NCAA 13

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Mota

Not sure what happened but first game after the patch was 78-76 in OT. That's insane. I was getting fairly accurate stats before with my slider set, although I did see waaaaaay too many 50 yard passes. I play CPU vs. CPU and wasn't watching that closely so no changes to the sliders yet.

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Only have a couple games under my belt but a little concerned about my first game after this patch. Had some great games prior to the patch. First game after was against a team that I should have smoked. Their QB was inhuman. I was able to control the clock and won a tight one but their QB was 28 for 30 with the only 2 incomplete passes caused by my DB knocking the ball down with great plays. Every other pass thrown by their QB was like it was laser guided.

Then with my team up by a touchdown with 3 seconds left in the game and them at midfield they line up and run a sweep.

Sitting here at home happier and happier with my decision to NOT patch my game.

I don't have any freezes that others have reported.

I don't play online.

My games have been incredibly fun and competitive with BYU14's slider set.

All equal no reason to make any changes.

For the life of me I can't figure out why the EA football games can't do like EA's NHL series and let us choose which tuner set we would like to use for offline play.

[Poli]

Interestingly enough, I haven't had freezes since I patched. I haven't seen as many crazy deep ball completions, either.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Simbo Klice

They had to act quickly, having a good game already on the market would have impacted Madden's sales.

Giving Simbo some love for this post.

[TCY Junkie]

If I buy this game today, should I patch it? Recommendations?

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by TCY Junkie

If I buy this game today, should I patch it? Recommendations?

Can't comment on patched game since I haven't done it. My only reason to not patch was the great results and time I am having playing the game prepatch with the sliders I am using. Had no desire to try to tweak my sliders to a new tuner set if I didn't need the patch to fix some game breaking issue.

If I were buying today I would imagine I would patch. No slider adjustments required as I would be trying to find my initial set. I also think you need it to go to the EA locker to get real name rosters or any d'load content. Only issue would be if there is something in there that breaks the game. Others that have patched would have to chime in on that one.

[Ksyrup]

I'm not buying it solely because of the freezing issues. I've had enough freezing issues with 12, so I can't imagine how bad 13 would be for me.

[EagleFan]

Haven't seen a freeze issue. Though I am playing on PS3 if that means anything.

Played 2 more games since that odd one and the results have been much closer to expected.

Overall I have been really enjoying this game. If that one game ends up being a fluke I will be quite happy. The last game that I played actually seemed like I rattled the other team's QB. He was on fire the first drive and the first time I had a chance to get him I crushed him with a sack. The next play I was about to hit him again and he seemed to hurry the throw and it was picked. For much of the remainder of the game he seemed to have happy feet. Not sure it it was just random coincidence or not but it seemed pretty cool.

[Mota]

I really enjoy the recruiting, they seem to have made it a lot more fun than the tedious NCAA12 version.
I have seen a lot of variety in game scores. Some high scoring, some close defensive games. That's really cool.
Other than the 50 yard passes that really bother me, this version seems to be the best in many years.

[Julio Riddols]

I haven't had one freeze yet and I have coordinated the offense through 4 seasons now with Indiana on the 360. Coach mode is fun as hell. There's a real feel for momentum though. You can't make mistakes against better teams or they will completely destroy you. I don't know if I will ever actually play a game for a while because coach mode is so damn good. Haven't even messed with the sliders yet, so I can only imagine how much better it could be if it can be made better.

[Julio Riddols]

Oh, and the recruiting is addictive as all hell. I can't wait to finish games so I can go recruit some more. Being able to compare your teams strengths to others weaknesses is a nice touch. They can just leave recruiting like this from now on as far as I am concerned. Nothing needs fixed or changed.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Oh, and the recruiting is addictive as all hell. I can't wait to finish games so I can go recruit some more. Being able to compare your teams strengths to others weaknesses is a nice touch. They can just leave recruiting like this from now on as far as I am concerned. Nothing needs fixed or changed.

Are you recruiting on Heisman level? In my first season (Iowa Hawkeyes, so pretty good reputation) I recruited on All American based on past versions. Mid-season it felt about right running with a class rank between 20 and 30. However after a late push I ended up with the #1 class. Only one 5* lineman but a lot of well rated 4* players.

Think I'll have to up to Heisman or it is going to end up being too easy. Anyway just looking for another viewpoint on this and since you've gone 4 seasons I'd be interested on what you have done.

Of course also interested in anyone's opinion on recruiting levels you have tried.

Thanks.

[Bigsmooth]

My friend and I have gotten consecutive top 25 recruiting classes with Wyoming and Colorado State on All-American level recruiting. Obviously way too high. Havent' tried Heisman yet.

