Madden NFL 15 Developer Livestream - Presentation and Graphics

[TTD71]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

... ALL good sports games like FIFA, NHL, The Show, have had years of building upon themselves. Madden has never done that until now. This idea that you can just overhaul everything and the game we want will be there next year is a complete fantasy.

FIFA, NHL and The Show had solid foundations and then began steadily improving them...in fact each of those titles had a serious problem with a previous foundation, overhauled themself completely and THEN made consistent and steady improvements to become the gold standards for their respective sports in videogame representations. FIFA was getting pounded by PES for a long time actually...NHL was actually considered worse than NHL2K for a good stretch (though NHL2K was also widely panned)...The Show was well behind MVP baseball for a long time as well.

FIFA still has PES to compete with every year...
NHL and The Show have been largely competition free...
So, its not ONLY competition that drives studios to better games (though in no way does competition ever HURT game progression)...

Until Madden breaks down and sheds all of their legacy issues, they can't get into the conversation with the other good sport simulations.

Of course, I find it quite amusing that I picked up NBA2K14 for my PS4 and was totally blown away by it while fans of the series on last gen systems tell me this version totally sucks and that 2K needs to "get back to basics and fundamentals"...it sounds so much like the conversations between Madden vets that it made me laugh to myself...the more things change for some, the more they stay the same for others I guess!

[greenegt]

The new zoom cam has really grown on me. I think I'll end up using that as my main camera for offense.

[NDAlum]

Forgive me if this has been answered: will online CFM users get the new presentation features? Or any features at all?

[jpdavis82]

Quote: Originally Posted by TTD71

FIFA, NHL and The Show had solid foundations and then began steadily improving them...in fact each of those titles had a serious problem with a previous foundation, overhauled themself completely and THEN made consistent and steady improvements to become the gold standards for their respective sports in videogame representations. FIFA was getting pounded by PES for a long time actually...NHL was actually considered worse than NHL2K for a good stretch (though NHL2K was also widely panned)...The Show was well behind MVP baseball for a long time as well. FIFA still has PES to compete with every year... NHL and The Show have been largely competition free... So, its not ONLY competition that drives studios to better games (though in no way does competition ever HURT game progression)... Until Madden breaks down and sheds all of their legacy issues, they can't get into the conversation with the other good sport simulations. Of course, I find it quite amusing that I picked up NBA2K14 for my PS4 and was totally blown away by it while fans of the series on last gen systems tell me this version totally sucks and that 2K needs to "get back to basics and fundamentals"...it sounds so much like the conversations between Madden vets that it made me laugh to myself...the more things change for some, the more they stay the same for others I guess!

That's their focus right now, eliminating exploits and legacy issues. I think if they stay on this path they will be right with FIFA and NHL in the next year or two.

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

That's their focus right now, eliminating exploits and legacy issues. I think if they stay on this path they will be right with FIFA and NHL in the next year or two.

Focusing on those things is fine, but the way things are implemented need to be done smarter. They often "fix" something by creating ANOTHER issue. Just build the game to play like real football instead of Madden and those issues will take care of themselves. Player movement absolutely needs to be addressed. If you notice the common thread with those other gold standard games, player movement has been a top priority with them. Watching the NHL and FIFA games blew me away. Madden looks silly and a bit embarrassing compared to those games. There is no reason why America's number one sport (by a mile) should be this far behind the 8 ball when it comes to player movement and realistic interactions. There are no technology limitations because excellent player movement and interactions was done in football on the original xbox and PS2. Less excuses and more results and the customer base will increase again. I'm hopeful for the future, but my expectations for Madden 15 are not all that high.

From a presentation standpoint I find it concerning that they really think what they've done here is great work. There is nothing "great" about this. It's bare and still looks like something invented by Tiburon rather than what I see on Sunday. The fact that they still can't grasp the concept of replicating a real TV broadcast tells me that this is still not going to progress and yet more time and iterations will be wasted. They need to understand that fans don't want them to "reinvent" presentation. JUST COPY WHAT IS ON REAL TV!

[A_Quiet_Pro]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

They just hired the senior cinematographer for NFL FILMS as presentation director and after one cycle you're ready to overhaul presentation? This is the reason this franchise has suffered for years, lack of improvement upon the foundation. If we do what you're suggesting it will take 3-5 more years for this game to get where we want it. I do agree about ratings but you can't overhaul presentation and gameplay year after year and expect to get somewhere. ALL good sports games like FIFA, NHL, The Show, have had years of building upon themselves. Madden has never done that until now. This idea that you can just overhaul everything and the game we want will be there next year is a complete fantasy.

NO NO, I'm talking about overhauling the presentation from what it was. This new guy here seems to be going in the right direction for one. And for 2, you're absolutely right about year after after changing things, (And the other titles building on themselves); THAT'S what Madden suffers from. Instead of finding something that works, and building on it, EA's method is "Let's put in gimmicky things each year and then rip them out down the road. (i.e. vision cone, fight for fumble, highlight stick, possession catch, etc) ALL ripped out within 1 to 2 years of implementation. There's NO consistency with these guys. That's why they suffer. I said before that not much bothered me, but now that it's coming out, I realize there's a lot that can be done (so thank you community for helping me there lol).

[A_Quiet_Pro]

And about implementation, Ramone Russell (The Show's community mgr), even said regarding a new mode for them; we wanted to tweak it and get it right, get it to where we wanted it for the fans before we implement it into the game. THIS is the kind of mindset EA needs. Tweak it for 2 or 3 years behind the scenes and get it to a good playable WORKING mode and/or mechanic before it's implemented.

[A_Quiet_Pro]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

That's their focus right now, eliminating exploits and legacy issues. I think if they stay on this path they will be right with FIFA and NHL in the next year or two.

What I want to know is WHYYYYYY is there legacy issues to begin with??? I thought the whole reason behind creating the Ignite engine and how the teams can share info and data and work with the new generation of systems was supposed to FIX that.