Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

[noda11]

I'd be fine if they even had an apf 2k8 feel to the game. To me that's still the best game on this gen. But aside from that I really dont have a problem with NCAA 12's demo gameplay. Sure a few things need to be fixed, but it's still a lot crisper than '11.

[sinc79]

they just keep adding a new layer of wallpaper on top of last years wallpaper. when really they need to take down the wall.

[sparkdawg777]

Re: Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

they just keep adding a new layer of wallpaper on top of last years wallpaper. when really they need to take down the wall.

Yep and soon it's going to be too late because they'll have to move to next gen.

[FroznYogurt]

I agree with Jayson and Caley on this one.

[JoeyCrawfordIsAScrub]

There's a bug in the demo. I went for a two pt conversion and I barely got in but it was ruled incomplete. Then, they reviewed it and said it was complete. However, they gave me 6 pts and a FG. So in all I got 13 pts on one possesion.

[misterbroom12]

Don't think it was mentioned here unless i missed it, but has anyone run into instances where a lot of contact was made between a ball carrier and a defender but no tackle was made? I'm all for how they did away with the whole "warping" tackles and made it all based on contact, but this game will get old quick if I do make contact with the ball carrier on huge plays and they kinda just bounce off one another and no tackle or even attempted tackle is made.

[JSHT21]

Re: Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

I'm enjoying it. Of course there are things wrong and they need to revamp the whole thing.

Note I'm playing on Heisman.

But shotgun running is fixed, zone is fixed, no suction that I'm seeing. Defense is now a challenge and so is offense. I'm having a ball and can't quit playing the demo. My life is gone come the 12th.

Robo QB is still there in the last say minute of the half or game. But I am also seeing WR drops and QB misthrows both on my and the CPUs part.

[UndeniableSkillz9]

Re: Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

Yeh you're right on that. Do they not see these things? And are they that hard to fix in a year? This along with some other bugs have been in the game all of this gen. It kind of makes me mad, it's not that big of a deal but it seems like if something isn't a "gamebreaker" then they aren't going to change it. It's one of three things, EA is using "screw you, you're gonna buy it anyway" approach, they are just too lazy, or they don't see it (ignorant of their own game and real life football). This isn't just about the animations either, its the gameplay, the presentations, and other things like the dreads. I'm sorry I just feel like if you're going to do something you do it 110%, not half-assed.

I sound like I hate the game but I don't, I still like the game but it is mainly because I love football. I am still having fun with this game but the devs really need to rethink these things.

not really feeling the dreads. come on how hard would it be to have dreads of different sizes and color. or free flowing hair for the players with long hair.

i shouldn't see everybody with micro dreads/braids coming our of their helmelt.

[statum71]

Its ok. Not too much different to me. Players still have zero weight to them, or atleast the illusion of weight is not present. Slipping and sliding all over the place as usual.

The running animations are still jacked up also. Players still run with that slight hunchback. Check live football footage or fire up NCAA11 for the PS2 and you'll see what running is supposed to look like and feel like.

Still a first day buy for me as usual but come on guys. Please fix the running animations and get rid of that float feel thats been present in the current generation of your titles. Thanks.

Respectfully disagree.

Players having no "weight" to them is far from what I've experienced. This is the first EA football game that I can see the differnce between a DB and a Linebacker running full steam. The impact is a lot greater.

JMO

[Harrison_UNC_Barnes*]

Has anyone noticed that the All-State is embedded in the Field goal net?

[PRAY IV M3RCY]

Re: Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

Respectfully disagree.

Players having no "weight" to them is far from what I've experienced. This is the first EA football game that I can see the differnce between a DB and a Linebacker running full steam. The impact is a lot greater.

JMO

well ea has gotten better with adding more weight to the players i have to agree..but it doesnt seem to matter when ur playing against the cpu because the cpu doesnt react to your movements..they mirror them and thats what really makes something that is bad enough with the sliding and speed of the players even worse...top that off with an awful running animation and u have a game that looks just plain arcadish to me...tell me please has a wide reciever reverse are any type of reverse running play ever turned out positive for u?

[kingsofthevalley]

Re: Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

Respectfully disagree.

Players having no "weight" to them is far from what I've experienced. This is the first EA football game that I can see the differnce between a DB and a Linebacker running full steam. The impact is a lot greater.

JMO

Same here man. I can see the difference between different types of players also. Thats not the problem. The problem is none of the players feel grounded. If you're not seeing what I'm talking about its going to be extremely difficult to explain. I'm hoping the devs aren't seeing this situation the same as you are seeing it because if so thats probably why this hasn't been fixed since the current gen has been upon us.

