My Very Early Ncaa 2012 Wishlist.

[Dave2554]

Game Play:

I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who really likes or even noticed the improvements they made to game play from last year to this year. I think the new animations, the forward momentum feature (the name they use is escaping me now), hurry up offense, gang tackling, better blocking, more accurate playbooks, etc are great. I LOVE running a counter and seeing the pulling gaurd come through the hole, and being able to set my run up off that block ... it looks and feels so natural compared to the way the line has blocked before. Coverages and coverage breakdowns feel more realistic. Recievers appear more natural in the routes they are running. Even something little, like actually being able to challenge a call after a seeing a replay provided in game (not as a replay request from the user) instead of being told that you couldn't challenge once a replay had been shown has had a big impact to me on how the game feels when you play it. As with anything though, there is room for improvement in some areas, and this what I would like to see next year (If not sooner if it can reasonably be put in a patch, like the PA Pass stuff I noted below):

• As noted in the first post, special teams remains a dismal failure in this game and has been in all of the next gen versions I have purchased. Special teams, with the exception of the occasional punt downed inside the 5, or the fumbled kick off/Punt, or occasional (or often depending on sliders) FG/XP miss ... has virtually no impact on the game. Every KR is about 20 yards ... Every PR is about 5 yards ... Most FG's get made (or missed ... there is no middle ground you can find with the slider it seems to me). I see little to no difference in returners regardless of rating. Same with punters. I can't remember a blocked punt or FG I have seen since I started buying the next gen version (2008 I think ... maybe 09). I think of a guy like Chris Borland at Wisconsin who is a special teams machine. He changes games because he has a skill for blocking kicks. When teams don't account for him, he wreaks havoc. I don't want it happening once a game ... but 3-4 times in a season seems like a reasonable frequency. I think its time they started investing some time and money into revamping special teams.
• I am praying they get the PA Pass issue is fixed with a patch yet this year, but if they don't, they have to do something so that PA passing can be carried out instead of your QB being swarmed before he is even out of the PA animation and has zero time to throw. When it works in this game (Which is rare, but it does work great sometimes), and the players bite on the fakes, and the DB's peek back into the backfield, it looks and feels great. As much as I hate getting beat when I am on defense, when the CPU carrys out the fake, and I and my team totally bite on the fake and the QB finds the open guy for a big gain, I kind of like it because it feels like real football. Conversely, there is nothing more frustrating to me than to have spent 2 or 3 quarters setting up a particular PA Pass, having the 'Set Up!' message in the play calling screen, waiting for and then running it in the perfect down and distance situation, and then having 6 guys all hit my quarterback .01 seconds after he finishes the fake. It drives me INSANE! I get it ... sometimes they aren't going to bite ... but when the games tells you SET UP ... you should at least get time to get a pass off ... and someone should be open. What happens after that is fine with me ... dropped pass, bad throw, holding penalty, whatever ... but you gotta let me get a chance at throwing the ball on a 'Set Up!' PA Pass play, and there has to be a high percentage of time that someone is wide open. And if its not baked in somewhere already, PA Fake needs to be a QB attribute, so that the offense is more successful at carrying out PA passes the higher the QB PA rating is. Some passing offenses are predicated almost exclusively off the PA Pass. I want to be able to recruit for guys who are better at this than others.
• I suspect they tried to redo (or most remove) the injury animations, etc to try and speed up gameplay, but I need to be made more aware of an injury when it occurs. There have been so many times that I suddenly start hearing Erin Andrews babbling about someone's injury and I have no idea who she is talking about, and half the time there is nothing on the screen to tell me if its even one of my players.
• It's better than it has been in the past, but it still feels to me like there are too many Pick 6's and fumbles returned for TD's.
• They need a better play calling window, especially on defense, so that I can see more of the plays available to me at one time, scroll through them, and select one before time expires and I get thrown into some default defense. There are some defensive formations where there are over 40 choices for a defensive play. I can see 3 plays at one time, but can only move 1 play at a time as a I scroll ... it forces me into more limited play calling defensively because I can't get to the other plays in time to glance at them and choose them before my time expires.
• Similarly, there is not enough time from the point at which the offense starts to come to the line of scrimmage and the ball is snapped, to get to a player and choose an individual defensive hot route if you want to before the play is snapped.
• I still don't feel like I have much control over the defensive player once an offensive blocker engages him. I should be able to swim, rip, spin, etc to get off the blocker, and it seems rare to me that I am ever able to.
• Blitzing corners, safeties and LB's don't get home often enough, it seems to me. I have stopped blitzing corners and safeties altogether because the CPU QB always picks it up and burns me unless I literally call it a half a second before the snap as an audible. If College QB's were as proficient at picking up the blitz and hitting the hot reciever as the CPU QB is in this game no team would ever rush more than 4 men, if that. Some QB's ARE great at this ... but not every of them, and the game needs to differtiate through awareness or some other attribute, how often a QB is actually going to be aware enough to know where the blitz is coming from, and where the hot reciever is.
• I have more difficulty putting a finger on this one, but somehow Scrambling style QB's have to be able to have more of an impact in this game with their feet, especially those that are highly rated. Maybe I haven't figured something out yet, but rarely do roll outs with a scrambling QB get him out in space to avoid a rush and throw ... the end or OLB kill him as soon as gets outside the tackles, or if I keep the TE on the scrambling side into block, he gets run down from behind by a DT who never even looked at the back who carries out the fake. And it seems rare that the QB is ever in a position to improvise, and take off running, even if he has 85 speed, 80 agaility and 80 awareness. I won't even recruit scramblers anymore, because pocket passers typically have better traditional QB attributes like awareness, THP, and THA. If I don't benefit from the better speed and agility that a scrambling QB brings, there is no reason to sacrifice the traditional attributes.
• In the previous gen versions I LOVED running the option. Now its become almost cartoonish. I hate the whole 'QB is in the bear hug of a 300 pound DL and still manages to pitch the ball 25 yards to his trailing HB and hit him right in the numbers with the pitch'. I don't play online at all, but I have read a ton that this has become complete cheese. I rarely run option in my offline dynasty because it almost feels like cheating to me. The way I police myself is simply not to pitch and take the hit and tackle.

