Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

[SA1NT401]

Happy overall for the most part....QBs throwing the ball away seems overdone in the demo and players spear to slide a bit....excited for retail on the 10th....and DREADLOCKS FINALLY!

I just hope there aren't any crippling franchise bugs (like every single year prior) and that they don't have to "patch in" dirty uniforms again!

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[SA1NT401]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but I could not agree more with what they said. This gameplay engine is simply broken, plain and simple. They can try and polish all they want, but you know how the old cliche goes, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken s***." That is what they are trying to do. And they continue to say that it will be a "few years" until they get physics in their game. Why? That's lazy. Do they not see the glaring issues that continue to crop up EVERY year because the engine is broken?! Why are they ok w complacency and not making the necessary changes to upgrade this game to elite status?

Fifa 12 did it. It is now time for NCAA to go in that direction. Sure, the game has some good points, and I am excited for the coaching carousel, but the gameplay is so incredibly stale these days. I am almost done playing the demo because the 2 minute quarters are atrocious, it's hard to get any feel for the game. I think a new direction is needed because I've had so many "come on, man" moments. ESPN should have a segment on sportscenter where they showcase the top 10 Madden and NCAA c'mon man moments like they have on NFL live w real players. Then they could show the superhuman linebackers disregarding physics and jumping in the air in the middle of an animation to bat down a pass they'd never get to in real life. Or showing a defensive back whose back is to the play and who magically reacts to the ball in .02 seconds even though he can't see it and get a miraculous interception on what I THOUGHT was an open receiver. All these things can be fixed very easily with one thing... Physics.

Plain and Simple, there are still too many, "come on, man" moments to really justify that this is not NCAA 11.5 or to say that the gameplay is vastly improved. Sure, the lack of suction is awesome, but the warping and ice skating are still prevalent and abundant. It's just frustrating and the even more frustrating thing is seeing how willing people are to give these guys chance after chance to improve these things even though they have yet to show much progress. It's like staying with a girlfriend who keeps breaking your heart bc she is hot. It just doesn't make sense. We need to hold these guys accountable.

NO COMPETITION!! that's why the series isn't making huge strides....everyone knows and agrees with that.

They are giving us the best they have with what they can work with. I hold NO BLAME towards developers....my hatred is for thr suits who limit the series cuz "THEY" want new fans not us old faithful ones....

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[jmik58]

You're going to see skating because there is no incorporation of anatomical physics in the game. The players are torso's. The legs and arms are graphical representations that move to "Keep up" with the animation of the torso. This is why players can make super human jumps and turns. The legs and feet don't mean anything.

Until this is fixed, we won't get realistic player movement.

Apparently EA has said they're not going to fix this or add physics, so we just have to live with it for now.

The AI of the CPU is always going to be at question because it's such a hard thing to program (I would assume). I would see this as something that can be adjusted with tuning packs...maybe not though, we'll see. It sounds like the biggest AI issue with the demo is the computer QB decision making AI with sliding and taking sacks/throwing the ball away too often, etc.

Finally, the eyes of the players don't mean anything either. Perhaps this is tied to physics and/or the issue of the "limbs" being pointless. The game needs to be adjusted so that the player can only react to what he is looking at.

When a WR has a DB burnt and both have their backs to the QB, I should not see the DB turn around for the ball before the WR does.

Give the players keys/reads that trigger their AI to respond accordingly. Make the eyes matter.

1. Add physics, make the limbs important
2. Tune the AI a little
3. Incorporate a vision based aspect with read and react logic to the players.

IMO, these three things would revolutionize football gaming, especially #1 and #3.

If you want a real-life sim experience; these are a must.

[kingsofthevalley]

Re: Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

You're going to see skating because there is no incorporation of anatomical physics in the game. The players are torso's. The legs and arms are graphical representations that move to "Keep up" with the animation of the torso. This is why players can make super human jumps and turns. The legs and feet don't mean anything.

Until this is fixed, we won't get realistic player movement.

Apparently EA has said they're not going to fix this or add physics, so we just have to live with it for now.

The AI of the CPU is always going to be at question because it's such a hard thing to program (I would assume). I would see this as something that can be adjusted with tuning packs...maybe not though, we'll see. It sounds like the biggest AI issue with the demo is the computer QB decision making AI with sliding and taking sacks/throwing the ball away too often, etc.

Finally, the eyes of the players don't mean anything either. Perhaps this is tied to physics and/or the issue of the "limbs" being pointless. The game needs to be adjusted so that the player can only react to what he is looking at.

When a WR has a DB burnt and both have their backs to the QB, I should not see the DB turn around for the ball before the WR does.

Give the players keys/reads that trigger their AI to respond accordingly. Make the eyes matter.

1. Add physics, make the limbs important
2. Tune the AI a little
3. Incorporate a vision based aspect with read and react logic to the players.

IMO, these three things would revolutionize football gaming, especially #1 and #3.

If you want a real-life sim experience; these are a must.

Thats the thing man. They dont have to add a physics engine for realistic movement. Check out the most recent iteration of the game on PS2. Running animations are spot on and the illusion of weight is there. You can feel the weight of the players when turning.

[jmik58]

Thats the thing man. They dont have to add a physics engine for realistic movement. Check out the most recent iteration of the game on PS2. Running animations are spot on and the illusion of weight is there. You can feel the weight of the players when turning.

