Official Madden '10 Thread

#210
#210
I'm Josh Looman, senior designer for Madden NFL 10 and the guy who had the privilege of tuning franchise mode this year. I thought I'd sit down and answer a lot of the questions I've received about franchise mode and the changes we made this cycle. As I've mentioned before, my goal was to clean up the logic and get this mode back to where it needed to be. I'll repeat my favorite analogy for those of you who haven't heard it before: If you found out you had termites in your house, would you build on another addition or clean up the foundation so that you could build on the house in the future? That was exactly our attitude and my sole focus since I joined the Madden team halfway through the development cycle. I enlisted the help of one of my top programmers from NFL Head Coach '09 (Jeff Keyek) and worked with the rest of the Madden team to address many of the core aspects of the mode that really needed fixing.
There have been a ton of questions posted out on the forums that I wanted to answer, but first off I wanted to talk about one key addition to Franchise mode, which was a total overhaul to the overall interface and flow of the mode. We learned on NFL Head Coach '09 that a career mode is a lot more fun to play when you don't force people to go dig for common information every week. Surfacing these key pieces of info streamlines the experience and allows you to get what you need at a glance and advance to next week. We felt that one major issue with the previous Franchise experiences was just that it didn't feel alive. The Franchise hub was designed primarily with the one-player experience in mind...a one-stop shop to play games, watch "The Extra Point" recap show, and jump to top news around the league (though it's important to note the multi-player experience is just as streamlined through new league & team schedule screens). Here is a quick look at the Franchise "hub" - the home screen of sorts for your entire Franchise.........................
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http://maddennfl.easports.com/blog.action?blogId=online+franchise+pt+2http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=103845702153&h=T5xsW&u=j5Ve8&ref=nf
 
#211
#211
Q: Has there been more focus put on where a player wants to play in free agency?
A: Yes. I spent a lot of time tuning this over the past few months. I wanted to make sure that it would be harder to convince marquee free agents to play for the Lions, for instance. In Free Agency or in the Re-Signing stage, players will expect more money to sign or re-sign with a struggling team. If you're Detroit and you want to sign a 90 overall free agent, you will need to pay him much more. If you're New England, he may play for his expected salary or slightly less.
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What difference does that make when you have NO SALARY CAP?!?!?
 
#213
#213
Q&A for OFFLINE Franchise mode in Madden 10

Coaching/GM Questions

- Do team finances matter? - Maybe a tad more since Josh did some work with the stadium approval logic, but i doubt you're going to see much of a difference here.

- Do CPU teams value their Draft Picks more than before? - As Josh said, yes, I actually found it a bit too difficult to trade at times, while at other times, I pulled some stuff off. This was hard to judge with such little time.

- Can we leave one franchise and take over another?? (i.e. be fired, quit, etc.) - I've answered this many times; I think so, not sure, is what it comes down too.

- Can you fire/replace/promote a coach in mid-season?- No, only during the Staffing period of the off-season

- Will the game allow more then 52 players on the roster in preseason, thus forcing you to make cuts?-No expanded rosters in the off-season


- Will there be position coaches in the game, that effect players performance - ie, Running Back coaches, Line Coaches, etc?- Head Coach, OC, DC, and Special teams coach


- Will there be customizable sub package similar to PS-2 version of the game?- No


- Have you removed the logic that forces you to have set number of players per position? Do I really need to have FB if I can use another RB or TE to fulfill multiple positions/roles?- Minimums still exist.


- Has trade logic been improved? Will I still be able to trade for Matthew Stafford even though the lions just drafted him 1st overall and made him their franchise player?- Trade logic has improved, and teams are stingy with their young QBs.

- Does placing a player on Injured Reserve free up that player's roster spot- Don't think so


- Will team chemistry play a role?- no


- Will players be able to become coaches after their retirement?- Yes


- Can we Create-A-Coach?- no


- Will CPU teams trade with each other?- I... don't remember... I think they do, but only during the draft.

Contracts/Free Agency Questions

- Has the restricted free agent period been added back this year?- No


- Has there been more focus put on players wants to determine where he will sign?- Yes Yes Yes! A player's personality plays a much greater role in negotiations than before, and is much more like Last-Gen in that regard.


- Will players not sign in order to test free agency?- The functionality is there for this, but I'm not sure if it actually takes effect while the player is on your team, I'll have to check with Josh on this.


- Since two-back systems are in vogue, will running backs split carries a la Carolina, Tennessee, etc.?- Stat gen games- yes, played games, I think it depends on the playbook.


- Am i able to low-ball every free agent i want to sign and get him for the cheapest dollar amount? In past versions, you could start with a 5 year deal at 500k total, and just up it by 10k until they accepted. I want players to tell me to get the heck out of here if i low ball them, not allow me to find the cheapest way to sign them- you can low ball them, but there's no longer an interest bar, and if you miss too low, they'll break off negotiations.


- Can you front/back load contracts?- Contracts are the same. I should point out that almost all of the frontloaded and other optional contract types in NFL 2k5 were illegal by NFL standards. The CBA does not permit "front loaded" contracts... the base salary cannot go down from one year to the next. Madden's system was far more true to life than 2k5s.


- Can you add incentives on contracts?- No.

Progression Questions

- Can a DE be converted to OLB to play in the 3-4 or will he drop exponentially?- Something I totally neglected to check.

- Is there any type of training camp or mini camp during franchise?- No


- How often does progression take place and will season performance effect it? (yearly, quarterly, every game, etc.)- Annually, and the factors are a combination of age, potential, and performance.


