Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

[Skyboxer]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

I for one am not really complaining about the feature, but these posts make no sense at all, IMHO. You are basically accusing people of wanting to play unrealistic "glitch ball" because they don't want their hands held on when to throw the ball on a route correctly? Come on. Really? I may not agree with everything Jarodd21 says, but he hasn't really come across as a "cheese" or "glitch ball" player to me. He is actually asking for the challenge of learning when to throw the ball on routes WITHOUT this feature. So again, your posts seem kind of misguided. You guys act as if this feature is 100% necessary in order to have a realistic passing game in Madden, and it isn't, nor should it be. There are "other football games" out there that have a very realistic passing game without the need for visual aids telling you: "O.K., THE RECEIVER IS LOOKING NOW, YOU CAN THROW!". Not only that, but since you can still throw the ball early and "user catch" (which will be EASIER in Madden 13), I doubt this feature has totally obliterated "glitch ball" or "cheesing" like you guys are making it out to be.

In my opinion, this feature should be be automatically turned "On" for Rookie and Pro levels, for the guys that want to learn how to pass correctly and know more about football. For All-Pro and All-Madden levels, the feature should be an option, but not mandatory. I already know the timing of most of the routes that I want to throw, so I could do without the feature altogether, but again, I'm not complaining about it either. What would really be more "realistic" is if EA somehow tweaked this feature and tied it into the QB's awareness ratings, so guys could stop taking QB's like Tryod Taylor and putting up numbers with them as if they were Peyton Manning. Stuff like that is just as unrealistic as any other glitches in Madden. Again, I'm not complaining about the feature, I just feel that it is worthless for veteran Madden players and (as I stated above) that it could be adjusted to have a much greater impact on gameplay that what it is now.

I just don't see how this "feature" (yes I put feature in quotes) is affecting people's (presumed) glitchy "play style" when you can still throw the ball early, select the receiver and user catch the ball (which AGAIN, is supposed to be easier this in Madden 13). That makes no sense to me.

Again this mode does NOT tell you when to throw the ball, at all.
It simply says when they are looking.
It is not an aid, just a visual cue of when they are looking.

And I personally don't think he was anywhere looking like a "cheese" player. I know what he wants and agree that any aids should have an option to be turned off. Just don't see how having a visual reference of when they are looking is an aid.

[TDKing]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

There still seems to be some confusion here.... Most of us love this "FEATURE" and don't want it turned off!! We just want the icons lighting up part of the feature to have an on/off option. Not the whole feature.
At this point there not much else to say... we'll see how it works when the demo comes out. Oh and knowing EA this feature is no way tied into WR AWR... that would make to much sense.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

Thank you TDKing! lol

This reminds me of that gossip experiment where someone whispers something in a persons ear in a room full of people and then it gets whispered to one person after another, with the last person telling everyone out loud what they heard. Except, in this case, all the "whispers" are right there for everybody to read, if they choose to. lol

I am starting to understand why EA/Tiburon probably believes it's best to just do blanket features because by the time the game is released, something like a auto sprint OPTION has been whisper campaigned into "they removed the sprint button". (Based on a true story)

[kjcheezhead]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

People bitching about this here just goes to show that people often SAY they want realism but really don't want it if it's going to affect their style of play.

As for it being an option, usually I'm in favor of the option route but this is a feature that needs to be hard set into the game for it to make playing fair for everyone. Now maybe if you're playing offline by yourself it's a bit different but for games against other people there should be no option for this.

I disagree. This has the makings of another vision cone, strat pad type decision that EA forced on its fans. If they learned anything from those features, then this should be an option online as well. At least within communities, online leagues or unranked games.

For the first part, I just don't see realism when you can override it by clicking on the wr and user catching at anytime. I'll have to see how it works before I declare it something every sim gamer should be thrilled to see in the game.

[GiantBlue76]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

I disagree. This has the makings of another vision cone, strat pad type decision that EA forced on its fans. If they learned anything from those features, then this should be an option online as well. At least within communities, online leagues or unranked games.

