Does EA need to start over?

[canes21]

I know EA made a good football game this year, but after patches it really has been nothing but a terrible mess. I know it would take years to create a new football game.

But does EA need to start over? This could be for both their football games really. They are big messes that no matter what they do to it, the base for the game is always going to have bug faults in it. I am not a big programmer or anything, but from what I have heard, the code for both their football games are just messy and are not ideal.

I think if EA started over and created the game from scratch with today's technology that later on down the road in maybe 3 years the game would be leaps and bounds better in terms of gameplay and features. Maybe the first year would be a lot better of a game in terms of gameplay, but then after that we'd start seeing our old favorite features and new surprising(in a good way) ones implemented and would create the next gen football experience we've all been waiting for for 5 years now.

As it stands I don't think we will ever get a next gen football game on current systems if they keep using this outdated base, or engine I guess. We'll be stuck with ratings that do't matter, animations that have too much control on the outcome, too many bugs that should never make it into a game, etc.

I know this will likely not happen, so do't just say no because it won't happen. Realism aside, do you think EA needs to start over with their football games?

[Solidice]

so you want another NCAA '07(360)?

no thanks.

[NoDakHusker]

No. The game isn't bad and it's redundant to say a game has bugs and glitches.

The engine could use some tweaking but it doesn't need to be trashed and built from the ground up. NCAA 11 is a great building block for the future, it made a lot of improvements. Why stop and change the formula entirely when it's just getting good?

[canes21]

Great job Solidice for really contributing to the topic.

I wasn't asking if EA should start over with NCAA 07. I was asking if you think EA needs to start over to make a great football game? I said to put all realism aside. If they could start over and have the game out next year with an okay dynasty mode and new gameplay that is more like we want, then should EA do it, then add on to it after that since gameplay will be more solid and need less work.

Of course that is ideal, but I don't think its far fetched. I think EA could get a new engine in the works and maybe have it make its debut in NCAA 13. It would finally have realistic gameplay featuring physics and it would be shallow on features. But gameplay would be so much better NCAA 14 and on would be years of just adding features and tweaking gameplay for the better. What do I know though?

[youALREADYknow]

The gameplay/physics engine is what it is at this point. There's no point of going back to the drawing board until the future generation of consoles comes out.

They need to focus on expanding and rebuilding the aspects of the game that aren't limited by the hardware. The top priority in my opinion should be Dynasty mode.

EA is light years from producing a simulation engine that resembles reality. They don't grasp some fairly basic concepts that most of us on message boards seem to understand. I'm not talking 1's and 0's here, but the basic logic that goes into things like prospect class generation, Top 25 polls, program prestige, statistical player and team averages, coaching strategy settings, etc.

If they can rebuild the Dynasty framework to a respectable level and continue adding one major feature per year then we should be looking at a quality product in 2012/2013. Of course I said the same thing in 2007 about 2009/2010 and they still haven't focused on the foundations of Dynasty mode.

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Solidice

so you want another NCAA '07(360)? no thanks.

Exactly. They finally put together a good game and you want to start over? Brilliant.

[canes21]

I do't get where you guys got I was saying they need to restart next year, I didn't really say that in my post. I was just asking if EA needs to restart if they are ever going to give us gameplay we really want. Sure the game this year was good, but honestly this is what NCAA 07 should have been.

[Solidice]

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

Great job Solidice for really contributing to the topic. I wasn't asking if EA should start over with NCAA 07. I was asking if you think EA needs to start over to make a great football game? I said to put all realism aside. If they could start over and have the game out next year with an okay dynasty mode and new gameplay that is more like we want, then should EA do it, then add on to it after that since gameplay will be more solid and need less work. Of course that is ideal, but I don't think its far fetched. I think EA could get a new engine in the works and maybe have it make its debut in NCAA 13. It would finally have realistic gameplay featuring physics and it would be shallow on features. But gameplay would be so much better NCAA 14 and on would be years of just adding features and tweaking gameplay for the better. What do I know though?

well, the last time they started from scratch, we got NCAA '07. a game that had basically nothing in it. so if they were to start over again, it would probably compare to that game, in overall quality.

if were just talking about fantasy land(you did say realism aside, so I guess we are), were the dev team had thousands of people on the game and can put out a new game from scratch that is even close to NCAA 11 in 1 year. then yes, they should start over and create the most awesomeness game ever created!

and there is not just 1 "engine" involved in the game. but that is another story altogether and has been beaten to death many times. so realistically, they probably wouldn't need to redo the entire game, but they are still limited by man power and time.