NCAA Football 14

[Eaglesfan27]

I haven't been this excited for an NCAA Football game in several years. The most important upgrade is that the CPU AI seems much better this year, particularly running the option. USC's most difficult opponent this year will almost certainly be Oregon, but in previous year's games they were one of the easiest because the AI ran the option so ineffectively. There are many other upgrades such as recruiting and more realism with recruiting visits (visits later in the year can have more impact, bringing in multiple WR's, QB's, etc on the same visit can cause them to lose interest whereas bringing in a hot shot QB and WR is a "complimentary visit" and can boost the chances of one committing if the other does.) Here is a video I just watched of a human getting torched by the AI option offense that has me really excited to play the demo which comes out this Tuesday:

http://www.operationsports.com/news/638286/ncaa-football-14-video-army-vs-navy/ (http://www.operationsports.com/news/638286/ncaa-football-14-video-army-vs-navy/)

[ColtCrazy]

I agree, this is the most excited I've been about football games, this and Madden, in while.

[Julio Riddols]

Can we really trust EA to overcome their shitty rep? I'm definitely taking a wait and see approach. If there is a game killing bug somewhere in there and it never gets fixed in NCAA or if there is no true coach mode and spectator mode added to Madden I won't be moving on from last years offerings yet.

I want to be able to coach against my friends online, and I want to be able to just sit and watch the game with them if we so choose to, and there is no reason for that not to be available in the game in all modes.

[MizzouRah]

Demo Tuesday? Woo Hoo!!!

[Eaglesfan27]

Demo Tuesday? Woo Hoo!!!

Yep!

[SlyBelle1]

Count me in...looks nice. Sadly, seems every year I experience the same cycle though.

1) Read about the new version and think it is going to be the next greatest thing...become very excited. Place my pre-order.

2) Download the demo and typically not overly impressed....BUT....I somehow chalk it up to "just being a demo" and go back to be excited again.

3) As it gets within 1-2 weeks of release, I start reading the threads that talk about people finding the game early....I get caught up in it and start looking myself. Then I remember about the season ticket and I just wait instead of running around wasting gas:)

4) I read all the impressions of people who get the game early....by most accounts the early impressions are always favorable.....my anticipation goes through the roof!!!

5) Finally.....I get the game in my hands and play non-stop.....the game is great and I think I will play it forever.

6) I then begin to notice little things....a bug here and a bug there. Penalties still stink. I spend a lot of times on the forums reading everybody else's issues. Slowly I start to get worried about the game and my excitement goes down.

7) I then try and figure out a good slider set since out of the box is never perfect for me. I try and use other peoples and my own....end up never getting it right.

8) Since I can't get the game to behave in a way that is somewhat realistic my playing time diminishes and it slowly becomes shelf-ware for me.

9) Then a series of patches come out renewing some hope....now I have to go through all the cycle again, especially trying to tweak the sliders. In the end, the patches make little difference.

10) I then rarely play the game and for the most part move on to Madden and Hockey, where I repeat the exact same steps with those games.

11) Then the next version starts to get talked about and it all begins again!!!!

You think I would have learned by now:) But nope, I continue to buy every year.

[cartman]

Those of us in Kodos' NCAA 2013 online league have been having a blast with the game.

[Izulde]

Didn't buy NCAA for the first time in a long time last year. Haven't bought Madden since... 2010 I think it was. Barring major changes, don't see either one ending anytime soon.

[Kodos]

Those of us in Kodos' NCAA 2013 online league have been having a blast with the game.

Yep. I found a trick was to just not read all of the "this game sux" threads on OS. Result: favorite version of NCAA since NCAA 2004 or so.

[MizzouRah]

NCAA and NHL.. probably the only two console sports games I play anymore.

[SlyBelle1]

Yep. I found a trick was to just not read all of the "this game sux" threads on OS. Result: favorite version of NCAA since NCAA 2004 or so.

I might have to try that this year....

[General Mike]

Those of us in Kodos' NCAA 2013 online league have been having a blast with the game.

Yeah, I had fun in Johnnyshaka's league for 13.

[SlyBelle1]

I didn't know this but after watching one of the videos, it appears in this version you can set overall different difficulty levels for offense and defensive....if you really good on offense, you can play at heisman, but if your really bad at defense you can play on varsity...really interesting idea.

[EagleFan]

It's EA Sports so I won't believe anything until I see it.

They can take that Madden franchise and flush it down the sh*tter. Every year it is the same promises for better gameplay and every year they can't produce anything close to a good game.

[Julio Riddols]

Those of us in Kodos' NCAA 2013 online league have been having a blast with the game.

I agree with this, my only major problem with 2013 is the deep passing issue and the lack of a very effective option by the cpu. The rest of the game is really good.

[Groundhog]

I've played NCAA 13 more than any console game in some time, but yeah, that long passing issue... I think it comes down to problems overall with the AI's defensive playcalling, which does a pretty poor job in certain situations - especially after audibles. I think the CPU definitely calls plays while knowing what you've selected, but seems to just choose from a random pass or run defense following that.

Will definitely be grabbing 14 post-release, assuming no show-stoppers. Seems to take around 3-4 days before the big issues surface.

[Eaglesfan27]

The demo tomorrow will be 3 minute quarters, full game. It will have the new coordinator cam available (as well as all of the old cams.) It will also have their new skills trainer available. The match-ups available to play are:

Alabama vs Virginia Tech
Oregon vs Texas A&M
Ohio State vs Michigan

[Eaglesfan27]

Link to some of the skills training video:

NCAA Football 14 Video - Skills Trainer - Operation Sports Forums (http://www.operationsports.com/forums/ncaa-football/638542-ncaa-football-14-video-skills-trainer.html)

[RedKingGold]

Count me in...looks nice. Sadly, seems every year I experience the same cycle though.

1) Read about the new version and think it is going to be the next greatest thing...become very excited. Place my pre-order.

2) Download the demo and typically not overly impressed....BUT....I somehow chalk it up to "just being a demo" and go back to be excited again.

3) As it gets within 1-2 weeks of release, I start reading the threads that talk about people finding the game early....I get caught up in it and start looking myself. Then I remember about the season ticket and I just wait instead of running around wasting gas:)

4) I read all the impressions of people who get the game early....by most accounts the early impressions are always favorable.....my anticipation goes through the roof!!!

5) Finally.....I get the game in my hands and play non-stop.....the game is great and I think I will play it forever.

6) I then begin to notice little things....a bug here and a bug there. Penalties still stink. I spend a lot of times on the forums reading everybody else's issues. Slowly I start to get worried about the game and my excitement goes down.

7) I then try and figure out a good slider set since out of the box is never perfect for me. I try and use other peoples and my own....end up never getting it right.

8) Since I can't get the game to behave in a way that is somewhat realistic my playing time diminishes and it slowly becomes shelf-ware for me.

9) Then a series of patches come out renewing some hope....now I have to go through all the cycle again, especially trying to tweak the sliders. In the end, the patches make little difference.

10) I then rarely play the game and for the most part move on to Madden and Hockey, where I repeat the exact same steps with those games.

11) Then the next version starts to get talked about and it all begins again!!!!

You think I would have learned by now:) But nope, I continue to buy every year.

Solid.

Happy to say I broke the cycle by keeping with the "buy every other year" strategy. This year, it's time for an update to Madden.

[EagleFan]

Solid.

Happy to say I broke the cycle by keeping with the "buy every other year" strategy. This year, it's time for an update to Madden.

Don't waste your money on Madden until they prove they can actually provide a good NFL product. I keep letting the fanboys on here sway me towards it only to find each year that it sucks harder than Crosby on a ref trying to get a call.

[BYU 14]

I played the hell out of 2012 and never got the same steam going with 2013, but I think this one will get my attention again if all the enhancements are legit.

[MizzouRah]

The demo tomorrow will be 3 minute quarters, full game. It will have the new coordinator cam available (as well as all of the old cams.) It will also have their new skills trainer available. The match-ups available to play are:

Alabama vs Virginia Tech
Oregon vs Texas A&M
Ohio State vs Michigan

Thanks!

[MizzouRah]

Looks like it's out.

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/NCAA-FOOTBALL-14-DEMO/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802454189b7

[Kodos]

Uh-oh. I was happily going to skip this year's version.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Took my kid some 3 hrs to d'load the demo. The only reaction I've heard so far (after the demo locked on the initial coin toss) is that defense on Heisman is brutal. (He's Bama vs VaTech).

His other comment thus far "it feels like playing Madden"

[MizzouRah]

I only played one game so far.. had a glitch in the first quarter and there was no scoreboard, so I never knew how close I was to running out of time on plays, second quarter it showed back up.

Plays a tighter game.. love some of the new presentation stuff. Passing feels great as does running.

[EagleFan]

His other comment thus far "it feels like playing Madden"

That's not a good sign.

[BYU 14]

Played the demo on All-American and left all settings on default except Q accuracy (35) and moved speed threshold to 15.

Not much of a sample, but I am really impressed with how the CPU executes read option now. It will make the game a lot more challenging as the CPU QB actually makes the right decision 9 times out of 10. Braxton Miller shredded me in a 17-7 loss as he pulled it every time the DE cam underneath. I really have my hopes up as gameplay seemed pretty tight in the 2 games I played.

Haven't bought Madden in a few years, so it was my first experience with the new engine and I like the way it looks, especially the stumble feature, as you can actually trip over a leg of a down player now instead of just galloping over it.

[Groundhog]

Beat Ohio St with Michigan 17-7 on defaults. Still felt like NCAA but the run game felt a lot better. I could see my linemen creating holes for me up the middle. Only face two option runs which were shutdown quickly, but the CPU had a few QB rushing plays on me that picked up big yardage.

[Butter]

Beat Ohio St with Michigan 17-7 on defaults. Still felt like NCAA but the run game felt a lot better. I could see my linemen creating holes for me up the middle. Only face two option runs which were shutdown quickly, but the CPU had a few QB rushing plays on me that picked up big yardage.

Sounds pretty unrealistic if UM is beating OSU. Try again next year, EA.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Sounds pretty unrealistic if UM is beating OSU. Try again next year, EA.

Easy there, butterman. Last year was very close and if I recall the year before Michigan won. The worm is turning ( though not likely this year).

[Noop]

Not buying. EA has fooled me far to many times. Plus, I do not have the time to play video games like I use to. I will stick to single player action/adventure/rpg/ games.

[BYU 14]

Just beat A&M with Oregon 37-34 in triple OT, tied at 21 at the end of regulation.

Offense is definitely much more wide open in this years version, though I was able to shut Manziel down running this time (He ran for over 70 yards last time I played this matchup)

The gameplay looks so much better to me that I can't go back and play '13 while I wait for release.

[WVUFAN]

Got a bad bug in the PS3 demo.

Playing as Ohio State vs Michigan. Late in the 4th quarter (only 56 seconds left), scored a go-ahead TD to put me up by 4. Michigan had 56 seconds and all three time outs. Ran the first play, pass complete for a 5 yard game. Then the QB sat on the ball, and let all but 3 seconds run off before snapping, and ran the ball. Then it let the clock run out on the last play. It was as if they had the lead. Ruined the entire game.

I like the gameplay, but (obviously) for a single player experience -- since Kudos can't be bothered to run a PS3 league (stares at Kudos with malice :) ), it's a gamebreaker.

[Comey]

Got a bad bug in the PS3 demo.

Playing as Ohio State vs Michigan. Late in the 4th quarter (only 56 seconds left), scored a go-ahead TD to put me up by 4. Michigan had 56 seconds and all three time outs. Ran the first play, pass complete for a 5 yard game. Then the QB sat on the ball, and let all but 3 seconds run off before snapping, and ran the ball. Then it let the clock run out on the last play. It was as if they had the lead. Ruined the entire game.

I like the gameplay, but (obviously) for a single player experience -- since Kudos can't be bothered to run a PS3 league (stares at Kudos with malice :) ), it's a gamebreaker.

Who in the hell is Kudos?

[Eaglesfan27]

Who in the hell is Kudos?

Kung's brother.

[Comey]

Kung's brother.

I thought it was Keng. Guess I was way off.

[Izulde]

Well, not everybody can be King.

[BYU 14]

Kong can

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

So this is my first time playing a football game since NCAA 04 on the XBox. I decide to do Ohio State Vs Michigan. I don't know what any of the buttons do, so I am hitting each button randomly to figure things out. Well I am not sure what button I hit, but I somehow ended up in Broadcast View and could no longer control any of my players or the action or call plays or anything so I had to quit out of the demo.

In my second game, I call an off tackle as my first call. I am running to daylight, no one is in front of me, picking up 5 yards, then ten, then 20, looks like a sure touchdown, but then I accidentally hit the left trigger which causes my player to lateral it ten yards backwards to the opposing lineman who catches it, immediately lumbers to the endzone and I am down 7-0.

I am not sure I am willing to spend 60 bucks to endure this kind of abuse :)

[SlyBelle1]

I am pretty much where I thought I would be with the demo...some things seem nice, while other things seem the same. The issues being reported concern me just like they do every year, we hold out hope that the final release fixes them.

