Attention Marauders

[simmer]

Does anyone have any suggestions for the poor angle tackling when in an open field tackle should be made, and the defender dives at the ball carrier as he is running behind him and misses him completely. It looks to me that the dive is premature.

[simmer]

Anybody on the test team????

[therhino]

I have noticed it a little, but what can we do.....

[simmer]

I would think that this is something in the constaints file. But I wish I knew what part of the defenses this is other than editing tackles. This looks more like positioning of the player.

[garysorrell]

Maybe Todd has more insight into this, but it wouldnt suprise me if this is just how the animation looks, and has nothing to do with the actual tackle. Im no programmer, but it could be that the decision of whether there has been a tackle or not has been made, then the game runs a dive animation. When pursuing from behind, maybe the dive is the primary animation used for a tackle attempt.
This may be similar to something, I think, elmerlee brought up....about mark of the ball and where the ball appeared to be when the player fell forward when tackled. When the tackle is made, the game decides somehow, where the ball is spotted.....forward progress. The animation on the other hand, is just what is shown. So the actual spot of the ball is decided and the animation is not necessarily taken into account.

Or, I could be completely wrong.

[Marauders]

As many of you know, the beta team just tested the game; we did not program it and have not been given copies of the code to look at these kind of things in detail.  In retrospect, it would likely have been better for a one-man developer to go over each aspect of the game with a knowledgeable and dedicated development team to make sure each area worked well, but for better or for worse, that isn't how it was done.
 
As Gary stated, the game likely has a trigger for the dive, and that is when the animation is played.
 
As far as poor angles go, one must know a bit about how the game runs players with the AI and do one's best to put the defensive players in the best position to make plays.  Sometimes a command can make or break a play on defense because it takes a player to the wrong spot.  This is sometimes frustrating, but in can be realistic if the defensive scheme does not always match up with the offensive scheme well.
 

[Marauders]

Does anyone have any suggestions for the poor angle tackling when in an open field tackle should be made, and the defender dives at the ball carrier as he is running behind him and misses him completely. It looks to me that the dive is premature.

 
On a side note, I don't think we want the defenders to always make the play as drawn.  That wouldn't be realsitic.
 
Maximum Football takes into account the position, speed, and agility of the players on the field.  Players get out of position and miss the play, as do real players in real games.  I do see defenders take bad angles if the in Maximum Football, but there isn't much we can do about it other than try to create better defensive schemes.  The dive animation is a last gasp effort that means the player was beat.
 
To keep this to a minimum, one has to try to keep defenders in a position to make the play.  Not only do zones have to be set up in a way that defenders can get into them quickly, but man coverage must be set up to match the depth and skill of the defender with the potential receiver.  The game has some quirks on defense, but one has to isolate them and work around them the best one can.  
 
The PDS is a powerful tool, but it has its limits, as do all play creation tools for all football games.

[Mykal]

Well I wasnt on the test team
but graphics and animation I do understand

the answer here is as Gary already stated
the game engine has already decided that the tackle will be missed
unfortunately the animation for a missed tackle in this situation is a little ugly at best

would have been better if the tackler got a little closer and was shrugged off or stiff armed away
but the outcome would still have been the same
so you'll just have to make do simmer, it is what it is

[Marauders]

... the game engine has already decided that the tackle will be missed
unfortunately the animation for a missed tackle in this situation is a little ugly at best.

 
It would be nice if the dive worked sometimes and that it wasn't the only animation for this.  Just having players let up would be fine every once in a while.
 
I do see real missed tackles though, especially when a running back is pounding through the line, and that is a good thing.