I understand where you're coming from. But I'm thinking bigger picture, beyond the weight of the players when running. It's a core change that needs to be corrected to improve the overall gameplay experience of all movements.

I've heard some say that playing on slower speeds gives it less of a skating/floaty feel.

Cosmetically, it may "feel" better, but like I said, I'm a proponent of fixing it at the core so that all action that results from that improvement will benefit from such an improvement.

[SpreadEm]

Also why is has the speed option been wrong the whole time. with the speed option you are reading the frontside (5 technique or DE) or or the outside linebacker in some instances. since the blocking scheme is not right the linebacker and the corner are always having a chance to force the alley inside

[guaps]

Re: Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

Thank you, Jayson Young!

[bigsmallwood]

There is no feeling of weight to the players.....grrrrrrr

[BeaverBeliever97267]

I definitely enjoyed the demo, but wasn't expecting a whole lot different in terms of gameplay than 11. I more looking forward the deeper RTG and Dynasty's and I think the gameplay is great.

[knighthawksfan]

I will wait for the real game too drop I am not downloading no demo it is a waste of time

[statum71]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but I could not agree more with what they said. This gameplay engine is simply broken, plain and simple. They can try and polish all they want, but you know how the old cliche goes, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken s***." That is what they are trying to do. And they continue to say that it will be a "few years" until they get physics in their game. Why? That's lazy. Do they not see the glaring issues that continue to crop up EVERY year because the engine is broken?! Why are they ok w complacency and not making the necessary changes to upgrade this game to elite status?

Fifa 12 did it. It is now time for NCAA to go in that direction. Sure, the game has some good points, and I am excited for the coaching carousel, but the gameplay is so incredibly stale these days. I am almost done playing the demo because the 2 minute quarters are atrocious, it's hard to get any feel for the game. I think a new direction is needed because I've had so many "come on, man" moments. ESPN should have a segment on sportscenter where they showcase the top 10 Madden and NCAA c'mon man moments like they have on NFL live w real players. Then they could show the superhuman linebackers disregarding physics and jumping in the air in the middle of an animation to bat down a pass they'd never get to in real life. Or showing a defensive back whose back is to the play and who magically reacts to the ball in .02 seconds even though he can't see it and get a miraculous interception on what I THOUGHT was an open receiver. All these things can be fixed very easily with one thing... Physics.

Plain and Simple, there are still too many, "come on, man" moments to really justify that this is not NCAA 11.5 or to say that the gameplay is vastly improved. Sure, the lack of suction is awesome, but the warping and ice skating are still prevalent and abundant. It's just frustrating and the even more frustrating thing is seeing how willing people are to give these guys chance after chance to improve these things even though they have yet to show much progress. It's like staying with a girlfriend who keeps breaking your heart bc she is hot. It just doesn't make sense. We need to hold these guys accountable.

I think you guys make some good points. I really do. And I believe its sites like these that help make all of our sports games better.

But honestly.....
I can't wait 'til EA goes to physics in football so I can see what guys will complain about then.

Is the game perfect? By no means. But IMO it is a better game than '11. Its not gonna turn into The Show over night. And I have sad news.....next year's game won't be elite level either.

EA's playing catchup. And yes, I know its their own fault. But it is moving forward.

[Skyboxer]

Re: Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

NO COMPETITION!! that's why the series isn't making huge strides....everyone knows and agrees with that.

They are giving us the best they have with what they can work with. I hold NO BLAME towards developers....my hatred is for thr suits who limit the series cuz "THEY" want new fans not us old faithful ones....

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

When has there ever been competition for EA's NCAA???
That argument may be true for Madden but not even remotely true for NCAA.

[lwilkins]

Game plays smoother this year with more speed. These are two welcome additions to the game. Brad Nessler's team introduction has to be removed or made random. The use of “And here comes……(what ever the home team is)” has been heard in every intro video of the game. I’ve played the demo 6 times, using the four different teams, and he says that same phrase every single time (“And here comes….”). Please, please, please just remove this all together. It has been heard way to much already.
I enjoy great game-play but as well as many others who buy these game, I am a nit-picker for detail. I spend more time trying to make the players look correctly then actually playing the game. With this demo, players still appear over sized at a lot of positions (Quarterback, Wide-receivers, Line-backers, Cornerbacks, Defensive-ends, Tight ends, Strong safeties, and Free safeties for examples). Player’s jersey sleeves also still remain unchanged, still to long and to large. Rest of uniform detail is great.

3D grass looks great during replays. Maybe I read wrong but thought we were getting 3D grass during actual game play. The look of the fields during game play actually took a step backward this year. And I know we’re only playing four 2 minute quarters in perfect weather on grass, but where is the uniform degradation?
Hope they fix the 4th down play select screen. Has happened to me 10 ten times now. There are three plays in the Play Select Windows; I can see the third play (the one in the far right window). The other two plays are not aligned properly (only see the bottom of the play in the Play Window).

[br329]

Re: Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

When has there ever been competition for EA's NCAA???
That argument may be true for Madden but not even remotely true for NCAA.

This! The only time I can remember any other game getting close to EA's NCAA game was 989's Gamebreaker series on PS1.

[sublime55]

one of the biggest things that bugs me is that EA once again has totally screwed up UTs roster... do they not watch spring games or look at spring rosters? how can they not know the jersey numbers of the players? it just really amazes me how badly they have screwed up texas' roster this year.