NCAA 12 and it's off the field issues

[tweetintoucan]

Before everyone jumps all over this thinking its the only thing I care about...it's not. Just something I see as a glaring weakness year in and year out.

How frustrating is it to see how terribly done the sidelines, crowd, and terrain surrounding the stadium is? I mentioned in an earlier post Hughes Field, where Colorado State plays. The stadium is located right at the base of a huge reservoir, with plenty of trees and boulders along the Dakota Hogback. On the hillside above the stadium, there is a giant white "A" as a historical nod to the schools previous nickname of the Aggies. However, in NCAA Football, the Dakota Hogback looks like a mound of dirt with a couple trees jutting out.

I understand why EA doesn't put a whole lot of effort into these things, but I just don't understand how it can be as bad as it is.

[BadAssHskr]

i'd rather them use the memory and disc space for more functional game aspects.

[tweetintoucan]

I totally agree, but cosmetics aren't a hard thing to fix. Some of the indie games in the XBLA look better than the off the field graphics of NCAA Football.

[JMUfootball]

Outside terrain (mountains and reservoirs) aren't a huge deal to me.

What is inexcusable are the cardboard cutouts on the sideline that all cheer simultaneously.

Or the fact that EA has chosen to include only like 5 unique looking fans, so whenever there is a scripted zoom shot you see the exact same people as always, sometimes in the same shot sitting next to or near each other.

College football especially is about atmosphere, and from the lackluster stadium sounds and piss poor crowd/sidelines, EA does nothing to capture that vibrant ambiance. I've passed up buying NCAA 12 and am all the more happy for it, all my sports gaming time is spent playing, you know, games that are actually well developed.

[BaylorBearBryant]

I'd love to see more of the landscape of the college football atmosphere. Shots of the stadium and campus. Pictures of the scenery. Videos from tailgates and hot chicks cheering for their team, but like it was previously mentioned there's enough things to adjust on the field.

Maybe on PS4 and XBOX 1080.

[tweetintoucan]

Quote: Originally Posted by JMUfootball

Outside terrain (mountains and reservoirs) aren't a huge deal to me. What is inexcusable are the cardboard cutouts on the sideline that all cheer simultaneously. Or the fact that EA has chosen to include only like 5 unique looking fans, so whenever there is a scripted zoom shot you see the exact same people as always, sometimes in the same shot sitting next to or near each other. College football especially is about atmosphere, and from the lackluster stadium sounds and piss poor crowd/sidelines, EA does nothing to capture that vibrant ambiance. I've passed up buying NCAA 12 and am all the more happy for it, all my sports gaming time is spent playing, you know, games that are actually well developed.

Well said. They have tried so hard over the years to emulate a TV broadcast, but leave out or skim over almost everything that MAKES a college football broadcast.

[tweetintoucan]

I guess what I don't understand is why EA has to be so segregated. Battlefield consistently offers some stunning backdrops and graphics and smooth gameplay with each release. It's an EA game. Why can't EA Sports get together with the makers of other successful EA games and draw some influence from them, instead of asking 55 year old coach Paul Johnson what he thinks of the game.

[BizzyBobby23]

Let's not forget that games don't have unlimited memory. There is likely a reason the sidelines look like crap and I'd bet it has to do with memory. Otherwise, they would simply just "copy and paste" another 70 full detail models to each sideline. I feel your pain. I avoid taking screenshots where you can see the sidelines.

The game has 22 full detail models undergoing numerous animations at all times. Try to imagine playing a game at the big house with 100,000+ decently-detailed fan models.

You'd be complaining that your console melted...