NCAA 09 is too hard for you...admit it!

Quote: Originally Posted by bgeno

I don't have NCAA09, so take what I suggest with a grain of salt, but... Shouldn't you be able to get pressure up front without manually blitzing? Or blitzing at all? A good four-man front against a poor O-line should be able to get pressure on the QB, and it seems as though that's not the case in 09. Am I wrong?

This is the exact complaint from people, especially AA. A d-line full of 90 rated guys will create minimal pressure against an o-line of 60 rated guys.

It's frustrating that ratings don't really matter with the linemen interacting. I would love to see a stud DE cause problems and make the offense keep a TE in to double him.

I can dream...

[867-5309]

Quote: Originally Posted by bgeno

I don't have NCAA09, so take what I suggest with a grain of salt, but... Shouldn't you be able to get pressure up front without manually blitzing? Or blitzing at all? A good four-man front against a poor O-line should be able to get pressure on the QB, and it seems as though that's not the case in 09. Am I wrong?

I guess I am playing a different game (online and offline) because the pressure seems right to me. Last year it was far too easy to get pressure on a QB and rack up sacks. This year most of my games have me getting around 2-3 sacks a game and a fair amount of pressure. It may not always look pretty in videos but people also forget that these are one or two videos out of the game.

People keep wanting this mythical simulation and looking at the stats the NCAA average is just over 2 sacks a game. In reality it sure seems pretty "sim-like" to me.

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank....sacks&site=org

Reality is that some people will never be happy. It is catch 22 when it comes to not only creating AI but how they do it.

Take pass incompletions. People will complain and call it dropitus if EA makes more drops to lower the average. Have the QB throw more passes out of reach to assist with a lower completion % and people will complain. Control is being taken out of the users hands. Something has to be done to create this "realistic %." What will the user tolerate?

It is no different than basketball games where 2k has made layups and short shots less effective than real life. They have to do this because in real life people take more mid-range jumpers than they would in video games (hence the lower %).

You can easily take the control out of the players hands to make something realistic by using simple formulas and ratings...... but then it really gets away from PLAYING a game. Top Spin (especially TS3) has always done a good job with increasing the sim aspect of tennis games by allowing the user to use risk shots which offer a far greater potential to have an unforced error. Some people live off of these, while others sacrifice the extra unforced errors by living with extended rallys.

[tyler289]

Using Miami U, the CPU torches my defensive secondary. My 3 CBs are 74 overall, so I understand. Minnesota's QB in 2010 just went 20-20 against me. And they were not dump-offs. I control the MLB (83 overall) and blitz from different ways all the time. But the QB releases the ball so damn quickly sometimes. It's ridiculous. I get pressure with LBs and DL. But a lot of my sacks come from the QB taking off and running. Then again, my DL is crappy.

I still love the game and it's a challenge. My offensive line isn't that good but I've never really felt it because of the crappy OL play and the fact that the DL is a joke. The OP makes some valid points but I still agree this game needs major work.

[stoncold32]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bumble14

AA- Now I'm not saying NCAA 09 isn't a video game or anything, but I am actually welcoming the difficulty and defensive adjustments that I have to use. It's a new challenge to take a team like Central Michigan into Oklahoma or Georgia and try to stop them defensively. I've probably had the most fun playing defense on 09 than on any other version of the game- and I've probably had the most competitive games on this years version than on any other versions. Defensive adjustments work in this game and help, and I encourage more people to post their strategies for playing good defense. There's no need to try and tear people down who are posting positive strategies to help others.

Woooooooooow. I have question everything you said after reading that part. Theres no way I can say this.

Furthermore, look, I should not HAVE to run Nickel or Dime every play just to ensure I won't get burned by a QB who gets rid of the ball before his arm even goes through the throwing motion. If that's the case, why even put the other formations into the game.

