Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

[redwo1f]

I am a coach mode player (who actually likes to watch a bunch of AI vs AI games too besides my team) - so REALISTIC STATS are very important to me.

...been playing NCAA '04 through dolphin emulator (and it is clearly better than '05 (but those were the only real choices on GameCube) - now that I can run decently the PS2 versions (opening the door to any NCAA to '11), which one is the best for a coach mode player such as me?

I know the big 3 or 4 that seem to be mentioned are '06, '04, '09 (and maybe 07 or '11) - with I think '06 seeming to be the top contender. Should I drop '04 and move on to another edition now that I can? Which is better than '04 and why? What do you guys recommend?

Thanks for feedback

[esayem]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

02, 03, and 04 all have conference schedules that don’t rotate. So if Texas plays Nebraska, KU, and Mizzou they will play those teams every year instead of rotating after two years to KSU, Colorado, and ISU. Same with the SEC and MAC.

05 has a ton of dropped passes, I’m not sure if that affects simulations. 06 is damn near perfect.

07 is great but has the same exact 1-AA roster as 06.

07-11 also has a glitch where the stadiums are full at the beginning of every game even if a horrible team averages 5k in a 28k stadium.

08-11 have medical redshirts.

I think it’s 10 and 11 where every player on all the 1-AA teams start with kicker helmets.

11 has a ton of uniform glitches. When I say glitch, I don’t mean an old uniform, I mean there are conferences patches on top of apparel brand patches, they look hideous. UCLA also has brown pants with a wacky stripe on them for some reason. It seems the art department phoned it in.

They are all great to play. Pick your poison!

[tril]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

NCAA 11.
I never noticed the minor uniform glitches, and stadium sizes that that Esayem mentions.
The difference between the major programs and smaller schools is that about half your games will not have play by play commentary, unless you are playing a rivalry game or a top 25 program. which is nice.
On the field, you will be amazed by the gameplay. of course you will need minor gameplay slider tweaks,(mine are minimal). but you wont have to touch things like the penalty sliders. there's a good balance of penalties called. you will see, un-sportsman like penalties, holding, roughing the kicker, and yes defensive pass interference. and the penalties are not phantom penalties. the games where the pass interference gets called, I actually see it.

there is no robo qb in this game also. passes fall short or are over thrown. you'll see proper ball reaction/physics based on the type of throws, pressure etc.

knowing your roster is also important. things like who you have fielding punts and kick offs will determine whether you fumble or not, same for running backs.

all the in game adjustments found in Madden's later releases are in this game as well.

there is game prep as well.

player violations and suspensions, teams are put on probation, teams are kicked out of conferences for poor play, you of course can get fired.

you want to see what RPM should look and feel like, play NCAA11. the players feel grounded and have proper weight. quick players are quick.

I can go on and on about NCAA 11. its the most slept on version and is equal to NCAA 14.

there is also a broadcast camera.

the negatives:
QBR stats are not correct.. they are high for very team, the equation they used was incorrect. they are high but falls in line with the rest of your dynasty
QB sacks are high- so I had to adjust the pass protection sliders
INT's and fumbles are high- also had to lower them
this may not effect your legacy since you play coach mode.

here is a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anx094GWKvg

[muchacho]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

I had picked up 08 a few weeks back and was enjoying it. Started a thread talking about it and many said that it was their least favorite. Majority was 06 or 11. Found 06 last week and I gotta say I enjoy the simplicity of it. Using playmakers sliders to whatever difficulty you feel comfortable with makes it a tremendously enjoyable experience. The impact players truly stand out. Kick arches are pretty realistic in it. Players go for the ball and don’t make any real noticeable dumb choices. All in I have to say I fell in love with ncaa on the ps2 all over again. Brought me back to my younger days of actually enjoying and not having to handcuff myself for an enjoyable experience. Haven’t tried 11 yet so can’t say much. But 06 and 08 were pretty good in their own way for what they have to offer.


