The un-official "Top 25 must-haves" list

[Nepenthe]

That would quite possibly be the best game ever. The only thing I think the original list is missing is the removal of 'superman' LB's (and DB's to an extent). It really detracts from the realism when you throw down the middle of the field, well beyond any LB, just to have a 250lb man jump as high as an olympic jumper and intercept it, sometimes without even being in any sort of natural position to see the ball.

And what to remove, I'd say the revamped kicking. And not because it's not needed, just because I think it's the least important of all of the things on the list. It's not like kicking could ever be one of the more fun or engaging parts of the game anyway.

[mightyrx]

Great list.
Have one suggestion.
add-Interlace pass patterns with drop backs and blocking scheme.
It would make for a more realistic and accurate representation

remove-new stats/attributes.
Just make the ones we currently have actually mean something and tweak how much speed affects the QBs overall so they can have proper attributes.(Romo, Garrard, Cutler, McNabb, etc.)awr too low because of speed.

[dkrause1971]

Add:
1) I would like to see team sliders- #1 RB sub 75%, #2 22%, QB 3 %. pass/run ratio, go for it on third, etc, etc. If you want to go a step deeper- the CPU after season 1 starts to change the slider based on team play

2) This is small but i want user stats back with the averages for total games

3) Abilites to assign DF player to OF players in the menus like APF did. This has to be in there. I shouldn't have to assign my S to the RB every play (if thats what i want). I should be able to assign him once in the menu with the option of still doing it in game as well. I would just flat out steal all APF DF button layout to be honest. And the kicking mechanics.

Can Go
1) The extra gear- towels, etc- would be nice but i have dump something right

2) Highlight show

3) In game saves.

Really most the fluff i can live without.


I will echo that OL/DL has to be the #1 item fixed. If you fix that you get real running lanes, The QBs will have to step up and not roll out so often, etc, etc. With this- the suction goes then you should see more sacks as well.

Next i would address the QB- a biltz awareness rating, Deep accuracy, mid/short accuracy, stuff like that.

I will add that your answers on the board are the reason i bought Madden for the first time since 2004. I had bought each and every Madden prior to that. I get the same feeling with the direction of Madden that i did when 2004 MVP came out. You could just tell the direction was changing for the better. Thank You.

Don

[KRS-One]

Quote: Originally Posted by Football4lyfe

Defensive and Offensive Line interaction is THE most pressing need in Madden right now. I understand as the lead developer of one of the biggest games out there and as a regular human being you dont have time to do EVERYTHING and read EVERYTHING but please here us out here. DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE LINE INTERACTION! That along with WR/DB Interaction and playing the ball when its in the air, but we need OL/DL first. Thanx

I agree with everything in this post, except for the bold font, and the misspelling of the word "thanks."

To simplify, co-sign.

[Darkside63]

Sounds awesome!

Just one wish - surely only interesting for all guys from outside US... Make Madden (HC as well) regionfree! There are guys all over the world, fascinated from the NFL. Too bad we already cant have NCAA, 'cause there is no PAL version... Would be great to have at least a Madden without the fear EA might drop a PAL version as well.

[SeventhWard]

Hey Ian - if I tried to change anything on this design list, I'd be really searching. This looks like a great list of priorities for Madden 2010's development.

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EDIT: So I was wrong. Perhaps I got emotional, because this level of interaction is unparalleled in my years of gaming. I would like to seize this rare opportunity to speak on something about my favorite franchise:

9. Re-vamp kicking: Universally agreed that it's too automatic and not very stressful.

May I offer some coaching from the bench? Right now, I'm playing another Tiburon game, Tiger Woods 09. In Madden, we hardcore gamers brag about how bad we are on the 'sticks', but your golf title demands a fine precise motion with the thumb...it taps into that manly competitiveness that drives us to throw darts and shoot pool - skill. If the meat and potatoes of Madden is bashing your guys around in a game of impact, kicking should reflect a surgeon's precision. IRL, that's what the lowly sissy boy kicker is doing with his leg.

When addressing kicking, please take a good hard look down the hall in your building (or on the other floor? never been there) to the Tiger Woods dudes. That whole "moving the stick in sync with your character" is a great gameplay element. I wanna look my boy in the eye and nod my head slowly because I thread the needle on the sticks to make that long kick. I wouldn't be mad if you stole the whole aiming system and everything...with a superimposed indication of where the ball SHOULD go, given I move the stick straight. The kicking game would have new life if if felt more like driving the ball in Tiger...Draw/Fade, Wind...all that.
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This list, in addition to further refinements in coding to give you 100% parity on both PS3 and 360 (those replay animations), should lay a pretty solid foundation for the Madden series for the next few years. Best of luck this year and down the line.

Much props to you for these first few steps you've been taking in doing your research for Madden 2010. I'm digging your approach to your work. Get on your engineers early, man - PS3 is the future.

-SeventhWard

[Pro Bowler]

Things I would add:

1- There needs to be seperate controls(besides the one button we have now) for Saftey and CB coverage, or better yet individual playmaker assignments for tight, loose and normal coverage for Sateys and CB's.
At the very least we should have the same option as last gen to decide the type of coverage with the CB's.

