Anyone else think the game is showing its age these days?

[young22]

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

Without making a long reply, with regards to the last two posts - I basically feel the opposite at this point. I just feel NCAA 14 is tapped out. No slider tweaking can fix the core issues that plague the game that have been fixed in Madden at this point. Penalties, on and off-ball injuries, new passing trajectories, players can't cut on a dime like in NCAA, plus all of the defensive enhancements like the new zone coverages and run fits just make it too hard for me to go back to NCAA at this point. The graphics and the bells and whistles are just icing on the cake. I cannot really say NCAA 14 does anything better on the field than Madden at this point. It shouldn't being such an older game, but I know plenty of people are still in love with the game. I was as well, but at this point I feel like father time has caught up to the game. I'd honestly love to hear what you guys think NCAA 14 does better on the field than Madden right now. I mean that genuinely. Up until a year or two ago I felt NCAA was still the superior game, but I don't feel that anymore with 20 or 21. Not on the field. Franchise mode is another animal, but on the field only I honestly don't see how NCAA compares anymore thanks to the improvements I've talked about above plus other things I've failed to mention.

Not gonna lie, I would like some RPOs and more motion stuff in NCAA, but playcalling in 2013 wasn't what it is now. Pass trajectories and more PBUs are nice, but can happen in NCAA, leading your passes correctly is really nice and the right settings allow for good pass D. Run fits are fine in NCAA. Gap vs zone blocking works the way it should, you read them the way you should and it plays well. Penalties aren't great, but you can generate a few per game with the right settings.

Madden's player movement looks awful to me. They don't run like football players. They almost look like they're gliding over the turf. Cuts look odd, you can't really cut on a dime it seems, even with guys who should be able to do so unless you're juking. It's also so incredibly animation driven. I haven't played in a few years, the last Madden I played a lot was 17, but even watching gameplay videos, there are certain animations, especially in pass coverage, where you see it coming and you're like yeah, that's a drop, that's a catch, that's DPI. Juke moves, it almost looks like a successful one is just determined by the CPU defender kind of getting out of the way.

I think NCAA is just so much more dynamic than Madden. Madden looks better and does do certain aspects of pass coverage better (although I hear it's currently broken on next gen), but it all looks so robotic and predetermined that it doesn't feel like "Any Given Sunday" to me, and hasn't since about Madden 25. That's what it is for me. Granted, NCAA 14 right out of the box is an awful game. It's broken with fatigue on, passing is insanely easy, CPU is stupid, interceptions are too prevalent, the list goes on. I hated the game and thought I'd wasted 50 bucks buying it online until I started messing with sliders.

But the settings to unlock its true potential are there. And Dynasty mode is damn good. Wish we'd have gotten the playoff in there but it is what it is. Franchise mode is so stale and barebones in Madden, has been for years now, whereas in NCAA it really does feel like you're in your own CFB world.

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[TarHeelPhenom]

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

Hear me out. I love NCAA, I always preferred the series over Madden, but I think that NCAA 14 has finally begun showing its age quite a bit for me. Even with the CFB Revamped mod updated the uniforms and fields and whatnot, which is a really nice update for the game, and playing it on an emulator at a constant 60 frames, I think the game has become a bit stale for me. That's not really a knock on the game. It's almost 2021. This game came out in the middle of 2013. That's slightly less than 8 years. Almost a full decade. Games typically don't age too well in a decade. Games age a bit better now, but back in the 360 days, games were not aging well over that length of time. Madden is just too updated for me at this point. I know, Madden catches plenty of flack and for good reason, but Madden has made a lot of changes to the game that have made it hard for me to play NCAA near as much as I used to. Combine that with NCAA 14's legacy issues and I find myself simply not playing the game much more at all. Since 14's release Madden has added things like run fits and gap responsibilities, depth charge changes like Slot WR, Slot CB, Sub LB, and so much more than NCAA desperately needs, schemes that help the CPU create a roster that fits their playstyle, a better archetype system, traits that could work much better, pattern matching defenses, updated zone defenses that aren't just spot sitting like NCAA 14, actual RPO's, a whole host of new play types that NCAA 14 obviously wouldn't have, so much player gear, and many more things I am not thinking about. Madden is far from a perfect game, but I find myself sticking with Madden 20 right now with some mods on PC over going back to NCAA 14 which almost saddens me because I love the dynasty mode of the NCAA games much more. The roster turnover, vast array of playbooks, and so much more make NCAA a unique experience, but I think Madden has been updated too much since 14 for me to want to really stick with NCAA 14 anymore. I still criticize Madden annually for the slow progress, I haven't really bought but a couple Maddens in the past decade, but in 7 years, even with slow progress, Madden has hit a point for me that makes NCAA 14 just feel old now and hard to come back to as often. What's worse is that I have fun playing Madden, but the majority of the time I am playing it I am really dreaming of playing NCAA 21 with all of the updates Madden has, but within an NCAA dynasty mode. It's a terrible tease of what could be. Does anyone else find themselves struggling to come back to NCAA 14? I cannot imagine I am alone. Even for guys that are somewhat disappointed with Madden's progress, I am sure there are others here like me that find Madden has progressed to a point that does make NCAA 14 feel old and hard to come back to. I would be in gaming heaven if I had NCAA dynasty mode with updates + all of the changes Madden has made to gameplay and things like new depth chart positions, the scheme and archetype system, and more.

