NCAA Football 2004

[Kodos]

EA hearts the PS2. I heart them both.

I usually do okay with sacks. Now if I could actually intercept the ball myself...

[SunDancer]

Anyone know more about school specific enterances?

Will announcers say the name of created schools?

IS their a play editor?

[Pumpy Tudors]

If you have to play a 5-2 or blitz multiple linebackers to get a reasonable number of sacks, something is wrong. I was playing as Memphis. I didn't have to lead C-USA in sacks or anything, but playing my standard 3-4 with one linebacker rushing half the time, I should've gotten more than 15 sacks a season.

[illinifan999]

EASPORTS:

Hits STORES JULY 17th! For PS2, XBOX, and Gamecube! Yay!!!!

And new dynasty news/ from NCAA Utopia:

NCAA First Impressions

The game play has been improved over last year's already solid structure. The first thing that I noticed was how well the offensive line blocked. Pulling linemen will now pull like they are supposed to and not get caught up like last year. The same goes for setting up the HB Screen. The linemen will now get out in front and block like they supposed to do.

EA has really put the time in this part of the game and it shows. NCAA has a ton of new plays on both offense and defense. Offensive playbooks have been redone to add more realism to each team. EA also added better diagrams at the play calling screen to show off zone coverages. Now you can tell who covers where. The only complaint I had was all teams have the same defensive playbooks. I hope next year will add some more varity.

Franchise mode has been improved with a better presentation. Adding Sports Illustrated features really enhances weekly rankings with fresh covers and stories of top performances. Another nice touch was during the 5 week recruiting period, you could see player's attributes changing weekly.

For instance in the first week you decide to recruit a CB who intially runs 4.45 40 yard dash. The next week you decide you want to coninue pursuing him. You decide to check his stats and this time he runs a 4.42 40 yard dash. If his time was slower, you may not want to pursue recruiting him anymore.

Overall NCAA 2004 really brings the total package of college football. EA continues to make the game better year after year by tweaking the AI, improving the graphics and adding new features. With the addtion of online play on the PSX2, NCAA 2004 will rank among the top video sport games of the year.

[tucker342]

So does that mean it will be even tougher to get sacks in this version?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Finally, my wisdom has broken through.

[MizzouRah]

Can you tell the faster players from the slower ones? Meaning: Does a WR with a 95sp pull away faster from a 70sp player than a 90sp player? Does busting one up the hole with a fast RB result in a huge yard game becuase he leaves most players in the dust or do the db's swarm him? It's been awhile since I've played NCAA 2003, but I remember it being hard to distinguish a really fast player from a normal player (DB).

Maybe it was Madden...?


Todd

[Bishop]

Originally posted by MizzouRah
Can you tell the faster players from the slower ones? Meaning: Does a WR with a 95sp pull away faster from a 70sp player than a 90sp player? Does busting one up the hole with a fast RB result in a huge yard game becuase he leaves most players in the dust or do the db's swarm him? It's been awhile since I've played NCAA 2003, but I remember it being hard to distinguish a really fast player from a normal player (DB).

Maybe it was Madden...?


Todd

Madden and NCAA are for the most part, the same game as far as gameplay goes. other then the obvious college/nfl differences.

[MizzouRah]

Do you mean the 2004 versions?

Madden 2003 and NCAA 2003 played much differently, imo. I loved NCAA's gameplay much better than Madden's. I thought Madden played slower than NCAA. I had perfect sliders, thanks to Bill Abner, and finally played the heck out of a console football game. Something I haven't done since NFL2k1 on the Dreamcast.


Todd

[Bishop]

Originally posted by MizzouRah
Do you mean the 2004 versions?

Madden 2003 and NCAA 2003 played much differently, imo. I loved NCAA's gameplay much better than Madden's. I thought Madden played slower than NCAA. I had perfect sliders, thanks to Bill Abner, and finally played the heck out of a console football game. Something I haven't done since NFL2k1 on the Dreamcast.


