Infinity Engine - Madden RTP

[TeflonDonny]

http://www.easports.com/madden-nfl/news/article/infinity-engine-developer-blog

Interactions will never be the same again. Characters will now move and react to contact organically, creating unlimited visual and functional variety to your gameplay experience. A quarterback who gets his arm grazed throwing a pass will now have his throw affected. A running back that falls on a pile and never actually touches the ground will get back up and keep running. Other players now have the ability to disrupt two-man animations to create unforeseen outcomes. The sheer amount of variety in our interactions still amazes me. I wish I could tell how your interactions will play out but due to the emergent nature of the system, I just can’t. Just play smart football. In previous versions of Madden NFL many of the outcomes were predictable, and players could tell based on what animation was triggered what the outcome of the play would be. Now, thanks to the Infinity Engine every interaction is unique and instead of putting down the controller when a tackle starts you’ll find yourself continuing to interact with the game in the hopes of extending the play. I will be looking forward to the cool moments you discover when you pick up the game in a couple of months.


Balance System


Balance is another key area we worked on. Every character in the game has a balance score that we calculate based on several factors including physical attributes, actions, and where contact is made. This balance system takes these factors into account and causes characters to stumble and fall in appropriate directions with appropriate momentum. All of this seems straightforward; HOWEVER, when you consider the fact that falling forward into someone else can stop you from hitting the ground and may actually help you recover, things get very interesting. For me there are two very important things to remember with this system:


1. Watch where you run- Wait for holes to open up rather than crashing through characters that are in your way. Watch your feet so that you don’t stumble over fallen characters. Make smart cuts and hurdle when necessary.


2. Fight for every yard – Forget the days of predetermined two-man tackles. You need to continue to run and find ways to stay on your feet.


One of the coolest things about the balance system is how it affects players based on their body type. It’s a lot of fun to devise new defensive strategies by trying to take out the legs of smaller players who may not be able to recover from a stumble as well as a guy with longer legs. Suddenly it makes sense to go after a guy like Maurice Jones-Drew differently than you would Calvin Johnson.


Tensions


Muscle Tensions are the third area of focus. We are still in the process of tuning this area of the game, but the basic idea is that we can tune tensions based on player actions. This lets us craft spectacular blindside hits, and also allows characters to rotate realistically when they are hit while jumping. Functionally, we are also tuning actions such as hit stick tackles, protect ball, and truck animations to make the character very tense. This, in combination with the interaction system and the balance system, will allow you to affect the outcome of your tackles based on if you choose to use the hitstick or not. It will also affect overall balance while running and creates an interesting risk/reward mechanic of slightly better balance at the cost of speed if you choose to protect the ball while running through the line.


Well that’s what we’re working on this year. It’s a foundation for the future that we are very happy to share with you. Enjoy!


Victor Lugo


​

:jizz:

 

[Aso]

This I'm skeptical about. I wanna see gameplay videos.

 

[TeflonDonny]

http://www.easports.com/madden-nfl/news/article/community-blog-infinity-engine

E3 is upon us, which means I finally get to talk about the “big secret.” Over the past few months I’ve watch as you’ve speculated and debated what it could be. As the Designer for Infinity Team, I am very proud to announce that Madden NFL 13 will be shipping with the all-new Infinity Engine and the real-time physics that you’ve been requesting for so long. More than just a new engine, it’s physics you can feel.


Let’s start off with a brief introduction to the engine. The Infinity Engine is a system that augments animation based on contact with other players or objects on the field. This system dynamically follows the action on the screen to keep your attention squarely on the action. It is a system created to add more variety, emergence, and an extra level of authenticity to Madden NFL 13.


Team and Goals


The Infinity Team is made up of an all-star team of engineers who have backgrounds in mathematics, interactive entertainment, and physics (3 Physics PhDs to be exact) from EA Tiburon as well as EA Physics in Guilford, England. We set out on a multi-year plan to deliver something that would fundamentally change the way football was played. Even with all of the talent on the team we didn’t know if we would be able to release any features this year, but we all knew it was a goal worth striving for. Towards the beginning of the year it became apparent to us that if we pushed hard enough we would be able to implement the first stages of our plan in Madden NFL 13. For this year we chose to focus on primarily on character physics interactions, muscle strengths and tensions, and a balance system.


