Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

[johnnyg713]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

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]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

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.

[InSainn]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

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.

First, quit lumping gameplan and gameflow together. Ian said in there that you can use both or either/or. To just use the game plan and not game flow would be very, very sim. You set up your gameplan pregame, then when you goto select a play, instead of giving you 350 different options it gives you the 15 you pre-selected for that situation and you then select it. This is EXACTLY what NFL coaches/coordinators do. If you turn Game Flow on, then it selects the play for you, but you don't have to use it that way Besides, why complain anyway? The option to select from the 350 plays available is still there if that's what you choose but that's not sim at all if you really wanna get down to it.

[InSainn]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

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.

I think the whole point is that it CAN be quicker. It's not necesarily gonna be if you're a hardcore gamer who takes the time to do all the lil things. If you're rushed for time though, you can go gameflow on every play right away and it will cut through the huddle sequence (and I imagine runoff some clock too).

[Valdarez]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

First, quit lumping gameplan and gameflow together. Ian said in there that you can use both or either/or.

You can't have one without the other. GameFlow uses the GamePlan for the plays that are called by the OC. If you choose not set up your own GamePlan, then the game uses a default one. Not sure if this is based on the OC, the coach, or team. Though when setting up a GamePlan it looked like you chose a coach to use. I didn't see how it was stored however, so not sure how it works out on that front, or if you can have multiple gameplans at once.

[Tick32]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

I would rather him talk about fixing "Gameplay" imo

[Jimixiii]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

It's "cool" I guess, but definitely far from a game necessity & could care less if it was there or not. I'd much rather prefer a way to see users tendencies like they had in 2K5 maybe, but maybe there's still hope they have something like that coming in Madden 11.

I most likely will never use this feature, I have no problem skimming through a full playbook for the play I need in the heat of the moment. It is just Ask Madden 2.0 like splff said to me.

[Bgamer90]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

I have a feeling that some of the ones saying gameflow and gameplan are gimmicks are going to act kinda like little kids...

If a little kid sees a food that doesn't look appetizing to them and their parent offers it to them they say "NOOOO!!! That's disgusting!!". Their parent asks, "Have you tried it before?", and then the kid says "No but it looks nasty!!... I'm not eating it!".

The parents then says, "Just take one bite..." and the kid reluctantly/hesitantly puts the food on the fork and then puts it in their mouth. After numerous minutes arguing with their parent not to eat it, they do, and then a few seconds after they say...

"You know what? That's not that bad... Can I have some more?" lol

Anyways, while some may never like the feature, I really have a feeling that some others that are completely downplaying it now will try it out when the game comes and then will soon play a good number of games with it.

[Bgamer90]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

It is just Ask Madden 2.0 like splff said to me.

I understand ones saying that but if you create your own game plan before the game it basically becomes "Ask (insert your name here)".

[splff3000]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

First, quit lumping gameplan and gameflow together. Ian said in there that you can use both or either/or. To just use the game plan and not game flow would be very, very sim. You set up your gameplan pregame, then when you goto select a play, instead of giving you 350 different options it gives you the 15 you pre-selected for that situation and you then select it. This is EXACTLY what NFL coaches/coordinators do. If you turn Game Flow on, then it selects the play for you, but you don't have to use it that way Besides, why complain anyway? The option to select from the 350 plays available is still there if that's what you choose but that's not sim at all if you really wanna get down to it.

First, I have to lump gameplan and gameflow together, because they work together. Gameplan is a part of gameflow. They are not 2 separate things. You set up your gameplan so gameflow will call the plays for you. It seems that you are thinking they are 2 separate things. They are the same. you can use gameflow and elect not to use gameplan or you can use gameplan to set up the plays that are called for you while you're using gameflow. You're gameplan without gameflow idea....um......does not exist. I do agree though that would be very very sim. If, and only if, you had info on plays and schemes that your opponent runs.

I have a feeling that some of the ones saying gameflow and gameplan are gimmicks are going to act kinda like little kids...

If a little kid sees a food that doesn't look appetizing to them and their parent offers it to them they say "NOOOO!!! That's disgusting!!". Their parent asks, "Have you tried it before?", and then the kid says "No but it looks nasty!!... I'm not eating it!".

The parents then says, "Just take one bite..." and the kid reluctantly/hesitantly puts the food on the fork and then puts it in their mouth. After numerous minutes arguing with their parent not to eat it, they do, and then a few seconds after they say...

"You know what? That's not that bad... Can I have some more?" lol

Anyways, while some may never like the feature, I really have a feeling that some others that are completely downplaying it now will try it out when the game comes and then will soon play a good number of games with it.

That's not a good example man. The food may look unappetizing, but we've tasted this food before. It was called ask madden. A better example would be if a kid didn't like broccoli (ask madden) and his parents dressed it up with cheese and other fixings (gameflow/gameplan) and he said he didn't like it. That would be a better analogy. Anyway, I never said I wasn't going to try it. I just don't get why people are saying it's so sim. You can get that same effect on Madden 10 by choosing ask madden. Yeah the plays will be more random, but it will be almost the same experience.

I understand ones saying that but if you create your own game plan before the game it basically becomes "Ask (insert your name here)".

