Madden NFL 19
The Most Anticipated Mods For Madden 19 on PC
While a lot of the news that comes out during the week of E3 and EA Play can be a bit underwhelming at times, occasionally there is a nugget that drops that creates a stir in the industry for both media and fans alike. This year one could describe the news that Madden 19 will make its triumphant return to the PC as one of those nuggets. If you’re not sure why this is exciting news, well, Madden has not been available on the PC platform since 2008 when Vince Young graced the cover — that’s right, Vince Young. While Madden developers have said they will not officially promote the modding of Madden ’19, they’re not going to police the community either, and are actually excited to see what can be done. For those that plan to participate in the PC version of Madden, this is very exciting news for a number of reasons, and with that, I wanted to take a look at the five mods I hope to see the community develop and release.
NCAA Mod
For most, I think an NCAA Football mod is high on the list. Fans of this series have been reduced to playing earlier versions of NCAA Football on previous consoles, due to the well-publicized legal battle that has taken place the last few years. While we hold out hope that a fully licensed NCAA Football title will one day also make its return, that time is not close. So that leaves us wanting an updated version of college football, and an NCAA/Madden mod might just be a greatest chance for the foreseeable future. It’s true that the mod would of course be limited with the number of teams that could be included, stadium replications and playoff system. Still, at its core, it could provide a number of the teams from power conferences (and Notre Dame) and allow for some sort of modified version of a college football playoff scenario. At this juncture, just to see a collegiate return with improved graphics, updated physics and gameplay should and would suffice for most fans of the now defunct college football series.
Field Art
If we are being truthful, the developers at Madden do a solid job of re-creating the massive cathedrals and fields that NFL football fans watch their beloved play in and on week to week. The issues sometimes arise when teams make a weekly specific change to help commemorate certain events that may be taking place. Of course this doesn’t kill the immersion factor for many, but for those that are sticklers for realism this type of mod is welcomed with huge, open arms. Of course this style of mod doesn’t just play out in the realm of the current NFL, but is extremely important when it comes to a possible retro NFL seasonal re-creations, NCAA mods, CFL mods, or any other league that this amazing community can think of and develop. Once again, the immersion factor is raised quite significantly when proper field art is associated with a specific mod that is released, and should be very high on the list of those that await the spectacles that are going to be provided by the modding community.
Uniforms/Accessories
For many, the ability to modify uniforms and accessories (mouth guards anyone?) will be the absolute most sought-after mod to be created. I understand that for a large majority having the correct arm wrap, helmet decal, or facemask isn’t a big deal, but for a growing minority it absolutely is a game breaker. Whether it’s licensing issues, NFL allowance, or just being lost in the minutia of it all, not all uniforms and accessories are created equal in the world of Madden football. This is where the modding community becomes so important (and appreciated) as hopefully they will now be able to help provide the accuracy and realistic appearance of your favorite football teams. The importance of this ability will have a halo-effect in almost every single mod that is created, and that is why it is one of my top five most anticipated mods I hope to see.
Presentation/Overlay
Although many may not get too excited about seeing different scoreboard and presentation overlays, I for one absolutely do. If you are at all familiar with what the modding community has been able to accomplish within the NBA 2K community, then you have a full understanding of how an official scoreboard or intro music lead-in can help with the immersion factor of said game. Imagine the excitement of a Fox Sports music intro, and an authentic Fox Sports NFL scoreboard being represented up in the top right hand corner? Take that a step further and imagine a throwback “Are you ready for some football” Hank Williams Jr. music lead-in, with an official Monday Night Football scoreboard and presentation? The opportunities here are many, and while presentation and overlays may not be the number one most requested mod, they will be high on the list.
Simplified Roster Editing
Madden on console obviously provides player editing as well as full roster creations, but as anyone who has attempted to do any roster modifications will tell you, it can be downright tedious. With the correct PC programs, this ability becomes much easier, not only in the process itself, but also in terms of the overall accuracy many mod creators attempt to provide. This type of modding ability will have positive ramifications that will be felt by the whole community. Whether it’s an accurate current or retro-style NFL roster, NCAA roster or CFL roster, the ability to simplify the process and promote greater accuracy will be welcomed by creators and users alike, and should be high on anyone’s list of possible in-game modifications.
