EA Conference Call With Sean Bailey, Lead Designer - Gamplay

[Village Idiot]

Quote: Originally Posted by russell05

When we talked about the lack of pass rush in human vs. human games agaisnt spread offenses. He gave us those answers with a frown on his face. "Yeah its part of the wide open game play theme this year" You could tell he wasn't to happy about it ...

After jfsolo's post, it just hit me what you're implying with this statement.

Wow.

That's some bull**** right there.

[edubbs]

I can understand not being able to make the game straight sim. However, that's what sliders are for, and EA has struggled in the worse way to get sliders to work as they should.

No one would have a problem with taking the time to adjust sliders in the game but, soo many issues with their football games are 'hard coded' and can't be corrected with simple slider adjustments.

People can say every year that it's not these Devs 'call' how sim the final product is, and that's fine. However, having sliders in the game that do not do what they suppose to falls directly on the Dev's shoulders.

Every year there are waaay too many sliders in their football game's that have absolutely no effect on the in-game results IMO.

And I cannot see how 'the suits' can be blamed for that.

[CowherPower]

Thanks for the article,it's much appreciated.
I was on the fence about this game this year,and what I read in that article confirms it for me.I have to pass on this years version.

Like Countryboy was saying.....If you got bored with last years version (which I did) this year doesn't seem to be any different.
The lack of any kind of adaptive a.i is a killer for me,I don't like knowing that I can run the same play over and over without any consequence.

Before anybody rushes in with "don't run the same play then" garbage....why should I have to change the way I want to play the game?

[Bootzilla]

Quote: Originally Posted by CowherPower

Thanks for the article,it's much appreciated. I was on the fence about this game this year,and what I read in that article confirms it for me.I have to pass on this years version. Like Countryboy was saying.....If you got bored with last years version (which I did) this year doesn't seem to be any different. The lack of any kind of adaptive a.i is a killer for me,I don't like knowing that I can run the same play over and over without any consequence. Before anybody rushes in with "don't run the same play then" garbage....why should I have to change the way I want to play the game?

Down and distance is pretty darn logical to me. And the computer seems to adjust and sometimes even cheat when you audible to a different play. The computer also seems to change its defenses so, it's not like every first and 10 you're gonna see cover 1. You'll still get zones, combos, man, and blitzes that are geared toward the down and distance. My guess is if you run the same play over and over the defense may not recognize you're running the same play but, they aren't running the same play therefore the result will not be the same.

[CowherPower]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bootzilla

Down and distance is pretty darn logical to me. And the computer seems to adjust and sometimes even cheat when you audible to a different play. The computer also seems to change its defenses so, it's not like every first and 10 you're gonna see cover 1. You'll still get zones, combos, man, and blitzes that are geared toward the down and distance. My guess is if you run the same play over and over the defense may not recognize you're running the same play but, they aren't running the same play therefore the result will not be the same.

Quote:

ADAPTIVE DEFENSIVE AI My question. I asked if this year, the Defense would recognize if you ran the same play over and over and make adjustments. Sean mentioned that they way they do it in previous years on the current gen side was that the defense would get a ratings boost if they noticed that you were running the same play over and over. This year, unfortunately, there is no adaptive AI, so, the defense does not make adjustments if you run the same play you have success with over and over.

The lead designer confirmed it. I would be able to run the EXACT same play over and over,with success.
As far as the cpu calling plays based on down and distance.....this method is flawed as well,hell EA even admits it.

Bailey said the cpu would get a boost in rankings in PAST versions,what is quoted above is in regards to 09.

[Bootzilla]

Quote: Originally Posted by CowherPower

The lead designer confirmed it. I would be able to run the EXACT same play over and over,with success. As far as the cpu calling plays based on down and distance.....this method is flawed as well,hell EA even admits it. Bailey said the cpu would get a boost in rankings in PAST versions,what is quoted above is in regards to 09.

I read that. So you're saying that if you run the same play over and over the computer defense is going to run the same play over and over? No. The computer will call different plays therefore varying the outcome. I understand the computer isn't "thinking" oh he's run the same counter play ten times in a row but, your counter play may not be as effective vs. the zone blitz the defense decides to run based on down and distance as it was vs. the prevent on 3rd and 22.

[ShaunLMason]

I remember on last-gen that people complained frequently about the defense knowing what play they called.

Especially when they audibled to a power run from a pass and the defense called a short yard defense.

[fistofrage]

After reading this conference call summary it really makes me wonder if they intentionally destroyed the pursuit angles on the PS2 version to make the game darn near unplayable because they simply can't figure out how to make the 360/PS3 version AI perform at the same level as the last gen. How can we still have features that were better on the last gen be superior to the current gen when this is its 3rd attempt at this. Its frustrating and mind boggling.

[CowherPower]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bootzilla

I read that. So you're saying that if you run the same play over and over the computer defense is going to run the same play over and over? No. The computer will call different plays therefore varying the outcome. I understand the computer isn't "thinking" oh he's run the same counter play ten times in a row but, your counter play may not be as effective vs. the zone blitz the defense decides to run based on down and distance as it was vs. the prevent on 3rd and 22.

I would appreciate it if you didn't try to put words into my mouth.
I NEVER,I repeat NEVER said anything about the cpu defense calling different plays.
The cpu will call different plays,but will NEVER adjust to what I'm doing....period! If the a.i never adjust's to one's playcalling tendencies,how will the outcome "vary"? I would STILL be able to run the same play 10X in a row with success,no matter what the defense chooses to pick.....4-3,3-4,nickle,dime or whatever.

[jwb0581]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bootzilla

I read that. So you're saying that if you run the same play over and over the computer defense is going to run the same play over and over? No. The computer will call different plays therefore varying the outcome. I understand the computer isn't "thinking" oh he's run the same counter play ten times in a row but, your counter play may not be as effective vs. the zone blitz the defense decides to run based on down and distance as it was vs. the prevent on 3rd and 22.

I coach football for a living and this is how it works. You watch film of your upcoming opponent and chart what they do out of each formation. Say you're playing a team that ran I-twins right on 25 occasions on the film you have. 23 of those 25 they ran a power running play to the left. The other 2 times they ran a power running play to the right. You do this for every formation. You then gameplan and implement the plan during the week at practice. If they come out in I-twins right we will run a 46 look with our safety hammering down. We will mix it up slightly but anything we call will be a run-oriented defense, with some wiggle room for down-and-distance. We will tell our defensive players to watch run to the left out of this formation.

We will watch what they do in the game. At halftime we will adjust what we're doing vs. I-twins right if the 1st half has indicated that we need to.

As an offense, sometimes we will purposely show the same play over and over out of a certain formation, setting up the defense for a play when we need it. We will show a tendency and then break it in a high-leverage situation.

If the CPU in NCAA could tally what plays are run out of which formations during the season, and adjust even on some basic level, the gameplay would be revolutionary.