NCAA Football 09 Postmortem

[rhombic21]

Quote: Originally Posted by bangpow

Again, all issues when playing a person. I only play dynasty mode.

And in dynasty mode, you need MASSIVE changes to the AI. Both in terms of it's ability to adapt via playcalling/strategy and in it's ability to manage it's own roster/recruit. As I've discussed before, the fundamental problem with this game is that many of the underlying gameplay issues render head to head play problematic, while the limited AI makes offline play against the computer uninteresting. I ran a dynasty on NCAA '08 on Heisman mode with Alabama, and put up absurd offensive statistics. The computer never adjusts to what you're doing. It has no capability to understand why you keep passing/running with ease, and to make the necessary strategy adjustments, the same way that a human opponent would. It has no ability to understand why I'm shutting it down on defense, and how to adjust. It has no capability to understand that certain plays never work, have never worked, and will never work, and to avoid them rather than call them 5 times a game. Basically the only thing that the computer can do to make the game interesting is to cheat.

[bangpow]

it still plays better than 09, rhombic.

[Hammerhunker]

Bottomline for me was that I had to end up playing the PS2 version to have a football experience this season. Laying down $60 bucks for the next gen version and having it go to waste is unacceptable.

The next gen need more than tweaks. The only thing it has going for itself is how it looks, but the second the movement starts, it all goes down hill from there.

I was very sad and disappointed with the next gen version. At least I had the old gen version.

[KingVMSU]

PS2 is pretty sweet but it is a drastic "looks" shocker.

Bottom line, EA is mass appeal and there are way more idiots and cheesers than us hardcore sim folks.

Best we can hope for is sliders like NHL 09 that drastically effect gameplay and can deliver anything from arcade to hardcore sim based on tweaks. But as far as the actual engine changing out of the box? forget it, EA has al but staed they dont give a damn.

"working as intended" was what was given at the community day when these very issues were discussed and pointed out....from what I've heard.

[JAYMO76]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

Bangpow, the cpu INT problems in NCAA '08 were just too much to bear. I personally felt NCAA '09 was a lot better. The wide open gameplay still didn't feature any deep passes so I don't even think the gameplay was that wide open. For my skill level, the sliders made the game very good and not wide open. My biggest problem was the terrible cpu running game.

I will take the wide open gameplay of 09. Never again do I want to play intercept fest 08 again. What a terrible game!!!

[Bama83]

"Wide Open Gameplay" translates into arcady finger twitch fests and cheesy gameplay geared towards appeasing "gamers" rather than "sports guys".

Say what you will about the scores this year, a good defense remedies this situation almost every time. Bama held Florida down for the most part (24 pts until a late garbage time score), Florida held Oklahoma down (14 points), so on and so forth. Great defenses stifle great offenses almost every time. The problem is - there are a lot of poor defenses out there.

Please put defense BACK in the game. That doesn't mean interceptions or leaping linebackers. It means corners that cover and make wiser decisions. Breaking the pass up or jarring the ball loose. Linebackers that read the offense and make plays based on that rather than some preprogrammed AI script. A defensive front that gets pressure on the QB and forces him to throw the ball early or in the dirt or to a receiver that is covered so it's easily broken up. Make getting outside the tackles and throwing the ball away when there is pressure something that actually is a good move.

Make the defense have a big advantage in fourth down situations. These are rare and when people online go for it in ridiculous situations, they should be punished. OR make punting in punt situations a mandatory selection.

[Bumble14]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bama83

"Wide Open Gameplay" translates into arcady finger twitch fests and cheesy gameplay geared towards appeasing "gamers" rather than "sports guys". Say what you will about the scores this year, a good defense remedies this situation almost every time. Bama held Florida down for the most part (24 pts until a late garbage time score), Florida held Oklahoma down (14 points), so on and so forth. Great defenses stifle great offenses almost every time. The problem is - there are a lot of poor defenses out there. Please put defense BACK in the game. That doesn't mean interceptions or leaping linebackers. It means corners that cover and make wiser decisions. Breaking the pass up or jarring the ball loose. Linebackers that read the offense and make plays based on that rather than some preprogrammed AI script. A defensive front that gets pressure on the QB and forces him to throw the ball early or in the dirt or to a receiver that is covered so it's easily broken up. Make getting outside the tackles and throwing the ball away when there is pressure something that actually is a good move. Make the defense have a big advantage in fourth down situations. These are rare and when people online go for it in ridiculous situations, they should be punished. OR make punting in punt situations a mandatory selection.

I agree with you 100% on this post. I really had fun with 09, but the defensive changes you note would make the game even better.

My fear is that better defense will equate to more interceptions, leaping linebackers, etc.

I'd love to see the offensive explosiveness of 09 meet the defensive pursuit, smarts of 04.

[J.R. Locke]

The limited playbooks and horrible CPU playcalling made this game relatively unplayable for me.

NCAA continues to be the most disappointing game I rent every year. I love the variety in college football from a coaching standpoint but unfortunately NCAA 2009 continued the trend of neglecting the idea of a coaching program. Stuck with waterdowned playbooks and no way to dictate coaching philosophies for the CPU NCAA is a very boring game.

I guess it is an online game....and that I guess is something they did right...