Todd

No I meant all the NCAA/Madden games, they use the game graphic, game play system and mechanics to create both games.

Though they may have different developement teams.

The difference that you saw in Madden may been because of the sliders for NCAA, or just the difference in the nfl and college talent level.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally posted by MizzouRah
Do you mean the 2004 versions?

Madden 2003 and NCAA 2003 played much differently, imo. I loved NCAA's gameplay much better than Madden's. I thought Madden played slower than NCAA. I had perfect sliders, thanks to Bill Abner, and finally played the heck out of a console football game. Something I haven't done since NFL2k1 on the Dreamcast.


Todd

What settings did you (or Abner) find to be perfect?

[KWhit]

Originally posted by Honolulu_Blue
What settings did you (or Abner) find to be perfect?

Yes, please share.

[MizzouRah]

Here you go:

These are courtesy of Bill Abner and worked better than any other settings for ME. If they don't work for you, no big deal as everyone plays differently, but the only shortcomings I found had to do with the game itself, not slider settings.

My one BIG gripe is finding the right amount of mins to play the game on. Nine was perfect for me, but why can't they implement an accelerated clock feature? FPS had this years ago!!!!!!


Per Bill:

Before I continue I should point out that each game I play uses All American difficulty, 9-minute quarters, with the following AI Slider adjustments:

CPU Offense:

Accuracy: +14
Pass Block: +5
Catching: +5
Run Block: +15
Run Ability: +15

Human Offense:

Accuracy: +5
Pass Block: +5
Catching: +5
Run Block: +5
Run Ability: +10

Advertisement
CPU Defense:

Awareness: +15
Knockdowns: +15
Interceptions: +15
Break Block: +15
Tackling: +10

Human Defense:

Awareness: +9
Knockdowns: +15
Interceptions: +10
Break Block: +10
Tackling: +10
Special teams are set to default except for a lowering of Human FG Accuracy to +3. All penalties are raised +5 except holding and facemask.

[KWhit]

I agree 9 is definitely the right amt of time per qtr. It takes a little over an hour per game, which is a lot.

[CK#12]

Super Ugly,

I bought a chipped XBOX last year just so I could play NCAA 2003.
I have to say I have not regreted that decision.
It was the best £250 I've ever spent.

I can't wait for NCAA 2004.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Thanks for the info, Mizzou. I'll give it a shot.

I wish I could play 9 minute quarters. I pretty much have to limit to the minimum 5. Games take anywhere from between 30-40 minutes. The lady of the house wont toleare too much more than that.

[MizzouRah]

Originally posted by Honolulu_Blue
Thanks for the info, Mizzou. I'll give it a shot.

I wish I could play 9 minute quarters. I pretty much have to limit to the minimum 5. Games take anywhere from between 30-40 minutes. The lady of the house wont toleare too much more than that.

Hence we need a save game feature!


Todd

[Kodos]

But the womenfolk must never know of the save game feature. Tell that at peril of losing the "But I'm in the middle of a game" excuse.

[MizzouRah]

I just want my TV back! My ps2 is in the bedroom on the 'normal' TV. I can't even use my monster component cables on that TV!


Todd

[CamEdwards]

Originally posted by Kodos
But the womenfolk must never know of the save game feature. Tell that at peril of losing the "But I'm in the middle of a game" excuse.

save game feature? did I miss that somewhere?

[Kodos]

It's in Madden 2003. Not NCAA 2003. Sorry if I confused you. I don't know if it is in the 2004 versions or not.

[illinifan999]

New screens

[Airhog]

I guess im going to have to find the cash for the game and the Network adapter

[Blade6119]

no airhog

[Airhog]

[Blade6119]

bad airhog

[illinifan999]

Some more interviews:

EA Sports Interview

IGN Interview

Some notable news from the IGN interview:

IGN: What are some of the other new features that you incorporated into this year's game?

