NCAA Football 12 News Post

NCAA Football 12 Custom Playbooks, 40 Total Formations, 15 Off. and 15 Def. Playbooks

03:11 PM - May 9, 2011 by Solidice

The Gaming Tailgate has posted all sorts of NCAA Football 12 custom playbook information. Here is a bullet list, but head on over to get more details.

Total plays - The max number is 377, but it varies between 370-377 based on the team's base playbook.
Playbooks - 15 on offense 15 on defense
40 formations total
Can be used in Online Dynasty and ranked/unranked online games
Goal line and Special teams are in each playbook
...Also, I found this to be pretty handy, but your Custom Playbooks will show up after the Z's and before the A's in the order at the team selection screen. I think this is handier than alphabetical order because it will group all of your custom playbooks back-to-back so you can easily go from one to the other (when you have defaulted one of your custom playbooks as your default playbook).
...unfortunately there won't be any easy way to share custom playbooks. I'm not sure if you will be able to transfer save files or something between consoles or not but there is no dedicated online sharing like rosters has.

Game: NCAA Football 12Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 104 - View All

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Member Comments

# 41 209vaughn @ 05/10/11 10:44 AM

WOW!! EA has me seriously excited this year!! Hopefully NCAA 12 gets some of the presentation effects that Madden is recieving.

# 42 XMr HIT STICKX @ 05/10/11 11:07 AM

Here is the difference, custom playbooks is not to define to the style f the school, it's to fully define what YOUR style is, and not anyone else's, so limiting creativity and options would defeat the purpose. I for one loved this feature on the PS2, and I will definitely enjoy creating the Spread Option/Pistol Attack of my dreams, as well is creating the my 3-4/3-3-5 hybrid defense.

# 43 coogrfan @ 05/10/11 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theaub


	And you can do that yourself. Other people who want to have some ridiculous offense that ranges from a 5 wide set to the flexbone shouldn't be limited.

I agree with Ryno that this is completely un-sim, but I also agree that the only limits should be self-imposed.

# 44 smace767 @ 05/10/11 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RynoAid


	Really? i disagree with that. The box i play in is called SIM... and you don't see Texas Tech running the flexbone mixed in with their spread. You don't see Standford running wishbone sets or the Maryland I. The extra layer needed is "style". You should have to designate a "style" that limits the formations you can choose from... I'm not saying you couldn't have some option stuff in there as a spread team.. but it should be very limited selection. Again, all my opinion.

thanks rynoaid you beat me to it.

while 40 formations is only 20% of avail, lot of plays are the same concept out of a slightly different alignment. i'm sure there are a good 15 iso plays.

however i would like to see that additional filter and force some kind of range limit of playbooks. If you chose a style 70 percent of the playbook match that style. i mean a pass off can still have pistol, one back ect and even have a few different style formations.

I would like to see If you choose multiple playbook style then you are limited to 3 or 4 formations from each parent group,(shotgun, wishbone, pistol, i form, ace, ect...)

as a note uconn, ucla, utah st, illin, mich st, miami had the most diverse playbooks with only a max of 6 different formation types. and miami had the most formations at 23. The avg was like about 4 different parent formation types.

ncaa 11 parent formation types:

ace
empty
far
flexbone
i form
jumbo
Maryland
pistol
power I
shotgun
split
strong
weak
wishbone

# 45 da ThRONe @ 05/10/11 11:30 AM

Never was a big fan of custom playbooks. Glad so many of you are getting what you want. I'm of the mindset that all these additional plays and custom playbooks are rather useless until the CPU AI actually starts taking into account the way I call plays.

# 46 smace767 @ 05/10/11 11:46 AM

Create a playbook and put any formation you want but you should still have some type of base line. why because thats football. if the battle cry is EA needs to be more realistic, sim or whatever we want to call it.

Then having :

3 wishbone,
6 flexbone,
5 pistol,
10 shotgun
8 I
6 ace
2 empty

formations in the same playbook is about as bad as any animation, slide, warp or suction block in terms of realism.

Now it is a game and you should be able to make them and use them as you wish in single player. but in an od or online we should stick to a more realistic approach to playbooks.