[Julio Riddols]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Are you recruiting on Heisman level? In my first season (Iowa Hawkeyes, so pretty good reputation) I recruited on All American based on past versions. Mid-season it felt about right running with a class rank between 20 and 30. However after a late push I ended up with the #1 class. Only one 5* lineman but a lot of well rated 4* players.

Think I'll have to up to Heisman or it is going to end up being too easy. Anyway just looking for another viewpoint on this and since you've gone 4 seasons I'd be interested on what you have done.

Of course also interested in anyone's opinion on recruiting levels you have tried.

Thanks.

You may be right that the difficulty needs bumped a bit. I had just coached the first season and let the computer do the recruiting for me until I noticed I was about to have one of the worst teams ever. I had a decent RB and an average DB and a bunch or scrubs in my first 2 recruiting classes because of that.

Season 2 I recruited starting about midway through the season, working to find 3 star gems in my pipeline states and then pouring all the effort and reasonable promises I could on them. Managed a decent class, enough to keep my head above water so I could do decently on the field while I focused on making year 3 my first big year of truly recruiting.

In a 7-6 season capped by a heartbreaking Insight Bowl loss, I wound up in the top 40 recruiting, with a lot of help coming from my coaching prestige rating going up as I managed a nice win streak at mid season. Landed a 5 star and a couple 4 stars with a ton of 2 and 3 star guys, mostly gems.

Season 4 I finished 9-3 and lost a heartbreaker to Michigan in the Big 10 championship after erasing a 42-7 deficit to take a late lead 62-59 with 36 seconds left. My horrible (70KP/70KA) kicker missed the extra point on the go ahead TD, then Michigan tied it up with a long field goal as time expired, then beat me in triple OT after trading TDs in the first 2 OT sessions. My recruiting class did

Now in season 5, I sit at 7-0 after taking down Penn State at their place 34-20. The QB under center right now is a guy named Reid who was a 72 when I first gave him playing time in his sophomore season when my scrambling QB kept deciding to fumble away games for us. (This is when I went on the win streak in year 3.) That QB now leads us as a Senior and has blossomed to a 95 OVR, presumably boosted a bit by his on field performance. Behind him, our Soph stud RB and a true freshman ATH turned WR named Grigsby, we're doing well enough that I think a top 15 class is reasonable. I couldn't have managed better than top 40 before we started winning consistently, but now we have about 7 different pitches rating B- or above and that helps tremendously. Also keeping track of and pulling through on the promises we have made to players has made promises this year a lot more effective. I make up a lot of ground on teams that way. I also try and stick to pipeline states unless there is a gem prospect I stumble across who already had us in their top 5 before the season started. Luckily, one of my pipelines is Florida, so I get access to a bevy of talent there.

I think it could stand to be a little harder to recruit, but then again if the real Indiana started winning like we did, they would pull in much stronger classes as well. I'll probably start a new dynasty after this one and try recruiting on Heisman level to see how much harder it gets. I can see in a couple seasons we will probably be juggernauts and have our way with just about anyone, which is probably when I'll start the new one up.

Sorry bout the long post, just thought I would detail things as much as I could stand to while I gear up for Ohio State.


Also, had my first freeze in the Penn State game.. But I managed to solve it by fucking with the controller til I called a timeout. It happened right before halftime after I scored a TD with only a couple seconds left. After it came out of the freeze We had received the ball in the second half and I had used one of my timeouts. Don't know if that was a real freeze or not, because I could still hear clicking when I pushed a couple buttons on the controller, so I just kept doing it, and it eventually came through.

[Ksyrup]

Finally fired up a new game (with NCAA12) and I figured out how to make the game challenging - sit the game on the shelf for 6-7 months, pick it up, and try to win a game with a shitty team. Wow.

I started a brand-new dynasty and as I usually do, I simmed several years as an OC before taking a head coaching job and getting into the game. I started as FSU's OC, and thanks to 3 straight 4-8 seasons, it took me 5 years to get HC offers. I ended up going with Rice, turning down some schools that I had played in previous dynasties (NMSU, CSU, WSU) to try something different.

First game was against equally sucky Eastern Michigan. Talk about inept v. inept. I missed 2 40+ yard FGs (I always suck at kicking, and 6 months off didn't help) and the game remained scoreless until deep in the 4th quarter. I finally broke the EMU 20 yard line and set up for a 29-yard FG with 30 seconds left... and clanked it off of the left post. To OT we go.

I start with the ball and score a TD, finally. I get them 4th-and-11 and they convert, then score a TD to tie. OT #2... they start with the ball and I shut them down, then they miss a 42 yard FG. I drive down inside the 10, run it up the middle to set up the winning FG... and my RB fumbles the ball away.

