Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

[ofdman]

Quote: Originally Posted by dat swag

Don't want to derail the thread but YES..I have followed most of what EA plans for Madden this year and it was this thread that kinda led me to that post...I don't post much...I recall the threads and videos about running animations last year that actually had the game looking quite promising but at the end of the day it was much ado about nothing because those things did not make it into the game. In a nutshell most of what EA hypes is not even worthy of discussing when the vast majority of the game is in shambles...I'm not a Madden Novice...I've bought every game for 20+ years, played heavy on the tournament scene and ran many online leagues...I'm Madden's biggest fan but at some point you literally have to start wondering...How many years are we going to have to wait???...The biggest problem I see is the game is actually as good as its ever been but in the context of where a next gen sports game like Madden Should be...It has not even come close to where many of us thought it might be at the inception of next gen. I've actually resigned myself to believe we will likely never see Football game that will "WOW" us until exclusivity is over and somebody else gives us a different interpretation of NFL Football...Just my .02

Well said. And you're right, until the exclusivity is over we will continue getting these lame "new" features in Madden which do nothing to improve the AI, animations and atmosphere of their game.

What freaks me out more than anything is just how many hardcore Madden fans STILL hang on to this game year after year believing EA's hype. It's just... bizarre.

It was Madden's first game on the Sega Genesis that got me back into gaming all those years ago so I have EA to thank for that.

So long Madden NFL. It was fun for awhile but now... now it is over.

Ah... who am I kiddin'? I'll buy it again this year like I ALWAYS DO!!

DAMN YOU EA!! DAAAAAMN YOOOOOOOU!

[PlatooN]

i love this feature already

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

We don't see eye to eye on the gameflow/gameplan game play addition, which is fine, doesn't make us right or wrong, just opinionated. ... It might cater to the casual crowd, but I'm sure it will appeal to the sim/veteran crowd, such as myself, based on the feedback from the CD folks.

Agreed, we all have our different opinions. Doesn't make one right or the other wrong.

I can see studying the film to provide proper play calling and better coaching AI s realistic, but GameFlow itself feels too much like Ask Madden with customization to me.

It could be that the Madden team wants to provide better coaching AI and they simply can't tout it as a feature, as many would think that's something that should be in the game after 20 years of development. I know that when I want to get something in from a design standpoint, that many times I have to find a way that engages management, or the business, such that they take a vested interest in it. This allows me to get the technical changes in that I need, while giving the business a bell and whistle to tout to the customers. I can definitely see where GameFlow/GamePlan can be used as a stepping stone to better coaching AI. I don't think it gets us 100% there, but definitely a step in that direction. I definitely want better coaching AI, but I want to be the one calling the plays, not my computer / coordinator (offensive/defensive).

[johnnyg713]

What is sim about game flow is the fact the we as hardcore gamers can spend all the time we want altering and changing our game plan. Because of this I am very excited to make different game plans that cater to each of my friends' play style. This is what is very in-depth and casual gamers will prob not even touch this.

However like Val states and what concerns me as well is how does game flow adjust to someone running the ball to the right 5 plays in a row. We'll have to wait and see but I am positive the CD guys have mentioned this to the devs.

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by johnnyg713

What is sim about game flow is the fact the we as hardcore gamers can spend all the time we want altering and changing our game plan. Because of this I am very excited to make different game plans that cater to each of my friends' play style. This is what is very in-depth and casual gamers will prob not even touch this. However like Val states and what concerns me as well is how does game flow adjust to someone running the ball to the right 5 plays in a row. We'll have to wait and see but I am positive the CD guys have mentioned this to the devs.

I sent Ian a tweet asking that they give gamers the ability to rate a play after it's been run. That would allow gamers to dynamically adjust the GamePlans as they play the game, and require less time in the GamePlan editing screen. No reply back from him yet.

[johnnyg713]

Quote: Originally Posted by Valdarez

I sent Ian a tweet asking that they give gamers the ability to rate a play after it's been run. That would allow gamers to dynamically adjust the GamePlans as they play the game, and require less time in the GamePlan editing screen. No reply back from him yet.