I shoulndt have to play as a MLB on nearly every play to stop the middle of the field passing. If that's the case, why even let me choose the option of being a DE(who gets no pressure on the QB) anyway. My CPU teammates gets sacks but not me. The CPU should spread teh ball around more, the middle of teh field is not the only option when your a QB

I am one man, on the field with 10 other teammates, they should stand not and watch as a player runs right past them. If that's the case, why even put me on the field with 10 other teammates, I might as well just be out there by myself

[NC State-31 UNC-27]

Quote: Originally Posted by 867-5309

I guess I am playing a different game (online and offline) because the pressure seems right to me. Last year it was far too easy to get pressure on a QB and rack up sacks. This year most of my games have me getting around 2-3 sacks a game and a fair amount of pressure. It may not always look pretty in videos but people also forget that these are one or two videos out of the game.

I don't really see the pressure problem, either. I get a few sacks a game and though it often isn't pretty, it happens. Plus the CPU harrasses my OLine all game long.

It's a pick your poison type thing. EA's AI just isn't advanced enough to make it look like real football. It's either going to be too good or too bad, and now that they've gone the way necessary to make the game more playable, people flip their sh**. It's always been this way so I don't see why people like AA apparently thought this game was going to be gods gift. Just stop buying the game.

news flash to the huge complainers.....EA isn't making a perfect football game any time soon so just don't buy it anymore or go buy APF 2k8 which is practically a perfect football sim.

I see some problems but still love the game because it's fun to me. I wont led a few strange things per game ruin it for me.

Quote: Originally Posted by 867-5309

I guess I am playing a different game (online and offline) because the pressure seems right to me. Last year it was far too easy to get pressure on a QB and rack up sacks. This year most of my games have me getting around 2-3 sacks a game and a fair amount of pressure. It may not always look pretty in videos but people also forget that these are one or two videos out of the game. People keep wanting this mythical simulation and looking at the stats the NCAA average is just over 2 sacks a game. In reality it sure seems pretty "sim-like" to me. http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank....sacks&site=org Reality is that some people will never be happy. It is catch 22 when it comes to not only creating AI but how they do it. Take pass incompletions. People will complain and call it dropitus if EA makes more drops to lower the average. Have the QB throw more passes out of reach to assist with a lower completion % and people will complain. Control is being taken out of the users hands. Something has to be done to create this "realistic %." What will the user tolerate? It is no different than basketball games where 2k has made layups and short shots less effective than real life. They have to do this because in real life people take more mid-range jumpers than they would in video games (hence the lower %). You can easily take the control out of the players hands to make something realistic by using simple formulas and ratings...... but then it really gets away from PLAYING a game. Top Spin (especially TS3) has always done a good job with increasing the sim aspect of tennis games by allowing the user to use risk shots which offer a far greater potential to have an unforced error. Some people live off of these, while others sacrifice the extra unforced errors by living with extended rallys.

Solution is simple:

Create a sim/casual slider where you can flip to one side or the other. Right now speed it basically all that matters in NCAA. This caters fully to the casual crowd. Have a sim slider where the ratings matter, so you're QB with 90 speed and 75 pass accuracy is inconsistent with his throws. You can't go wrong with choice.

[tfin1212]

