[Trick13]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

I don't see how mapping sprint to A is any more intuitive than mapping it to the right trigger, personally. Mapping the sprint command to an analog-sensitive controller mapping (pressure on the trigger) vs a boolean controller mapping (button on / off, the face buttons are not pressure-sensitive) allows for a finer degree of control because the user then has fine control over his forward rate of movement, similar to how someone playing a simulation racing game might feather the throttle of his car around a particularly tricky series of corners. This I agree with. I found myself ignoring the precision modifier after about the first month of playing the game, with the exception of bracing for trucking. I found the timing of the mechanic was particularly tricky, I thought that using the left trigger in addition to a face button was cumbersome, and finally the game rarely provided appropriate feedback as to whether I was performing the action correctly; in the case of failure (i.e. the tackler wins the ratings check), using the precision modifier felt no different to me from just ignoring the precision modifier. To me this is a far better example of an unintuitive mechanic.

Mapping it to A/X wasn't the intuitive part - the directional cut/juke moves and directional stiff arms/swats/strip/pass rush moves was the intuitive part - and they don't need to be "pressure sensitive" clearly as various passing trajectories are available based on how long you hold the button. So yes the controller and game interface well enough for you to lob, arch, or bullet passes.


The trigger buttons analog functionality (within Madden) is questionable at best. I would much rather see the left stick be utilized for variable speed up until the point where you want kick into all out sprint - in which case a button or trigger makes no difference.


The larger, more authentic or realistic point of having X/A be "sprint" vs a trigger is that you have to release A/X in order to perform moves that in real life require even the greatest athletes to "do footwork". As it stands now, with the trigger sprint, we are forced to rely on EA/Tiburon programmers to get footwork right - and they rarely do.


Variable speed in Madden is virtually non-existent at this point - you can't really walk around on defense pre-snap and it aggravates the heck out of me. The players seeming have 3 speeds; run, sprint, and stop.


The PS2 layout was simply more intuitive all around and had the built in benefit of forcing users to release sprint for moves that logically require it...