Do DIFFERENT TEAMS play according to their REAL strategies?

[SoxFan01605]

Quote: Originally Posted by MJenness

Maybe my memory isn't what it used to be, but I thought when I played the Colts or the Rams, I felt they played more like the real teams than Madden ever did. As far as the head coach comparison, I agree there.....however, I have serious doubts EA is willing to adopt too many similarities between the 2 games, as all this would do is cause people to buy one or the other...not both, therefore dipping into their sales. If either game was developed by a different company, then MAYBE we'd see more crossover.

I can agree about the crossover. My belief of what's best for the game has nothing to do with what's best for EA's profit margin...lol. I'm not saying it will happen, only that I think it would be best for the game moving forward. Obviously, there is a fairly good sized bridge to cross from hope to reality

[MJenness]

Quote: Originally Posted by SoxFan01605

I can agree about the crossover. My belief of what's best for the game has nothing to do with what's best for EA's profit margin...lol. I'm not saying it will happen, only that I think it would be best for the game moving forward. Obviously, there is a fairly good sized bridge to cross from hope to reality

Agree 100%!

What would be GREAT is to somehow intermingle the two games....whereas if you own both games, you can put in HC for all the franchise gaming, then merge these files over to Madden for "Gameday"....ahhh, dreaming.....

[Palo20]

It sounds like Head Coach might not be coming back next year as a separate game, so hopefully it's time to get the franchise features and other great parts about Head Coach into Madden.

Here's a quote from Phil on the EA Forums:

"The answer to this is quite simple. We, just like you, thought there was a large audience of folks that love the mental aspect of football. Based on sales data for HC (which I can't talk about specifically), the market for this kind of game is extremely small in the US. Games like this do much better in Europe but American Football isn't at all popular across the pond.

If more people bought the game, we'd do it again. In our opinion, Head Coach 09 is a incredibly deep experience that's done at a high level of quality. The fact that sales are nowhere near that of our other football products makes it a difficult business decision to continue with that product.

Probably said too much. I'm out...

Phil "

[Lisa_Bonami]

While I am not happy with this news, I can absolutely understand WHY the game sales were not up to par with the actual quality of this amazing game. Just take myself, as a single study example. I love football games...but I had never intended to purchase Head Coach due to the fact that I already owned NCAA and was planning on getting Madden. 3 games was just not in my budget....Then I took a roll of the dice and completely was shocked to find out it was the best out of all 3 football games this year! However, this sort of experimentation is not the norm around the country, especially considering the economy nowadays and the limited exposure HC has recieved in comparison to the other 2.


Now back to what we can do to minimize Robo QBs..... and produce realistic over and underthrows rather than just alot of increased and unrealistic looking swats and dropped balls. Is there hope to increase the errant throws?

[therizing02]

If the CPU refuses to attempt a FG on 4th down from my 31-34yl, how can we expect them to play to their real life counterparts?

The playcalling in Madden and NCAA this year are at all time worse. I know per Ian, that nothing was done to change it from previous years but, he did say that something else was probably effecting it and he said they are looking into it for next year.

This game needs Adaptive AI big time. There is NO strategy involved in this game at all. It's sliders and stick skills because we all know that ratings are pretty much meaningless as well.

[RaiderKtulu]

Quote: Originally Posted by Palo20

It sounds like Head Coach might not be coming back next year as a separate game, so hopefully it's time to get the franchise features and other great parts about Head Coach into Madden. Here's a quote from Phil on the EA Forums: "The answer to this is quite simple. We, just like you, thought there was a large audience of folks that love the mental aspect of football. Based on sales data for HC (which I can't talk about specifically), the market for this kind of game is extremely small in the US. Games like this do much better in Europe but American Football isn't at all popular across the pond. If more people bought the game, we'd do it again. In our opinion, Head Coach 09 is a incredibly deep experience that's done at a high level of quality. The fact that sales are nowhere near that of our other football products makes it a difficult business decision to continue with that product. Probably said too much. I'm out... Phil "

Yeah they pretty much don't market the game at all, and then wonder why it has no sales? Have you seen a commercial for Head Coach? I haven't. They packaged it with Madden, but the box barely even mentions it, and given how most stores keep their games behind glass, people see Madden for $60 or Madden for $90 and have no idea that the expensive version includes another full game. So, yeah... no one is buying a game that they don't know about.

[SoxFan01605]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lisa_Bonami

While I am not happy with this news, I can absolutely understand WHY the game sales were not up to par with the actual quality of this amazing game. Just take myself, as a single study example. I love football games...but I had never intended to purchase Head Coach due to the fact that I already owned NCAA and was planning on getting Madden. 3 games was just not in my budget....Then I took a roll of the dice and completely was shocked to find out it was the best out of all 3 football games this year! However, this sort of experimentation is not the norm around the country, especially considering the economy nowadays and the limited exposure HC has recieved in comparison to the other 2. Now back to what we can do to minimize Robo QBs..... and produce realistic over and underthrows rather than just alot of increased and unrealistic looking swats and dropped balls. Is there hope to increase the errant throws?

Agreed on HC. As for the "robo-QB" I really don't see much else to do than what's already been mentioned. Heelfan's sliders do help some, and coupled with a good mix of defenses, it can be contained in pockets.

Also, two things I've done have helped me immensely with this. One, I always spotlight one of the receivers with the guy already covering him. Why? It doesn't seem to help much to try and use it for double teams, but the guy already in coverage does seem to cover tighter if I do this. If you've got a good corner, he actually plays like a shutdown corner this way. I don't know why, but it seems to be the case in my experience.

Two, I've abandoned my usual control of a DE or MLB and have concentrated on controlling a coverage guy (usually one of the two safeties). This allows me to shadow anyone I see as blatently open (usually an underneath route) and helps take away some of the easy checkdowns of the QB. It does, theoretically, leave you vulnerable deep but the CPU doesn't throw it deep enough for it to be a concern.

I usually get comp percentages ranging from 45-65% doing this stuff. I still get the occasional 80-95% game and drives in the other games that the CPU just decides it won't be stopped. Overall though, it's not horrible. I don't see much improvement from this until next year though, or maybe when the DLC with CPU sliders come out. We'll see.

[jvaccaro]

Quote: Originally Posted by MJenness

Maybe my memory isn't what it used to be, but I thought when I played the Colts or the Rams, I felt they played more like the real teams than Madden ever did.

Unfortunately, this is just because every single team in Madden plays like the 2004 Colts or 2001 Rams...