- Will a team's momentum or success play any part into progression, especially if it is game to game? For example, if a team is playing well and has won 10 games in a row, will everyone get some sort of boost?- Indirectly... if a team has won 10 game in a row, clearly the majority of them are playing well, and thus their progression will be good.


- How much does potential matter vs. production for progressing players?- It's about equal, age plays a role as well.

Here's a rough breakdown of how progression works...

Each player has a potential rating. This is a hard number, but all we see is a letter grade. That potential is the highest the player is capable of achieving. There is a cap on how much a player can progress based on his age... there are three periods during a player's career, Incline, Plateau, and Decline.

During the Incline period, a player can gain 6 points per season and cannot decline except due to major injury. During the Plateau period, he can increase or decrease 2 points per season. During the decline, he can decline up to 6 points per season and cannot go up.

How long these periods are and when they occur is dependent on the position of the player.

- Has anything been done to the logic to stop players from retiring too early?- Players generally retire at more realistic ages now, but it was my experience that it's still a little early.

- How do injuries affect a players ratings,future, etc-Injuries affect ratings in a realistic way. This is a difficult question to answer... umm... a concussion isn't going to make a QB unable to throw a pass, but it will affect his awareness, for example.

Draft Questions

- Can we trade future draft picks?- no

- How has draft presentation been updated?- Presentation, not really.

- How many different draft classes are there?- 32. I'm in one under a fake name

- Will the skill of the GM/scouting team affect the accuracy of unlocked information?- No, it's affected by the amount of time you put into a given player.

- In these draft classes, how many extra undrafted players will there be on average?- 30


- I know the order of draft classes will be random, but will the player's information also be random (i.e. name and college, possibly even height, weight, skin color, etc)?- no

- Will we be able to edit draft classes before the draft actual starts?- No

Scouting

- How will the scouting process work for rookies pre-draft and how is it different from the last few iterations of Madden or similar to HC? It's the same as past iterations, but it works. You start with basic info like 40 time, bench press. As you scout, you narrow down given ratings and unlock others.

- For scouting players for the draft will there be information for us about what scheme or type of player the player is.(example DT is he more of a 1 gap or 2 gap DT. DE is he better for the 3-4 end or pass rusher?- No, but this type of thing can be gleamed based on the ratings.

General

- Has anything been removed from Franchise Mode?- Yes, there was a random odd screen that didn't work regarding the draft.

- Dynamic attendance - is it in or out?- I don't think it's in, but I didn't play many games within franchise mode.

- Is there a noticeable difference between regular season and playoff games?- Yes, presentation is different for playoff games. Opening week games have a sort of playoff feel as well.

- Can we start our franchise before the draft?- no

Stadium Questions

- Will we be able to renovate or rebuild a team's stadium without having to relocate?- Yes

- When upgrading your stadium in franchise mode, will you be able to SEE (new Jumbotron, extractable roof, etc.) or feel the effects of your additions???- no

Scheduling Questions

- Has anything been done to fix the scheduling logic? Will we still see teams with 4 straight Monday night games or open the season with a 6-game road trip?- I think Josh addressed this. Scheduling was better in regards to home/road games, but I didn't noticed Monday Night games.


- Has the ability the select our preseason opponents made it back in. If not, will I still see the situation where divisional opponents play each other in the preseason?- No custom preseason games, not sure on the other.

- Is the annual International Game depicted in the game or will New England simply play a road game in Tampa in year 1?- I never thought to check Sorry
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#214
#214
All I saw in that were a whole bunch of "No"s and "I don't know"s. I think dude answered yes to 2 or 3 of all those questions. For people complaining about EA focusing all their time on Madden instead of NCAA, either that is a bunch of crap, or EA doesn't have any capable developers on staff. Actually, it is a pretty safe bet it is a little of both.
 
#215
#215
daw77 said:
All I saw in that were a whole bunch of "No"s and "I don't know"s. I think dude answered yes to 2 or 3 of all those questions. For people complaining about EA focusing all their time on Madden instead of NCAA, either that is a bunch of crap, or EA doesn't have any capable developers on staff. Actually, it is a pretty safe bet it is a little of both.
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thats what happens when you have no competetion
 
#216
#216
daw77 said:
All I saw in that were a whole bunch of "No"s and "I don't know"s. I think dude answered yes to 2 or 3 of all those questions. For people complaining about EA focusing all their time on Madden instead of NCAA, either that is a bunch of crap, or EA doesn't have any capable developers on staff. Actually, it is a pretty safe bet it is a little of both.
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I do t think they spent that much time on franchise mode this year which seems like the fourth year in a row the mode has gotten zero attention.

They definitely focused much more on gameplay, presentation and establishing a solid foundation for online franchise.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#218
#218
volball625 said:
I do t think they spent that much time on franchise mode this year which seems like the fourth year in a row the mode has gotten zero attention.

They definitely focused much more on gameplay, presentation and establishing a solid foundation for online franchise.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
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a solid foundation should at least include a salary cap.
 
#219
#219
Question for the online franchise guys. One of my buddies wants to join. Do yall mind? he lives in New York so playing online with him is one of the few ways I get to keep in touch with him and I figured this would be a good way to do that.
 
#220
#220
I wouldn't mind, but the same deal applies we won't sit on our hands for 4-5 days waiting for anyone, and no whining if you get skipped as a result of that. We'll call it the bishop rule.
 
#222
#222
JTrainDavis said:
I wouldn't mind, but the same deal applies we won't sit on our hands for 4-5 days waiting for anyone, and no whining if you get skipped as a result of that. We'll call it the bishop rule.
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That's straight. I told him that he would have to get on here and communicate with people to set things up.

So if nobody minds, he's going to take the Bears and his gamertag is TheRequiem18.
 
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