Full game w/ EA Designers (Colts vs. Vikings)

[Ian_Cummings_EA]

Quote: Originally Posted by jrp1918

Overall, I like how the game played. I like how the two teams seemed to have their real life styles. The vikings kept the game very AP focused and the colts came out in 3 wide, obviously this is the human players decision, but I liked that it works. AP had it going and so did Manning, and the Vikings got in trouble when Jackson was forced to pass.

Originally I was thinking we would record our voices during the game over top of the gameplay (like a behind the scenes DVD thing), but I'm glad we didn't because the video would have been very NSFW after I lost Peterson for the game.

[Ian_Cummings_EA]

Quote: Originally Posted by TwoHeadedDog

I'm watching the hi-res downloads now. It all looks pretty well done. There seems to be one little bug that becomes very distracting (once you notice it): You can see a sliver of panning stadium background at the top of the play-call menu.

Yeah I noticed this too - but I am pretty sure this is only because of the capture kit. On a normal TV, that will be cropped out (since it's outside the safe area).

[cdon2k]

What I liked.

1. Broken Tackle, Attempted Broken Tackle Animations, Great Job!

2. Jab Step/Juke Animations, Big Juke still covers too much ground though.

3. Improved player models and animations overall, tackling is coming along.

4. New Cameras and presentation. I am loving the new pre-play controls help list.

5. Improved play books, more in depth!

What I did not like.

1. There was a play where a guy came back to catch a tipped pass, somehow his momentum and a defender tackling him carried him back an extra 5 yards?!? This was very prevalent in past versions and seems to be reduced to a minimum, but I am not sure because it's only one game, this is a very big problem if frequent.

2. The tackle animation where the ball carrier is bent back and it looks like his ankle is broken is still in, those of you who play a lot know the one I am talking about, please ian, look through this video and find it and make sure this is taken out of the game or make it an injury animation, it's ridiculous.

3. Still too many 2 on one "stand the ball carrier up" gang tackles. The cause of this problem is that your initial "fall foward for a few more yards" animation "08" led to a 3-5 yard gain in past versions and was the main reason for the need for a stand up tackle. That initial animation was flawed and was a major problem with the old run game. Now, the stand up animation is triggered too often to counter that old problem, but there is still no reasonable fall forward animation. Re do the old one and add more, and the stand up animation could be used less.

4. I don' like the new play call screen. I don't like it covering up the stadium. I feel like it takes you out of the action. It would be one thing if the game wasn't running behind that screen, but I believe it is. I like watching the players running around, or a replay in between like madden on ps2. Maybe the whole screen is needed to get all of the functionality your team added to the play call screen, but I don't like being taken away from the game. This screen could even be transparent with black letters as far as I'm concerned.

5. RB's turning on a dime without planting, You have made some great strides, but it's a little to easy to quickly go around guys still.

Keep up the great work!

Cdon

[Ian_Cummings_EA]

Quote: Originally Posted by Agame

2) Audibles should dely the snap at least 5-seconds after Qb calls it- 3) Game clock 5 Min? Is it adjustable to 10 or 15 minutes? 120 plays in a game NFL avg.

#2 - again this is bluff play art - no audibles.

#3 - yes, you can edit the quarter lengths.

[spankdatazz22]

The Good:

- Gameplay looks better than '08

- Chris Collinsworth is OUTSTANDING - very enjoyable to listen to

- some of the WR anims are pretty well done; like the knee down TD in the first vid. The LB bump on that play looked appropriate as did his reaction to the pass

- I liked the game speed

- When a player left his feet the resulting animation was seamless. The tackling mechanic does a good job for allowing for lower body contact, but you rarely see the fundamentally sound lower tackles/lower body contact. And too much of the over the top player toggled into the air type hit when it occurs

- Great graphics. Although I think they'd benefit from less 22player on the field detail and more detail in the surroundings. The game never gives you the feeling that there's something there other than the 22 players on the field.

- offensive playbooks seem to be very well done; distinctive


The Bad:
- Almost everything about the QB play. It's distracting at best, terrible at worst. Awkward throwing mechanics and animations; deep passes seemed to float forever and seemed perfectly thrown (length) everytime. Even the playaction stuff the guys kept doing looked weird (or maybe I just got tired of seeing it so much). The incomplete pass that Jackson threw was nice to point out, but still looked very unnatural. It really takes away from the game because the QB is such an integral part of every play.

- Physics overall. Even during times when the tackling seemed appropriate, it seemed like there was no accounting for the weight of the players involved. Like Adrian Petersen dragging Freeney for too many yards after contact. Dallas Clark flips a defensive lineman over his back on a crackback block in the 4th quarter. The game could use more of a wrap/struggle mechanic when tackles occur, instead of so much focus on how many people get involved in a tackle (though improvement in that area would be welcome)

- Tom Hammonds is almost radio-guy bad. Crowd seemed dead most of the game; even more noticeable considering Minnesota's known for having a loud crowd.