Either way, I have already pre-ordered and plan to keep it....so we'll see.

[Toddzilla]

Got a bad bug in the PS3 demo.

Playing as Ohio State vs Michigan. Late in the 4th quarter (only 56 seconds left), scored a go-ahead TD to put me up by 4. Michigan had 56 seconds and all three time outs. Ran the first play, pass complete for a 5 yard game. Then the QB sat on the ball, and let all but 3 seconds run off before snapping, and ran the ball. Then it let the clock run out on the last play. It was as if they had the lead. Ruined the entire game.

That's pretty much exactly what UVa and Mike London did last year vs Va. Tech to lose the game.

[WVUFAN]

Kodos. I always read his username and think "Kudos".

Plus, you all are jackasses. :)

[Kodos]

Kudos to you, WVUFAN!

[MizzouRah]

TRU - in store only, get a $25 gift card with purchase of NCAA 14

http://blog.frontburnr.com/toys-r-us-blue-chip-ncaa-14-offer/

[finketr]

TRU - in store only, get a $25 gift card with purchase of NCAA 14

http://blog.frontburnr.com/toys-r-us-blue-chip-ncaa-14-offer/

i haven't bought anything on release day in a very long time.. though this might do it for me.

[MizzouRah]

i haven't bought anything on release day in a very long time.. though this might do it for me.

Yeah, I think I'll go looking for a TRU myself. :)

[finketr]

Yeah, I think I'll go looking for a TRU myself. :)

I live within non-summer walking distance of a TRU. Summer-temp = 100+ right now... but the $25 knocking it back to $34 essentially and with a 2 year old . .

[Bobble]

... but the $25 knocking it back to $34 essentially and with a 2 year old . .

Wait, you have to give them a 2-year old baby to get the discount!? :eek:

[Eaglesfan27]

The ultimate team mode will have Bo Jackson in it.

[MizzouRah]

Wait, you have to give them a 2-year old baby to get the discount!? :eek:

Darn it, my youngest is 11. :D

[BYU 14]

Anyone getting the early Season Ticket release on this today? Curious to get impressions of the full game.

[cartman]

Anyone getting the early Season Ticket release on this today? Curious to get impressions of the full game.

Yep, I'm planning to do so. Thanks for the reminder!

[BYU 14]

Yep, I'm planning to do so. Thanks for the reminder!

Cool, looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Tomorrow is hair day for the wife so I may just sign up for ST since I will have lots of free time. :)

[cartman]

Have to wait another hour until the download is available.

[Kodos]

An early review.

http://kotaku.com/ncaa-football-14-the-kotaku-review-678626584

[BYU 14]

Some clips from early access from tradition sports. Gameplay looks good and I like the CPU decisions on option (minus 1 play) :)

NCAA FOOTBALL 14 GAME PLAY MIX - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLf4CLI5Ehw)

[Kodos]

And another.

NCAA Football 14 Review (Xbox 360) - Operation Sports (http://www.operationsports.com/reviews/714/ncaa-football-14/)

[MizzouRah]

how ai and what color are mizzous 5th alternate jersey?

[MizzouRah]

NCAA Football 14 Review - GameSpot.com (http://www.gamespot.com/ncaa-football-14/reviews/ncaa-football-14-review-6411054/?tag=Topslot;Slot2)

Oh wow...

[Kodos]

Yeah, they didn't like it.

[MizzouRah]

Yeah, they didn't like it.

I don't mess with recruiting, I let the CPU handle that stuff. Seems like the game play is solid, which is all I ever care about.

One thing EA seems to do is stick with the same boring commentary year after year in their titles. (NHL is the same ol same ol as well)

[Kodos]

Maybe we can turn off commentary and just listen to the PA guy?

[Jon]

How do I get to the season pass download for ps3?

[ColtCrazy]

Gamerankings average is 80 so far, with the gamespot one being the low outliner. Seems like a "same old, same old" review.

[Izulde]

The changes to recruiting actually have me considering picking up the game. The whack a mole call and spam system was so tedious I gave up on dynasty mode and R2G felt stale. No changes there so it's stale there, too.

[cartman]

Just tried a quick game in coach mode. For the first time in a while, you can actually just coach. Even for kicks. You just press a button to hike the ball, and everything else happens automagically. The option is MUCH better than last version it actually works. And you can also get pressure on the QB with just the front 4, and safety blitzes seem to work as you'd expect them to. Liking what I'm seeing so far.

[Izulde]

Non-tedious recruiting *and* authentic coach mode? Guess I'll have to keep an eye on it.

[Mota]

I'm in for sure. And with no CPUvCPU in Madden 25, I may not be picking that one up for the first time in many many years.

I just got Action PC Football 2013 and I'll probably use that as my football sim for the year (unless we get a new FOF), and play a bunch of NCAA 14.

[BYU 14]

Thinking AA may be the mode this year, playing with sliders and really liking the results I am getting. Just had a fun shootout with A&M and Oregon. Hope things stay consistent with the release.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Enjoying the game so far. I was wondering how many people use online dynasty for the single player experience?

I have to say I like being able to see my highlights and box scores on the computer screen. Makes it seem more real. Perhaps I am easily deluded :-)

For recruiting, I wish the game allowed you to have more than 35 recruits on the big board because if a player isnt on the big board you cant recruit him. I feel like it is too tedious adding and subtracting people. If I only have 6000 points anyways, why cant I recruit whomever I want? Why does it have to be limited to who is on my big board? Ah well, not a huge deal, but it may lead me to just having the computer do the recruiting for me.

[cartman]

I haven't tried online dynasty for single player. I'm likely going to set up an online dynasty here to run in parallel with Kodos' NCAA 13 one. Not sure of the specifics yet, but I'm strongly leaning towards a coach-only one.

[Kodos]

A rival OD, eh? WE WILL BURY YOU!!!!


;)

[BYU 14]

Enjoying the game so far. I was wondering how many people use online dynasty for the single player experience?

I have to say I like being able to see my highlights and box scores on the computer screen. Makes it seem more real. Perhaps I am easily deluded :-)



I do the same thing for the same reason, increases the immersion for me.

Really looking forward to tomorrow, I have a completely different approach to sliders this year and I really like what I am seeing in the demo taking penalties from a different view, hope they hold up in retail.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've been playing since early this morning and I'm loving this version so far. Best version in a long time for me. I'm playing Offense on All-American, Defense on Heisman and the teams that should beat me are doing so. The teams I should crush are also happening. Oregon's offense was fun to mess around with for that test. I'm only adjusting a few sliders (QB accuracy to 15, Speed threshold to 20-25, WR catching to 45, and Interceptions down to 25-30) and leaving everything else at default and I'm getting great games. My offense line is really pushing around inferior teams but struggling with tougher teams. Marquise Lee is unbelievable in the open field and I love all of the moves you can make just using the lwft stick if you have an elite player. I'm also glad to see that the computer did a good job of playing off him deep, his best play of the day was a short underneath route where he made 2 guys miss and then took it to the house.

Started my dynasty (coach progression set to slow although I might restart at slowest in the future) and enjoying the new interface/method much more than I thought I would. I'm glad to see that there are less upsets than last year's version in the simulated games, although I did see 1 upset as VT shocked Bama in week 1, 28-25. The simulated stats look much better with some big games for some QB's and the leaders had about 450 yards in week 1 and the leading passer after week 1 has a 68% completion percentage.

Now, to see if I can squeeze in 1 more game before family tonight :)

[markprior22]

Just tried a quick game in coach mode. For the first time in a while, you can actually just coach. Even for kicks. You just press a button to hike the ball, and everything else happens automagically. The option is MUCH better than last version it actually works. And you can also get pressure on the QB with just the front 4, and safety blitzes seem to work as you'd expect them to. Liking what I'm seeing so far.

If playing coach mode, do the sliders matter? If so, what changes have you made in your coach mode games?

What game length and speed threshold are you using for somewhat realistic results?

Appreciate your feedback

[cartman]

If playing coach mode, do the sliders matter? If so, what changes have you made in your coach mode games?

What game length and speed threshold are you using for somewhat realistic results?

Appreciate your feedback

I haven't done any tweaking yet. Everything has been stock, except that I changed to 8 minute quarters.

[BYU 14]

Tinkering with sliders and playing straight AA right now after reading some interesting info on how penalty sliders affect game play.

One thing I am certain about, at least on AA is that you need to set offensive and defensive PI to 0 and roughing the kicker to 0 as well.

The PI settings make DB's play the ball more aggressively and I an loving seeing them come through a receiver as the ball arrives to tip it away, or leaving their feet to dive and deflect a pass. It also makes both O and D fight more aggressively for 50/50 balls.

The Roughing the kicker to 0 seems to make the D more aggressive in general for some reason and on AA it provides a challenge with the sliders I am testing now.

Back to the PI thing. I beat Idaho with BYU 45-21, stats looked great, but one of their TD's came on a hail mary right before halftime where 5 players all converged on the ball simultaneously, arms swatting at it as the receivers went up to try and catch it. One of my DB's tipped it and it came down to a receiver who fell into the endzone. I have never seen animations like this on this type of play before, it was glorious!

[finketr]

I've been playing since early this morning and I'm loving this version so far. Best version in a long time for me. I'm playing Offense on All-American, Defense on Heisman and the teams that should beat me are doing so. The teams I should crush are also happening. Oregon's offense was fun to mess around with for that test. I'm only adjusting a few sliders (QB accuracy to 15, Speed threshold to 20-25, WR catching to 45, and Interceptions down to 25-30) and leaving everything else at default and I'm getting great games. My offense line is really pushing around inferior teams but struggling with tougher teams. Marquise Lee is unbelievable in the open field and I love all of the moves you can make just using the lwft stick if you have an elite player. I'm also glad to see that the computer did a good job of playing off him deep, his best play of the day was a short underneath route where he made 2 guys miss and then took it to the house.

Started my dynasty (coach progression set to slow although I might restart at slowest in the future) and enjoying the new interface/method much more than I thought I would. I'm glad to see that there are less upsets than last year's version in the simulated games, although I did see 1 upset as VT shocked Bama in week 1, 28-25. The simulated stats look much better with some big games for some QB's and the leaders had about 450 yards in week 1 and the leading passer after week 1 has a 68% completion percentage.

Now, to see if I can squeeze in 1 more game before family tonight :)

i need to sneak over to TRU sometime in the not too distant future...

unfortunately, having too much fun playing in the pool with my (almost) 2 year old...

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

There is a glitch I am experiencing that is also being reported on operationsports.It is an issue on any play where there is a pitch or toss when the RB receives the ball, he just stands there for a second or two before being able to move. It is as if the RB is running in quicksand for three jab steps before he can actually start running.

The trigger appears to be playing in slow mode. If you play on normal mode it doesnt happen. The thread isn't huge and this is the first time I have played the game in awhile so it could be a case of us doing something wrong. I am going to go play on normal mode and see what happens.

[BYU 14]

OK, got my first set of sliders done after some testing.

Have only played one game with the final version, but I like it and will test further after I workout

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/60
WR: 40/45
RBA: 50/60
RB: 35/40
PC: 65/65
Int: 30/30
RDef: 50/50
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties (These have been the key IMO)

Offsides and False start: 55
Holding: 52
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 52
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

The 0 on the PI and roughing the kicker increase plays on the ball and defensive aggressiveness respectively. The one KEY thing for these is I do not control a defensive player. I call the play and let the AI execute.

My sample will be a game I should win big, one I should lose big and an evenly matched game.

Sample teams Oregon, South Alabama and Stanford (to test CPU run game)

So far only Oregon (me) vs. South Alabama.

Score Oregon 59 South Alabama 17

Stats: Oregon first South Alabama second

Total plays: 83 / 64
First downs: 25 / 15
Total yds: 548 / 244
Rushing: 50-315 / 23-24
Passing: 19-33 233, 1 int / 23-41 220, 3 int
Sacks: 5 / 3

DeAnthony Thomas ran for 150 yards and made defenders look stupid in the open field, pocket formed nicely on passing plays and you can actually read blocks on runs, plus the stumble feature is awesome. Got credited with a sack where the South Alabama QB tripped on one of his lineman and went down :)

After I work out I will play South Alabama and let the AI be Oregon, hopefully I get my ass kicked, then I can try Oregon/Stanford.

[MizzouRah]

Picked it up.. will wait on rosters and then it's time to start my dynasty!

[BYU 14]

Tweaked, changes in red - In my second test game I was running on Oregon little too easy early on.

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 50/60
RB: 30/40
PC: 65/65
Int: 30/30
RDef: 50/65
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties (These have been the key IMO)

Offsides and False start: 55
Holding: 55
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 50
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

The 0 on the PI and roughing the kicker increase plays on the ball and defensive aggressiveness respectively. The one KEY thing for these is I do not control a defensive player. I call the play and let the AI execute.

My sample will be a game I should win big, one I should lose big and an evenly matched game.

