The problems with EA’s (Spot Dropping) zone coverage explained

I just don't agree. A football field is a HUGE area of land to cover, and you're potentially going to be talking about progressing from a WR on one side near the LOS all the way to another who is across the field and way downfield. You're potentially talking about having to move this target more than 100 yards just to progress from one WR to the next. It works in FPS because depth isn't as big of a factor, so you mostly just have to aim side to side and only make slight adjustments up or down, and because you aren't rapidly progressing through targets that are so far apart.

I didn't really get into this in the original post but the single biggest issue with the way EA has programmed zone defense is the defender in the flat coverage assignment. In cover 2 its not really that big of a problem other than the fact the corner typically does not carry #1 far enough upfield, however when linebackers are assigned to the flat they dont just run straight to the flat. They gain depth up to 10 yards then go out towards the sideline. There shold be ZERO coverage defenders within 5 yards of the LOS while in zone.

I agree with rhombic that while it's an idea, G, it wouldn't work that well with the pace of the game. There are some weapons in shooters that require putting a target on the ground while you're moving, and those take a lot of effort. They're among the most seldom used weapons for a reason.

Ideas like that are worth putting out though, simply because they may inspire someone else's idea.

I don't think they should bring back the cone, because it can also make the game easier. Back when I used to play in Madden tournaments on the PS2 when they first introduced the cone I was one of the only players who didn't lose a step. I played with Aaron Brooks and the saints. He had one of the smallest cones on the game. But since I already knew who I was going to throw to I could look at :ps3sq: the whole time to draw the safeties to the left, then quickly hit R2+:ps3cir:, then :ps3cir: again to throw. It just added an extra button press which took almost no time off of my passes. I think EA should re-map the zones to respond to where the ball is on the field instead of spot drops. Sometimes I have to hot route one defender in a Hook Zone to QB-Spy just so they will play zone in front of the ball instead of drifting towards the middle of the field.

the cone took away from enjoying a football game as a football game. It became more a shooter game worrying about where the cone was facing

The thought that occurred to me from work experiences is the ol KISS. if you could do a simple solution that would solve the issue at 75% to 80%, you fix enough of it to be effective. Based on that:

1) For offense, what if you widened the old cone to a quarter (third?) of the field and make the triggers (or the stick, if prefered) "look left" and "look right". The harder you pull it, the faster you look, etc. The defenders in the zone should be able to react accordingly in their zones pretty effectively and I don't think you would feel you are trying to hit a gnat's ass as you might feel with some of the other concepts. There probably would be issues at times with multiple routes being within the broader cone area (making it somewhat ambiguous to defenders in the area), however I don't think it would happen so much that zones wouldn't work at all.

2) For Defense, adjust the pass defense assist concept to lead the defenders to react to certain routes within their zone based on a preference you give. Though a lot of zones have built in ideas like "always be the deepest man" or "cover the flats", there are times that generic of a designation may not work or be what you want. Therefore, make it so that before the play you pick "cover the short routes" or "cover the deep routes" and the defender will jump the routes in their zone that most fits the zone concept you chose. While I do think that it is similar to the "bump n run" or "back off" already in the game, it is slightly different. Also I wouldn't want to show the offensive guy that I am going to have my zone defenders cover the short routes by having my CB tighten up in the WR. I would like the idea that you could do it on the fly like BnR as opposed to going into the "gameplan" concept.

Hopefully that makes sense

Good ideas mundo.

Good ideas worth discussing for sure!

The problem with that cone idea is there's no way to differentiate between QBs with high awareness and QBs with low awareness (which was the entire reason for the cone to begin with).

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Originally Posted by morsdraconis

The problem with that cone idea is there's no way to differentiate between QBs with high awareness and QBs with low awareness (which was the entire reason for the cone to begin with).

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I thought about this after I posted as well and I definitely agree there needs to be a reward of some kind for better QBs.. Also, I am going to change the concept to "field of vision" I think and make it how much of the field you can see. Ultimately this makes more sense in my opinion because part of what makes it easy to pass in this game at times is how much of the field you are able to see - as many have said in this thread.

Maybe you could still do the same reward concept for better QBs. A sam bradford type may have a very wide field of vision allowing them to see more throw more accurate throws for routes that are further apart. On the other hand, a young erratic type would still have a smaller fov and would be less accurate on the peripheries of the vision. Maybe the reward could include the quickness to which you can make the cone move so that you can be better at looking off defenders when you are a better QB.

