NCAA Football 2004 Interview - Operation Sports

Feature Article

NCAA Football 2004 Interview

Submitted on: 06/18/2003 by Steve Noah

Operation Sports is proud to present our interview with Tom Vuong, Assistant Producer of NCAA Football 2004.

Operation Sports: Has the lack of pancake blocks been resolved?

Tom Vuong: Yes, we tuned the stat tracking during gameplay to be more aligned with our simulation stats.

Operation Sports: Will there be in gave saves?

Tom Vuong: Not this year.

Operation Sports: Can the Division 1-AA teams be added to a conference without having to replace a team?

Tom Vuong: Not this year.

Operation Sports: Can teams be moved to other conferences without having to replace another team? Say for example I wanted to put Notre Dame in the Big Ten or make Miami an Independent.

Tom Vuong: Not this year. The challenge with moving teams around for us is keeping the integrity of the conference schedule. The bulk of our bowl logic is based on conference standings and that was something we didn’t want to disrupt.

Operation Sports: In the Create-A-Recruit option, will the user be able to put in the city and state the recruit is from, as well as everything else?

Tom Vuong: Yes, we’ve added the ability for users to select the state the created prospect is from. This will make it easier to recruit your created prospect.

Operation Sports: Can we edit the rosters of the Division 1-AA teams?

Tom Vuong: Yes, after adding them to your Dynasty.

Operation Sports: Is recruiting actually going to be based on your team's stats, or will it be based on your team's run/pass preference as it was last year?

Tom Vuong: A prospect that prefers Coaching Style will look at your team’s stats relative to that position, not your run/pass ratio. So if you led the nation in rushing, you should have a few running backs interested in your school.

Operation Sports: Can we change a player's position or class?

Tom Vuong: Not this year.

Operation Sports: How many different variations of SI covers are possible?

Tom Vuong: The Sports Illustrated covers vary based on the teams/players that are doing well and/or the most interesting story of the season. Since everything from the backgrounds, to the showcased players/coaches, to the headlines and captions will change depending on the big story of the week, there is virtually an unlimited amount of covers.

Operation Sports: Will recruits be more balanced this season?

Tom Vuong: The recruits come from our current player data, so the answer is yes.

Operation Sports: Are the player ratings going to be more specific, for example, "who cares about the throwing accuracy of my right tackle"?

Tom Vuong: This system has not been changed for 2004.

Operation Sports: Will the current teams be able to wear the old school jerseys?

Tom Vuong: No.

Operation Sports: Will there be a create a play or playbook feature?

Tom Vuong: Not this year.

Operation Sports: Can you please elaborate on the recruiting improvements?

Tom Vuong: We spent a lot of time improving the current recruiting system as we know that it’s a huge part of our Dynasty Mode.
First, we added the ability to use one of four recruiting pitches (Location, Program, Coaching Style, and Playing Time). Each prospect has a main preference based on one of these, so if the user pitches correctly (and his/her school has that to sell), then the chances of that prospect signing are increased.

Secondly, we added better feedback during recruiting. So if you unlock a comment that says “Johnny is faster than we originally thought,” his actual 40 Time will be revealed. We also included feedback to your pitches. So if you pitch something that a prospect is not interested in, you’ll know to pitch something else.

We also improved the recruiting AI for determining prospect preferences based on which teams are recruiting him and for CPU-controlled schools to recruit based on the four factors above as well.

All that, coupled with being able to use your recruiting points to talk a player that’s leaving early into staying and limiting your available recruiting points based on the number of scholarships remaining, have added a level of strategy to recruiting like never before.

Operation Sports: Are there any preseason spring scrimmage games?

Tom Vuong: Not this year.

Operation Sports: Will players that play similar positions progress with the same criteria (i.e. for DE's sacks are good judge of progression, but sacks are more rare for DT's)?

Tom Vuong: Player progression is based on the player’s position.

Operation Sports: Is it harder for teams with average prestige to land blue-chippers after 1 or 2 good seasons?

Tom Vuong: Recruiting success is based on a variety of factors. As I mentioned earlier, prestige is only one of four factors in determining a prospect’s interest level. So the answer here is if the prospect cares about program prestige, then yes, it will be harder to land him as an average prestige team.

Operation Sports: Will we see specific era rules? Goal posts at the goal line, kickoffs at the 40, or no overtimes?

Tom Vuong: Not this year.

Operation Sports: Do all of the classic teams have their actual uniforms from their era?

Tom Vuong: Yes. Not only are the uniforms authentic, but the models are also authentic based on the era. So you’ll see teams like 1924 Notre Dame wearing leather helmets.

Operation Sports: Have you refined the stadiums? Buildings, artwork, etc?

Tom Vuong: We updated the crowds and fields for all stadiums to be as accurate as possible. We also added fans sitting on the hill in stadiums that support this. On top of that, we made major upgrades to the most popular stadiums in college football. Our guys did an amazing job in recreating these stadiums as the level of detail is incredible.

Operation Sports: Will the I-AA schools have their real stadiums or generic ones?

Tom Vuong: Generic, but we’ve added quite a bit personality to these stadiums with team logos, team colors, and team-specific banners.

Operation Sports: Is there a user-defined camera like in Madden 2003?

Tom Vuong: No.

Operation Sports: How has the create-a-school feature been enhanced and are the same logos still available for use in 2004?

Tom Vuong: We’ve added the ability to have a mascot, as well as alternate uniforms. We also added new logos to better represent teams that a user would likely create and added better weather data for created schools.

Operation Sports: Do four captains come out for the coin toss and can you select them in dynasty mode?