NCAA Football 12 -- Gameplay you can count on (Sort of) - RaychelSnr's Blog

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NCAA Football 12 -- Gameplay you can count on (Sort of) Stuck

Posted on September 12, 2011 at 11:43 AM.

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The NCAA Football series (and really Madden NFL as well) have had some glaring problems with its gameplay for years now. As I said in my Madden review, EA football is the most unrealistic realistic game on the market. The core football tenets are so completely ridiculous at times that I have a hard time swallowing my pride to keep playing. However, the game tends to get realistic results based on it's method.

And not that there's anything wrong with that for most, I'm a simulation guy at heart. I want to at least see the series evolve into something better.

As I did yesterday, I want to do another four point wish list for NCAA's gameplay. Again I want to focus on what can be done to the game in a year's time. So NCAA team, if you are listening (and I know you are) here are the four things you should focus on for next year -- you'd potentially look like geniuses for doing this:

1)Remember, it's not your game you are making. It's ours. If you ever take a psych 101, or even sociology, or any ology that focuses on human behavior -- you'll instantly realize these are a bunch of diverse people trying to talk about human behavior. You get a bunch of ideas, but humans are a very diverse lot.

Developing a game for humans shouldn't be a one way affair. You shouldn't define a game based upon one set of rules.

Simply put: it's time to focus on customization.

The best sports games have it, you can tune NBA 2K from a completely unrealistic arcade three fest to a highly realistic game. Ditto for MLB: The Show. Even to a certain extent, you can do this in FIFA and NHL as well. But not in NCAA. Not in Madden. You play how the developers decide you play.

A solution is easily implementable -- get more sliders, don't leave anything missing. Put them out there and allow users to customize the game. Madden NFL 2005 was the greatest playing football game ever after a small group of Maddenites got together and redid the whole way the game was played. Trust the community.

2)Completely re-do how DB/WR interactions take place. This is a no brainer, it's been broken since the dawn of time. Wideouts and DBs don't interact how your football simulation shows they do, and it's time this aspect of football is finally brought to life. Again, go with my suggestion of yesterday and sit down and watch a Saturday of football. Watch what the DBs do to the WRs and the WRs to the DBs. Ask yourself: is this in our game?

When you answer no, then focus in on the next step: what do I do to get that in our game? I think you'll like what it becomes.

3)The lines are still not there. Pass Blocking AI isn't what it should be and run blocking AI can be maddeningly frustrating at times (pulling guards not blocking anyone half the time). What we have is a completely frustrating mess of a problem that needs help. I propose that the AI is finally fixed, pass blocking is finally done right, and that suction is finally (and actually) eliminated from the game. Who's with me?!?!

But yeah seriously, just fix the AI and the still present suction.

4)Attributes mean more, but not enough. I can understand why the EA Football crew doesn't want attributes to matter all that much, it's more competitive online for everyone. But it's time to just say, "if you want to go online as UL Monroe and face a bunch of guys playing as Alabama and Oklahoma then you deserve to get beat over and over again."

No offense to Warhawks fans of course -- but even under the best care they should never compete with Oklahoma, LSU, or Alabama week in and week out.

The reason this occurs is because ratings aren't quite right. How they are done is like how game reviews are done: the 0-100 point scale is actually more like a 55-100 point scale. Either use a 50 point scale or use an actual 100 point scale. You aren't exactly using FCS or Division II or III teams in the game -- there's no need to have a 10 or 20 ovr when the lowest you can even get is a 44 in most cases anyways!

I'll leave it to the creative whims of the NCAA team on how to fix this mess, but it's one that needs fixing.

So what do you think? What else can be fixed in NCAA/Madden's gameplay in the next year? Let me know in the comments!

Comments

# 1 prowler @ Sep 12

I feel like I just experienced deja'vu on Groundhog's Day. The community has been begging for these fixes for far too long. But from the dev's standpoint, I'm sure they know the foundation of the house needs a lot of repair but it's easier (read: cheaper) to add cosmetic upgrades instead.

# 2 gilla @ Sep 12

i just stood up from my desk and began clapping after reading this post

# 3 druez @ Sep 12

They problem is all of us "pleebs" buy the game every year. I'm as guilty as most. Thought, I did resist the Madden urge this year and only bought NCAA.

# 4 kjjnesb @ Sep 12

I've been dying for them to fix line play and WR/DB interaction but I honestly think we'll have to wait for next gen for these things which saddens me.

