As the topic states, I would like to name of list of things I'd like to think we all could agree on that would make the game FEEL next-gen. Tried and true topics like Franchise improvements and gameplay fixes are well known. Let's talk about things that fall to the side a bit.
Dynamic Attendance
We all know the popular story of how this is a big no-no for the NFL. If you don't know the story read here:
“We incorporated accurate attendance for all the teams, and Jacksonville always had these terrible turnouts," a former EA Tiburon producer told Sports Illustrated. "The Jags owner got all pissed off when he heard there were empty seats when you played as his team in the game. The team called the NFL and we had to fix it immediately.”
Seeing as though no Madden game has ever had dynamic attendance, I'm going to have to call shenanigans on this story. Even more-so, if implemented correctly (as 2k does) it would be a non issue for the NFL. The simple fix would be to have play now games largely play out as they do now (full attendance) and have Franchise mode accurately display larger or smaller crowds depending on how your team is currently doing as well as it's relationship to the fan base. As it stands now, every game is packed as if its the Super-bowl and cameras flashes are going off constantly. No immersion factor at all.
Realistic Injuries
Does this need to be explained? I've never seen a game get it so wrong for so long. Injuries occur and they need to be represented in a way this is authentic. Doesn't have to be gruesome or mature content. It could be as simple as players accurately attending to what is hurting them. Blowing an ACL should have players grabbing their knee while being attended too by trainers (as well as other players looking on in concern). Again, not hard to implement but it does missed every time.
Realistic Sidelines
For a game that came out in 2007 to have REAL AUTHETIC FULLY INTERACTIVE sidelines (looking at you APF2k8), there is just no excuse here. Each year we hear about how "hardware has held us back" and each year other more active (I won't say talented because that's just an insult) developers find way to push the boundaries. At this point, Madden needs to fix this issue in a hurry.
Bent Knees
It's one thing to have painted on arm sleeves (Madden 06-21), it's completely another when your players don't even stand up correctly. This is one of the most egregious eye sores in modern gaming and it continues to rear its ugly head every year.
Updated Locomotion
Madden can often look amazing when you look at pictures. And then you watch the game in motion and the hurky jerky arcade like animation takes over. We are in sore need of a complete overhaul of how animation plays out in Madden. Realistic route running and player planting is a must. OL/DL interaction could use a big polish and push in the animation department (patty-cake animation anyone?)
Contextual Player Awareness
How many times have you had a game where the CPU picked you off, you're receiver then goes on to lay a big hit on the DB and gets up celebrating? Question, why is the receiver celebrating? Well in Madden it's because it is a canned animation set to trigger on "X" event. Madden's logic doesn't take in to account variables very well. Things like, down and distance, game time, game quarter, fatigue all of these could play a key factor in how your players react on the field.
Imagine your QB (who is normally sure footed) has taken a ton of QB hits in the game - later on you see his accuracy is now affected because of it. This could be fixed by calling simple dump offs or short passes to calm him down. Sounds odd right? Like a game within a game? Like.... Football?
What if I told you EA had a feature in NCAA 05-06 where the crowd played a factor in games. If it got to loud opposing teams trying to audible would have WR's unable to hear them.
IT CAN BE DONE. But it won't.
Would love to hear more on this from you guys.
Dynamic Attendance
We all know the popular story of how this is a big no-no for the NFL. If you don't know the story read here:
“We incorporated accurate attendance for all the teams, and Jacksonville always had these terrible turnouts," a former EA Tiburon producer told Sports Illustrated. "The Jags owner got all pissed off when he heard there were empty seats when you played as his team in the game. The team called the NFL and we had to fix it immediately.”
Seeing as though no Madden game has ever had dynamic attendance, I'm going to have to call shenanigans on this story. Even more-so, if implemented correctly (as 2k does) it would be a non issue for the NFL. The simple fix would be to have play now games largely play out as they do now (full attendance) and have Franchise mode accurately display larger or smaller crowds depending on how your team is currently doing as well as it's relationship to the fan base. As it stands now, every game is packed as if its the Super-bowl and cameras flashes are going off constantly. No immersion factor at all.
Realistic Injuries
Does this need to be explained? I've never seen a game get it so wrong for so long. Injuries occur and they need to be represented in a way this is authentic. Doesn't have to be gruesome or mature content. It could be as simple as players accurately attending to what is hurting them. Blowing an ACL should have players grabbing their knee while being attended too by trainers (as well as other players looking on in concern). Again, not hard to implement but it does missed every time.
Realistic Sidelines
For a game that came out in 2007 to have REAL AUTHETIC FULLY INTERACTIVE sidelines (looking at you APF2k8), there is just no excuse here. Each year we hear about how "hardware has held us back" and each year other more active (I won't say talented because that's just an insult) developers find way to push the boundaries. At this point, Madden needs to fix this issue in a hurry.
Bent Knees
It's one thing to have painted on arm sleeves (Madden 06-21), it's completely another when your players don't even stand up correctly. This is one of the most egregious eye sores in modern gaming and it continues to rear its ugly head every year.
Updated Locomotion
Madden can often look amazing when you look at pictures. And then you watch the game in motion and the hurky jerky arcade like animation takes over. We are in sore need of a complete overhaul of how animation plays out in Madden. Realistic route running and player planting is a must. OL/DL interaction could use a big polish and push in the animation department (patty-cake animation anyone?)
Contextual Player Awareness
How many times have you had a game where the CPU picked you off, you're receiver then goes on to lay a big hit on the DB and gets up celebrating? Question, why is the receiver celebrating? Well in Madden it's because it is a canned animation set to trigger on "X" event. Madden's logic doesn't take in to account variables very well. Things like, down and distance, game time, game quarter, fatigue all of these could play a key factor in how your players react on the field.
Imagine your QB (who is normally sure footed) has taken a ton of QB hits in the game - later on you see his accuracy is now affected because of it. This could be fixed by calling simple dump offs or short passes to calm him down. Sounds odd right? Like a game within a game? Like.... Football?
What if I told you EA had a feature in NCAA 05-06 where the crowd played a factor in games. If it got to loud opposing teams trying to audible would have WR's unable to hear them.
IT CAN BE DONE. But it won't.
Would love to hear more on this from you guys.
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