NCAA Football 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

[rhombic21]

Been trying to sift through all of the comments here, so forgive me for repeats.

- The underneath zones (hook zones in particular) are problematic in two ways. First, defenders do not seem to match up to receivers that enter their zones very quickly. This results in receivers running wide open when they shouldn't be.

There are also serious issues with the hook zones dropping to the incorrect location when the ball is on the hashmark. This was documented last year and is still an issue this year. Essentially all the players drop way opposite the direction they are supposed to, so that you end up with the weakside linebacker in a 4-3 covering the middle of the field, the MLB covering the wide-side hash mark, and the strongside linebacker covering the strongside numbers. This is a major problem that opens up serious gaps in the defense.

- Deep zones are newly problematic, and it seems to stem from multiple problems. First, corners and safeties do not seem to be properly gauging the speed that receivers are running and thus end up standing flat footed while a player runs right past them. Sometimes it appears that corners in Cover 3 (playing the deep sideline) do not run deep with the receiver for some reason and instead choose to come up and guard a shorter route. Safeties in deep zones do not do a very good job at identifying threats as they enter their area and positioning themselves such as to be able to defend deep passes to their area. Bottom line is that there are way too many instances where receivers get behind the deep zone players, whether it be down the sidelines or over the middle.

- There also appear to be some issues with flat zone defenders sinking in towards the middle of the field and not covering receivers in their area under certain circumstances, though it is difficult to tell what exactly triggers this as sometimes they cover the right area.

- Man coverage is generally alright, with the exception of the fact that corners and linebackers who do not have safety help over the top (i.e. if the defense is in some sort of blitzing play) play too aggressively against shorter routes which results in them getting beat deep way too often.

- The pass rush from CPU controlled players seems to be very hit or miss. If the defense does not pass commit and does not get a "great jump", then the QB will often times have virtually all day to throw the ball. If the defense pass commits and gets a great jump, then sometimes you see almost instant pressure. There does not appear to be enough of a middle ground where the QB has time initially, but is then forced to throw after 4 or 5 seconds.

[jfsolo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Playmakers

I'm not sure who it was last year that convinced me to test out Varsity level but after witnessing it with adjusted sliders in NCAA 10 i don't think i can play on AA or heisman level again..... I just love the way Varsity level keeps strong teams seperated from bad teams and the game play can be fine tuned brilliantly. You can get a true sense of a pass rush on Varsity level with very limited suction blocking... I can roam with LB's and get off blocks very realistic. My Defensive line doesn't feel feel like they are sucked into a animation in which i can't break out of at any time. I don't see any super human stuff happening on Varsity level and the QB's for what ever reason just seem to play more realistic.....i'm talking in terms of incompletions being of a wider variety If this new game speed slider works that they are suppose to include this year I think this game is going to be a BEAST and I think we can pretty much tweak this game to be the best playing NCAA game since 06 Overall i think that level just handles ratings better

I haven't played this series in a couple of years so I'm definitely out of touch. Have you been able to make enough slider adjustments to get the C.P.U. A.I. up to snuff on Varsity? In the past it was always too forgiving for the User.

[Kingspadee]

Has anyone else tested the glitch?

[TracerBullet]

Quote: Originally Posted by rhombic21

- Deep zones are newly problematic, and it seems to stem from multiple problems. First, corners and safeties do not seem to be properly gauging the speed that receivers are running and thus end up standing flat footed while a player runs right past them. Sometimes it appears that corners in Cover 3 (playing the deep sideline) do not run deep with the receiver for some reason and instead choose to come up and guard a shorter route. Safeties in deep zones do not do a very good job at identifying threats as they enter their area and positioning themselves such as to be able to defend deep passes to their area. Bottom line is that there are way too many instances where receivers get behind the deep zone players, whether it be down the sidelines or over the middle. - There also appear to be some issues with flat zone defenders sinking in towards the middle of the field and not covering receivers in their area under certain circumstances, though it is difficult to tell what exactly triggers this as sometimes they cover the right area.

That's the same conclusion I came to on the deep routes. It seems as though in the demo at least the DBs are still playing like they would before the locomotion where thecould just accelerate super fast allowing them to turn right at the reciever was gong past them. Now they don't accelerate as fast but still turn at the same time which is causing this problem. If they turned earlier I think the coverage would be much better with this locomotion.

I believe the developers have said they were aware of the second problem in the demo and it has already been addressed for the final product.

[SA1NT401]

Quote: Originally Posted by Playmakers

I'm not sure who it was last year that convinced me to test out Varsity level but after witnessing it with adjusted sliders in NCAA 10 i don't think i can play on AA or heisman level again..... I just love the way Varsity level keeps strong teams seperated from bad teams and the game play can be fine tuned brilliantly. You can get a true sense of a pass rush on Varsity level with very limited suction blocking... I can roam with LB's and get off blocks very realistic. My Defensive line doesn't feel feel like they are sucked into a animation in which i can't break out of at any time. I don't see any super human stuff happening on Varsity level and the QB's for what ever reason just seem to play more realistic.....i'm talking in terms of incompletions being of a wider variety If this new game speed slider works that they are suppose to include this year I think this game is going to be a BEAST and I think we can pretty much tweak this game to be the best playing NCAA game since 06 Overall i think that level just handles ratings better

Interesting...I will definitely give it a look with some slider tweaks...Thanks for the info....NCAA11 actually has me quite excited for some football...Finally.

[BooseDown]

There's a lot to love about this game. However, I have a few "gripes":

With the introduction of locomotion, the gameplay has increased fluidity but decreased responsiveness.

It appears the momentum factor could be scaled back slightly. When playing the game, I can't feel the plants, cuts, and jukes, or contact. It almost seems like their floating on the field to me. So I can see the action but I can't really feel it, if that makes any sense.

Also, on the playcalling screen, I liked how there were 6 plays on the screen as opposed to the current 3. It helps when you're running a 2 minute drill and you're working from a package with a lot of plays.

Lastly, it seems like the hit stick doesn't work the same and defenders don't tackle quite as well.

Hopefully, those are just minor tweaks cause they're pretty major issues IMHO.

[DGuinta1]

Don't rip my head of for asking but is there progressive lighting in the game? If so is it noticeable cause I don't notice it. It's done well in MLB10 The Show. Curious.

[Playmakers]

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

I haven't played this series in a couple of years so I'm definitely out of touch. Have you been able to make enough slider adjustments to get the C.P.U. A.I. up to snuff on Varsity? In the past it was always too forgiving for the User.

I thought the sliders worked very well on Varsity level last year.

I was actually shocked myself to see them (CPU) compete on that level once you found settings to even up the playing field for the CPU

IMO the most realistic DL vs OL play is on Varsity level along with a wider variety of QB performances you get to see from team to team....

There is no Robo QB on Varsity level for the most part and you'll see several different types of incompletions aswell

My opinion is if each level is designed to make the CPU harder then it would mean each level has to boost up CPU ratings by some percentage right?

Taking that into consideration i just feel having the players perform based on true ratings values makes the most sense on Varsity level.....and the sliders can be used on that level to generate the type of game play you feel is realistic or close to realistic.

I no longer feel the need to play against a CPU opponent boosted up by level of play anymore. That is what i consider Heisman level now. I'd rather just spend a few weeks tweaking everything possible on Varsity and enjoying the game without all the extra headaches Heisman level always caused me.