Madden NFL 11 Video: Ian Cummings Talks Game Plan

[splff3000]

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

I can see that there's gonna be a lot of disappointed people this August. Some of you have no idea of how this works, yet you can't wait for it because it's "sim" or at least YOU think it is. People still don't believe that it's ask madden 2.0 even though the devs themselves said that it will replace ask madden. People still don't believe that it's ask madden 2.0 even though, just like ask madden, you have no control over which play gets called. Yeah you can choose the type of plays and which ones are your favorite, but ultimately you're at the mercy of the cpu playcall....just like ask madden. I don't know about you guys, but I don't trust the madden cpu to do anything for me.

I'm gonna say this and I'm gonna be done with it. I see a lot of you speculating about what you can and can't do. I've seen people mention things that they are gonna do that I have not seen anywhere and I've read every last preview and it's thread and watched all the vids and looked through their threads. Things like, looking at your opponents gameplan before you play them. That doesn't make any sense what so ever. Now, I've seen the devs say that you can edit the cpu's gameplan, but it doesn't make any sense to be able to see your opponent's gameplan in head to head games. Better yet, see it before you even play them. Yeah that's sim. There's alot of things that you guys don't know about so I don't understand how anyone can be excited for it. The devs haven't explained to us how this will work in head to head games. They haven't explained if it will be mandatory or not online. They haven't explained if you can change it during the game. They haven't explained a whole lot about it, yet everyone can't wait to use it. Good Luck!! I have a strange feeling that by the time September gets here this board will be filled with disappointed gameflow/gameplan fans. Not because it's a bad feature, but because they believe that it's something more than ask madden 2.0.


Oh and one more thing................ GAMEPLAN WORKS WITHIN GAMEFLOW!!! GAMEPLAN AND GAMEFLOW ARE NOT 2 SEPARATE THINGS!!!!!!

[Valdarez]

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

The example earlier wasn't good. The comparison to kids is somewhat offensive, but with that aside, us kids here can see the food, and smell the food (the feature), which is a pretty good precursor to the taste of the food. It's very rare that something that I think stinks, tastes good. In fact, I can't think of anything.

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.

I think a many folks that aren't interested in it, see it as a customizable Ask Madden. That's why that say Ask Madden 2.0. The whole purpose of Ask Madden is to give the gamer an appropriate play for the given situation (which it failed horribly at doing). The GameFlow + default GamePlan for a team is aimed at fixing the horrible calls made by the Ask Madden feature of years gone past. If you find that they still haven't fixed it, then they have given a way for you to customize it to some extent. You can even rate the plays 1 to 5 stars. However, at the end of the day you are still not making the play calls. This is why I view it as Beginner playcalling, where you are given only one play to choose from, more than Ask Madden. Ask Madden actually gave you 6 plays to choose from. Beginner playcalling only gives you one. GameFlow only gives you one play to execute.

I'll probably end up using it on my offline franchise, not because I want to, but because it will be the only way to get a competitive game against the AI, just like I had to do in Madden 10. i.e. Play with my play calling set to 'Beginner'. I will say that Beginner playcalling was the hardest way to play the game from an execution standpoint as it put you on a level footing with the AI's playcalling, but Beginner playcalling was also the weakest way to play Madden 10 from a strategy standpoint.

[wangtangkiki]

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

I think before it's all said and done this feature will be the best thing that ever happened to Madden.

LOL.. Come on man, something that helps me pick plays better can't be the best thing that happens to Madden.

The best thing that can happen to Madden is that they add what has been released to the public so far... PLUS fix gameplay.. this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qezYnQtP_4s has several things that should be fixed...

From a video of gameplay, if you call zone D Cover 3 in Madden 11, your LBs will sprint to the flats... even if it's a RUN... that's ridiculous...

Fix players going through each other.. Fix dropped picks.. Make defensive players try to tackle their own teammates when that teammate has the ballcarrier in his grasp --- I've seen so many teams do this.. Say MLB 1 is bringing down the RB... MLB 2 will hit MLB 1 harder to force the RB down... Other than "Pro-Tak", tackles are 1 on 1.. If 5 people are around a player, but Pro-Tak doesn't engage, the one guy will tackle him, and the other four players will fall on the ground. Watch the video.

[oneamongthefence]

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

I'm gonna make my gameplan well balanced. Also remember you have audibles at your disposal. I will also have injury gameplans set up specifically for qb injuries if there's actually a difference between qbs thIs year.

[kmart2180]

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

Not only do I love this feature (offline franchise reason's) But if it were a mode Online where people couldnt call there own plays and had to use this............Id play online a whole heck of alot more. Online would be awsome if it could be played this way. I'd never have to worry about who I play. Cause I'd know going in that I cant be cheesed to death by the peeps who use there special 3 plays all game long. I'd actually get to see a team play the way they do in real life. Get to see a mix of all kind of plays.

Im not a big online Madden fan but I could easily become one if some how the game was FORCED to be played the right way. How nice it would feel to make a great 3rd and 1 stop and them have to punt the ball.