All of these should have a slider and on/off. Like the NHL guys have been saying, sliders could/should be on about everything.

the double tap idea is the best answer... period... this way the QB's head could be animated to respond... and they could program the defense to react to the eyes... this way if you want to attack the wide side of the field... you can tap the icon (for example - :ps3cir:) to look at your inside slot to say the left side... and this way the FS freezes as he would in real life... then you can tap the route you want to hit... and tap again to throw...

this is the best way to mimic the real life battle between a QB and the secondary... and honestly still allows us mobility that we have to avoid the rush... and allows us to focus down field... still use our same buttons we are used to... and gives us the ability to use a "read and drop" on BOTH SIDES of the ball... not only can our defense use it to read the eyes of the QB, but allows us to occasionally use it on offense...

say you are going to run the slant/bubble concept... you can snap the ball with :ps3x: then look at your bubble... if its open... tap it again to throw... if not double tap to throw the slant... one tap to look... one tap to throw...

and as stated before... this would really help with anyone who just runs around and throws deep... because they would have to double tap... and the programming could be done to where it delays the QB to set... look... throw... just as real life...

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the double tap idea... and have thought and thought... and dont see a down side to this on either side of the ball... at all...

"E"

hell no, I dont want to have to think about double tapping anything to PLAY A GAME.

its a game, you want it as uncomplicated and chore like as possible.

That being said, unless you make your own game/games, odds are these ideas will never come to pass........ I said,come to pass haha:P

if you have to think to do that... then you have problems... but yes ive been around long enough to know 90% of these discussions arent going to amount to anything... but the double tap to pass is the BEST and EASIEST implementation for what everyone wants... on BOTH sides of the ball...

"E"

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Originally Posted by ram29jackson

hell no, I dont want to have to think about double tapping anything to PLAY A GAME.

its a game, you want it as uncomplicated and chore like as possible.

That being said, unless you make your own game/games, odds are these ideas will never come to pass........ I said,come to pass haha:P

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Just as before with the passing cone it should have a toggle, those that like it can use it, those that don't won't. Then have rooms setup online for each. It would take maybe a day to adjust to it and once you get the hang of it there is a possiblity you may like it even more as it could have a huge impact on how the game is played.

Since it was brought up before I think the best way to implement AWR for the double tap is that the greater the AWR the faster the QB would be able to throw to the WR. This would simulate real life as well in that young quarterbacks tend to stare down recievers giving the defense a greater amount of time to react.

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Originally Posted by ram29jackson

hell no, I dont want to have to think about double tapping anything to PLAY A GAME.

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... practically every genre has something where you have to double-tap. That's a video game staple.

I can understand not wanting to do the mechanic, and preferring it wasn't in. I haven't decided whether or not I like it yet. But to object to it because it's a double tab is a little much ...

Guru, the one downside to calling it a "double tap" is that the implication is that the ball would be thrown on the second tap ... but you'd want to keep the current mechanic for tap=lob, hold=bullet. So it's really 'tap to lock on' or something like that.

Right, it's tap to lock on to target, then tap/hold just as it is now to throw. If you want to throw without looking/locking onto the target you just hold the button and its all based upon the AWR rating at that point both for what type of throw and accuracy as throwing without looking would be all about knowning the routes of your recievers.

yeah i meant tap to lock on... then the second tap/hold for the throw you want... sorry for calling it double tap...

i dont think there should be a way to throw without locking on to a WR... default for the start of the play the QB's eyes should be straight ahead... then we move them according to our planned attack... programming it would be easy... wouldnt bog things down... and it would really help with our LB depth issues we face sometimes...

this (in my opinion) would be the best addition... although i havent really read through too much lately but im really drawn to this addition... for sure

"E"

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Originally Posted by xGRIDIRONxGURUx

i dont think there should be a way to throw without locking on to a WR

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Sure there should. Gotta allow for the desperate throw that doesn't have a realistic chance and often ends up in a pick. You see throws like that all the time, especially from freshmen.

Someone from EA please visit this thread, think its a great idea and add it to the game ASAP. I am okay with making it an option that people can turn off but please just get it in the game.

A suggestion to give it even more life would be to make it where the lock on feature is only happening while in the pocket or not sprinting around outside of the pocket. A QB (9 times out of 10) isn't going to stop scrambling and then throw the ball (at least, not in college). When a QB starts scrambling, they are going to throw it on the run most of the time. So, you have it setup to where if you move out of the pocket and continue to move, you throw the ball just by hitting the button (and it goes like if you didn't lock onto the WR to begin with) thus resulting in it going purely by how talented your QB is at throwing the ball on the run and such (which Madden has attributes for and NCAA SORELY needs to add as well) or you can scramble, set your feet (like if you move out of the pocket against a three man rush and the DE gets knocked to the ground or something) use the lock-on feature, and throw a more accurate ball.

It would be one of those things where the game recognizes that you're using sprint and thus don't have to use the lock-on feature to throw the ball (but great sacrifice accuracy unless it's a QB that specializes in throwing the ball on the run) but if you aren't using the sprint button/not moving the lock-on feature is available to you and you'll set your feet and throw the ball properly (and it should most definitely FORCE the QB to set their feet and throw the ball in those instances).