'Madden NFL 11' refines receiving

[oldschooler]

[b][size="5"]'Madden NFL 11' refines receiving[/size][/b]

[b][size="4"]Sick of cyber Miles Austin not getting two feet in bounds? So is EA Sports[/size][/b]
By Jon Robinson
ESPN Video Games


One of the biggest frustrations I've had with "Madden" over the past couple of years is the disgusting amount of times receivers catch the ball without making any attempt to get both feet in bounds.


In a blog on EASports.com, "Madden NFL 11's" lead designer, Ian Cummings addresses that issue, along with a couple of other welcome fixes to the receiving game.


"As developers, catching has always been one of the hardest and most frustrating areas of our game to tune because of the sheer amount of possibilities," explains Cummings. "When you start to try to account for all the different angles a pass could be coming in to a receiver along with the difference in his body position, it is always a difficult problem to solve."


To address these issues plaguing the game, EA Sports created a debugging tool to figure out why certain catch animations were being triggered more than others (think jump catch). Where last year, a receiver would actually slow down on the route simply to make a jump catch in the game, in "Madden NFL 11" receivers in open space will now catch the ball in stride. "These types of catches will only trigger, however, if there is not a defender in the path of the route or in a position to make a play on the ball," writes Cummings. "We want the Larry Fitzgerald/Calvin Johnson type receivers to really go up and fight for the ball and come down with spectacular catches if there is a crowd of defenders around them.



"Another area of focus we have been working on is tuning the frequency for when "aggressive" types of catches can trigger. In previous years there have been situations where you could sometimes see a receiver playing a catch where he runs back towards the ball. These could sometimes be seen on Curl/Hitch/Smash type routes as well as Screen routes behind the line of scrimmage. There is nothing more frustrating than calling a 5-yard route on 3rd and 4 and having the receiver catch it moving towards the QB and get tackled for a 2-yard gain. Well, this year, the receiver won't play those types of catches (unless of course there is a defender between him and the ball). If you are running a 10-Yard Curl and the defender is behind you, the receiver will always be forced to match a 'standing' catch so he can try to backpedal into the defender for extra yardage. Also, we eliminated the likelihood that a receiver that is behind the line of scrimmage (e.g. WR or HB Screen play) would play a running, aggressive style catch if he is in open space."

Last but not least, Cummings addresses those dreaded sideline catches.


"For 'Madden NFL 11,' with the help of the Catch Debugging Tool, we have corrected all of our sideline/back of the end zone catches. You no longer have to be afraid of trying to squeeze that Deep Out or Goalline fade inbounds, as now the receivers have much more advanced AI to get both feet in."


But that's not all, as Cummings adds that EA Sports has done extensive motion-capture work this year when it comes to these virtual receivers in order to get more authentic animations into the game.


Will the new animations and debugging pay off? ESPN will find out when EA Sports reveals "Madden NFL 11" to the press for the first time the week of the NFL Draft.




[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/news/story?id=5027181"]http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=5027181[/url]

[sois]

LOL, they took jump catches out last season and now they're putting them in. Backbreaker, put this shitty engine out of it's misery.

I have M10 (used, heavily marked down) and am absolutely hating my current online franchise. I assembled a 3-4 defense and a big WR offense centered around Megatron and Brees. Can Calvin Johnson outjump shorter corners? HELL NO. It's that same whack ass over the shoulder animation EVERY GODDAMN TIME.

Try a goal line fade route. I dare you. Try one. If you can show me a clip of him jumping for the ball, I will give you $20 bucks.

[-GoBengals-]

[quote name='sois' date='25 March 2010 - 04:09 PM' timestamp='1269554971' post='873112']
LOL, they took jump catches out last season and now they're putting them in. Backbreaker, put this shitty engine out of it's misery.

I have M10 (used, heavily marked down) and am absolutely hating my current online franchise. I assembled a 3-4 defense and a big WR offense centered around Megatron and Brees. Can Calvin Johnson outjump shorter corners? HELL NO. It's that same whack ass over the shoulder animation EVERY GODDAMN TIME.

Try a goal line fade route. I dare you. Try one. If you can show me a clip of him jumping for the ball, I will give you $20 bucks.
[/quote]

god damnit.. you again?

you dont fucking play the game.... stop fucking crying about it...

jesus fucking christ what the fucking hell is the matter with you?

its fucking pathetic that you stalk threads about a football game just to bitch about it..

