Madden NFL 16: First Look Trailer (Be the Playmaker)

[Nwo4Life75]

Another year of Madden and another disappointment most likely from the looks of it! Please NFL end the exclusive license deal and let other publishers have a crack at it!

[ch46647]

I would love to know behind the scenes what is wrong with Maddens animation engine. It has been nearly 10 years since the disaster of a launch in 06', and it seems the game still suffers from a broken animation engine.

Nothing flows well, and the engine cannot even make players move correctly. Everything seems so twitchy and stiff. It is interesting that their "HUGE" feature two years ago was True Step (which didnt work well anyway) and they have not touched it since.

Also, they were supposed to have this re-built engine which would allow physics to drive everything. It was to include a new tackling system which was physics driven, but it is still just a collosal mess. My guess is we still wont have gang tackling in Madden, when gang tackling was introduced to football gaming over 10 years ago.m

We really do not hear about any of that anymore. It is almost like this engine was broken from the beginning and they have never figured out how to fix it since 06'. It' clear the suits in charge of the Madden team never wanted to invest in a new engine, they just keep trying to apply band aid fixes.

Bottom line, nothing in Madden will truly change until they completely drop this current engine and re-build it. This would most likely require a 1-2 year off cycle for the game, which we know will never happen. My hope was that they had a team behind the scenes completely rebuilding the engine for the next-gen launch, they kind of hinted at that, but there was certainly no significanf change when we launched into these new consoles.

IMO, unless you like this fast paced, twitchy, arcade like style football, Madden is dead for us SIM/Offline folks.

[JaymeeAwesome]

Quote: Originally Posted by ch46647

I would love to know behind the scenes what is wrong with Maddens animation engine. It has been nearly 10 years since the disaster of a launch in 06', and it seems the game still suffers from a broken animation engine. Nothing flows well, and the engine cannot even make players move correctly. Everything seems so twitchy and stiff. It is interesting that their "HUGE" feature two years ago was True Step (which didnt work well anyway) and they have not touched it since. Also, they were supposed to have this re-built engine which would allow physics to drive everything. It was to include a new tackling system which was physics driven, but it is still just a collosal mess. My guess is we still wont have gang tackling in Madden, when gang tackling was introduced to football gaming over 10 years ago.m We really do not hear about any of that anymore. It is almost like this engine was broken from the beginning and they have never figured out how to fix it since 06'. It' clear the suits in charge of the Madden team never wanted to invest in a new engine, they just keep trying to apply band aid fixes. Bottom line, nothing in Madden will truly change until they completely drop this current engine and re-build it. This would most likely require a 1-2 year off cycle for the game, which we know will never happen. My hope was that they had a team behind the scenes completely rebuilding the engine for the next-gen launch, they kind of hinted at that, but there was certainly no significanf change when we launched into these new consoles. IMO, unless you like this fast paced, twitchy, arcade like style football, Madden is dead for us SIM/Offline folks.

Please don't lump me into your post. I'm a sim/offline "folk" and my definition of sim is different than yours. I care about statistics and final outcome realism. If the sliders work where I can adjust to my liking and get real NFL results, that's my game. It could be 100% arcadey gameplay. The biggest thing this year is penalties for me. I need them to be accurate so I'm not adjusting for more holding or rtp to compensate for the average amount of penalties and penalty yards per game.

I'd appreciate that you be respectful to other types of sim players when delivering your opinions and try not to speak for them.

[SageInfinite]

Quote: Originally Posted by JaymeeAwesome

Please don't lump me into your post. I'm a sim/offline "folk" and my definition of sim is different than yours. I care about statistics and final outcome realism. If the sliders work where I can adjust to my liking and get real NFL results, that's my game. It could be 100% arcadey gameplay. The biggest thing this year is penalties for me. I need them to be accurate so I'm not adjusting for more holding or rtp to compensate for the average amount of penalties and penalty yards per game. I'd appreciate that you be respectful to other types of sim players when delivering your opinions and try not to speak for them.

How can a games be gameplay be 100% arcade but produce realistic results and outcomes?

[bcruise]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

How can a games be gameplay be 100% arcade but produce realistic results and outcomes?

Depends on your definition of arcade. Personally, mine means that user skill plays a large role in success/failure. It's a game where I have full control of my player/team without even partially scripted outcomes. The ratings can still dictate who's better, but my own skill at the game is going to have a large impact on who wins and loses. In a pure simulation I would not be able to do that - the ratings would dominate over my skill and determine the winner and loser.

I decided on this definition a long time ago, thanks to a "simulation level" slider in an old baseball game, High Heat 2004. Basically, at 0 it was like ratings mattered very little, and at 10 they mattered to the point where you could swing late on a fastball and pull it 400 feet for a HR. As you might expect, the best gameplay balance between skill and ratings was usually found right in the middle.

[JetLife6]

Quote: Originally Posted by bcruise

Depends on your definition of arcade. Personally, mine means that user skill plays a large role in success/failure. It's a game where I have full control of my player/team without even partially scripted outcomes. The ratings can still dictate who's better, but my own skill at the game is going to have a large impact on who wins and loses. In a pure simulation I would not be able to do that - the ratings would dominate over my skill and determine the winner and loser. I decided on this definition a long time ago, thanks to a "simulation level" slider in an old baseball game, High Heat 2004. Basically, at 0 it was like ratings mattered very little, and at 10 they mattered to the point where you could swing late on a fastball and pull it 400 feet for a HR. As you might expect, the best gameplay balance between skill and ratings was usually found right in the middle.

Basically.. you want to be in control and have 'Sim' outcomes in terms of score and stats.

Funny.. but I can't remember the last time I played madden and actually cared about winning or losing. Maybe 06-07?? I just want to see simulation football plays. I want the game to LOOK simulation.

Part of madden's problem has always been that its too easy. The other football game made years ago always had a depth of difficulty and challenge to it.
Madden, and alot of other EA games, are really great at being background noise. Basically, I can be playing the game while talking to a friend... not even paying attention. Just going through the motions..

it just my opinion.. but madden hasn't felt 'special' in a very long time... if ever. Its never had that 'anything can happen' feeling.
EA needs to realize this. They should market their game as being Madden football. Because that is what it is.. and imo what it will always be.
Sure, they are trying to add simulation elements.. but like a lot of people have said... the Engine is outdated.

Players will never truly move differently under this engine. Locomotion and Physics will always be twitchy and too fast.
I play on very slow and I still see warp speed plays every game...
It just has a lot of fundamental legacy issues.

[jpdavis82]

I guess I don't understand why you guys are talking about player movement, seeing that there is none being shown here. You can't judge player movement in Madden 16 by less than 10 seconds of footage of guys jumping in the air. This trailer is not a very good representation of what's coming in Madden 16, it's a SMALL taste.

[Don Jon]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

I guess I don't understand why you guys are talking about player movement, seeing that there is none being shown here. You can't judge player movement in Madden 16 by less than 10 seconds of footage of guys jumping in the air. This trailer is not a very good representation of what's coming in Madden 16, it's a SMALL taste.

With madden and the previous years of hype it always seems like the trailers often highlight what the developers want us to see, and hide what they don't. That being said they really want us to see that they spent a good bit of time on WR/DB interactions, but it still looks damn near the same. Like they just added a few animations and called it a day.

If this was 2k or scea I'd believe you honestly. But it's more like the old fool me once saying. EA has fooled us countless years and at this point many of us are just over it.