Anybody who has ever played football knows there is no way you could implement the offense i listed above with any kind of realistic success of execution. There is a reason you dont see real teams diversfy to this extreme. Utah st, uconn and UCLA have very diverse formation sets but even they dont go that far out of their base approach.

# 47 coogrfan @ 05/10/11 11:52 AM

Two words--house rules.

# 48 NDAlum @ 05/10/11 11:58 AM

My girl is going to be so pissed...

# 49 NDAlum @ 05/10/11 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chia51


	How do you figure that? With being able to only having 15 offensive playbooks, you realistically will only be able to change 14 CPU offensive playbooks in dynasty (Considering that you change your own). So out of 100+ teams in NCAA you will only be able to change 1/10 of the teams "play calling". Granted you will never play all 100+ teams in dynasty and maybe only 20+ regularly, it still leaves a gap where you will be forced to go with EA's default playbook for that team. Unless you can add/delete/change pb's in dynasty mode and re-assign them to new teams. Now I look forward to this feature and playing with it. Just wish they would have let us create as many as we like and assign them to as many teams as we like.

Thought:

Create 14 playbooks for different play styles and assign to CPU teams accordingly.

So you can create 14 playbooks but assign them to whoever you want, right? That's my take

No more pocket QBs trying to run!!!

# 50 TheTodd84 @ 05/10/11 12:06 PM

This is so amazing. I cannot wait to make my team a run-first team with a multitude of formations. It won't be strictly option, but you can bet the zone read, the pistol plays and the flexbone and wishbone plays will be in there. S***. Just gave away my team's philosophy. Oh well.

My only question to EA is this... and it is a HUGE concern for me as well. Will the CPU defensive play-calling be fixed? What I mean by that is... will the user have to go into to every team's coaching philosophy during a dynasty and turn down the blitzing so it is realistic?

I can remember a couple of CPU teams I played in a "Play Now" game and in dynasty before I made the adjustments literally blitzing 80% of the time. That's just plain un-realistic. No team in the HISTORY of football has ever blitzed that often. The most blitz-happy teams in football history at any level have blitzed between 30 and 40% of the time, that's it. It's too kamikaze to blitz more often than that. I REALLY hope they have fixed this so when I am doing a play now before the custom rosters come out, I'm not breaking 80 yard runs with a power back on 1st and 10 because the CPU sent their 4th engage 8 blitz on the 4th consecutive first down and there is no one home deep to take the angle on my RB and he is gone to the house. God, that was irritating. Don't get me wrong, I love racking up 400+ rushing yards as much as the next guy, but I want to do it realistically, so it is more rewarding.

So anyway, that is my biggest concern.

# 51 blkrptnt819 @ 05/10/11 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theaub


	And you can do that yourself. Other people who want to have some ridiculous offense that ranges from a 5 wide set to the flexbone shouldn't be limited.

Yes, Exactly! U can control your own sim experience if u so choose but don't limit ppl who pay their hard earned money.

# 52 mikehud @ 05/10/11 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RynoAid


	Really? i disagree with that. The box i play in is called SIM... and you don't see Texas Tech running the flexbone mixed in with their spread. You don't see Standford running wishbone sets or the Maryland I. The extra layer needed is "style". You should have to designate a "style" that limits the formations you can choose from... I'm not saying you couldn't have some option stuff in there as a spread team.. but it should be very limited selection. Again, all my opinion.

I kind of disagree with you. For instance, the NE Patriots will come out one play in a shotgun spread formation with 5 WR, then next play hit you with a three TE look, or multiple RB's. the reason this shouldn't be limited is that it's a game. in real life, teams may be limited by theire personnel. in a fantasy world, i don't think that should be limited.

