Signature Animations: Where's the Love?

[MMurda]

i wholeheartedly agree with rgiles....all i can say on this is it was yet another last gen thing that got lost in transition to this gen. all they had to do was keep building on it and we'd be in such better shape. i almost wanna say in '08 they started to bring them back along with weapons...but it was cancelled after that yr completely IIRC. i miss the days of sig animations in madden

[Trick13]

Quote: Originally Posted by MMurda

i wholeheartedly agree with rgiles....all i can say on this is it was yet another last gen thing that got lost in transition to this gen. all they had to do was keep building on it and we'd be in such better shape. i almost wanna say in '08 they started to bring them back along with weapons...but it was cancelled after that yr completely IIRC. i miss the days of sig animations in madden

What really strikes me over Madden's progression, or regression more so, on this gen of consoles is that the death of signature animations directly coincided with 3d grass - which is the most asinine waste of time for a video game ever. How often do you even notice the grass when you are playing Madden - I am not talking about pauses and replays, when you are playing the game do really go "oh neat, the dumb RT just let his man go and i am going to get...look individual blades of grass - wow EA is awesome I can't believe they can get real grass is the pathetic arcade version of football. Really???

Look, steps have been made in the right direction, but steps backwards have also been made - control layout move away from PS2 style was just ******** any way you look at it because PS2 scheme forced you to let off sprint to perform "footwork" moves, XP progression (sorry this is not a role playing game), no sig animations making every QB play nearly identical as there is no advantage for a quick release QB - cuz they don't exist in Madden, the extremely cumbersome defensive adjustments which makes shading WRs nearly impossible against other users and on and on.

LBzrule has been harping on OL/DL and WR/DB interaction for what seems like forever and those are darn essential to football, but hey we got new RB controls with modifiers and combos - oh goodie

That to me screams laziness - when the logical solution is already in the game - passing trajectories are user input sensitive - tap for lob hold for bullet and several variations between so;

The logical way to handle RB/Ball carrier moves is to do the same thing.
catching for instance could be tap = in stride arm only animations, holding the button would have the player begin to "gather" his feet and leap on release of the button.
Attribute ratings can then be used to have risk reward scenarios; rating determines not only how high the player can leap, but how long the "window" is for the user to hold the button - hold it too long and the player will leap out of balance (maybe still makes the catch but falls down during animation or comes down out of position to gain YAC before "re-balancing" or slip/trip/fall scenarios where he never makes the leap because you held too long and the player would not gain full vertical or even jump cuz he lost his footing.
It would accomplish 2 things, separates players based on ratings while giving risk factors and makes the controls far more intuitive for the user...

[SageInfinite]

Quote: Originally Posted by RGiles36

Unfortunately, this seems all too accurate. Just by virtue of them being seemingly ignored, one could gather that they've gotten away from them. Smh... I remember pointing out how sig animations weren't working to a dev last year. I was told, "I have no idea, I don't even look at the QB when I play." That's not to mock the team but rather to point out that when you suggest they aren't a priority, it passes the smell test.

I don't even look at the qb when I play??? From a dev??? Exactly the reason why I don't have much hope for next gen unless an entirely new team and new outlook on development is brought in. That is a complete joke just like this game has been this whole generation for the most part. I've heard too many stories like this this gen to actually think these guys have the insight or talent to make the type of football game I'm looking for. I just hope the new part of the team that has been working on next gen has the tools and the talent to bring it, if not the only hope is the license being open again.

[Senator Palmer]

Wish I could have "liked" the original post twice. And signature animations aren't a luxury at all. When they were first introduced in Madden 10, at least for the quarterbacks, they were very much tied to gameplay. I was struck at how I had to change the timing on my throws when playing with a QB with a quick delivery like Carson Palmer vs. Matt Ryan whose was a lot longer.

Now they weren't all dead on, but it was a step in the right direction and I thought by now we'd see the system deepened to footwork (which would tie into a qb's tendency to miss high or low), running and blocking styles, pursuit, etc. By now I thought we'd see receivers who were long-striders who could eat up a cushion but struggle with precision routes vs. a short strider who maybe didn't have the long speed, but could cut on a dime.

Quote: Originally Posted by RGiles36

I remember pointing out how sig animations weren't working to a dev last year. I was told, "I have no idea, I don't even look at the QB when I play." That's not to mock the team but rather to point out that when you suggest they aren't a priority, it passes the smell test.

Wow... that really does explain a lot about every aspect of this game.

[WDOgF0reL1fe]

I think the main difference is the fact that NBA and MLB are more Individual sports as opposed to NFL which is a team driven sport.

People identify with superstars more in MLB and NBA than in the NFL. Do NFL players have their own unique thing about them that makes them different from other NFL players? Absolutely.

However, it's tough for the casual fan to identify with someone and notice the uniqueness of an NFL player since they have close to ZERO idea of what the player looks like.

It may not seem like much, but having a face mask and pads covering these superstars does impact fan's view on them.
Aside from the quarterbacks, if fan A saw AJ Green walking down the street would they have any idea?

Fan's dont really know what NFL players look like let alone some of their signature moves, abilities, running motion, throwing motion, etc.

Lastly, I wouldn't have a problem with this if like... there were improvement in other areas. Time will tell

[SageInfinite]

Quote: Originally Posted by WDOgF0reL1fe

I think the main difference is the fact that NBA and MLB are more Individual sports as opposed to NFL which is a team driven sport. People identify with superstars more in MLB and NBA than in the NFL. Do NFL players have their own unique thing about them that makes them different from other NFL players? Absolutely. However, it's tough for the casual fan to identify with someone and notice the uniqueness of an NFL player since they have close to ZERO idea of what the player looks like. It may not seem like much, but having a face mask and pads covering these superstars does impact fan's view on them. Aside from the quarterbacks, if fan A saw AJ Green walking down the street would they have any idea? Fan's dont really know what NFL players look like let alone some of their signature moves, abilities, running motion, throwing motion, etc. Lastly, I wouldn't have a problem with this if like... there were improvement in other areas. Time will tell

I feel you, but this is where the game can take the fan even deeper into the sport. I know personally with NBA 2k, certain teams I never really watched, I started to pay attention to to see if a certain player shot that way, to see if the game replicated this team right, ect. Games can sometime make the casual fan hardcore.

[WDOgF0reL1fe]

Yeah I agree with you on that.
MLB the show does that for me, Ill look at a guy like Jedd Gyorko in the game to see how close his stance is in real life.

But I do think it's hard seeing as how the players are so hidden as opposed to other sports.

[The Duke]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

I feel you, but this is where the game can take the fan even deeper into the sport. I know personally with NBA 2k, certain teams I never really watched, I started to pay attention to to see if a certain player shot that way, to see if the game replicated this team right, ect. Games can sometime make the casual fan hardcore.

this.
Madden NFL 99 on the ol' Playstation 1 is the mother of my relentless obsession with the NFL. First Madden with Franchise mode.