Jeff Luhr: The Sports Illustrated magazine presentation in Dynasty mode is huge. We spent a lot of time implementing a system that tries to capture everything that's going on during the season and figure out what the cover story is. Every week there are the big upsets, there's the Bowl rankings, there's the Heisman watch, there's the controversy -- so we have this giant system in place that tries to figure out what the big story is each week, and then generates a new cover for each issue of Sports Illustrated that comes out throughout your Dynasty mode. And the photos used for the covers are actually action shots from a real game that happened that week. And these covers keep coming for all 60 years of your Dynasty mode, and keep up with all of the latest players in the game. As players get names, or you name your players, the names will even appear on the covers at any point during the season or offseason. You can then look through all of the covers over the past year to see how the season unfolded.

60 years of dynasty mode!!!!

Unfortunatly this showed up:

IGN: Did the NCAA make you take out any of the celebrations that you wanted to include?

Jeff Luhr: Unfortunately, the goalposts being ripped down has been taken out of this year's game.

Not a gamebreaker, but it still woulda been a nice added touch.

Still can't wait for July 17th!

[ice4277]

Originally posted by illinifan999
Not a gamebreaker, but it still woulda been a nice added touch.

Yeah, but it would probably be one of those things that, after you saw it a few times, would become old hat anyways.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Maybe there won't be a save game feature, maybe there won't be better pass rushing, and maybe there won't be bigger rosters, but hey, I get to see a guy on Sports Illustrated. Too bad the damn goalposts can't come down.

[SunDancer]

Anyone know bout these "special enterances". I can picture it, Here come the Buffaloes! Colorado takes the field behind the stampedin' Raphie.

[dawgfan]

Originally posted by Pumpy Tudors
Maybe there won't be a save game feature, maybe there won't be better pass rushing, and maybe there won't be bigger rosters, but hey, I get to see a guy on Sports Illustrated. Too bad the damn goalposts can't come down.

I thought I'd read where EA had added the ability to save games mid-game this time; if not, I would agree this is a bizarre feature to not include.

Roster size I suspect is limited partly due to memory concerns for saved dynasties. It may also be a conscious game design decision - they probably feel most users don't want to get too bogged-down in roster management and to make recruiting not take as long. Even TCY had limited rosters in comparison to NCAA rules.

Pass rush is not something I had real issues with, but isn't that something that can be tuned to your preference with the sliders?

I'm amazed how many people complain about features in console sports games that are designed to improve the whole presentation. If you want a hyper-realistic simulation, play a text-sim. I think the SI cover thing will probably get a little stale after time, but it's probably going to be pretty fun for the first few times you look at it. I love the other things, like the more customized entrances to games by teams, the throwback jerseys, etc. - these are all things that will make the game seem even more like a real Saturday of college football.

[ice4277]

One thing I'm curious about; I've heard alot of clamor for bigger rosters in the past but, honestly, does anybody even use 2/3 of the players they currently have on their roster on a regular basis. I could have 55 players or 550 but at the end of the day, I will probably only use about 35 to 40 for the entire season.

[dawgfan]

Originally posted by ice4277
One thing I'm curious about; I've heard alot of clamor for bigger rosters in the past but, honestly, does anybody even use 2/3 of the players they currently have on their roster on a regular basis. I could have 55 players or 550 but at the end of the day, I will probably only use about 35 to 40 for the entire season.

You may not use that many players in an individual season, but if you're running a dynasty you need to have some depth to account for the continuous roster turnover.

Even in single season mode, I've had seasons where a particular position group was hit hard by injury and I'd have been toast if the rosters were any smaller.

[ice4277]

Originally posted by dawgfan
You may not use that many players in an individual season, but if you're running a dynasty you need to have some depth to account for the continuous roster turnover.

Even in single season mode, I've had seasons where a particular position group was hit hard by injury and I'd have been toast if the rosters were any smaller.

