Madden 09 Patch Details
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Madden 09 producer Phil Frazier has revealed the details of the first patch for the game which is expected to be available on or around the release date of August 12th, as well as some potential areas to be addressed by a second patch and ideas for downloadable content.
The first patch will predominantly be fixes that most people wouldn’t have even noticed. The biggest one of the bunch is likely the adjustment that has been made to reduce frequent long kick returns. This wasn’t something that was identified as being a problem at the community event, though most agree it is within NCAA Football 09.
The second patch will react more to the community suggestions following release of the game and they already have an idea of some of the items to work towards. CPU QB accuracy and field degradation being ones that stand out at this point.
There is also some talk as to potential downloadable content. One mentioned is the accelerated clock which had been investigated for a patch but ultimately would’ve been too large a file to qualify. It has been said that the DLC may be free.
Continue on for the full details on all this from Phil Frazier.
Patch #1 (currently with MS/Sony for certification)
1. Changed default quarter length of online leagues to 5 minutes.
2. Solved a very rare stability issue that occured when using a couple of playbooks.
3. Eliminated a button mashing glitch during high latency online games.
4. Eliminated a stability issue that sometimes occured while viewing the player HUB in online leagues.
5. Fixed a tricky disc eject glitch that occured at specific points of online games.
6. Kick Return Tuning – made improvements to help reduce frequent long kick returns.
7. Safety Tuning – eliminated issue where safeties in deep zone coverage would sometimes not react to a run to their side.
8. The game skill slider for interceptions was tuned to amplify it’s affect.
Patch #2 Possibilities
1. Ghost Juking OOB fix – aka CPU players running out of bounds
2. CPU Accuracy tuning
3. Amplify the field degredation effect (the system is currently working but is hidden by some of our late added post effects)
4. Other post-release community feedback
DLC Possibilities
1. Accelerated Clock
2. CPU Sliders (you would have the all new human sliders as well as a brand new screen of CPU sliders)
3. Legacy Gen Controller Config
4. Madden Community Gamerpics
August 6, 2008 at 7:07 am
I would like to see a patch for toned down flashes
August 6, 2008 at 7:14 am
Yup, I’m with you on that one too.
August 6, 2008 at 7:16 am
why are some people complaining about the flashes, they aren’t a big deal, why are ya’ll looking at the crowd when you’re supposed to be looking at the field.
August 6, 2008 at 7:19 am
Pasta can you or someone explain the use of the Live Draft Tracker? Can i use this to draft for my online league or is it just fantasy football?
Or can i draft for fantasy football and transfer to online league ?
August 6, 2008 at 7:27 am
3. Amplify the field degredation effect (the system is currently working but is hidden by some of our late added post effects)
Maybe now the guys at OS can keep away from the ledge.
August 6, 2008 at 7:28 am
Pasta,
I think you should mention that Phil also said this potential DLC would be free, rather than the kind of DLC most of use are used to costing actual money. As you said by having it as DLC it gets around patch limiting size.
August 6, 2008 at 7:31 am
[quote comment="31013"]Pasta,
I think you should mention that Phil also said this potential DLC would be free, rather than the kind of DLC most of use are used to costing actual money. As you said by having it as DLC it gets around patch limiting size.[/quote]
Yeah good point I’ll add that in.
[quote comment="31011"]Pasta can you or someone explain the use of the Live Draft Tracker? Can i use this to draft for my online league or is it just fantasy football?
Or can i draft for fantasy football and transfer to online league ?[/quote]
Check out my interview from a while back. The live draft tracker is just for the in-house type draft experience.
http://www.pastapadre.com/2588/full-details-on-ea-fantasy-football
August 6, 2008 at 7:35 am
EA Sports is really taking care of there games lately, if there is a flaw they get it fixed pretty fast. There doin roster updates faster and with Live everyday. They really make u wanna buy there games because I feel like they really finally wanna give me a good product to have fun playing.
August 6, 2008 at 7:37 am
Pasta…what about toned down FG kicking Length!!! Will that be adjusted??
Also, I noticed that I DLed a patch for NCAA Football last night. Was the patch released? Or was that something else?
August 6, 2008 at 7:45 am
The player editing patch for NCAA came yesterday.
Not sure on FG kicking length, I guess they’re putting it on the sliders for us to make our own adjustments. Doesn’t solve online play though.
August 6, 2008 at 8:00 am
They better make it free. Thats like paying for the weapon system or the vision cone.
August 6, 2008 at 8:20 am
Whats DLC?
August 6, 2008 at 8:25 am
I hope this is the last year of that stupid kicking mechanic too. I’m all for bringing back the old 3-button 1/2 arc kicking meter. It was harder to be accurate when going for full power and made it much more realistic. I can’t remember the last time I missed inside the 35 yard line……..
………and camera flashes only occur at certain moments of games. Should not be constant…I have had Bills season tix for 5 yrs and we “rarely” have opportunities for pictures!!!!!!!!
