least 10 yards...if they had branching he could have just pushed off and run after him.

The ball carrier, and the blocker are both within range, so at that point it's a contest for who gets triggered, a tackle animation or a blocking animation. Closest guy to the defender wins. The closest guy in that scenario was the other offensive player (the blocker). Perhaps the block wasn't done as well as possible, and there's definitely no way to branch out of it (unless you dive, that seems to work pretty well, it's a trick I use to avoid blocks like the one in the video and the only time dive should ever be used in the game). Is the 2nd example really an example of a long running animation, or more of an example that you can't have a dual animation triggered, in other words, he should be getting blocked while reaching to make the tackle. Since there is no dual animation concept, the closest animation, based on context wins, and is triggered. In this case it's the blocking animation.<object height="405" width="600">

<embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4599183&server=vimeo.com&sho w_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=00AD EF&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="405" width="600"></object>Blocking animations - APF2k8 from easports on Vimeo.

Here's a picture of the positioning right after the catch. The offensive player is in a very good position to make a block.

[dougdeuce]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

I'm really liking all the new info, but I don't like the camera angles at all. I want a gameplay angle, so I can truly analyze what's going on. I feel that this Madden is making huge strides, but have been bitten by that bug in the past thanks to replay angle promos.

[Moostache]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

Ian - looks really nice...the animations and player interactions are looking drastically better - especially loved the way the Tackle moves back now with a step and motion in the hands and arms instead of the creepy looking "float-straight-back" motion seen in earlier versions - (a little tight on the clips still - can't blame you, I know that you're trying to show the specifics here and not full plays in an unfinished build) things are definitely showing the attention that is going into these areas...

Some concerns/questions for you, the team or anyone from CD who got to get hands on with this pass blocking scheme:

1) LOVED the way Romo gets pounded by Ngata when he tried to roll out instead of stepping up in the pocket...that looked great and seemed to be very realistic...but (and you had to know there would be a but) what happens if the user controlling the QB is patient, allows the DE and OT to engage BEFORE attempting to roll out (ie. - how well does QB contain logic work now)?

- I know that the blog says you have the ability to break out of the animations when controlling a DE for example, but does this offer enough of a chance for people to continue the abuse of mobile QBs that has been in all football games (INCLUDING 2K5 and 2K8). 2K5 and 2K8 had what I considered to be a weakness in allowing the QB to easily step up in the pocket after the DE engaged the OT, and slide outside to the areas immediately vacated by the long DE-OT engaged animations. The only way 2K prevented this from being an absolute game killing disaster was by having the defenders not in pass rush respond to QB rather quickly and with decent contain logic - especially from zone defenses.

It SOUNDS like this is something you guys are aware of and addressed with the breakable animations, but is it working well now or in need of serious tuning?

No offense, but after years of other EA features being over-powered or controversial in implementation (Hit Stick, Impact Players, HFA in NCAA), I am not alone in feeling a little apprehensive about the way the tech works and how easy it might become for cheeser to manipulate. If the blocking is broken in any way - anything at all that allows either the offense or defense to gain an uncounterable advantage, the game has a very good chance of being considered a bust online or in head to head play.

2) Does the QB have to reset or balance or set his feet before throwing or moving? The first clip (Romo rolling into Pryce and fumbling) looks great except for the way Romo is able to so quickly take off on the scramble...he should have to shift his weight and take at least a bit of time to get moving in an opposite direction - it looks to me in that clip like he just immediately starts rolling without any limitations.

- This was something that the 2K games absolutely nailed - the QB roll outs were containable because the QBs could not move at will in opposite directions, or even make drastic cuts, without a significant slow down and gathering of their weight to make the move or a resetting of the feet to make a throw...I am concerned in the video by the ease with which the QB can move around...could be the limited number of clips shown, but it looks suspiciously like QB movement from Madden circa 2006-2009...

[stiffarmleft]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: A Deeper Look Into Pass Blocking

Looks good, I assume that there was no mention of double team blocking because that will be in a future blog concerining AI, hopefully.

[TreyIM2]

Americas Team1 - U can try to strip the ball, even in previous Maddens. 08 and 09 had it and maybe, even, 07, at least on the PS2 version, if I remember correctly. Plus, not every tackle is going to be a ball strip attempt, my friend. Chill out.
Some of u posted about how Ian should be blowing all out with info by now. Nah, not in the plans. It's bit by bit every week as he first stated back in Jan on his blog. I like it this way, anyway, because it just makes me want this game soooo bad. I feel like a kid again counting down til Christmas, months ahead.
I think I will actually do a Madden Midnight Madness this year, for real, and may even be first in line. When I say I cannot wait, I cannot...but I have to