Locomotion #1 Priority moving forward

[ch46647]

Good Morning Everyone,

After playing Madden 13 I can say that while the game is FAR from perfect it has certainly made some legitimate strides this year. With that said it is more then apparent now that the #1 focus moving forward MUST BE on locomotion/footplanting/Running Animations.

Even with the addition of physics, new passing game, 400+ new catching animations, etc the game still just feels stale. It looks and plays like a majority of its predecessors since next gen for one major reason, locomotion. Madden is a beautiful game but as soon as it starts moving everything just falls apart. Madden on PS2 had a very good locomotion system and I truly believe that is why many people feel the gameplay was much better back then.

EA showed the blue print for what a true physics based locomotion system can bring to sports game with NHL 13. (NHL didn't have bad locomotion problems to begin with but it is now light years better) IMO, when Madden decides to make this jump everything else will truly fall into place. The game will look and feel entirely different in motion and it will immediately become much more realistic. It has gotten to the point with current Maddens that I cannot even tell if a player is sprinting or jogging anymore. If Madden incorporated a physics based locomotion system including footplanting, acceleration, de-celeration, top end speed and agility it would be an absolute game changer. (As well as all new running animations) This would be the change we need to finally feel the difference in players and have ratings effect the game. Also, it need to apply to more then just the ball carrier or human controlled player. IT NEEDS TO APPLY TO EVERY PLAYER ON THE FIELD.

I am very confident that the new team will deliver this but I am really hoping it is next year. Many of this new team is from EA Canada that produces NHL and FIFA which both have excelllent locomotion systems and are both considered elite sports games. Locomotion needs to be the #1 priority for M14 and OL/DL should be a distant second IMO.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Hell no.......OL/DL interaction and special teams over haul needs to be #1 priority. Locomotion had it's day in the sun already for Madden 10 and Madden 11. Time for the other 2 things to finally get it's 15 minutes of fame.

[ch46647]

Many would argue that the locomotion actually got worse between M10 and M11.

Locomotion would make the special teams much better then we have today.

[RGiles36]

Right up there with OL/DL and locomotion, I'm sounding the alarm for a new advanced AI. It's been cookie-cutter far too long. Time for an AI that's both proactive & adaptive, and one that forces you to strategize rather than just call plays.

[CurryMan]

Tired of Users and CPU running in zig zags to evade tacklers...

[GiantBlue76]

Honestly, none of you are wrong here. The biggest issue with Madden is player movement, and stemming from that is the interaction of the players. The OL/DL needs to be re-written as well. The player movement along with all of the logic will do a lot to improve the game. Also, a separate ball physics engine like 2k football had is sorely needed. The ball needs to be untethered from the players. You can still throw the ball to a receiver running a hitch route and make it a streak if you throw it early enough. I did it yesterday. 90% of the problems with Madden on the field stem from poor player movement. They need some better football guys looking at these and filing down all of these really rough edges. We won't see any of that this generation, though. Hopefully they will re-write this game from a gameplay standpoint for next gen and we can get a real, legitimate product. Had this product come out during the hay-day of football gaming, Madden would be suffering NBA live's fate. It has great potential, but it's incredibly unpolished.

[slick589]

The most frustrating part about maddens player movement is that on defense there is actually some resemblence of footplanting and momentum but on offense the ballcarrier can swerve and zig zag. This clearly puts the defense at a disadvantage since they have to play with a respect for science.

I guess EA feels just like the NFL....lets make in all about the offense and scoring 56 points per game. Gone are the days of football i grew up watching when defense could def win you a championship.

Madden has not added anything to defensive gameplay since the hit stick. That is now nerfed and is basically the automatic miss tackle stick.

I think adressing loco would only help adress the ol/dl play. Everyone needs to play with the same movement. The offense including the line should not be able to move in a way that the defense cant because it leads to unbalanced and arcade like play.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Locomotion is nothing more then agility and acceleration. A few of the EA developers said that over E3. All it deals with is free range movement in space. How fast a player reaches top speed and how well he can change directions.

Player interaction doesn't use locomotion at all.