Sample teams Oregon, South Alabama and Stanford (to test CPU run game)

First Game

Score Oregon (Me) 59 South Alabama 17

Stats: Oregon first South Alabama second

Total plays: 83 / 64
First downs: 25 / 15
Total yds: 548 / 244
Rushing: 50-315 / 23-24
Passing: 19-33 233, 1 int / 23-41 220, 3 int
Sacks: 5 / 3

DeAnthony Thomas ran for 150 yards and made defenders look stupid in the open field, pocket formed nicely on passing plays and you can actually read blocks on runs, plus the stumble feature is awesome. Got credited with a sack where the South Alabama QB tripped on one of his lineman and went down :)

Second Game

Score Oregon 41 South Alabama (Me) 10

Stats: Oregon first South Alabama second

Total plays: 59 / 68
First downs: 19 / 21
Total yds: 415 / 350
Rushing: 44-242 / 29-125
Passing: 10-15 173, 0 int / 22-39 225, 0 int
Sacks: 5 / 3
Fumbles: 0 / 2

I tried to chew clock to keep their plays down and it worked in giving them less possessions, but they still shredded me. They punted once, missed a FG and scored every other possession. Tweaked CPU run defense a lot as I was running too easily early. The game is really overpowered in terms of the run, but it was better the second half after the tweaks. Pretty happy with this game, will see what happens with evenly matched teams now.

[BYU 14]

Tweaked, changes in red - Think these are pretty close after game 3

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 50/65
RB: 30/40
PC: 65/65
Int: 30/30
RDef: 40/65
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties (These have been the key IMO)

Offsides and False start: 55
Holding: 55
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 50
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

The 0 on the PI and roughing the kicker increase plays on the ball and defensive aggressiveness respectively. The one KEY thing for these is I do not control a defensive player. I call the play and let the AI execute.

My sample will be a game I should win big, one I should lose big and an evenly matched game.

Sample teams Oregon, South Alabama and Stanford (to test CPU run game)

First Game

Score Oregon (Me) 59 South Alabama 17

Stats: Oregon first South Alabama second

Total plays: 83 / 64
First downs: 25 / 15
Total yds: 548 / 244
Rushing: 50-315 / 23-24
Passing: 19-33 233, 1 int / 23-41 220, 3 int
Sacks: 5 / 3

DeAnthony Thomas ran for 150 yards and made defenders look stupid in the open field, pocket formed nicely on passing plays and you can actually read blocks on runs, plus the stumble feature is awesome. Got credited with a sack where the South Alabama QB tripped on one of his lineman and went down :)

Second Game

Score Oregon 41 South Alabama (Me) 10

Stats: Oregon first South Alabama second

Total plays: 59 / 68
First downs: 19 / 21
Total yds: 415 / 350
Rushing: 44-242 / 29-125
Passing: 10-15 173, 0 int / 22-39 225, 0 int
Sacks: 5 / 3
Fumbles: 0 / 2

I tried to chew clock to keep their plays down and it worked in giving them less possessions, but they still shredded me. They punted once, missed a FG and scored every other possession. Tweaked CPU run defense a lot as I was running too easily early. The game is really overpowered in terms of the run, but it was better the second half after the tweaks. Pretty happy with this game, will see what happens with evenly matched teams now.


Third Game

Score Stanford 38 Oregon (Me) 35

Stats: Oregon first Stanford second

Total plays: 72 / 68
First downs: 25 / 17
Total yds: 440 / 378
Rushing: 30-220 / 33-89
Passing: 23-42 220, 2 int / 21-35 289, 2 int
Sacks: 2 / 1

Mariota started horribly missing his first 6 passes and throwing a pick 6 (He would throw a another later) This game had it all, defensive touchdowns (2 Stanford, 1 Oregon), a kickoff return for a TD (Oregon) and back and forth action the entire game. It was tied at 35 in the 4th, I drove down and hit the upright with just over 3 minutes left. Stanford came back and hit the go ahead field goal and left me 1:05 and 1 timeout. I drove down, got a first down at the 22 and rushed the field goal unit on. I got the kick off just as time expired and it hit the upright again!!!

Very competitive game, so I will try these sliders in my dynasty when rosters come out.

If anybody else would be willing to test these would be interested in your results, or any tweaks you think are still needed.

[Simbo Klice]

I really love they way recruiting is done this year. Trims the time there down considerably and really makes sense the way they do it. You can still find guys that slip through the cracks at some positions if you're a small school, but a lot of times the big boys come calling later in the season and blow right past you. The offseason week can be pretty compelling if you're battling for a big prospect or 2.

I'm in year 4 of a dynasty with Kent State (I sim all but 1 or 2 games a year) and went 8-5, 1-11, 8-5 through the first 3. Now my team's pretty stacked in terms of vs. the other MAC squads. I'll probably elevate to the B10 in 2 or 3 years, once I hit 4* prestige or thereabouts.

[markprior22]

One issue I've had in the first couple of games I played in coach mode is that my team (Iowa) seems to be able to get to the QB fairly easy. First game against Northern Illinois (#24), I had one guy (DE or DT...can't remember) get 5 sacks. Had 10 for the game. Next game was against an FCS team and I didn't notice the number of sacks but it had to be just as many. Is there anything I can do as far as settings in coach mode to help alleviate this? BTW...I've incorporated the penalty settings that others have mentioned. I play on AA level, 8 min qtrs, with slow speed threshold.

[BYU 14]

One issue I've had in the first couple of games I played in coach mode is that my team (Iowa) seems to be able to get to the QB fairly easy. First game against Northern Illinois (#24), I had one guy (DE or DT...can't remember) get 5 sacks. Had 10 for the game. Next game was against an FCS team and I didn't notice the number of sacks but it had to be just as many. Is there anything I can do as far as settings in coach mode to help alleviate this? BTW...I've incorporated the penalty settings that others have mentioned. I play on AA level, 8 min qtrs, with slow speed threshold.

What are your settings for offsides and holding? These affect the ability to get off blocks and jump the snap if too high. I would recommend 55 for each and try CPU pass blocking on 65. Also intentional grounding setting affects how quickly a QB will look to throw the ball away, vs. stand in the pocket or scramble 58-60 is good for this setting.

[markprior22]

Since I'm using coach mode, do the CPU settings affect both teams or does it still consider my team human controlled? I did make adjustments to penalties but can't remember exactly what they are right now. I'll check against what you recommend and give those settings a try if they differ from what I'm using. Thanks for your help...this seems to be a really great game.

[finketr]

for brevity sake

Tweaked, changes in red - Think these are pretty close after game 3

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 50/65
RB: 30/40
PC: 65/65
Int: 30/30
RDef: 40/65
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties (These have been the key IMO)

Offsides and False start: 55
Holding: 55
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 50
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

The 0 on the PI and roughing the kicker increase plays on the ball and defensive aggressiveness respectively. The one KEY thing for these is I do not control a defensive player. I call the play and let the AI execute.

My sample will be a game I should win big, one I should lose big and an evenly matched game.

Sample teams Oregon, South Alabama and Stanford (to test CPU run game)

First Game

Score Oregon (Me) 59 South Alabama 17

Stats: Oregon first South Alabama second

Total plays: 83 / 64
First downs: 25 / 15
Total yds: 548 / 244
Rushing: 50-315 / 23-24
Passing: 19-33 233, 1 int / 23-41 220, 3 int
Sacks: 5 / 3

DeAnthony Thomas ran for 150 yards and made defenders look stupid in the open field, pocket formed nicely on passing plays and you can actually read blocks on runs, plus the stumble feature is awesome. Got credited with a sack where the South Alabama QB tripped on one of his lineman and went down :)

Second Game

Score Oregon 41 South Alabama (Me) 10

Stats: Oregon first South Alabama second

Total plays: 59 / 68
First downs: 19 / 21
Total yds: 415 / 350
Rushing: 44-242 / 29-125
Passing: 10-15 173, 0 int / 22-39 225, 0 int
Sacks: 5 / 3
Fumbles: 0 / 2

I tried to chew clock to keep their plays down and it worked in giving them less possessions, but they still shredded me. They punted once, missed a FG and scored every other possession. Tweaked CPU run defense a lot as I was running too easily early. The game is really overpowered in terms of the run, but it was better the second half after the tweaks. Pretty happy with this game, will see what happens with evenly matched teams now.


Third Game

Score Stanford 38 Oregon (Me) 35

Stats: Oregon first Stanford second

Total plays: 72 / 68
First downs: 25 / 17
Total yds: 440 / 378
Rushing: 30-220 / 33-89
Passing: 23-42 220, 2 int / 21-35 289, 2 int
Sacks: 2 / 1

Mariota started horribly missing his first 6 passes and throwing a pick 6 (He would throw a another later) This game had it all, defensive touchdowns (2 Stanford, 1 Oregon), a kickoff return for a TD (Oregon) and back and forth action the entire game. It was tied at 35 in the 4th, I drove down and hit the upright with just over 3 minutes left. Stanford came back and hit the go ahead field goal and left me 1:05 and 1 timeout. I drove down, got a first down at the 22 and rushed the field goal unit on. I got the kick off just as time expired and it hit the upright again!!!

Very competitive game, so I will try these sliders in my dynasty when rosters come out.

If anybody else would be willing to test these would be interested in your results, or any tweaks you think are still needed.

BYU: Will you be going back and testing your Oregon vs South Alabama to confirm that you still (mostly) blow them up?

I picked it up around 920pm right before our TRU closes.

[BYU 14]

for brevity sake



BYU: Will you be going back and testing your Oregon vs South Alabama to confirm that you still (mostly) blow them up?

I picked it up around 920pm right before our TRU closes.

Yeah, I will fit that in this morning, pretty confident my run numbers will be the same, they should get a few more rushing yards though as they do have a good back.

[Eaglesfan27]

Using my limited adjustments to sliders, just got a great game this morning. My first two games of my dynasty, we blew up weaker opponents and were the #1 offense, #1 passing offense. But, today we faced a BC team that has good ratings but was still an underdog. However, Redd got hurt early, Morgan fumbled twice (a problem for him in real life too), Kessler threw a bad pick and their defense just shut us down most of the game. We lost 23-21 to an underdog at home! That never would have happened to me in previous versions. The Heisman level option game was really tough to stop as Chase Rettig had over 100 yards rushing as did their HB.

[nilodor]

So are you guys having a lot more fun with this version? How does it compare to last year's madden? (Which honestly I wasn't a huge fan of)

[BYU 14]

So are you guys having a lot more fun with this version? How does it compare to last year's madden? (Which honestly I wasn't a huge fan of)

I don't play Madden, but this is already my fav NCAA. I played the hell out of 12, not so much last year, but this one I can see myself playing until the next release.

[MizzouRah]

Using my limited adjustments to sliders, just got a great game this morning. My first two games of my dynasty, we blew up weaker opponents and were the #1 offense, #1 passing offense. But, today we faced a BC team that has good ratings but was still an underdog. However, Redd got hurt early, Morgan fumbled twice (a problem for him in real life too), Kessler threw a bad pick and their defense just shut us down most of the game. We lost 23-21 to an underdog at home! That never would have happened to me in previous versions. The Heisman level option game was really tough to stop as Chase Rettig had over 100 yards rushing as did their HB.

What rosters are you using? 8 minute quarters still the same this year?

You are on AA for offense and heisman for defense?

[cartman]

Woohoo, Amazon's Pre-Order Price Guarantee kicked in! I'm getting 3 cents back! :D

[Balldog]

Played my first full game against the CPU last night. I was Ohio State at home against Michigan State. I was very impressed with the game on All American with a few tweaks to pass accuracy, wr catching, and interceptions.

MSU jumped out to an early 7-0 lead with their QB lighting up my secondary. The issue was mostly due to my play calling. I tried to cover the slot WR with a LB a few times and they took advantage of that. Trailing 10-7 and MSU driving just before the half we brought some pressure and forced a pick that lead to a quick score to put us up 14-10 going into the half.

We ended up winning 28-16 after a late TD iced it. MSU struggled on the ground all game and once I adjusted my play calling we slowed them down quite a bit. Their QB ended up going 20 for 31 after starting off 8 for 9.

The game felt great. I am really anxious to get more time with it tonight.

I also messed around with a Dynasty to check out recruiting and it is refreshing plus challenging. Simply yet complicated enough that you have to have a strategy.

My most frustrating experience was recruiting a LB from MI. That had MSU, Michigan, and Ohio State in the top 3 all year. We took the lead after his visit in week 9. Then MSU jumped us in week 11 but we took the lead back in week 12. Then he visited Michigan for The Game, we whipped them but they got just enough points to get his commitment after the visit.

Enjoyable yet irritating :)

[Kodos]

Woohoo, Amazon's Pre-Order Price Guarantee kicked in! I'm getting 3 cents back! :D

:party:

[Eaglesfan27]

What rosters are you using? 8 minute quarters still the same this year?

You are on AA for offense and heisman for defense?

There was a roster on OS which had all of the guys "rated 88 or higher" named. I named all of the USC players and then I used the feature to "autoname rosters" which this year (not sure if this or new or not, but it is brilliant either way) only gives fictional names to guys who don't have a name.

