Re: ***OFFICIAL NCAA 09 Demo Discussion & Impressions***
 

I was really disappointed by the lighting, the dusk lighting anyway. As good as the player models look and as well as the game runs it's really evident to me how the visuals were further scaled back this year.

Re: ***OFFICIAL NCAA 09 Demo Discussion & Impressions***
 

lol, I tried out the Operation Darkness demo while downloading the game. That was a mistake. The gameplay in that game, to put it simply, requires a LOT of patience. Its a strategy game and just getting the demo scenario was taking a long time because things progress so slooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwlllllllllllyyyyyyyyy.. Sure enough, I eventually get that "NCAA Football 09 Demo Downloaded" alert, then all of a sudden, what seems like 15 more enemies pop up on the screen, eventually I just said screw it and quit it.

Anyway, copied and pasted from the other thread:

Ok, just played my first game with it, my first impressions:

First off, this game is without a doubt THE best current gen version yet. There's no way I'm popping '08 back in before July 15th. Its clear the dev team had much more efficient dev cycle than last year.

I don't wanna speak too soon..heck, i'll just say it now (if anyone experienced otherwise then let me know). At least on Varsity, the ability to effectively pressure the QB has been FIXED on both sides of the ball. One of the first plays I ran was a PA pass (we all know how those usually end up), and I was indeed sensing pressure after rolling off the fake, especially from the right DE who was fortunately held up by my tackle. I was sacked twice and pressured multiple times. I sacked the CPU 3 times and kept consistent pressure on him with various blitzes.

NO TURNOVERS!!!:woot:Not single INT or fumble!!! WHOHOO!!! CB and safety A.I. as well as LBs in zone coverage all defend the pass realistically. Receiver route running is also very good. Perhaps to my most pleasant surprise, the receiver A.I. when running a route/catching a ball near the sidelines is MUCH improved. Quick slant and out routes that would have resulted in the receiver going into a catch animation that drove him out of bounds in previous versions now results in the A.I. wisely halting on their toes and stretching out for the ball, making the catch, then falling out of bounds if they're off-balance. And this finally happens consistently it seems. Excellent EA!! Finally, thank you!!!

CPU quick snap is not bad. Honestly, the amount of time the CPU QB took to snap the ball felt realistic overall. I was ALWAYS able to make defensive pre-snap adjustments. Overall, I can't complain here.

Ball Carrier controls feels great! I must say wide-open gameplay is a VERY welcome addition so far EA! Running with the ball feels much more fluid than before and I can see this making the running game exciting with a fast and dynamic RB. Darren McFadden was indeed the right cover boy to represent this! But honestly, perhaps moreso than the this, wide open gameplay is welcome with me because the defensive seems to have not been neutered to help it stand out. I admit, Chris Wells did (somehow) break containment and get into the open field after first trying to run up the middle on a LB blitz that he'd otherwise have no chance if one of my defenders didn't allow themselves to get stiff-armed. But thats Chris Wells for ya, and I am happy to say that beyond that 25-yard TD, I SHUT HIM DOWN!!!:woot: So again, at least on Varsity so far, thank you EA for maintaining effectiveness of wise defensive schemes while implementing a new dynamic of the offense.

Crowd dynamics seem ok so far. Nothing about it really blew me away to be honest, but again, I didn't exactly have the volume cranked up given the time. I do like the new emphasis on stadium hostility with the route map shaking and/or QB getting rattled and forgetting which button was assigned to which receiver which can result in the player calling a hot route/putting in motion the wrong receiver and possibly screwing up the play. Nice! I have to be positively negative here. The presentation still needs work. It still leaves a lot to be desired. Cheerleaders are ok, but there are more important and effective elements to college stadium atmosphere and presentation than them. Pre-game entrances by both teams (making them authentic would do wonders for the immersion but even generic ones would be a huge improvement), actually seeing the players warm up during pre-game commentary, shots of the sidelines, shots of coach reactions to play on the field (watch just ONE college football game and tell me that doesn't happen at least 10 times), referees actually feeling like a part of the game, chain-gangs, pre-snap communication by defensive players (I do appreciate the gestures and bodily animations, though), crowd pans showing their reactions (you don't have to increase the LOD of them during gameplay, just during the pans) all of these are but a subset of things that I would not only notice more, but would immerse me a heck of a lot more than cheerleaders.