For the first part, I just don't see realism when you can override it by clicking on the wr and user catching at anytime. I'll have to see how it works before I declare it something every sim gamer should be thrilled to see in the game.

Back to what Big F has been lobbying, if they had a setting that you could turn off user catching for receivers, that might be helpful too. Like I said, they always seem to scratch the surface with a good idea, but it never gets over the hump because they always feel the need to make sure the 10 year old player can do it.

[Jarodd21]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

People bitching about this here just goes to show that people often SAY they want realism but really don't want it if it's going to affect their style of play.

As for it being an option, usually I'm in favor of the option route but this is a feature that needs to be hard set into the game for it to make playing fair for everyone. Now maybe if you're playing offline by yourself it's a bit different but for games against other people there should be no option for this.

Bitching huh? Haha! Some of you guys on here.. If you had of continued reading the rest of the comments after that you would have had a better understanding of what we are asking for. I simply want the option to turn it off so I can scan the field on my own and locate the WRs that get there heads turned around without the icon blinking to let me know the WRs have turned there head.. I understand that it doesn't mean the WRs are open just because it's lighting up when there heads turn around but I want to figure it out on my own by studying the routes and getting the timing down on my own when the WR gets his head turned. If I'm off with my timing and the WR hasn't turned his head around I should pay for it with a bad throw. But like I said plenty of times the simple solution is to make this feature an option for us gamers who want the challenge of locating the WRs who's heads are turned for the ball.

[raguel]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

From the videos I've seen, I don't like the whole dimming/brightening icons bit from purely an aesthetic point of view, and frankly unnecessary if there's really RBP

The devs may have made this move to anticipate and ease the learning curve, but I suspect this is going to lead to more ints/frustration, not less.

[Skyboxer]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

Back to what Big F has been lobbying, if they had a setting that you could turn off user catching for receivers, that might be helpful too. Like I said, they always seem to scratch the surface with a good idea, but it never gets over the hump because they always feel the need to make sure the 10 year old player can do it.

One problem with that is if you want to play randoms , user catching is the bread and butter of most. I doubt you'd find many games. Could be wrong though.
Now having it being able to be turned off for leagues would be awesome sicne even with a no user catch rule" you have to take peoples words they aren't doing it.


We all want realism and for me it really won't be totally here until there are no icons at all and we have the ability to throw anywhere on field and not to a wr.

[Skyboxer]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

From the videos I've seen, I don't like the whole dimming/brightening icons bit from purely an aesthetic point of view, and frankly unnecessary if there's really RBP

The devs may have made this move to anticipate and ease the learning curve, but I suspect this is going to lead to more ints/frustration, not less.

Even without this added "feature" the icons are still there. So how is this an aesthetic change?

[RGiles36]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

Back to what Big F has been lobbying, if they had a setting that you could turn off user catching for receivers, that might be helpful too. Like I said, they always seem to scratch the surface with a good idea, but it never gets over the hump because they always feel the need to make sure the 10 year old player can do it.

User catching is a whole 'nother can of worms. I don't use it at all as a offliner, but almost anyone that I know that plays online uses it. That's a very fine line to cross.

[raguel]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

Even without this added "feature" the icons are still there. So how is this an aesthetic change?

Because I don't like the way it looks when the icons go from dim to bright. That's really the only necessary criterion.

It may sound odd, but it causes some discomfort (a "pain" of sorts) to see it, similar to the discomfort I feel when playing fps games,which I don't buy because of said discomfort.

[Illustrator76]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

Again this mode does NOT tell you when to throw the ball, at all.
It simply says when they are looking.
It is not an aid, just a visual cue of when they are looking.

And I personally don't think he was anywhere looking like a "cheese" player. I know what he wants and agree that any aids should have an option to be turned off. Just don't see how having a visual reference of when they are looking is an aid.

It does tell you when you CAN throw the ball. It tells you when the receiver has his head turned and can "accept" a pass. I never said that it tells you when the receiver is OPEN. I never said that Jarodd21 was looking like a cheeser, but when you hear the words "glitch ball" and "unrealistic" thrown out there, what exactly is that inferring then?