While the subject of modding is easily a subjective one when it comes to what is most anticipated, the excitement of the possibilities that await is almost palpable. The hope of most of the Madden PC community is that the ability to mod will take the overall Madden experience to a level not felt (by many) in a long time, if ever. At this point, a tempered approach is probably best, but the fact that the developers are set to (unofficially) embrace the modding community should have everyone excited. As for myself, these are just a few of my personal “wants” in regards to mods that will hopefully become available post-release of Madden 19 on PC.
What are some of yours?
I understand how limited the NCAA mod would be but just to see the college teams and players on the field with the updated graphics would be amazing to me. I've always wanted to have different bottom lines/graphical overlays for stat boxes so if we were able to have multiple themes for those I think it would improve immersion.
I'd be quite happy just to have global roster/coach editing.
We should also see a lot of player face updates and tattoos being added.
Hopefully EA makes the files easy to access and mod, even if they aren't officially supporting it.
My most excited mods are any presentation overlays we can change, any possible CFM changes we can make, and roster editing being streamlined. Give me something that allows me to mass edit with ease to fix any issues I have to make gameplay better and I'll be a happy camper.
1. Uniforms
2. Presentation/overlays
3. Field/stadium art
I can't wait to create new Jets uniforms and end zone art.
I'm about to be a PC gamer for the first time since the early 90s. :drink:
- Global (quick editor) for rosters and coaches
- field art ( walls, jumbotrons, crowds) probably will feel most rewarding.
- accessories ( multiple mouth guard brands, custom cleats , things like so.)
- presentation banners and music. Literally could have 3 different scoreboards and overlays fully fleshed out by this time next year at the latest barring all is well
This thread is ice on the cake . I'm going build a pc especially after hearing you can run over 60 fps and graphics
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- presentation banners and music. Literally could have 3 different scoreboards and overlays fully fleshed out by this time next year at the latest barring all is well
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Knowing the modding community, this may be complete by October/November. Unless of course you're referring to your own mods
Another important one to me is scheduling. I have a custom High school league in Madden 08, I play a 10 game schedule, then I create a custom schedule for the next 3 games to serve as my playoffs. Madden on PC has me actually excited to play again!!!!
Aside from that, I'd say presentation mods like tickers and overlays. Tattoo edits would (will?) be really dope. I hope there will be some sort of cyberface mods like in 2K, but I'm not holding out on that. Lol
I'm so hopeful, but I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst so I'm not disappointed if/when things don't turn out so well... ... It's not working. Haha
A cool mod for CFM would be to import a draft roster into play now/CFM so you could play the Senior Bowl and get an idea how to players perform.
Another would be to edit how ratings are viewed. Bring back ???? for drafted players or players on other teams. In FIFA (unless I'm doing it wrong) you have to scout players to see what their ratings are. Be nice if in Madden you could view upcoming FA's and scout the best fits for your team.
Very good chance we will just see texture mods, atleast the first year.
Hopefully I’m wrong!
Tattoos
More faces to choose from with custom draft classes
Different equipment- old/new
Custom Cleats
Better stat tracking (adding/ tracking historical stats)
Stadium upgrades
Stadium presentation (banners that update over time)
Replace fake free agent coaches with real ones (potentially add more)
Add real college uniforms to draft stories
Different Broadcast overlays
Just some ideas. I don't know the the feasibility of them.
Currently if a player is not performing well you can look at the ratings and know full well that replacing that player with a lesser player will not actually help you. It was coincidence, there is no real variability. Statistically, a player with 85 catching is gunna catch more passes than a player with 75 catching (if all else is equal). Any experiences otherwise are coincidental, it’s just a dice-roll. So while you might think giving the backup with 75 catching a shot because the starter with 85 just dropped a few passes is gunna turn things around, you know in the back of your head that simply isn’t true. Might be fun to do from an emotional/story standpoint, but you’re lying to yourself when it comes to the actual outcome/numbers.
But if you don’t know the exact ratings, there is now all sorts of potential variability. Maybe that player is performing poorly because you mis-judged his abilities in practice/training camp and replacing him might actually have a genuine impact.
Players in the real NFL play above or below their Madden ratings every week, but their Madden characters don’t - unless their “ratings” are just a guess inside your head. Then they could play above or below them at any time and you won’t know for sure if youre accurate in your evaluation and it’s the dice-roll causing the variability or of your inaccurate in your evaluation and you have to re-evaluate. Adds infinite re-playability and realism in my opinion.
Hopefully someone is smart enough to mod in more stats that are displayed throughout the game, like Win/Loss record for starting QBs
Maybe the ability to track PLAYOFF STATS over your career :)
They’re not supporting modding this year but like any PC game, you can always create mods. Someone can and will figure out how.