I understand now what you mean by someone running the same play until it is no longer affective. Say for example your playing the colts and dwight freeney gets hurt during the game. You better believe your gonna start running the ball to the left side. Does game flow notice this kind of change? How can I make it so game flow will start calling these plays without me having to go to the playbook before every down? I wonder if game flow takes player ratings and stuff into consideration. Mismatches and strength and weaknesses also huge factors. An example of this is say you have a team double teaming randy moss and wes welker is getting open almost every play. Is game flow going to start noticing Wes being open all the time and run more plays towards his way?

[splff3000]

I don't understand how people can say this is sim. IT'S A CUSTOMIZABLE ASK MADDEN!!! It's really what ask Madden should've been from the start. Instead of just picking plays randomnly, ask madden should have a set of plays for 3rd and short, 3rd and medium, 3rd and long, etc. That's what it should've been from the start. The only difference now is you can choose what plays ask Madden chooses for you. Why don't you cut out the middle man and just call the play yourself? I have to give it to EA's marketing team, they are very good. They know "Ask Madden 2.0" wouldn't sound enticing to the hardcore crowd so they come up with gameflow and gameplan. Now everyone can't wait for Ask Madden 2.0.

When you look at it, that's all you're doing is setting up the ask madden plays. Do you really think this is a gameplan? Think about it. How can you come up with a gameplan for your opponent with no footage of previous games? You know absolutely nothing about your opponent, outside of franchise, yet, you're going to gameplan for him? Hell, even in franchise, all you know is their depth chart and injuries. How are you going to gameplan against your opponent using 5 WR sets 50% of the time if you don't even know that they get in 5 WR sets? Unless, EA adds an "opponents favorite plays" feature, ala last gen, this will be as useless in franchise as it is outside of it.

I'm gonna tell you all when you will realize that this is just Ask Madden 2.0. When you spend 30-45 minutes setting up your "gameplan" and you go into a game and end up having to call over half of the defensive plays yourself because the "defensive coordinator" keeps calling pass defenses against 3 and 4 WR sets even though your opponent is running out of those formations. Or when your "defensive coordinator" keeps blitzing on 3rd and long( because that's what you "gameplanned") even though you're getting torched everytime you blitz. I can see all kinds of scenarios like this playing out because the CPU will not and can not adjust to what's happening on the field.

Then there's a few more questions about gameflow/gameplan:

What if you're playing head to head, whether offline or online, and your opponent doesn't want to use gameflow? What happens then? I have a strange suspicion that gameflow will be mandatory online. We all know that the settings have to be exactly the same for games online so they'll either have to make it mandatory off or mandatory on. I say it'll be the latter. Also, if a friend comes over, how is he going to set up his gameplan? We all know that you can't load 2 profiles in head to head games. Is he going to have to just deal with the gameplan of the team that he picks? What about the defense if your opponent isn't using gameflow? Is he only gonna have 10 seconds to pick his play since you're not using anytime picking yours?

Can you change your gameplan throughout the game? What if your starting QB gets hurt? Are you stuck with the gameplan that you set before you started the game or can you change it during the game. IRL, a OC or DC would adjust his gameplan accordingly when an injury occurs. Even if you can( which I doubt you will be able to do because remember.....this is Ask Madden 2.0) you're going to have to redo your offensive or defensive gameplan because of the injury. I'm willing to bet, with injuries, we'll be back to our old game times. That is, even if you can change your gameplan during the game.

That's not all that I have, but I have to get back to work so I'll leave it at that for now.

[JerseySuave4]

i said this in another thread as well, they keep talking about how gameplan will make the game go by quicker but how? How is a game quicker this year than last? How is it any quicker than using Ask Madden? I understand you have more control over the plays being called and such but it just seems odd to me that they keep talking about how much quicker this will make the game when you still need to take the time to create a gameplan.

Seems like an interesting thing and a good addition for those that want more of a head coach type control but its not really something thats drawing me into this game and making me want to get it more.