NCAA 13: Updates from Community Day

[Renard]

to me the only real problems in the game is the

1. linebackers jump

2. CPU movement should be messed with...

3. different throwing, receiving and running styles would add personality and individuality to the game...

4. then additions here and there to dynasty

[speedtrucker]

Quote: Originally Posted by thelasthurtknee

thats good to hear and I hope your right. My worry comes more from how to apply the x's and o's to the actual programming. how they affect the ratings and then to the sliders. things like and this might not be exact but when you raise a qb's awarenss over 80 i think he scambled less. things like this are what need to be fixed. how pursuit works for offensive players also and raising for fb's and tes' actually helps the blocking assignments. things like this can and need to be globally fixed. im a scout and watch tons of video so I could tell them about the x's and o's but not how they relate to the programming, ratings and sliders. its all relevant to each other. if they just add a global slider than its all good and no worries. if not they need to fix a ton of stuff and I know they wont be able to get to it all. so maybe just mention a global editor. And if they really wanted to get the x's and o's right they would have some college coordinators in there over the winter. but again I think they cant get to it all. I would be so happy if they just give us the option to fix it and they can keep half assing all they want. just read mads post on how to get realistic gameplay and you will see all the rating and slider issues. Its not all ea's fault. im sure after laying thing on top of thing year after year they probably cant figure it all out. I dont believe that those guys cant get with a coach or read a book about, for instance the opton oline blocking and figure it out. those guys are smart but they implement it and then get the ratings right to go along with it then have the sliders be effective for both the zone run game(which seems to be what the blocking scheme is for everything) and the option? is that something they can handle? I know that they know they have alot of this wrong and they know how to fix it but will they? just give us a global editor and we can make it work. i remember in 01 writing a letter to ea asking if they could but something in to alow us to make a strength call for the defense. so when the O breaks the huddle I can call which side I want my SLB to and my WLB to . every team in the world does this. then make the logic for the AI to call to the te or number or what ever. this would fix the still on going issue of playing the cpu and anytime they are in zone the nickle is on the left (right side of D). I cant even have a real strength side for my D. simple things that make the x's and o's make sense.

always wished they would get rid of ROLB, LOLB & MLB listing and go to the more exact Middle(Mike), Strong(Sam), Weak(Will) and Buck/Jack LB for the 3-4 formation for Defensive positions. then hopefully they could properly line up as per the Offensive formation... TE on the left side, then the Sam switches sides with Will and so on rather than your ROLB and LOLB being technically out of position.

also wished there were the ability to designate your nickelback rather than creating a flat depth chart. I know you can do formation subs but that also cuts in to your total amount of formation subs you can make. I like to have a lot of formation subs on the offensive side of the ball like loading up heavy blockers or making plenty of WR changes to the 9 shotgun formations that are on my OD Pitt playbook. instead I have to constantly switch formations in the playbook during the game to get my top CB into the nickel.

[BenGerman]

As a long time fan of the series, it pains me to say that unless the gameplay is drastically altered, I won't be buying NCAA '13 (on release at the very least). Now, there are a few things they can do to "drastically" alter the gameplay. Here are 5 changes that while simple, are very much needed (in order of importance).

5. Red Zone: Unfortunately, theres actually a lot EA needs to fix here, but I'll start with a couple of simple things. First, we need to be able to effectively run the Fade Route. Even if they have to do something like making the user double tap the receiver icon for a lob, I'd be okay with it as long as the CPU utilizes it as well. This would include a plethora of WR/CB animations to give it a realistic feel. I'm not all together opposed to using some kind of mini-game for it either. It would be cool if when we threw the fade pass, a bar comes up (similar to the pin system in WWE '12), and if we miss it, the throw will be off target. If they're worried about it messing up the pace of the game, then scratch it, and just make sure its ratings based.

Another issue in the red zone, is the three most commonly used plays on the goal line are broken. Full-Back Dive, QB Sneak, and HB Iso. The Full-Back Dive works for all of the wrong reasons. Teams hand it off to their FB to utilize the players power. Instead (in NCAA 12), the defense isn't anytime to break into the backfield, and it often results in the fullback going in untouched. The QB sneak and HB Iso are broken for similar reasons. Both lines tend to collapse (the defense attempting to shut down the middle), often creating a large pile of lineman in the middle of the field. Here, it should be all about the battle in the trenches. If the O-Line gets the push, the Offense deserves the touchdown. A few different pile-up animations would be cool.

Another thing missing, and I know I'm beating a dead horse here, is the ability for the CPU to roll out and give the genuine threat of beating us with the pass, or on the run. I'll get back to this later though.

4. Remove the Psychics: This has been an issue for as long as I can remember. I know EA understands the issue, its just a matter of them figuring out a way to fix it all the while keeping Defense's good enough to stop the Offenses. A great start (and were going to start seeing a common theme here), is to make Defense more ratings based. For example, and shut down corner against a middle of the road WR is only going to mess up his coverage once in a blue moon. Rather than mirror the WR's moves, he should have the ability to stick with the WR because of his ability to cover. If a bad CB is guarding a great WR, the WR should be able to shake loose the CB without anything stupid happening (AKA the CB slips and falls, or starts to run slower for some reason). The interaction between the coverage and the receivers needs to improve ASAP.

3. Ball Trajectory: Without realistic ball trajectories and physics, everything else gets thrown off. Its pretty simple actually. A good QB with a strong arm should be able to rocket one to a well covered WR on an out route. A QB with a weak arm should have trouble getting it to that side of the field, thus giving the CB more time to react and make a play. There are plays in College and NFL football that are designed to get people to move up so you can loft it over the Defenses head (think of a smash route). If the QB is 15 yards from the WR, and a LB is 10 yards from the WR, there is no reason the LB should ever be close to the ball unless the QB mistakingly throws a bullet instead of putting some loft on it.