That's true, and that leads into the one thing that I've always had an issue with; human-controlled teams almost never suffer any sorf of injury problems. My injuries are almost always limited to 1 or 2 quarters, rarely do they extend longer than a week. I think I have this happen maybe, at most, once a season.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally posted by dawgfan
I'm amazed how many people complain about features in console sports games that are designed to improve the whole presentation. If you want a hyper-realistic simulation, play a text-sim. I think the SI cover thing will probably get a little stale after time, but it's probably going to be pretty fun for the first few times you look at it. I love the other things, like the more customized entrances to games by teams, the throwback jerseys, etc. - these are all things that will make the game seem even more like a real Saturday of college football.

Hyper-realism is one thing. Realism is another. When there are (seemingly) obvious problems in the gameplay or roster management, why does presentation take precedence over those things? I don't need FOF-like statistical accuracy. What I DO need is the feeling that I can actually get a senior 280-pound defensive end around a slow, undersized freshman tackle from Troy State. NCAA 2003 didn't give me that feeling, and if NCAA 2004 doesn't, I'll be unhappy. If the conference schedule doesn't change (or at least rotate) every year, I'll be unhappy. As Memphis, even though East Carolina was in Conference USA with me, I never played them. Isn't this a problem? Isn't this more important than the players' entrances? My problems are all about priority.

I'm not asking for the world. I just hope that certain factors which NEVER get old don't get overlooked for Sports Illustrated covers which will lose their luster after a season or two.

I want to stress that I LOVE NCAA 2003. At times, it did seem too easy, but in four seasons of playing almost every game, I "only" won the national championship once, and that was in my third season. I can't really complain about that. I just saw some things that I think should be addressed without even a second thought. If those things are ignored so we can watch a buffalo run down the field for a few seconds, I'm sorry, but I'll be disappointed.

[MizzouRah]

The first part of your post seems corrected, at least that's what I've read. The speed of the game is faster and the producer said you can definitly tell speed differences in players.

We'll see..


Todd

[illinifan999]

More interviews, plus the game is ready to ship out and will be in stores July 17th.

Interview 1

Interview 2

Highlights of the two interviews:

Operation Sports: Will there be in gave saves?
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: 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: Are there any all-star games at the end of the season for the nation's best seniors?

Tom Vuong: No.

Was really hoping for that one.

Operation Sports: Will we see any new trophies?
Tom Vuong: Yes, we’ve added 10 bowl trophies, 15 rivalry trophies, and 11 individual award trophies such as the Maxwell Award.

Those are from interview 1.

From interview 2:

2. From all the hands-on impressions I have read, they said only minor tweaks have been made graphically. Why didn't the game receive a much bigger jump in the area? Specifically, what are a few things we can look forward to as gamers for graphics enhancements?


That's interesting because all of the people I've talked to have mentioned how much the graphics had been improved in NCAA Football 2004. Specifically, we've added new hi-res crowds, crowds on the hill, major stadium upgrades, new fields, Nike decals on uniforms, Nike football and shoes, new specular helmet reflections, tunnel entrances in the pregame, Notre Dame's classic entrance down the staircase, improved coaches, improved player faces, tons of new animations, new facial animation, stadium shadows on the field, all new lighting schemes, multiple new historic player models, and the list goes on.

Think they have a NIKE license?

4. One of the problems in last year's game for many fans, was the lack of a passionate crowd. The crowd cheered and jeered, and the band played boldly, but the passion of fans did not seem to translate into the game. There weren't enough chants I think is what I'm getting at. How did you improve in this area? It is reported there are over 300…how many were there last year?

You're correct - we've added over 300 new team-specific and situational chants. You will notice the crowd's involvement right away on the opening kickoff. The chants are a very nice addition, but this is not what was lacking from last year's game. The problem was that there was little if any reaction to what was happening during the play. This year? Complete turnaround. Hearing the crowd ramp up and go wild as you bust a long one down the sideline is just what this game needed to get the heart beating.