August 6, 2008 at 8:27 am
DLC= Downloadable Content, i.e. it would be available on XBL Marketplace.
August 6, 2008 at 8:33 am
“2. CPU Sliders (you would have the all new human sliders as well as a brand new screen of CPU sliders)”
So will there not be any default sliders to adjust with the game or is this a new slider interface?
August 6, 2008 at 8:53 am
already with the patches??? sounds like signs of another poor madden game (even though I hope to be proved wrong)… its so close to release day and yet they I’ve barely heard anything about franchise mode because last years franchise mode was so horrible it made the game unplayable for me cause I’m all about the franchise (not online with that one season crap they’re talking about this year).
Does anyone know where I could find details on franchise mode (to see if they fixed anything)?
August 6, 2008 at 9:17 am
Pasta-
Thanks for the inside scoop.
A suggestion for DLC; is new Madden Moments, it would be cool if they could create new madden moments based on the current years events. So if something happened in week 1 – 3 they would allow you to play out those scenarios with the updated rosters.
ex. Brett Favre gets traded to vikings and has a 4th Quarter comback against the Packers.
August 6, 2008 at 9:29 am
[quote comment="31009"]why are some people complaining about the flashes, they aren’t a big deal, why are ya’ll looking at the crowd when you’re supposed to be looking at the field.[/quote]
You can’t help but notice the excessive flashes. You say you’re supposed to be looking at the field and not the crowd as if we have tunnel vision like your eyes won’t notice the crowd when playing.
August 6, 2008 at 9:33 am
Can they send a patch to add field degredation in NCAA 09. They did say that we would have it and we don’t.
August 6, 2008 at 9:34 am
[quote comment="31009"]why are some people complaining about the flashes, they aren’t a big deal, why are ya’ll looking at the crowd when you’re supposed to be looking at the field.[/quote]
If thats the case why do they even add sideline players or fans in general???… the atmosphere is one of the components to a great game and when its 1st and 10 in a regular season game and bulbs are going off like its the superbowl it takes away from the game… because if you have ever been to a real football game you would know that pictures don’t go off like that.
August 6, 2008 at 9:52 am
will onlin3e leauges allow fa signing?
August 6, 2008 at 9:53 am
thank you James…….
August 6, 2008 at 10:12 am
Pasta … What if you don’t have xbox live??
August 6, 2008 at 10:27 am
I hope that next yr Madden shows SS mode sum LUV b/c that’s my fav pt about EA’s football games but dey did NOTHING wit it this yr in NCAA & I heard MADDEN got the same treatment so i’m NOT sure if it’s even worth a purchase
if ur NOT 1st ur Last
August 6, 2008 at 11:54 am
[quote comment="31029"][quote comment="31009"]why are some people complaining about the flashes, they aren’t a big deal, why are ya’ll looking at the crowd when you’re supposed to be looking at the field.[/quote]
If thats the case why do they even add sideline players or fans in general???… the atmosphere is one of the components to a great game and when its 1st and 10 in a regular season game and bulbs are going off like its the superbowl it takes away from the game… because if you have ever been to a real football game you would know that pictures don’t go off like that.[/quote]
Well said brotha. That’s what I say to people who say that refs & chaingangs aren’t important. Like it or not they’re part of an NFL game. If refs aren’t important then why have people in the crowd? Heck why even play in a stadium? Lets just play with a field and no atmosphere since all were supposed to look at is the field right? I think EA should change their logo to “If it’s in the game it might be in ours”. Lol
August 6, 2008 at 11:57 am
RE: Flashes
To be honest, I haven’t even noticed them. Too busy trying not to get sacked. Never came across to me as excessive at any point. That’s just me though. It’s clear a bunch of people have a major issue with it.
August 6, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Do you think Madden will add TV Broadcast camera view to go along with the CPU vs CPU option. One would think they would go together.
I don’t know what view they have now when watching Cpu vs Cpu…I would hope it isn’t Behind the QB,,,but it probably is (yikes)
August 6, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Rob, that’s a great idea…I’ve missed the days of NFL2K5 showing highlights “from around the league” and using a left to right (broadcast style) view. Made a nice touch IMO. Can you mention this Pasta to the boys at EA??!!??
August 6, 2008 at 12:26 pm
is there anyone here who is content w/the right thumbstick kicking? Anyone miss the old days of meter kicking??? I dunno, maybe it’s just me but FG’s and kickoffs are way too easy…….
August 6, 2008 at 12:47 pm
this is pretty poor that Madden hasn’t even released yet but they’re already talking patches. If they wouldn’t rush the damn game out they wouldn’t have this problem.
August 6, 2008 at 1:29 pm
[quote comment="31054"]Rob, that’s a great idea…I’ve missed the days of NFL2K5 showing highlights “from around the league” and using a left to right (broadcast style) view. Made a nice touch IMO. Can you mention this Pasta to the boys at EA??!!??[/quote]
Just to add to that, what ever happened to the days when we used to get in game updates from other games around the league when playing season mode? We had that oh I don’t know 15 years ago. Little things like that make a huge difference in presentation. EA doesn’t seem to get that.
