Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

[TreyIM2]

Played the demo again (PS3) and I am enjoying it, overall. Yea, certain things still need improving but I've never been one to through the baby out with the bath water. I DO believe that EA DEFINITELY needs to boost the dev teams for BOTH NCAA and Madden so all the lil nagging issues since who knows when can be finally ironed out at a faster pace. I know they said that they did that for this cycle and I want to see what can be accomplished for next yr but if those things can't be cleared up next yr with the current head count, more butter, pls. Heh...

[Demoncrom]

I think the game feels good as a whole, not sure if I like the camera being so far back. The demo is set to auto sprint, which I am not sure if I like all that much. It feels like a little less interactive to me. In terms of gameplay the one thing I always notice is line play or a lack thereof. This year the line seems to be doing there job, properly called plays against the right Defense seems to yield the yards I would expect in the running game, with blockers for the most part putting a helmet on a body. In 4 games yesterday only once did I see a pulling guard tototally neglect to pick up the linebacker.

the passing game feels harder for sure, the zones are tight and there seems to be an emphasis this year on physical matchups. For instance it seems like If I can get my Tightend against a line backer then he will be more open as he should, not so much if he is picked up by a corner.

One crazy thing I saw was a game where there were 6 interceptions in the 1st half. Literally back and forth between the AI and myself. Admittedly they were bad throws but come on everyone aint Neon Deon.

So far the on field play seems good enough to hold my attention, so here is hoping the franchise mode is good

[TheTodd84]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but I could not agree more with what they said. This gameplay engine is simply broken, plain and simple. They can try and polish all they want, but you know how the old cliche goes, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken s***." That is what they are trying to do. And they continue to say that it will be a "few years" until they get physics in their game. Why? That's lazy. Do they not see the glaring issues that continue to crop up EVERY year because the engine is broken?! Why are they ok w complacency and not making the necessary changes to upgrade this game to elite status?

Fifa 12 did it. It is now time for NCAA to go in that direction. Sure, the game has some good points, and I am excited for the coaching carousel, but the gameplay is so incredibly stale these days. I am almost done playing the demo because the 2 minute quarters are atrocious, it's hard to get any feel for the game. I think a new direction is needed because I've had so many "come on, man" moments. ESPN should have a segment on sportscenter where they showcase the top 10 Madden and NCAA c'mon man moments like they have on NFL live w real players. Then they could show the superhuman linebackers disregarding physics and jumping in the air in the middle of an animation to bat down a pass they'd never get to in real life. Or showing a defensive back whose back is to the play and who magically reacts to the ball in .02 seconds even though he can't see it and get a miraculous interception on what I THOUGHT was an open receiver. All these things can be fixed very easily with one thing... Physics.

Plain and Simple, there are still too many, "come on, man" moments to really justify that this is not NCAA 11.5 or to say that the gameplay is vastly improved. Sure, the lack of suction is awesome, but the warping and ice skating are still prevalent and abundant. It's just frustrating and the even more frustrating thing is seeing how willing people are to give these guys chance after chance to improve these things even though they have yet to show much progress. It's like staying with a girlfriend who keeps breaking your heart bc she is hot. It just doesn't make sense. We need to hold these guys accountable.

[SA1NT401]

Happy overall for the most part....QBs throwing the ball away seems overdone in the demo and players spear to slide a bit....excited for retail on the 10th....and DREADLOCKS FINALLY!

I just hope there aren't any crippling franchise bugs (like every single year prior) and that they don't have to "patch in" dirty uniforms again!

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[SA1NT401]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheTodd84

Someone mentioned it earlier, but I could not agree more with what they said. This gameplay engine is simply broken, plain and simple. They can try and polish all they want, but you know how the old cliche goes, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken s***." That is what they are trying to do. And they continue to say that it will be a "few years" until they get physics in their game. Why? That's lazy. Do they not see the glaring issues that continue to crop up EVERY year because the engine is broken?! Why are they ok w complacency and not making the necessary changes to upgrade this game to elite status? Fifa 12 did it. It is now time for NCAA to go in that direction. Sure, the game has some good points, and I am excited for the coaching carousel, but the gameplay is so incredibly stale these days. I am almost done playing the demo because the 2 minute quarters are atrocious, it's hard to get any feel for the game. I think a new direction is needed because I've had so many "come on, man" moments. ESPN should have a segment on sportscenter where they showcase the top 10 Madden and NCAA c'mon man moments like they have on NFL live w real players. Then they could show the superhuman linebackers disregarding physics and jumping in the air in the middle of an animation to bat down a pass they'd never get to in real life. Or showing a defensive back whose back is to the play and who magically reacts to the ball in .02 seconds even though he can't see it and get a miraculous interception on what I THOUGHT was an open receiver. All these things can be fixed very easily with one thing... Physics. Plain and Simple, there are still too many, "come on, man" moments to really justify that this is not NCAA 11.5 or to say that the gameplay is vastly improved. Sure, the lack of suction is awesome, but the warping and ice skating are still prevalent and abundant. It's just frustrating and the even more frustrating thing is seeing how willing people are to give these guys chance after chance to improve these things even though they have yet to show much progress. It's like staying with a girlfriend who keeps breaking your heart bc she is hot. It just doesn't make sense. We need to hold these guys accountable.

