Improving Teambuilder: Fixing NCAA 11 Part one - thescoop's Blog

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Improving Teambuilder: Fixing NCAA 11 Part one

Posted on July 18, 2009 at 12:09 AM.

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Let me say this first, teambuilder is great. I love it and have enjoyed creating teams and think an entire game could be built around a create a team engine like that.

With that being said it is far from perfect. There are several fixes that could make this new feature even better for NCAA 11. Some aren't very huge, but should make a great new feature even better.

Lets start with the basic. Most teams have some type of text on their jerseys now a days. EA should have thought of this with teambuilder. It is a simple fix to allow a text insert for the jerseys. You could make your home jersey say "warriors" and your road jersey say "New State U" or whatever. Doing this gives you text on your uniform and also allows you to not give up one of your logo spaces. Simple fix.

Speaking of logos, two is ok, but a few more might be better. I'm thinking expand it to three or four. Of course make this an option to cut it to only two if that's all you got, but some teams have a few logos. They have a helmet logo, a field logo, another logo for some of the clothing line. I think three would be enough.

Also, I think we should be able to choose placement of our helmet logo. Say you have Philly's Eagles' wings. You can't place them in the right place so they don't look right. Logo placement on the helmet would slove this and allow for me creativity.

Another big issue is the fact you can't see your logos unless you're hooked up online. This is a huge downer for a lot of people. EA needs to come up with a solution to this. It shouldn't be locked out. Also, the fact that basic words are being censored is sad. I know EA is working to try and change that, but right now it is a pain. Hopefully, this isn't an issue at all for next year.

One of the worst things EA did with teambuilder is the default 12 team limit. Sure you could get another 13 for a pre-order from ripoff king Gamestop and then buy 120, but the full 120 should be free. It is a sad state of gaming that we who want more are forced to pay more. Should be free, EA. Should be free.

The rosters are another issue. We need to be able to edit roster in the game without starting a dynasty. If I want to put actual names into a team I didn't create, I can only do so in a dynasty. That's not a smart move, EA.

One thing that needs to be added is custom sounds. Even if I'm only allowed to choose a fight song from an existing team, that would be better than not having one. Should also be added for next year. It should be a basic addition when creating our team. We should at the very least have the option to select a fight song. Adds to the realism of our newly created team.

Also, we need to be able to select our rivals. It can be something that is done once the team is downloaded so we can select other created teams. It is something that is a must. Hopefully they'll figure out a way to give this to us next year.

Another thing that needs a fix is auto rosters. We don't have enough sets and if you don't feel customizing everything yourself, then you might end up with the same roster numbers for every team you make. A few more choices or even roster sets would fix this.

One thing that is a huge most for next season is we must be able to use more teambuilder teams in dynasty mode. 12 isn't enough. I'd love to see a 120 teambuilder dynasty, but I doubt we'll see that next year. Still, it should be upped to at least 50 I'd say. Also, if you aren't going to add FCS then please allow us to replace the generic ones you have in our dynasty. It gives us more realism in our dynasties. It should have been in there this year.

Also, it would be a good idea if you made another mode. A teambuilder dynasty mode that feature a playoff so those FCS fans can create their teams and live out the FCS playoffs. Again, that feature is only needed if you don't add the FCS teams again. I think it would make more FCS fans happy if they could actually use their team and play in their playoffs. Gets them closer to actually having the game they wanted. (I'd rather see them added to the game hence the fact the FCS teams will get a whole blog in this series.)

EA dropped the ball giving us an alternate ROAD jersey. They should have given us Home, Road, Alt. 1, alt 2. I'd like to see maybe three alts, but I'll be happy if they drop the alt road. Very few teams have a road alternate. I think just making it be an alt 2 would give us more options. It is a waste to have a road alt that you'll never wear.

The team names needs to be longer. If I have a team with a long name I'd like to be able to put it in the game. If I want to spell out Southern Mississippi instead of Southern Miss, I should be able to. A minor fix, but one I'd like to see fixed.

Also, not a big one, but I'd love to see a custom mascot on there. I hate choosing one and then seing it still have the logo for the team it was actually built for. Maybe one day a mascot creator would be fun, but I'd rather other things be right before that.

For me one thing I really, really want is a stadium creator or editor. I hate playing with my custom team and seeing the name of the school that I tooks stadium on there. I want to at least be able to replace that. What I'd love is a full blown stadium creator. We could change then create our teams stadiums and have them closer to what they should be. Please it would allow some of our creative sides to shine even more. It is something I'm really hoping that EA gives some serious thought for next season. I do think the full stadium creator might be a mode in itself. I'd settle for the editor in this mode to remove those logos and stadium names, but I really a stadium creator.

Teambuilder is something they did a pretty good job on to start out with. A few improvements here or there and it could be even better. Here's hoping they're listening.

Comments

# 1 TracerBullet @ Jul 18

I think you should add the logo of the brand who makes your jersey (nike, adidas, under armor, etc). I agree with you on everything you said as well. I also think that there should be a way to change logo size on the helmet as well. There needs to be at least 3 logos next year per team because even some of the actual FCS teams on the sight had 3 logos. Being able to pick a few rivals would be great too.

# 2 phattmatt58 @ Jul 27

Great points, but I have a few more....
You should be able to change the size of the logo on the helmet.
You should also be able to completely edit your roster, i.e. the size, and position. I was trying to make an all-time Kentucky team, and I didn't have enough spots for a quarterback and couldn't change someone's position.