OT #3... I get a FG, then give up a TD to lose 13-10 in triple OT to probably the worst team I have on my schedule this year. Should be a real struggle this season. I kinda like it!

[INDalltheway]

Has anyone else noticed with the new patch, or tuner update, that the no huddle is broken? I can't get a snap off until the 24 second mark no matter what so it is just fast to huddle and call the play that way. So flipping annoying.

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

Has anyone else noticed with the new patch, or tuner update, that the no huddle is broken? I can't get a snap off until the 24 second mark no matter what so it is just fast to huddle and call the play that way. So flipping annoying.

Quoted and bolded for truth.

[Ksyrup]

Ha! I remember with 12 they also broke no huddle with a patch. Different problem, but still.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Heavy declines in sales year over year.

First 45 days in 2011: ~1.05M units
First 45 days in 2012: ~858K units

We've seen Madden and this franchise drop some, but this is a pretty hefty drop even by their standards and given the budget they're putting behind these games.

[jaygr]

I've got the itch to play some NCAA. My last version was 11 and I really enjoyed it.

I'm wondering if I should get 12 or 13. Are there enough improvements in 13 to pay $30 more for it?

I'm the type that really enjoyed the dynasty mode and while I do play out most of my games, I'm pretty forgiving as far as how it plays out on the field, meaning I am ok if it isn't super realistic.

I know that the recruiting has improved some in 13 but is it enough to be worth the extra $30 or so between versions?

[INDalltheway]

Originally Posted by jaygr

I've got the itch to play some NCAA. My last version was 11 and I really enjoyed it.

I'm wondering if I should get 12 or 13. Are there enough improvements in 13 to pay $30 more for it?

I'm the type that really enjoyed the dynasty mode and while I do play out most of my games, I'm pretty forgiving as far as how it plays out on the field, meaning I am ok if it isn't super realistic.

I know that the recruiting has improved some in 13 but is it enough to be worth the extra $30 or so between versions?

Newegg.com - NCAA football 2013 Xbox 360 Game EA
The scouting adds a lot to the game. If Dynasty is your thing get the new one. Much more immersive.

[Bobble]

Still getting lots of freezing issues at the end of games. Thanks, EA!

[Julio Riddols]

Still haven't had one freeze through roughly 10 full seasons of games.

[Groundhog]

Sooooo... what's the consensus on quarter lengths, difficulty settings, sliders, etc.? Downloaded the game a few days ago having not played last year's version, set quarter lengths to 9 minutes, second highest difficulty, Temple university, beat an FCS school 93-3 and I was not trying to run up the score... multiple pick-6s, and my RBs were unstoppable.

[Kodos]

I'm getting my ass kicked on Heisman. See my sig!

[Groundhog]

Thanks will do! I have to say, recruiting on a PC is a thing of beauty.

[MrBug708]

So Georgia had a RB who ran for 3000 yards before the bowl game with 32 TD's and didn't finish on the top 5 of the Heisman ballot. My RB won it with slightly less than 1100 yards and 9 TD's. His yards were good enough for 37th in the nation My QB was runner up as were the other 3 players on the list.

[MizzouRah]

Went to my first ever BCS Championship game after a season of just incredible games - most of them I barely won and one game I won on a last play 80 yard touchdown pass. We played Texas and ended up losing 37-35 on a last second field goal. Even though I lost, it was quite an incredible game.

We have the 10th best recruiting class, so we should have another good season I hope.

Had my first heisman player too, RB Henry Josey.

[gstelmack]

I started a Dynasty as offensive coordinator for South Florida so I could get some practice in before The Ladder starts its NCAA 13 run. So, I haven't played defense yet, but have a full season of offense.

I did find All-American a bit too easy to move the ball, and based on recommendations here I bumped up to Heisman. It's pretty good: QBs miss on deep balls regularly, I haven't felt cheated on an INT yet, etc. However, I was finding that my O-Line was providing pretty much no protection unless we played a much worse defense. I could not score much at all against comparable teams.

So I bumped human run and pass blocking to 60. Much better, although I stopped getting sacked much at all (although this is somewhat made up for by NCAA deciding it rains nearly every Saturday during gametime, which ups the drops for my receivers). I backed off pass blocking to 55, and it feels even better. I can score in the 20s against comparable talent, 35+ against much weaker teams, and have trouble cracking 20 against better defenses.

What I love most in the run game is being able to pick out holes, and adjust course as necessary. I've only had one run go over 20 yards, which is good because I have a decent-but-not-spectacular back (80 rated). But I can grind out 4-5 yard runs much more regularly. I may back it off to 55 as I think running against a better defense was a bit easier than it should be, but I'm not sure yet.

And that's the only slider tweak I've had to make for a great game. Quite refreshing for an NCAA or Madden game.