Will you use the Gameflow feature?

[HealyMonster]

Sometimes I feel like Im in the twilight zone with this game and the stuff reviewers say and what people on the net say.

Not once playing madden in the last few years have I ever ran a play and then tried to decide on a play from "500 plays".

Sure there was an option to select plays out of all of them but 99% of the time I would go in and select "Inside Run" or "Outside Run" and there would be anywhere between 6 and 12 plays to choose from. Its never been complicated or agonizing so I dont understand where now the devs are claiming " people had to pick from 500 plays". They are over complicating past iterations to sell this new feature where as I dont understand why everyone is jumping on board. did you guys not play the same game as me? Not once in all my time playing Madden did I say "Man I wish play-calling were easier" yet they decided to sell Madden 11 with this one feature, its very disturbing to me.

On top of that most of the playbooks are the same plays, so if I played with a random team and would go to "standard pass" I generally know what I was looking for after playing a few games and most of the time, that play was there regardless of what team I was playing with.

Now I dont understand the draw of not having to select a play. OK so now when they call a playaction on 3rd and 2 yet all game Ive been sacked before the handoff can continue, im going to have to call an audible which after a few games, its going to seem like I just run my audibles most of the time. Like when Im a qb in superstar mode, they call all these stupid pointless plays so 90% of the time I audible it to something better and thats basically how I end up playing my games.

Furthermore, instead of awesome commentary, we know have to listen to a "coordinator" tell us the play which we can already tell whats going on since there is play art options. I just dont get it. The coordinator essentially kills the atmosphere of a broadcast and takes the user out. so now we listen to the coordinator tell us something we will here an ungodly amount of times, then view the play art and make adjustments. Whats the difference between going to "inside run" picking the play you want and just running it? Now after we hear the play, then look at the play, then out of nowhere all of a sudden we are back in a broadcast and we hear gus johnson. It makes no sense to me. Maybe someone here can explain where im not getting it or something. maybe im not understanding something, but for now im thinking what the heck is going on here?

[Futurestyl3]

I will probably try it out

[NorrinRadd12]

Quote: Originally Posted by tlc12576

Are you being serious right here or sarcastic? That's EXACTLY what the devs claim you can do in Madden 11. The OP's question can be easily misunderstood, IMO. Gameplan and Gameflow are not the same thing. You can set up a Gameplan and select plays just from your scripted set of plays without using Gameflow. Gameflow just means your offensive coordinator(CPU) selects the play from the loaded Gameplan. I plan on using created Gameplans for my team and CPU controlled teams in my offline franchise. However, I will most likely be selected plays from my Gameplan online and off with my team, not Gameflow.

Can you set your gameplan for specific down and distances? One set of plays for 1st and 10, 2nd and 10, 2nd and medium, 3rd and long, 3rd and medium, 3rd and short, 2 minute offense, etc?

[TNT713]

I used to play the Front Page Sports Football Pro series that had a gameplan engine for different scenarios based on Field Position, Time, Down, Distance, Point Differential, etc... You could literally have called a specific play in over 30,000 different situations. Considering the play editor that let me design my own plays, having a game plan engine with that much specificity was the best part of the game.

Madden has far less game planning scenarios, but it's a step in the right direction... It's finally the best of both worlds for two polar opposites of the community.

There are tons of people who don't care about which plays they run. Some use Ask Madden and run whatever the coach calls. Others sort through all the plays to find the ones they can run effectively and run them over an over in a variety of situations. GameFlow will let both guys play in the same arena on a level playing field.

Guys that are control freaks can stock their game plan exclusively with plays they would call in the situations they would call them. If they make use of the rating system, they can 'grade' plays based on their effectiveness by weighting them higher, causing them to be called more often...

In situations where you have that special play that you only run on 3rd & 8 from the left hash mark, at your opponent's 24 yard line, when the sun is at your back, you're on the road, and need a touchdown to take the lead before the half. You can press a button to select your special play.

Plays that work well become a staple of your offense, plays that don't get taken out of the playbook. Special plays for special situations get inserted into game plans on the fly. That's REALISTIC.

Not to mention you can literally "abandon the game plan". By bypassing it for every play...

What's not to like about a feature that gives you complete control over the plays that are called, without forcing you to scroll through 350 plays to call the 13-20 we ultimately call anyway?

Later

[DirtyJerz32]

Love it and can't wait to use it. Each coach has his set plays for each situation. That's what I love about it.

One thing I hate is searching for a play while the play clock is ticking down and having to select some crap play because I couldn't find the one I was looking for. This is stop all that madness. Great addition this year!

I may turn off the voice though. That's a little annoying.

[mestevo]

Quote: Originally Posted by NorrinRadd12

Can you set your gameplan for specific down and distances? One set of plays for 1st and 10, 2nd and 10, 2nd and medium, 3rd and long, 3rd and medium, 3rd and short, 2 minute offense, etc?

Yes, the gameplan feature has you assign multiple plays to specific situations, and you can do this per opponent.

Quote:

You have a total of 15 play slots available per situation, and the situations are the same defined by a real NFL coach's play sheet. For each play in any situation, you can adjust the "weighting" of the plays from between .5 to 5 stars. Weighting plays determines the frequency a play is called in game. You can create and save as many game plans as you want.

And if you asked that question,you probably havent seen this - http://maddennfl.easports.com/blog.a...w_gameplanning

I am looking forward to trying it, I am all for keeping it about playing the game, rather than digging through plays, but depending on my mood I'd rather do both.

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by doovid184

All this sounds like is a glorified "ask Madden" where you only get 1 play choice. They should let you make your gameplan that shows up in the ask madden section then i might use it

From the Gameflow and Gameplanning Blog:
"Another key note about gameplans is that you can use them with or without GameFlow. Let's say you want to play with the old style play-calling screen. If you do, the "Ask Madden" option is actually totally replaced with "My Gameplan", which then gives you all your pre-planned plays right there for you in each game situation."

Quote: Originally Posted by RiderGH

.....Maybe someone here can explain where im not getting it or something. maybe im not understanding something, but for now im thinking what the heck is going on here?

From the blog:
"As an aside, you can also create game plans for the CPU. If you really want to change how the computer plays you can finally do that. If your team (or another team) changes their play calling style throughout the year you can update their game plan and keep them playing true to life. This adds a new level of customization to franchise mode. Even if you know how your friends like to call plays, you can set up a game plan to have the CPU play like them so you can practice."

Im not one to give Madden any unearned credit for anything but this mode seems to be well thought out for now. It gives gamers the control to customize CPU team playcalling and allows gamers to preset a gameplan like in real life. As you can see stated in the blog, it is very realstic to create a Gameplan for different scenarios and select from that preset list. Gameflow does NOT have to be used and a gamer can access their Gameplan plays in the menu where it will replace "Ask Madden".

While I agree that the Madden community wasnt calling for this addition, the amount of customization and options make it a potentially great NFL sim feature, IMO.

[Chrisksaint]

I'll prolly use it in my offline Saints chise and then customize a whole new gameplan when I decide to rebuild a team.