Interactions


Hello Madden NFL fans! My name is Shopmaster and I am an EA SPORTS Game Changer, owner of MyMaddenPad.com, and a true Madden Addict. In my Gameplay Part 1 Community blog back in April, I talked about all the new gameplay features for Madden NFL 13 like QB trajectory, Read and React defense, the ability abort play-action and many others. There was, however, one important addition I did not mention and it is the ‘Infinity Engine,’ or, as I like to call it, ‘The Game Changer’.


The ‘Infinity Engine’ is a new physics-driven animation system that influences the outcome of ALL plays by giving users more accurate physics so that the weight, mass, height and speed of players can all determine the outcome of a play.


When I got my first look at the ‘Infinity Engine’ from designer Victor Lugo I could not believe my eyes. Bodies twisted with every hit, wide receivers were spun around in mid-air, QBs getting laid out by blitzing linebackers from the blindside, it all looked great! As great as the presentation was it still could not prepare me for how this new engine would deeply affect the way I play Madden NFL 13. Everything you thought about Madden NFL 13 before has now changed.


The first notable effect of this new engine is the collision detection. There are no more canned animations where you know how a player is going to tackle and how the ball carrier is going to fall. Heads jerk back, legs are turned and bodies are more flexible than ever before. The players will not look like crash dummies, but they will bend and twist in a realistic fashion. If a RB wants to try to hurdle, that is fine; just take his legs out and watch him flip and land upside-down. A WR goes up for a fade catch in the back of the endzone, jump up with him and try to rake the ball out of his hands before he comes down. The collision not only looks more authentic, but it feels authentic as well. Add in the genuine NFL sound effects that they talked about in the Audio blog and enjoy the result every time Patrick Willis delivers a big hit.


Because weight and mass influence the outcome of a play, playing with a two-back system will mean something in Madden NFL 13. The Kansas City Chiefs’ two-back system of Jamaal Charles and Peyton Hillis are a perfect example of two backs that will feel different when you use them. Charles is a more shifty back whereas Peyton Hillis is more focused on power. In fact, I’ve seen Hillis turn the corner and truck the little DB waiting for him on toss plays several times. Also in the running game, players will now trip, stumble, and fall when it’s appropriate. Run with a guy with no agility and watch him fall trying to get through a hole with people around him. Also, no longer will you be able to walk over people lying on the ground, you will trip up.


Players are also now tuned with unique muscle strengths and tensions, thus making users consider their physical attributes as well as their rating. Your player’s physical attributes will determine if that back stays on his feet, stumbles, or falls flat on his face. Smaller backs can trip over legs, hands, and arms that may be grabbing for them where as bigger backs will run through those same arm tackles. How’s that for physics! You’ll have to hit holes cleanly instead of running into the back of your lineman, because that will cause you to lose momentum and speed. The end result is the running game feels so dynamically different and fresh.


Everyone who has played Madden NFL for any length of time has probably felt one time or another like there was a pre-determined outcome to a play; a pre-determined collision, a pre-determined catch, a pre-determined pass; well no more. Plays are never over until the whistle blows and pre-determined outcomes are history. Let me try to give you some examples of what I am talking about and some of the things I saw when I played. A receiver catches a curl route, and the defender reaches in between his arm and the body to poke the ball out, it’s not just delivering the big hit anymore. A QB is dropping back to pass, and I have seen defensive ends reach out and hit the QBs arm causing the ball to float or be off target. I’ve seen ball carriers roll on top of other players and you think they were down only to see that player get up and run 10 more yards because he never touched the ground. Not to mention shoestring tackles where defenders just get a piece of the ball carrier’s foot to trip him up.


