Depth of Field
For Madden NFL 10 and NCAA Football 10 we have an all new realistic Depth of Field system calibrated to match real world cameras.  This single enhancement not only improves the visual quality of the game but it will allow us to reproduce a broadcast experience unlike ever before.
 
Single Digit Helmet #s
We have added the ability to center single digit #s on our helmets. Although a small touch, I know Steeler Nation (Including myself) will sleep well knowing Big Ben's helmet is accurate in the game.  Ian was happy that we have the Giants correctly emulating this as well.
 
Super Bowl Patches
Teams will wear Super Bowl patches on their jerseys for the big game, whether you are reliving Super Bowl XLIII or in year 30 of your franchise.
 
Custom Super Bowl Fields
Utilizing the same tech as NCAA for custom bowl endzones and field art, Madden NFL 10 features team specific end zones, midfield logos, and player boxes that are dynamically configured whether you are reliving Super Bowl XLIII, or in year 30 of your franchise.
 
Towels
Authentic player towels are in and fully animating, complete with Wilson and NFL Equipment logos. They can be assigned to any player, but can not be moved to the middle of the body (unfortunately due to major clipping issues that were occurring).
 
Referees on the Field
Unlike last-gen which only had 5, we were able to get all 7 referees in to Madden NFL 10 with AI and a full suite of avoidance (and collision) animations.
 
Chain Gang on the Sidelines
Because you see it on Sunday, the chain gang has been added back.  They dynamically move up and down the sideline giving clear indication of the first down spot and line of scrimmage.
 
Steelers Don't Wear Captains Patches
And they won't in our game either.  Same goes for the Cowboys.
 
Secondary Color Equipment
Each player will be tagged with the proper color gear.  Santonio Holmes wears yellow gloves, so expect him in yellow gloves.
 
Better Nameplates
Since Madden NFL 06, the letters on the back of the jerseys have all been somewhat squished to account for longer names like Houshmanzadeh.  This has been fixed with a new dynamic sizing algorithm, so all names now look correct.
 
http://insideblog.easports.com/arc [...] nshot.aspx

Franchise Mode improvements
 
Offseason Player Signing Logic
 
When we sat down and started taking a look at the logic, the #1 area that stood out to us was how teams handled player decisions in the offseason. After a simulated season, many teams were cutting players left and right in free agency to upgrade much lesser needs (like punter and full back). In fact, that first year we saw the Colts cut Peyton Manning to sign a punter.
 
We dug through some of the logic and found out that CPU teams were just being too rigid when it came to upgrading positions on their team. They all felt like their #1 priority was to field the best team possible, but when it came to clearing cap room they could possibly just cut the player who would save them the most. Thankfully, this has been addressed. Teams are much more mindful of the amount of cap room they have in free agency now…if they have no room, they’ll pass on that new punter.
 
Another thing we addressed was contract amounts. We’ve scaled player ratings differently this year, so we needed to make sure a starter in the league was paid like a starter. It’ll be tougher to cherry pick in free agency now, as an 80 overall defensive end is going to ask for the money he’d be paid in real life. We also increased signing bonuses and salaries for elite players. We found that the max a player could get paid was about 60 million over 7 years in previous versions of the game. We fixed that so you’ll see elite players like Asomugha and Haynesworth sign those $100 million dollar deals.
 
We’re also focusing on the re-sign player stage, making sure that teams intelligently decide whether to keep or release their upcoming free agents. If a team cannot afford to re-sign a player, he’ll become a free agent. It’s that simple.
 
 
The Draft
 
The other big thing we’ve looked at so far is everything surrounding the Draft. After joining the team, I ran through a season and started doing some in-season scouting. Three issues presented themselves immediately:
 
•   When I scouted a player, it was a pretty cumbersome experience. I had to click on a player, enter a sub-screen and then click on him again just to start the first level of scouting.
 
•   After I scouted a player for a few weeks, the comments never seemed to change. Beyond that, they were pretty vague and really told me very little about the player.
 
•   The screen for in-season scouting was actually quite buried as well. Placing it within the “owner mode” sub-menu meant that very few people would necessarily know to go use it.
 
To fix these issues, we first made the interface a lot easier to use (which we’ll show screenshots of quite soon). Second, we re-vamped the scouting system so that you unlock more comments as you scout the player longer. The comments can go from being broad (We think his awareness is no higher than 80) to telling you exactly what his key ratings are if you scout him the entire time. It won’t tell you his overall rating, but it will give you his potential, which is what you should make your decision off of.
 
One nice addition that we were able to take from Head Coach was how we handle the rookies in the Draft. We now create every rookie by hand, just like you saw in NFL Head Coach ’09. You might even see a few famous rookies make a re-appearance from those drafts.
 
In addition, we also have the ability to determine where a player SHOULD be drafted and what his potential is. So we can create busts and sleepers just using those systems. Drafting a player in the top 10 will no longer guarantee that he is a great player in Madden NFL 10. Unless you do some scouting (like the real teams do), you might just pick up this year’s Vernon Gholston. On the flip side, you might also find the next Tom Brady or Marques Colston in later rounds. One piece of advice…don’t be enamored with workout warriors. Running a 4.2 forty or benching a small concrete block does not automatically make you a good football player.
 
