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Rookie
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Re: New info on features, Dynasty, and Madden draft
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 | Here is the article...copied and pasted. Also, he already answered two of my questions. Just use the e-mail in the first paragraph if somethings not covered here that you want to know. Anyway...here is the article.
Welcome to our preview of NCAA Football 09. Below you will find a breakdown of features we think are most important in this year's version of NCAA Football. We know you want something more in-depth than "the running game has been slightly improved", and we want to be the one to provide it. Hopefully, we can reveal enough information for you to determine if last year's fumble and interception-fest has been corrected, or if this year has a similar game-killer of equal magnitude. Just scroll down to the features you care most about, and enjoy. And to take it a step further, if there's something we failed to discuss, then by all means e-mail your request to [email protected], and I'll do my best to answer your questions.
Homefield Advantage
Quarterback Quiz - Having the home field advantage works a bit differently in this year’s version. Gone is the insane screen shake from years past, and in its place are several nicely implemented features. First is the Quarterback Quiz mini-game that appears after each interception is thrown. When triggered, three different defensive packages will appear on-screen with a single photo representing each one. From here you can simply choose the correct answer if you know it, or cycle through more photos if you need a little longer to identify it. Pick the correct answer and your quarterback will receive a huge boost towards regaining his composure. Choose wrongly, however, and his confidence will plummet even further.
Once this happens, you’re going to have a real hard time viewing pre-snap play patterns and calling audibles. So instead of seeing receiver routes and button icons above your players heads, in their place will be squiggly lines or question marks. Not knowing your HB’s pass icon has proved to be a real disadvantage so far, especially when the opposing team comes at you with a CB Blitz. Having become reliant on viewing my play pre-snap, it was a difficult adjustment for me. Never before has memorizing each players route when selecting a play been so crucial, which really allows stadiums like Death Valley, The Horseshoe, and Neyland Stadium to stand out. Of course, you can counter this by having a calm and collected senior quarterback, or by simply making plays on the field, but even this can’t always overshadow 100,000 screaming fans. Overall, a nicely designed feature.
Ice the Kicker – My success rate for this is somewhat hard to calculate. A lot will depend on your opponents’ kicker. Is he a freshman? What is his kick accuracy, power? Having iced the kicker 5 out of 21 attempts, I can at least confirm this does work, but not so often that it feels cheap. The extra-low camera angle definitely makes the kicking arrow less accurate, and the iced-over power meter is virtually useless once this happens. The only other piece of information I can offer is that 2 of the kickers this worked on were indeed freshman.
Interactive Timeouts – This year timeouts do much more than just allow you to regain energy. When a timeout is called, six options will appear on-screen. These will vary depending on which side of the ball you’re on, and can include commands such as Get the Ball Back, Break Tackles, No Penalties, and Ignore the Crowd. Selecting one of these doesn’t guarantee you instant success, but does give you a slight momentum shift towards achieving your goal. I’ve yet to actually get the ball back after selecting that option, but I like the idea that it could work, or that my guys are concentrating on that aspect of the game.
Wide Open College Gameplay
This year’s version boasts several new additions in this department. Here we will break down each new feature that contributed to 09’s new Dynamic Gameplay Engine, and how each one affects the on-field action.
Ball Carrier Combo Moves – Remember the branching animation system EA promised for NCAA Football 08? Well, it finally seems to have been completed, and actually works very well in 09. Right off the bat I noticed improved running controls, and increased ability to break free from would-be tackles. For the first time it honestly feels as if I’m branching animations together. I’m constantly fighting for extra yards after being hit – something I instantly gave up on last year – and have broken numerous tackles by throwing in a spin or hurdle at the last moment. You can even use the left analog stick to direct these commands, so if a defender approaches from the left side while you’re wrapped up…you may want to spin or hurdle towards the left to limit his contact. You may even break free from the first defender, and miraculously leap the second. Believe me, I’ve seen it happen, and it feels really good when it does.
The same can be said for the receiving core as well. Is a defender closing in while you’re stuck in mid-air attempting that impossible catch? Don’t worry; just time your button inputs correctly so the command is waiting to be executed when you hit the ground. You just might break free before he can initiate the massive hit. Just don’t blame me if you attempt to leap him, and loose your star receiver for the year. Unfortunately I’ve seen this happen as well.
