NCAA Football 11 News Post

NCAA Football 11: Visual Style (ESPN Videogames)

12:10 PM - April 3, 2010 by Steve_OS

ESPN Videogames' Jon Robinson sits down with Jean Adams, Art Director for NCAA Football 11. As he breaks down the new look, from the lighting to the skin.

Quote:


	"So the art team at EA Sports went in and added new skies for every time of day and night, including various weather conditions, to help give their game that fresh stylistic look they were after. And the difference is staggering. "We want it to still look realistic, but dramatic at the same time," says Adams. "So we picked dusk skies that were just over the top, and even our overcast skies are looming over the stadiums. And this all led to new lighting on the players, fields, and stadiums. "We added a new technology called linear lighting which allows us to tune the game to whatever range of values we want," Adams continues. "So years before, we tried to get some really nice contrast into our game, but instead, all of our whites would blow out and the game would look dark and flat. So what we did this year was add the lighting to our real-time rendering shaders, and this allowed us to tune everything in a more realistic way. I think it really paid off. Now when you see all of those great moves and it's highlighted by this linear lighting, it's going to add up to deliver a great-looking game."

Game: NCAA Football 11Reader Score: 8/10 - Vote Now
Platform: iPhone / PS2 / PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 83 - View All

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Member Comments

# 1 prowler @ 04/03/10 12:42 PM

Might want to change the title to ESPN Article. People are going to see this thread and think "ZOOMG ESPN PRESENTATION FINALLY!!!!11"

# 2 stoncold32 @ 04/03/10 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ;2040919143


	"So we picked dusk skies that were just over the top, and even our overcast skies are looming over the stadiums.

Doh! As if dusk skies havent already been over the top for the past 2-3 years. I hope this is just a poor choice of words. They already look like Mars, I cant imagine anything more "over the top"

# 3 Lava @ 04/03/10 12:46 PM

Good article. Wish they would've given us a few tidbits of new info, though.

# 4 Crimsontide27 @ 04/03/10 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sting


	That's what I thought initially when I saw the title

I was excited because I thought the exact same thing lol.

Enjoyed the article until I got to this point....

Adds Adams: "It's like a coat of paint for the game. If you're selling a home, the first thing you do is paint it. You're not changing the studs, you're not changing what's underneath, you're just making it feel new, and that's what lighting is doing for us right now. It's not just that fresh coat of paint, it's that really dramatic fresh coat of paint."

This is not good news.

# 5 Lava @ 04/03/10 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crimsontide27


	I was excited because I thought the exact same thing lol. Enjoyed the article until I got to this point.... Adds Adams: "It's like a coat of paint for the game. If you're selling a home, the first thing you do is paint it. You're not changing the studs, you're not changing what's underneath, you're just making it feel new, and that's what lighting is doing for us right now. It's not just that fresh coat of paint, it's that really dramatic fresh coat of paint." This is not good news.

Really hoping that came out wrong and isn't what he meant to imply. If it is, and there are no major gameplay changes but just another coat of paint, it'll be another disappointing year for me as far as the NCAA series goes.

# 6 Steve_OS @ 04/03/10 01:04 PM

LOL, my bad guys. Updated.

# 7 Solidice @ 04/03/10 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crimsontide27


	I was excited because I thought the exact same thing lol. Enjoyed the article until I got to this point.... Adds Adams: "It's like a coat of paint for the game. If you're selling a home, the first thing you do is paint it. You're not changing the studs, you're not changing what's underneath, you're just making it feel new, and that's what lighting is doing for us right now. It's not just that fresh coat of paint, it's that really dramatic fresh coat of paint." This is not good news.

considering that quote comes from the Art Director and not a gameplay coder or whatever they call themselves. I don't think it means what you think it does. at least I hope. lol

# 8 MrChainsaw @ 04/03/10 04:36 PM

Wow, that article was a ginormous letdown.

