NCAA Football 14 Impressions Thread

[tHurley2010]

I have a feeling that no matter how many changes and how many improvements EA makes to their games, the claim of "it still feels the same" is going to be prevalent. Much like the people who will claim that the game is vastly different, gamers go out of their way to search for and then claim that things haven't changed or are vastly different. That's no fault to anyone. That's just the way things are.

The game doesn't feel the same to me. Sure, there are elements that have carried over from 13 to 14, some of which I don't care for at all. But the gameplay seems different enough to make it more enjoyable for me. And besides, there is nothing a really good slider set can't fix (besides the DB glitch from last year--of which Matt10 said is gone this year).

Something to try for those who make sliders is to take advantage of the different difficulties you can set for both offense and defense by combining them with the sliders. It might be the case that QB ACC on Heisman is ~40% at 0 and ~75% at 5. But is that the case on All-American?

[Dbrentonbuck]

Quote: Originally Posted by JLoco11

I'm really not understanding EA's logic with the coach levels before getting into a dynasty. Some coaches have understandably high levels (Saban/Bama, Brown/Texas, Beamer/VTech all at level 32). But Tuberville at Cincy with a 30???? Frank Solich at Ohio with 26???? (granted he was at Nebraska for a few years) But Paul Pasqualoni at UConn with a 25? Ahead of the likes of Urban Meyer (22) Jimbo Fisher at FSU who was coach-in-waiting after Bobby Bowden (10). But the truly oddest one is North Texas coach Dan McCarney with a level 21. Hell, Muschamp at Florida is at level 8!!!! I feel like when I start up a full dynasty (when the rosters come out), I have to reset everybody to level 1. It's absurd that some of these mediocre coaches have ridiculously high ratings, while big name coaches have lower ratings.

I haven't really studied the coaching ratings closely. Some of the ones you mentioned sound weird, but you would have to go back and look at their entire careers. Like Tommy Tuberville has been much maligned in the media ever since he took the TT job, but he has had a great career as a coach. At Auburn he only had 2 losing seasons in the SEC (his first and last season). He won his division 5 times. He went to a bowl game 8 times. He finished ranked in the top 20 6 times and in the top 10 2 times. In 2004 he went undefeated and everyone I know who is serious about college football thinks they were robbed of the National Championship that year. People in the south were shocked when he got fired after one bad season in his last 9 years. That was all at Auburn.

He went to Texas Tech under the worst possible conditions. They had just fired a man who was a god to most TT fans. They wouldn't let Tuberville change the offense the way he wanted... they forced him to try to keep the Air Raid style of offense fans happy even though that is not what he does. They didn't like him and he didn't like it there. The media turned against him as well (he didn't do himself any favors either). Even with all this, he still had 2 out of 3 winning seasons there.

I said all that to say this, I don't have a big problem with his rating because I know where he came from and the success he has had prior to ESPN deciding he isn't a buzz-worthy coach. I maybe would rank him in the mid 20's, but I can see why he was ranked the way he is. He has a 130-77 record as a college coach. That's pretty darn good. Maybe if you investigate the other coaches, you will find there are reasons for their rankings. Or, maybe its just EA being EA again

[o Elevate o]

Quote: Originally Posted by NSUDemon

Can anyone let me know what they dropped their CPU QBA down to? I've played three games on Heisman and the CPU has only 4 incomplete passes with 2 coming from one game lol

Drop it down to 5, though you also have to adjust Pass Coverage if you adjust QB Accuracy.

[JMD]

Quote: Originally Posted by NSUDemon

Can anyone let me know what they dropped their CPU QBA down to? I've played three games on Heisman and the CPU has only 4 incomplete passes with 2 coming from one game lol

I'm playing on All American. I have the CPU QBA set at 30. Just played a game Washington Huskies - me , Alabama - CPU. Bama' Qb was quite accurate. I lost in O.T. 20-17

[bowld]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ferweezy

I played this game all day yesterday and this morning. Already bored of it. Not worth 60$. All the reviews other then OS are spot on. I have the same feelings playing this that I had the previous years. There are marginal changes, but they are no game changers. Too damn generic. The Infinity engine is a sloppy mess. It's just 1 on 1 tackling with defenders running into ball carrier like mindless robots. The assisted tackles don't record no more. It's just sloppy looking football. 13 was a lot smoother. I can't see this game or Madden in my PS3 trey all year over games like NBA 2K or The Show. Another wasted year. Hopefully they learn their lesson this gen and won't waste 7 more years of mediocre gameplay.

agreed. once the "newness" of the engine wears off its essentially the same game we have been playing for yrs. already bored

[Rules]

What I don't understand is how EA keeps getting away with few changes each year and still remain in business with the two football franchises?

I've been skipping purchasing years with all of their sports games except Fifa and yet they are still putting out the same game with slight tweaks.

[SECElit3]

Been playing this game for several hours now. Let me just say, this game, in my opinion is, the best in the NCAA series. It is not perfect, but it passes with flying colors. Let's talk about the positives and negatives:

Positives:

The fields and colors pop. I am on PS3 and the game just looks amazing. They fixed the night lighting issue on the PS3. The crowd looks so much better, Neyland stadium is a sea of orange, as it should be.

Field vision for the CPU ball carriers has vastly improved. Running backs look for the holes in the defense and attack appropriately.

How about that line play fellas! I am seeing defensive linemen drive blockers into the backfield. Gone are the disgusting block sheds that plagued the game in past years... Hell yes!

Loving the physics engine! Loving it! This physics engine is no comparison to Madden. Players have weight. I am seeing some great results with tweaking sliders. Lots of potential here!

Stadium sounds sound awesome in game. I don't know what EA did. But they sound so life like. I love the implemented Zombie Nation and Seven Army

The option is back with a vengeance.

Uniform degradation is in the game, and man does it ever look good.

So many more positive things to say, but now to the negatives.

Grey face masks for PS3 users. Really EA? Last year lighting, this year grey face masks?

Pass coverage may be an issue again this year. The good news is the sliders seem to work, so I may be able to iron out the issues there.

Sacks for teams with running QBs. This may be worked out by sliders, but this a big concern for me right now.

Also, there is a glitch that sometimes takes place after big plays. The camera follows the player to the sidelines or huddle and won't release back to game play.

There may be more to come, but this a pretty impressive game so far!

[twinswinagain]

After 10 games played in dynasty mode I will not be buying 14 and sticking with 13. Recruiting is horrible, they took away all the choices and it feels bland now. Coaching experiance skill tree is pointless. Animations are down right bizzare at times. I guess to me I like 13 better, feels better and dynasty is alot better because of recruiting. Only thing I could see saving this game is ultimate team which I love in NHL. ohwell hopefully next year it will be improved but I still enjoy 13 so all is good.