NCAA Football 14 News Post

NCAA Football 14 Gameplay Hands-On

06:37 PM - April 18, 2013 by RaychelSnr

I recently got the chance to attend an EA Sports event and had roughly 20 to 25 minutes of hands-on playing time with NCAA Football 14. Producers Ben Haumiller and Larry Richart stated there is still time to tweak and adjust some of the gameplay, so it’s worth noting and stressing my experiences were with a brief playtime from an early build of the game which probably won't fully represent the final product.

With that disclaimer out of the way, here are my impressions of what I observed.

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# 1 LionsFanNJ @ 04/18/13 06:50 PM

Though I am aggravated IMMENSELY by the lack of line play adjustments of any kind (let's be real nothing was done here) hearing some of the other things are actually things I liked as more info comes out.

First big nono was hearing that the db glitch MAY still be in the game. That should be totally unacceptable. Hopefully that play was just an aberration

A a good thing in this writeup is seperate offensive and defensive difficulties. That is awesome.

Still want to see (or hear from someone thats played )the AI run the option though. As long as the AI can run it then I'll at least be content to schedule some of those teams in my dynasty.

# 2 boxboy99 @ 04/18/13 06:54 PM

I like you can have different difficulty levels for Offense and Defense. Nice touch that is long over due.

# 3 The_Wise_One @ 04/18/13 06:57 PM

Sounds to me like the changes didn't make a huge difference

# 4 SageInfinite @ 04/18/13 07:09 PM

Great write-up. Really enjoyed the honest preview.

# 5 Omniphobe @ 04/18/13 07:10 PM

Didn't get a reply in the other thread, but since this one is about gameplay, I'll ask it here:

Anybody know if defensive assignments (lining up a specific DB on a specific WR, LB on TE, etc) made it into the game?

It was one of my favourite features from the older Maddens before they took it away, and it really added to the strategy aspect of having a shutdown corner.

Defensive assignments combined with formation subs would make an ultimate strategy game on the defensive side of the ball (which it should be).

# 6 Watson @ 04/18/13 07:31 PM

Damn, there was nothing really all that damning in the article and y'all are PILING ON. If anything, it was mostly positives and overall good news.

# 7 ch46647 @ 04/18/13 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerseySuave4


	Sounds like the improvements to gameplay were slim. When you spend your focus on the run game as your big gameplay fix this year, and STILL have awkward running animations, sliding and poor foot planting, that's not good.

Agreed, the gameplay changes do seem very minor this year. Quite honestly, I expected this and I think it is EA's way of just pretty much giving up on this console generation. When you have had 8 years and STILL CANNOT GET PLAYERS TO MOVE REALISTICALLY, you know there are huge underlying issues.

I really dont care much about this year and I am just hoping they blow us away with the next-gen engine. It is time to scrap this thing and put out a game that people will truly enjoy. I would expect that player movement and line play will be completely re-written with the next-gen engine. I also expect whatever the issue is with the animation engine that creates such herky jerky and unrealistic animations to be replaced as well.

Bring on Next-Gen and please don't dissapoint EA. This is the only football game available to play

# 8 roadman @ 04/18/13 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WatsonTiger


	Damn, there was nothing really all that damning in the article and y'all are PILING ON. If anything, it was mostly positives and overall good news.

I think the crowd here is continually disappointed by the legacy issues not being addressed. ie player movement, OL/DL and WR/DB interractions.

Quite frankly, I don't blame them. Hoping these issues can be addressed jumping to NG.

# 9 BA2929 @ 04/18/13 07:48 PM

Quote:


	-You can set the offense and defensive difficulties separately this year. So you can actually set the AI offense to Heisman and place the defense on varsity.

This is the best part of this entire article, imo. Sometimes going against the Heisman defense by the CPU is frustrating to me, but I like playing Heisman while I'm on defense.

Now, if we can set different sliders for each side of the ball................

# 10 Steve_OS @ 04/18/13 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omniphobe


	Didn't get a reply in the other thread, but since this one is about gameplay, I'll ask it here: Anybody know if defensive assignments (lining up a specific DB on a specific WR, LB on TE, etc) made it into the game? It was one of my favourite features from the older Maddens before they took it away, and it really added to the strategy aspect of having a shutdown corner. Defensive assignments combined with formation subs would make an ultimate strategy game on the defensive side of the ball (which it should be).

Unfortunately, I didn't even think to check on this. It most likely would have been mentioned by someone if it was in though. Had some good guys behind the sticks.

# 11 UMhester04 @ 04/18/13 08:17 PM

Dont get me wrong, I like the direction we are going in with this years title, but I am really just getting annoyed with the half *** improvements.

-fixing the running game, but not completely cause there is still "swerve" running and not even touching the horrible running animations
-fixing the blocking, but not having a pocket for the QB and still not fixing the patty cake animations...also no arm tackling from blocks
-still don't know if the defense "swerve" runs or if any "non-ball carrier" uses this new system - if this was only implemented with the ball carrier then what is the point (THIS is the most important thing to me, bc once I make a cut, the defense should have to use foot planting as well. If this isn't in, then the ball carrier foot planting is literally just window dressing. This is a difference between changing the way the game is played, and another semi-pointless addition)
-god only knows with the presentation stuff, but that all sounds pretty food so far
-havent even touched special teams (punt returns mostly)...AGAIN
-coaching carousel from 2 years ago, untouched last year
-A WHOLE YEAR SPENT MAKING "AUTHENTIC" PRE-GAME RUN OUTS AND YOU BASICALLY THROW ALL OF IT AWAY THE NEXT YEAR
-many more that i cant think of

