NCAA Football 09 Patch 2 Info (Pasta Padre)

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by rhombic21

Again though, I would add this. They KNEW that the following issues were BIG problems with the game on June 1, and I know that they knew because I told several lead gameplay developers personally. - Kickoff returns/punt returns - Zones being messed up - Faulty Pass Rush - CPU never throwing deep - Bad man coverage on HBs - Stafe catching They knew they were going to release a patch that would address gameplay issues post-release (they told me this as well), and they very easily could have been working on fixing those issues in the month and a half prior to the game even being released.

I see your point as well. I'm sure they were preparing the final touches on the game and maybe they did work on some of the issues above and couldn't complete all of them on game day.

All I know that last years gameplay fixes came in December and this years is approx. coming out in September. That's a much better time frame than last year's December patch.

[rhombic21]

At the time I talked to them, the game had gone into final code, and gameplay was actually locked out of making any changes. So there is no reason at all that they couldn't have immediately started working on patching some of the more serious gameplay issues. The issue isn't that they didn't get them fixed by release -- that would have been impossible since the game was already beyond the point when they could make changes at that time. The issue is that they had a month and a half head start to get these issues patched and tested, and had they done so, they either could have been addressed in this first roster patch, or the timeline for the second patch could have been sped up significantly.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by rhombic21

At the time I talked to them, the game had gone into final code, and gameplay was actually locked out of making any changes. So there is no reason at all that they couldn't have immediately started working on patching some of the more serious gameplay issues. The issue isn't that they didn't get them fixed by release -- that would have been impossible since the game was already beyond the point when they could make changes at that time. The issue is that they had a month and a half head start to get these issues patched and tested, and had they done so, they either could have been addressed in this first roster patch, or the timeline for the second patch could have been sped up significantly.

before we completely throw them under the bus, if that hasn't been done already, could it be that they have been working on the patch before the game released and its taking this long to fix the issues?

Also, I believe I remember Adam saying that they were working on what is now the 2nd patch but had to stop in order to try and fix the roster issue.

Again, just an observation/thought on my part.

[rhombic21]

I don't think it should take this long to fix issues, since many of these things have since been corrected in Madden.

For example, when we visited, the zones were still problematic in Madden. We pointed out to them that the hook zones were dropping back too far. Sean Bailey told us that he was able to fix that issue that afternoon.

Another example is the QB icons disappearing and the drop in QB throwing accuracy when 15+ yards behind the LOS on Madden. That hadn't been implemented into Madden yet, but was put in the game during the final 3 weeks of development time. Surely it would not have been that difficult to port those changes over to NCAA.

The CPU throwing deep is another fix that we contacted them about, and Ian posted less than a week after our visit that they were able to resolve the issue in Madden. Similarly the DL pancake issue, which was not as bad in Madden to begin with, was addressed within a similar timeframe.

Given these things, I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have addressed every single gameplay issue that we pointed out to them between community day, which was the last week of May, and release day on July 15. They didn't start working on this roster patch until the weekend prior to release, when it was initially identified. Now, I don't know if that would have slowed the roster patch's approval process down, since the patch would have had more changes, or not, but it seems reasonable to say that these gameplay fixes could have very easily been delivered prior to September had the team given them a high priority throughout the period after the game went to final code.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by rhombic21

I don't think it should take this long to fix issues, since many of these things have since been corrected in Madden. For example, when we visited, the zones were still problematic in Madden. We pointed out to them that the hook zones were dropping back too far. Sean Bailey told us that he was able to fix that issue that afternoon. Another example is the QB icons disappearing and the drop in QB throwing accuracy when 15+ yards behind the LOS on Madden. That hadn't been implemented into Madden yet, but was put in the game during the final 3 weeks of development time. Surely it would not have been that difficult to port those changes over to NCAA. The CPU throwing deep is another fix that we contacted them about, and Ian posted less than a week after our visit that they were able to resolve the issue in Madden. Similarly the DL pancake issue, which was not as bad in Madden to begin with, was addressed within a similar timeframe. Given these things, I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have addressed every single gameplay issue that we pointed out to them between community day, which was the last week of May, and release day on July 15. They didn't start working on this roster patch until the weekend prior to release, when it was initially identified. Now, I don't know if that would have slowed the roster patch's approval process down, since the patch would have had more changes, or not, but it seems reasonable to say that these gameplay fixes could have very easily been delivered prior to September had the team given them a high priority throughout the period after the game went to final code.

again, point taken.

[LionsFanNJ]

Didn't Adam say that the 2nd patch was planned to be released a few weeks early? So am i correct in assuming that the September release is what he meant?

Either way i'll still be playing despite the flaws when the patch rolls around.....though SC IV maaaaaaaaay drop my playtime heavily

[fistofrage]

The pass rush is becoming the biggest glaring issue for me. The question is, do they know how to fix the pass rush and have the AI hurriy its throws without it being a pick 6 fest?

What happened to the programmers from the PS2 version, are these the same guys? The code may be different but the logic should be the same. They had it right on the PS2.

[Quint75]

I think we need to temper our excitement for what the patch will actually fix (to our satisfaction) and when it will be released. I think September is probably a best-case scenario. And remember, these patches cost big money to get out, so this game play patch will almost certainly be the last one. Let's just hope they get it right.