Interesting video of gang tackling in 08

[drlw322]

Was checking out youtube and came across this old video.

With Protak out and double hit tackling in, we are kinda going back to this. Hopefully it's implemented better with better animation.

[iBlievN5]

no we're not. those are static animations you have no control over.

[Gotmadskillzson]

There will always be some form of pro tak in the game. They might take the name of it out, but it will still be there. You can't have dynamic tackling, double hit tackles, steerable tackles or break out branch animations without pro tak.

[kingkilla56]

I swear I still have no idea what the hell pro tak is/was. How did it change tackling? I swear they said pro tak was amazing and all I saw was canned gang tackling. It still pains me to watch people latch onto the pill as it eventually fell to the ground. Pro tak was as canned as anything else.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Quote: Originally Posted by kingkilla56

I swear I still have no idea what the hell pro tak is/was. How did it change tackling? I swear they said pro tak was amazing and all I saw was canned gang tackling. It still pains me to watch people latch onto the pill as it eventually fell to the ground. Pro tak was as canned as anything else.

Quote:

What is PRO-TAK? PRO-TAK (which stands for procedural tackling) is a new animation technology for us, built as a custom animation system to sit above our motion captured animations and procedurally manipulate them as the game runs. “Why?” you may ask? It’s simple really…motion captured animations playing back ‘as is’ can limit the amount of control you as the gamer has while playing the game. In order to truly match the look of the NFL, motion captured animation is still the answer to stay authentic and be realistic. But you can only fit so many animations in the game because of the memory limitations of the hardware. So knowing all that, we knew the way for us to truly build dynamic and fun NFL gameplay was to use a mixture of run-time manipulation and motion capture. This approach can make one animation look totally different every time you see it, while still retaining an authentic look that can be controlled artistically. Why not go 100% procedural you may ask? Moving to a full runtime solution and getting rid of motion capture (like a Havok physics system for example) means handing over full control of your visuals to your code (and away from your artists)…which to us is not an acceptable approach being that we are tasked with creating a true NFL simulation. At its core, PRO-TAK is actually a collection of a few animation technologies. Though it stands for ‘procedural tackling’, we were able to create some new features sharing the technology (that we are also putting under the can PRO-TAK umbrella): 1. Dynamic gang tackling: New never-before-seen tackling engine in a video game that allows up to 9 players to be involved in a tackle – including offensive and defensive players pushing the pile forward / backward. 2. Steerable tackles: Dynamically manipulating tackle animations based on player ratings means the difference between a first down or a punt. 3. All new OL/DL Interaction system: With steerable and branch-able animation technology, we can now create a true dynamic pocket around the QB as well as a true “flow” to the ball on run plays. 4. QB avoidance: Branch-able animation technology allows for QB’s to shift around the pocket as well as break out of sack animations after they have already started. 5. Fight for the fumble: Dynamic fumble pileups allow possession to change hands while at the bottom of the pile.

Pro Tak is very good technology, it just hasn't been properly implemented in Madden and NCAA yet. However this will change this year. FIFA been using Pro Tak longer then Madden and NCAA has and FIFA movements & player interactions look amazing.

I think this year Madden and NCAA will finally get it to the level that FIFA has it.

[kingkilla56]

Glad you said it hasnt been inserted well in NCAA Madden because I havent seen anything on that list other than the 9 man tackles. Steerable tackles and blocking? That would be awesome!

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by kingkilla56

I swear I still have no idea what the hell pro tak is/was. How did it change tackling? I swear they said pro tak was amazing and all I saw was canned gang tackling. It still pains me to watch people latch onto the pill as it eventually fell to the ground. Pro tak was as canned as anything else.

How did pro-tak change tackling ? It changed it for the worse, that's how. I don't know if it was the new leadership, Ortiz was at the helm for 08, but something happened in M09. Maybe they scrapped the tacking system for M09, that was in M08, to eventually implement Pro-Tak in M10.

I've said this before, but Madden 11 in many ways was simply a year off for EA. Only so much can be accomplished in one development cycle, so EA didn't put that much effort into Madden 11, but concentrated on M12. Tackling, or collisions, and franchise modes are probably some of the hardest areas to overhaul because of the myriad of situations that happen during game-play, during collision and tackles, and the depth that a true franchise mode would entail. For Madden 11, it seems as if they simply worked on things that were easier fixes, like locomotion and run-blocking.

I think Tiburon realized that Pro-Tak was a failure before Madden 10 went gold. Which is why they didn't attempt to improve it at all for Madden 11. Remember, once they finish developing one game they take a vacation, and then start development the next year's iteration. Pro-tak was either a group hug, when it was a pro-tak moment, or it was a "tumbleweed" situation. There's no momentum involved and no consecutive hit tackling, and there was too much suction. EA had to have seen that, but they knew they couldn't fix all of that in one cycle, so they left the tacking untouched for Madden 11 and simply slapped on game-flow, locomotion, and they corrected the run-blocking.

Last year seems like it was the year off that many people, me included, said that Tiburon/EA needed to take. People said they needed to take a page out of NBA Elite's book, and they did, but because they have the exclusive license, and thus no competitors, they had the luxury of putting out a game with minimal improvements while still being able to make some sort of a profit.

[Hova57]

I've seen the steerable tackles more on NCAA than madden. With them adding locomotion and now what they did with taking out suction its just another thing added to protak. what I would like to see happen is at goaline and 3rd and 4th and inches, where the dline and oline crash low no one stands up and the lowest guy wins . I would like to see that. next. I hate jumping over the pile and everyone is standing.