**NFL Head Coach 09 Developer Q&A Thread**

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by bcruise

Hi! I'm really liking the new approach EA is taking this year with getting in touch with the community. My question is one that's raised a bit of a red flag for me in the first few videos that have come out. In the gameplay videos I've seen with the accelerated clock, after a play the play clock runs normal while the game clock speeds up for about 20 seconds. This would make it very easy to kill off a huge amount of clock (over a minute!) between plays, barring timeouts. I'm concerned about the AI being able to kill off the last two minutes of the game in two plays, or similar such situations. Is this a bug, and if so, can it be fixed? If not a bug, I can understand the purpose for it - to give the user plenty of time to make their adjustments, which does make sense. If that's the case, and it is not a bug, can the accelerated game clock at least be turned off? I don't mind going another year with lowering the quarter length to compensate for the quick snap, but not being able to turn off that uber-accelerated clock would be a problem... Thanks, looking forward to the game!

The clock works normally within the last 2 minutes of the 2nd quarter and the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. The CPU won't pull any clock tricks on you.

And you can set quarter lengths to whatever you want. Accelerated clock only applies to 15 minute quarters. Any other quarter length does not feature accelerated clock.

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jistic

Thanks for taking questions Josh. I had heard that we can only do 15 seasons? Is that true?

Yes. We wanted to make a tight experience that lasted 15 years where we gave you 100 things to do instead of letting you play 30 years with only a few things to do.

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blazelore

You mentioned that there would be roster updates. Will this apply to our current coaching tenure. Meaning during the middle of us playing or would we have to start again in order to utilize it? You still didn't address if there would be future capability with Madden.

They function like our roster updates have in the past. They only apply if you start a new career. That's a great idea to make them apply dynamically...I'd have to sit down and put on my thinking cap to figure out the logistics on that one.

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by mvb34

Is there a weekly practice and game planning during the season? Thanks for stopping by!!

Yes. You choose a gameplan for each practice and then move on to the next day. If you want to watch your players work on plays on the field, you can go into play creator and watch them all day.

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by JRod

Thanks for answering... Just a follow-up, How else does the CPU design their playbook for their talent. Let's take for example the 07 Patriots. They acquired Moss and used him deep. But their coaching battery stayed relatively the same. If an AI team acquires a huge star like Moss, do they add plays to highlight that player? Could you talk a little bit how the CPU downloads plays from the community? Maybe give us the nuts and bolts how the CPU decides what plays will work?

They don't necessarily add plays for that new guy but we do track success of every play so if they start running a play that is more successful because he's there, they'll naturally start running that play more often.

As far as CPU teams downloading plays...they just download the most popular plays from the community and then start running them based on the type of offense or defense they normally run. If they are successful, they become part of their normal play calling schemes.

[Blazelore]

Are there waivers and/or practice squads??

[cjjonesz]

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[JRod]

Have the interception and fumble issues been solved from the previous Madden game? I know you said the engine (or game) has been built from the ground up.

[cjjonesz]

Will there be a Wii version?

[bcruise]

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh_Looman

The clock works normally within the last 2 minutes of the 2nd quarter and the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. The CPU won't pull any clock tricks on you. And you can set quarter lengths to whatever you want. Accelerated clock only applies to 15 minute quarters. Any other quarter length does not feature accelerated clock.

Great to hear. Thanks for the quick response!