What Are You Guys Thoughts On The Maddenation Interview?

[BezO]

Some good stuff... and some not so good stuff.

Quote:

JS: There are gang tackle animations with 2 and 3 tacklers in current gen Madden, have been since Madden NFL 2003. We did not have enough time to get them in the Xbox 360 version this year.

At least I can stop looking for that in the vids. Unfortunately, that's probably the straw the push the camel back to '07... or something like that.

Quote:

We’ve also added a fully customizable controller --- every button in every situation can be mapped as you like.

Nice!

Quote:

I can’t speak towards specific technologies at this point, but let me just say this is something that is a lot easier in demos than a full game, especially on the scale of a football game. We’re aware of all the technology options out there, and this is the kind of thing we’re evaluating at every step.

Worries me that we didn't get the standard "it's in for '07" response. Sounds like it may be a while. Unfortunately, this was #1 on my expectation list. Unless they make major improvements with mo-capping, I may be out of the loop for a while.

Quote:

We have some new features when it comes to data tracking, such as keeping the full box score/stats for every game in the current season and the game results/players of the game for every game in the franchise.

Sounds cool.

Quote:

...in next gen you can actually drive an offensive lineman outside and then spin inside. You can speed rush vs. bull rush with all of these directions and angles covered. There are actually at least 10 times the amount of blocking animations this year to pull this off.

Sounds good, but I didn't see evidence of this in the vids. And I hope they're considering a different set of animations for goal line and field goal situations for '07. The line-play should be much different.

Quote:

...as now we have all new press animations from different directions, different yardages, zone vs. man, inside vs. outside, under vs. over top, etc. We also made a lot of changes to the way that DB's reacted to the WR cut move and the ball in the air…the AI has to make a lot more decisions so you don't see a lot of the instant cutting step for step with a receiver.

Sounds promising.

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The crowd system was designed to be much more intelligent about the significance of the big plays and the big games.

Another good one.

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Patching is a possibility with the new technology of the Xbox 360, and this is something we continually look at, both in terms of what the customer base demands and supports, and how the market evolves.

It would've been nice to hear that major problems will definitely be addressed through patches, but he didn't say no.


There are a lot of impressive statements. It would be nice to confirm them with some vids though.

[edaddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Briankingsfan

At least Jeremy was honest about a lot of nagging questions that people have been wondering about. No gang tackling,guys. But that's actually good. A person can make a better choice with information. Whether or not this game is for them. But it is, with no small sense of satifaction, wonderful to hear Jeremy confirm all of things that were lacking. Now us poor Chicken Little's can go back to sleep, satisfied that we were right and that it wasn't the infamous "alpha" build that made the game seem to lack. Before the flamerfest starts, I'm buying it. I'll give props on the interview for the candor. But Jeremy and team are going to have to realize that the worm is turning. The various "fan sites" aren't so gushy, anymore. The reviews for this this year's Madden weren't that great. And the previews have been mixed for the 360 version have been a mixed bag. I just pray that the starting point that this game represents is a better direction than last gen. If by some miracle you read this Mr. Strausser, Madden's gameplay isn't that great! Please change it.

I agree

[marshallfever]

Finally something to final tell us about the game. This is everything i expected of the next generation of madden due to time restraints and new tech.

It's sad about the gang tackling but at least thier addressing it for the next version

The o-line/d-line schemes sound actually really really cool. Man is that going to make the battle in the trenches much better

And the one problem i had with madden was the running game and it looks like it's going to change, wow if i had enough money i would buy madden, but right now it's a rental, pd0 and pgr3 come first

[Steelaz1966]

JS: We would like to get not only these, but also “pile-on” tackles, where a tackler joins the tackle late in for next year.

What he calls "pile-on" tackles is what most of us mean by gang tackles. I don't care about the 2 man tackle animation (I have never seen the 3 man animation that he mentioned). Basically, they need the ability to cut through animations.

[TJdaSportsGuy]

Here's something I'm really excited about....

Quote:

From a coaching side, you can set auto-sub levels for individual positions, and in franchise you can set how you want your simulated games coached, again down to positional level options.

I love that they're letting you set auto-sub for individual positions. That's awesome. So....you can set the auto sub lower for like say, a HB, but higher for an O-Lineman or the QB.

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by Briankingsfan

At least Jeremy was honest about a lot of nagging questions that people have been wondering about. No gang tackling,guys. But that's actually good. A person can make a better choice with information. Whether or not this game is for them. But it is, with no small sense of satifaction, wonderful to hear Jeremy confirm all of things that were lacking. Now us poor Chicken Little's can go back to sleep, satisfied that we were right and that it wasn't the infamous "alpha" build that made the game seem to lack. Before the flamerfest starts, I'm buying it. I'll give props on the interview for the candor. But Jeremy and team are going to have to realize that the worm is turning. The various "fan sites" aren't so gushy, anymore. The reviews for this this year's Madden weren't that great. And the previews have been mixed for the 360 version have been a mixed bag. I just pray that the starting point that this game represents is a better direction than last gen. If by some miracle you read this Mr. Strausser, Madden's gameplay isn't that great! Please change it.

Co-sign. Great job/big props to RAC at Maddennation for asking good questions. Although I still don't like a lot of the things Tiburon neglected, it's easier to respect where they're coming from if they at least sound as if they're trying to be up front - instead of everybody just kissing their azzes and worshipping at their feet. I'm still leaning torwards not getting it, but the interview makes me a little more open-minded towards it.

[VanillaGorilla]

Why does everyone continue to gush over the stupid National Motion BS? Like JS said, it's a tech demo, and sure, you can spend a year making 3 different plays look nice, but how are you going to implement that into an entire football game? Until a game actually uses the technology, I refuse to think of Madden 06 or 07 as lacking, simply because it doesn't have the Endorphin engine in it. In principle, it looks great, but how do the players control? Are they flying all over the field? It's easy to make something look great in a controlled environment like a demo, but put it in the hands of the game player, and see if it turns out good. So far, it hasn't been in ANYONE'S hands, so why do people still care about it?

[cheddabob7502]

Quote: Originally Posted by VanillaGorilla

Why does everyone continue to gush over the stupid National Motion BS? Like JS said, it's a tech demo, and sure, you can spend a year making 3 different plays look nice, but how are you going to implement that into an entire football game? Until a game actually uses the technology, I refuse to think of Madden 06 or 07 as lacking, simply because it doesn't have the Endorphin engine in it. In principle, it looks great, but how do the players control? Are they flying all over the field? It's easy to make something look great in a controlled environment like a demo, but put it in the hands of the game player, and see if it turns out good. So far, it hasn't been in ANYONE'S hands, so why do people still care about it?

Good point, the reason is b/c we think its easy to implement that into a system. Me i know i am no programmer so i thought it would be easy but once i started doing research its not that easy to implement that or any other system to an engine. But the thing that made me feel good is that they are going to focus on a improving their physic system already. So next year is definetly the Biggest year for madden and F-ball gaming in general, b/c the license kicks in, they are more familar with the hardware, NCAA will have its first title in next-gen and i know there is more but i can't think right now.