Football & the power of the 360?

[driddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by maxpower98115

I think it may be a good idea in the longrun for Ea to sit a year out (though it would never happen, I know this so don't flame me please) and completely re make the game from the ground up. It must be difficult to try to add to an old diagram of how the game works. But I think that they would eventually be able to make a game that would take advantage of all the tools at their disposable if they started from the ground up. This version is "based" off the Madden engine, right? Was that built from the ground up? I really do not know how this has been done, if anyone knows or has insight, care to share?

EA will definitely not sit out any more years, they are guaranteed sales each year and their business model is to release the game within the 12 months. I think better project mgt might be needed, more input from fans as to what features need to be in these games. I'm guessing the majority of NCAA fans aren't playing the mini games, I'd like to see EA have some online polls on this, that kind of development time could go to really bringing the college atmosphere and presentation into the games. I got more enjoyment out of the old startup videos showing each college than these mini games, but that's just me.

[mdurd2817]

Quote: Originally Posted by BezO

Pardon if this belongs somewhere else, but I figured it's related to the NCAA game I just bought. I'm wondering what the power of the 360 is and how I can expect it to effect sports games for the next few years. I know there's a lot more memory, but how does this translate into developing games for the 360? I bought NCAA yesterday evening, and despite having to wake up at 7:00 am to go to work, I played until 2:00 am. Solid game, but still not up to my expectations. Reason being, there are issues that I thought would disappear with old gen systems. Collision detection, player interaction and AI are not meeting my expectations. I'm wondering how much of that is on the developer vs. the system. My understanding was that old gen systems were only capable of so much, but many would say the Xbox especially, was never pushed to its limit by NCAA/Madden. Seeing an EA exec blame the old gen hardware for not being able to implement gang tackling made that easy to believe. I guess I'm wondering how much can be done with the next gen consoles. Can I expect sports gaming AI to ever be near perfect? Not perfect in the sense that players always do the right thing. Perfect in that they all do what we expect a player, with a particular skill level, in a particular situation to do. Can I expect a football to be held pefectly in a QB's hands, or in a RB's arms? For a model to look like it's really tackling another model... no clipping, no air where there should be none? I know EA is working on the footwork for their NBA game, and the vid looked pretty good. Since that's a physics issue, can I expect the same from player interaction in football games? Is it just a matter of time before we can mistake a video game for a tv broadcast? But I'm not talking about the graphics. I actually like the "somewhat real, but still cartoony" look of sports video games to date. I'm talking about small things like all 22 players having their own personality... not everyone standing the same, swaying the same... players/coaches/media on the sidelines reacting to the game as realistically as the players on the field... all 85 players being represented in the game at the same time(the real remaining players on the sidelines while the other 11 play)? Does anyone expect to see this type of stuff on the 360/PS3? Are the 360 & PS3 capable? Something that every NCAA/Madden fan wants is real-time physics. Are the new systems capable of pulling that off for the infinite number of collisions possible in a football game? From the way next gen systems were talked about by all the "experts" I came to expect all of these things. I know these games are works in progress from year to year, but anyone expect to see this stuff by 2008/9/10?

Love this post. I'm hoping to see some of the samethings.

One thing I'm glad to see they added is the more in-depth player ratings. That's the biggest upgrade to gameplay that could be made if implemented right. I'm dissappointed that there are not any new QB ratings(short, medium, and deep accuracy..PA pass accuracy, accuracy on the run). I wonder what was the reason for that 'cause you would think new QB ratings would be high on the list. Physics is at the top of my wishlist though.

[westwood]

Quote: Originally Posted by driddy

EA will definitely not sit out any more years, they are guaranteed sales each year and their business model is to release the game within the 12 months. I think better project mgt might be needed, more input from fans as to what features need to be in these games. I'm guessing the majority of NCAA fans aren't playing the mini games, I'd like to see EA have some online polls on this, that kind of development time could go to really bringing the college atmosphere and presentation into the games. I got more enjoyment out of the old startup videos showing each college than these mini games, but that's just me.

i agree i dont understand where some of these design decisions come from. i don't know a soul who's ever played the mini games and things like the mascot games just leave me scratching my head. im thoroughly dissapointed with this years product, But i learned my lesson long ago and i ALWAYS rent before buying accept with a few choice franchises.

[driddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by westwood

i agree i dont understand where some of these design decisions come from. i don't know a soul who's ever played the mini games and things like the mascot games just leave me scratching my head. im thoroughly dissapointed with this years product, But i learned my lesson long ago and i ALWAYS rent before buying accept with a few choice franchises.

Yeah, I signed up for Gamefly this year, and that has really helped me enjoy these games.

[Jack Mauer]

Quote: Originally Posted by driddy

Yeah, I signed up for Gamefly this year, and that has really helped me enjoy these games.

Long standing Gamefly member here. I actually will keep NCAA (because of Gamestops promised trade in value towards Madden).
*Some people who dont agree with my views on this game would be surprised by that I'm sure.

Its good "football", just not "next gen" promised to me, I will say that. Maybe the sliders will keep it as minor cure to my football fix. The surprising thing is , I actually like Madden06 ON THE 360......because they made no bones about what that game would involve.

[driddy]

That's good, I wish I had gamefly when Madden came out, when I found out it was only $30 trade in I was kicking myself. Now, I can sit and wait, clear out my queue and wait for these "wait til next year" type games.

[Flawless]

Some of the things you mentioned are definitely possible.

But, in my opinion, sports games have never pushed the envelope. And as far as AI, this comes down to the person coding it. You're not playing against an intelligent CPU, you're playing against an intelligent coder.

[BezO]

Quote: Originally Posted by McAlister

I'm not an EA defender, but I appreciate them giving me playable football games since 1994. As I said, the EA hate on these boards has become redundant to the point that it's nauseating. The same people come onto these boards and and others this time every year to debase EA and there products, yet every year they purchase Madden and NCAA yet again. I don't understand this. To me it's illogical!

Again, thanks, but this post is not about that.

Quote: Originally Posted by McAlister

To answer your question, the system will be pushed as far as it can go without causing problems, but pusing it too much may create problems for the gamers who would in turn have something else to complain about.

Insightful. Thanks again.