2- This was discussed before but the speed of the gameplay needs to be slightly slower. The ability to chain moves together is great but isn't practical because of the pace of the game. The game is just slightly too fast in general. There is a feeling alot of the times things are just happening with little user control. I'm not talking about a drastic change in speed just a little.

3- Some from of a play creation tool. I know this leads to problems because of shifts and motions but hear me out. We don't need the ability to place players anywhere on the field. Just give us base formations on offense and defense and give us the ability to decide the assignments. At the very least give us the ability to pick pre-existing plays to create our own playbook. It's a must that we're able to use these online. Also, do away with auto-motion.
This is really LONG OVERDUE!

4- Saveable custom profiles for online play, see NFL Fever. In NFL Fever you could save all your plays and substitutions to your profile and didn't have to make any changes once online in a game.
This is really, really LONG OVERDUE!

5- Change the disconnect options online. If someone disconnects and you have the lead you get a win and the game is over.

Things I would remove:

-More animated gear: towels, handwarmers, chinstraps.

-Signature styles and animations: passing, running, kicking etc..

-Make user catching easier

-Custom cameras(1 very good camera is enough)

-Ingame saves(A game is not that long to begin with)

[Rawdeal28]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheFuture15

So it's been a little over 3 weeks since Madden released, and I'm sure all of you have had plenty of hands-on time with the game, enough to form an opinion on what you'd like to see added to deliver a perfect football game experience. After personally reading what seems to be thousands upon thousands of threads, I thought it would be worthwhile to post what seems to be the most talked about issues from the community. This is of course only my opinion based on the things that I feel like I end up reading most often. I had an idea though. To make this a little more interesting and compelling and different from normal wishlist threads, let's pretend that you're the new Assistant to the Lead Designer. In this role, you can only fix/change/add 25 items. So if you want to add something that's not on this list, make sure you list what you'd replace. Of course if you agree wholly with this as the top 25, please feel free to post that too. On to the list! Presentation & Graphics 1. More real-life atmosphere & emotion: sidelines, injuries with trainers, chain gang measurements, referees, etc. 2. Make every game feel different: pre-game and post-game celebrations, blow out big games (i.e. pre-season should feel way different than the playoffs), better Super Bowl celebrations 3. Collinsworth = good, Hammond = not so much: Hammond comes across too robotic with too much stitching. He needs to be replaced or re-recorded. 4. More animated gear: towels, handwarmers, chin straps 5. Degradation: sliding marks in the snow, better field degradation Gameplay / Animation 1. Deliver a more compelling 1-player experience - fix CPU play-calling bugs, make them much better at running the ball, get rid of "robo-QB", have them adapt and change to match what you are running 2. More sliders and options - CPU sliders, game speed, fatigue, injuries 3. OL/DL re-vamp - Edge rushing, more double teams, more accurate chips, less "suction", true pocket forming 4. WR/DB re-vamp - More interaction downfield, better head tracking, only play the ball that you see 5. Signature styles & animations: Passing, running, kicking, etc 6. Much more animation variety: More tackles, catches, swats; replace animations that have been around for a long time 7. Gang tackles: More of them, make them better, add more players 8. New ratings, make existing ratings matter more: Along with making them more prevalent, also possibly expose what each one actually does. New QB ratings are highly requested 9. Re-vamp kicking: Universally agreed that it's too automatic and not very stressful. 10. Make user-catching easier: With the removal of strafe catching, many people are struggling to user catch and would like it to be balanced so you can still "go up and get it" Game Modes 1. Online Franchise: Self Explanatory 2. Better / More Robust Franchise Progression: Self Explanatory 3. More Franchise features and new UI: General consensus is just to focus a bunch more time and add more new stuff that was similar to what was in legacy gen. The mode feels un-touched, and everyone wants a big update 4. Remove the fluff, focus on the core: Things like rings & trophies, agents & emails in superstar, and weekly training drills in Franchise aren't well liked and aren't heavily used by the community 5. Highlight Show in Franchise: See NFL 2k5...but make it better General 1. 100% perfect stability 2. Open (or closed) beta testing 3. Custom Cameras 4. Defensive Assignments 5. In-Game Saves Again a quick disclaimer: This is not MY top 25 list...this is what I personally feel is the COMMUNITY's top 25 list based on what I read most often. If you don't want to contribute to this hopefully compelling and interesting exercise (I can already see people posting "why do we have to narrow it to 25?!?!?"), your post will be deleted in order to keep the thread clean. Thanks guys - can't wait to see the responses! Ian

ADD

MORE CHALLENGES-should be able to challenge what we want. take what 2k5 had (god i hate saying that. lol)

BETTER CROWD DYNAMICS- you can take the crowd from NCAA because they are excellent. when im on the road late in the game, the crowd should be deafening. especially somewhere like arrowhead stadium.

CUSTOM STADIUM SOUNDS AND MENU MUSIC- again, taken from NCAA. that makes the games so much better. able to add my own music on 3rd downs to pump me up. also, let me add my own music to the game. THE SHOW has this feature and i absolutely love it. makes it so much more enjoyable.

REMOVE

more animated gear-not important
make user catching easier-its fine the way it is.
custom cameras-whats there is fine with me. the ACTION CAM is great.