Operation Sports Forums - 12 Things you should Know about Madden 12

I found this article on GENGAME.NET. I thought it was very informative in some areas and i just wanted to share........

12 Things you should know about Madden 12

Madden NFL has always been known for it’s realism. From the beginning of this franchise it has been known to stay true to the game. Over recent years it seems that EA Sports has released a ‘cookie-cutter’ game. About one ‘big thing’ was added to gameplay each year and almost nothing was added to ‘Franchise’ or ‘Superstar’ mode. Because they own the sole rights to the NFL at EA Sports, it seemed they didn’t care much. However, this year is different. This is EA’s last year with exclusive rights to the NFL, and they are not willing to give the spotlight up to 2k for next year. You will remember Madden NFL 12.

1. “Any Given Sunday” in Franchise Mode

Percy About to get a 'Claymaker' to the Chest
Perhaps one of the greatest adages that citizens of the United States have ever been graced to speak. Football is a beautiful sport, and this is precisely the reason. Anything can happen in the NFL, on any Sunday. Your star QB could have a rough day and decide to overthrow every receiver. Your shaky rookie slot cornerback might come up clutch with a game-changing pick-6. A 50-50 kick can become automatic. Over the course of weeks and seasons, players are defined by their tendencies and begin assuming roles in their teams. This is no different in Madden NFL 12.

2. Dynamic Player Performance

Very few players in the NFL maintain their everyday performance throughout the course of an NFL season. (IE Peyton Manning, Tom Brady…) In Madden NFL 12′s Franchise mode, consistency and confidence play major roles in how a player’s performance varies throughout a season. With the addition to this new ‘consistency’ rating guys like Michael Vick and Jay Cutler get what they deserve. One week they can play lights out, while the next could be a disaster in the making. For strictly gamers out there this may seem crazy, but those with a knowledge of the game would be the first to say something like, “wow, nice job EA.”

While some players are just naturally inconsistent, most rookies are as well. They are very capable of catching a 60 yard bomb with one hand, then getting a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to follow it up. When players go through a course of a season (depending on what route they take) they can mature faster or slower, depending on multiple factors. A prime example of this is comparing a player like Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers to his fellow draft-mate Alex Smith. While Rodgers was groomed (and matured) behind one of the greatest QB’s to ever play the game, Smith was thrown into the fire on a so-so team at best. With letting a rookie sit being a viable strategy in franchise mode, which way will you chose to use your young, possible star QB?

Madden NFL 12 Cover Winner Peyton Hillis
Another weekly factor in dynamic player performance is confidence. This comes down to hot and cold streaks. If Plaxico Burress remembers to go to a night club without a gun and catches a touchdown in his first game back in the NFL, he’s going to be riding high into the next week. So much of the game is said to be mental and so a player’s mindset factors into their stats on Sunday. Streaks only last a maximum of three weeks before resetting, preventing a player from having an inflated rating the entire season.

3. Player Roles

Football is a sport of specific positions, and inside each position most players take on a roll. Guys out there like Sam Bradford and Josh Freeman, well they are probable future stars. While other guys like Adrian Peterson may be feature backs, they can also be fumble prone. And Tom Brady, now he is a playoff performer. When the lights are on and everyone is watching, he knows how to step it up. Roles are earned each offseason by seeing if a player can reach a certain criteria. Some of these roles have positive effects on players and teams, while some obviously have negative effects as well.

Not only do players roles effect on field performance, they effect decisions in the clubhouse and board rooms. Now as an owner/GM/coach in Madden NFL 12 you need to try and acquire players for much more than their ‘overall’ or ‘speed’ ratings, but for their roles as well. Not only does this change the way user controlled teams think, the CPU controlled teams also base decisions on these roles.

While drafting, roles will not be shown. It is up to you to make your best judgment. Roles can also be defined during the pre-season (especially for rookies) based on what kind of players are on your team. If you have a guy like Terrel Owens, or “Team Obliterator” as Skip Bayless would say – He will most likely learn to play with a different type of swagger than a player on a team of Peyton Manning’s. Maybe he grows into a show-boater, maybe he works hard, only time will tell. When trading or signing free agents, you’re going to have to give extra weight to a player’s role. Which path will you take? Draft heavy and bring in some home-grown talent to win a Super Bowl like the Green Bay Packers? Or try and wheel and deal like the New York Jets? It’s up to you this year, and it matters.