[Dave2554]

Dynasty/Presentation/Etc

In addition to some of the recruiting/progression stuff I noted in an earlier post there are other things I REALLY want to see included in the Dynasty.

• Coaching Carousel - However this gets done, there needs to be a coach 'roster' and coach movement... the coaches have to have attributes that impact the performance of differenct areas of the team, the types of players they recruit, how well they develop, or recruit, their age (so that they can retire at some point , etc and they have to get fired, rehired, etc. The CPU should generate new coaches each year to compete with fired coaches for openings where a firing or retirement occurred. This should have an impact on many facets of the game including recruiting attributes such as a coach prestige, experience, and program stability. It will make the game much more dynamic from a dynasty perspective. It amazes me that this hasn't been in the game before now. Each coach should have an offensive playbook assigned to them that follows them to each school. I would even think that you could look at having a 'staff' ... I think Madden did (maybe still does, I haven't played it in years) have a feature where you could hire from a pool of available coaches to be OC, DC, STC and those coaches impacted the performance of the team in their respective areas, as well as on the development of the individuals. So much un-mined potential with this option. This is getting close to being a must have for me in terms of weather I will buy a new version of the game or not when it comes out. (Formation Subs was like that ... it was in this year ... it weighed heavily in my decision to purchase).
• Crowd Noise/Momentum/Home Field Advantage - I don't know if its just me but this seems to be a diminishing 'feature' ... every year it seems home Field advantage has less of an impact ... i don't even know if composure plays in to the game anymore. There used to be momentum meters (PS2??) where performance ebbed and flowed based on the momentum of the game. It was easier to build at home ... more diffiuclt on the road ... to down right impossible unless you made some sort of HUGE play at a place like Florida, Tennessee or Michigan. I'd like to see this aspect of the game beefed up, or if it really is already there, make it more noticeable so that you can feel it when your playing. It doesn't even seem like the crowd gets all that loud anymore.
• FCS Schools - I can't stand seeing a generic 'FCS' team on any team's schedule. The teams at the very least have to be made available to choose as an opponent, even if you aren't going to build in dynamic rosters, recruiting, etc. I know some people would love to coach an FCS team to an FCS championship, get recruited to coach at BCS level ... or build the team into one the BCS schools might invite to join. That aspect is not a deal breaker for me ... but FCS schools at least being included to choose from in scheduling eventually will be for me.
• Customizable conferences - Who knows if the landscape of conference alignment will change sigificantly again or not in the next few years, but obviously this past year was significant and the 11 version provided no way to allow Big Ten fans like me to bring Nebraska into the fold in future years as will happen in 2011 and start playing a Conference championship game. Same obviously for a conference like the PAC 10/12 which will be adding divisions and a champ game too. If you gave users the ability to custom build each conference (with divisions) if you so chose to, choose if there was a championship game and the location(s) of championship games, set up bowl ties, establish basic scheduling rules, it would be a huge win.
• Please stop the syncronized sideline celebrations. So much of the game looks so good and then you'll see 6 blocky looking guys on the sideline, hopping up and down with their hands in the air in complete unison with each other. To make matters worse, they will have numbers that don't even appear on your roster, and/or whose builds are completely wrong for the number they are wearing ... for example a 325 pound guy wearing a #09 jersey. Finally, if you insist on keeping the cheesy sideline celebration animation in the game, please don't allow it run when your team just took a 15 yard facemask call to put your opponent in FG range with 3 seconds to play, trailing by 2.
• Scheduling Non-Conference Opponents - Its way to easy to put anyone you want on the schedule. There should be negotiations, home and away contracts, etc to get teams on the schedule. Perhaps recruiting time can be converted into dollars and back again as the pay off you get for going on the road to play someone ... or what you have to pay a school to come play you.
• Alternative formats to choose from for determining National Champion. BCS Championship ... BCS +1 ... 6, 8, 12, 16 Team play-off, etc. My guess is the NCAA is the reason this is not in the game ... but if not, would love to see it in.

