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by Joe - jgand@pcfootball.net

3-23-05

As a community, the Madden gamers have been a pretty innovative bunch over the years.

We have been using Madden’s in-game creation tools to create teams and leagues that you might never have seen in any other game. We have created files to re-play seasons of the XFL, USFL and the WFL. We have created Arena League teams and High School teams to wile away our spare time. We have created Div I-A NCAA teams to settle arguments and hold our own playoffs. Some of us have even created teams from the movies so that those characters we saw on the screen can come to life…sort of. So as you can see, we Maddenites have been entertaining our brain power for a long time.

So how is it that we haven’t seen a good 3^rd-party roster editor since Madden 2002?

I know that the codes in Madden 2003, 2004 and 2005 have been very hard to crack and that some of the roster editor creators may not have that much time to devote to deciphering it. But because of what I have seen over in the MVP Baseball Community, I would have to say that we have been passed by on the innovation superhighway.

A few weeks ago when MVP Baseball 2005 came out I went down to my local Target and got myself a copy. I got it home and found that the game looked and played better than last year’s version. In this new (and last) version they included some mini-games that you can play to sharpen your skills. The Home Run Showdown is back, but new to the game is the Batting Mini-Game. It’s a good way to practice hitting the ball where you want it to go, and it is also very addictive. When we were kids we would always get in trouble if we broke a window when we were playing baseball. In this game, you get points for hitting the vehicles beyond the outfield fence.

The owner mode is also new, as the MVP staff has taken a page from the Madden development team. In owner mode however, you have to create a new stadium at the beginning of your tenure instead of trying to earn enough money to build your own as in Madden. It’s a good thing that I discovered ArtMoney can edit the amount of money you have in your ownership account.

Where did I find out about that? Over at www.mvpmods.com, that’s where.

These guys have all sorts of files to enhance your MVP playing experience, much as we do here at PCF with our Madden files. Among the files that can be found over there are:

• They have what they call “overlays” which allow you to substitute TV graphics for ESPN, WGN, FOX, FSN, YES and so on. I’ve tried them out in the game and they look fantastic! The only thing missing are the actual announcers for those networks, but I’m still holding out for Vin Scully.

• Like us Maddenites they also have rosters that you can download for the game as well as portraits of players that may be missing in the game. If you can’t find a portrait that your looking for, have no fear because you can always put it in the game using the EA Graphics editor that you can get at the NBA Live site at http://www.nba-live.com/eagraph. Of course figuring out how to insert those pictures and getting them to work in the game is another matter entirely.

• They have newer versions of stadiums in the game. For instance, someone “colorized” the Polo Grounds so that now you don’t have to play with that old, grainy, black and white look anymore. Now you can play at the classic stadiums in living color. Personally, I’m hoping for someone to create the “Field of Dreams” so that I can have Joe Jackson hit one into the corn.

But there is something that the MVP Baseball crowd has that we in the Madden community do not. It is something that we have been clamoring for for a long time now and we’re still waiting to see if anyone will take a shot at it:

There is a third-party roster editor for MVP Baseball that will work in the 2004 and 2005 versions of the game! The MVP Baseball crowd has not only a third party roster editor that allows you to set lineups, make trades and create new players, but one that allows you to input actual major league statistics for certain players through the use of Sean Lahman’s Baseball Database!

I tracked down this roster editor at www.glass4.com/rglass4 and started using it, and boy is it ever a great tool to use! What it does is extract the default rosters from the MVP database and allows you to edit it in any way, shape, or form you see fit. You can make trades and build a dream team for your favorite franchise, or you can do what I’m doing and create all-time rosters for each team. And since the Lahman Database can be integrated with the editor, you can give historical players the actual stats they had in their best year.

Needless to say I have now lost a lot of productive hours due to this discovery, and I have fallen behind in my quest to fill in all of the actual names on the classic teams for my Madden All-Time roster. Work will continue on this venture, I assure you. But what really gets me is that the MVP crowd has managed to put together a 3^rd-party roster editor, while the Madden community has not. Not only do they have their editor, but theirs can input stats that will show up in game play! Can you imagine what we could do if we had a 3^rd-party editor that could do that in Madden? I could have Instigator stats follow the team around from year to year, I could give players the same numbers in the All-Time teams, the numbering limitations wouldn’t exist, and the list is endless!

I have no idea if the code for the MVP series was easier to crack or if the programmers who made the editor are simply that good. But whatever the reason, it has been done to the delight of many historical fans such as myself. Now we don’t have to go into the game and search out a free agent that physically resembles Ted Williams. We can just go into the editor and change whomever we want into him. I only wish it could be that easy with Madden 2005.

This whole situation leaves me a little bit jealous, and also a little bit sad. Jealous because there is an editor for MVP and not for Madden; sad because this is the last series in the MVP franchise because of Take-Two’s exclusivity license with MLB. It’s a good thing that EA got their exclusive license with the NFL or else we wouldn’t even have that to look forward to on the PC next year.

In fact, for those of you who are still gnashing your teeth over the deals that EA made to enhance Madden, take a look at what is happening with MVP Baseball right about now. Because if EA hadn’t gotten that license we would be in the same boat with the MVP fans right now: faced with the prospect of playing Madden 2005 with no further updates or support from EA. Yup, no Madden 2006 if Take-Two had gotten that license, nor would we have had ESPN 2k6 to look forward to since they refuse to market their games for the PC.

I look at what they are doing over at www.mvpmods.com and wonder why we can’t do the same thing over here. Why can’t we create a roster editor that can be used in Madden? Why can’t we figure out how to alter the stadiums in the game to give them a classic or updated look? Why can’t we figure out how to replace the EA Sports scoreboard with graphics for FOX, CBS, ABC or ESPN?

I look at what is happening with Madden and only dream about what MVP could have done in the future. I look at what is happening with MVP Baseball and only dream about what we can do with Madden in the future, if we just put our minds to it. Instead of complaining about what we don’t like about the game, why don’t we do something about it? Why not make the game more to our own liking by doing what the MVP crowd has done? Could we do it? Sure we could!

So to all of you programmers out there or to all of you who have wondered the same things as I have…I want you to spread the word around. I am putting out a challenge to anyone out there who is willing to take it up to create a third-party roster editor for Madden. In fact, let’s make it a contest.

I’m announcing a contest to see who can create a third-party editor for Madden 2005 and/or 2004. The winner will be the one whose editor can:

• Change player names

• Change player attributes

• Change player appearance, including which face, hair color and style the player uses

• Change what equipment the player will use in the game

• Change what the players physical appearance will look like (muscle, pads, etc.)

• Change player numbers without being limited to the NFL standards

• Save all of these changes without corruption of the roster file or any other file within the game.

The prize? Well I have access to www.selectyourgifts.com through my new yob, and I would be willing to get an item off of that site with a gift certificate I have and award it as a prize to the winner. In fact, how does one (or more) of these items look as a potential prize?

I’ll keep this contest open until the release of Madden 2006. Afterwards we might just have another contest to see who can create a roster editor for Madden 2006, or whatever they plan on calling it next year. But for now, good luck, and may the best man or woman win.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go see if Babe Ruth can hit the Koufax Curve.

Until next time…