A Letter To EA on how to (Finally) Fix NCAA's Presentation Problem... - RaychelSnr's Blog

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RaychelSnr's Blog

A Letter To EA on how to (Finally) Fix NCAA's Presentation Problem... Stuck

Posted on July 11, 2012 at 11:23 AM.

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I'm a broadcast guy. A film guy. A creative pro. Nothing gets past me when it comes to camera angles, bad audio mixing, and mistimed lines.

So imagine my horror when I play NCAA Football 13.

The presentation isn't bad. It's solid, or maybe merely ok for a game. But solid presentation in video game sports means it's actually quite terrible in comparison to broadcast TV. Several games in our genre do a pretty good job of mimicking broadcast style presentations -- I'm looking at you The Show, NBA 2K and even Madden.

But for some reason, across the hall from Madden's excellent presentational approach is the NCAA team and what is quickly becoming the worst presentation in major sports titles. In fact, it probably is.

Can you think of a game that's worse?

I think we can establish there is clearly a problem here. So what's the solution? I've got a simple list of goals for EA's crew down in Orlando to follow when assembling this year's game:

Define what your are presenting. This one should be easy. You are either presenting a game as from in the stadium or on TV. Every other game in our genre has chosen the broadcast route because most people see sports from that vantage point so it enhances realism -- regardless of what the gameplay does. So NCAA team: freaking decide you are actually mimicking a TV broadcast. Nail that down. Internalize it. Honestly go to the Himalayas like Bruce Wayne did before becoming Batman and find yourself. Then come back ready to rock and roll.
Study college football broadcasts. Get in the film room and don't watch football. Watch the camera angles. Watch the score tickers, stat boxes, the commentary team. Watch how college football is presented on a Saturday. NCAA Football does not do this experience justice. It just doesn't.
Implement real camera angles. Now that you have studied broadcasts, you no doubt have realized that your game does not use actual camera angles. College Football broadcasts don't have dynamic swooping cinematic crane shots in between plays. They show shots of players, coaches, fans. It's all emotion. It's all passion. It's not a Steven Spielberg film. If you are confused, go ask your Madden brothers, they'll help you get started down the right path.
Make commentary flow. The commentary in NCAA Football has a serious problem. *wait 10 seconds before reading on* There are serious breaks between lines of commentary. *wait 5 seconds before reading on* And we all know conversations flow with massive breaks in between people talking right? *wait 10 seconds before reading on* So maybe this should be a point to fix next year eh?
Mix the audio properly. The first thing I notice about NCAA is how messed up the audio levels are when I'm in a game. The bands overpower the crowd, the crowd chants sound like 500 people are chanting them with the band overpowering everyone. The crowd noise period sounds like a studio crowd -- despite all claims to the contrary. Simply put, bring in any actual broadcast audio guy and have him work on the game -- because whoever is doing it now overall just doesn't get how to mix audio. I do it as part of my living, and I could spend three hours and have the audio mixed at more acceptable levels.
Stadium crowds are more dynamic than that. Remember those college football broadcasts? Remember how the fans were loud on defense? Remember how the fans would roar to their feet when a deep ball was thrown and they'd either erupt or a big sigh would be let out depending on what happened down field? Now ask yourself: Do the crowds in the game even remotely begin to convey this type of passion?
Make the week a storyline, not a bunch of random cut scenes. I want to give the NCAA team plenty of credit for a good start. Seriously. The studio updates and score ticker were great beginnings. But a college football week is more than that. There are storylines, other games affect your game. Commentators should make note of that -- they should be able to adequately describe the implications of what exactly is at stake. Let's use our imaginations and ask ourselves if an exchange like this would be amazing in NCAA (yes it's simplified and cheesy but just go with it)...and ask yourself if it's technically feasible. *spoiler* It is.

Reece: Well guys it looks like a major upset is in store here with this one. The #1 team in the Nation is going down tonight.
Brad: Thanks for the update Reece. Boy Kirk, I don't know about you but that makes this game a whole lot more important.
Kirk: It sure does, that means the winner of this game is now definitely going to be playing for the National Championship.

I mean...this isn't rocket science. It's time to go beyond novelty and add some real depth to the presentation.
Players aren't zombies. When a play is blown dead, players shouldn't randomly and aimlessly begin walking in every direction, bumping into each other or walking through each other. Is it that hard to give players a post-play script to move back to a huddle or to hurry it up back onto the line?
Hire someone to insert the actual records from each school and the NCAA into the game. I swear if I break an NCAA all-time receiving record for a game with 200 yards again, I'm going to cry into a pillow for the audacity of it all.
Finally, those stat banners and overlays? Starting lineups? Yeah, there should be more of them and more relevant items popping up. Ever notice how broadcasts will artificially insert storylines into games? For instance, show a stat box with QB #12's all time stats compared to the top record holders at Oklahoma for passing? Or in another instance a stat box or overlay with an old storyline from an old rivalry game. I know for a lot of big games the broadcasts will hearken back to the old games and show a picture or some video with a story of that game. Because College Football isn't just about the now, it's about the then. And Broadcast pros get that, people experienced the then and they see how it makes the now bigger.

What if you saw these types of overlays and knew you were closing in on, say, the actual NCAA record for all-time passing yards set by Timmy Chang? Would knowing you are 430 yards away not add some intrigue to a game? Would seeing an old rivalry result from the 80s not add context to the rivalry game you are playing? There's just so much unexplored territory here.