For the first part, I just don't see realism when you can override it by clicking on the wr and user catching at anytime. I'll have to see how it works before I declare it something every sim gamer should be thrilled to see in the game.

Exactly my point, which is why some are calling the feature fluff, and don't necessarily feel that it obliterates all the BS in the passing game.

[GiantBlue76]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

User catching is a whole 'nother can of worms. I don't use it at all as a offliner, but almost anyone that I know that plays online uses it. That's a very fine line to cross.

I'm actually a fan of user control, but not at the expense of realism. In Madden, there is no route based passing, so when you throw a pass it is completely tethered to the receiver. Do you guys remember Maximum Passing in 2k football? This was an OPTION (hear that Tiburon?) that you could turn on at the pregame screen. This basically allowed a very free passing approach. What I mean is, you could literally throw the ball anywhere by using the left stick. So if you wanted to "throw a receiver open", you could easily do it. However, with this greater degree of control came greater difficulty in timing routes properly, and making an accurate throw not resulting in over/under thrown balls, or balls thrown wide, etc. That's why this nonsense about them going crazy over being able to "throw a receiver open" is pretty funny. It's something that's been around for a long time. Joe Montana football had a version on the Genesis that actually had this as well. So did NFL Fever. If you take a look at APF2k8, you can actually throw a comeback too soon and the receiver won't even turn around and look for the ball because he hasn't made his break yet. There is no icon lighting up to tell me he's looking, I can see it! Yet, I can throw the ball to a spot because the ball is not tethered to the receiver. How many times have you thrown a pass in Madden that someone DIDN'T get a hand on? It happens rarely (it does happen), because no matter what, the ball is always tied to the receiver.

I hate to sound like a downer here, but honestly, this is shaping up to be another example of the right thinking, but a poor implementation. Not to mention, I don't think it's something that warrants a lot of hoopla. I never remember another football game selling, "Receivers won't catch the ball if they aren't looking!". That's just silly IMHO. That should just be implied to be part of the game.

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

Honestly, before I call it anything, I'm going to want to try it before I use it in a game.

If it's not an option to turn on/off, then we will need to live with it if we decide to purchase the game.

[Illustrator76]

Re: Madden NFL 13 Gameplay Impressions

I'm actually a fan of user control, but not at the expense of realism. In Madden, there is no route based passing, so when you throw a pass it is completely tethered to the receiver. Do you guys remember Maximum Passing in 2k football? This was an OPTION (hear that Tiburon?) that you could turn on at the pregame screen. This basically allowed a very free passing approach. What I mean is, you could literally throw the ball anywhere by using the left stick. So if you wanted to "throw a receiver open", you could easily do it. However, with this greater degree of control came greater difficulty in timing routes properly, and making an accurate throw not resulting in over/under thrown balls, or balls thrown wide, etc. That's why this nonsense about them going crazy over being able to "throw a receiver open" is pretty funny. It's something that's been around for a long time. Joe Montana football had a version on the Genesis that actually had this as well. So did NFL Fever. If you take a look at APF2k8, you can actually throw a comeback too soon and the receiver won't even turn around and look for the ball because he hasn't made his break yet. There is no icon lighting up to tell me he's looking, I can see it! Yet, I can throw the ball to a spot because the ball is not tethered to the receiver. How many times have you thrown a pass in Madden that someone DIDN'T get a hand on? It happens rarely (it does happen), because no matter what, the ball is always tied to the receiver.

I hate to sound like a downer here, but honestly, this is shaping up to be another example of the right thinking, but a poor implementation. Not to mention, I don't think it's something that warrants a lot of hoopla. I never remember another football game selling, "Receivers won't catch the ball if they aren't looking!". That's just silly IMHO. That should just be implied to be part of the game.

Great post Taz, but don't even get me started on how the "throwing receivers open" in Madden 13 is looking to work. I have a whole nother set of issues with that that I won't even get into now, lol. It is basically like you said before: "A good idea, but poorly implemented". I do hope that it gets a lot more tuning before the Madden 13 goes gold.