# 9 drowsike @ 04/03/10 04:43 PM

Soildice..u hit the nail on the head..he was talkingin terms of what he and the art guys wanted to do in terms of art

# 10 drastix @ 04/03/10 06:09 PM

let's hope the gameplay matches the graphics

# 11 jfsolo @ 04/03/10 08:06 PM

I wonder if we will ever have an article/blog posted that clearly talks about a specific non gameplay aspect of the game and OS members can somehow resist the urge to reference those areas that have nothing to do with said article/blog.

Nah, never going to happen.

Presentation Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about gameplay?"

Art Direction Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about gameplay?"

Dynasty Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about gameplay?"

Gameplay Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about... oh, uh, they didn't do enough, or they're lying, and also what about Presentation, Art Direction, and Dynasty? "

# 12 huskerwr38 @ 04/03/10 08:12 PM

The lighting looks spectacular, it peaks my interest a bit. Madden and NCAA have always had a darker and flat look to it. I can't wait to see more.

# 13 Brandwin @ 04/03/10 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler


	Might want to change the title to ESPN Article. People are going to see this thread and think "ZOOMG ESPN PRESENTATION FINALLY!!!!11"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sting


	That's what I thought initially when I saw the title

LOL same here.

# 14 muckcity @ 04/03/10 09:09 PM

do you guys think we will have hair this year....im tired of not having dreads for my players that have them in real life

# 15 LionsFanNJ @ 04/03/10 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muckcity


	do you guys think we will have hair this year....im tired of not having dreads for my players that have them in real life

NCAA will never have dreads

# 16 stoncold32 @ 04/03/10 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfsolo


	I wonder if we will ever have an article/blog posted that clearly talks about a specific non gameplay aspect of the game and OS members can somehow resist the urge to reference those areas that have nothing to do with said article/blog. Nah, never going to happen. Presentation Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about gameplay?" Art Direction Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about gameplay?" Dynasty Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about gameplay?" Gameplay Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about... oh, uh, they didn't do enough, or they're lying, and also what about Presentation, Art Direction, and Dynasty? "

No, to answer your question.

But when something has been broken for several years and has swindled you out of hundreds of dollars, you tend to want to make sure that is fixed before you decide to spend any more of your money

# 17 stoncold32 @ 04/04/10 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCreep


	How exactly is someone swindling you out of money. On the one hand, its 60 friggin bucks, lol. 60 dollars out of a 365 day year hurts? Wowsers. On the other hand, you dont HAVE to spend it if you dont want to. You can rent it, borrow it, check out reviews, ya know, everything before you make a decision to part with that 60 dollars(that without even knowing you personally) I know aint about to put you in a homeless shelter.

Its not so much as the money, rather than the principle. We're getting swindled b/c the game doesnt even have stuff it used to have....but that's another story.

Yeah, it's "only" $60 bucks....but I'd rather take that money and buy another game or a few Blu-Rays or something, rather than just have a coaster that I stop playing after 2 months.

And renting this game was never an option back in the day. C'mon. you know how this works. EA built their brand on customer loyalty and by putting out good products every year. The thought of renting was just a waste of $7-8 bucks you could've spent towards the game.

Plus everyone, regardless of their financial situation is not as free-spending as the next man.

# 18 KANE699 @ 04/05/10 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfsolo


	I wonder if we will ever have an article/blog posted that clearly talks about a specific non gameplay aspect of the game and OS members can somehow resist the urge to reference those areas that have nothing to do with said article/blog. Nah, never going to happen. Presentation Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about gameplay?" Art Direction Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about gameplay?" Dynasty Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about gameplay?" Gameplay Blog: OS member reaction: :"What about... oh, uh, they didn't do enough, or they're lying, and also what about Presentation, Art Direction, and Dynasty? "

Priceless you couldn't of summed up my thoughts any better.

# 19 boritter @ 04/05/10 04:50 AM

I'm glad the lighting and graphics look better. It's also good to see new accessories.

But all I care about is improved animations and better AI (especially blocking AI). And all the missing Xbox/PS2 features.

Until I see that I will save my $60 and rent NCAA.

@jfsolo we post gameplay concerns in every thread because every year EA only changes 1-2 gameplay features while making 10-15 visual/feature enhancements. Since we care more about gameplay than "Coke Zero Season Showdown" we feel the need to remind EA about gameplay as much as possible.

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