Realistic Kicking game idea, need opinions

[Cryolemon]

Quote: Originally Posted by xtremedunkz

h man, i remember that, after that crazy play they had for a touchdown. woulda been terrible to be a saints fan at that moment.

That is one of the most epic plays ever.

[XtremeDunkz]

Quote: Originally Posted by thudias

All they need to do is to remove the kick meter. Make us judge by the wind from the goal post socks.

at this point i have the timing of the meter down that i could get perfect power with my eyes closed. Simply removing the visual meter would help a little but still would be too easy.

[FSU_Animal]

Quote: Originally Posted by xtremedunkz

at this point i have the timing of the meter down that i could get perfect power with my eyes closed. Simply removing the visual meter would help a little but still would be too easy.

exactly. with my suggested method, the kick meter would be done away with completely. Of course, this should always be an option for those that prefer the old method of down-&-up kicking meter.

the current method has you pull down to start the kick meter. Once it reaches a certain point at the top of the meter in the green area you then swing the right analog stick forward. The higher to the top of the bar you reach, the more power into the kick. The actual accuracy of the kick depends upon how straight you swing the stick forward. It's actually far too easy even on All Madden to keep the stick straight.

My method allows the user to do all sorts of kicks as now the user would have direct control over how they kick the ball. I'm no kicking specialist but I understand the physics enough to know that not every kick in the NFL looks exactly the same as some kickers just have this innate ability to hit the sweet spot in the football whereas some kicks just have harder control.

Another aspect that could be included to create even more realism would be to create different approach styles to the football. Some kickers have a slow approach whereas others are pretty smooth and even some others have a short choppy step when they take mess up.

Holding the right analog stick would cause the kicker to begin his motion while swinging forward will actually cause him to kick the ball. Swing forward too soon, the ball will come off awkwardly (too low, right?) while too late might cause a duck (or whatever you call a bad kick). How the ball actually comes off the foot is determined by your skill to use the left analog stick to find the sweet spot. More accurate kickers have greater leeway than less accurate.

So far, you've got the Approach, the Accuracy, and the Power ... all put into two analog sticks allowing for far even greater control.

So let's put this method into the Punting Game as well.

Right Analog pulled back will start the approach. Some punters will have a quick approach while others take too long. Pushing the right analog forward will cause the punter to kick. Of course, push forward too soon and the punter will drop the ball too high but push forward too late, and you get the point. I suppose that could be a Timing Attribute (kicker's would have that attribute as well) so those with better timing have great leeway and those with worse have less room for error.

Finally, the Left Analog, just as the kicker does, would control the football itself. Keeping it at the (0,0) axis points would keep the ball parallel to the ground and create a spin. Pushing forward would, just like in an airplane, point the nose down. Pulling backward would pull the nose up (not sure why you'd do that but again, it's the freedom to control your kicks that you want). Move the stick slightly to the left, the nose goes left. Move the stick to the right, nose goes right. Again, it's not that you want to do that, it's about the freedom to control your kicks. So pushing foward slightly to the left will cause the nose of the ball to be down and angled to the left. Puts a slightly different spin on the ball allowing you to be creative with your kicks.

If I can find the thread, I'll definatly put all of this in there.

I'm hoping Ian and Co. read this thread and pursue it for Madden 2011.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Great idea, but it will never make it into Madden because too many of the mindless drones would complain about difficulty.

[thudias]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrNFL_FanIQ

Great idea, but it will never make it into Madden because too many of the mindless drones would complain about difficulty.

Why not add different levels of kicking difficulty?

[Fox1994]

^fo sho. As it stands, kicking is super duper easy. There's no strategy to drafting or recruiting a kicker because they all have basically the same skill set. It's similar to the problem with quarterbacks. All that matters is power.

[FSU_Animal]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrNFL_FanIQ

Great idea, but it will never make it into Madden because too many of the mindless drones would complain about difficulty.

Not to be a prick, but did you read everything I said? I did state that there should be an option to use the Standard Method for those people that couldn't grasp the kicking meter. I took into account the people who don't like vision cone and even how on NBA Live 08 you have the option to just press a button for Free Throws isntead of the Down-&-Up method where users must time the shot or else fail at the free throws.

There's nothing all that new about this concept. It's just going about it as if you are kicking a football.