This is what I don't understand. What are you going to create a gameplan with? What info do you have on your opponent to make a gameplan with. You're not making a gameplan. You're just setting the plays for ask madden 2.0. Just because EA calls it gameplan doesn't mean it's a gameplan. Ok everybody, YOU CAN NOT MAKE A GAMEPLAN WITHOUT INFO ON YOUR OPPONENT!!!! All you guys are doing are setting plays for ask madden 2.0. There's nothing wrong with that but please don't say that it's a sim feature because it's not. And for those that say this isn't ask madden 2.0, tell me how this is any different from ask madden, other than it takes down and distance into consideration(which ask madden should've done in the beginning). Hell, even the devs say it replaces ask madden:

For the record, I did suggest this at CD, and if I remember right, they said that the Gameplan plays replace the Ask Madden plays when you have gameflow active. Same difference. Don't quote me on this, I didn't ask for clarification because we were in a group meeting and trying to get everyone's input.

So, I'm waiting for anyone to tell me this isn't ask madden 2.0. I never said I wasn't trying it or that I hate it or anything. I just think people think it is something that it's not.

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

So, I'm waiting for anyone to tell me this isn't ask madden 2.0. I never said I wasn't trying it or that I hate it or anything. I just think people think it is something that it's not.

This is my opinion.

Did Ask Madden feature call the right plays for you (if you used it) for the right situations?

Heck on 4th and 3 on my 40, Madden would suggest "Kick Field Goal."

I thought the plays it turned it were lousy for the situations, so, I rarely used the feature.

Ok, now turn the clock to Madden 11.

It's been said over and over from previews and some of the interviews the Madden team studied film on each teams tendency's on downs and yardage.

Please share with me how that isn't sim like?

I'm not saying it's the greatest feature in the world, but all the CD people of have given it a thumbs up. They've had hands on experience with it, so, I'm leaning in that direction.

I'm not going to give it a 5 star approval or diss it before I try it out, though.

I'm not in a position to tell others it's great and I'm not in a position to tell others, it's a gimmick or it's Ask Madden 2.0.

We need to give the feature it's due. If it's not for you, go back to the old way of calling plays.

[Bgamer90]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

That's not a good example man. The food may look unappetizing, but we've tasted this food before. It was called ask madden. A better example would be if a kid didn't like broccoli (ask madden) and his parents dressed it up with cheese and other fixings (gameflow/gameplan) and he said he didn't like it. That would be a better analogy. Anyway, I never said I wasn't going to try it. I just don't get why people are saying it's so sim. You can get that same effect on Madden 10 by choosing ask madden. Yeah the plays will be more random, but it will be almost the same experience.

Not really... again, you can remove plays from the already built game situation playlists and add your own in. With ask madden, you are usually getting plays that are the typical norm depending on the situation.

So say if you want to do a short pass play instead of a run on a 4th and inches when you are in the endzone about to score a TD. You can add short pass plays to the playlist and delete the short run plays in the playlist.

If you go with Ask Madden he'll either tell you to kick a field goal or do a short run. So again, you can't really get the same experience with Ask Madden. You can customize things to you liking, which is good when you know that you are better at certain plays during certain situations compared the normal person.

Ask Madden ---> Plays based on what's widely acceptable

Game Plan----> Plays based on what YOU like to do and/or what YOU like to do against a certain team.

This is what I don't understand. What are you going to create a gameplan with? What info do you have on your opponent to make a gameplan with.

You can look at the plays that your opponents do in certain situations and then base the gameplan you are creating before playing a game against them off of that.

It's kinda like looking at game tape of them playing.

You're not making a gameplan. You're just setting the plays for ask madden 2.0. Just because EA calls it gameplan doesn't mean it's a gameplan. Ok everybody, YOU CAN NOT MAKE A GAMEPLAN WITHOUT INFO ON YOUR OPPONENT!!!!

FYI, you can get info about your opponent by looking at their gameplan playlists.

All you guys are doing are setting plays for ask madden 2.0.

How when you don't have to ask the game what to do? If anything, more will use this feature as an easy way to play the game the way that they want to play it.

There's nothing wrong with that but please don't say that it's a sim feature because it's not.

So setting up a game plan before a game based off of what your opponent does and/or what you feel comfortable with isn't sim even though that's what many real coaches do?

And for those that say this isn't ask madden 2.0, tell me how this is any different from ask madden, other than it takes down and distance into consideration(which ask madden should've done in the beginning). Hell, even the devs say it replaces ask madden:

Read what I said above.

So, I'm waiting for anyone to tell me this isn't ask madden 2.0. I never said I wasn't trying it or that I hate it or anything. I just think people think it is something that it's not.

I just don't get how ones can call it "ask madden 2.0" and leave it at that when with game plan you can customize what the coach says to you before the game. You can't do that with ask madden...

[LeonM]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

Gameplan is easily my favorite new feature in Madden 11. It really looks cool. Great addition.

I still don't care for gameflow. I don't see the need for a voice over coach telling me how to hit my te in the flat before each play.

[Tick32]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

No Offense, but i feel both of these ideas are gimmicks. Its evident in the vids they have shown. That they didnt fix any of the gameplay issues and flaws in the game at all. Only thing i saw positive was sideline catch animation where the guy kept his foot in. Other than that. Zone coverage is still an issue along with blocking. I hope they fix (though i doubt it) b4 launch. I see that this year the game will be a rental till i see that it is as good as last gen maddens