I'm using 9 minute quarters which is giving me excellent number of plays per game. Correct, I'm AA for offense and Heisman for defense which makes the CPU offense feel like it is playing very smart football. I don't feel like it is a noticeable artificial boost to ratings (even though it may be.)

[BYU 14]

for brevity sake



BYU: Will you be going back and testing your Oregon vs South Alabama to confirm that you still (mostly) blow them up?

I picked it up around 920pm right before our TRU closes.

Only had time to play a half at lunch, but things seem pretty much the same, though I may need to turn coverage up a click.

Oregon 27 S Bama 13 at half

Plays: 36 / 42
Total yards: 330 / 250
Rushing: 24-155 / 18-34
Passing: 8-12 175, 0 int / 18-24 216, 2 int
Sacks: 2 / 0
Fumbles 1 / 0

Run defense looks solid, but their QB Metheny was shredding me. They were not shutting our run game, so it would have been a rout again, but still going to look at adjusting passing.

I may lower CPU accuracy to 5 to match human or raise offsides and false start to 60 to get more jumping the snap.

But still not bad, as I was worried the tuner would totally screw things up.

[BYU 14]

By the way, I have complete rosters, pretty accurate overall, only had to make a few tweaks to BYU's roster.

Here is the tag for Xbox G DA BLACKSMITH
PS3 is JeffDLowe

Same rosters for both

[MizzouRah]

There was a roster on OS which had all of the guys "rated 88 or higher" named. I named all of the USC players and then I used the feature to "autoname rosters" which this year (not sure if this or new or not, but it is brilliant either way) only gives fictional names to guys who don't have a name.

I'm using 9 minute quarters which is giving me excellent number of plays per game. Correct, I'm AA for offense and Heisman for defense which makes the CPU offense feel like it is playing very smart football. I don't feel like it is a noticeable artificial boost to ratings (even though it may be.)

Interesting.. I don't remember if last year I used 8 or 9 min quarters. I'll have to try a game on AA defaults and then maybe try defense on heisman.

Thanks!

[MizzouRah]

By the way, I have complete rosters, pretty accurate overall, only had to make a few tweaks to BYU's roster.

Here is the tag for Xbox G DA BLACKSMITH
PS3 is JeffDLowe

Same rosters for both


Thanks.. I had these jotted down on a notepad:

GT- KillerDragon114

G Da Blacksmith

[BYU 14]

These are my final sliders for now, comfortable enough to start dynasty with them

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 50/65
RB: 30/40
PC: 70/65
Int: 35/35
RDef: 40/65
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties

Offsides and False start: 55
Holding: 55
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 50
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

[Balldog]

I was hoping not to get sucked into a lot of slider tweaking. First game of the night I played as Ole Miss vs Mississippi State and won 37-20. It was tied at 20 midway trough the 3rd when they threw a pick 6 and their impact RB went out for the rest of the game.

Second game I played as Indiana at Nebraska and hoping for a beatdown or at least a shoot out. I ended up losing 21-7 after scoring on our first possession we did not do anything the rest of the game. Our RB got hurt and that was crippling. For the first time I had a bad passing game.

I am a little concerned that I held to 21 but 18 of that was in the 2nd half and they had 230 yards in the 2nd half. After having just 55 yards in the 1st.

I'm going to try to get a shoot out tomorrow before going slider crazy.

[General Mike]

Any plans for a PS3 dynasty? If so let me know.

[MizzouRah]

PastaPadre has rosters out:

♦Xbox 360: Pastapadre
♦PlayStation 3: JeffDLowe

Seem to be getting good feedback..

[Groundhog]

Apologies if it's already in this thread already, but any changes to the 'be a pro' mode (obviously not the correct name for it, but you know what I mean :D )?

[Izulde]

Nope. A couple of reviews have reported 0 changes to the R2G mode.

[finketr]

PastaPadre has rosters out:

♦Xbox 360: Pastapadre
♦PlayStation 3: JeffDLowe

Seem to be getting good feedback..

having never messed with these type of things on a console, what does this mean? and how do i modify the rosters on a ps3?

[Eaglesfan27]

having never messed with these type of things on a console, what does this mean? and how do i modify the rosters on a ps3?

You can go to "roster share" and easily download the files. Those are the gamertags you have to type in to download the file. You can go to manage roster and then edit roster to further edit them however you want.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

I'm having too much fun in week 7 of my dynasty to re-start with the fully named rosters. I think this will be the first version since 05 where I start multiple dynasties eventually (back then I tried to take Army and make them a champion once I got tired of my USC dynasty.)

[finketr]

Dola -

I'm having too much fun in week 7 of my dynasty to re-start with the fully named rosters. I think this will be the first version since 05 where I start multiple dynasties eventually (back then I tried to take Army and make them a champion once I got tired of my USC dynasty.)

I started with ODU as I *think* they were the worst independent out there... maybe i should have started higher and learn the mechanics of things better. :)

[MizzouRah]

I can't wait to dig in this weekend! Mizzou should be a good challenge.. although I've never won the BCS CS in any version, losing on a last minute field goal vs Auburn in my last season with NCAA 13.

[MacroGuru]

Just a little interesting tidbit I didn't know about...

High School in NCAA Football 14 is Video Gaming's Coolest Credit Roll (http://kotaku.com/play-football-with-ea-sports-designers-on-your-own-roa-738309130)

[Kodos]

Was able to sneak in a half of play last night using BYU's sliders from above. Liked what I saw.

It should be noted that my first pass in NCAA 2014 was intercepted. By my second drive resulted in a touchdown. :)

[finketr]

i think i broke something.. first two games using byu's second set of sliders...

fairly accurate passing, third game: cannot hit a receiver at all.. like missing by yards.

[lungs]

Last night I finished simulating/recruiting six seasons with Old Dominion. A few years in I joined the MAC when apparently I should have joined a stronger conference as I went undefeated in the regular season, made the National Championship game and won the Heisman. Ohio State beat me 42-28 in the National Championship but that was sufficient of a prestige boost to turn ODU into an upper echelon school. I'm now in a realigned American Conference that contains Notre Dame, Boise State, Kansas State, and Air Force coming off a 12-2 season and a Sugar Bowl berth.

Next, I actually start playing games.

[BYU 14]

i think i broke something.. first two games using byu's second set of sliders...

fairly accurate passing, third game: cannot hit a receiver at all.. like missing by yards.

One big thing I have noticed with these is you have to make sure your feet are set and throw on time. Most of my accuracy issues come up when I am shuffling around in the pocket or throwing on the run. Another thing is HFA makes a difference, so if your 3rd game was on the road that could explain it.

I do waffle between leaving QBA at 5 and raising to 10, but going to play a full season first as I have still been over 50 percent in every game, with most around 60 or a little higher.

[finketr]

my games were road, home, home... i'll have to check if i'm running/shuffling or not.. i don't think so, but probably.

[Eaglesfan27]

Even at home, momentum plays a big part. In my loss, I got into a bad rut. I try to connect on a few short easy passes when my QB gets wild and that usually settles him down.

[BYU 14]

Even at home, momentum plays a big part. In my loss, I got into a bad rut. I try to connect on a few short easy passes when my QB gets wild and that usually settles him down.

That's a good point too, if I miss 3 or 4 in row I will call spacing out of 5 wide or a screen pass, or something else that gives me an option with a 5-7 yard sit down route.

[BYU 14]

One last slider tweak

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 50/65
RB: 30/40
PC: 70/70
Int: 35/35
RDef: 40/70
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties

Offsides and False start: 55
Holding: 55
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 50
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

Raised human PC to 70 after Texas game (below) think it is perfect now and raised CPU run def to 70 at halftime of the Utah game, second half I still popped a couple of nice runs, but overall is was tough sledding. I think this will be the last of the changes when I start my real dynasty, barring any tuner tweaks that fuck things up.

Last 2 games in test dynasty

Texas 31 BYU 24

Was down 14-0 and 24-10, but fought back and had a chance to tie it with 1st and goal from the 2. They stuffed me 4 straight times and ran out the final 20+ seconds, incredibly fun game

Stats Texas / BYU (Me)
FD: 14 / 28
Rushing: 27-91 / 39-146
Passing: 22-26 256, 1 int / 30-47 317, 1 int
Fumbles: 0 / 1
Sacks: 3 / 3

Gray 100 yards rushing on 20 carries for the Longhorns
Williams 24-125 for the Cougars

BYU 31 Utah 17

Stats BYU (Me) / Utah
FD: 23 / 16
Rushing: 41-191 / 25-106
Passing: 22-30 292, 2 int / 24-34 210, 3 int
Fumbles: 1 / 0
Sacks: 3 / 2

Kelvin York was 20-96 running for the Utes
Baby J had another big game 27-143 for BYU

Additional impressions:
Running was a bit easy, but 70 CPU run defense seems a lot tighter as I only had 2 runs over 6 yards on the 2nd half against Utah. DB's continue to make plays on the ball (swats, playing it through the receiver) with the PI sliders at 0, I like this and QB accuracy seems solid. Again, you really have to set your feet with human accuracy at 5. Pass rush is great for me as I have to make quick reads and throw and most important, the coverage makes sense enough to actually read like you would if you were playing.

Recruiting = Thank you EA! This is the first time recruiting has actually been fun for me and not turned tedious really quick. You can make adjustments to points quickly, nice array of options and lots of feedback. The lock system is great and visits have a much bigger impact. The recruiting battles and the fight to get to and stay in one is a blast. Apart from the smoother gameplay, this is my favorite change to the game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Finished my first dynasty season (6-6, Ga State) but had as much fun watching the coaching carousel play out as anything in the game. I, somewhat insanely, actually made notes on every change (for the first time ever) & some of the stuff was kinda neat.

A couple of things that stood out to me were the inability to choose your own coordinator replacements kinda sucks and the "sucky team loses coordinators & hires recently fired sucky coordinators as replacements" which seems (if the coordinators actually have much effect on CPU teams) to doom them quite a bit. Only a handful, like a half dozen, new coaches were generated & hired which felt like a real handcuff to the CPU.

In all, 108 changes at HC/DC/OC after season one.

[BYU 14]

Updated Sliders and game results with them so far in test dynasty

Latest changes in red.

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 45/65
RB: 30/40
PC: 70/70
Int: 30/30
RDef: 40/70
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties

Offsides and False start: 55
Holding: 55
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 50
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

Texas 31 BYU 24

Was down 14-0 and 24-10, but fought back and had a chance to tie it with 1st and goal from the 2. They stuffed me 4 straight times and ran out the final 20+ seconds, incredibly fun game

Stats Texas / BYU (Me)
FD: 14 / 28
Rushing: 27-91 / 39-146
Passing: 22-26 256, 1 int / 30-47 317, 1 int
Fumbles: 0 / 1
Sacks: 3 / 3


BYU 31 Utah 17

Stats BYU (Me) / Utah
FD: 23 / 16
Rushing: 41-191 / 25-106
Passing: 22-30 292, 2 int / 24-34 210, 3 int
Fumbles: 1 / 0
Sacks: 3 / 2

Score BYU 38 Middleton Tennessee State 6 (scored on a fumble return)

Stats: BYU (Me) / MTSU
FD: 24 / 12
Total Yards: 487 / 266
Rushing: 37-179 / 28-45
Passing: 24-37 308, 2 int / 28-45 234, 3 int
Fumbles lost: 2 / 0 (I had 3 total, MTSU had 1)
Sacks: 2 / 5

Score BYU 34 Utah State 6 (in a steady snowstorm, had some nice effects on the gameplay)

Stats: BYU (Me) / USU
FD: 16 / 15
Total Yards: 377 / 244
Rushing: 42-192 / 22-79
Passing: 11-18 185, 1 int / 18-33 165, 4 int
Fumbles lost: 0 / 0
Sacks: 5 / 3

Score Georgia Tech 41 BYU 24

Stats BYU (Me) / Georgia Tech
FD: 19 / 21
Total Yards: 339 / 434
Rushing: 15-66 / 62-277
Passing: 24-48 273, 3 int / 10-17 157, 1 int
Fumbles lost: 1 / 1
Sacks: 0 / 2

What I liked about this game is a triple option team actually handed my ass to me and, whether intentional or not it seems players performance is truly affected by bad things that happen and can cause a player to tank.

My starting QB was 11-31 and had thrown 3 picks when I sat him late in the 3rd and we were down 34-3. The backup came in and hit 13 of 17 and led 3 4th quarter scoring drives, way too late but it made it respectable. Maybe a coincidence, but after a bad start my starter was off target on over half his throws, while the backup shredded Tech.

If anybody else is trying these would be interested in your feedback. I am having my best experience yet with this series, but it may be more skill (of lack of) related. :)

I love recruiting more and more with every game too.

[MizzouRah]

One game in, dynasty with Mizzou. Defaults, AP, 8 minute quarters. I always let the CPU do the recruiting and I tell them what I'm looking for.

Played FCS East in our first game and crushed them 55-7 like we should. Toledo next week should be more of a challenge.

LOVE the new physics tackling, it finally looks like football! A bunch of new presentation stuff, chanting MIZ-ZOU, field is finally accurate, stats popping up more often, etc.. fantastic job in that department!