The staff round table gentlemen, Caley Roark (I think thats his name) spells out the same thing in pretty much the same words. Its like everything is floating a few inches off of the field. It feels like the field is a hologram or something, like its not really under the players feet.

I understand that they're not adding a full fleshed out physics engine at the moment. I've read and understand that. Thing is, the PS2 versions or those "other games" didn't have physics engines either, but you still were immersed because the players seemed more alive because of the animation sets and general movement. The players we have now move more like androids than human beings.

All of that being said. I'm not ignoring the things that the devs have worked on. Elimination of suction being the biggest thing for me, but the root of the problems are the player feel and movement. Dont the let the cutback animation fool you. Yes if I cut the stick at a sharp angle going from one extreme direction to the next there IS an animation for it. You can see it, but you just cant feel it.

As for the running animation (hmm how can I say it). When a person is sprinting full speed, the body tends to straighten up and lean back slightly. There's really no debate there, it just happens. The EA football avatars all seem to have a pole starting from their butt that runs up through their spine. At full speed, the players still lean forward. It really looks off.

The only thing that moves are their arms and legs. The torso area is devoid of any type of "roll" which gives off the android feel. Its already been done. I have NCAA11/Madden11 for PS2. Once players hit full stride, they lean back and you absolutely cannot change direction so easy. Its more of a rooooll to the left or roooolll to the right. Kinda feels like a big boat, feels like the players are heavy. Players now are like feathers just moving with the wind ya know.

[TreyIM2]

Played the demo again (PS3) and I am enjoying it, overall. Yea, certain things still need improving but I've never been one to through the baby out with the bath water. I DO believe that EA DEFINITELY needs to boost the dev teams for BOTH NCAA and Madden so all the lil nagging issues since who knows when can be finally ironed out at a faster pace. I know they said that they did that for this cycle and I want to see what can be accomplished for next yr but if those things can't be cleared up next yr with the current head count, more butter, pls. Heh...

[Demoncrom]

I think the game feels good as a whole, not sure if I like the camera being so far back. The demo is set to auto sprint, which I am not sure if I like all that much. It feels like a little less interactive to me. In terms of gameplay the one thing I always notice is line play or a lack thereof. This year the line seems to be doing there job, properly called plays against the right Defense seems to yield the yards I would expect in the running game, with blockers for the most part putting a helmet on a body. In 4 games yesterday only once did I see a pulling guard tototally neglect to pick up the linebacker.

the passing game feels harder for sure, the zones are tight and there seems to be an emphasis this year on physical matchups. For instance it seems like If I can get my Tightend against a line backer then he will be more open as he should, not so much if he is picked up by a corner.

One crazy thing I saw was a game where there were 6 interceptions in the 1st half. Literally back and forth between the AI and myself. Admittedly they were bad throws but come on everyone aint Neon Deon.

So far the on field play seems good enough to hold my attention, so here is hoping the franchise mode is good

[TheTodd84]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but I could not agree more with what they said. This gameplay engine is simply broken, plain and simple. They can try and polish all they want, but you know how the old cliche goes, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken s***." That is what they are trying to do. And they continue to say that it will be a "few years" until they get physics in their game. Why? That's lazy. Do they not see the glaring issues that continue to crop up EVERY year because the engine is broken?! Why are they ok w complacency and not making the necessary changes to upgrade this game to elite status?

Fifa 12 did it. It is now time for NCAA to go in that direction. Sure, the game has some good points, and I am excited for the coaching carousel, but the gameplay is so incredibly stale these days. I am almost done playing the demo because the 2 minute quarters are atrocious, it's hard to get any feel for the game. I think a new direction is needed because I've had so many "come on, man" moments. ESPN should have a segment on sportscenter where they showcase the top 10 Madden and NCAA c'mon man moments like they have on NFL live w real players. Then they could show the superhuman linebackers disregarding physics and jumping in the air in the middle of an animation to bat down a pass they'd never get to in real life. Or showing a defensive back whose back is to the play and who magically reacts to the ball in .02 seconds even though he can't see it and get a miraculous interception on what I THOUGHT was an open receiver. All these things can be fixed very easily with one thing... Physics.

Plain and Simple, there are still too many, "come on, man" moments to really justify that this is not NCAA 11.5 or to say that the gameplay is vastly improved. Sure, the lack of suction is awesome, but the warping and ice skating are still prevalent and abundant. It's just frustrating and the even more frustrating thing is seeing how willing people are to give these guys chance after chance to improve these things even though they have yet to show much progress. It's like staying with a girlfriend who keeps breaking your heart bc she is hot. It just doesn't make sense. We need to hold these guys accountable.