6. How has the conference jumping been worked into the dynasty system? How many years do you have to be really good or really bad before you get the oust? And, how often should gamers expect it to happen?


This all depends on the team you're playing with. If you're Michigan and already playing in the prestigious Big 10 conference, you probably won't get invited into another conference ever. But if you were run the program into the ground - then you might get booted after a few years. But you'd probably get fired before then anyways.
A more realistic example would be a team like Marshall. If you were to take Marshall and start winning National Championships, it's a safe bet that the Big Ten or Big East would come knocking after a couple seasons.

I wouldn't expect it to happen too often though - we don't want to have a complete conference re-alignment in Dynasty Mode, even if it is 60 years into the future.

Again stated that it will go 60 years. And also sounds like the conferences are more regional in choosing a new applicant.

9. Has the pancake block stat been fixed? Most every award in NCAA is winnable, EXCEPT for the offensive lineman award because of the lack of pancakes.


Yes, the pancakes earned from playing a game are much more in line now with pancakes earned from simulating a game.

[Kodos]

One month from now, this baby will be mine!

[A-Husker-4-Life]

I just can't wait for it, to bad about the NO-In game saves... Plus, they had to take out the "tearing down of goal-posts after a big win", the ncaa made EA do it...

[Pumpy Tudors]

The NCAA made them take tearing-down-the-goalposts out of the game. I wonder if it ever was IN the game. If so, I'd like to thank EA for originally including that and leaving in-game saves out.

Love them priorities.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Pumpy Tudors
The NCAA made them take tearing-down-the-goalposts out of the game. I wonder if it ever was IN the game. If so, I'd like to thank EA for originally including that and leaving in-game saves out.

Love them priorities.

Do you EVER have something positive to say about anything?

[illinifan999]

Originally posted by Pumpy Tudors
The NCAA made them take tearing-down-the-goalposts out of the game. I wonder if it ever was IN the game. If so, I'd like to thank EA for originally including that and leaving in-game saves out.

Love them priorities.

They were in the game. They posted a few screenshots of it.

Kodos....I think he works for SEGA.

[ice4277]

I hope for the next version of NCAA they decide to go a different route and produce a dry stats-based text sim loosely based on the NCAA. Oh and they need to include astrological signs as a key factor as well

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally posted by Kodos
Do you EVER have something positive to say about anything?

Well, I like the new recruiting options.

[illinifan999]

Well one of the guys at OPS got his beta game and is answeing questions in a thread on their forums. You have to register, but it's worth it IMO.

Here'e the link:

OPS Thread of NCAA Football 2004

[mrsimperless]

Yes, the registration is well worth it. The improvements sound to be well worth the purchase.

[illinifan999]

Dola, my favorite part of the thread.

Create-a-team options:

Primary Color
Secondary Color
Flag Color
School Logo - 65 generics - NCAA Teams -English Letter A-Z -Greek Letter
Nickname
School Name
Abreviation
City
State
Playbook -Westcoast, option run, balanced run, run and gun, pass heavy, balanced pass or any other team playbook
Team Type - 12 different types, from the strongest to the weakest
Rival School
Fight Song - 10 generic or any other school
Mascot - 70 mascots to choose from
Stadium Name
Stadium Type - 6 different ones
Orientation - east/west or north/south
Scoreboard - none, east endzone, west endzone or both
video Screen - none, east endzone, west endzone or both
Press Box - none, north, south or both
Field Surface - artifical, grassy turf, blue turf, multi turf or natural
Midfield Logo - none, school logo, ea sports logo or NCAA logo
25 yd Logo - none, school logo, ea sports logo or NCAA logo
End Zone Art - school name number one, shool name number 2, nickname number 1 and nickname number 2, diamonds, checkerboard, slashes,
background primary, secondary, white or black
Track - yes or no
Backdrop - desert, campus, metro, rural or mountains