Even though I cruised through this game, passing and running are excellent. OL blocking is so much better and running feels spot on. Passing is also great, especially with DGB to throw too. :)

Bama lost to VT, so right off the bat this should be an interesting season. OSU is now #1 heading into week 2. Also, NC beat SC.

Loving it so far though...

[DaddyTorgo]

downloaded the demo but haven't tried it yet, trying to resist what I'm sure will be the initial "ooh...want this!" reaction

[lungs]

BYU, I'm using a slight variation of your sliders (I use RB ability a little higher as I'm pretty shitty at running the ball). But so far I'm pretty impressed with how they've played. I'm an 84 overall team and I pretty beat an 88 rated team with an inexperienced QB that sunk them in the first half. Next game I got completely destroyed by a 91 rated team as a few early picks by my QB just sunk him for the rest of the game.

I know a slider set is pretty decent if it has me cursing at the TV when I make another boneheaded throw. That means I'm being challenged.

[BYU 14]

BYU, I'm using a slight variation of your sliders (I use RB ability a little higher as I'm pretty shitty at running the ball). But so far I'm pretty impressed with how they've played. I'm an 84 overall team and I pretty beat an 88 rated team with an inexperienced QB that sunk them in the first half. Next game I got completely destroyed by a 91 rated team as a few early picks by my QB just sunk him for the rest of the game.

I know a slider set is pretty decent if it has me cursing at the TV when I make another boneheaded throw. That means I'm being challenged.

Cool, thanks for the feedback, my running has actually improved so I had to drop RBA in this last set. I really love the way the hard cuts are more realistic now, I just kind of glide, read the blocks, then cut and hit speed burst. I really does feel like playing football and not a video game.

Still trying to get the stumble recovery down though.

[Groundhog]

I used your sliders last night and I sucked - although that's more a reflection of how rusty I am after not having touched NCAA '13 in about 3-4 months. :D

Throwing picks is my biggest issue, but all of them have been "legit" - ie. panic, throw to the guy in double coverage.

[TCY Junkie]

Cool, thanks for the feedback, my running has actually improved so I had to drop RBA in this last set. I really love the way the hard cuts are more realistic now, I just kind of glide, read the blocks, then cut and hit speed burst. I really does feel like playing football and not a video game.

Still trying to get the stumble recovery down though.

Thanks for the sliders. I like this versions better than any other version expect one. There was this one version I could put on blimp mode and had a guy maxed out break tackle. I just stiffed arm people like crazy, it wasn't very realistic but it was fun and actually had very realistic stats. memories......

[DeToxRox]

Sim engine seems busted to me.

I am using Washington State on Heisman. Went 11-2, winning the Pac 12 and the Rose Bowl in the process. I played 4 of the 13 games, going 3-1 (lost to Cal). I lost the first game I simmed to USC, but won every game after that. My defense, which is absolutely garbage, was regularly holding CPU teams like Oregon and Oklahoma to 7-10 points in the process.

Granted, it is only one season, but the chances of that kind of season seem astronomical, especially when you consider Washington State starts off as a 1* prestige team.

[Groundhog]

What are people's thoughts on the recruiting changes? I'm sure some people will dislike the reduced interaction, but I really love how much less time I need to spend in that screen before each game.

[TroyF]

What are people's thoughts on the recruiting changes? I'm sure some people will dislike the reduced interaction, but I really love how much less time I need to spend in that screen before each game.

I love how much less time is placed, but. It will require some house rules. Now that I have it figured out, it can be easy. I had backto back top 10 classes with CU. all that said, i love it. Less time on that, more time on the games.

[Groundhog]

Ah, I'm not far enough along yet to judge difficulty.

A little disappointed that RTG is exactly the same. Got bored very quickly, and that's usually how I retrain my QB skills each year.

[SirFozzie]

Are we doing an NCAA14 OD for 360?

I still want to do the Armed Forces Challenge sometime :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

What are people's thoughts on the recruiting changes? I'm sure some people will dislike the reduced interaction, but I really love how much less time I need to spend in that screen before each game.

The recruiting changes are kinda meh to me, honestly I'm not sure how much time I feel like I'm saving (it's been months since I've touched the previous iteration, so my memory is kinda fuzzy). I like some of the tweaks well enough I think but since the old recruiting never really bothered me all that much anyway I dunno whether it's anything resembling a game-changer either.

I do like the new visits screen (showing where they go & the impact of visiting one week vs another) and the complimentary/competitive visits addition is a nice small touch.

[BYU 14]

What are people's thoughts on the recruiting changes? I'm sure some people will dislike the reduced interaction, but I really love how much less time I need to spend in that screen before each game.

I love the new recruiting and the fact you can set a higher difficulty level. I felt the old way was really monotonous, but I actually look forward to see how I am doing each week and working to get into the mix once the bar locks.

Agree with Jon on the more detailed visit screen as well and the complimentary/competitive thing as well as the different bonus goals for each position.

[Eaglesfan27]

I love the new recruiting and the fact you can set a higher difficulty level. I felt the old way was really monotonous, but I actually look forward to see how I am doing each week and working to get into the mix once the bar locks.

Agree with Jon on the more detailed visit screen as well and the complimentary/competitive thing as well as the different bonus goals for each position.

How do you change recruiting difficulty? Did I miss that option?

[BYU 14]

How do you change recruiting difficulty? Did I miss that option?

No option, I read that it goes by the highest gameplay level you have set now, so I set online play at Heisman. Not entirely proven though.

[Eaglesfan27]

No option, I read that it goes by the highest gameplay level you have set now, so I set online play at Heisman. Not entirely proven though.

Ahhh, ok. I have defense set to Heisman and my class with USC is very slow to come together fwiw.

[BYU 14]

Ahhh, ok. I have defense set to Heisman and my class with USC is very slow to come together fwiw.

I keep my online at Heisman and it seems harder after having all on AA during initial testing. Weeks 8-10 seem to be the sweet spot for landing guys.

I also use house rules that I can only recruit kids that have me starting in their top 5 (though I can go anywhere on the country) to simulate the smaller pool BYU has.

[finketr]

Finally won a game with Ga State! 27-24 with a 26(?) yd FG as time expires...

now 1-3.

is it bad to run the spread option with your fastest two players as QB and CB regardless of what positions they are supposed to be?

[TroyF]

I keep my online at Heisman and it seems harder after having all on AA during initial testing. Weeks 8-10 seem to be the sweet spot for landing guys.

I also use house rules that I can only recruit kids that have me starting in their top 5 (though I can go anywhere on the country) to simulate the smaller pool BYU has.


I play with these rules, with the exception I can and will recruit anyone in my state. I do require myself to offer a scholly to anyone 3 stars or above in my state, regardless of need or scouting.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Finally won a game with Ga State! 27-24 with a 26(?) yd FG as time expires... now 1-3.

is it bad to run the spread option with your fastest two players as QB and CB regardless of what positions they are supposed to be?

FWIW, I've played as GaSt on the out of the box All American settings for my first dynasty.

6-6 first year, currently 7-3 in year 2 with the most prolific passing offense in the country. Just missed beating ND on the road this season after they beat me down horribly in year one.

Of course, stealing a 5 star RB at the end of recruiting last year helped

[BYU 14]

I play with these rules, with the exception I can and will recruit anyone in my state. I do require myself to offer a scholly to anyone 3 stars or above in my state, regardless of need or scouting.

I actually have an instate rule as well, with the only caveat being that either Utah or Utah State has to be recruiting them as well.

[sooner333]

Just played an exhibition game. It had a good feel on All-American, I am afraid to use anyone's sliders because I'm not great at video games anymore.

Also, after the game but before I exited there was a freeze and I had to do a hard turn off of the console. Hopefully it's a one-time deal.

[Groundhog]

I started a dynasty with Hawaii and have yet to make it through my first game after numerous attempts (vs. USC) because I end up throwing 4-5 picks and get frustrated. I think I need to suck it up and play RTG because the training sessions in that mode really get my passing skills back in line.

[General Mike]

Finally got around to playing my first game. I used BYU14's sliders. Game felt very good. I got frustrated at times, but I enjoyed the gameplay.

I beat EMU 24-21 with WMU. Go Broncs!

Stats EMU/ WMU (me)
FD: 17/ 17
Total Offense: 305/376
Rushing: 22-120-3 / 27-59-0
Passing: 18-28, 185 1 int / 19-23 317, 3 int
Fumbles lost: 0 / 1
Sacks: 6 / 2

[Groundhog]

I got destroyed my first 2 games with Hawaii - 38-20 and then 58-8 - against USC and Oregon State. Since then I've won 3 conference games and I'm finding things much easier (although still a challenge) against the teams around my own level. I had a perfect first half against San Jose State, with my QB having 4 1st half TDs and a 28-0 lead... only to throw 4 second half picks and end up needing a FG with 3 seconds left to win 34-31. Fun. Still getting a handle on the new recruiting, but I much prefer it at this stage. Much less time spent on that screen than previously.

[BYU 14]

I got destroyed my first 2 games with Hawaii - 38-20 and then 58-8 - against USC and Oregon State. Since then I've won 3 conference games and I'm finding things much easier (although still a challenge) against the teams around my own level. I had a perfect first half against San Jose State, with my QB having 4 1st half TDs and a 28-0 lead... only to throw 4 second half picks and end up needing a FG with 3 seconds left to win 34-31. Fun. Still getting a handle on the new recruiting, but I much prefer it at this stage. Much less time spent on that screen than previously.

Glad to see the turnaround and agree on recruiting, so much more fun in this version, especially when you get into the battle stage.

Made one final tweak to my sliders as human run game still felt a bit overpowered, so dropped run block to 25. Seems linemen are getting off blocks a bit quicker now and I really have to react quicker with the back now. Also raised CPU run block to 45.

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 45/65
RB: 25/45
PC: 70/70
Int: 30/30
RDef: 40/70
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties

Offsides and False start: 55
Holding: 55
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 50
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

[SirFozzie]

Good to see that the series will continue, as EA Sports College Football

[Eaglesfan27]

Good to see that the series will continue, as EA Sports College Football

Me too.

[whomario]

Have there been any improvements to Road to Glory since NCAA12 ?

[BYU 14]

Have there been any improvements to Road to Glory since NCAA12 ?

The consensus here seems to be no.

[ColtCrazy]

Bought the game, and very impressed so far.

I did make the mistake of playing my first game online in the Ultimate Team section. I knew my team wasn't great, I refuse to pay money to buy upgrades, but I got destroyed by a team with a heck of a lot more talent then me.

Then I put in BYU's sliders with some adjustments (in my favor while learning) and played just a half of IU-Illinoise before bed. Got to halftime I was up just 10-7 at the break. Nice balanced game with offense spurts between some solid defense though the running game needs to be revamped for the CPU. Will tweak the sliders more towards BYU's next.

Will start my IU dynasty after a few more test games.

[General Mike]

Played my 2nd game with BYU14's sliders, but hadn't made his latest tweak to run blocking.

Won 35-24 with Rutgers (tweaked the roster) at Louisville

Stats RU (me)/ LU
FD: 17/ 17
Total Offense: 533/ 401
Rushing: 33-221-2 / 19-94-2
Passing: 19-25, 312 3 TD, 2 int / 20-33 307, 1 TD, 0 INT
Fumbles lost: 0 / 0
Sacks: 5 / 0

Got one long rushing TD (71 yards) so that might have skewed the stats a little. I'll make the run block adjustment now and do one more test game before I start a dynasty with some school.

[BYU 14]

That seems pretty solid Mike, take that one long run out and you are in the 150's rushing.

The run blocking adjustments help the CPU more on edge runs as the line stays on blocks a little longer, no real difference inside, where I think the CPU does well.

On the human side the reduction makes it so you have to hit the hole/cut back a little quicker, should still get good numbers with a good back and a solid line.

[General Mike]

Game 3. WMU (me) at Northwestern.Adjusted the run blocking this game.

Stats WMU (me)/ NW
FD: 17/ 9
Total Offense: 287/ 175
Rushing: 32-55-2 / 28-125-0
Passing: 17-36, 232 0 TD, 2 int / 10-17 50, 0 TD, 0 INT
Fumbles lost: 0 / 1
Sacks: 3 / 5

Had 27 minutes time of possession in this one, so while I didn't really move the ball a lot I kept their no huddle offense off the field. I didn't get my first TD until 1:17 left in the 3rd after I got a fumble call reversed to set up first and goal. Then was able to get another score with less then 2 minutes left after a 4th and 5 conversion in no mans land.

I think I'm starting to understand what works on defense in this game now.

[ColtCrazy]

First full game using BYUs sliders:

South Carolina 18 @ Louisville 41 (me)

Score seems lopsided but the stats were fairly even

SC/Lou

Rush 29-129/32-140

Pass 19-28 214 2-0/ 17-23 222 2-1

FD 16/17

SC just hurt themselves going 3 for 11 on 3rd down. Stalled a lot of drives around the 40. 14 of Louisville points came on drives that started inside the SC 5 (long KO and a fumble)

Pretty pleased with the stats overall. Two short drives and a garbage td by me make this look worse than it was.