[QuinnMahoney]

Ok this isn't a very realistic wish... to do this they would probably have to combine madden and ncaa into one game, that won't happen... but... I would love to see a coaching carousel. How about every team in NCAA has Head coach, coordinators, qb, hb wr, o line, db, etc coaches. These coaches would have to have names. Also every NFL team would have the same number of coaches, then you could jump from a coach in NCAA to the NFL, if oyu were an offensive coordinator you would only get to play offense and the defense would get supersimmed. If you were only the QB coach you would be player locked on the quarterback, and if you were a D line coach you would get to switch between ONLY D lineman. A friend and I tried to do this last year. We started as the QB and LB coach at Kansas State and we were going to eventually take bigger and better jobs and then start playing madden using this system. I would love to see this as a mode, just the ability to start as a wide reciever coach in at some bad college program, get some experience then move up and eventually become a super bowl winning coach would be an amazing journey

[brettford]

Quote: Originally Posted by wrigleyville33

With Ncaa 11 just out as a very solid offering, there are somethings that have been left out that I have to get out (even though I doubt ea will even look at this). 1. Real time tackling- Backbreaker made an attempt at this. While it looked awesome, it wasn't perfect by any means, and wasn't that realistic. Players fall to easily, etc. Well, I'm tired of seeing the same tackling animations over and over in ea football games. It has really come to be a broken record with ea football games. Let's face it, the game hasn't really felt significantly different this generation. Natural or real time physics would significantly change the way the game looks and plays. 2. Presentation- Look, I'm sorry but a game that says 2k5 on it STILL has a game in 2010 beat. THAT IS PATHETIC. There has to be a presentation upgrade in which I won't want to press "x" to get through. I want College Gameday when I simulate to each Saturday previewing the games, making mascot head pics, full with a virtual desk, virtual Erin Andrews, Lee Corso, etc. For half time, I want to go back to the studio, have analysis, break down of what happened, full with video highlights and commentary to go with it, with perhaps scores of other games going on. Just like a game that is what, 6 years old? After all the games are played for that week, there should be a show with highlights of the key games with commentary. On the field, I want to actually see the commentators that are shown sometimes between plays, yes I said virtual announcers that can be shown in the booth. I can hear them, so what? It would add to the realism if a camera transition showed the commentators in the booth. Also, don't have them wearing the same suit every time. Now with commentary, it must be more dynamic. Make big plays feel like they actually mean something. It's pathetic, I break a 70 yard run, and the announcer is like "he scores a td". How boring! Does EA even watch football on Saturdays? I get chills down my spine when listening to real broadcasts which are full of excitement. Again we need Erin Andrews on the sideline, a virtual one which the camera transitions to, giving us an injury update, etc. Next, for half time and at the game, have a sideline reporter interview a coach or player. The camera should transition to the interview, and show it progress, with dialogue. 2k5's interviews sucked, but at least they have them! You can probably tell that I'm getting greedy, but I want my 60 bucks to be worth 60 bucks. I put 20 bucks to 2k5, and it was worth every penny. Cbs should also be incorporated with graphics and different commentary. I wouldn't care if the commentary wasn't as dynamic as espn's, but it would be refreshing to hear different voices for sec games and such. Also, it would be a nice touch for espn games, the little espn hd animation at the beginning of each game would be an awesome addition. 3. Equipment- I shouldn't have to say much for this, options. We need secondary color options. We should be able to apply whatever we want on top of something, like in the form of layers. The facemasks included in ncaa 11 are pathetic. I don't know anyone who wears Lt's face mask. Again does ea even watch real college football on tv? We need every face mask that is seen on Saturday. 