2. Special Teams: This wouldn't be such a big deal if NCAA 12 was EA's first college football game, but its not. Things like Punt Blocks, Kick Blocks, Punt Coverage, Punt Returns and Kick Returns are all non-existent without cheesing. The Lines blocking for the kickers shouldn't automatically become brick walls, not to mention, unless you time it perfectly, there is absolutely no way of getting in off the edge either. This needs to be fixed, and it needs to be fixed this year. Its been a long time coming EA, fix this.

1. Ball Carrier Logic/Running Styles: The single biggest thing that needs to be changed in next years game is ball carrier logic. I won't go to into it because I know MadSkillz has it covered, but the fact that the CPU runs like it has a small cone tied to its face its absolutely bewildering to me. Watch games like FIFA, and NBA, and you'll see that the CPU can detect openings in the defense and make them pay for it. This effects QB Scrambles, CPU Option, CPU running game, CPU passing game (WR's always run straight) and even Special Teams.

Another thing that is more of a presentation issue than anything, its running styles. Small guys take small, quick steps, and big guys take much larger strides. Also, it would be great if they added some passing styles as well. NBA, and MLB have hundreds of different throwing styles. Why can't NCAA add this?

Honorable Mention- Weight Detection: Recruiting a 350 pound lineman should effect both the strength of the player, and the fatigue and speed of the player. Same with a 150 pounder. He should be more likely to get slammed, but a little more likely to find those small holes.

[CuseGirl]

depth chart sorting? I'm just saying.....

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gotmadskillzson

All I want to know is have you guys seen NCAA 13 in motion yet ? Because if they have that same stiff robotic looking animations when they are running, it is going to be another long year. Same thing if they haven't fixed the cpu ball carrier vision logic. OR Fix the 1 on 1 logic when the cpu ball carrier comes upon a defender. All that straight line running, I'm going to run directly into the defender and not even attempt to use my special moves to get PASSED the defender by the CPU ball carriers need to be fixed. Along with special teams complete over haul. So anyway yeah back to my original question, have you guys been shown NCAA 13 actual live game play yet ? Not that scripted intro stuff, the actual game play.

Exactly. People can talk about how much the guys know football but the Xs and Os aren't the problem for me. It's all the basic stuff that looks and feels poorly starting with player movement. There is so little weight and momentum that I'm just tired of it. Two years ago they promoted "locomotion" claiming it would feel so much different and be so much better and it barely did anything.

When I watch a real football game I'm constantly seeing RBs and WRs make subtle jukes to get past a defender by having them go sliding past. Sometimes they get tackled and others they break free. Defenders in NCAA 12 can just cut on a dime and mirror every move. It's terrible.

Cpu RBs all run with the same style no matter what their attributes and couldn't make a good move to beat a defender if their life depended on it in NCAA 12. Cpu QBs never tried to throw the ball to their better WRs. They could have the best WR in the country and he would catch two balls for 15 yards. But nobody says anything. If you played a basketball game where all the players felt the same and LeBron James only took 5 shots a game you would be pissed. Why do we accept the poor representation in the next gen NCAA series?

Honestly I want this game to be good but I miss the fun I had with the PS2 versions. There are only two games I've liked this gen and both had major flaws I had to overlook along with making a ton of slider adjustments to make it playable. I've had enough. I don't doubt the hard work the EA team puts in but after this many years on the PS3 this game I highly doubt we'll see any major changes. We need fresh blood at the top with a different approach. With the same guys running the show I just can't see a big improvement and it needs too if they want me to buy it this year.

[steelersfan77]

What hurts NCAA the most is that it caters to the online gamers and online gamers only. That's always going to be a user vs. user matchup in ranked and unranked matches. I don't get online but I know what it means to play an all user game. I play against my brother a hell of a lot as well as friends, right in my very own home on the flat. The game plays so much different when you know a ball carrier isn't going to run straight into a defender. I'm not expecting the AI to have the same ability as a human but damn it should be a lot better than what it is now. Look at Fifa, NBA2k, MLBtheshow, the AI is smart and fluid.

EA NCAA and Madden need to take a page out of other sports games that are at the top of the ranks and witness that what makes those games great is how smart the AI plays.

Godmadskillz, props to you by the way. I read your post on ratings a while back and while I never edited much of anything (global editor needs to be implemented badly, it takes way to long) your findings where stellar man. The fact that the ratings are that messed up in the game is terrible, simply terrible. Even then with some of the fixes it still wouldn't help the AI and even worse that some ratings wouldn't affect anything at all.

Look, I really want everything to be touched up and better represented, like the commentary (hasn't been changed in years), the presentation (the crowd, the atmosphere is dead) or fixes to dynasty (global editing of all teams schedules, adding DII schools, coaching contracts) but the main focus should be the gameplay, the AI and it's little glitches, cheats and all out stupidity that affect this game in a bad way.

German, I enjoyed reading your post but I don't expect them to add realism to this game when the little things can't be done right. Sad.

Yet, I continue to play this game....lol. I have no other choice.

[MrRudy]

Quote: Originally Posted by br329

Hmmmm wonder what this could mean?

More entrances that are stale after September and a few new mascots? Oh, and one style of long hair that is jet black and only on player models that weigh more than 215 lbs right?

[CuseGirl]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrRudy

More entrances that are stale after September and a few new mascots? Oh, and one style of long hair that is jet black and only on player models that weigh more than 215 lbs right?

those Predator Locks lolllll.....