Movement and Mechanics

[kjinx101]

After seeing the animations video, I excited to see some new mechanics making their debut in axis football 2k16  

Thanks to abugaj 's videos (He's "Dollar Junior" on youtube) and thread (here: axisgames.proboards.com/thread/10/game-play-improvements-focused-on ) I got to thinking on ways the player and AI can use moves previewed in animations to make a convincing game (especially with longer games being added).

So we know that we'll probably have more simple Jukes, stiff-arms, spins, dives, and on special teams we'll even have field goal blocks! [YES FINALLY] These alone make me happy. But if the Devs get the time or haven't though of this yet (which they may have) I'll just share my thoughts on a little extra that could take it all a bit farther.

Sprint/Afturburn - maybe a once-per-play move that all players/ai can use that gives them a sudden increase in speed for maybe 2 seconds followed by a slow decrease over another 4 seconds back to normal speed. (This would be very interesting if sprint-speed, and sprint-decrease-time were mod-able features that changes for individual players. It could be used even more effectively if these two things changed or had general ranges based on position, like longer decrease time for safeties and corners, and faster sprint speed-wise, but a much quicker decrease time for RB) Also, for RB this could maybe make them harder to tackle while in use but it'd be very short, so not OP. Edit: So that would make 3 mod-able variables that would affect sprinting for different position: Sprint-speed, Speed-Decrease-Time, and Tackle-Break-%. That would make running plays MUCH more useful; especially if the user can have a chance to sprint through a couple of tackles (like for 1.5 seconds) and pick up a good 3 or 4 yards (maybe more). And running plays like Leads, tosses, and punches would have a much lower chance of getting you 2 to negative yards with good plays: like if defense does a zone and RB punches you should get around 6 yards. Or if defense run-commits and you toss, you should pick up four or more (though, certain toss plays I can't recall right now already get you 6+ yards 50% of the time). Basically what I'm saying is I think sprinting/trucking can also be useful in getting the RB good yardage, and more realistically, if he breaks through the line and gets a first or close [after sprinting], the corners/safeties should be fast and powerful enough to take him down [especially when sprinting so it'd be good for defense, too]. 

Back-juke -  I'm not sure if I saw this in that long string of moves in that one animation but if sprints used momentum this would be a great counter against sprints if you give them that purpose. The only thing we'd have to make sure with this is that it would not be an exploitable feature (like it would only give you a TD if you have one man to beat [hopefully not often], but if 2 defenders are coming at you, you only pick-up around 3-6 yards)

Abugaj, whom I mentioned above made a video and post about the defenders running at a slanted angle to catch the (for this example) WR. But they are not running at the ball; they are running at a point a certain distance in front of the ball where they believe they can catch the receiver. This is best explained here www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ7ORkIgiy0 on his video. Something you may notice is that in the madden clip, the defender sprints a little faster when he's a certain distance from the receiver. It would be great for player and AI to have the ability as a defender to sprint to catch the receiver. And maybe for defenders to be faster in general.

Another thing I saw in the madden scenario in the video above was an opportunity for the WR to backjuke and have a slight chance to stay in bounds (if #32 wasn't so close and the angle was more turned out). Then he could've gotten a couple more yards before #32 would have caught up and tackled him. Just a thought. 

I know this may not be possible yet but I'd love to just get the idea out, thanx. What are your thoughts?

[abugaj]

It is so exciting to have a dev making a football game that listens to the feedback and actually implements the ideas of the fans into his game! Not sure if you have seen it yet but he just released his pursuit angle video today. I made a video about this in Feb and now he is working on the concerns i have. Its so awesome and a great time to be a football fan!

[kjinx101]

Yeah, abugaj I actually linked your video in my post above and used that madden replay clip as a reference for scenarios That was really good. And now with this Dev Video #6 we actually see these pursuit angles happen! The end of the video seemed to be cut short, but it was reassuring that at the end of the video the defender made the perfect stop. Props to you, Danny, troubleshooting right in front of us from start to finish!

