CFB 26 news

[TarHeelPhenom]

Re: CFB 26 news

I’ve found coverage shells to be extremely effective against the CPU (when used sparingly, maybe 20% of the time for me), at least on both varsity and all American (the only 2 difficulties I’ve used).

Once CM Hooe explained that Coverage Shells move players out of position and affects match coverage, I abandoned using them. My pass defense got better right away. I've probably used them 0.01 % since he dropped that nugget. It was a game changer for me personally.

[GOIRISH65]

Re: CFB 26 news

I agree with you that they can break a coverage but certain ones are useful. I also agree above they should be used sparingly and on important downs (ditto w pacjage subs like swap DE-use when you need a stop). I’ve been burned showing cover 3 when in man free bc the lb doesn’t walk out. Bad coverage shell. I get a lot of picks showing 2 or 4 and playing 3 sky tho bc that safety comes down. I need to show blitz when in zone and bail out more too. Underrated tactic. I never show 3 play 2. And I never show 3 play 4. Some show 2 man and blitz works good. Again only sometimes.

[rupe]

Re: CFB 26 news

That's my issue with a lot of these features. It's nice to have. But as a 100% Offline player, the CPU doesn't take advantage of any of these features. So, we're always playing with an advantage. Does CPU audible, ID the Mike, Shift the Line, ID clear mismatches, Utilize star/gadget players. CPU has always felt like it calls plays based on the "Coach Suggestions". I always disliked losing out on "Special" recruits to CPU because I known they'll never be fully utilized to their potential. They have to find a way to make CPU/AI more dynamic and less predictable.

There are a lot of QOL features like that doesn't seem that difficult to fix. For showing player abilites, have it like 2k where you can push R3/RS to pull up a tab where you can go through the abilities and ratings. When going through Roster/Depth Chart, each position ratings should be sorted by physical ratings, then position-specific ratings, then the rest. That way we don't have to scroll all the over to find the important.

This!!! It would go a long way in making teams feel different. Now that most teams play basically the same offense in college football, I barley feel the difference when playing teams. They all seem to play the same.

[illwill10]

Re: CFB 26 news

This!!! It would go a long way in making teams feel different. Now that most teams play basically the same offense in college football, I barely feel the difference when playing teams. They all seem to play the same

Yeah, outside of Flexbone and Tempo, there doesn't feel like any drastic difference playing teams. Besides formations, it just feels like teams call plays the same way. I have always felt that there needed to be a coach Tendency system. For the most part, CPU playcalling just feels like "Coach Suggestions," Run/Pass Ratio, and Playbook. How often do we really see 4 Verts multiple times a game in real life

With Head Coaches seemingly in this year's game, I really hope they make every coach feel unique. NCAA 14 had the Coach Profile. They need to bring that back and expand it. Include Ran/Pass Ratio, Sub in/out, passive/aggressive, 4th down aggression, Game Plan adjustments, etc. Not trying to make this a wishlist. But, there needs to be a difference experience facing coaches.

[sherrane]

Re: CFB 26 news

Yeah, outside of Flexbone and Tempo, there doesn't feel like any drastic difference playing teams. Besides formations, it just feels like teams call plays the same way. I have always felt that there needed to be a coach Tendency system. For the most part, CPU playcalling just feels like "Coach Suggestions," Run/Pass Ratio, and Playbook. How often do we really see 4 Verts multiple times a game in real life


With Head Coaches seemingly in this year's game, I really hope they make every coach feel unique. NCAA 14 had the Coach Profile. They need to bring that bring and expand it. Include Ran/Pass Ratio, Sub in/out, passive/aggressive, 4th down aggression, Game Plan adjustments, etc. Not trying to make this a wishlist. But, there needs to be a difference experience facing coaches.

In 14 we had run / pass percentage and aggressiveness percentage for offense and defense. In 25 we don't have run / pass percentage, which is a step backward. They need to add that back in as well as add passing depth percentage for short, medium, and deep was well as option / RPO percentage. This would make two offenses using the same playbook different enough that you'd may think they used different playbooks.


There was quite a bit of angst thrown at the Coaching Carousel, but most of us were very happy we could hire our own Coordinators which is clearly a big step in the right direction. Last night I discovered that feature is as lacking as the Carousel. I have been running a Spread offense and my OC has left in each of the last two seasons. I could not hire an OC that ran the Spread. I had choices of Veer and Shoot, Air Raid, Multiple, and Pistol. I didn't hire a coach, played UCLA in a playoff game, advanced the week in hopes that I could get an OC using the Spread. I did not. I reverted the week, hired a Multiple OC, then played UCLA again.


They added quite a bit to the coaching skills. I started as OC for Georgia for the Bundle Discount skill and then purchased it for myself as a HC. I have purchased 85 skills in Recruiter, Motivator, and Tactician as well as CEO and Program Builder and some skills in both. Without the Bundle Discount that would cost nearly every penny I'd earn in a dynasty. Instead I have been paying 3 or 4 coins for every skill, so I have saved about 130 coins (I started off paying 4 and the next time I do this I will accumulate coins until I can get a deepest discount). I have 12 coins in my bank and am level 44, so I should have 72 more coins to spend. That makes hiring coordinators a two step evaluation: What playbook does he use and what skills does he have that I need. The lack of depth and the inability to reach out to coaches other than the ones the game grants access to can be as frustrating as getting a bunch of crappy offers when you are looking for a new position.


