Hello, I'm John Taylor and I am a Designer/Technical Artist on Madden NFL 11. I started at EA early in 2005 working for the central online team for PS2 and the original XBOX. After central online I did some prototyping for the first Head Coach as well as some online prototyping for Madden 06. Since then I've been full time on Madden NFL from 07 to 11. I'm a big time NFL fan and the Redskins are my team (I'm still torn with the McNabb trade). I'm here today to talk about Game Planning and GameFlow; what they are, how they work, and how they work together.
The design vision set forth last year is still 100% the same - to make the most realistic authentic simulation NFL game we can make. This basically means we keep trying to get the game closer to what you see on game day. Well, this year I was handed the job of "fixing" play call. The reason we wanted to fix it was because of a meeting with John Madden. After Madden NFL 10 had shipped we were lucky enough to watch some real NFL action at Coach Madden's studio during week 1 of the NFL season. The main thing that he pointed out was how different our play call system was compared to how NFL coaches actually called the plays. After a couple brainstorming sessions, we asked ourselves a pretty ridiculous (at the time) question; what if we turned play calling off? After some early testing, we decided that this was a great way to play the game and worked on creating sound designs for a new feature for this year's game.
Fixing play call was not an easy thing to do. It's easily one of the most used screens in the game and everyone wants something different from it. Changing such a major part of the game is a scary thing to do. Every football game since football games have been around has done pretty much the same thing. The play call screen pops up, you flip through the plays, pick a play, and then you run the play you picked. Calling plays like this is the standard. I was extremely nervous to mess with the formula, but the fact is, the way you have been calling plays in Madden NFL for 20+ years is actually not authentic to the way coaches do it.
ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/madden/Madden11/blogs/playcalls.pngAs Coach Madden mentioned, coaches don't go into a game with their full playbook like you do in our game. When it's 2nd down and 3 yards to go, they don't thumb through a 3-ring binder with 350 plays in it. They find tendencies before the game and build a game plan to exploit the other team's weaknesses. This means they call plays based on the situation. On game day the team goes in with a much more limited playbook. The game plan is usually broken down into situations; red zone, 2 minute offense, 3rd and goal, etc. Based on the situation, the coach calls the play in to the QB. The QB makes his reads and changes the play up if necessary and the team executes the play. For Madden NFL 11 we used these concepts to overhaul the way plays are called with GameFlow and Game Planning.
What is GameFlow, what is Game Planning, and how do they work together? They are really two parts of one big initiative - which was "we need to make play calling more authentic".
GameFlow happens while the game is running. With GameFlow, your coach calls the play, and radios it in to you via the headset (if you don't have a headset it will come through the TV). There are also on-screen subtitles to reinforce the audio, and as you go to the line you're shown the play art. You can make any adjustments you want with an audible or the Strategy Pad. Here are a few quick displays of GameFlow in action on offense:
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maddennfl.easports.com/blog.action?blogId=gameflow_gameplanningAfter each play you are presented with the option to use the GameFlow play (the one your coach picks for you) or you can bring up the full playbook and call any play you want. On 4th downs and other times when an important decision needs to be made a screen is shown that lets you make the choice. If it's 4th down you can choose to kick it (field goal or punt depending on the yardage), fake the kick, go for it, or open the playbook. Just like the QB can influence the coach during important decisions, you'll be able to do the same thing.
ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/madden/Madden11/blogs/gf1.jpgThe other part of GameFlow and easily the most important part is Game Planning. Each team ships with a default game plan based on the way they played last year. Our playbook experts, Anthony White and Larry Richart, broke down all 32 teams and built a truly 100% authentic game plan for each of them. But if you are the customizing type (assuming that you're reading this blog you probably are), you can create a custom game plan and play with that. How do you customize a gameplan?
ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/madden/Madden11/blogs/gf2.jpgYou have a total of 15 play slots available per situation, and the situations are the same defined by a real NFL coach's play sheet. For each play in any situation, you can adjust the "weighting" of the plays from between .5 to 5 stars. Weighting plays determines the frequency a play is called in game. You can create and save as many game plans as you want.
Creating a defensive gameplan follows the same mold, except that you aren't creating the plays based on the down and distance, but instead on what the offense is showing in terms of personnel and formation. So in the image below, you'd be setting up your "dime" packages (which can be plays out of any defensive formation, not just dime), and these are the plays that you want to run when the offense lines up with 4 or more receivers.
ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/madden/Madden11/blogs/gf3.jpgSo assuming you've customized your own gameplan, your coach will now call the plays that you set up for each situation. We all know that the strategy behind calling plays is such an important part of the game, but with gameplanning, we're now allowing you to do all that strategy before the game instead of between every single play. Gameplans can be carried into Franchise, Superstar, Online, Madden Ultimate Team and Play Now games.
As an aside, you can also create game plans for the CPU. If you really want to change how the computer plays you can finally do that. If your team (or another team) changes their play calling style throughout the year you can update their game plan and keep them playing true to life. This adds a new level of customization to franchise mode. Even if you know how your friends like to call plays, you can set up a game plan to have the CPU play like them so you can practice.
Another key note about gameplans is that you can use them with or without GameFlow. Let's say you want to play with the old style play-calling screen. If you do, the "Ask Madden" option is actually totally replaced with "My Gameplan", which then gives you all your pre-planned plays right there for you in each game situation.
ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/madden/Madden11/blogs/gf4.jpgOf course, one thing to be clear on is that everything is optional. If you want to play without GameFlow you can. You can choose to play with the conventional play call screen (old style play call screen that's been around since the advent of football gaming). You can choose to turn off coordinator audio, subtitles, and strategy pad. Pretty much everything is an option.
I have to be honest; when we first told people what we were planning to do they thought we were crazy. Everyone was skeptical. Some people were scared, others laughed, but then they played it. Once they played it they got it. We're giving people a new way to play Madden NFL. It's a more true-to-life way of playing. You strategize before the game and then when it's time to play, you just get on the field and execute. You get a more realistic, more authentic, and more fun game experience overall. Best of all, you can now play 2 or even 3 games of Madden NFL 11 in the same amount of time it took you to play 1 last year, without compromising on presentation, stats, or the like. I hope you enjoy Game Planning and GameFlow.
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