What would you all change about the presentation in NCAA Football for the 14 edition of the game?

Comments

# 1 tmab @ Jul 11

Great Article. I can't fathom why these haven't been added. I would have to agree about the stats, every time you put the game in, every year, if you complete a pass over 80 Yds, you have just completed the greatest play in college football history. Or at least that's what they want you to think.

# 2 BigSho31 @ Jul 11

If someone on the NCAA development team read this their head would explode a la the white supremacist in the "Clayton Bigsby" episode.

# 3 BSchwartz07 @ Jul 11

I like it, but let me add to your list....
11. Each game is different! When Ohio State smashes Akron my QB should not be jumping into the arms of his teammates like they just won a national title. Where is the excitement of a possible upset, or the drama of a high profile game? To have this you kind of need the low intensity of an early season snoozfest

# 4 chi_hawks @ Jul 11

Fantasatic points. Wouldn't have to listen to music on my headphones while playing this game for the first time in years if they could fix this crap and actually improve it into the average realm (let alone someday being "good").

# 5 GrnEyedBanditTN @ Jul 11

Very good read!!!!

# 6 statum71 @ Jul 11

OMG!!!!!

Somebody out there actually thinks like me when it comes to presentation.

Dead on. Excellent!

# 7 sparkdawg777 @ Jul 11

Great write up Chris. After reading your last few articles it seems you understand what this game is lacking. I am all for gameplay, but like you said presentation alone could make this game 10x better. I remember playing NCAA Basketball 10 and liked it just because of the presentation even with the gameplay being bad.

I just don't understand what this dev team does. Do they not watch film on how broadcast games are done? I think it is clear that they don't. It's really not that hard, I've been watching last year's games the past two days on ESPNU and already find things that are missing and could easily be added to 14. The thing I notice that is very different from EA's game that needs it the most is the crowd noise.

Crowd Noise- This should be the most important and easiest thing to implement into the video game, every other sports game does crowd noise well especially FIFA and NHL. The crowd is the most important because that is the base of the atmosphere, whether you are at a football game or watching it on TV the crowd is always going to be what makes college football the best atmosphere in sports. It's really not hard to do either, watch a football game on TV find the reactions from the crowd for each type of play result whether it be a 3 yard gain for the home/away team, 10 yard gain or 50 yard TD. Find out when the crowd realizes that it is going to be a big gain or TD. All you have to do is if you have ever been to your favorite team's game (I have season tickets every year to my favorite team) imagine you are at the game. What would YOU do if you were a rowdy fan according to a situation and result of a play. That's it, it really is that simple. If there was a 3 yard gain you would probably just clap, a 10 yard gain would be louder clapping and maybe a short/small yell if it was 3rd down, a 50 yard gain would be a small to loud build up to the realization that he is going to score and a louder roar when he does. Also you are going to be louder on defense according to the situation. There should be some sort of sound clip for a crowd specifically for the 4th quarter with under 5 minutes left. If you had different clips for these situations it would really add to the feel and THAT would be dynamic.

Another thing that would help for TDs is STOP playing the fight song as soon as he scores/crosses the goal line. The band doesn't have the instruments to there mouth ready to play as soon as he crosses or catches a TD, no they will react just as the crowd does and then play. Usually this is about 5-10 seconds depending on the situation. This also allows you to hear the crowd react, when the band is already overpowering as it is that is all you are going to hear. This should be ULTRA easy to do in the game, Touchdown -> pause 5 seconds -> band plays.

# 8 spartyon6686 @ Jul 11

Great read. Hopefully Mr. McLeod will read this too...

# 9 Retropyro @ Jul 11

One thing has been driving me nuts, the studio updates. They are crap, absolute crap! It's the exact same line everytime, "We've been watching this game all day long". Really? I want to reach through the screen and punch Reece.

# 10 sparkdawg777 @ Jul 11

Another thing I just found that could be cool is the commentary's sound being more dynamic. I'm watching the end of the Texas/Texas A&M game from last year right now, as the game gets closer to the end and it being a close game the commentators have to talk over the crowd meaning they are speaking louder than normal even in their conversations between plays. This happens a lot and would be really cool if it was added.

# 11 RaychelSnr @ Jul 11

Yeah Retropyro...you are completely right.

"We've been watching this game all day long. And Georgia strikes first. Georgia 7 Missouri 0. 14:30 to go in the game"

One of these things is not like the other.....

# 12 RaychelSnr @ Jul 11

sparkdawg777 -- I'd like to think so. I dunno. I've played NCAA for 12 years now, maybe more? I love this series. And it's just painfully obvious what it's lacking.

The crowd noise part of your post is especially true. I agree with it 100%. I could write a huge missive on the crowd noise alone.

# 13 RaychelSnr @ Jul 11

Also sparkdawg777 -- Another thing is that fight songs are played at a faster tempo if the score is a big score almost universally. I can think of multiple instances when "Boomer Sooner" or "Hail to the Victors" is played after a big score and it's a little faster and peppier than normal. To do this technically, you can actually just speed up the default files to like 110-120% and adjust some EQ levels to keep the audio replication accurate and you could easily achieve that as well. But the delay is so true. You score. The players celebrate and about the time they start going back to the sideline...fight song time.