I appreciate the new method of hiding your playcalling by assigning each play on screen to a button on the controller while allowing you to visibly toggle specific plays. Thats probably the best method since the Dreamcast NFL 2Ks (VMU playcalling was one of the coolest things ever implemented for competitive football gaming)

Lastly for now, oh so thankfully, the programmers (i'm assuming algorithmically) improved the menu funtionality!!! But still, I can only say this for in-game menus so far. There's really nothing to do menu-wise otherwise. But man it feels good for them to be fluid again.

I have yet to play this game on Heisman so all these positives are tentative. However, EA, you do deserve this because I am confident this is your best NCAA Football installment yet: :y220e:

Re: ***OFFICIAL NCAA 09 Demo Discussion & Impressions***
 

If you think THIS game looks beautiful (which it DOES), just wait until you see Madden NFL 2009 in action live on a good HDTV...it actually does make NCAA look tame by comparison...

I have not had a chance to play the demo yet (that whole job problem cutting into my gaming time again) but I am curious to see if this is the same as the build we played last month at the Community Event or if it is closer to the one from earlier...it is gonna be hard for me to personally tell since I never played below Heisman level at the CD, but maybe someone like Pasta will be able to tell since he played both the NYC build and the Orlando build...

I am glad to see that just about everyone is in agreement with the two biggest themes from the Community Day event - 1) that the game controls are much improved and 2) that the game is really a lot of 'fun' to play...who know how long that will last (hell, even the mega-hyped GTA4 got 'boring' to a lot of people pretty fast), but its good to see that the community at large is seeing pretty much exactly the same thing that was reported from the Community Day events as far as initial impressions....

Re: ***OFFICIAL NCAA 09 Demo Discussion & Impressions***
 

enjoying the demo for sure, one thing i definitely like, and it may have been in last year and i didn't notice, but when you dive to make a tackle the animation the ball carrier makes varies based on how far away you dove to make the hit. what i mean is this, sometimes if you dive and are fairly close you will hit him in the chest/waist and he will fall accordingly. if you dive from farther away and hit him from the knees down he will flip forward as if having his legs cut out from under him. good collision detection there i think. player models are off the hook too, can't wait to see what f-kings comes up with on the rosters, should be able to really get the teams/players to look like their real life counter parts this year...

Re: ***OFFICIAL NCAA 09 Demo Discussion & Impressions***
 

Just had a classic game. I was Ohio State and LSU was up by 10 by the first half. Just before the Half ended I threw a Hail Mary and it got tipped by a defender but then my reciever caught it but fell short of the endzone. Awsome looking play. Anyway I got the ball to start start the 2nd Half down 10 - zip. The first drive of the half I scored a TD and it took a whole quarter. I was a idiot and decided to kick off to them instead of Onside kick with about 1 min left. Well I played def. and held them to a punt. I got the ball back with about .24 seconds left with no time outs left. I droped back for a pass and found my Tight End on the right side of the field wide open. He caught it but then stumbled but got control of his self before a defender caught up to him and ran down the side line for a TD. I am now up 10 - 14. I kicked off to LSU and they got possesion with about .14 seconds left. Well I went Dime and made my DB's go back. Well he hikes it and throws it to his wide open Tight End (I think) about 15 Yards up the field. He then sheds 2 tackles and runs for a 54 Yard TD. The clock is at .00 and I lost the game 17 - 14. Lmao.:spit: The Tight End he threw to was his impact player.

Only one INT in the whole game which the CPU threw. I fumbled one time with my QB who got hit on a sack.

Re: ***OFFICIAL NCAA 09 Demo Discussion & Impressions***
 

The punt return video that you posted reminds me that I was actually able to return a punt after having called for a fair catch, and there was no flag. Hope that was just a demo glitch or that I just imagined calling for fair catch.

Re: ***OFFICIAL NCAA 09 Demo Discussion & Impressions***
 

They only had 10 guys on the field?

Re: ***OFFICIAL NCAA 09 Demo Discussion & Impressions***
 

No, they had 11, but the RG was trapped all the way to the left and lined up as a TE. But there was a gap between between the Center and Right Tackle.