August 6, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I can’t believe EA/Tiburon still only gives us one stupid playable camera angle. I thought this was supposed to be next generation?
C’mon EA…quit focusing on casual gamer features like Rewind and give us multiple playable camera angles, on-field refs and in-game saves!!
August 6, 2008 at 3:35 pm
How about a patch to have the correct players on depth charts so we don’t have to use up the created players slots? The depth charts should be up to date, not use the same ones from the past year and adding in a few freshmen. The AA division are never updated.
August 6, 2008 at 3:42 pm
[quote comment="31020"]I hope this is the last year of that stupid kicking mechanic too. I’m all for bringing back the old 3-button 1/2 arc kicking meter. It was harder to be accurate when going for full power and made it much more realistic. I can’t remember the last time I missed inside the 35 yard line……..
………and camera flashes only occur at certain moments of games. Should not be constant…I have had Bills season tix for 5 yrs and we “rarely” have opportunities for pictures!!!!!!!![/quote]
QFT!!!
August 6, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Suggestion for Future Patches
Turn off USER catch Assist please, or at least give us the Option. Tired of the CPU making you go for the Spin catch when you get near the ball without the Catch button being pressed. In Madden 03 and 04 you can catch the ball without the Catch button but the CPU Makes you go for the Ball at the very last second which gives you time to jostle for the Ball before that last second. How the Demo is set up is when you get near the ball or target Catch Area you have to hurry up and press the Catch button before the CPU takes over and makes you do a Spin Catch animation which in Most Situations is very uncalled for. Thus you go for the ball in a way thats not Ideal.
P.S this is a very Good Demo it has Grown on Me big time
August 6, 2008 at 3:58 pm
[quote comment="31085"]I can’t believe EA/Tiburon still only gives us one stupid playable camera angle. I thought this was supposed to be next generation?
C’mon EA…quit focusing on casual gamer features like Rewind and give us multiple playable camera angles, on-field refs and in-game saves!![/quote]
good point i mean they make a feature that allows you to repeat the play how stupid but they cant give us different cameras and NO refs WTF!?!?!?!?!
August 6, 2008 at 5:26 pm
You guys are all making good points. Keep them comin! Somebody needs to tell EA about themselves. Just a word of advise, don’t go to EA forums to give suggestions to them because if you do they’ll 86 you from their site like they did me. EA doesn’t like people who point out their obvious flaws. They would rather have sheep buying their products. I’ve been one of the biggest EA supporters & have damn near bought every sports game they’ve put out since the mid 90’s so for them to ban me makes me lose all respect for them. The only reason I’m buying Madden this year is because it’s the only NFL game out there. Hopefully Pasta will pass on all of our concerns because he seems like the only mediator we have to get through to EA.
August 6, 2008 at 6:00 pm
How about mid-game saves? Where is the DLC for that? Why do sports games, excluding MLB, not have this? Every other game in the world allows saves. DO they not work in sports?
August 6, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I don’t know but after playing the demo I can’t say that the flashes bother me….I honestly wouldn’t have noticed them if people didn’t mention it. Maybe they did fix it…….Judging by the demo there were very few flashes.
August 6, 2008 at 7:13 pm
how about a lingerie bowl and a halftime show with janet jackson.
August 6, 2008 at 7:15 pm
and that madden grass looks so good, u think they use some kind of miracle grow?
August 6, 2008 at 7:21 pm
can’t wait tell tomorrow i will be having this game i can see how things b4 the patch release
August 7, 2008 at 12:01 am
So no accelerated clock….I think I may just get head coach when it becomes available solo and wait for all the patches to come through on Madden.
August 7, 2008 at 12:39 am
Is it possible that they could add free agents and 60(like ncaa 09) or multiple season in a patch before Madden 10 comes out because that would make madden way better.
You know there’s only 1 season you can play in madden 09 i was asking is there anyway that they can add more seasons to online leagues
Also they dont have free agents in online dynastys in madden 09 i also wanted to know if they can add it into online dynasties
August 7, 2008 at 4:40 am
^^^^ it’s suppose to be one 1 season it’s a online league a one time thing if u want to have another season start a new one at the end.There not making franchise mode online it’s a online league.
August 7, 2008 at 9:33 am
They need to put the free agents into the fantasy draft pool. It’s ridiculous that I can sign all these 85 overall and above free agents after I’ve completed my fantasy draft. If I really wanted to cheat, I could release Tom Brady from the Patriots and start a fantasy draft, and then just sign him after the draft is over.
August 7, 2008 at 3:32 pm
u think madden uses the same gardener for every team’s stadium. cuz the grass looks the same for all teams.
August 10, 2008 at 9:51 pm
what is patches? how do u get them
August 10, 2008 at 10:07 pm
what is patches? how do you get them
August 12, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I think the field degradation effect is important. I just got the game today, and i tried some stadiums with grass, and it doesn’t get worn out like it did in the previous 3 years of madden next-gen.