Quote: Originally Posted by dave3569

Ok, first off, I'd like to say that most of the people whining about NCAA 09 game play have no idea how to play the game correctly. This game isn't broken, in fact...far from it. This game is based on schemes and manual stick skill. I'm going to list a few little things that affect game play that you must learn to do in order to be successful playing this game. This is the best football game produced to date. I don't care if you agree or disagree with anything I have to say. You're all just a bunch of strangers that I couldn't care less about. But, the best football game ever made is being dragged through the mud by a bunch of clueless people too lazy to practice, in practice mode, and learn how to play defense. The problem that many of you have with this game is that you are too dependent on the AI to do everything for you. You want to call a blitz and have the AI sack the QB. Well, tough. It's not that freaking easy. You need to be applying gap pressure manually, everything else will then take care of itself. You know why the game keeps track of QB hurries? Because their freaking important!! When you hurry the QB, he makes mistakes. AI and Human, it doesn't matter who youre playing. On Defense Blitzing: To properly blitz and apply constant pressure to the opposing QB you need to be manually blitzing using a defensive lineman (first choice) or a linebacker (second choice) or a safety (third choice). Running around with a safety is fine when you want to play man-zone, cover 2, or cover 3. But you should break the roaming with the safety habit. Playing defense is a 3 tier system of execution. Attack the line, protect the short pass, and defen the deep ball. The object on defense is to get pressure on the QB. The reason you want to manually blitz, is because you want to utilize the jump snap feature. You can jump the snap with any defensive player as long as you are lined up close to the line of scrimmage. When you successfully jump the snap, your defender becomes a QB seeking missile. A successful jump snap has two actions. A swim, spin, or footwork action to break the first level of protection. Then the successful jump snap action which translates into a speed burst. This speed burst is what you want. Combined with the speed burst trigger on your control, this extra boost you get for jumping the snap propels your defender into a super freak QB hunting defender. Go practice this, everyday till you can routinely do it. Once you master the jump snap its time to get creative and create blitz schemes. You want to attack gaps manually while bringing pressure from the outside. Or you want to bring pressure manually outside while sending blitzes through the gaps. This is pretty simple people. One of my favorite blitzes is a weak side blitz white hot routing my safety to blitz outside from the strong side. I don't set up nanos when I blitz. I setup attacking angles. Practice practice. Cover the middle of the field: I don't understand why people cant shut down the short passing game...wait, yes I can, because they don't set up their defense based on the offensive set they are seeing. Mistake. When you call a defense, you should be hot routing at least one defender on every play. Because most of the time the base defense isn't going to correctly cover the offensive formation (especially when in zone). If your lined up on a slot receiver and your nickel back is in a flat zone......well hes not covering the slot receiver. But, if you hotroute him to a hook zone, he will cover the receiver until the receiver runs out of his zone of coverage. Go practice, it's really simple to grasp. QB SPY is your meal ticket people. Utilize it, love it, and reap the INT's over the middle with it. Go lab it and thank me later. Hook zones are not broken! Your player is just out of position. The Deep Ball: This is what we want! We want that QB chunking it deep. While I know most of you can't chew gum and walk at the same time, you better learn to multi task. While you're controlling your lineman and jumping the snap. You need to be comitting to the run or pass. Pretty simple really, at the same time you jump the snap, you will want to flick the commit stick. this puts your DBs & LBs into pass or run commit and it works well. I'd like to go more in depth about defense and also share some thoughts on offense, but I'm getting tired of typing and I get off work soon. So for you guys that will likely skip over this rambling of words, here are a few cliff notes. 1. Utilize Jump Snap 2. Utilize Defensive Hot Routes 3. Utilize Commit Run or Pass 4. Create blitz angles 5. Bring heat manually while AI attacks from different angles 6. Get your personal in the proper coverage with hot routes. 7. QB Spy the middle of the field. 8. Practice!! Oh yeah, this game doesn't need a gameplay patch. You just need to put a little more effort into learning how to play. Flame away...

I'd say your post is only about 25% true. I love the game and it is a challenge to play D...but there are issues. Idaho O line can man-handle Ohio State or LSU consistently...and defensive hot routes are probably one of the most disappointing features to me because I would LOVE to use them but the CPU hurries to the line and snaps in 5 seconds or less every play unless its the end of the game and they're up. I can only call a hot route with 1 player max.

[Bumble14]

Quote: Originally Posted by stewaat

Solution is simple: Create a sim/casual slider where you can flip to one side or the other. Right now speed it basically all that matters in NCAA. This caters fully to the casual crowd. Have a sim slider where the ratings matter, so you're QB with 90 speed and 75 pass accuracy is inconsistent with his throws. You can't go wrong with choice.

Not a bad idea, but why not just have sliders that work? I don't think you need a sim and casual slider, just a set of sliders that work so each individual can tailor the gameplay to suit them. The sliders should be patched and working by September 1st, so all of this will be a non-issue.