Fix the ball carrier AI logic in NCAA 12 - Gotmadskillzson's Blog

Gotmadskillzson's Blog

Fix the ball carrier AI logic in NCAA 12

Posted on September 21, 2011 at 02:04 PM.

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In this game and all football games really, it is way too much north and south running by all ball carriers. There isn't a visual difference between a power back or shifty back or a difference between a pocket passer running or scrambler.

All the ball carriers in this game have tunnel vision. What ever side they started running on, is the side they will stay on. They don't ever cut it clear back across the other side of the field, even when they have the speed and acceleration advantage to do so.

Now in the college football world in real life over the decades, I lost count how many times I seen Reggie Bush, Devin Hester, Travis Benjamin, Barry Sanders, etc start on the right side of the ball along the sideline, then CUT BACK ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FIELD because they knew they were faster then the people that were chasing them and their BALL CARRIER VISION told them hey, the other side of the field is wide open, lets run over there.

In NCAA 12, ball carrier don't do that. Instead they tend to run into tackles way too much. This stands out a lot on punt returns. Kick the ball anywhere on the field. I gurantee you that returner is going to run in a straight line directly into the gunners. Instead of running in arc AWAY from the gunners trying to get to the other side of the field.

You also see this when the QB scrambles. They very rarely scramble outside the tackles in this game. 99% of the scrambles is up the middle. Which leads me to another point that needs to be tuned.

And that is the LACK of cpu ball carriers using special moves. Speed backs and scrambling QBs don't juke or spin nearly enough like they should. Ball carriers lack a killer instinct. They concede to the tackle way too much.

I for one hate seeing a QB scramble up the middle and slide when they only have one guy to get pass. In real life an agile QB on a 1 on 1 situation would juke, spin or stiff arm to get pass that one guy OR BREAK IT TO THE FAR SIDE LINE. I mean seriously QBs in real life only slide when they see a crowd of defenders in their path.

But this lack of breaking it to the far sideline when they are running is starting to get annoying. Ball carriers aren't seeing the whole field. They only seeing half the field.

I gurantee you, if you took the numbers, names off of players and just watched the cpu play, you couldn't tell if that was a speed back running or a power back running. Nor could you tell if that was a scrambling QB running or a pocket passer.

Everybody runs the SAME. Some just run faster then others. But it should be a clear visual difference.

Fast, agile players with high agility and elusiveness should be way more shifty. They should use spins and jukes a whole lot more. They should be more prone to cutting back clear ACROSS THE FIELD when they run. They also should hurdle over fallen defenders a lot more.

Slower or more powerful runners, should use the stiff arm way more.

So I sure hope they GREATLY increase ball carrier vision for ball carriers see the ENTIRE FIELD. Have them cut clear across the field to the far side line on runs when they have the speed and acceleration advantage. Have all runners use special moves a lot more. Should be way more jukes, spins and stiff arms.

All this north and south running needs to come to an end.