Blocking Failure Animations

[CuseGirl]

I'm not a programmer or anything like that. But exactly how hard is it to get the offensive line to think "cohesively"? It's clear to me that the way the offensive lines in these video games do much of their thinking as an individual. When I watch real football and watch good o-lines block, it's like syncronized swimming. 5 big guys somehow sashay their 300-pound selves to the left or right, or 4 big guys crash down and one guard pulls.

Now obviously this isn't executed properly every single time, so is it possible for some programming to account for that? Especially on the pulling plays. In real life, when a guy pulls, the blocker next to him is supposed to attempt to fill the void. Maybe the defender slips thru because he timed it right, maybe he doesn't. But it seems like in the video game, there's an 80% chance that the defender will get thru the hole. Even worse, the pulling guard never makes the block when you come around the edge!

No game is perfect, especially one that includes 100's of decisions made by 22 different virtual bodies. But it seems like these blocking schemes/algorithms have been in the game for years. But we'll see.

[Sting]

Quote: Originally Posted by CuseGirl

I'm not a programmer or anything like that. But exactly how hard is it to get the offensive line to think "cohesively"? It's clear to me that the way the offensive lines in these video games do much of their thinking as an individual. When I watch real football and watch good o-lines block, it's like syncronized swimming. 5 big guys somehow sashay their 300-pound selves to the left or right, or 4 big guys crash down and one guard pulls. Now obviously this isn't executed properly every single time, so is it possible for some programming to account for that? Especially on the pulling plays. In real life, when a guy pulls, the blocker next to him is supposed to attempt to fill the void. Maybe the defender slips thru because he timed it right, maybe he doesn't. But it seems like in the video game, there's an 80% chance that the defender will get thru the hole. Even worse, the pulling guard never makes the block when you come around the edge! No game is perfect, especially one that includes 100's of decisions made by 22 different virtual bodies. But it seems like these blocking schemes/algorithms have been in the game for years. But we'll see.

Excellent post.