4. Weather/Lighting- Weather needs to transition as the game progresses. For example, a game should be able to start at a down pour, and as the game progresses, have the rain stop and go. The sunlight should change as clouds progress in any direction, not just per quarter. The evening should have a smooth transition to night. The game should start on overcast, and by the fourth quarter, have rain drops. Basically, weather needs to have more meat on it. 5. Special Teams- Please make special teams matter next year. I swear it is impossible to block field goals or punts. I'm tired of players using robo kickers booting 58 yard field goals like it's nothing. When players use the low trajectory, make them pay by increasing the probability of getting blocked. It is just sad to see how bad the rate of blocked kicks or punts are in the game. Kicking NEEDS to be harder. There needs to be a pressure system or some kind. Real life kickers miss chip shots sometimes, because in crunch moments, their face sometimes look like they are going to poop in their pants. In ncaa, I make field goals like it's nothing, which shouldn't be the case. The field goal method just needs to be scratched and redone. I love how there is like a sky cam which wobbles behind the kicker in madden 11 as it gives a tv look. Take it a step further, use that sky cam, and right when the kicker is about to kick the ball, then have the camera transition behind the endzone like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLDEPKbtGm8 . 6. Little Things- First things first, the crowd is atrocious. It needs to be revamped. Fans need shakers (as found heavily in the SEC). The crowd in the game just looks flat out bad; I don't know how else to explain it. I hate how it always gets overlooked every year. Next, bowl patches, self explanatory. Coaching carousel needs to be included. Bring back the espn magazine covers from last generation, or was is SI? Whatever, use espn magazine, I loved the covers. Use the 3d grass the madden 07 used. Have the players' jerseys get more dirty as the game progresses. Give us the ability to use custom songs for entrances. Especially for VT's entrance, have the stadium jumping up and down for Enter Sandman before the hokies take the field. Replays, again do away with those make believe camera angles. I can't tell what is even going on. Again, watch a real televised broadcast and replicate it 100%. Replays are like after every play. The first replay is usually from the actual play by play broadcast angle, with the score overlay shown. Next, they take a closer replay angle from the sideline, etc. JUST WATCH A REAL TELECAST. Also, for the ea sports logo on the overlay scoreboard at the bottom of the screen, please ghost it a little or lower the opacity. I could care less about players expressions when they get hit. How am I even supposed to even notice that in game? That's it for now. I think it's pathetic how espn 2k5 included so much more for a 20 dollar price tag then a 60 dollar "next generation" football game. Monopoly sucks.

I loved this post. Good job. "JUST WATCH A REAL TELECAST" hahaha...awesome. I'm totally with you on these points. The best part about making a game based on reality is that you have a PERFECT EXAMPLE!

For as much as people play Dynasty mode...it could be dramatically improved in so many ways. I get a lot more enjoyment out of years 2+ of dynasty if I invest myself in finding out who the best players across the country are, what are the storylines, etc. Its too easy to play with blinders on and pretty soon you are in year 5 and you have no idea what the college football landscape looks like...you only know/care about your own players. If they made it easier for you to follow along with what is taking place across the country...that would be so sick.

Weird Gripe: I hate the stupid "Impact player" or team captain graphics that appear beside a players name when you sift through stat leaderboards. I just want to see his team's logo next to his face...not some stupid graphic that I have to wait for 3 seconds just to see what team he plays for. It makes learning the players so much more difficult and really adds nothing.

