Madden's Current Animation System

[ThePPL]

When I first bought Madden NFL 09 for the Xbox 360, I enjoyed it quite a lot and I would play it religiously. Now, the game has grown kind of old to me and I'm starting to notice its flaws. Right now what's really bugging me is the animation system. I now feel like the animation system in Madden needs a huge face lift.

The stance where the quarterback waits for his receivers to get open just doesn't look right. (It's more quite obvious when you look at the CPU qb do it.) He stands too straight and does not even move a lick and to top that off, while throwing the ball, the quarterback looks away almost like he feels too scared of throwing the football. I really like the stance of the quarterback in Madden NFL 07 for the Xbox 360. While the qb waits for his reciever, his body is slightly slouching and he fiddles with his hands while jumping up and down a little. It's the little things like this that makes the quarterback appear to be more human and less like a robot.

The wide receiver in Madden NFL 09 for the Xbox 360 runs very awkwardly. His hand are too close together and it just makes him appear very robotic while running. I like how in the old Madden (PS2 & Xbox), the wideout's arms are spread far apart when he's running. There's also some very nifty animations included in the old Madden. Things like the way the wide receiver would sometimes begin his run by bringing his arms to his back almost like he's skiing, then pushing it back and forth. There's almost an animation where the wideout performs the curl route by moving his arms to his back and then making an 180 turn. Now back to Madden NFL 09. There's one catch animation I really hate. It's the one where the wide receiver is putting his arms up while making a run catch. To me it just looks horrendous.

The runningback in Madden NFL 09 also runs a little bit weird. It just looks like a generic running animation. The running animation for the half back in the old Madden looks a lot better. His arms weren't clenched and the body didn't look stiff. The way he just ran with the ball just looked so natural.

And speaking of running. Why are the quarterbacks shoulders moving ridculously back and forth while he's running, and when he's past the line of scrimmage, he's looks like he's running in slow motion. In the old Madden, the qb actually looks like he's trying to run for his life after running past the line of scrimmage.

I really think the offensive animations need to be taken a look at because it just looks so flawed sometimes. It's kind of funny that the old Madden's animations look a lot better than "next-gen" Madden's despite being the more outdated game.

[TheWatcher]

I dunno... the QB's moving up and down constantly like that isn't authentic. There is some movement, but Madden's is terribly exaggerated as the QB pumps up and down like a jackhammer, lol.

I suggested that the loop for that animation be made longer, much longer so his waiting movements look more realistic and not like he's had 10 cups of coffee.

The only QB I know of in recent memory that sorta jackhammered was Drew Bledsoe, but he had a few other strange tendencies too, like patting the ball before he released...

[ThePPL]

When a quarterback is given time, it's very rare to see him not move at all. Maybe it's true that some previous versions of Madden have been a little exaggerated when it comes to how noticeable a qb moves up and down, but the thing is he does move up and down, it just isn't as exaggerated.

I just rather see the qb in Madden move up and down a little while having a slightly slouch back, rather then having him stay completely frozen while having perfect posture.

[Cusefan]

That will happen with any game you play. The more you play it, the more you notice its flaws.