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]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

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]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

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]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

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]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

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

[LastExit]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

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]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

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]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

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.

[BleedGreen710]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

I hate the screen shaking and play art jumbling. I get that its an attempt to give one team home field advantage but cmon that's not realistic. The QB may have trouble calling the play but hes not gonna get to line and suddenly when he imagines the play in his head its all jumbled around. And its not like the crowd makes the QBs vision actually shake/tremble while he's under center, and even if it did, shouldn't the defense receive the same handicap since they are experiencing the same crowd noise as well? Its all too fake and arcade style for me, so I turn off home field advantage effects every year. Hearing the crowd yelling and screaming when I have a 3rd down, or cheering when the opponent makes a big play on me is enough, I don't need the BS 'play art jumbling' and screen shaking to let me know I am facing a tough home crowd.

[Sundown2600]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

All the devs for this game need to do is check the crowd noise in Fifa 13. The way the crowd reacts to big moments is so much more realistic and this adds tension and suspense to the game.

It frustrates me how they just seem to refuse to get simple things nailed down.

[LastExit]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

All the devs for this game need to do is check the crowd noise in Fifa 13. The way the crowd reacts to big moments is so much more realistic and this adds tension and suspense to the game.

It frustrates me how they just seem to refuse to get simple things nailed down.

Ironically the devs were (according to one of their video podcasts last year) working with the FIFA team on the crowd noise.

[LastExit]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

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.

Well said.

Just to add.....one of the great features when playing an away game in a tough stadium back then was trying to call a hot route and they had that animation where the receiver was signaling that he couldn't hear the QB. In the end sometimes the receiver would run the hot route and sometimes he didn't but it all factored into the atmosphere. I guess these days it would be considered unrealistic as they use hand signals now to change things up but they could still do so much more to bring the crowd to life if they put the effort into it.

[DorianDonP]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

I hate the screen shaking and play art jumbling. I get that its an attempt to give one team home field advantage but cmon that's not realistic. The QB may have trouble calling the play but hes not gonna get to line and suddenly when he imagines the play in his head its all jumbled around. And its not like the crowd makes the QBs vision actually shake/tremble while he's under center, and even if it did, shouldn't the defense receive the same handicap since they are experiencing the same crowd noise as well? Its all too fake and arcade style for me, so I turn off home field advantage effects every year. Hearing the crowd yelling and screaming when I have a 3rd down, or cheering when the opponent makes a big play on me is enough, I don't need the BS 'play art jumbling' and screen shaking to let me know I am facing a tough home crowd.

I think it's very realistic. As you said, it's simulating what would happen when playing in a hostile environment. Shaken composure (jumbled playart) and nerves (camera shake). NBA 2k has camera shake for free throws on the road to simulate the high pressure of shooting by yourself in front of thousands of roaring people.

The way it wad done on previous games needs some tweaking but overall I wish it was still there as an option for you to turn off and me to turn on.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

The crowd from NCAA March Madness 07

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/cxCCcWPrDQg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

FIFA 13 Crowd

http://youtu.be/_EhiSkIl8vk?t=6m

[DorianDonP]

Re: What Happened to the Crowd?

The awareness of this crowd was well done for the most part. One of the best I have seen from a sports game.

<object width="560" height="315">


<embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/OybnCDjkNg8?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="315"></object>