[Valdarez]

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

Not only do I love this feature (offline franchise reason's) But if it were a mode Online where people couldnt call there own plays and had to use this............Id play online a whole heck of alot more. Online would be awsome if it could be played this way. I'd never have to worry about who I play. Cause I'd know going in that I cant be cheesed to death by the peeps who use there special 3 plays all game long. I'd actually get to see a team play the way they do in real life. Get to see a mix of all kind of plays.

Im not a big online Madden fan but I could easily become one if some how the game was FORCED to be played the right way. How nice it would feel to make a great 3rd and 1 stop and them have to punt the ball.

If they are going to make it an integral part of the game, I can't see them not having an online mode for it. Completely removes the strategic element from the game, which removes my desire to play, but I can see this as a way to level the playing field for everyone. I'll bet you good money one of the online feature's will see touted soon will be the ability to play games and online franchises via GameFlow.

[wangtangkiki]

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.

Great post.. I approve this message.

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.

This is what I was thinking... I'm still gonna choose my plays individually unless I'm able to change the play the CPU called to the next play on my list.. I will be causing a lot of people to waste time... They probably say "From 60 minutes to 30" because they have changed games to 4 minutes All-Pro, No accel clock =P lol jk..

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.

They will still try it... They just think it's a gimmick.. I would keep Pro-Tak in if it was optional even though it's a gimmick. This is what Ask Madden should have been.. The plays should have been called by down and distance. I don't believe Ask Madden should have been called by tendencies of your opponent because you are supposed to recognize what they are doing, not the CPU.

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.

Carlos: We are talking "Gameplan", a new feature in Madden NFL 11.
Please, elaborate.

Ian: So gameplanning is meant to go with the game flow feature, but it doesn't have to.

Later in the video @2:28 he says "If this situation comes up and you open the play call screen, these are the plays that are gonna show up."

So it sounds like you will choose from the 15 plays you put in the list..

I'm gonna make my gameplan well balanced. Also remember you have audibles at your disposal. I will also have injury gameplans set up specifically for qb injuries if there's actually a difference between qbs thIs year.

At first I was gonna comment on if you could actually have more than one game plan..

I looked at the video closer and it shows the following options:

"Create Offensive Gameplan"
"Create Defensive Gameplan"
"Edit Existing Gameplan"

When I first watched the video, I thought it said "Edit Current Gameplan", which basically made me think you could only have one gameplan and have to change it for every opponent..

The fact that you can make several different gameplans for different opponents and not have to create it each time you play a different opponent is great.. I thought it was kinda like how audibles are now.. You can only have one set of audibles at anytime.. I do not believe you will be able to change gameplans in the middle of the game though.. If you look closely, you select a playbook for each gameplan. I'm thinking that you MAY be able to change your gameplan, but only for the playbook you selected to use that game..

So if you choose New England's offensive playbook, you will only be able to chose gameplan's that use the New England playbook that you chose.


The more I think about this gameplan feature, I'm starting to like it even more... We need to see the play call screen so we can see exactly if the plays for the situation you are in actually pop up like Ian Cummings said..

[Bgamer90]

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

I can see that there's gonna be a lot of disappointed people this August. Some of you have no idea of how this works, yet you can't wait for it because it's "sim" or at least YOU think it is.

A lot of people that are anticipating it have a good basis of how it works so I don't really know what you're trying to say.

People still don't believe that it's ask madden 2.0 even though the devs themselves said that it will replace ask madden.

It's their opinion... to me (and others) if I can choose plays that break out of the norm from what I would get in ask madden by customizing them myself then I'm not asking "Madden" what to do (obviously lol).

Don't get me wrong... I can understand ones saying that it is but in my opinion it's more than that.

People still don't believe that it's ask madden 2.0 even though, just like ask madden, you have no control over which play gets called. Yeah you can choose the type of plays and which ones are your favorite, but ultimately you're at the mercy of the cpu playcall....just like ask madden. I don't know about you guys, but I don't trust the madden cpu to do anything for me.

If you don't want that then don't use it...

I'm gonna say this and I'm gonna be done with it. I see a lot of you speculating about what you can and can't do. I've seen people mention things that they are gonna do that I have not seen anywhere and I've read every last preview and it's thread and watched all the vids and looked through their threads. Things like, looking at your opponents gameplan before you play them. That doesn't make any sense what so ever. Now, I've seen the devs say that you can edit the cpu's gameplan, but it doesn't make any sense to be able to see your opponent's gameplan in head to head games. Better yet, see it before you even play them. Yeah that's sim.

By "opponent" I meant CPU opponent, and if you can look at and edit teams playlist's then (obviously) you can look at what they usually do in certain situations before you play a game.

There's alot of things that you guys don't know about so I don't understand how anyone can be excited for it.

Funny you say that... can't the same be said for people on the other side of the spectrum that are calling it a gimmick and saying that it'll be dissapointing?

The devs haven't explained to us how this will work in head to head games. They haven't explained if it will be mandatory or not online. They haven't explained if you can change it during the game. They haven't explained a whole lot about it, yet everyone can't wait to use it.