BTW: When my OC left this year, he was still buying skills with my discount. After the Conference Championship Game, I noticed one of the recruiting skills dropped from 4 to 3 because the OC purchased it. After advancing through Week 1 of the playoffs, I was able to purchase 2 more recruiting skills for 3 coins instead of 4. I should be able to hire coaches that might be above my pay grade if the CPU coach detects they can get skills on the cheap while working for me. That would make the Bundle Discount the best coaching skill in the game by far.

[UtahUtes32]

Re: CFB 26 news

In 14 we had run / pass percentage and aggressiveness percentage for offense and defense. ....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't those percentages only impact simmed games?

[illwill10]

Re: CFB 26 news

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't those percentages only impact simmed games?

I think so as well.



The foundation is set, so the goal is to expand and build off it. When you look at UI, structure of Coach Carousel, etc it's NCAA 14. I would actually want a different Dynasty UI and change Coach Carousel. It's still too streamlined. In a way, the game is streamlined. Would love for them to try to expand it out.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Re: CFB 26 news

Dang I feel bad for the service academies cadets. They are not allowed to participate in NIL deals.

I missed news on this. So, in CFB25, they wound up being in the game after it was touch-and-go whether or not they would be in.
And now, for CFB26, we are back to square one on whether or not they will be in 26?
Or are you just saying they won't be paid, again?
Because, honestly, as long as they are in 26, like they were in 25, I honestly don't care anymore if they are paid or not.

EA, just do what you have to, again, to get them in 26.

[TripleCrown9]

Re: CFB 26 news

I missed news on this. So, in CFB25, they wound up being in the game after it was touch-and-go whether or not they would be in.
And now, for CFB26, we are back to square one on whether or not they will be in 26?
Or are you just saying they won't be paid, again?
Because, honestly, as long as they are in 26, like they were in 25, I honestly don't care anymore if they are paid or not.

EA, just do what you have to, again, to get them in 26.

They'll still be in the game. He's just saying he feels bad because the money went up and they still won't get any.

[sherrane]

Re: CFB 26 news

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't those percentages only impact simmed games?

If you are correct then they ignored it all the time. QBs seemed to have more carries than the starting RB quite often.

[canes21]

Re: CFB 26 news

Yeah, outside of Flexbone and Tempo, there doesn't feel like any drastic difference playing teams. Besides formations, it just feels like teams call plays the same way. I have always felt that there needed to be a coach Tendency system. For the most part, CPU playcalling just feels like "Coach Suggestions," Run/Pass Ratio, and Playbook. How often do we really see 4 Verts multiple times a game in real life

With Head Coaches seemingly in this year's game, I really hope they make every coach feel unique. NCAA 14 had the Coach Profile. They need to bring that back and expand it. Include Ran/Pass Ratio, Sub in/out, passive/aggressive, 4th down aggression, Game Plan adjustments, etc. Not trying to make this a wishlist. But, there needs to be a difference experience facing coaches.

It feels that way because it is that way. The CPU play calling is built similarly to how Coach Suggestions work. Both only pull plays from the starred plays in any given gameplan. This means that If a particular playbook only has 5 plays rated on 3rd and medium, then the CPU will only call those 5 plays ever on 3rd and medium just like if you're using that playbook with Coach Suggestions those will be the only 5 plays you're ever suggested to call in that situation.

This leads to the vast majority of plays in all playbooks never having a chance of being called by the CPU nor do they have a chance for any user using Coach Suggestions to ever call them.

It's very easy to test this by making some vanilla custom playbooks with only a select few plays starred in all situations.

We are very long overdue for both a better play calling system and improved CPU logic that leads to them calling plays in a more human-like fashion that leads to each team, scheme, staff, and individual coach feeling different from one another while having realistic tendencies.

[illwill10]

Re: CFB 26 news

I agree.

I already tested that out. When I did my RTG QB, I used my Custom Playbook. I went through my whole playbook and re-rated every play for each situation. That was the way I made the AI playcalling better in RTG.

It feels like it is legacy coding at this point. It feels like that's how it has been for generations. For me, there's two ways to improve it. Either have an in-depth Coach Tendency system or keep it how it is with heavy tweaks. A tendency system would be my preference. That way, each coach would call plays differently, and if they change schools, the new school adapts. The other way is to heavily tweak current system. With real coaches on board, go through every playbook and re-rate every situation to how the coach's team called it. For the most part, it feels like every Playbook has the same play call rating for each situation.

[R1zzo23]

Have we gotten any word on whether online dynasty will be cross-gen?

[DonkeyJote]

Have we gotten any word on whether online dynasty will be cross-gen?

26 (or 25) aren't available on last-gen consoles, are they? 26 hasn't even been announced for Switch 2 yet, afaik. So there's no gens to cross.

[NittanyRicky]

26 (or 25) aren't available on last-gen consoles, are they? 26 hasn't even been announced for Switch 2 yet, afaik. So there's no gens to cross.

Meant crossplay maybe?