[sooner333]

Does anybody use the power ups earned to improve your coach?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Does anybody use the power ups earned to improve your coach?

I'm using the hell out of them in my initial dynasty (Ga State, standard sliders). It definitely makes a difference in recruiting although it's not as though I'm dominating anything to this point.

[BYU 14]

One final tweak 07/24/13 - Think I have a wide enough sample now to say the passing game is solid, human run game still a tad too powerful, so raised CPU rush defense to 75. Also raised offsides and false starts to 85, dropped holding to 40, want to see some penalties and linemen getting off blocks! This should do it :)

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 45/65
RB: 25/45
PC: 70/70
Int: 30/30
RDef: 40/75
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties

Offsides and False start: 85
Holding: 40
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 50
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

[Eaglesfan27]

Does anybody use the power ups earned to improve your coach?

Yes, they are part of the game and I *think* the CPU is using them, so I am as well.

[General Mike]

Started a dynasty as the WMU Offensive coordinator. I can't recruit my way out of a paper bag.

[Groundhog]

I wish if you were the Off/Def coordinator it only allowed you a share of the recruiting budget and scholarships.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yes, they are part of the game and I *think* the CPU is using them, so I am as well.

This, very much this.

The number of points teams seem able to pour into recruits has me convinced that the CPU gets the same benefits (when their coach is a level X) that I have access to.

[Simbo Klice]

This, very much this.

The number of points teams seem able to pour into recruits has me convinced that the CPU gets the same benefits (when their coach is a level X) that I have access to.


Yeah, you can actually look at the coach levels and what they've upgraded in their skill tree under the coach toolbar.

Does anyone have a tip on nailing down insta-commits once you have that upgrade? I'm at level 3, which says it gives you a 20% chance, but I went through a week 1 offering everyone on my board who I was #1 with a scholly and came up empty.

btw, the game sims are pretty good, but once you build a monster team, it seems like you basically can never lose. My Kent State team has had 1 game within 21 points in the past 2 years, with 4 consecutive NC's. And this is with a move to the B10.

[General Mike]

Yeah, you can actually look at the coach levels and what they've upgraded in their skill tree under the coach toolbar.

Does anyone have a tip on nailing down insta-commits once you have that upgrade? I'm at level 3, which says it gives you a 20% chance, but I went through a week 1 offering everyone on my board who I was #1 with a scholly and came up empty.

btw, the game sims are pretty good, but once you build a monster team, it seems like you basically can never lose. My Kent State team has had 1 game within 21 points in the past 2 years, with 4 consecutive NC's. And this is with a move to the B10.

I think the insta commits are just luck. You might have a 20% chance, but it's a dice roll, so if you have 10 guys who list you #1, you still aren't guaranteed to roll the right number on any of them.

[Groundhog]

The game finally clicked with me yesterday. I started a few dynasties but ended up creating a new MAC school in Team Builder with a cupcake roster and have had a lot of fun so far. I’m playing on Heisman with tweaks to BYU’s sliders, as I managed to beat a ranked team 40-22 my first game of the season. I think when using a team that is heavily outskilled the sliders don’t reflect that, and I was able to control the game using basically nothing but Cover2 and Cover3. I increased the AI’s running and running D and that seemed to solve it – I got torched by NIU’s HB the next game.

[Simbo Klice]

I think the insta commits are just luck. You might have a 20% chance, but it's a dice roll, so if you have 10 guys who list you #1, you still aren't guaranteed to roll the right number on any of them.

After a little playing around today, I think how many points you are giving them the week when you offer plays a factor. I had some success just giving 50-100 points to lower priority targets and then offering the scholarship. If they commit, you can't pull the points back though.

[finketr]

Yeah.. so we're up 28-23 with 1:59 left ..
3 kneel downs leaves :35 on the clock running with Idaho having no timeouts...


and yes! The brilliant HC punts the ball with :19 left on the clock. WTF>

[JonInMiddleGA]

If they commit, you can't pull the points back though.

Maybe I'm crazy from the heat or something but ... I think that once a recruit commits to you (or anybody else obviously) then the points go back into your bank anyway; i.e. once they commit to you then you don't have to keep recruiting them, those points can be assigned to another target.

[Groundhog]

Yeah you do get the points back.

[JonInMiddleGA]

One of the crazier nerdy things I've done in a while might just be keeping track of every single coaching change through the first three seasons of my solo dynasty.

Since I've got them all, I decided that I'd try to get them better organized than the awful chicken scratch on paper & then edit the coach names so I can more easily spot the fun stuff going forward.

In-game to see that Southern Miss fired their head coach & hired Bama's DC is one thing ... to match that to real-life names and think "damn, Southern Miss just hired Kirby Smart" (or Ball Sate hired Bud Foster) seems kinda more fun to me.

One of the things I hope this bit of grognarding will do is give me some fun 15 years down the road if I see something like "Dabo Sweeney hired at South Carolina" :D

edit to add: one of the more odd bits of this might be having to decide who to name as the fictional OC from Georgia Tech or South Carolina, or the several others where the HC actually keeps the coordinator role. Still, I think even that will make the overall experience more interesting for me

[finketr]

One of the crazier nerdy things I've done in a while might just be keeping track of every single coaching change through the first three seasons of my solo dynasty.

Since I've got them all, I decided that I'd try to get them better organized than the awful chicken scratch on paper & then edit the coach names so I can more easily spot the fun stuff going forward.

In-game to see that Southern Miss fired their head coach & hired Bama's DC is one thing ... to match that to real-life names and think "damn, Southern Miss just hired Kirby Smart" (or Ball Sate hired Bud Foster) seems kinda more fun to me.

One of the things I hope this bit of grognarding will do is give me some fun 15 years down the road if I see something like "Dabo Sweeney hired at South Carolina" :D

edit to add: one of the more odd bits of this might be having to decide who to name as the fictional OC from Georgia Tech or South Carolina, or the several others where the HC actually keeps the coordinator role. Still, I think even that will make the overall experience more interesting for me

Having just finished 6-6 with GSU and only got blown out (20+ point loss) 4 times against the best teams on the schedule, i just went through the coaching carousel and that takes forever so I simmed/skipped ahead and took a job with SJSU...

We'll see where we go from there.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Having just finished 6-6 with GSU and only got blown out (20+ point loss) 4 times against the best teams on the schedule, i just went through the coaching carousel and that takes forever so I simmed/skipped ahead and took a job with SJSU... We'll see where we go from there.

I've actually had fun with the carousel (and have now turned down something like 150 jobs) ... but it's a lot more fun now that I've seen correct names associated with some of their new jobs :D

I'll hit the highlights once I finish tagging the names for the last 50 or so changes. Through three seasons, a total of 311 moves.

[finketr]

I've actually had fun with the carousel (and have now turned down something like 150 jobs) ... but it's a lot more fun now that I've seen correct names associated with some of their new jobs :D

I'll hit the highlights once I finish tagging the names for the last 50 or so changes. Through three seasons, a total of 311 moves.

How many coaching changes are there after a typical RL season? I wonder if 100 changes isn't that odd.

[JonInMiddleGA]

How many coaching changes are there after a typical RL season? I wonder if 100 changes isn't that odd.

By my count there are 32 new head coaches this season in real life (among teams that are in the game)

I have 26 new head coaches going into my fourth season of the game. I imagine that the numbers are pretty close to realistic overall.

Some of the things I've seen while looking at this are pretty cool, for example
Terry Bowden fired as Akron HC after season 1
Terry Bowden hired as Buffalo OC for season 2
Bowden is passed over the for vacant Buffalo job (coach left) for season 3
Bowden is promoted to HC for the vacant Buffalo job (coach left) for season 4

Other stuff seems pretty messed up, such as the unusual number of HC that get fired after one season on their new job, that's happened several times already in just three seasons, seems far too high for my non-researched taste. And I do mean fired, not just guys who got a better offer & jumped ship.

And then there are other kinda (IMO) unrealistic quirks that come up but don't really bother me a lot. That category includes stuff like teams effectively trading coaches (OC from A leaves for B, who then gets the same job at A) and 2-3 cases where team A fires both their coordinators, hires both coordinators from from team B to replace them.

If I were to magically tweak something about the AI for this I'd probably ask for an increased chance that HC's take their coordinators with them to a new gig. I think that's only happened maybe once so far. I'd also increase the number of new coordinators a bit, right now it's about 1 or 2 per hundred changes not counting those generated to replace retiring coaches, and I'd wish that coaches didn't disappear (apparently) if they didn't have a job at the conclusion of the off-season where they ended up unemployed.

[Kodos]

In real life, I believe IU and Arizona did the OC swap before last season.

[Jon]

If you get hired as a HC, do you hav the option of hiring your own coordinators?

[JonInMiddleGA]

If you get hired as a HC, do you hav the option of hiring your own coordinators?

Unfortunately that seems to be no. I've lost coordinators every season so far & the AI automatically replaces them just as they do for an AI controlled team. On the bright side our/my prestige has gone up every year so my replacements have been at worst equal & usually better than what I had anyway.

[CU Tiger]

One of the things I hope this bit of grognarding will do is give me some fun 15 years down the road if I see something like "Dabo Sweeney hired at South Carolina" :D




It's Swinney :D

And it actually be much more shocking if he ended up at Auburn than SC....:D

[JonInMiddleGA]

At the start of Season 4 of my single-player dynasty

-- 23 teams still have their original starting coaching staff intact (6 of those are in the Pac10/12)
-- 40 teams do not have a single original coach still on staff

[muns]

14 has been my best experience with the series so far. I cant complain about anything. I love the recruiting, the game play and the little touches are great. For example I like seeing other teams scores after i have completed my game. For me this is leaps better than 13. I have only played dynasty though.

Edit- almost forgot the read options also make the game much better

[nilodor]

I'm loving running the option so much that I might take Air Force for a spin. It's really quite fun. In my Arizona State dynasty I'm running the ball almost 70% of the time, primarily out of the option.

[Poli]

Seriously. That option stuff is crazy fun.

[ColtCrazy]

Started a dynasty, I'm the OC at Texas St. We're 2-0 to start the season and just saw a very cool statistic. My RB, Terrance Franks, is my offense. After beating ODU, it showed a graphic of his performance (277 total yards) vs the rest of the team (280). Never saw that before. Pretty cool.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Started a dynasty, I'm the OC at Texas St. We're 2-0 to start the season and just saw a very cool statistic. My RB, Terrance Franks, is my offense. After beating ODU, it showed a graphic of his performance (277 total yards) vs the rest of the team (280). Never saw that before. Pretty cool.

"They better enjoy that guy while he's here, because it won't be long before he's playing at the next level"

It's cool the first dozen or so times you see it ;)

[ColtCrazy]

Finished up season 1 as OC at Texas St. Lost a heartbreaker at Arkansas St. Had the ball 1st and goal to win it and just couldn't get into the end zone. Came back to beat W. Kentucky (which was sweet, I hate Petrino) to win the conference and go to the New Orleans Bowl. Our RB, Franks, won the Heisman thanks to a 2000 yd, 38 TD season.

In the bowl game, Middle Tennesse St. stacked the line and slowed down Franks, forcing me to use Rex Grossman, er, Tyler Arndt, who was bad Rex in the first half with 3 picks. Down 35-17 going into the second half, Arndt became good Rex and managed 400+ yds passing as we spread MTSU out. That opened up some lanes for Franks who got a couple of TDs. We tied the game at 38 and scored the winning TD with 2:00 minutes left.

First time in a long time I felt like I had accomplished something on NCAA. Bobcats finished #19 in the polls. I ended up taking the last head coaching job available at Colorado St, promptly ending up with the nation's fourth worst recruiting class (and the ones I signed in the offseason were the best of the bunch). Here goes season two.

[finketr]

Seriously. That option stuff is crazy fun.

yeah.. i seem to only have success with the read option.. haven't gained a yard with a pitch option..

on a related note: how the hell do you run the veer or inverted veer?

[Groundhog]

Yeah read option is a lot of fun, I get the right read probably 70% of the time, and it generally leads to nice gains. I find I'm running the ball at least 80% of the time, passing only on 3rd and medium+ or the odd play action.

[ColtCrazy]

4-1 in my second year, first as HC of Colorado St. Had a huge upset at Texas A&M only to get thrashed at Boise St. (got antsy, went away from the run and threw some stupid picks)

Getting into the run option as well. Do pretty well on it. My backup QB comes in just to run it. He's averaging about 8 yards per carry.

[finketr]

Yeah read option is a lot of fun, I get the right read probably 70% of the time, and it generally leads to nice gains. I find I'm running the ball at least 80% of the time, passing only on 3rd and medium+ or the odd play action.

And sometimes you just get smashed regardless of the right read.. like the corner/safety/LB crashing into the QB as well...

It's also amazing how well one can pass when you are playing lesser competition. I guess i should have kept the FCS schools on the schedule...

and 70-80% rushing:
recent games:
53-345 rushing
6/11 passing for ~100yds

43-280 rushing
6/14 passing ...

