Made a small change this week...

[Joborule]

Re: Made a small change this week...

It's 100% more awesome.

I bet my custom one is more awesome.

[Joborule]

Re: Made a small change this week...

So just to give a little insight, honestly this was definitely my first thought. But as I thought a little deeper...realistically is a person new to next-gen Madden going to do any pre-snap adjustments? I think they more likely feel overwhelmed when they see all these options. All of my friends nowadays say "Madden is too hard to play now", but I mean the core mechanics are the same from when they played 5 years ago - call a play, snap it, throw it, run, etc. IMO, it's the overkill with a million options that are always in their face that contributes to the panic. It immediately can invoke the feeling that "maybe I don't know what I'm doing" if you aren't using every one of those options. So I know the knee jerk thought is to think that we need to give more info for casual gamers, but that can often be detrimental when you go overboard.

We could also probably debate whether that many "casual" Madden gamers even exist on next-gen...do a lot of people out there spend $300+ bucks on new hardware and probably $1k at least on HD setups and stuff when they have no clue how to use a controller or have never seen a game of football? Wii on the other hand...

That’s a good point actually. When I try new sports games, I generally get use to the basics in a few games first before I go into the deeper detail stuff that revolves around strategy. If I see too much stuff around the screen, it can become intimidating. Perhaps off by default would be a good choice. Those users that want to find out how to do audibles and hot routes will be willing to go through the instruction manual or tutorials to figure out how to do them.

[TheWatcher]

Re: Made a small change this week...

This is the kind of stuff that I've been hoping to see. Those very meticulous changes that add those very important small-thing touches to the game. This is very, very promising.

I'd vote for OFF. I personally wouldn't mind if they were still on with the ability to turn them all off one-by-one, but default off caters to my tastes as more of the non-casual I am so this is fine to me.

My main hope is that the on-off situation is contagious throughout the game in a variety of ways. The more ways we get to the make the experience tailor to ourselves the more happy players you're going to get.

Good job Ian. It may sound weird, but I'm almost as excited about where this can lead as I am about procedural awareness. I can't tell you tell how many times I play Madden and wish I could change, edit, or turn on/off this or that. I think that's one of the big reasons why FIFA and NBA Live appeal to me so much, because of the number of changes I can make to the game to tweak it to my tastes.

[TexasBorn1]

Re: Made a small change this week...

I guess it would be okay to leave it on for the casual players.. I wouldn't mind disabling it myself like in 09

[King Gro23]

Re: Made a small change this week...

Implement the big weapons in a pre-game show and never worry about seeing silly icons on the field just natural raw football

[mrod009]

Re: Made a small change this week...

Definitely leave Preplay Controls and Weapons Off by default. It makes everything look too busy and crowded.

[ngoulding]

Re: Made a small change this week...

The best solution would be to do what fifa did last year. First time you put in the game you get asked the question what kind of gamer are u. Really casual, sports fan or fifa veteran. Your choices are saved and thats the end of the story. When we turn on madden 10 ask us if we want prompts on screen or a 'clean screen' and everone is happy. I for one am delighted to hear the screen is being tidied up. Madden was really the only 'sim' sports game that places art on the field during play.

[bulls23]

Re: Made a small change this week...

I hope the scorebug looks like FOX or NBC with colors representing the teams. I think a cool option would for us to be able to set it to disappear or fade, appear at the top or bottom of the screen (like NBA Live), and to choose between a score "box" (like CBS) or a "bar" (FOX/NBC)

[Kevin26385]

Re: Made a small change this week...

I definitely think that leaving all the graphics off except the score bug, is a fantastic idea. Its an easy and great step to make the game look more realistic. And the best part is if someone wants it, they can get the graphic up. I know I will definitely leave it and have a clean looking football game on my hands.

[LAKE4742]

Re: Made a small change this week...

We could also probably debate whether that many "casual" Madden gamers even exist on next-gen...do a lot of people out there spend $300+ bucks on new hardware and probably $1k at least on HD setups and stuff when they have no clue how to use a controller or have never seen a game of football? Wii on the other hand...

Great point!!!! I think that's a big misconception nowadays in the industry. So called "casual" gamers aren't so casual that they don't want a great, authentic experience. Mostly, it's simply about playing less time than others. Besides, manuals are to store info. As long as all of the info is in the manuals, with lots of options available, there is no need for noobified gameplay, or presentation.

[Ian_Cummings]

Re: Made a small change this week...

I bet my custom one is more awesome.

I definitely know yours. Ours is probably 28% better than that one.

[Kevin26385]

Re: Made a small change this week...

How about some descriptions of the Score bug Ian

Is it on the top of the screen or bottom? haha

[green94]

Re: Made a small change this week...

Agree with your thoughts Ian and can't wait to see the new Score ticker. Last years got in the way when seeing whether or not field goals went through the uprights.

[Ian_Cummings]

Re: Made a small change this week...

How about some descriptions of the Score bug Ian

Is it on the top of the screen or bottom? haha

Bottom. I guess I can answer that right?

[thudias]

Re: Made a small change this week...

Bottom. I guess I can answer that right?

Dude, your the lead designer you can do what ever you want and you answer to no one...

errr...except Phil but I'm sure he's probably a push over.

Phil if you read this I'm kidding...but not really.