The big thing we’re working on as we speak is the Draft logic. I promise you…you will not see the Colts take a QB in the first round and then in the 3rd, 5th, etc. These type of logic tweaks are happening across the board and the draft is no different.
 
 
 
NCAA Import Draft Class tuning
 
We have been doing quite a bit of tuning on the NCAA Import Draft classes, as we saw a lot of feedback on the forums regarding this area in general. Here are a few of the changes:
 
•   Added the 5 new QB ratings (Throw on Run, Play Action, Short Accuracy, Mid Accuracy, Deep Accuracy).   Since NCAA Football does not have the new ratings in their game to use as a base, we will be using Throw Accuracy for the 3 Madden Accuracy ratings.  For Throw on Run, we take a combo of their Speed + Throw Power.   For Play Action, we use a combo of Awareness + Throw Accuracy.
 
•   Tuned the import draft class feature to be more superstar based.  The community feedback matched our own in the feeling that were too many superstars coming in from NCAA. There was not much of a difference from the 1st Round Picks to the 5th round picks.  Nearly all the players were 75+ OVR rated and we felt like that was too high for your average draft picks.  We have tuned this quite a bit to ensure that the elite guys will still be elite, but you should expect the middle and lower round guys to be rated much lower in Madden 10 (with a few gems buried in there as well).
 
 
Progression
 
Finally we get to progression, easily one of the most often-discussed areas of Franchise mode in the community for Madden NFL 09. Donny Moore did a lot of good work with progression prior to my joining the team and I’ve been able to keep tweaking it since. Here are the major changes we’ve made so far:
 
•   Older players will digress much faster. In fact, when a running back hits 30, he’s going downhill at warp speed.
 
•   Younger players will progress quickly if they play well. We’re talking up 10 points in overall if he has a great year.
 
•   Veteran players will still progress, but not substantially. They can also digress if they play poorly.
 
•   We added more stat categories to determine a player’s success/failure for a season.  For example, if you lead the league in rush TD’s but don’t do all that well in total rushing yards, you’ll still be able to progress accordingly. And it’s not just yards, and TD’s, it’s other stats like rushing attempts and rush yards per carry.  This was done across the board for all positions.
 
•   Removed age from ranking players.  Some people may not know this but our previous progression systems would ranked each player statistically against players around the same age.  Meaning that older players would only be ranked against other older players when determining how well they performed.  This often created the situation where those older players never dropped even with sub-par years because other players in their ‘age group’ weren’t performing well either.  Now, all players are ranked against all other players at that position, regardless of career phase.
 
The “potential” rating is another sort of ‘hidden’ addition that we are changing up this year to impact progression (and Franchise mode overall). Every player in the game has a potential rating that he cannot exceed (a la NFL Head Coach 09). This year, we’re actually exposing that rating so you’ll have an idea why your player is not progressing - typically a situation where his potential is maxed out. Exposing this rating also help quite a bit in making personnel decisions when contracts are up. One key detail here is that you’ll only see potential for players on your own team. CPU player potentials will be hidden.
 
Ok, guys…I’ve probably gone on long enough. Next time I’ll talk about trade logic, hall of fame logic, regular season free agency, salary cap tuning, coach boosts and tons of other franchise stuff.
 
 
- Josh Looman
Senior Designer, Madden NFL 10
 
http://insideblog.easports.com/arc [...] ments.aspx

New Madden 10 Details From Gamepro
May 3, 2009 by pastapadre  
 
 
While this month’s edition of Gamepro is advertised as being the “first hands-on” preview of Madden 10 and from that it has delivered some new information. Copies are reaching subscribers and stores providing an opportunity to find out some new details about the game. Much of the preview goes over Pro-Tak and the graphical enhancements such as depth of field but there are some other interesting mentions.
 

• There is a new injury system this year that adds a strategical element. The choice will be given to place an injured player back in the game or hold them out. Of course putting them back in will risk more severe injury.  
• Custom QB throwing-style animations  
• Players talking to each other on the sidelines, kickers warming up with the nets, players on exercise bikes, and fans bundling up in cold weather situations.  
• QBs can now throw passes into the dirt rather than just chucking it out of bounds.  
• Game speed has been slowed down by about 10%.  
• Madden IQ remains however it will be something calculated primarily in the background as opposed to the intrusive nature of last year.
  

E3 2009 Preview
May 27, 2009 by pastapadre  
 
 
Next week is going to be huge for the world of gaming. After two years of a lackluster reinvention of E3 it now returns back to the spectacle it was before. Gaming companies are buying back into it with big announcements planned and lots of highly anticipated games on display.
 
(...)
 
E3 (June 2nd-4th)
Madden 10
This is the most anticipated sports game at E3 and rightfully so considering the direction it has taken for this year. Until now most of what has been known about the game are the technical improvements (Pro-Tak). With the online announcements there will be even more reason for excitement.
 