- Offensive/Defensive linemen may as well be transparent. OL/DL interation needs a lot of work; QBs can take leisurely strolls outside the pocket on demand

- Post-play anims are welcome but the humpbacked models of '06 they're based off of seem to rear their ugly heads during that time. Some of it's overdone. Either way doing a better job w/it would convey a better sense of emotion, which the game is still lacking.

*pet peeve* I hate the NFL Films music during replays. Sounds pretentious lol

Overall:

I don't mean for my comments to sound overly negative because I was able to watch all four of the videos - a few times I even rewound to check out a play. Last year I couldn't stomach even playing a full game. A lot of the game's issues visually for me seem to stem from the direction they're going with the animations. You get more user control, but it looks less realistic. Lack of physics is playing into it; when you see a lineman hit a ball carrier and the resulting animation isn't appropriate it stands out. It's hard to tell some players apart because they all have that same striding animation. And there isn't a noticeable enough difference in quickness/acceleration. Player models are mostly well done but could use more work; I couldn't tell either of the Colts receivers apart without seeing their number for example.

There was a play in the fourth quarter where a defender took out the ball carriers legs from under him - looked great. And on a few plays you could see RBs start to be able to imply lateral movement and not be stuck playing a mostly north/south game. There's too much 11pm ESPN highlight action and not enough fundamental action being displayed (imo). The footplanting has been tightened up considerably; didn't notice anything where the players seemed to noticeably slide. And I like that the guys tried to show off the left-stick analog movement. There were times in the first quarter where it looked great, then times later in the game where it looked forced.

[BrianFifaFan]

Ian, the X receiver was in single coverage on your ill-fated attempt at a bomb..... "noob........"

Plus you threw to Sanders side? double-noob......

[cdon2k]

By the way Ian, is the crowd actually 3d this year? They look pretty good actually....

Also, I just noticed that Gonzales actually lines op in the 3rd receiver slot on the strong side in 09, nice adjustment there.

[Foosball39]

Alright, here are my 1st half impressions:

GOOD
1. Madden only speaks for 30 seconds
2. Collinswerth sounds awesome
3. Graphics looks much improved, esp field turf
4. Loved the stutterstep type of juke on the punt return
5. Like the look of the overlays
6. Great diving catch for TD at back of endzone (2Q :59) (though why wouldn't this be reviewed in the last 2 min since it was close to being out?)
7. Good downfield blocking on screen (2Q, :50)
8. Like some of the throwing motions

BAD
1. Safeties against the run are still an issue as they don't react until very late many times when they appear to be in a zone coverage
2. Game seems a bit fast
3. Camera is too far away on TD celebration, first play on 2nd video...can it zoom in on the celebration?
4. Opening kickoff, the two defenders on the far left run off to the sideline when the returner is right in front of them...very weird.
5. Safeties don't react on run play (1Q, 3:54)
6. Draw play, safety is very late reacting, WR ignores the CB and just runs to back of endzone when no one is there (1Q :50)
7. Minn LT warps to other side of Freeney on toss play (2Q 4:52)
8. Safety sits...goes...sits...and goes again on run play (2Q 4:30)
9. Safety on the left runs to zone spot, instead reacting to run on 3rd and 1 (2Q 3:53)
10. Jackson appears to hold the ball as if a left hander after play fake then has to rotate around to throw ball (2Q 3:05)
11. Drive Update overlay show's time of possesion of current drive, but it doesn't continue to add time as the clock is running (minor) (2Q 2:28)
12. Safety just sits there as RB runs right at him (2Q 2:10)
13. Camera just focuses on the ball after TD celebration and long delay (2Q :59)
14. Possible nano blitz...seems to be enough blockers on left side but RB gets caught in traffic (2Q :30)
15. Halftime stats overlay...doesn't show important stats like time of possession, first downs, how many turnovers

[Gridiron]

The Good:

*The graphics look much improved over '08

*Some of the gang tackles are really nice

*In-air hits look smoother

*The pre-play camera work is fantastic.

*Chris Collinsworth sounds excellent (I'm shocked!). He's just nailing everything.

The Bad:

*Tom Hammond DOESN'T sound excellent (I'm equally shocked by that!). I have a lot to say on this part...

There are some lines that just aren't true to how he (or any commentator) would speak. When the returner muffed the ball, the tone of his response was so weak and disconnected. Then on a Vikings TD in the second quarter he says--and I can't believe this--"He gets in for 6... and so it's good for 6." WHAT THE HELL? And the way he emphasized "For 6" was just awful.

In another part, Peyton Manning is stepping up into the pocket to throw. But Tom says "He moves up". It just didn't sound right at all. Had he said "He steps up in the pocket" that would've been true to how it's said in real life. I did hear him say "he steps up in the pocket" later on, but basically that "he moves up" line should be eliminated.