Bigger Holes and Cutback Lanes/ Coverage Holes – I’m not completely convinced that this addition is bullet-proof just yet. It most certainly adds more room for the ball carrier to exploit, and having that extra stretch of open field really opens the game up offensively. This is perfect for fans of high scoring games, but it could be a problem for those who prefer a slower, more strategic tempo. I like the idea that running lanes have opened up for my halfback, or that my star wide receiver separates himself more frequently, but it does take some serious tinkering with the cpu’s defensive settings for this to be kept in check. I don’t mind giving up a 60-yard touchdown to someone who deserves it, but having a mediocre athlete dust my elite secondary just because a “Coverage Hole” was provided for him doesn’t set too well with me. An improvement overall, just be sure to adjust the appropriate settings to accommodate for the amount of offense you prefer.
Directional R-Stick Pump Fake – This is exactly as described. You can now pump fake instantly by flicking the R-stick in any direction. Pocket passers will instantly find this useful, but those who benefit the most will be the teams with scrambling quarterbacks. There’s nothing quit like pump faking a defender in the air as you cruise past him for the score. And yes, you can still use the pump fake after you cross the line of scrimmage, but I did find that the success rate plummeted against good teams in that situation. This is another scenario where much of the outcome will depend on your opponent’s defensive awareness rating. And because of the fact that your quarterback is exposed while pump faking, trying this against a very powerful hitter can leave you in serious trouble.
Unique NCAA Animation Set – When compared against the preview code of Madden 09 we received, I can definitely confirm NCAA 09 has its own specific set of running, tackling, catching, and celebration animations. Most notable being the team specific touchdown celebrations, which is triggered by pressing the Y button while in the endzone. Not all schools are represented, though, for one reason or another, and I’ve yet to see my beloved Wildcat’s “Fly Guy”. But for what it’s worth, the “Cougar Paw” is represented faithfully, so all the Houston fans should be very happy. We’ll have a full list when our review goes live.
Dynasty Features
NCAA News with Campus Newspapers – Other than updated headlines (voice and text) via ESPN, each week your school receives a newspaper covering last weeks game. In reality, the only thing you will see is a single newspaper cover, with a headline and corresponding photo. In fact, you can’t even read the text attached the story. National versions of this also appear weekly, which helps you keep track of what is going on in other conferences. Overall a nice way to keep track of your accomplishments throughout the year – you can backtrack and view previous stories for the entire season – but it would’ve been nice to see that massive upset you pulled off represented with more than a single headline.
Quick Call Recruiting – You now have the option to quick call recruits during the season, allocate the number of minutes you wish to spend on each conversation, and whether or not to offer a scholarship. So as you might expect, choosing the quick call feature nets less than desirable results, so you might want to reserve that option for recruits a little further down your priority list.
EZ Recruiting Strategy – You can now put your assistant coaches to work on the recruiting trail, and let them do the work for you. You can give strict guidelines and send them after a CB that runs a 4.3 from the state of Alabama, or let them loose and find you a 5 star Quarterback from anywhere. Of course, they don’t always return with successful results, but at least the option is there for people not willing to dedicate hours to recruiting.
Quick Search – This allows you to add players straight to your recruiting board from the quick search menu. This means you can set your guidelines – 3 star, halfback, 4.40, Kentucky, etc. – and have any matches automatically sent to the big board. This is extra nice if you already know the type of players you want to build a team around, and refuse to look elsewhere for interested prospects. It should also be noted that you can now view the entire map of North America quickly, and see exactly which recruits you’re targeting. Each player is represented on the map by a push pin, which clearly gives you insight on your pipeline states, or how far you’re lingering out of them. I added several prospects to my recruiting board from locations halfway across the country without realizing it, and it wasn’t until I saw them represented on the overall map that I noticed it. Definitely a nice way to stay within your pipeline states, or when trying to create a new one for that matter.
Online Dynasty
Sadly, I haven’t been able to experience much of this. I’ve yet to find or join an online dynasty due to the limited number of players online, so it’s hard to fully comment on this feature. All we do know is you can convert from single-player to online seamlessly (this I’ve done), and it features Live Group Chat, 60 Years of Continuous Play, Head-to-Head Play, and up to 12 players can compete. We should have more information when our review goes live in a few days.
