Madden 10: Realism Sliders
On a track, Devin Hester can run a 4.24 40-yard dash.Why is that important? Because Devin Hester has a 99 speed rating in Madden 10, he's the fastest player in the game, and I want to play Madden at real game speed. I don't want Devin Hester to run 40 yards in five seconds, or six.
The entire focus of this slider set was realism. Ultra-realism. So before I post the slider settings, please let me take a minute to explain how they were derived.
1. Take Out The Stopwatch
The very first step in creating this slider set was to time players in the 40-yard dash. Lots of players, lots of times.
Since I didn't have a virtual track, I had players run fly patterns in practice mode (Bears playbook, 4 verticals, receiver on far left). I re-spotted the ball to the 10-yard line to ensure that players had enough field to run at full speed and timed the first 40 yards. I also verified that replay mode runs in full speed, which enabled me to set a camera right at the 50 yard line. I pressed "A" to start the play, then started the stopwatch.
Since Devin Hester is a 99 for speed, I used him as the first test.
Like I mentioned, Hester can run a 4.24 in real life. In practice mode, though, he's running on natural grass, from a standing start, and the fly pattern isn't an exactly straight line. Factoring in those variables, if I can get Hester to run in the 4.45-4.55 range, and I think that qualifies as realistic.
The game ships with a default speed setting of "slow." At that setting, what is Hester's time in the 40?
5.3 seconds.
That explains why players run like glaciers at the default settings. That's about 8 yards slower in a 40-yard dash.
OK, so let's bump it up to "normal" game speed. What's his time?
5.1 seconds. Well, that's progress, at least.
On "fast," his time is 4.9 seconds.
There's only one setting left, and that's "very fast." And on very fast, we hit paydirt: 4.5 seconds.
In other words, if you factor in the surface and the shape of the route, Hester is almost running at the same speed in the game as he runs in real life.
At this point, I want to stand up and start cheering the designers, because I know they did the same tests, and I know this setting is in the game on purpose (which explains the time gap between "fast" and "very fast"). This setting is in the game because those guys are hardcore.
Also because they're hardcore, there's an additional speed setting called "player minimum speed threshold." It sets the gap in speed between players, and once top speed is set correctly, this helps scale speed properly.
The process:
1) look at the speed ratings of players in the game.
2) find their real-world 40 times from the combine.
3) time them in the 40 in practice mode.
Also, I calculated yards run per second based on 40 time, then essentially had players with different speed ratings "racing" each other on fly patterns (on the same play). That helped me verify that players were running the right speed in relation to each other.
In another example of the brilliance of this engine and the power of the sliders, the relative speed of players using a "player minimum speed threshold" of 70 scales accurately within .1 second for 40 yards. One-tenth of a second.
That's a variance of less than 3 feet over 40 yards.
When players are running at the right absolute speed and the right speed in relation to each other, the game looks and feels real. You have to make decisions in the same time frames that players have to make decisions on the field.
It's hard, and it's a blast.
This is already running long, so I will spare you the process by which other slider settings were established. However, I will say that I went into just as much detail when testing the other settings.
Like I said, the focus here is on realism. You will not have five seconds in the pocket to throw, or if you do, it will only be rarely. CPU runners will punish you. Quarterbacks will make errant throws. Kickers will miss field goals.
In short, this will play like real football.
I'll post statistics from my Franchise later on, and go into a bit more detail, but in the meantime, here the settings.
GAME OPTIONS
Quarter length: 12
Play clock: On
Accel clock runoff: 15 seconds (with 12-minute quarters, will produce roughly 120 plays per game)
Injuries: 50
Fatigue: 50 (I'm still working with this)
Game speed: Very Fast
Player min speed thresh: 70
Camera angle: Wide
Fight For the Fumble: Off
PENALTIES:
Offside 100
False Start 100
Holding 52 (very touchy--don't go higher than this)
Facemask at 66
Def PI 100
Off PI 100.
KR/PR Int 70
Clipping 75
Int Grounding 70
Rough Passer 75
Rough Kicker 75
PLAYER SKILL
(note: at first, it looks like there are only four sliders. Press "A" on each to access the sub-settings (thanks to Bill Abner for the tip).
Passing:
QB Accuracy 20
Pass Blocking 75
WR Catching 50
Rushing:
Broken Tackles 55
Run Blocking 100
Fumbles 25
Pass Defense:
Reaction Time 20
Interceptions 25
Pass Rushing 100
Rush Defense:
Reaction Time 5
Block Shedding 0
Tackling 45
CPU SKILL
Passing:
QB Accuracy 20
Pass Blocking 75
WR Catching 50
Rushing:
Broken Tackles 55
Run Blocking 100
Fumbles 25
Pass Defense:
Reaction Time 20
Interceptions 25
Pass Rushing 100
Rush Defense:
Reaction Time 5
Block Shedding 0
Tackling 45
SPECIAL TEAMS
FG Power 58
FG Accuracy 40
Punt Power 60
Punt Accuracy 80
Kickoff Power 50
That's the full set.
Oh, and one more note: If you go into the "Menu Music" option, all the classic NFL Films music is there. Just turn off everything except original songs by Sam Spence (not including remixes).
It's football.
Like I said, I'll post about my experience in Franchise mode using these settings later. The short version: it feels more realistic than any football game I ever played.
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