# 53 blkrptnt819 @ 05/10/11 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smace767


	thanks rynoaid you beat me to it. while 40 formations is only 20% of avail, lot of plays are the same concept out of a slightly different alignment. i'm sure there are a good 15 iso plays. however i would like to see that additional filter and force some kind of range limit of playbooks. If you chose a style 70 percent of the playbook match that style. i mean a pass off can still have pistol, one back ect and even have a few different style formations. I would like to see If you choose multiple playbook style then you are limited to 3 or 4 formations from each parent group,(shotgun, wishbone, pistol, i form, ace, ect...) as a note uconn, ucla, utah st, illin, mich st, miami had the most diverse playbooks with only a max of 6 different formation types. and miami had the most formations at 23. The avg was like about 4 different parent formation types. ncaa 11 parent formation types: ace empty far flexbone i form jumbo Maryland pistol power I shotgun split strong weak wishbone

That defeats the purpose. What if I want a refined version on LSU's multi? Then what? I can't have it because it doesn't ft in a methodology? That ain't right! (Mike Gundy Voice)

# 54 blkrptnt819 @ 05/10/11 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smace767


	Create a playbook and put any formation you want but you should still have some type of base line. why because thats football. if the battle cry is EA needs to be more realistic, sim or whatever we want to call it. Then having : 3 wishbone, 6 flexbone, 5 pistol, 10 shotgun 8 I 6 ace 2 empty formations in the same playbook is about as bad as any animation, slide, warp or suction block in terms of realism. Now it is a game and you should be able to make them and use them as you wish in single player. but in an od or online we should stick to a more realistic approach to playbooks. Anybody who has ever played football knows there is no way you could implement the offense i listed above with any kind of realistic success of execution. There is a reason you dont see real teams diversfy to this extreme. Utah st, uconn and UCLA have very diverse formation sets but even they dont go that far out of their base approach.

Tht's not the point. Ppl can have pieces and parts of whatever offense the want especially in dynasty! My playbook is mostly based off pro looks but it will be a lot of pistol with some spread principles. Also I will diversify my redzone looks.

# 55 mikehud @ 05/10/11 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smace767


	Create a playbook and put any formation you want but you should still have some type of base line. why because thats football. if the battle cry is EA needs to be more realistic, sim or whatever we want to call it. Then having : 3 wishbone, 6 flexbone, 5 pistol, 10 shotgun 8 I 6 ace 2 empty formations in the same playbook is about as bad as any animation, slide, warp or suction block in terms of realism. Now it is a game and you should be able to make them and use them as you wish in single player. but in an od or online we should stick to a more realistic approach to playbooks. Anybody who has ever played football knows there is no way you could implement the offense i listed above with any kind of realistic success of execution. There is a reason you dont see real teams diversfy to this extreme. Utah st, uconn and UCLA have very diverse formation sets but even they dont go that far out of their base approach.

the only reason you don't see a lot of this has to do with coaches ego. may coaches get enamored with their system and only want to work in that box. some coaches like to pick and choose and do what best suits their personnel, not try to shoe-horn personnel into their system. i'm all for it. makes the experience a little more enjoyable. say you are a spread team, but you have a back that you might want to power through some teams with. you can swap in a formation of your choosing to suit that need or desire. or if you just happened to like some plays from a formation, throw them bad boys in. i don't get why folks want to put some kind of limitation on it. IT AIN'T REAL and WON'T EVER BE!!

# 56 RColemanVT @ 05/10/11 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smace767


	Create a playbook and put any formation you want but you should still have some type of base line. why because thats football. if the battle cry is EA needs to be more realistic, sim or whatever we want to call it. Then having : 3 wishbone, 6 flexbone, 5 pistol, 10 shotgun 8 I 6 ace 2 empty formations in the same playbook is about as bad as any animation, slide, warp or suction block in terms of realism. Now it is a game and you should be able to make them and use them as you wish in single player. but in an od or online we should stick to a more realistic approach to playbooks. Anybody who has ever played football knows there is no way you could implement the offense i listed above with any kind of realistic success of execution. There is a reason you dont see real teams diversfy to this extreme. Utah st, uconn and UCLA have very diverse formation sets but even they dont go that far out of their base approach.

This is the kind of thought process that keeps people like Bryan Stinespring in their coaching positions. Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean you can't find ways to implement it. I have been experimenting with the flexbone as a spread style formation, and it works pretty well. So if I want a spread playbook with some pistol and shotgun, but want to add in a flexbone formation to give a whole different look and feel to the offense I should be able to.