Player Roles

Fumble Prone Ahmad Bradshaw
Here are some of the 20+ roles in Madden NFL 12:

Team Mentor
Team Leader
Injury Prone
Run Stopper
Franchise Quarterback
Defensive Playmaker
Offensive Playmaker
Playoff Performer
Shutdown Corner
Pass Rusher
Trench Warrior
Fumble Prone
Underachiever
Project Player
1st Round Pick
Future Star
Iron Man
QB of the Future
Feature Back
4. New Collision System

You can have all of the offense you want, but at the end of the day you need to remember that defense wins championships. Lockout or not, Madden NFL 12 will be released, and it will have plenty of defense. The amount of warping, sliding and suction that occurred during tackles was getting very frustrating to Madden fans everywhere, and to the development team at Tiburon as well. With that in mind, an all-new collision system in which tackles will only trigger once contact is actually made with the ball carrier will be put in place. This sounds like a simple improvement but long-time fans know this was needed badly.

Not too Sure if Mike Williams can Break This
Not only do the ‘locomotion’ mechanics of Madden NFL 11 determine the chances that a player goes down, it now effects where the player is going to go. This is a big deal when it comes to goal line stands where aplayer could sometimes have an undersized back stand up a heavy defensive tackle, then fall forward into the end zone. Sorry Darren Sproles but if Ndamukong Suh hits you dead on, I’m not too sure you’re going to just fall forward. More than 100 new tackles have been added, including 40 new gang tackles. These new animations give the game a completely fresh look on the defensive side of the ball. These new gang tackles tie in with
the momentum system to help create some of the
most authentic tackles that Madden has ever seen.

Another new feature that was added to the gameplay side of defense is a new ‘tackle button’. (Used to be the old ‘dive button’ that never worked.) This button will help the guide the defender towards the ball carrier. With suctioning and warping no longer in the game, it will be very important in helping the user wrap up and bring down the ball carrier. The key here is the timing of when this button is pressed. As a user, you will have to position the defender close enough to the ball carrier so that when you press the tackle button he will be able to lunge towards him and wrap up. If you press the tackle button when you arent in position, you will likely lunge and miss the ball carrier completely. You will also be able to dive with this button if the ball carrier is ahead of you and want to try for a shoestring tackle.

5. More Realistic Defensive Schemes

New Zone Blitz for Madden NFL 12
Specifically, zone defenses. This was another part of the game that needed some attention, as many of you know zone defenses are especially hard to call when your defenders (to be as nice as possible) look like headless chickens. New zone AI logic has been added so defenders have a much better idea of what their responsibilities are for whatever zone assignment that are assigned. Hook zone defenders will now leverage receivers as they run through their zone and point them out to their teammates as they move into another one. And depending on the player, some deep zone defenders will play more aggressive as they wont sit back and wait for the ball.

Zone blitz plays were also tuned so that they will be much more effective at getting pressure on the quarterback. Along with this play tuning, EA has also added some new formations including: 4-3 Over Plus, Sub 2-3-6, Sub 3-3-5 Odd, 6-4-1 Goal Line (that is to be used exclusively versus the goal line offensive formation) and few others that we have not been told yet. My guess is that they will probably be more ‘Psycho’ packages with down linemen standing upright at the snap of the ball. Considering the overwhelming swing in the NFL to the 3-4 defense, these formations are seen more and more each week

6. Improved Quarterback Play

Andre Johnson - 2 Cortland Finnegan - 0
One new feature that is exclusive to Madden NFL 12 is the ability to pump fake to a specific receiver by holding on a trigger and their icon. This may sound like a simple change, but it is in fact the first time since the “QB Vision Cone” days where a player can actually do this. This may sound a bit boring for non-football fans out there, but if you have seen a few NFL games you would know that a good pump fake on a hitch and go route can be deadly. There is a difference between a Peyton Manning and a Chad Henne pump fake; And that will be noticed.