Like I said, everything about the Madden NFL franchise changes with the ‘Infinity Engine’. Pileups look real, hits look harder, one-handed catches are more exciting and even something as ordinary as a scrum for the ball on a fumble will cause you to press pause and rewind. I can’t wait for you guys to get your hands on the game and see for yourself. Make sure you check out all of the EA SPORTS E3 videos, follow me on Twitter @Shopmaster, and tune into Game Changers Radio every Tuesday at 9pm est . as we dive deeper into the ‘Infinite Engine’ and everything that is Madden NFL 13. See you on the sticks!
Gameplay Designer

 

[krulmichael]

Kind of a Backbreaker esque system which I don't mind at all. I watched the playbook video about it and it looked great to see a back run up the middle and he trips because his foot hit one of the DL's feet.

 

[TeflonDonny]

Kru beat me to it...

 

[BigBucs]

 

[Aso]

Definitely impressive.

 

[krulmichael]

Not gonna lie...I haven't been this excited for Madden since Madden 05 (after the awesome 04 game).

 

[Golden Taters]

NCAA looks like hot garbage now. Great job by the Madden team, though.

 

[CCBrink]

Looks like firing the old dev team was a great move.

 

[PP]

I think this is just FIFA's impact engine transferred over to madden. Give the FIFA team props for sharing this tech. Hopefully it comes out good.

 

[MrBill]

Hoping this turns out to be as good as it looks :yep:

 

[spiker]

The game looks like it plays substantially the same. The infinity engine is NOT a game changer. It's a subtle advancement, at best.

 

[PP]

The game looks like it plays substantially the same. The infinity engine is NOT a game changer. It's a subtle advancement, at best.

The impact engine totally changed fifa. There was odd shit generated by it in its first year but the tech has been in development for over 3 years. I mean.. it can't make the game worst right?

 

[spiker]

The impact engine totally changed fifa. There was odd shit generated by it in its first year but the tech has been in development for over 3 years. I mean.. it can't make the game worst right?

I never said it would make it worse. I said it is a subtle advancement. I've played FIFA from before the "physics" stuff up until now. The advancements year-over-year were slow and subtle. I've heard this infinity engine being described as "monumental". It won't be. You can just tell from watching the raw gameplay videos that it won't be anything close to being a game changer. You EA fanboys can groan me all night long while you jerk off to the thoughts of some grandiose idealistic Madden experience, but at the end of the day, you know I'm right.

 

[MrBill]

I never said it would make it worse. I said it is a subtle advancement. I've played FIFA from before the "physics" stuff up until now. The advancements year-over-year were slow and subtle. I've heard this infinity engine being described as "monumental". It won't be. You can just tell from watching the raw gameplay videos that it won't be anything close to being a game changer. You EA fanboys can groan me all night long while you jerk off to the thoughts of some grandiose idealistic Madden experience, but at the end of the day, you know I'm right.

No no no! It's too early in the release cycle to shit on everybody's hopes.

 

[spiker]

No no no! It's too early in the release cycle to shit on everybody's hopes.

I wish I could watch M13 gameplay videos and not imagine I'm still watching Madden 12 clips. I really do.

 

[BigBucs]

I dont think anyone is imagining the game playing dramatically different but the subtleties is what will make the game great in the long run. On subtle gameplay element they added the past 2 years, the ability to break animations, that improved the game immensely. Its the small things that goes a long ways.

The game looks like it plays substantially the same. The infinity engine is NOT a game changer. It's a subtle advancement, at best.

I never said it would make it worse. I said it is a subtle advancement. I've played FIFA from before the "physics" stuff up until now. The advancements year-over-year were slow and subtle. I've heard this infinity engine being described as "monumental". It won't be. You can just tell from watching the raw gameplay videos that it won't be anything close to being a game changer. You EA fanboys can groan me all night long while you jerk off to the thoughts of some grandiose idealistic Madden experience, but at the end of the day, you know I'm right.

 

[spiker]

Haha don't let me ruin your fun. I'm just blindly hating on EA for no reason at all right? I have no reason whatsoever to think this way...

 

[Rayman]

Unfortunately, physics was never my biggest gripe with the game. I figured they'd get it down eventually.

:smh: @ no draft classes though. Really no reason to buy NCAA now.