# 57 Cubone_Jones @ 05/10/11 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikehud


	the only reason you don't see a lot of this has to do with coaches ego. may coaches get enamored with their system and only want to work in that box. some coaches like to pick and choose and do what best suits their personnel, not try to shoe-horn personnel into their system. i'm all for it. makes the experience a little more enjoyable. say you are a spread team, but you have a back that you might want to power through some teams with. you can swap in a formation of your choosing to suit that need or desire. or if you just happened to like some plays from a formation, throw them bad boys in. i don't get why folks want to put some kind of limitation on it. IT AIN'T REAL and WON'T EVER BE!!

You see that all the time. I'm the most excited about the tweeks made year to year in dynasties. My hometown team, the Missouri Tigers, slowly turned into the spread team they are today under Gary Pinkel. Brad Smith came on in the early 2000s and it opened the door to add a few more shotgun/spread sets and run a few options. Chase Daniel then came and it allowed for those same spread sets to be transformed into a pass-focused offense. As Mizzou might recruit a top flight halfback, perhaps they add a few more under center again. Who knows? All I know is I'll be switching up the playbook and LOVING it every season.

# 58 smace767 @ 05/10/11 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NDAlum


	Thought: Create 14 playbooks for different play styles and assign to CPU teams accordingly. So you can create 14 playbooks but assign them to whoever you want, right? That's my take No more pocket QBs trying to run!!!

I agree but i will not use all of my playbooks for cpu teams. I will have 7 base playbooks to work with and have two more open i can use if i want to use in ods with teams specific adjustments. i will make 6 general play cpu type styles as well. using the same concepts i use for my own but using more formations and plays that i might not run myself.

playbooks for me:

base playbook-will include all the plays i like and fit in my core concept of offense for equal matchups and 5* plus type teams

lower level base-a little more conservative playbook used against better teams while i still have decent level playmakers.

conservative- playbook where i have few true play makers and no threat at qb, not many shotgun or wide runs not many pulling lineman. zone block quick hitters and dig routes.

finesse- used if i have a few decent skill players, wildcat, empty, screens, draws.

power-if i have a good oline and hbs in comparison to the defense, power, wishbone, overloads, power i, multiple heavy te formations

machine gun-if i have a wr corp that needs to get the ball, 5 wide, 4 wide bunch heavy houston texas tech hybrid offense.

dual threat- QB is the playmaker lots of speed option spread option, shotgun passing. think FSU charlie ward type offense

Florida will be the base in most cases so i can use their goaline package. this alone will allow me to run some wishbone and power i without having to include those formations.

now none of these will be as restrictive as the description but 250 to 300 of the plays will fall in that descriptive category. the remaining 100 plays are to break tendencies and diversify somewhat in case injury or weather cause a style change.

# 59 smace767 @ 05/10/11 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RColemanVT


	This is the kind of thought process that keeps people like Bryan Stinespring in their coaching positions. Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean you can't find ways to implement it. I have been experimenting with the flexbone as a spread style formation, and it works pretty well. So if I want a spread playbook with some pistol and shotgun, but want to add in a flexbone formation to give a whole different look and feel to the offense I should be able to.

dont get me wrong you are not following what im saying. most teams have every parent formation. and can lineup and run a play.

The point is texas tech does not have time to get the timing of their offense, then include 40 flexbone plays, 30 wishbone plays and another 60 power run play.

When i list those formations its with the implied fact that each formation has multiple 10+ plays in them to practice, get site adjustments and hot reads, oline assignments vs every front or potential blitz pressure/ coverage.

There is a difference between texas tech running a flexbone play or wishbone play ect.. and running the flexbone and wishbone as a significant part of your offense with multiple formations and plays in each set included in the normal gun offense.

# 60 Unpozibowl @ 05/10/11 01:10 PM

For me 15 defensive playbooks means 3 for me (base/balanced, power run/option def, pass heavy/spread def) and 12 customized to the 12 teams I play that year in dynasty... no more engage 8 blitzes! It'll be nice to try to give defenses some realism (sliding and super jumping aside).

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NCAA Football 12 Custom Playbooks, 40 Total Formations, 15 Off. and 15 Def. Playbooks