Double move routes are very common in the NFL and when they are utilized correctly they can lead to big plays. Within these new double move cuts is a pump fake ‘window’ that will sometimes get a defender who is in man coverage to bite on the first part of the cut. For example, the sluggo (‘slant and go’ for those of you that really don’t listen to a word Jon Gruden says) route that has been in Madden for years now never had a fakeout chance for the defender since it didn’t have a specific cut or the new pump fake ‘window’. Without these two things the route was pretty much useless. Now, in Madden NFL 12, routes such as the sluggo, in/out and up’s, hitch’s, curl and go’s, and post’s, with good pump fakes can actually set the defender up for colossal meltdowns in coverage.

Don’t exit this article now though! I bet I can hear defensive minded fans grumbling from here. This news does not mean that pump fake happy opponent will necessarily play all too well. With this addition to the mechanics of the game, frequent use of pump’s will be taken into effect. Yes, I’m talking to you Ben Roethlisberger lovers out there. The more you pump fake, the less of an effect it has on the defenders. That is of course unless Terence Newman is on the field. Other factors that determine the effectiveness of a pump fake are the defender’s man coverage rating versus the receiver’s route running rating, as well as the skill level that you are playing on.

Josh Freeman Scanning the Field
In addition to the new pump fake controls, quarterbacks everywhere are now graced with the addition of more than 200 authentic new plays. Along with these new plays are several new formations that are exclusive to Madden NFL 12 including Gun Empty Eagle, Gun Normal Y-Flex Tight, Weak H Close Flip, and Gun Y-Trips Cowboy. These new plays and formations, just like the new defensive plays and formations, are the exact plays you see on Sundays, as they have been created directly from the NFL coaches film.

7. Run Styles

Ryan Grant Diving for the First Down
There will be three ‘run styles’ this year: Long stride, normal stride and short stride. Taller players with long strides, like Calvin Johnson, will use the long stride run style. Youll notice these players will have long strides. The ‚Äúvertically challenged‚Äù players, such as Maurice Jones-Drew or Felix Jones, will use the short stride run style. They will use quicker, choppier steps as they sprint past defenders. The Normal stride run style will be used by almost everyone else.

In addition to the running ‘styles’ there are also new carry styles. While a majority of NFL players will be using the default style, there are 4 others. Next is the high and tight carry style, like Michael Turner, for players who like to keep the ball closer to their bodies. Then there is a loose carry style that players such as Adrian Peterson, Terrell Owens and Hakeem Nicks use where they keep the ball away from their bodies while they run. Fourth is a ‚Äúloaf of bread‚Äù carry style which could be represented by a quarterback scrambling or a DB returning a pick six ala Deion Sanders. Finally, there is an awkward carry style which you will see being used by big defensive linemen, who really have no business running with a football except if they are lucky enough to pick up a fumble and head for the end zone. They really will be “rumblin’, bumblin’, and stumblin” in this years Madden.

8. Real Bidding for Free Agents

Finally, some features from EA Sport’s NFL Head Coach will be used with this new feature. Gamers will now enter into a bidding war for free agents eBay-style, highlighting the players they want to target, and pressing one button to increase the bid. When all the bidding is over, you sign the player to a contract.

New Look Free Agent Bidding
In addition to this is the strategy of different contract packages. You can now pick back-loaded contracts, or contracts that are pretty flat across the board. This bidding system really seems to end in realistic contracts offered to players. Because it is by quick bid, you may tend to overpay for guys you really need, just like in the NFL. It’s not like the old days where you had to simulate through 35 days of free agency. The user is now in and out quickly in a much more interactive and fun environment.

9. Realistic Draft

Rookie Scouting
One of the biggest disappointments in Madden every year is the draft. I love the NFL Draft in real life for all of its intrigue and crazy trades. But in Madden it’s one of the most boring moments in the game. It isn’t hard to look at a pentagon shaped skill graph in the bottom right, and pick the guy that has maxed out attributes. This year, expect that to change because you actually need to scout players at the combine, pro day, and individual workouts to see their true potential. You’ll have a draft that’s a lot more challenging and interactive than years past.

After years of complaining, future draft picks have finally been added to Madden NFL 12. Future picks can be packaged together in a trade to get the player you’re after, meaning there will be a lot more wheeling and dealing at the virtual draft. If you are sitting at number 6 but there’s nobody that you like, you can trade down and try to build towards a bigger future next year. The addition of future draft picks allows you to play the draft the way you like. You can try and mortgage the future on that one player you know is your future star, or you can trade back and stockpile picks in order to build out your team.

