One of my favorite movies is I robot, on that movie the main character receives a hint and has to follow it, similar to the children book Hansel & Gretel, well... what if Madden left us a bread crumb? there’s 1 element on the game, where no matter what we can see the effect of awr and that’s awareness with pass cone vision.
I’ve developed the theory based on my personal experience and some fill the blanks, I have no way to prove it, but I would like to share in case it helps.
My believe is that the whole game is built on a similar principle to the cone vision, having attributes as AWR that provide “players vision” on the QB it’s easy to prove as will see below, but in other positions as LB, DL, CB, etc I think it follows a similar cone, in alternative versions of madden this is actually visible and exist with tackle cone. My theory is that there are 3 types of attributes.
Movement attributes: Speed, acceleration, agility, these attributes allow players to move within their vision areas, or change to different areas.
Positioning/Reasoning attributes: Mainly awr, with the same effect as the cone on QB, I also believe catch and tackle can impact here, personally I think tackle improves the way a player position on field, same with tackle. But the main one is awr
Reaction/Trigger event attribute: This is the most simple and yet complex, it’s a binarial reaction, after all that’s how computer works. Here I would include attributes as strenght, catch, tackle, height, weight,tha etc, These attributes are the ones that determine the result of an interaction, example catch or drop the ball, make the tackle or miss it, place the ball in a good or bad spot, etc. Yes or No
This is not an attribute but things as animation are a thing, and are the way the game represents phisically what we see, in my opinion the game is reactive and based on interactions within all the elements
When you mix all these elements we get deeper interactions, example if a defensive player pressures a QB or moves 1 OL, it change all the positioning-reasoning of the QB, or OL, you can see it, when see a QB do a bad throw under pressure, or when an OL is pushed and the HB modify it route, the QB or the HB doesn’t have understanding of whats happening, everything is part of how they perceive the field, I don’t want to ruin the magic of it, but it’s logical to think these are computer interactions, so my theory says, the whole engine is based on areas (as cone vision) and actions that activate as switches, like an automated door. A QB has high awr, reads the field faster, and detects there’s a WR open, how did it detect it, well the game recognize the separation, and sends a trigger. Thats why younger QB takes more sacks, as take longer to find these open receivers.
The game we see,at least for me, it’s just a huge mix with all the elements, attributes do matter but there’s a huge ammount of luck needed, after all think it as if every play were, 22 dices being rolled, better teams usually wins because has just better odds.
At some point I’ll expand this theory, or maybe not, I tend to abandon projects, I would love reading your comments, and ideas could improve this. Ultimately I don’t think any of this represents a competitive adventadge, after all, we all know awr matters, and sometimes it doesn’t, speed does, and sometimes doesnt, I think the beauty of this is to keep trying things, keep trying players, and see multiple different interactions, with enough time, I guess anyone could modify attributes and kind of find what works and what doesnt, but that would be boring (not saying this as in norb articles, those are different, is an stats analysis and I love he share that) Im talking about doing drastic test with modified attributes, to find thresholds, what matters, what doesnt, etc. Personally I’ve been saying from years, the way I find how this game works, I’ll quit, because my biggest fun is to develop theories as this one, just to see them fall, or adapt, maybe that’s why I love seeing players as Polamalu or Peppers out of position, and having too many questions, it’s great, I’ll leave something wrote in discord for see if someone complements to it:
So I would love to read your theories and thoughts... In your opinion what makes a QB take more, or less sacks? I think OL, AWR-& QB Tendency (scrambler) are the obvious answers, but is there something else, is it just luck? or game moment? Brunell has 3 sacks, in 6 games, 189 pass attempts, with an OL is far from being top, even playing a guy out of position at guard because couldn't afford the AP move. Having simming multiple games with him, when was trying to adjust the system, noticed minimal sacks, most games he ended on 0 or 1 Brees last season had 38 sacks in 432 pass attempts, with a better OL, had elite RT Walter Jones, now this season has the same 3 sacks as Brunell, but in 45 pass attempts. Both have Pocket tendency, I would say Brees being 6"0 could play a factor, but... Brunell is 6"1 not necesarily that tall. What are your thoughts?
Bryan did mention something interesting about passes thrown before being hit, so maybe DE/LB were there but QB did throw, so pass animation and pass release speed could play a factor, maybe? That would make sense as DE-LB trigger the zone of the QB, he feel pressure, triggers the pass action
QB cone vision
Note, sometimes the cone gets a bit bigger as WR are depper or 2 WR are on same zone, the size is never 100% exact, but is an excellent reference, as will see the differences are massive.
QB Alex Smith - 67 awr
QB Chris Simms - 71 awr
Note: here can see, the difference of size in 2 different situations
QB Ben Roethlisberger 76 awr
QB Trent Green 84 awr
QB Chad Pennington 92 awr
QB Peyton Manning 99 awr
Ty for read