What could the new online modes “for the competitive and cooperative gamer” be? Speculation certainly is heavy towards Online Franchise which would really cover both sides of that. It could also be a variation of Online Team Play allowing users to control a single player in a team environment.
 
Those are innovations that came from other EA Sports titles though. My gut feeling is they wouldn’t make a big announcement about Madden getting a mode that their other games already have. Could it be a combination of both? Or something completely unique? Regardless it’ll be interesting to see what they have in store.
 
The Madden build comes at about the 80% mark of development and will be hands-on for everyone in attendance. The majority of the build may be unlocked offering the ability to change up teams and settings. Full presentation will be included and that is an aspect that the full scope of has yet to be revealed. So there should be ample opportunity to get a feel for the game, though balance issues are still being tuned to prepare for the release build so that has to remain a consideration. The Wii version will also be there with some news and hands-on impressions as well.
 
NCAA Football 10
The game will probably be close to finished by the time E3 rolls around. In the past because of where E3 fell in the development cycle EA has been able to offer up NCAA Football in polished form.
 
Because of the proximity to release it meant ability to choose teams and change settings and check out various modes. If that is the case again there will be lots of info and impressions to provide for NCAA. I don’t expect a full build though as there is still news to come regarding Road to Glory mode that is being held back until later in June.
 
When Teambuilder was announced I was told that the website to begin creating teams would go live 4-6 weeks before release of the game. E3 happens to fall within that range. I would not be surprised at all if Teambuilder launches during E3. That would provide for interaction at home to go along with what EA is talking about direct from the event.
 
(...)
 
http://www.pastapadre.com/8658/e3- [...] #more-8658

Madden 10 Gets Online Co-Op
May 28, 2009 by pastapadre  
 
Earlier tonight on GameTrailers TV one of the new online related features for Madden 10 was revealed. The game will have online co-op! Keep in mind that what has been described as the bigger of the two online announcements is being saved for the E3 press conference on Monday.
 
Online co-op is something I’ve been hoping for Madden to incorporate for a few years now. It sounds as though it will be limited to two people facing off against the CPU or two people against two other people so it’ll be built on in future iterations. I look at three or four users on a single team as being ideal. Attempting to max out a full 11 would likely be futile.
 
There is still some confusion about the mode and how it will be setup. Is it just two against the CPU or against other users? Is it just one-off games or is there a ranked mode for it along the lines of Online Team Play from other titles? Can you play franchise games with online co-op? Are you locked into a single position or is it open to switching throughout the game? Hopefully all this will be cleared up shortly and I’ll update. Seems as though answers to these questions will have to wait until E3.
 
As suspected this opens up the liklihood of Monday’s announcement being something completely new for online play. As I posted in the E3 preview it would seem anticlimatic to make a big announcement that a mode from another one of their titles was being added to Madden. Clearing online co-op out of the way now leaves either Online Franchise or something completely unique to come.
 
http://www.pastapadre.com/8705/mad [...] line-co-op

Madden 10 Brings Online Franchise
 
June 1, 2009 by pastapadre  
 
As hoped for the big online announcement for Madden 10 was the inclusion of Online Franchise mode. Rather than if  Peter Moore would be revealing Online Franchise the main question going in centered around whether it would be as fully featured as consumers would associate with a mode by such a name. Based on the trailer shown at the EA press conference and the audience reaction it appears this will not be a let down.
 

 
Last year it was Online Dynasty that made NCAA Football 10. This year NCAA has the creative Teambuilder feature to add on to that. However Madden may be stealing back some of that thunder with Online Franchise. The prospect of playing within an NFL franchise mode of up to 31 other people is incredibly intriguing.
 
Trades and the draft sound like so much fun when competing against other users. The live elements of the Online Franchise were a hurdle that they’ve apparently overcome and done so by offering multiple ways to complete them such as drafting on the web. Essentially it could be just as easy as completing fantasy football drafts.
 

 
http://www.pastapadre.com/8782/mad [...] -franchise

NCAA Football 10 Demo This Week
 
June 15, 2009 by pastapadre
 
A handful of postings on Twitter confirm that the NCAA Football 10 demo is expected to be out later this week. In all likelihood that means on Thursday we’ll be getting the demo on the 360 in the early AM and on the PS3 in the afternoon.
 
I suspect that this demo will do little to change the negativity surrounding the game right now. Most of the improvements are subtle and overall the game feels an awful lot like 09. In a demo with abbreviated quarters those improvements will be less likely noticed. The good news is that it has been mentioned the difficulty levels will be adjustable. No word on the teams yet though it seems a safe bet that it’ll be a rematch of the National Championship with Oklahoma vs Florida.

NCAA Football 10 is the best football game that I’ve ever played on an Xbox. I’d like to expand this statement to include the “Genesis” years of Madden dominance (you know, where the ambulance would come out on the field and would injure five more players for every one it picked up. Good times), but it’s tough to compare games separated by so many processor bits. So, yeah, NCAA 10 is the most complete and competent football game ever to be loaded into a Microsoft console. It has its few issues here and there, but it’s still at the top of the heap. Let’s leave it at that…at least until it’s time for the Madden NFL 10 review.