[Golden28]

Quote: Originally Posted by FSU_Animal

exactly. with my suggested method, the kick meter would be done away with completely. Of course, this should always be an option for those that prefer the old method of down-&-up kicking meter. the current method has you pull down to start the kick meter. Once it reaches a certain point at the top of the meter in the green area you then swing the right analog stick forward. The higher to the top of the bar you reach, the more power into the kick. The actual accuracy of the kick depends upon how straight you swing the stick forward. It's actually far too easy even on All Madden to keep the stick straight. My method allows the user to do all sorts of kicks as now the user would have direct control over how they kick the ball. I'm no kicking specialist but I understand the physics enough to know that not every kick in the NFL looks exactly the same as some kickers just have this innate ability to hit the sweet spot in the football whereas some kicks just have harder control. Another aspect that could be included to create even more realism would be to create different approach styles to the football. Some kickers have a slow approach whereas others are pretty smooth and even some others have a short choppy step when they take mess up. Holding the right analog stick would cause the kicker to begin his motion while swinging forward will actually cause him to kick the ball. Swing forward too soon, the ball will come off awkwardly (too low, right?) while too late might cause a duck (or whatever you call a bad kick). How the ball actually comes off the foot is determined by your skill to use the left analog stick to find the sweet spot. More accurate kickers have greater leeway than less accurate. So far, you've got the Approach, the Accuracy, and the Power ... all put into two analog sticks allowing for far even greater control. So let's put this method into the Punting Game as well. Right Analog pulled back will start the approach. Some punters will have a quick approach while others take too long. Pushing the right analog forward will cause the punter to kick. Of course, push forward too soon and the punter will drop the ball too high but push forward too late, and you get the point. I suppose that could be a Timing Attribute (kicker's would have that attribute as well) so those with better timing have great leeway and those with worse have less room for error. Finally, the Left Analog, just as the kicker does, would control the football itself. Keeping it at the (0,0) axis points would keep the ball parallel to the ground and create a spin. Pushing forward would, just like in an airplane, point the nose down. Pulling backward would pull the nose up (not sure why you'd do that but again, it's the freedom to control your kicks that you want). Move the stick slightly to the left, the nose goes left. Move the stick to the right, nose goes right. Again, it's not that you want to do that, it's about the freedom to control your kicks. So pushing foward slightly to the left will cause the nose of the ball to be down and angled to the left. Puts a slightly different spin on the ball allowing you to be creative with your kicks. If I can find the thread, I'll definatly put all of this in there. I'm hoping Ian and Co. read this thread and pursue it for Madden 2011.

A brilliant, brilliant idea and one that is long overdue.

Kicking is a much overlooked aspect of football games but one that decides so many games. We desperately need a new kicking mechanic that adds a skill element combined with a kickers ratings.

My alternative take on it...

Go back to the old way of a swing meter. Have a rising arc meter whereby you have a risk/reward factor in the kicking game.

So with this method you see a meter rise up toward the top of the scale, at the very top of the scale is where you would like to press the A button if you are trying to kick a long FG.

However, the nearer the top of the scale you reach the quicker the meter will swing back round to the bottom where you need to stop it again between two points. The nearer you stop it in the middle of these two points the more accurate your kick.

If you stop it either side of the perfect point then it starts to move left or right in flight. (Wind also playing a major factor)

The kickers ratings could modify this meter thus...A high kicking range rating would mean a larger sweet spot at the top of the meter to land your perfect strength kick whilst a high accuracy rating would see a larger sweet spot at the bottom end of the meter to land in.

The risk/reard factor comes into play because the higher the top end of the scale you choose to stop the meter the quicker the meter drops back towars the accuracy area so by making it harder to stop the meter in this 'accurate area' and thus making it a gamble to kick really long FG's.

I know this is the staple diet of many golf games and I even think it has already been done in football before but I thought it was a good mechanic. Here is where I think it can be improved further...

1. Get rid of wind direction text and let the player judge the wind from the windsocks on the posts.

2. Have the ability for very occasional bad snaps and holds to play a part, further distancing us from the automatic kicking game at the moment. A random bad snap/hold hold could cause a negative to the accuracy of the kick.

3. Clutch kicking needs to be implemented. Kickers needs a rating check to come into play whereby they can possibly fold under the pressure of a last second kick (Scott Norwood anyone?)

4. The ability for a kicker to slip on a muddy/icy field. Again taking away form the monotonous automation of kicking at the moment.