I'm feeling the same way as of now. I think, a lot of enjoyment for me was coming up with fresh ideas as far as editing. But, once I ran out of ideas and the desire to edit anymore, that signaled the end for me. I'm not saying I'm done with it, just that the desire isn't there anymore like it was for this game which is sad. I love what the dudes at College Football Revamped are doing and maybe one day I'll invest in a system that'll allow me to be able to play it. But, until then...

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by TarHeelPhenom

I'm feeling the same way as of now. I think, a lot of enjoyment for me was coming up with fresh ideas as far as editing. But, once I ran out of ideas and the desire to edit anymore, that signaled the end for me. I'm not saying I'm done with it, just that the desire isn't there anymore like it was for this game which is sad. I love what the dudes at College Football Revamped are doing and maybe one day I'll invest in a system that'll allow me to be able to play it. But, until then...

This is part of what I mean when I say the game feels tapped out. It seems I've hit a point where no matter what adjustments I make with sliders, fatigue off, etc. that the game has hit a point to me where I've seen all it has to offer. I can tell what the CPU will do before it knows what it will do. I know the CPU better than myself at this point.



I think if a miracle ever happened and the gameplay became more moldable similar to Madden 19 and 20 on PC then I'd easily get sucked back in, but at this point I've hit a wall and there's not much else for me to do with this game that I haven't experienced 100 times over.


I need a new NCAA on PC with all of the updates Madden has seen + more NCAA specific updates. If the Frosty people made it moddable... I'd have no life.

[bb9]

Uniforms, new FBS teams, stale playbooks are why I agree with the OP. It's still my favorite game of all time but it's time for a new one!

[NoleFan]

For me, it’s not showing its age at all! I’m even still playing NCAA 06 and that game is just shy of 16 years old.


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[KSUowls]

Definitely agree that it's showing its age. I've barely played madden in the look last few years since it's still an inferior franchise mode to what we had 15 years ago. Even without that modern experience though, it's hard for me to jump into ncaa these days and deal with the same issues.

I'm tired of having to eliminate certain aspects of my offense because things like the read option are completely broken. I also have never been able to find a set of sliders that can consistently give me a sim experience.

Then on top of the gameplay issues, the dynasty mode doesn't really offer much to keep me coming back either. It was never really a deep mode to begin with, and I never loved it's implementation of the skills that you unlock which feel more like cheats than your coach just being a good Xs and Os guy.

I have had tons of enjoyment over the years from it, but it's many issues can't keep bringing me back even if there isn't been a new cfb game in 8 years and I generally hate the direction of the Madden series.

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[TarHeelPhenom]

Quote: Originally Posted by KSUowls

Definitely agree that it's showing its age. I've barely played madden in the look last few years since it's still an inferior franchise mode to what we had 15 years ago. Even without that modern experience though, it's hard for me to jump into ncaa these days and deal with the same issues. I'm tired of having to eliminate certain aspects of my offense because things like the read option are completely broken. I also have never been able to find a set of sliders that can consistently give me a sim experience. Then on top of the gameplay issues, the dynasty mode doesn't really offer much to keep me coming back either. It was never really a deep mode to begin with, and I never loved it's implementation of the skills that you unlock which feel more like cheats than your coach just being a good Xs and Os guy. I have had tons of enjoyment over the years from it, but it's many issues can't keep bringing me back even if there isn't been a new cfb game in 8 years and I generally hate the direction of the Madden series. Sent from my S10 using Operation Sports mobile app

The editor tools really added years of life to the game for me. They allowed me to do things within the game that would have never been possible from the console. I actually had more fun editing and watching the games play out than I did actually playing the game. Once I got burned out from editing that was pretty much it. I will admit though...College Football Revamped is drawing me back in.

[Romeclone]

NCAA is certainly getting a little long in the tooth; there are a few things this game does really well that may keep me coming back for more.

1. Special teams return game. In the Madden 21 the return game is absolutely useless. In NCAA, you get a good return man, you are probably gonna break a few home-run returns. This is huge, for me. I hate the vice like return coverage in Madden.

2. Play-action pass concept. In that game, you can pound the rock and set up play-action passes! The replay will actually go back and show the defenders biting down and blowing the coverage. It’s a pretty awesome sequence when it works correctly. Madden play-action is almost pointless and usually an Insta sack while stuck in the handoff animation.

3. Although Madden had schemes, it’s mostly just for XP purposes. In NCAA you can have wide variety of schemes to run. And recruit your guys to make that spread or triple option attack work like a well-oiled machine. It’s not always easy putting all the right parts together. Soon as you get it where you want, a few guys graduate.

4. Speaking of recruiting, this is something Madden can’t recreate. It’s so much fun to find your guy and go after him, only to lose out in a recruiting battle to your rival. Now I gotta play against this guy! He’s gonna be a problem. 😁

Recruiting athletes - this is so much fun, I recruited ATH that started at receiver, but were forced into QB duty. I’ve had Deion Sanders types that were lockdown corners that I would slip into receiving roles at times and return kicks/ punts.

The import: You gotta snag a Madden 25 copy. It’s not a bad game but I just use it to import my classes. I may play a few games a season, but it’s mostly just a way to see how my 3 star qb I recruited and progressed well went on to win Super Bowl MVP for the Jets! This is the last game you could do that.

There’s a lot of other reasons I love that game. Neutral site games, the polls, heisman watch conference re-alignment, creating recruits of NFL legends offspring. 😝

Good times! I’ll probably always play these games because of those reasons. No matter how dated it gets, it’s still fun for me. Until there’s a better way; I’ll still play. 🤓