10. Pre Game

American Flag at Mile High

Bears Pre Game
The first major addition to presentation is a totally revamped pregame package, including authentic player entrances for all 32 NFL teams. All of the run-out details are featured, including tunnels, inflatables, pyro, cheerleaders, mascots, flags, vehicles, and animals. Whether your team has a no frills introduction like the Steelers or an over the top entrance like the Broncos, they’re all covered. The five foot Auger Hawk ‚ÄúTaima‚Äù in Seattle, the giant inflatable Bear in Chicago, the huge inflatable Viking ship in Minnesota, the chopper with a sidecar in Indy, the Cowboys cheerleaders and the Warpaint in KC‚Ä¶its in the game. In addition to having the accurate details for each teams entrance, the presentation of these run-outs is superb. Every scene has been filmed just like they would on game day.

11. Superstar Mode

The Superstar modes of the past have not been all too much to brag about. And now that 2k Sports have developed a few very nice single player career modes, EA has realized they need to step up their game. This year in Madden you will truly have complete control over your player’s destiny. Arbitrary attribute bumps and pointless practices have been removed. If you are trying to raise a player from a practice squad walk-on to a Hall of Famer you should be able to choose how your player improves, and you will.

Superstar mode is now built off skill points, which you can spend however you like. Focus on speed and spectacular catch ability for your player or dedicate yourself to becoming a powerful possession receiver. Points are earned for your performance on the field and for completing practices, but those points are never tied to any specific stats. Just because you threw one 75 yard bomb for a TD doesn’t mean that you’re ‘passing strength’ attribute should increase. With that, maybe you want to become a more accurate passer; And with the new skill point system you can do so. Your player will start with an overall 60 rating and some skill points for a bit of customization. The cost of each attribute depends on the position. Skills that are necessary for the position (say, a quarterback’s passing ability) are cheaper And, as you might expect, the higher your stat, the more skill points it costs to increase that ability.

Create-A-Superstar Screen
Practices now have a purpose because of the new experience points system. Each practice session gives you ten plays to rack up points. You are also able to assign your players traits and tendencies. (The mental aspect of each player.) While running the fast break in basketball, some player layup while others dunk. The same rules apply to football, in the open field some linebackers may go for a big hit, while others simply wrap people up. That is up to your judgment.

At the start of Superstar mode you can enter the NFL draft (and leave your fate in the hands of an NFL GM) or you can choose the team you like and sign as a free agent walk-on for your rookie season. If things don’t work out, you can stomp your feet like Jay Cutler and demand a trade. You’re then provided a list of teams interested in your services. Pick where you want to go and you’re off. It’s as simple as that. Another new feature that has never been seen in a Madden game is notifications when you are nearing game, season or career records. Hopefully this will add some pressure for guys out there to try and break records like Brett Favre’s all time touchdown record. (And hopefully not his all time interception record. *coughs*)

12. Real Broadcast

Eli Manning Trotting Onto the Field at The Meadowlands
Another glaring problem that Madden has fixed this year is the actual presentation of the game. You don’t want a game developers version of an NFL broadcast, you want the real deal. EA Sports and Tiburon studied with multiple CBS football directors by having the entire presentation team inside the truck with unlimited access. They were even given input from their own Hall of Fame broadcaster and namesake John Madden. Why they never asked before this is beyond me. Highlights include real broadcast camera locations for every stadium, all new stadium exteriors (seen more than 10 times per game on SNF), virtual cameras, virtual director
logic, and new broadcast graphics designed by the
geniuses behind MNF, SNF, and ESPN’s Sports Center.

Overhead of Qwest Field
Using EA’s proprietary camera capture technology, DCAM, they were able to create scenes as shot by actual NFL Films cinematographers. DCAM is very similar to the technology used by James Cameron to film virtual scenes in Avatar. For Madden NFL 12, EA filmed 100 unique scenes in 4 days to produce close to 700 new cameras. Gamers are expected to notice these views right away. The steadicam work you see in Madden NFL 12 will match precisely what you see in broadcasts and in NFL Films productions.