I'm just sick of these issues being in the game year after year. Im excited for the game and all, but throw me a friggin bone here EA, I wanna get really fired up about one of your football games for once - YOURS IS THE ONLY ONE IN TOWN - but all I can do is get moderately overjoyed bc once I get pumped hearing about your foot planting stuff, someone tells us it's not really done completely and I come right back down to earth

# 12 Sausage @ 04/18/13 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMhester04


	Dont get me wrong, I like the direction we are going in with this years title, but I am really just getting annoyed with the half *** improvements. -fixing the running game, but not completely cause there is still "swerve" running and not even touching the horrible running animations -fixing the blocking, but still not having a pocket for the QB and still not fixing the patty cake animations...also no arm tackling from blocks -still don't know if the defense "swerve" runs or if any "non-ball carrier" uses this new system - if this was only implemented with the ball carrier then what is the point (THIS is the most important thing to me, bc once I make a cut, the defense should have to use foot planting as well. If this isn't in, then the ball carrier foot planting is literally just window dressing. This is a difference between changing the way the game is played, and another semi-pointless addition) -god only knows with the presentation stuff, but that all sounds pretty food so far -havent even touched special teams (punt returns mostly)...AGAIN -coaching carousel from 2 years ago, untouched last year -A WHOLE YEAR SPENT MAKING "AUTHENTIC" PRE-GAME RUN OUTS AND YOU BASICALLY THROW ALL OF IT AWAY THE NEXT YEAR -many more that i cant think of I'm just sick of these issues being in the game year after year. Im excited for the game and all, but throw me a friggin bone here EA, I wanna get really fired up about one of your football games for once - YOURS IS THE ONLY ONE IN TOWN - but all I can do is get moderately overjoyed bc once I get pumped hearing about your foot planting stuff, someone tells us it's not really done completely and I come right back down to earth

I feel you UMHester04, sadly what happens is we run out buy the retail version and all of these band-aid fixes eventually start getting loose and we see all the holes after one half of play.

I know this will sound crazy, but I'm already disappointed in NCAA 14, because these devs truly don't learn from there mistakes of putting a band-aid on gaping wounds that needs immediate surgery to repair and months of rehab, lol.

# 13 Swamp Swagger @ 04/18/13 10:07 PM

Just another little jump from one version to the next I guess but that usually all I need.

Seems EA just removes things then advertises little new things to no end.

# 14 PVarck31 @ 04/18/13 10:25 PM

Some of the stuff sounds good. It will probably be fun, but I guess it was too much to expect the legacy issues to be fixed this gen.

If this stuff isn't fixed for next gen, then Tiburon better run for the hills. (Figure of speech, not a threat.)

# 15 horrormaster @ 04/18/13 10:29 PM

So when is there going to be a football game of any kind that has proper player interaction, distinct difference between different rated players, and no bs (money plays, nano blitzes, etc.)?

# 16 aerovt @ 04/18/13 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMhester04


	... -A WHOLE YEAR SPENT MAKING "AUTHENTIC" PRE-GAME RUN OUTS AND YOU BASICALLY THROW ALL OF IT AWAY THE NEXT YEAR ...

uhh, how do you expect them to rerelease this feature as a back of the box bullet if they just leave it in??

On a more serious note though, that part is not really all that concerning to me. After I watched the trailers that one time in their preview they released before the game was released, I saw no reason to ever watch them again and would always just fast forward the opening. Everything else you said was pretty spot on

# 17 UMhester04 @ 04/18/13 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aerovt


	uhh, how do you expect them to rerelease this feature as a back of the box bullet if they just leave it in?? On a more serious note though, that part is not really all that concerning to me. After I watched the trailers that one time in their preview they released before the game was released, I saw no reason to ever watch them again and would always just fast forward the opening. Everything else you said was pretty spot on

My reasoning in saying this was they spent so much time on that feature and just scrapped it the next year. They also did this with so many features in Madden, like the virtual difficulty thing they had you do to determine your difficulty setting in 09 I think, and the rewind feature as well.

They spend all this time on these features and then pull them the next year, instead of working on core features that fans are screaming for. That's what makes MLB The Show and NBA 2K so great, and EA sports football series' just mediocre (in my opinion)

# 18 tanchl @ 04/18/13 11:07 PM

Lost me at "no real improvements in the penalties" area. Why can't penalties be done realistically?

# 19 UMhester04 @ 04/18/13 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big FN Deal


	From what I understand they didn't scrap or remove them, they use them to create a pregame music video montage in NCAA 14 pregame. It's likely similar to what M13 did with team run outs added in M12, making them into a montage, except NCAA 14 is adding a music element to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re-HmFem-dg Taking those montages and presumably putting the to music pregame instead of halftime like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3ng3dTSq_g I hope M25 follows suit and uses this music video format for pregame too.

Ah, I feel much better then.

# 20 BenGerman @ 04/19/13 05:53 AM

I see lots of good news here:

- Option game is improved. IF this is really the case, then it will not only be fun to play in the spread-option, but challenging to play against it.

- Best news in the article for me? Different difficulties for Offense and Defense. This is a very welcome change! I can't wait to toy with the settings.

- Getting a push one way or the other implies that ratings are going to actually matter for the lines. I'd love better interaction, but I'd take just having the ratings working properly.

- I'll say it again: the field looks so improved over last year. It's finally green.

- The bugs from IE 1.0 have been cleaned up.

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