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[esayem]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

It’s not the stadium sizes, it’s the fact that an 0-6 1 Star team will fill their 28k stadium at the beginning of every game, even when it shows their average attendance at 5k. NCAA 06 was the last game to accurately portray attendance.

I played a game on 11 recently, TCU vs SMU, and both teams had glitchy patches on their uniforms. Like Nike was superimposed over CUSA for example.

UCLA’s uniforms are totally glitched out.

[muchacho]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

It’s not the stadium sizes, it’s the fact that an 0-6 1 Star team will fill their 28k stadium at the beginning of every game, even when it shows their average attendance at 5k. NCAA 06 was the last game to accurately portray attendance.



I played a game on 11 recently, TCU vs SMU, and both teams had glitchy patches on their uniforms. Like Nike was superimposed over CUSA for example.



UCLA’s uniforms are totally glitched out.

06 was the last one to get the full attention of EA before the next gen came out. I feel that’s why it has stood the test time against other iterations.


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[Von Dozier]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

NCAA 11.

What slider tweaks are you using?

[antdroid]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

NCAA 06. That's why I focus all my editing on that game. It's the best.

Best gameplay. Best soundtrack. Best presentation.

The one thing I wish it had that the newer PS2 ones had was medical redshirting. But that doesnt happen too often anyway. Everything else about it is great.

It looks really good on PCSX2 as well. Really good.

[LuckySeven]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

Best gameplay. Best soundtrack. Best presentation.

It was the only one that had a soundtrack outside of the college fight songs, so it kinda gets that by default.

[redwo1f]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

Thank you for the feedback gentlemen

Yes, I knew about the scheduling problems with '04.
'05 I can't do. The drops kill me and ruin the game.
'07 - if it is anything like the PSP version, gamespeed is wayyy to high, but worse is the momentum - ruins it as well (recently ran an AI vs AI game with a B vs B- team and the score was 78-14 for example, ughhh!)

I will look at '06, '09, and '11 and test out on-field game play (I haven't heard there is anything really wrong with franchise/legacy with either and all are solid in these regards? (eg. recruiting classes, scheduling, recruiting, progression). I am prepared to slider tweak (been developing sliders for madden PC '03-'08 in the past so I am no stranger to that whatsoever, lol).

I think I am going to run a bunch of games AI vs AI default first to get an indication of the game engines I am looking at. I know being a statistical realism freak and coach mode player (who also spectates other matches), what works or doesn't work for me may work for you (ie, NFL2k5 which so many rave about (though it has great animations and presentation!!!!) is actually a poor engine when it comes to statistical realism in AI vs AI games and coach mode franchises (though it may be okay with those who control their players) even with slider and roster adjustments - big issues with comp% and problems with sack averages, YPC, yards per catch, etc.).

...and soundtrack and also violations and conference ejections/promotions aren't that important to me - on field game play first and foremost. But like I said, if any of you are aware of any legacy/franchise issues for these 3 that I am going test out hard, give me a shout.

(damn, '06 runs realllly fast ...)

Once again, thanks for the info, much appreciated

[esayem]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

Somebody once said 09, or maybe 08, the clock doesn’t stop when you run out of bounds. Haven’t tested it.

[Mopar345]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

Muchacho are you playing on an emulator or an actual PS2? Just curious!!

[redwo1f]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

Somebody once said 09, or maybe 08, the clock doesn’t stop when you run out of bounds. Haven’t tested it.

Nope, haven't noticed that but I will keep an eye on it, thanks.

...and interesting - was planning on going '09 vs '11 head to head to eliminate one quickly to go against what I thought was going to be the possible best ('06) - but damn, early indicators to me with the pure unaltered game play engines seem to show '06 actually being the worst of the 3, '09 the best ('09 is looking real good at the moment tbh).

[esayem]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

What about 10?

[muchacho]

Re: Which one to play?? (finally able to get PS2 emulator playing well)

Muchacho are you playing on an emulator or an actual PS2? Just curious!!

I’m on console. Not caught up with computer gaming.


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