[CapoItaliano]

- Special Teams in the game needs work! Why is my punt return man trying to field a punt inside my 10 yard line? The return man should be standing on the 10 and anything over his head should be let go. He should not try to field a punt on the 2 yard line or anywhere else inside the 10! Also, why is it that most of the time the cpu punts to me the punt is shanked? Most of the punts end up out of bounds after only a 20 yard punt. For the most part I am given a short field because the cpu can’t punt the ball 40 plus yards or keep the punt in the field of play. Another addition that I feel should be added to special teams is there are times when on offense you are on that spot of the field where it is too long for a field goal and too short for a punt, so come out with an offensive set to catch the defense off guard and have the quarterback pooch punt the ball so you can pin your opponent deep. Every team should have an offensive formation in which the quarterback can punt from.fficeffice" />>>
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- In Dynasty Mode I would like to see medical red shirts, spring games, ffice:smarttags" />lace w:st="on">Home Depot Collegelace> Game Day Game of the Week, Heisman presentation, ESPN the Magazine and teams violating NCAA rules and being placed on probation. If a team is placed on probation they can lose television exposure, bowl game appearances, lose scholarships, lose recruits and have wins, titles and or trophies taken away, etc.>>
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- I would like to see the game clock read 15:00 per quarter despite however many minute quarters a player may choose to play. Other titles such as NHL and FIFA have their game clocks read the games real period or half length regardless of the time we choose to play. Can’t the same thing be done for football? >>
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- I would like to see ribbon score boards added to the stadiums. I know Nebraska and lace w:st="on">Alabamalace> have them for sure, not sure what other stadiums may have them, but they should be included. lace w:st="on">Nebraskalace> has had them for two or three years now and they are still not in the game. I see the ribbon score boards in other title games such as Madden and NHL why can’t NCAA have them too?>>
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- I would like to see the home team sideline showing more players. When you are the visiting team you are allotted a certain number of players for travel, but when you are the home team you suit up all your players. Therefore, the home team sideline should have more players than their opposition.>>
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- I would like to see a band section added in the crowd. You have taken the time to place the visitors section in the crowd, but not the band section. If I am not mistaken the band section was once incorporated into the crowd, in past NCAA games, and now it is not included anymore for some reason.>>
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- I would like to see field damage as the game progresses. It would be nice to see chunks of sod flying around as players are running around. Seeing divots in the field left from the players would be a nice touch. >>
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- I would like to see players lose or mess up their equipment from big hits. In past games players would lose their helmets from a big hit why can’t that be added again? Maybe, have players lose a shoe while they are running too. It would be nice to see decals on the helmets peeling off or torn off from big hits. See torn jerseys. Also, have the shoulder pads sticking out every once in awhile. It happens all the time in real games when a players needs to put his shoulder pad back under his jersey after a big hit. In past NCAA games you would see chunks of sod stuck in a players face mask and now you don’t see that in the game anymore, why? If you are going to have a hit stick in the game please let us see and feel the effects for using it.>>
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- I would like to have the option for defensive assignments. I would like to have the option to assign certain corner backs against my opponent’s wide receivers. I know Madden has this feature and I would like to see it added to the NCAA series. Also, I would like to see offensive assignments. I would like to have the option where I can assign offensive lineman to double team a defense tackle or end.>>
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- I would like to see more penalties.Late hits should be included. We should get flagged for celebrating with the mascot, get flagged for high stepping before we score and they should add the horse collar. >>
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- I would like to see mass subs for the third string players too.>>
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- Bowl Game patches>>
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- Stadium sound slot for team entrances>>
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- Players with dread locks>>

[jdtheis7]

As do I wish to see alot of these things shown in next years installment a wishlist is simply as named a "wish"list. Given EA is trying to poke out a new game every year, some people don't realize how much time it takes to actually make a game.

To install even half of the things asked on this board the game would look real nice, but it'd also run no faster then a paraplegic sloth.

Overall yes I like all these wishes and would like to see them, however I'd like it not to take 5 hours for a game to even boot up

[capn_razzamataz]

I never realized how important these were until yesterday, but they are sorely needed in NCAA 12:

MEDICAL REDSHIRTING

I lost my star RB (Redshirt senior) for the entire season in my first game of a new season in my dynasty. Something like that has never happened to me before (or I had a suitable replacement ready immediately). Now I realize it really is needed.

[kalimmortal]

Gap Assignment A.I.

Linebackers who check for the run before droppin' into their zones on passing plays

Spring Games

Medical Redshirts

Correct Schedules

Heisman Presentation Ceremony