There are many more things wrong with Tom's commentary. He lacks emotion when it's supposed to be there, and the written lines overall are terrible. It's almost as if the guy who wrote them doesn't really pay attention to how commentators speak during a broadcast. There is so much generic commentary where Tom never says the name of the team. I saw one clip in earlier video where he was ending a quarter (not sure of the score) and he said "And the score is 10 to 7." And that was it. I'm not sure if that always happens in the game but it did when I saw it. He never said the team names like "The Giants 10, the Patriots 7" like he's supposed to. It's just so sloppy and wrong. I'm confused as to how this can be done so badly. You have to get a collection of his real life clips together and use them to coach him up during his recording sessions. Right now it just seems like the audio folks didn't prepare for this very well and it's all just a sloppy thrown together mess.

Then there are audio level issues. The audio leveling is off all over the place. There are many clips that should've been redone and many more that have just been mastered poorly where hi's and lo's are painfully obvious and make Tom sound like a robot. The timing of how the clips are pieced together also needs fixing. The commentary isn't blended well with the environment either. It sounds too overpowering of the environment when it should be blending more. I hope to God you guys have audio sliders for commentary for both Tom AND Chris (hopefully you have them on two separate tracks). It won't totally fix everything at all but it'll at least take the problem down a bit.

The Ugly:

*When a player is sacked, the camera does a weird jerk motion. I've seen this complaint made a number of times on different boards and I've seen you (Ian) respond that it would be looked into, but it appears that it wasn't fixed. And then that would mean that it jerks in a lot of other spots too like it was in the beta's and alpha's. Not good.

*NCAA has you beat on post play camera work. The reason being is that their post play camera isn't trying to overdo things. In NCAA '09 the post play camera looks sophisticated and more true to a broadcast. Madden '09's on the other hand is very sloppy. The camera is unstable during post play situations as players run the camera bounces up and down all stupid (I didn't see it much in these vids but in all of the others I have). The post play zooming in/out is annoying too and not true-to-broadcast. You gotta pick a shot and stick to it, and when you want to switch just cut to another angle rather than doing this strange zooming in/out thing. It looks bad and it's not true to broadcast.

*On TD's, there needs to always be a closeup. The Colts receiver was just standing in the endzone with a far away shot and the camera never went closeup. It doesn't make sense. I'm not saying you should go nuts and revert back to the extreme closeup lunacy of Madden '08 (that was terrible), but at least get close enough to make the player important in the shot, after all he did score a TD! And please don't quick zoom, just pick a different angle and cut to the shot. That zooming junk has got to go.

*Players running to line up on practically every play is completely unrealistic to football at any level. Work needs to be done to eliminate this and see that it never returns again for God's sake. 'Nough said.

*I'm not sure I see the point of leaving the field to pick plays. I think you were going for what some stations have done in the past by leaving the field to have different quick segments for stats and player cameos. However, this may actually be outdated, as I notice a lot of broadcasts are staying on the field and overlaying these sequences. There should be huddles and things like that where we can see into and field shots going on. Shots of the coaches, etc during those moments. Leaving the field doesn't sit well with me. I say, just overlay the play-calling windows to the field like you always have.

EDIT: I just noticed that if you look at the very top of the play call screen, you'll see an opening where it's apparent that the play call background is not covering the whole screen and you can kinda still see the play field. Again, another sloppy thing. Why not just get rid of the playcall screen background and just show the field?

The head-scratching:

*I only saw a closeup of a head coach ONE TIME and that was when the Vikings challenged a catch. Why aren't there more like there have been in all of the other Madden's this gen?

*4 years in a row we get the same few NFL Films music selectons during replays. The NFL Films music library is very large. I have the Autumn Thunder collection myself. It's about time to start making more use of the resources. And if not, put in custom soundtracks (which are strangely in NCAA but not Madden this year).

*Atmosphere is weak. Like REALLY weak.

*There are no closeups of the players running onto the field before the game. I don't think we need to see a big production like we did in the other 3 games, but a closeup of a few seconds of both teams coming to the field would've been nice. I think the big player intro's should be saved for the Super Bowls, but for other games it should be there but just a few seconds of each team while the opening commentary is taking place.

*How Tom blew the "If it's in the game, it's in the game" line at the beginning of the 3rd quarter is beyond me, but he did, lol. His emphasis on the second part was atrocious, lol. He said "it's in the game" as if he didn't actually believe it, lol. I laughed when I heard that.

*Injuries are whack... cutting to a scoreboard that says "Injury" is very, very lame. This scoreboard stuff is whack. I've never seen one person who has a good thing to say about it. You've gotta rid of this thing. Please kill it! And the fact that no trainers or anything come out to help the injured player is equally lame.

[poopie]

one little negative thing i notice. did'nt seem like fatigue was a factor at all.no cut scenes showing players slumping over, hands on knees or waist.or asking to come out of the game.