This past Thursday, EA Sports released the latest title update for Madden 19. The Madden 19 December update included changes to gameplay tuning, computer controlled coaching AI and more. One of the biggest changes that players might notice involves the effectiveness of the “steerable” spin move along with an improvement to one of the most popular defensive coverages in the game – Cover 3.
According to the Madden 19 site, here’s a rundown of this month’s updated game modes and various gameplay features:
In game improvements and updated features:Â
- Additional Cover 3 logic
- Ice the Kicker improvements
- Defensive AI play calling update
Madden Ultimate Team
- Added Play-a-Friend to MUT Squads via password matchmaking
Franchise Updates
- Re-implemented previous version of Franchise Player-lock Camera
- Addressed a save file crash
- Fixed an issue where some players were missing Career Stats data
- Addressed an issue where Super-sim could become stuck after a CPU player timeout
Tuning
- Increased fumble chance when hit with a Hit Stick tackle during a steerable spin ball carrier move – this applies to all Game Styles and difficulty levels
- Fixed an issue causing a fumble when the QB would break a sack during the throw animation – the ball will now be released and will result in an incomplete pass
Special Teams
- Added logic for Ice the Kicker so that when the kicker is iced by the opponent, the iced state will remain intact for the remainder of that drive
- Added logic for Field Goal blocks to prevent players from spamming the Off the Line mechanic on RT/R2 to achieve a perfect jump on the snap; mistiming the button press will result in an early jump animation, a stamina penalty to that player, and possibly an offsides penalty – this new logic applies to all Game Styles and difficulty levels
Pass Coverage
- Fixed an issue with Cover 3 Match where the outside third defender didn’t always convert to man coverage against certain vertical routes
- Added logic for Cover 3 Match to prevent the Hook-Curl defender from converting to man coverage on receivers running short crossing routes
- Added logic for Cover 3 Match for the Seam Flat defender to search for and quickly match routes going to the flats after the Hook-Curl defender avoids matching
- Added logic for the Seam Flat defender in Cover 3 to match wheel routes
- Tuned Cover 3 Match to speed up the reaction of the Hook-Curl defender when the #3 receiver to his side runs a route to the flat underneath two vertical routes
- Fixed an issue in Cover 4 Quarters to properly cover the inside-most receiver vs. Hail Mary Trio
Blocking
- Addressed an issue that would sometimes cause an RB hot routed to pass block on play-action plays to run past the line of scrimmage before entering his pass block assignment.
Overview
As you can see, there is a lot to unpack with this latest update. To start, the gameplay improvements such as increased AI playcalling logic, Cover 3 logic, Ice the Kicker fixes and the new MUT Squads mode that allows you to play with a friend will all cause a noticeable difference in your Madden gaming experience.
The AI playcalling fix is long overdue as the Madden community has been calling for more accurate and overall better playcalling from computer controlled teams for what seems like several years. Likewise, this improvement coupled with the changes to features such as Ice the Kicker and Cover 3 AI logic, will make the game more challenging, realistic and competitive.
There is certainly still plenty of room for improvement in Madden 19’s future updates. Are there any issues or bugs that you think need to be addressed in the next title update? As always, share your thoughts with the Madden School community in the comments section below.
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