Madden 09 Patch Details
(…from Operation Sports)
Regarding the patch status… Yes we submitted a patch to MS and Sony about a week ago. They are currently going through certification and all indications point to them going live some time next week. Please understand that it’s very easy for issues with the patch to delay the release of the patch. For example, if MS finds a new bug with the patch, it would easily be delayed by 2 weeks. We’re hopeful the patch will drop on or around 8/14.
What’s in the patch?
There’s a number of changes in this patch. Most would never be noticed by the average consumer but some were targeted at improving the experience as quickly as we could.
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.
What about some of the other early feedback on the game? Keep reading, we’re not done.
Patch #2 & DLC
Now that some details for patch #1 have been discussed, it’s important to note that we’re not done. We think it’s very important to continue to improve the game even after it’s release. We’re actually very happy with the non-patched product but having the ability to patch the game to make it the ultimate experience is fantastic capability that we definately want to use.
We’re already hard at work on the 2nd patch and are also evaluating releasing a FREE DLC. Here’s a sneak preview of what you might expect in future updates.
Patch #2 Possibilities
Please understand this list is under construction and won’t be finalized until we’ve received more feedback on the final game from the community.
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
The same warning comes with this one. We’re still evaluating these changes and are working hard to get them out as quick as possible.
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 (a variety of gamerpics that will show what community you belong to. make sure your community managers know you want an OS gamerpic.)
We’re targeting a mid-September release for patch#2 and the DLC but will give constant updates and screenshots as we progress.
I look forward to seeing all of your very constructive feedback next week when the game is released and will do my best to answer additional questions here.
Phil (Frazer)
10 Responses to “Madden 09 Patch Details”
Leave a Reply
August 13th, 2008 at 1:03 am
To be honest, the priorities are screwed up. The two biggest problems are the robo qb and no accelerated clock. It BLOWS my mind that they failed to include an accelerated clock again. But these things should be a patch ASAP, im actually waiting to purchase the game until a patch is available and i know it works without bugs. Not letting EA screw me again.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
No controller configuration, for those of us that have been buying and playing madden for years it is very difficult to get adjusted to the Xbox 360 controlls, the ability to change this would make this game SO much more enjoyable. nothing more frustrating than know what you want to do and not being able to find the right BUTTON!!!!
August 15th, 2008 at 10:10 am
i think that there should be trophies in the number 2 patch as i think that will be a great feature for madden. and also to fix the bug atm in franchise and online play
August 15th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
The accelerated clock and CPU sliders would be a very nice and helpful feature to include again. Thank you.
August 16th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
PLEASE LET US CHANGE GAME CONTROLS!! PLEASE
August 17th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
oh come on, the biggest issue is the cpu team punting the ball on 2nd down when in field goal range at the end of the half/game or how about the cpu running outta bounds when on the break away after an int/fumble….. surely they are taking this serious, who cares about configs and trophys and the stupid crap that has nothing to do with the game itself, fix the game then add the “helpful and pretty” stuff.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
FRANCHISE IS ALL SCREWED UP.. i cant start season 2.. it wont sim all preseason games to get to season 2… there is always one game.. i cant sim it.. cant play it.. cant do nothing.. so i waste time puttin a franchise together and cant even start the next season… please fix…
August 19th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Fix the freeze up issue that many are experiencing in Franchise and Online play!
My games freeze on the “pick the play” screen almost everytime I play. Happens about 1-3 minutes into the game. Screen freezes and you can still hear the sound still going underneath. I have to do a “hard power down”, so have stopped playing it.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I think the game is vastly improved from previous next gen installments; however, as you are aware and pointed out, there are some glitches that should/need be addressed.
It seems as though the second patch and DLC (whatever that means) will address the more glaring of problems. The game, for as great as it is, is virtually unplayable offline because of two (major) on the field issues: cpu players running out of bounds with open field in front and run blocking ai. The latter issue should be fixed by the implementation of sliders which are greatly needed.
I like the running game difficulty, but the cpu can’t get a running game of their own going because their blocking is horrendous, and the cpu running backs are obviously not going to be as elusive as a human controlled runner. Fix these two gameplay issues, and the game improves tremendously. If possible, progression of player attributes needs to be addressed. If not feasible with a patch, at least fix it for next year. It’s no fun playing franchise without the proper and realistic progression/regression of players based on their on-field play.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:04 am
Uh…… Can you guys fix the freezing problems in all the modes? I mean ya boy can’t even play a game without it freezing, and people kicking field goals in the 4th quarter makes the game freeze as well…. Online, offline, and franchise freezing…. please help us out