Adam Thompson (NCAA Designer) Q&A Thread

[bad_philanthropy]

I have another art thing. Ha ha, geez what's this three now?

Anyway, has anything been done to improve equipment for incoming recruits? The past few years the equipment recruits wore was just bizarre, strange tape, armband combinations, no gloves for receivers and RB's. Instead might I suggest in the future instead of having the game randomly assign equipment just put together two or three equipment templates that would be suitable for each specific position and randomly assign one of those templates to the recruit.

Also, is it possible to make it so recruited players in dyansty wear long sleeves for cold weather games? I know that an appropriate number of players wear long sleeves during cold weather games from the default roster, but after a few years in dynasty I can be playing in December in the snow in 20 degree weather and not one player on either team is wearing long sleeves.

Oh and thanks again for listening to nitpickers like us.

[davin]

One thing I would like to see in the future is better bowl presentation. If I'm in the national title game, I want to feel like it. For example:

Entrances: Have some stadium hype type announcer say something like this "Here come the Big Ten Champion Ohio State Buckeyes, coming in with a record of *insert record*, and led by *insert stat leader name/number*. And then "Here come the Big Twelve Champion Texas Longhorns..." Show teams running out. It would be cool to have fireworks or something going off for the bigger games.

Endzone art: really would like to see it soon, I don't care if they copy the checkerboard for Tennessee, but it would be nice to at least have an all orange with white lettering spelling "Vols" or something.

Players: I'd like to see them jumping around after a big play or something, make the game just feel big. If I just broke a 40 yard run for a TD in the NC game, I want to see my players going crazy (and not the mascot). Patches would be nice but of that list they are the least important to me.

Some other people mentioned other things I would like to see so I don't feel like I need to expand too much on those.

[davin]

Quote: Originally Posted by papernut

Welcome Adam. Please tell your supervisors that because of you and Ian coming onto these forums and using our feedback, you are not only improving the games, but will make them a lot of money that a few months ago may have been lost. This is the kind of interaction I think we all have been waiting from EA Sports.

I know I for one will probably get Madden now, I hadn't gotten it since 06 and that was when it was like 15 bucks. It really feels great to at least get answers if there are things we think are missed, and why. Maybe the devs tried to implement something but just couldnt get it to work right and messed up the game, I'd like to hear that just because it is a lot better than silence. Even just somebody coming in and saying they hadn't looked at that before but would now is nice feedback.

[Village Idiot]

Quote: Originally Posted by davin

... coming in with a record of *insert record*, and led by *insert stat leader name/number*. And then "Here come the Big Twelve Champion Texas Longhorns..." Show teams running out.

Great idea tying in the extra emphasis on bowl games, but, additionally, most every game should do this. I want the announcers to mention that my team is ranked #3 or undefeated or whatever. If the game is #1 vs. #2, even if it's week three, the announcers should be aware of it. Likewise, if I beat the #1 team in the nation, it shouldn't go unnoticed like I just beat Northwestern. That is, big games in general need more attention from the announcing crew and presentation overall, not just bowl games.

[AuburnAlumni]

As an Auburn graduate....

The Auburn home uniform blue isn't dark enough. It's more of a "dark blue" than a "navy blue". It should look almost black.

Example...



Compared to....



See..the blue is too light in the game.

[Brandwin]

Welcome Adam

Glad to see you and other NCAA guys are going to start posting soon.

[nxt]

Since my main questions regarding game art (Bowl Game Endzone Art, etc.) have already been asked several times, I'll just say, "Welcome to the OS community, and thanks for taking the time to start a dialogue with us."

[Village Idiot]

One last thing and then I'll go away.

Strategy - i.e., the CPU's playcalling: what goes into how they call plays and why? Is it simply a matter of ratio? Because what it should be doing, in my opinion, is looking for things that work and then stick to them until they don't work. The "chess on grass" side of things.

Take the example of a team that's running the ball very well against me. Why are they then turning to the pass for their next five plays? Why aren't they pounding and pounding until I prove that I can stop the run?

Another example, taken from the INT-riddled 08 game: if I've got the best pass-defense in the nation, and my team has 22 intereceptions over 7 games, shouldn't the next team I play attempt in some way to gameplan around this? At some point, the CPU needs to adjust to what my strengths and weaknesses are. If I play through five games and only rush for 67 ypg, I should be able to count on the sixth team I play dropping 6 and 7 consistently, forcing me to run.

So on and so forth.