Rex Dickson talks about possibly patching in Formation Subs

[aholbert32]

Ok I'm going to be that guy.

I'm happy to hear that they are planning to patch formation subs in to the game.....but its crazy that Rex was saying that it wasnt "part of the plan". originally.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Formation Subs was in the top 5 of suggested CFM additions for the past few years. If thats the case, I find it disappointing that a highly requested feature was not even considered until late in the dev cycle. Especially when it was discovered that this feature is "easy" to implement.

Also, I'm concerned about what they are going to implement and would love to get some clarity on what they plan to do. At the minimum, I want something like was in PS2 Madden or the last NCAA game. Formation subs accessible in a menu outside if an actual game. It should be just as accessible as the depth chart is.

Best case scenario would be a sub system that allowed subs based on scenario and not just formations. For example if I'm controlling Dallas, I want Randy Gregory at DE in on 3rd downs but maybe not on running downs. On a 3rd and 4, I may want to stick with a 4-3 instead of a nickel or dime. But the only way to get Gregory in the game on 3rd down would be to call a nickel or dime formation.

The subs should be situational and not just formation based.

[DNMHIII]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

Ok I'm going to be that guy. I'm happy to hear that they are planning to patch formation subs in to the game.....but its crazy that Rex was saying that it wasnt "part of the plan". originally. Correct me if I'm wrong but Formation Subs was in the top 5 of suggested CFM additions for the past few years. If thats the case, I find it disappointing that a highly requested feature was not even considered until late in the dev cycle. Especially when it was discovered that this feature is "easy" to implement. Also, I'm concerned about what they are going to implement and would love to get some clarity on what they plan to do. At the minimum, I want something like was in PS2 Madden or the last NCAA game. Formation subs accessible in a menu outside if an actual game. It should be just as accessible as the depth chart is. Best case scenario would be a sub system that allowed subs based on scenario and not just formations. For example if I'm controlling Dallas, I want Randy Gregory at DE in on 3rd downs but maybe not on running downs. On a 3rd and 4, I may want to stick with a 4-3 instead of a nickel or dime. But the only way to get Gregory in the game on 3rd down would be to call a nickel or dime formation. The subs should be situational and not just formation based.

Custome packages would be sweet and that was actually in the game a long time ago but removed for some odd reason.

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...-packages.html

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

Ok I'm going to be that guy. I'm happy to hear that they are planning to patch formation subs in to the game.....but its crazy that Rex was saying that it wasnt "part of the plan". originally. Correct me if I'm wrong but Formation Subs was in the top 5 of suggested CFM additions for the past few years. If thats the case, I find it disappointing that a highly requested feature was not even considered until late in the dev cycle. Especially when it was discovered that this feature is "easy" to implement.

"Easy" doesn't always conflate to "doesn't take long to do". In conversations I've had with the guys at Tiburon, I've been told that implementing new UI is one of the most expensive tasks time-wise in any Madden game's dev cycle. That really shouldn't be the case (and they know this) but it's currently a problem they have to work through every cycle. This is a secondary reason why we don't have defensive assignments yet - on top of the issues Rex discloses, it's a new UI element to implement.

What I am going to blindly speculate has happened in this case is that the many new UI elements in Franchise are finished slightly ahead of schedule, thus freeing up UI engineer resources to build an unscheduled new screen - an out-of-game formation subs UI - which can't make launch but can be patched in later if things continue to follow schedule.

As to why formation subs weren't scheduled before - probably a bang-for-buck issue given the time they had available. I'm sure they have telemetry from NCAA online dynasties for how many people actually used formation subs, and I'd guess it's unfortunately not a lot. So if the feature cut decision was, say, between the return-from-injury gameplay element and UI in the Big Decisions feature (which every Franchise player will see and use and is also one of the selling points of the mode this year) and formation subs, Big Decisions wins.

Quote:

Also, I'm concerned about what they are going to implement and would love to get some clarity on what they plan to do. At the minimum, I want something like was in PS2 Madden or the last NCAA game. Formation subs accessible in a menu outside if an actual game. It should be just as accessible as the depth chart is. Best case scenario would be a sub system that allowed subs based on scenario and not just formations. For example if I'm controlling Dallas, I want Randy Gregory at DE in on 3rd downs but maybe not on running downs. On a 3rd and 4, I may want to stick with a 4-3 instead of a nickel or dime. But the only way to get Gregory in the game on 3rd down would be to call a nickel or dime formation. The subs should be situational and not just formation based.

I agree with the above. If I were to again blindly speculate, we are more likely to get NCAA's system in a patch than something entirely new.

[dayo480]

It's nice to hear that they are planning to patch it in. Hopefully its executed well.

Will this include special teams?
Or any word on a special teams depth chart?
Its kinda crazy that in the only football game, there isn't access to all depth charts for every position. And they need to add an actual LS position instead of sticking them all in at TE. (Only play with Detroit, so ignorant if its different on other teams)

[jfsolo]

Reading about the time consuming nature of adding a new UI, makes me think about the graphics based roster one they added in CFM last year. Did people like and use it? I didn't, and thought that time spent on that could have been better spent on adding other things to the mode.

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

Reading about the time consuming nature of adding a new UI, makes me think about the graphics based roster one they added in CFM last year. Did people like and use it? I didn't, and thought that time spent on that could have been better spent on adding other things to the mode.

I used that screen a TON, as it's faster to use.

I can get an idea of my team at a glance faster than loading up the View Roster screen, and it also displays my whole offense or defense at once so I can keep better track of where my team's strengths and weaknesses are. It is also faster to make changes to my team's depth chart there as opposed to loading up the Depth Chart screen (hold A to move a player tile up / down). It also prominently displays player XP info and provides me quick access to Upgrade Player at a player-specific level (rather than loading up the Upgrade Players list which again takes more time and adds another step between me and spending XP).

So yes, I love it and use the hell out of it because it saves me a lot of time.

The one weakness of the new depth chart UI element IMO is that I cannot easily compare two players side-by-side at a detailed level.

[NateDogPack12]

Also the functionality is very limited in the new UI depth chart which is why I hardly ever use it. 3-4 teams in this new gap style gameplay may want to have a DT or NT come in and play some five tech if a guy gets hurt. You may have a single OL you want to backup all three interior line positions. Maybe you want a safety to be your dime CB. None of that is achievable within that new menu and I found myself resorting to the old one.

[ForUntoOblivionSoar∞]

Quote: Originally Posted by extremeskins04

I'm not so sure if I'm allowed to post this on OS or not so my apologies in advance to the mods but in this video with Sports Gamers Online a question was asked about prior features that used to be in previous installments of Madden. Rex stated about them trying to patch in formation subs cause it used to be a feature. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ9-XvTmzn8

Formation subs is something we can work around . I would MUCH rather they patched linemen injuries rather than that . Just my opinion.