Madden NFL 20 Gameplay Deep Dive Part I: Superstar X-Factors Blog

[TarHeelPhenom]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gotmadskillzson

So basically what I been saying since Madden 11 and NCAA 11, the lower the throw power for QBs, the better the throwing was in their football games. So instead of just giving everybody a lower throw power rating, they just globally lowered the curve. So a 99 THP in Madden 20 would be like a 85 THP in every other Madden/NCAA game ever created.

Spot on!!!!!!!

[Cory Levy]

Really don't like the sound of X Factor Abilities at all, tbh. I don't want to have to turn a game into an arcade-esque stat padding session just to unlock an extra special super dooper move. Nor should I really have to; I understand and appreciate the supposed desire to make Elite Players stand out but regular ratings should be able to make that happen. If Patrick Mahomes being the only QB in the league with a Throw on the Run rating of 99 while the next highest QB has a rating of say 92 that should negate the need for things like a Dead Eye ability or what have. Same for Edleman's route running. Elite players should be rated that way and their ratings should dictate they play that way (for the most part, human error should be part of the game).

I also can't help but laugh at the inclusion of these 'new' abilities when this is something we had in Madden a decade ago. Same old, Madden, remove features one year and re-introduce them several years down the line as a new blurb on the box with a different name. Also disdain that they've removed different gameplay speeds, their whole reasoning for creating them was to be able to cater to different gaming crowds so hearing that they're gone only a year or two after their introduction is unpleasant.

Some of the information is good - I like the trajectory stuff, the animation news is good and the Pass Rushing stuff has me very intrigued but I can't help but feel let down when their main selling point is so... counter intuitive to what you would think they would be aiming for with these other additions.

[SteelerSpartan]

The default gamespeed better be bleeping on point with responsive controls to match!....do not like seeing game settings being taken away

[jfsolo]

Quote: Originally Posted by illwill10

I agree. Some of the abilites should be covered by ratings. I can see some users taking advantage of Match up ability. I can some audibling to a different set and getting that matchup against that LB.

This happens in real life all the time though. It should be be very risky to try and play base against 3 or 4 receiver sets or trying to cover a good pass catching back with an LB or DL in zone coverage.

Also it was said in the stream instead of the blog, but more tuning down(my interpretation) of the hit stick is great because so many people use it to tackle on 100% of the plays. That shouldn't really be a viable strategy.

It's also funny that in the blog Clint says that Superstar Abilities are NOT ratings boosts or modifications, but of course a certain percentage of people simply don't believe him. It is what it is.

[Cowboy008]

Was a great read. If everything is balanced it could be pretty good. I hope the superstar abilities make the cpu play differently every game.

[mtmetcalfe]

EA has my attention. This was much more than I expected since I thought it was going to completely revolve around the new superstar abilities.

In the past they’d talk about legacy issues but it always left me guessing what these actual fixes were. In this blog they pointed out ball trajectory and lurking linebackers. Those problems are up there with the old suction block and rocket catches from back in the day. To me these are the legacy issues I like to hear about.

I have my concerns about balancing but I’m looking forward to some actual gameplay. I’m definitely not buying into anything until people have hands on with the game but things are promising.

[SpectreBugg]

Bringing back features from over a decade ago... what was it, madden 08 i believe that we had similar special player "abilities".

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

It's also funny that in the blog Clint says that Superstar Abilities are NOT ratings boosts or modifications, but of course a certain percentage of people simply don't believe him. It is what it is.

The reason they don't believe him is because, well, what else could it be? How does a computer controlled player perform better in certain situations otherwise? somewhere, in the math and basic code that runs that player, something gets better. Maybe it's not a "boost to an attribute", but it's an increase somewhere. Maybe a percentage increase, maybe a modifier increase, maybe something else.. but at the end of the day, it's a boost in the math somewhere. The concern there is likely that him saying that makes no sense unless he plans on explaining how they are achieving these extra abilities without boosting the math somewhere..

[JayD]

My only question is can you turn off X factor in simulation?