# 5 xirdneh132 @ Sep 12

Good post and NCAA has made progress although some on these boards refuse to acknowledge the progress. Suction is still there in some forms as when I had Vontaze Burfict getting ready to make a play on a running back and inexplicably changes direction and gets sucked into a block with an offensive lineman who was in no position to make a block but it's so much better than it used to be. For the life of me though I cannot fathom how so many on these boards won't acknowledge the progress made because the last two iterations of the game have been far more fun to play, especially this years version.

The one thing that frustrates me this year, and past years, and maybe it's just me or I'm doing something wrong, is when playing on the defensive line when I break free from an offensive lineman and have a clear path to the quarterback my defensive lineman for some reason begins to trip out of nowhere for some reason which often allows the quarterback an extra second or takes me out of the play. I have other complaints and annoying little things that bother me but I have had a ton of fun playing this game and I enjoy it. Is it what happens on Saturdays, no, but it's the most fun I've had playing this game since 2004.

Right now I just hope they fix the crowd noise because that to me is the most pathetic thing about this game.

# 6 jmik58 @ Sep 12

The best thing for gameplay would be to change the programming logic to a read-and-react formula.

Right now, gameplay is based off of getting from point A to point C and we then include point B "animation" to fill in the gaps.

The CPU, AI, etc. already has made up it's mind what is going to happen and it makes animations fit to that end result. This creates psychic db's and super linebackers.

The programming is based off of a play selection or button press and the defense or defender reacts instantly for a pre-programmed result.

My suggestion would be for that to be changed to a "chain reaction" Read-and-React programming logic.

Give players (especially on defense) something to read (a key). The "key" does a certain number of things. The defender reads the action of the "key" and reacts in a certain number of ways. Depending on the attributes of the defender, the reaction is executed in variable levels of success.

This is how it's done in real life and it can and should be done in this game.

# 7 jmik58 @ Sep 12

Forgot to add one thing... this isn't only an AI player issue. It's also a team AI issue. The CPU/AI defense lines up based on the play that is selected. Give them programming logic to work through based on the personnel logic and tendencies of the human and/or CPU player it is up against.

# 8 PRAY IV M3RCY @ Sep 12

What about implementing foot planting and momentum and making weight speed and strength actually matter.

# 9 Acedeck @ Sep 12

I agree with everything. Personally, I want WR/DB interactions improved the most. It just feels so stale and predictable in NCAA/Madden. Not only that, it feels very robotic.

# 10 FBeaule04 @ Sep 12

"EA football is the most unrealistic realistic game on the market."
"However, the game tends to get realistic results based on it's method."

You can change Madden with any EA Sports title for any of their titles and you have found the new mojo EA should have instead of "If it's in the game. It's in the game."

EA Sports seems to consider that the people playing their games are like people watching a movie. Nevermind if it's not realistic, never mind the glitches and lapses, as long as most people buy it. After that, like a movie, if they like it or not, we don't give a sh*t as long we made our money.

Problem with video games is the era we live in. We saw the shift in sports television technologies, the fact that everything is now only at a click or a finger snap, and we expect the same with our video games.

I guess that with all the deception surrounding the quality of EA Sports games over the last few years, maybe we just ask too much from EA.

# 11 Acedeck @ Sep 12

We only ask of EA what other companies are already delivering in other sports. EA is the biggest and most capable of delivering, yet continually fail to do so.

# 12 Acedeck @ Sep 12

They made a point in Madden this year that every season plays out differently based on the hot and cold streaks. While true, every season feels identical, in every other aspect. There isn't that level of excitement for each week of football. It still just feels like I press Sim rest of week, start, play game, rinse, repeat. It's hard to get involved in the season when it just doesn't have much to it. I guess we really were spoiled with the Chris Berman shows in NFL2k5. It made the highlights fun to watch, thus made the entire season more interesting.

# 13 Cardot @ Sep 12

I am fine with adding sliders, but let's make sure they actually work correctly. We need people here on OS doing Doctorate level work to figure out what sliders do, and all their unexpected side-effects. I tremble at the thought of them adding 20 more sliders to the mix.

# 14 Elgin2311 @ Sep 12

I totally agree with jmik58, I think alot of the rating are just for show and dont factor anyway into tje outcome of certain plays especially between the oline and dline. Football is a read and react game and it should be that way when it comes to games, but on the other hand if it did get that far there would be alot of people that would consider the game unplayable because some people just dont react that fast they panic and the game would turn into an all day pick fest.i dont care I would love a true simulation game where true AI is present in the game because all we have know is a predetermined result for every play we pick.

# 15 Uncle Stumpy @ Sep 12

I personally love NCAA 12. It's the first one on this gen I love. I love football, but not a hardcore fan like alot of you. I personally don't think the sports market is big enough to have football, or any sports game as a true sim.

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