I doubt they do, actually. The game has editable draft classes this year. So we are essentially getting back to the same issues that faced the NCAA series in using real player's likenesses and sharing them. The main difference that keeps them from probably getting sued is that the draft classes the game ships with are random and shouldn't resemble anyone real.
That being said, there are plenty of NCAA mods for other sports games and while the NCAA might catch wind and send a letter to someone, there isn't much they can do to EA or Madden in these instances.
If you want to look at it from another angle, perhaps if there is an NCAA mod that garners enough attention EA would see this and realize that they must overcome any remaining obstacles and release a new NCAA Football game. They know people want that game back, but having specific data to back up that info might be enough to push the bigwigs back on board and get this all figured out.
1. It won't be mod friendly, but they won't actively police mods: "While Madden developers have said they will not officially promote the modding of Madden ’19, they’re not going to police the community either, and are actually excited to see what can be done"
2. Look at the existing FIFA PC mod scene to see what is possible. Same engine (frostbite), been on PC for a while.
Example tool: https://www.moddingway.com/news/6921.html
Example mods: http://www.soccergaming.com/index.php?forums/fifa-18-mods-patches-and-total-conversions.204/
I loved being able to pick which skills to scout that all had varied point costs (can't remember when they stopped doing that, but they never should have moved it over to the current system).
I doubt it would be an easy thing to mod, but not impossible. People are starting to figure out Frostbite modding.
2 - Put Belichick in the game
3 - Update equipment as needed.
If its anything like most EA Frostbite games on PC, it can and will be modded.
Custom soundtrack.
I want to hear random music clips play from my own playlist in between plays, during the games.
Sudden Death OT format, as it should be!
Retro Divisions - which was basically impossible in the old PC gen with all the hoops to jump through
28 team Leagues - another near impossibility with the old PC versions
Custom soundtrack.
I want to hear random music clips play from my own playlist in between plays, during the games.
Gotta believe this will be one of the first that will be done.
Hopefully someone is smart enough to mod in more stats that are displayed throughout the game, like Win/Loss record for starting QBs
Maybe the ability to track PLAYOFF STATS over your career :)
These are not very likely. Different presentation packages are almost certainly possible, but they wouldn't be dynamic. You would have to manually swap them before loading the game. Unless EA has the files and code in place to dynamically switch (which we already know they don't, since they only have one presentation package), then it won't happen.
Same with the stats; unless EA is already tracking those stats in-game and just not displaying them, it would be next to impossible to mod something like that into the game.
Same with the stats; unless EA is already tracking those stats in-game and just not displaying them, it would be next to impossible to mod something like that into the game.
If we could get a mod manager that could swap scorebugs out and overlays by simply enabling the mod, you could easily have it played during certain time frames manually.
As far as automatic, as he said.. won’t happen.
As far as automatic, as he said.. won’t happen.
There is Frosty Mod manager and you use it to load any mods you use with frosty editor and it does precisely what is wanted. You could load different mods every time you load the game and you can save different load outs.
I'm guessing thats how it will all go down.
2.Old School teams
3. Player/Field Art
4.Presentation Elements
5.Lighting
6.Weather Effects
I've never played it but have seen good things about Madden 2008 PC, so hopefully with today's tech and innovative community problem solving, we see some good stuff.
I've never played it but have seen good things about Madden 2008 PC, so hopefully with today's tech and innovative community problem solving, we see some good stuff.
It will definitely satisfy a large portion of the fanbase.
Classic rosters alone will be a huge addition to the community. EA didn't care about those, with the lawsuits they got hit with, I don't blame them! The community will fill that void, no doubt. And its not unreasonable to think we can carry the rosters forward every year, rather than having to redo them over and over as has been the case.
As you said, I'm content with this as the first step. It will be interesting to see what we're up against, and what can be built going forward.
If you hack a game and mod it ea isn’t liable for anything. It’s like buying a Hanes t shirt at Walmart and drawing a Nike swoosh with a marker, then blaming Hanes.
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So, yes, it's conceivable that you could insert a closed stadium.
In previous PC versions, these were actually separate stadiums.
Kinda cheesy.
Sad that appears to have carried over.
Kinda cheesy.
Sad that appears to have carried over.
Couldn’t you just use Frosty to replace the open stadium mod with a closed one anytime you want to use it in Franchise?
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Especially because the NCAA mod wouldn’t be hosted on ea’s servers.
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I have no experience whatsoever with the mods on this gen.