NO COMPETITION!! that's why the series isn't making huge strides....everyone knows and agrees with that.

They are giving us the best they have with what they can work with. I hold NO BLAME towards developers....my hatred is for thr suits who limit the series cuz "THEY" want new fans not us old faithful ones....

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[jmik58]

You're going to see skating because there is no incorporation of anatomical physics in the game. The players are torso's. The legs and arms are graphical representations that move to "Keep up" with the animation of the torso. This is why players can make super human jumps and turns. The legs and feet don't mean anything.

Until this is fixed, we won't get realistic player movement.

Apparently EA has said they're not going to fix this or add physics, so we just have to live with it for now.

The AI of the CPU is always going to be at question because it's such a hard thing to program (I would assume). I would see this as something that can be adjusted with tuning packs...maybe not though, we'll see. It sounds like the biggest AI issue with the demo is the computer QB decision making AI with sliding and taking sacks/throwing the ball away too often, etc.

Finally, the eyes of the players don't mean anything either. Perhaps this is tied to physics and/or the issue of the "limbs" being pointless. The game needs to be adjusted so that the player can only react to what he is looking at.

When a WR has a DB burnt and both have their backs to the QB, I should not see the DB turn around for the ball before the WR does.

Give the players keys/reads that trigger their AI to respond accordingly. Make the eyes matter.

1. Add physics, make the limbs important
2. Tune the AI a little
3. Incorporate a vision based aspect with read and react logic to the players.

IMO, these three things would revolutionize football gaming, especially #1 and #3.

If you want a real-life sim experience; these are a must.

[kingsofthevalley]

Quote: Originally Posted by jmik58

You're going to see skating because there is no incorporation of anatomical physics in the game. The players are torso's. The legs and arms are graphical representations that move to "Keep up" with the animation of the torso. This is why players can make super human jumps and turns. The legs and feet don't mean anything. Until this is fixed, we won't get realistic player movement. Apparently EA has said they're not going to fix this or add physics, so we just have to live with it for now. The AI of the CPU is always going to be at question because it's such a hard thing to program (I would assume). I would see this as something that can be adjusted with tuning packs...maybe not though, we'll see. It sounds like the biggest AI issue with the demo is the computer QB decision making AI with sliding and taking sacks/throwing the ball away too often, etc. Finally, the eyes of the players don't mean anything either. Perhaps this is tied to physics and/or the issue of the "limbs" being pointless. The game needs to be adjusted so that the player can only react to what he is looking at. When a WR has a DB burnt and both have their backs to the QB, I should not see the DB turn around for the ball before the WR does. Give the players keys/reads that trigger their AI to respond accordingly. Make the eyes matter. 1. Add physics, make the limbs important 2. Tune the AI a little 3. Incorporate a vision based aspect with read and react logic to the players. IMO, these three things would revolutionize football gaming, especially #1 and #3. If you want a real-life sim experience; these are a must.

Thats the thing man. They dont have to add a physics engine for realistic movement. Check out the most recent iteration of the game on PS2. Running animations are spot on and the illusion of weight is there. You can feel the weight of the players when turning.

[jmik58]

Quote: Originally Posted by kingsofthevalley

Thats the thing man. They dont have to add a physics engine for realistic movement. Check out the most recent iteration of the game on PS2. Running animations are spot on and the illusion of weight is there. You can feel the weight of the players when turning.

I understand where you're coming from. But I'm thinking bigger picture, beyond the weight of the players when running. It's a core change that needs to be corrected to improve the overall gameplay experience of all movements.

I've heard some say that playing on slower speeds gives it less of a skating/floaty feel.

Cosmetically, it may "feel" better, but like I said, I'm a proponent of fixing it at the core so that all action that results from that improvement will benefit from such an improvement.