[Poli]

And sometimes you just get smashed regardless of the right read.. like the corner/safety/LB crashing into the QB as well...


It's been a few years since I sat in on a spread option clinic, but as I recall if there are two defenders outside the tackle to the read side the proper read is either an automatic give or to call an audible.

[BYU 14]

It's been a few years since I sat in on a spread option clinic, but as I recall if there are two defenders outside the tackle to the read side the proper read is either an automatic give or to call an audible.

This is correct because the 1st outside can crash on the RB and the 2nd go to the QB, which I see as well. I audible to the screen into the pressure when I get this alignment.

[JonInMiddleGA]

On the one hand, I can do beastly things to the AI offensively against the out-of-the-box settings for All-American.

On the other hand, I've rarely managed a play action pass that didn't result in a sack (or at least a hurry) and I think I've gotten positive yardage on maybe two screen passes over at least a couple hundred games over the last two versions, to the point that I've abandoned them entirely.

WTH?

[flounder]

Has play action ever worked on any version of NCAA and Madden?

[ColtCrazy]

On the one hand, I can do beastly things to the AI offensively against the out-of-the-box settings for All-American.

On the other hand, I've rarely managed a play action pass that didn't result in a sack (or at least a hurry) and I think I've gotten positive yardage on maybe two screen passes over at least a couple hundred games over the last two versions, to the point that I've abandoned them entirely.

WTH?

That's odd. Screen passes work fairly well for me at times, I've hit a 73 TD with it and I've been stopped for 0 or 1 yd. Play action works for me, but only when I've been 3:1 run-pass ratio. Then I've hit some great plays. So it does work, but only if you really set it up it seems. Otherwise I get creamed. Shame, some of the best patterns are in play action so I just hot route the RB to pass block to take away the play action and run it as a normal pass. I can't run the standard option at all, it always gets stuff, even if I read it right. Read option works well though.

I know I'm Colorado St., but I simply can't play defense. I sim some to speed up the games on D, but when I play I'm atrocious. Even against the weakest teams I give up 21 pts at least.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That's odd.

Yeah, I'm fairly sure it's just something that I do/don't do.

But I also just scored 105 points (8 min qtrs) in my fifth season opener and could easily throw for 750-1000 every game if I wanted to, so I figure there's a tradeoff in there somewhere ;)

I know I'm Colorado St., but I simply can't play defense. I sim some to speed up the games on D, but when I play I'm atrocious.

If I had to play D manually, I'd just give up the game entirely. It's pretty much pointless for me to even try, has been on every version of the game I've ever touched.

[ColtCrazy]

Ha! I hear you. If I went pass wacky, I'd throw for 600 yards but also have 6 or 7 interceptions, even with BYU's sliders. Different Strokes! :)

Okay, damned if I can figure this out. I went in and made my own defensive playbook (I've used my own offensive playbook since I started by dynasty) and shut out 5-0 UTEP 30-0. I played a 3-3-5 which I hadn't used before. Held them to 90 yards total offense….this from a defense that hadn't allowed less than 21 points or 400 yards all season.

[Groundhog]

When screen passes work for me they are generally good for about 5-15 yards. They work well enough that I try them once or twice a game, in particular when I'm about 8-10 yards out from the endzone.

[Poli]

This is correct because the 1st outside can crash on the RB and the 2nd go to the QB, which I see as well. I audible to the screen into the pressure when I get this alignment.

The more I thought of it: I seem to recall at least one coach saying that the tackle would make a call or signal that he would block the inside of the two defenders to try and keep the heat off the give.

[BYU 14]

The more I thought of it: I seem to recall at least one coach saying that the tackle would make a call or signal that he would block the inside of the two defenders to try and keep the heat off the give.

Yeah, you can zone it if he is in a straight 5 tech also, which will change the aim point of the back or on the give or also check to speed option and read the #2 defender outside the OT.

I do like the offense, just not as much as Wing T :)

[nilodor]

I am playing as Arizona State and just had a ESPN classic game. I had been doing pretty well on defense through my first 3 games (played Stanford, Wisconsin and Old Miss) and was ranked in the top 30 in defense. Then I got shredded against USC, their QB went like 25-30 for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 3 huge plays downfield where their receiver beat 2 or 3 of my guys for the ball. Also their running back went over a 100 yards and had a 60 some odd yard touchdown where none of my guys were even on the screen. They were up 3 touchdowns at one point but I kept running my offense and chizzled it down to a one score game by limiting them to field goals (they didn't punt once). Unfortunately I just ran out of time to complete the comeback and lost 41-35. It was a lot of fun on offense, super frustrating on defense. It was the first time in video game football where I felt like it didn't matter what I did, I wasn't stopping them. It was made all the more frustrating because it would up being an instant classic, which only seem to come up when I lose.

[TroyF]

I can use play action, but I don't get the play action screen passes. They just take way too long to complete. I use a custom playbook. I run the spread, but found it didn't have a lot of running plays outside the tackles that weren't option related. Added some sweeps and off tackle runs. Took away 75% of the play action screen passes and redundant formations.

I have a playbook I'm pretty happy with now.

[DaddyTorgo]

Okay - so I just got around to trying out the demo.

Is it just the demo graphics, or does the game (grass, player models) look a lot more "gamey" and less "realistic" than in (I think it was) 12, the last one I purchased. Feel like it's gone backwards in that regard.

[PurdueBrad]

I had been holding off but basically got bored yesterday and so I picked it up. I snagged PastaPadres rosters, made some minor slider tweaks that address my skills and push my weaknesses.

I'm the OC for Purdue but am not coaching, I'm actually running the offense. I struggled during the first 4 games, winning at Cincy, beating an FCS (Indiana State), and beating an NIU team that is not performing well in my dynasty. I took it on the chin against Notre Dame and played a close one with, but ultimately fell to, Wisconsin. I'm turning the ball over waaaaaaay too much. The +/- going into the Nebraska game was -15.

Recruiting is...well, I'm not sure. It feels tedious at times and yet I think its faster than previous versions. I'm not having much success yet (1 recruit by week 7). As others have said, I do wish I was limited to just recruiting the offensive half. Although one very smart decision I made was not to invite any players to the Nebraska game. They're coming in 17th in the country and I knew better...

...or so I thought. I played a very tough game with them winning 42-28. It actually felt like an accomplishment beating a better team, something I hadn't really felt in some of the previous versions where it seemed like my options were to dominate or feel like the game was cheating. So, with no recruits present, we pulled off a huge upset.

And now: #9 MSU, #1 Ohio State, unranked 5-1 Iowa, and unranked 5-1 Penn State. Hmmmm, maybe I should've had those recruits over for the Nebraska game!

Anyway, the game is solid but I'm not sure how big an upgrade it is. I'll have to play around with the coaching only system next (when I can find out how to set it up because that's what I thought I was doing when I took on the OC job with Purdue).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Is it just the demo graphics, or does the game (grass, player models) look a lot more "gamey" and less "realistic" than in (I think it was) 12, the last one I purchased. Feel like it's gone backwards in that regard.

I think I'm in the minority but I actually thought this looked/felt more like humans than any edition I've played.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Now in my 5th season, single player dynasty, playing AA out of the box.

I think I've found something that's pretty broken, or at least seems to be. By this point the game is almost entirely new recruits (I guess all that's left of the starting roster are 5th year seniors). And nearly every player is a stud.

What seems to be happening is that 4 years worth of off-season training is adding 12-24 points to everyone's overall rating, meaning that the bottom feeding teams in the game nearly all have rosters in the upper 70s, and there's got to be several dozen between 88 & 100 overall. IMO either player development is overpowered or the starting skill level of the average recruit is too high relative to what constitutes a 'star'.

edit to add: Plus, the coaches are steadily improving, which means there's more & more bonus points being added to players through that method as well.

[DaddyTorgo]

Now in my 5th season, single player dynasty, playing AA out of the box.

I think I've found something that's pretty broken, or at least seems to be. By this point the game is almost entirely new recruits (I guess all that's left of the starting roster are 5th year seniors). And nearly every player is a stud.

What seems to be happening is that 4 years worth of off-season training is adding 12-24 points to everyone's overall rating, meaning that the bottom feeding teams in the game nearly all have rosters in the upper 70s, and there's got to be several dozen between 88 & 100 overall. IMO either player development is overpowered or the starting skill level of the average recruit is too high relative to what constitutes a 'star'.

edit to add: Plus, the coaches are steadily improving, which means there's more & more bonus points being added to players through that method as well.

Yikes - that's pretty severely broken.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yikes - that's pretty severely broken.

Honestly, without serious slider tweaking (which I'm not into), the gameplay experience ends up just like what I found last version. I'm riding a 28 game winning streak at Georgia State, closing in on a chance to defend my national championship. But weirdly, the game is actually getting a little harder. My mostly bottom feeder opponents routinely have players well into the 80s now.

I suspect my son's observation is the mostly correct one "You're one of the relatively few people who ever get 5 seasons into a dynasty, one of even fewer who play a lot but don't play mostly online".

edit to add: And I'm far from being good at the game. I'd get slaughtered online I'm sure (luckily I have no interest in playing that way). But as a single player experience, out of the box, this is still the same thing I've seen in most all console sports game: it either gets very easy quickly or it's unplayably hard for an average adult if you crank it up too far.

[Groundhog]

I'm only in my 2nd season, but the stat progression definitely looked extreme following my first year - lots of guys +5 or +6 overall.

[PurdueBrad]

A tale of two games.

I was tied 7-7 with Michigan State in East Lansing when I made a bad turnover. The game turned ugly quickly and I found myself down 28-7. We stormed back on the passing game but fell short, 31-26.

I was tied 7-7 with Ohio State on a snow West Lafayette afternoon. I threw a pick when I hit the wrong button. On the next drive I threw a pick of my own doing and again, found myself down badly 23-7. I chipped away through the air and on the ground, battling..23-10, 23-17, 30-17, 30-20, 30-27. The Buckeyes scored on their next drive, a field goal. With the score 33-27, I got the ball back with 2 minutes to play and put together the drive that brought us back. So with 48 seconds to play, I took a 34-33 lead and I had to sit there and wait and watch while the CPU played defense for me...but we won.

Purdue is 5-3 and ranked 16th. Not sure I'll hold on to make this a great season but we'll see.

[JonInMiddleGA]

lots of guys +5 or +6 overall.

Very common in my experience.

It's interesting though, if you had told me that + a little about the coaching bonuses, I'd have figure that was the cause. But none of them seem to affect that directly. IIRC there might be a bump in your training based on prestige or something like that, but no direct modifiers. I think it's just too uniformly overpowered.

[PurdueBrad]

Hmmm, well, after playing some tough, close games I've rattled off 5 straight wins to go to the Big Ten Championship game against #20 Michigan (I'm #10). I just finished a game where I threw 6 picks against Indiana and, for some reason, my interceptions have skyrocketed as the season went on. I'm hoping to get hired as a HC after this year as OC and hopefully that will let me just coach.

If not, how do you set up a coach-only dynasty so I don't have to play?

[ColtCrazy]

Honestly, without serious slider tweaking (which I'm not into), the gameplay experience ends up just like what I found last version. I'm riding a 28 game winning streak at Georgia State, closing in on a chance to defend my national championship. But weirdly, the game is actually getting a little harder. My mostly bottom feeder opponents routinely have players well into the 80s now.

I suspect my son's observation is the mostly correct one "You're one of the relatively few people who ever get 5 seasons into a dynasty, one of even fewer who play a lot but don't play mostly online".

edit to add: And I'm far from being good at the game. I'd get slaughtered online I'm sure (luckily I have no interest in playing that way). But as a single player experience, out of the box, this is still the same thing I've seen in most all console sports game: it either gets very easy quickly or it's unplayably hard for an average adult if you crank it up too far.

You and I seem to have similar playing abilities. I've played 3 games online just to see how it goes. I'm 0-3. But I do fairly well on AA against the computer. I'm only in year two of my dynasty but I'll be another of the few to get to year 5 and beyond. Right now I have just 3 legitimate teams that are "difficult" to play in the MWC. Curious to see what that number is in a few years. I have noticed that 3 star recruits seem to be in the low 70s once I scout them. Seems a bit high because even a basic 6-8 point gain per year puts them at 90s by the time they are seniors.

edit: I've finished the regular season on season two, my first at Colorado St. Ended up 11-1 and winning the conference. One the conference title over San Diego St, who did a good job of slowing down my run first offense. Playing USC in the Las Vegas bowl.

Quick question: I create my own play books. Which formation is everyone's favorite to run from?

[JonInMiddleGA]

You and I seem to have similar playing abilities. I've played 3 games online just to see how it goes. I'm 0-3. But I do fairly well on AA against the computer. I'm only in year two of my dynasty but I'll be another of the few to get to year 5 and beyond. Right now I have just 3 legitimate teams that are "difficult" to play in the MWC. Curious to see what that number is in a few years.