[sois]

I have been peer pressured into playing this game, I'm essentially forced Obama style to play this game.

Dude, you know it's true. Try a fade route.

[b][size="7"]IF IT'S IN THE GAME, IT'S IN THE GAME*
[/size][/b]
[size="1"]* We reserve the right to remove features one year and the bring them back the subsequent year and then hype it as progress.
[/size]

PS: Didn't you see, I DO play the game and I hate every goddamn second!

[-GoBengals-]

[quote name='sois' date='25 March 2010 - 04:21 PM' timestamp='1269555697' post='873115']
I have been peer pressured into playing this game, I'm essentially forced Obama style to play this game.

Dude, you know it's true. Try a fade route.

[b][size="7"]IF IT'S IN THE GAME, IT'S IN THE GAME*
[/size][/b]
[size="1"]* We reserve the right to remove features one year and the bring them back the subsequent year and then hype it as progress.
[/size]

PS: Didn't you see, I DO play the game and I hate every goddamn second!
[/quote]


then you're a bigger mental midget than i thought.

dont play it if you dislike it... are you 5? grow up.

its a fucking video game, what the fuck is wrong in your life that this actually bothers you this much?

what the FUCK is the matter with you?

[sois]

[quote name='GoBengals' date='25 March 2010 - 03:25 PM' timestamp='1269555912' post='873117']
then you're a bigger mental midget than i thought.

dont play it if you dislike it... are you 5? grow up.

its a fucking video game, what the fuck is wrong in your life that this actually bothers you this much?

what the FUCK is the matter with you?
[/quote]


What bothers me is that the NFL eliminated my choice and left me with this piece of shit Maddenball (it's not even worthy of being called football) engine.

I like football. I do not like Maddenball. Watch a Madden tourney, you will vomit if you like football.

[bigfeet4real]

sois i am TOTALLY in your corner on this one although i just gave up on the series altogether. i got antsy one year and gave in and bought it *might have been madden 2008?* and traded in about a week later. couldn't play it.

if you haven't heard about the game BACKBREAKER look it up

www.backbreaker.com

[BengalsOwn]

[quote name='bigfeet4real' date='25 March 2010 - 10:28 PM' timestamp='1269570514' post='873168']
sois i am TOTALLY in your corner on this one although i just gave up on the series altogether. i got antsy one year and gave in and bought it *might have been madden 2008?* and traded in about a week later. couldn't play it.

if you haven't heard about the game BACKBREAKER look it up

www.backbreaker.com
[/quote]

I gave it up too, because I just couldn't enjoy it anymore...

[sois]

I'm all over Backbreaker. I'm also pretty pumped about Tecmo Super Bowl coming to XBOX Live. I probly know more about Madden then everyone here combined. I'm the one who takes it the hardest too when the game SUCKS ABSOLUTE DICK.

[JC]

Throwing a long ball in 10 was too hard. It was always batted down. Hopefully this will improve the function.

I don't think Madden is bad to play. I enjoy it. I can only play one game at a time in 5 minute quarters, but it's good to be able to play with your team and run a franchise. Not something I will buy every year out though, that's for sure.

[sois]

[quote name='JC' date='25 March 2010 - 11:01 PM' timestamp='1269583270' post='873197']
Throwing a long ball in 10 was too hard. It was always batted down. Hopefully this will improve the function.

I don't think Madden is bad to play. I enjoy it. I can only play one game at a time in 5 minute quarters, but it's good to be able to play with your team and run a franchise. Not something I will buy every year out though, that's for sure.
[/quote]

It's not terrible. It's not 10 yard fight or anything. It just isn't as good as APF or NFL 2k5 or Madden 2005.

I hate that animation where a DB will swat at a ball and still make a tackle in midair.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxhxJCn0J9M[/media]

Oh yeah, here is the only animation for WR's catching the ball. Why does this game only have over the shoulder catch? I clearly remember WR's being able to jump in Madden versions past.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK8tW-Az3xQ[/media]

The way it should be done. (Note this game came out SIX years ago on INFERIOR TECHNOLOGY)
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebuch6-Iv6U[/media]

[sois]

Yall remember when they fed us this bullshit?

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxyTUaqm2GU[/media]

[ThurmanMunster]

its not hard to throw deep balls