Uniform information (you can change home, away, alternate 1 and 2)
Helmet Style - classic, numbers, plain, single stripe, single stripe with logo, triple stripe with logo, triple stripe, short stripe with logo or short stripe
Helmet Color
Helmet Stripe 1
Helmet stripe 2
Facemask Color
Pride Sticker 34 different ones
Jersey Type - classic, modern, single sleeve, triple sleeve, single shoulder or triple shoulder
Jersey Color
shoulder/sleeve - shoulder numbers, sleeve numbers, sleeve logo number and logo plain number
Number Style - there are 5 styles
Number and Name Color
Outline Color
Chest Logo - left, right or none
Player Name - on or off
pants style - single stripe. triple stripe. short stripe, plain
Pants Color
Pants stripe one
Pants stripe two
Hip logo - none, left, right or both
Belt color
Sock style - long, long with stripe, medium or short
Sock color
Sock stripe
shoe color
Create and save


Create-a-player options:

First name
Last name
Team
Position
Number
Year - freshmen sophomore jr senior w/ or w/o red shirt
Hand left or right
Height - from 5"5 - 7"0
Weight - from 160-415
Skin - light, medium or dark
Hair color - black, blonde, brown, red, light brown or gray
Hair style - 14 different ones
Face - 16 of them
Face shape - 16 of them
Body size
Muscles
Facemask - 11 different ones
Face protector - none or cold only
Visor - none, clear or dark
Eyepaint - none or black
Nasal strip - none or normal
Mouth piece - none or normal
Neck pad - none, neck roll or extended
QB jacket - none or normal
Right elbow - normal, rubber pad, black pad, white pad, black team color pad, white team color pad, black sweatband, white sweatband, red sweatband or team color sweat band
left elbow - normal, rubber pad, black pad, white pad, black team color pad, white team color pad, black sweatband, white sweatband, red sweatband or team color sweat band
Turf tape - none, always or turf only
Long sleeve - none or cold only always
Long sleeve type - white, black or team color
Right wrist - normal, QB wrist, white wrist, black wrist or team color wrist
left wrist - normal, QB wrist, white wrist, black wrist or team color wrist
Right hand - normal, taped or gloved
Left hand - normal, taped or gloved
Right ankle - normal, white tape, black tape or team color tape
left ankle - normal, white tape, black tape or team color tape

Ratings
speed
strength
awareness
agility
acceleration
catching
carrying
jumping
break tackle
tackle
throw power
throw accuracy
pass blocking
run blockign
kick power
kick accuracy
stamina
injury
Create and save

[sabotai]

Sweet. Less than a month away!

[Butter]

Anyone else read the OPS thread and think that they really haven't changed a whole lot for this year? The special teams AI improvement and switching conferences capability alone might be worth the purchase, but I don't understand why they implement certain special features (i.e. special entrances, REALLY detailed stadiums) for only the elite few schools and leave 100 or so others in the cold. All the create a school and player stuff sounds about the same. All the playbooks sound about the same, with very limited increases (to the main 10 or 15 schools, I'm sure). The end of season stuff sounds about the same. No in-conference rotation of schedules is crap, just like last year.

I'm not as enamored as most with the "additions" to the game, and the SI covers probably aren't going to do much for me, although to read some people discuss it, it sounds like they need a towel to clean up after hearing about it.

[KWhit]

Originally posted by Butter_of_69

I'm not as enamored as most with the "additions" to the game, and the SI covers probably aren't going to do much for me, although to read some people discuss it, it sounds like they need a towel to clean up after hearing about it.

Well, I certainly don't need to clean up after reading about any computer game (except maybe VR Janine, but that's a different type of "game").

But the thing that makes me the most excited is the fact that the polls will more accurately reflect a team's stature. In other words, you won't have AI teams like UTEP, Marshall, and TCU winning National Championships all the time like you did in 2003.