College Atmosphere
School Colors w/Visitor Section – Stadiums are now filled with fans wearing team specific colors, and each one has its own visitor section. I can say for certain that most of the teams I’ve tested have the correct visitor sections on display in their stadiums.
Dynamic Attendance – In order to fully test this feature I ran two separate Dynasties continuously, one with Rice University and the other with Penn State. Penn State’s attendance almost never dropped over the course of three years, despite my 5-game losing streak the first season. This isn’t out of the ordinary, as fans of this school usually pack the stadium regardless of their team’s performance. Rice was a different story, though. I assumed the attendance would be high from the beginning – only because I had Jarett Dillard, one of the best receivers in the land – but it wasn’t until after he graduated that attendance increased. It seemed my fans were more concerned with 8-win seasons than they were with having a Heisman candidate in their back yard. Who knew? Either way, I can confirm attendance does increase and decrease throughout the season, though you may not notice if you chose to run with a powerhouse like Ohio State or LSU.
More Populated Sidelines – It seams the sidelines have increased dramatically over the last year. Things are certainly heading in the right direction, as more players, cheerleaders, photographers, and mascots are easily visible on the sidelines now. Of course, they do little to match the visual quality of the players on field, but having more traffic in those areas definitely adds to the college atmosphere.
Breakaway Sound Reactions – Break that 50-yard run and listen for the crowd to explode in excitement, if you have fans in the seats that is. A nice touch and a little extra motivation as you smoke the secondary.
Miscellaneous
Here are a few more important features worth mentioning.
EA Locker – No more roster problems, thankfully. Keep in mind, EA Locker is limited to those on your friends list (or you must know their gamertag at the very least), but as long as they have a roster file uploaded to their locker…you can grab it. A nice centralized server that anyone could access would’ve been preferred, but just a minor annoyance in an otherwise solid feature.
Bobble Catches – A feature long overdue in my opinion, but I love seeing this amount of detail in the game. So far I’ve seen about three different bobble catch animations in roughly 60 games; the under-thrown pass where the receiver must reach behind his body and bat it forward, the high pass that causes the receiver to jump for the ball and fumble it in the air before making the catch, and the over-thrown pass where the receiver reaches forward in stride to make a one-handed grab after fumbling it around. All very nice, but keep in mind that a solid hit will jar the ball loose during the process. Expect to see around 1-2 of these per game.
Return Missed FG - You actually have to think about that long field goal now, as your opponent can return any attempt that falls short. Nothing better than having a deadly return man waiting for the missed field goal. Combine this with the Ice the Kicker option, and you’ve got a good chance of executing a return.
Smart Routes – Selecting this feature basically tells your receiver to extend his current route to the first down line. This works wonders at home, but try it on the road in front of a hostile crowd, and it’s likely to backfire on you. He’ll be confused in no time due to the noise volume. Another long overdue feature.
Interesting Facts from My Dynasty and Madden NFL Draft
- Graham Harrell (Texas Tech) won the Heisman Trophy in 2008, but was selected 2nd overall in the 2008 draft.
- Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) entered the draft early, and was selected as the 1st overall pick in 2009.
- Knowshon Moreno (Georgia) won the Heisman Trophy in 2009 and 2010, but Georgia still lost 4 games each season.
- Florida’s Tim Tebow suffered a season ending injury in 2009, went pro, and slipped to the 4th round in my Madden NFL 09 draft. He now plays for the Washington Redskins. Florida lost 5 games without him.
- USC dropped out of the top 25 by 2012.
- Wake Forest won the BCS National Championship in 2012, beating LSU 37-29.
- The draft classes carried over very well to Madden 09, though it did mix up my players occasionally. The first time it happened, it placed Malcom Jenkins (Ohio State) in the QB pool of prospects. I then reloaded the draft class and it corrected itself.
Our full review for NCAA Football 09 will go live in just a few days, so be sure to check back as the July 15th launch date draws closer.
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Last edited by KojiPro; 07-08-2008 at 12:01 PM.
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07-08-2008, 12:37 AM
I just found it a bit odd that Southern Cal dropped out of the top 25 by 20012, and the Deacs brought home the championship. I like it though!
