[Trevytrev11]

I got some good feedback on this idea when I posted it in a thread and thought I'd try and get it out there for possible APF 2K9 exposure and also to get some feedback.

The basic idea is that as a QB, your controller will vibrate as a way to emulate how a QB can feel the presence of the defense as he stands in the pocket. Some QB's have a much better sense of this than others and ratings would be used to differentiate this ability between QB's.

I find that in football video games, your eyes are down field on your receiver and your pretty much blind when it comes to your QB and you either have to constantly look back and forth between the two or just hope that your receiver gets free before you get sacked. Too many times, I decide to throw the ball only to find my QB in a "sack" animation.

In reality, as a QB in the pocket, your looking over your line to the WR's and can kind of see all of this at once...of course there is a blind spot outside of the players peripheal vision and I'll address that as well.

A player with a high rating, is a QB that can feel pressure when it's close. These guys are the ones that can take that subtle step forward to avoid the hands of a linemen or know when to tuck the ball right before a hit. A low rating QB is a guy that just seems to never know where the defense is and is somehow suprised he gets sacked after standing in the pocket for 5 or 6 seconds and fumbles the ball away.

The whole idea is pretty simple. Each QB has a rating that is then programmed to a range around the QB. When a defender enters that area, the users controller will begin to vibrate softly. As the defender nears the QB, the controller would then vibrate more violently, letting you know that you need to get rid of the ball or get out of the pocket.

Players would basically have an invisable semi or half circle which represents the area that they are aware of.. Basically it would be slightly larger than a half circle and would extend just beyone each shoulder and go out in front of the QB. A guy like Brady who seems to avoid big sacks may have a radius (1/2 of the diamter) of say 5 or 6 yards and a guy like David car may only have 1 or 2 yards. **I'm not sure how these sizes would work in the context of a football game, but they would be adjusted to a realistic size. The area of the circle is their area of warning, the rest is your players "blind spot". As you move, this circle moves with you. So if you look right and then look left, the circle would shift allowing you a "quick glance" of your surroundings. In other words, it won't always face the same direction on the screen. If you stand in the pocket, facing forward, the half circle would face the line of scrimmage. If you took off to the right, the circle would shift toward the right sideline and you would lose feeling of anyone behind you. If you turn left, your right side becomes wide open to the defense.

This would allow the player to look down field and still have an awareness of whether his QB was in trouble or not without actually having to shift his eyes, which you obviously still have the option of doing. It's just that in reality any QB can see a player coming right in front of him, but in the game your eyes are down field and you end up missing the obvious.

I'd appreciate any feedback on this. This may not be a problem for every player, but I know it is for me and think that it may be for others as well.