My prediction is that you'll manage to have 1-2 games a year in-conference that are scares/tougher than they should be ... but by year 5 there shouldn't be anybody that you're afraid to play, in or out of conference. I beat Ohio State (now ranked #10 in the nation) in a good competitive NCG last season, scheduled them in the regular season this year & beat them 65-25 ... but had to get a 2pt conversation to beat a sub-500 Texas State in OT.

Quick question: I create my own play books. Which formation is everyone's favorite to run from?

With heavy use of audibles I end up running as many plays out of Goal Line as anything else (my son says I use it more than all of the online universe combined). It's the basis of my first season offense most of the time anyway, so I don't get all that far away from it. By the same token, I use a fair bit of 5-wide shotgun stuff as well as all of the I's.

[Poli]

Funny, Jon. I'm using Georgia State as well. I am 9-0 in my first season on AA. Mind you, I did take Bama and the BCS schools off the schedule, but I did expect the Sun Belt to give me more of a fight considering the talent level at GSU.

I'll bump it to Heisman for any Bowl I might go to and I'll keep it there for next season.

One note on mine: I went with Oregon's offense.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Funny, Jon. I'm using Georgia State as well. I am 9-0 in my first season on AA. Mind you, I did take Bama and the BCS schools off the schedule, but I did expect the Sun Belt to give me more of a fight considering the talent level at GSU.

I went 6-6 the first season fwiw, even with removing anybody out of conference that looked remotely competitive. I'm very familiar with the stadiums at Memphis, ODU, and both New Mexico schools at this point :)

[Poli]

I've only had one game that was within 7, and that was because of a late TD by the opponent.

[Groundhog]

I'm running with Oregon's playbook as well. I run 80% of my plays out of the shotgun formation that has the TE lining up behind and between the RT and RG with 3 wideouts and a HB.

[britrock88]

With heavy use of audibles I end up running as many plays out of Goal Line as anything else (my son says I use it more than all of the online universe combined). It's the basis of my first season offense most of the time anyway, so I don't get all that far away from it. By the same token, I use a fair bit of 5-wide shotgun stuff as well as all of the I's.

So you're Stanford, basically. Cool! :)

[ColtCrazy]

Starting to see what Jon meant. I won the championship as Colorado St. in my 2nd season there. Had a sold freshman class coming in but decided to leave when lowly Old Dominion came open. They were 1-11 the previous year yet I inherit a team that's 79 overall. I'm 3-0 so far, beating my old Colorado St. team, barely beating Akron at home, then upsetting Va Tech on the road.

No team was less than a C in the preseason ratings (I'm in year 4 overall).

[Eaglesfan27]

Part of the problem is that progression is too fast and star players aren't leaving early for the draft. I had a 99 rated Marquis Lee return for his senior year. I also had several draft eligible players in their mid 90's return. All of them without any persuading to stay. Interestingly, I had 2 high 80's guys decide to declare early but I was able to persuade them both to stay for 1 more year. That being said, I'm still finding this the most enjoyable version in almost a decade and my favorite of this generation of videogames.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'll give this much credit to the current iteration. It marks the first one that has EVER prompted me to play even a single contest online (the card collecting mode thing)

[Simbo Klice]

Part of the problem is that progression is too fast and star players aren't leaving early for the draft. I had a 99 rated Marquis Lee return for his senior year. I also had several draft eligible players in their mid 90's return. All of them without any persuading to stay. Interestingly, I had 2 high 80's guys decide to declare early but I was able to persuade them both to stay for 1 more year. That being said, I'm still finding this the most enjoyable version in almost a decade and my favorite of this generation of videogames.

It seems like if they would go in the 1st round, they don't even declare. I'm about 25 years in and I've never seen a player declare and be projected to be a first rounder.

[ColtCrazy]

I agree with stars staying. I noticed Manziel stayed till his senior year. So did Lee from USC.
This is by far the most fun I've had playing in a long time. I love the run option. I love passing. But when guys are going up 4-7 points a year, so your 65 bench warmers are high 80s as seniors, even your bottom feeders have talent. I've kept my draft files. I wonder how they'll translate to Madden? My Heisman winning RB at Colorado St. ended up being a 92 when he graduated. He was projected to go in the 3rd round.

[Groundhog]

I'm thinking, given the skill inflation, it might be best just starting in a 5-star conference. At least that way you'll be playing the top teams 80% of the team.

Game definitely plays the best it ever has. Running has been a thing of beauty once I learnt to lay off the turbo button.

[whomario]

Isn´t progression one of the few things they reliably patched before ? So there might be hope for you guys yet in that regard ;)

[MizzouRah]

That being said, I'm still finding this the most enjoyable version in almost a decade and my favorite of this generation of videogames.

There is no doubt this is THE greatest football game I've ever played on a console. The tackles, the immersion, it just feels like football more than any other game.

I'm 2-0 after beating Toledo, 42-14. It started out tough though.. and I had to think of ways to stop their no huddle offense. The CPU is a much tougher opponent and until I adjusted, it was me 14-7 at halftime.

The game is great.. vibrant, I love how they chant MIZ-ZOU now and show more stats this year.

The infinity engine is excellent and I've seen so many different tackles.

Loving it!

[Danny]

Hopefully the new madden plays as well as you guys are saying NCAA does

[StLee]

Last season for the SEC in EA Sports games, for now:

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/08/14/sec-branding-will-not-be-included-in-future-ea-college-football/

Reading is fundamental. I overlooked this at the end:

Update #2: The Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences are reportedly joining the SEC, and will no longer license their brands to EA. "The Pac-12 Conference has decided not to renew its current licensing agreement with EA Sports that allows the use of Conference trademarks," Pac-12 spokesman Erik Hardenbergh told CBS Sports. "Our member institutions continue to make decisions on their trademarks on a school-by-school basis."

[Groundhog]

I'm excited about the customisation EA will presumably be forced into including now.

[gstelmack]

It started out tough though.. and I had to think of ways to stop their no huddle offense. The CPU is a much tougher opponent and until I adjusted, it was me 14-7 at halftime.

FWIW, through NCAA 12 and NCAA 13, this is mostly what I've found. I have to figure out how to adjust to the AI's gameplan, and the AI does a poor job of adjusting to mine. I do think 13 did a better job than 12 at differentiating player skill, so that I can't simply cakewalk over better opponents once figuring out what to call (although in 13 there are some gripes that it feels like the computer flips a coin and decides if you're going to have a good or bad day; I wonder if the hot / cold streak for players is a bit overdone), but really the big difference between me and the AI is they stick with a plan, while I adjust mine based on how the game is going.

[nilodor]

I'm excited about the customisation EA will presumably be forced into including now.

It's either that or they sell stripped down College Football, change the names and generate generic rosters.

[flounder]

(although in 13 there are some gripes that it feels like the computer flips a coin and decides if you're going to have a good or bad day; I wonder if the hot / cold streak for players is a bit overdone)

Yeah, I hated that about 13 and that's why I stopped playing it.

[kcchief19]

I feel like I got comeback coded ...

Bad enough that I lose in triple overtime at Vanderbilt, but then my 4-1 Mizzou Tigers travel to No. 1 Georgia. After a slow start, we took a 10-point halftime lead and turned it into a 16-point lead early in the 4th quarter. Georgia struck quickly, scoring a TD to make it a 9-point game. They managed to stop me on my next drive, and scored another TD with less than 2 minutes to play. Of course they recovered the onside kick, marched into field goal range and escaped with one-point win. Until midway thru the 4th quarter, I had been dominating.

Then we get torched by Florida and then manhandle South Carolina. Odd game.

I'm using BYU's sliders, and they're pretty good. I can't run the ball to save my life ... everything is a three-yard loss or 15-yard gain. I struggle to break 50 yards rushing. Not sure if that is a slider problem or button-mashing problem.

[MizzouRah]

I feel like I got comeback coded ...

Bad enough that I lose in triple overtime at Vanderbilt, but then my 4-1 Mizzou Tigers travel to No. 1 Georgia. After a slow start, we took a 10-point halftime lead and turned it into a 16-point lead early in the 4th quarter. Georgia struck quickly, scoring a TD to make it a 9-point game. They managed to stop me on my next drive, and scored another TD with less than 2 minutes to play. Of course they recovered the onside kick, marched into field goal range and escaped with one-point win. Until midway thru the 4th quarter, I had been dominating.

Then we get torched by Florida and then manhandle South Carolina. Odd game.

I'm using BYU's sliders, and they're pretty good. I can't run the ball to save my life ... everything is a three-yard loss or 15-yard gain. I struggle to break 50 yards rushing. Not sure if that is a slider problem or button-mashing problem.

We will have to compare.. I'm 2-0 on the young season. Heading to Indiana next.

[BYU 14]

I feel like I got comeback coded ...

Bad enough that I lose in triple overtime at Vanderbilt, but then my 4-1 Mizzou Tigers travel to No. 1 Georgia. After a slow start, we took a 10-point halftime lead and turned it into a 16-point lead early in the 4th quarter. Georgia struck quickly, scoring a TD to make it a 9-point game. They managed to stop me on my next drive, and scored another TD with less than 2 minutes to play. Of course they recovered the onside kick, marched into field goal range and escaped with one-point win. Until midway thru the 4th quarter, I had been dominating.

Then we get torched by Florida and then manhandle South Carolina. Odd game.

I'm using BYU's sliders, and they're pretty good. I can't run the ball to save my life ... everything is a three-yard loss or 15-yard gain. I struggle to break 50 yards rushing. Not sure if that is a slider problem or button-mashing problem.

I have found that holding off to hit speed burst helps, let the line set, then cut and hit it.

FWIW here is an updated version with an adjustment for those that need a little more challenge running the ball in parenthesis. I added slow or normal as speed options as I have tried a couple of games on slow and they play pretty good too.

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal or Slow
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 45/65
RB: 25/45 (20/45)
PC: 70/70
Int: 30/30
RDef: 40/75 (40/80)
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties

Offsides and False start: 85
Holding: 40
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 51
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

Others at default

[Izulde]

Last season for the SEC in EA Sports games, for now:

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/08/14/sec-branding-will-not-be-included-in-future-ea-college-football/

Reading is fundamental. I overlooked this at the end:

One of the side effects of the lawsuits may be the death of console college sports games.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

One of the side effects of the lawsuits may be the death of console college sports games.

Quite the opposite. I see it as a door wide open for us to get some real competitors with a game that is actually designed well rather than relying on licenses for sales. The mod community will take care of the licensing issues.

[lungs]

I have found that holding off to hit speed burst helps, let the line set, then cut and hit it.

FWIW here is an updated version with an adjustment for those that need a little more challenge running the ball in parenthesis. I added slow or normal as speed options as I have tried a couple of games on slow and they play pretty good too.

Skill: All-American
Speed: Normal or Slow
Threshold: 28
8 minute quarters

Sliders (Hum/CPU)
QBA: 5/10
PB: 60/65
WR: 40/45
RBA: 45/65
RB: 25/45 (20/45)
PC: 70/70
Int: 30/30
RDef: 40/75 (40/80)
Tack: 35/35
FGP: 55/50
FGA: 50/40
PP: 50/50
PA: 45/35

Penalties

Offsides and False start: 85
Holding: 40
Off and Def PI: 0
Clipping: 51
Int grounding: 60
RP: 52
RK: 0

Others at default

I'm still using your sliders with good success. I did up the pass blocking a little bit for the CPU as my 83 and 84 rated defensive ends are racking up 17-18 sacks over the course of the year. I do control one of the ends when I play defense but the other one is doing it all on his own.

[Balldog]

I've recently started using BYU's sliders and have found them to be very good. Good enough that I think it is time to fire up my first dynasty.


Thanks for sharing BYU!

[BYU 14]

I've recently started using BYU's sliders and have found them to be very good. Good enough that I think it is time to fire up my first dynasty.


Thanks for sharing BYU!

Awesome, glad they are working out for quite a few of you. Now if only I had time to play with Football practice in full swing :)

[mauchow]

I hate the end of the game freeze-up... I've played 6 games now and two of them froze up after the game was over. I will need to just stop clicking X when I finish and let it do it's thing.

[ColtCrazy]

Well, in the fourth year of dynasty, my first as HC at Old Dominion. I went undefeated in the regular season and I'm facing what looks to be a juggernaut Clemson team in the championship.

RBs love playing for me. I've had the Doak Walker award every year in 4 years. This is mainly due to high TD numbers because passing inside the 5 is very difficult (at least for me).

I've had some games on both end of the spectrum. Had a game where the halftime score was 10-3, though I ended up scoring some late to get to 33. I've never scored less than 30. Played Missouri in what was a ridiculous game. I sim defense, but against them Missouri scored 5 straight possessions. I tried to take over defense, and they kept scoring. They ended up not scoring on one drive and lost another on downs. I won 77-63. Crazy. Still loving the game despite that one game.

[Kodos]

Has anyone had problems with it freezing during recruiting? It's done it twice now tonight for me.

[Kodos]

Make that 3 times.

[Eaglesfan27]

I haven't had any freezing problems at all and I've put a lot of time into the game.

[Kodos]

I think I have a bum console. It's my second one. I was hoping that'd be the last one.