You make good points (though I HIGHLY doubt that it'll be mandatory online), but is it wrong for people to like what they currently see?

Good Luck!! I have a strange feeling that by the time September gets here this board will be filled with disappointed gameflow/gameplan fans. Not because it's a bad feature, but because they believe that it's something more than ask madden 2.0.

Well I'm pretty sure that some will be but I'm also pretty sure that there will be others that will like it like some of the CD guys did.

[Bgamer90]

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

The example earlier wasn't good. The comparison to kids is somewhat offensive...

Might not of been the best example but that's what I thought of during the time so I put it in lol.

Also, offensive? Really? Sorry if it came across that way... wasn't trying to be offensive at all. Just using an example. I also did say SOME, so yeah...

[Valdarez]

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

Might not of been the best example but that's what I thought of during the time so I put it in lol.

Also, offensive? Really? Sorry if it came across that way... wasn't trying to be offensive at all. Just using an example. I also did say SOME, so yeah...

No worries. Kids is the nicest thing I've been called today.

[splff3000]

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

Carlos: We are talking "Gameplan", a new feature in Madden NFL 11.
Please, elaborate.

Ian: So gameplanning is meant to go with the game flow feature, but it doesn't have to.

Later in the video @2:28 he says "If this situation comes up and you open the play call screen, these are the plays that are gonna show up."

So it sounds like you will choose from the 15 plays you put in the list..

Well, I stand corrected. I guess I owe a few people an apology......but you're not gonna get it!! Naw seriously, this is kinda cool then. I guess I got the impression from the way everyone mentioned it with gameflow that it was part of that. Now, I still need to be able to see my opponents favorite plays or whatever, but the fact that this is standalone makes it a little more enticing. If they announce some kind of favorite play scouting or whatever then I'll be all gung ho for this.

[wangtangkiki]

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

If they are going to make it an integral part of the game, I can't see them not having an online mode for it. Completely removes the strategic element from the game, which removes my desire to play, but I can see this as a way to level the playing field for everyone. I'll bet you good money one of the online feature's will see touted soon will be the ability to play games and online franchises via GameFlow.

I would never play that... People could just put the 3 plays they use in for that situation.. Also, I believe you can put just one play you want for that situation.. so you could just put that one play and use it over and over..

Also, I don't like the fact that developers are trying to tell players how to play a video game.. If people want to go for it on 4th down everytime, it's their option.. NFL teams do it.. the Broncos do it on 4th and 1 on their own side of the field vs. the Colts.. I believe it was the 3rd Q too..

I just hate how people complain about how others don't play "real." I can see if they are glitching, but you have a problem with their playcalling?.. that's a YOU issue.

[wangtangkiki]

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

Well, I stand corrected. I guess I owe a few people an apology......but you're not gonna get it!! Naw seriously, this is kinda cool then. I guess I got the impression from the way everyone mentioned it with gameflow that it was part of that. Now, I still need to be able to see my opponents favorite plays or whatever, but the fact that this is standalone makes it a little more enticing. If they announce some kind of favorite play scouting or whatever then I'll be all gung ho for this.

Haha.. Quick, go edit all your posts

The favorite play scouting should use your "EA" points that you get for playing Madden Moments and just playing games.. you should be able to use those points since I don't use it to create my own "avatar" to show up in the little black box with the face..

[kmart2180]

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

If they are going to make it an integral part of the game, I can't see them not having an online mode for it. Completely removes the strategic element from the game, which removes my desire to play, but I can see this as a way to level the playing field for everyone. I'll bet you good money one of the online feature's will see touted soon will be the ability to play games and online franchises via GameFlow.

IMO it add's a more strategic element to the game. You have to execute the coaches gameplan the same way the players do in real life. IMO people who call there own plays 90% of the time call plays that they know will work due to the lack of a great cpu AI. No matter what football game you have ever played, there is always plays that the cpu AI just couldnt do anything against.

IMO this is a way of seperating the cheaters who abuse AI deficencies, and people who just want a great game of football the way it was meant to be played. I actually think its MORE of a chess match this way.

Im all for a cleaner game of football! This would be a great way to clean up the online mode IMO. (If they make a mode just for it that is)

[Valdarez]

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

IMO it add's a more strategic element to the game. You have to execute the coaches gameplan the same way the players do in real life. IMO people who call there own plays 90% of the time call plays that they know will work due to the lack of a great cpu AI. No matter what football game you have ever played, there is always plays that the cpu AI just couldnt do anything against.

IMO this is a way of seperating the cheaters who abuse AI deficencies, and people who just want a great game of football the way it was meant to be played. I actually think its MORE of a chess match this way.

Im all for a cleaner game of football! This would be a great way to clean up the online mode IMO. (If they make a mode just for it that is)

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. Being able to call a game based on how your opponent is playing, and what they are showing you, is the main strategy element in the game. Remove that, and there's really no strategy, just execution (which you even said).

The lack of a proper CPU AI means you have to dumb your game down in order to get a balanced game. That doesn't make dumbing your game down the right approach. Fixing the CPU AI would be the better approach.