What Happened to the Crowd?

[tdogg097]

When the Home Field Advantage feature first came out I thought it was a pretty innovative way of capturing the college stadium atmosphere. Was it obnoxious? Sure but 100k drunk football fans are pretty obnoxious as well. I also thought it was pretty slick that the only way to get the crowd to shut up was by playing well.

Fast forward to this years version and all of that is gone. I'm 17 games into a Dynasty with Florida. They play in some of the toughest stadiums in the country and you wouldn't know it playing NCAA. I've thrown a few pick sixes on the road and not even an uptick in the crowd noise. Going for it on 4th and 1 deep in my opponents territory and it sounds like I'm on the practice field. I just played a game in Tennessee and I didn't even have my routes shaking.

I think a lot of the changes this game made are great but the crowd noise is killing it for me. It makes the game feel completely lifeless. Am I the only one who has noticed this?

[buickbeast]

Quote: Originally Posted by tdogg097

When the Home Field Advantage feature first came out I thought it was a pretty innovative way of capturing the college stadium atmosphere. Was it obnoxious? Sure but 100k drunk football fans are pretty obnoxious as well. I also thought it was pretty slick that the only way to get the crowd to shut up was by playing well. Fast forward to this years version and all of that is gone. I'm 17 games into a Dynasty with Florida. They play in some of the toughest stadiums in the country and you wouldn't know it playing NCAA. I've thrown a few pick sixes on the road and not even an uptick in the crowd noise. Going for it on 4th and 1 deep in my opponents territory and it sounds like I'm on the practice field. I just played a game in Tennessee and I didn't even have my routes shaking. I think a lot of the changes this game made are great but the crowd noise is killing it for me. It makes the game feel completely lifeless. Am I the only one who has noticed this?

Compared to the last few years, I think the crowd atmosphere has improved.
But that's not saying much at all

[The_Rick_14]

There are moments that I agree the crowd should be more alive, but mid-play I definitely get swells that sound pretty good during big plays most of the time.

I wish the crowd was more obviously tied to certain situations like when the PA announcer announces a first down, or a challenge is success or failed.

[LastExit]

I hear you, my friend. Lots of people have specific things that are missing or not implemented well in this game.....this is mine.

As noted, the crowd is better than last year (at least the crowd reacts when you goad it make noise while on defense) but there's still a long way to go. Until then, I'd be happy to go back to the last generation when they had a generic, loud crowd when the home team was on defense and the crowd actually went crazy when the home team scored on offense or the visiting team missed a FG.

Here's to hoping that they figure it out (or put more work into it) on the next generation console. The crowds at so many schools make for a big part of the atmosphere.....and when that's missing it really takes away from the game for me. They had something real good going when the home team was getting blown out and the crowd would be flat and by the fourth quarter they'd have a wide shot of the stadium while selecting a play and you'd see the upper tiers of the stadium emptying out. I miss those days.

[thbends]

Go to audio settings. Turn crowd all the way up and everything else down to 50% or less. Problem solved.

[LastExit]

Quote: Originally Posted by thbends

Go to audio settings. Turn crowd all the way up and everything else down to 50% or less. Problem solved.

I've done that, but you shouldn't have to almost mute everything else in order to make the crowd stand out.

[tdogg097]

Quote: Originally Posted by thbends

Go to audio settings. Turn crowd all the way up and everything else down to 50% or less. Problem solved.

Volume isn't the problem. It has to do with situation specific sounds. If it is 4th and 1 and your a visiting team going for it the crowd would be going nuts. Sometimes even in a live broadcast the tv screen is shaking because the stadium is shaking the cameras. If I'm playing a game in South Carolina and I throw a pick six I should notice an extreme difference in the crowd noise.

[DorianDonP]

On some of the older games, playing on the road meant having 2 opponents; the home team and the home fans. The screen shook and players got rattled, and it was all but impossible to audible when the fans really got going.

I see none of that anymore. Sad, because playing on the road in a tough environment used to be one of my fav things about the series.

From my observation, it seems only freshman players have difficulties on the road, and it doesn't even last long. I was using Winston (redshirt freshman) for FSU while playing on the road against UF, and on the first series the play art was jumbled. I completed a few passes and the play art didn't get jumbled at all for the rest of the game.

As far as the dynamic crowd noise, yeah, this series is a LONG way off. Crowd barely cheers when they are supposed to. Don't swell in the right situations. They don't react to replay challenges and other situations where they should be going crazy. It def feels lifeless.

Turning up the volume does nothing to fix what is actually wrong there.

I'm enjoying my dynasty. This is the prolly the best NCAA game, but it's lagging behind past titles in the atmosphere department.