Madden 12 News Post

Madden NFL 12 Interview with Ian Cummings - SOK and Tuner Sets (ESPN The Gamer)

05:25 PM - February 9, 2011 by Steve_OS

ESPN's Jon Robinson interviewed Ian Cummings, as they discuss the recently announced surprise onside kicks and tuner sets, coming to Madden NFL 12.

Quote:


	Jon Robinson: You mentioned the tuner sets that will be in "Madden NFL 12." Can you explain how that addition will benefit gamers? Ian Cummings: Anytime there's a bug or an exploit after launch, the majority of time you have to patch it. And doing a patch or a title update requires approvals and you need to resubmit the game. The whole process usually takes about four-to-six weeks to turnaround, from the day you make your fix to the day it gets out to consumers. But with tuner sets, it's not every little piece of code. These are small pieces of data that we are able to update in real time. We can do a little bit of testing on our end, then push it out right away. If you think about how roster updates work, that's the way a tuner set would work. Instead of waiting on the turnaround of the approvals, we can apply the fix right away. If there's any type of problem where there are too many fumbles or the offensive line isn't blocking right, tuner sets are perfect because you can make the change, get it in the game in a couple of days, and then gauge the reaction from that and make changes accordingly. It really allows you to go back and forth with the community and make the game better for everyone."

Game: Madden NFL 12Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 41 youALREADYknow @ 02/11/11 11:34 AM

After experiencing and witnessing the horror that was NCAA tuner sets, I can confidently state the following:

NCAA/Madden football gamers produce better gameplay "balance" than tuner sets produced by Tiburon can provide.

Tiburon should only focus on non-slider related tweaks with their tuner sets. Franchise logic, super simming, penalties, and minor bug fixes should be the only things included in these tuners. They should save the online "default" gameplay changes for major patches when everyone knows and expects major change.

Otherwise, they merely produce different gameplay results every few weeks which completely destroys the consistency of the game throughout the season.

# 42 huskerwr38 @ 02/11/11 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnonTech


	"tuner sets are perfect because you can make the change, get it in the game in a couple of days, and then gauge the reaction from that and make changes accordingly." How many years will Tiburon pee on us and tell us it's raining? Right here, in candy-sweet phrasing, they're saying "we'll throw some quick code at a bug, bypass all the QA processes, force you to download and install our "tuner", and then let you test it for us. Hopefully it won't melt your console down, but if it does just remember that we're not liable!! BTW: Thanks ever so much for that $60 you paid for the privilege of being our beta test dummy!" I have never heard such a blatant statement from a developer about how they were going to screw the consumer. All that 'time-consuming' approval process exists to try and ensure that the "fix" doesn't actually break the game - and it fails an abysmally large percentage of the time! Now Tiburon wants to bypass that even that flawed attempt at quality control and make you believe that they're doing you a favor. I guess for 13 we'll get the chance to pay them for the privilege of cleaning their offices, too..... But, I must admit, I'm sooo very glad that they decided to justify my $60 by adding surprise onside kicks - such a critical element of the game! - instead of fixing the physics, the franchise mode, correct penalty enforcement, custom playbooks......

Wow, this is one of the most sour posts I've seen in a while. We are about 7 months away from Madden releasing, so how do we know if they haven't improved physics, franchise mode, penalties, playbooks, etc.? I'm glad we got solid information this early in the year, instead of last year when the half time blog was about the team's vision. These two additions are HUGE IMO. Besides, Ian said he spent an afternoon basically putting it in the game. And tuners will help fix things and tune the game instead of having to wait 6 weeks for a patch to fix small things that a tuner can fix right away. I just can't believe people can take positive things and turn it around and make it a negative thing. I just don't see how tuners and adding more realism like surprise onside kicks are a bad thing whatsoever.

# 43 falconfansince81 @ 02/11/11 04:33 PM

i think its more of the potentiall unrealistic transition of SOK's into the video game world that has people sour husker, not that it isn't a good thing ian (seemingly against his will) spent the time to add something else we see on sunday...on 2% of kickoffs...but nonetheless.

from what i've been reading a lot of people seem to think there's a lot more important things we see on sunday that still have yet to make the cut, or be brought back in. i'm one of those people, but it won't do any good to argue my point as there are plenty offline players that probably like this idea and besides...its too early too pass judgment on m12.

i suppose tuners could either be a great asset or a disaster based on how well they're implemented. the SOK i know will probably be banned in our sim leagues anyways so it doesn't bother me. ea's never came out the gate with their main feature, but they did achieve their goal of the blog and generate discussion for m12.

# 44 khaliib @ 02/11/11 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huskerwr38


	Wow, this is one of the most sour posts I've seen in a while. We are about 7 months away from Madden releasing, so how do we know if they haven't improved physics, franchise mode, penalties, playbooks, etc.? I'm glad we got solid information this early in the year, instead of last year when the half time blog was about the team's vision. These two additions are HUGE IMO. Besides, Ian said he spent an afternoon basically putting it in the game. And tuners will help fix things and tune the game instead of having to wait 6 weeks for a patch to fix small things that a tuner can fix right away. I just can't believe people can take positive things and turn it around and make it a negative thing. I just don't see how tuners and adding more realism like surprise onside kicks are a bad thing whatsoever.

People think these things will get dropped left and right soon as the community finds things wrong. Get ready for a big surprise!!!

Well NCAA side gave us a glimps of this feature. It's a nice concept, but as usual, the implementation is not there. Something will be tweaked somewhat better alright, but something also will be tweaked worse. It's a simple cause and affect.

This we do know from the NCAA side concerning Tuners.
After spending $60, more time was spent tweaking sliders/ratings before and after each Tuner release, than actually playing the game.

Remember, what seems realistic to one gamer, will not be the same for another.
And when a Tuner changes an aspect you felt was "Realistic", will you be as ecstatic?

# 45 TracerBullet @ 02/11/11 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by khaliib


	People think these things will get dropped left and right soon as the community finds things wrong. Get ready for a big surprise!!! Well NCAA side gave us a glimps of this feature. It's a nice concept, but as usual, the implementation is not there. Something will be tweaked somewhat better alright, but something also will be tweaked worse. It's a simple cause and affect. This we do know from the NCAA side concerning Tuners. After spending $60, more time was spent tweaking sliders/ratings before and after each Tuner release, than actually playing the game. Remember, what seems realistic to one gamer, will not be the same for another. And when a Tuner changes an aspect you felt was "Realistic", will you be as ecstatic?

Exactly why I'm hoping they go the NHL route instead of the NCAA route. Allowing someone to download the one they felt was perfect would make tuner sets far more enjoyable and I would see no reason to complain about them then.

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Madden NFL 12 Interview with Ian Cummings - SOK and Tuner Sets (ESPN The Gamer)