After watching the video [here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3WMx8ylxLg] I actually noticed a couple things in the video that would make the Sprints and Back-Jukes I suggested above even more effective additions to the game! I'm guessing this was stuff that was already somehow going to be handled but he hasn't gotten around to it yet... Even so I still feel the need to sort of get my thoughts out (sorry. I am trying to help, though, if that makes me less of a bad/aggravating person)

1- Danny constantly had to reposition the RB to allow him to get 3 or 4 yards and delete some to get him downfield (obviously this was necessary for the Dev video's purposes, so this may not be the best example). That essentially turned a RB Punch into a pitch play; I think with the addition of sprints he could possibly break some tackles on the line and then the defenders behind the line would would make the tackles. This would probably require the same amount of experimentation that pursuit angles did though because, you'd want to make it to where the RB can break free, but not pick up more than 7 yards. 4 or 5 yards makes a sweet-spot for any running play, though I'd expect the run to get knocked down to 2 or less yards 30% to 40% of the time. 

2- There were times where the defenders could've caught the RB downfield, but missed due to speed issues (though the defender further down the field stopped the RB in most cases). I think on the defensive side, one of the most critical parts of pursuit angles is the sprint at the end the defender uses to catch up and seal the end of the runners streaking downfield. Of course we couldn't expect to see it at this point in development, so I'm not pointlessly criticizing saying, "they should've done this." I'm trying to gives a fan's guide of what I want to see based on what they have done. I'd imagine as a player you would activate "sprint" using the [shift] key and that AI would sprint once he is within a certain radius of the Runner. This could've made the stop that save the 10-15 yards that it took for the other defender to take him down and maybe with the "dive" you could replicate a "hit-stick." And this could make gameplay even more in-depth as on offence you would wonder, "how do I avoid that sprinting tackle?" This is where the offense would need to use the back-juke [I'm not sure what the key-binding would be for it] and maybe if anyone uses "sprint" within the radius of a player and the player uses back-juke at a certain time, you can give them a 50% chance of breaking the tackle. That would be GREAT and make runs much more interesting on offense and defense. This really only applies to plays where in the video the defenders had the red line where they were pointed down-field. Not To the defenders close by with black lines. (You'll know what I mean if you watch the vieo).

I know this really makes a bad suggestion, because I got waaay too wordy, but I wanted to give Axis precise examples to show what I meant. Really what I'm asking for is that, with this great addition of pursuit angles to the spins and jukes we'll already be getting, that we may also see sprints and back-jukes (aka "Breaks") used to make more cohesive and attention-exigent gameplay.

One thing I may have forgotten to mention is that when I pick up 2 yards or less on running play in AFL2k15, it's because I'm playing against Denver on Hall of Fame mode. When going against easy teams, the run game is not a problem (for the record)

[[AG] DannyC]

I like the afterburner idea, followed by the loss of speed. Thats something (along with the rest of your points), I can bring up to Danny J.

Regarding the back juke, that is something I wouldn't hold my breath to see in Axis 16 (we've purchased all the animations we can for this iteration). However, we do plan on continuing to build on top of the current animations we have as we move forward, so for the future thats something we can look at.

Thank you for the feedback, it's really appreciated!

[kjinx101]

Oh wow, that's great! I actually wasn't holding my breath to see any of this in Axis 2016. I was just pitching it out for the future as I assume you guys have too much to do to fit in all of these for the next release. That really makes me feel good though, to know you actually consider it.

Edit: In the animation dev video - youtu.be/g0f-Kx3M_Dc?t=1001 at 16:45 a long string of moves is incorporated into one animation and he says, "these will be broken apart into different pieces." Now that I look at it the runner stops before turning direction as one would do upon entering the endzone to stop. I think the small selection of the runner slowing down to a stop before turning direction would make a convincing back-juke animation. So it may be possible if animations are the only issue. Well- whatever happens, I'm satisfied enough already. Great job so far!

Final Edit: 1 more idea popped into my head that I thought I might tell the team about. This really won't be possible, probably, until you have more catching animations (next year, I guess) but I din't want to forget. As you know, in madden, there are "possession catches" (where the ball is headed out of bounds but the receiver keeps the tips of his toes in-bounds [by pressing a button] for a catch), and on defense you can "play balls" (get a chance to reach for or intercept a ball that my normally not be intercepted [though if you don't catch it you usually fall and the receiver gets a TD]). I think that if you did something where the user on offense and/ or defense had the opportunity "play" any ball (a ball that would normally not be caught due to being to high or to far) you could add a lot more to catching. Maybe when the ball gets near a player and it's in-range, a letter you have to press pops up and blinks faster as it gets closer to when you have to catch it (so pressing that button would make you jump, reach out, or dive for it). That's just another suggestion for sometime farther in the future. I'm really glad with my suggestions you have considered though, so thank you!