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View Full Version : NCAA 11... one week later... MY TAKE...



jaymo76
07-19-2010, 09:57 PM
Well the pre-release reviews for this game were off the charts and on release day I heard a lot of people here and at OS claiming this is the best NCAA game ever. Of course we heard many of the same things last year and after a week the sky had fallen and the game was viewed by many as a bust. So after one week does NCAA 11 have that special something we football gamers are looking for???

TWO burning questions:

1. Is NCAA 11 the best NEXT GEN college game ever? ..... YES... but...
2. Is NCAA 11 the best college game ever? .... NO... but...

This is by far the best "next gen" college football game and the best next gen football game period. There are just so many positives. These include:

-locomotion
-fluid run game
-cpu run game (with serious slider tweaks)
-formation subs (my personal favourite)
-ESPN integration
-team entrances / cut scenes / pre-game / post-game
-equipment upgrades
-amazing visuals
-autosave feature
-bowl specific presentation
-recruiting and the recruiting slider
-speed slider (slow is def. the way to go)
-MOST IMPORTANTLY, THIS GAME IS JUST FUN TO PLAY!!!

However, there are some areas that need serious attention to improve upon the overall quality and experience of this game. Some items include:

-some weak/innefective sliders & penalty sliders
-man pass coverage~ DB's run the routes better than receivers
-broken zone D
-"holy leaping linebackers Batman" ~ seriously enough is enough!!!
-ESPN good start but needs more depth
-lack of stat overlays before, during, and after the game
-screwed up injury updates
-absolutely awful crowds
-home field advantage is very weak at best

In order for this game to rival IMO the best football game ever (NCAA 06) I will need to see the return of some basic features still missing from next gen. These include:

-matchup stick (best feature ever in the NCAA series
-FCS teams
-coaches on the sideline
-custom playbooks
-spring game
-heisman show
-blue chip prospects
-cpu auto mass subs
-height and weight editing of players (and throw in dreads too for the hair lovers out there:)
-gatorade shower / coaches being awarded the Bowl/Nat championship

So what features could put this game over the top and make it even better (if that's possible) than NCAA 06? In my opinion a lot could be done including:

-dynamic commentary
-dynamic rivalries
-weekly wrap-up show (similar to the extra point)
-coaching carousel
-calendar format similar to NCAA BASKETBALL 10 as your dynasty hub

Now overall I am really enjoying this game. After one week I give this game a solid 8.5 /10. It's a really good game. It's not great... yet... but it has so, so much potential. I believe the Tiburon developers are finally back on the right path and I see amazing things for NCAA 12 and on, AS LONG AS THE DEVELOPERS ARE AS COMMITTED AS THEY HAVE BEEN THIS YEAR.

NCAA 11 is my 3rd fave NCAA game of all time. I finally feel like I'm playing the quality of last gen games on my PS3 and I look forward to seeing how this game will continue to develop.:popcorn:

My top three of NCAA:
NCAA 06 (PS2) 9.5 /10
NCAA 07 (PS2) 8.75 / 10
NCAA 11 (PS3) 8.5 /10

JeffHCross
07-19-2010, 10:48 PM
-matchup stick Overrated, if not borderline unrealistic
-FCS teams Pretty much been told that Teambuilder is designed to replace this. Would be surprised to ever see them again.
-coaches on the sideline Yes
-custom playbooks Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-spring game Overrated
-heisman show Overrated
-blue chip prospects Aren't these 5-stars? Or ESPN 150?
-cpu auto mass subs This is in there ... the CPU just doesn't give up until all hope is lost
-height and weight editing of players How so? This is definitely in there
-gatorade shower / coaches being awarded the Bowl/Nat championship Yes

It's interesting to me that I see many consistent items on wishlists from people who thought NCAA 06 was the height of the series ... and many consistent items from people who thought NCAA 04 was the height. Yet the two don't seem to match up very often. It's almost as if we have two schools of thought as to what was 'best' in the series, and so what is needed for 'greatness'.

Personally ...
Fix Man.
Fix Zone.
Fix HFA ... make it mean something.

Everything after that is gravy. Though I do badly want Custom Playbooks and a Coaching Carousel.

HuskerBlitz
07-19-2010, 11:46 PM
This is the first time I think I ever heard anyone say NCAA 2006 was the best ever.

jaymo76
07-20-2010, 12:10 AM
-matchup stick Overrated, if not borderline unrealistic
-FCS teams Pretty much been told that Teambuilder is designed to replace this. Would be surprised to ever see them again.
-coaches on the sideline Yes
-custom playbooks Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-spring game Overrated
-heisman show Overrated
-blue chip prospects Aren't these 5-stars? Or ESPN 150?
-cpu auto mass subs This is in there ... the CPU just doesn't give up until all hope is lost
-height and weight editing of players How so? This is definitely in there
-gatorade shower / coaches being awarded the Bowl/Nat championship Yes

It's interesting to me that I see many consistent items on wishlists from people who thought NCAA 06 was the height of the series ... and many consistent items from people who thought NCAA 04 was the height. Yet the two don't seem to match up very often. It's almost as if we have two schools of thought as to what was 'best' in the series, and so what is needed for 'greatness'.

Personally ...
Fix Man.
Fix Zone.
Fix HFA ... make it mean something.

Everything after that is gravy. Though I do badly want Custom Playbooks and a Coaching Carousel.

On matchup stick we will agree to disagree... I thought it was great for strategy purposes. Sorry on blue chip, I meant the Blue Chip "Elite 11"; Height and weight editing DURING DYNASTY, not just during player creation. The players never change in stature from year one on; Mass subs??? Really? I lost to USC by 29 and they never pulled their starters. I have not seen mass subs other than if I put them in. The teambuilder / FCS thing drives me nuts as it gets to the issue of "realism." I just want to play real schedules, not see FCS teams replace real FBS teams.

But yes, coaches on the sideline, custom playbooks and coaching carousel we definitely agree on.

jaymo76
07-20-2010, 12:11 AM
This is the first time I think I ever heard anyone say NCAA 2006 was the best ever.


LOL... just go to OS, there is at least one thread per week for us 06 junkies :)

JBHuskers
07-20-2010, 12:20 AM
There is an NCAA 06 I like.....Baseball, I busted it out every now and again til my PS3 crapped out that had the backwards compatibility. I just looked it up and it's not backwards compatible on 360 :(

Good breakdown there Jaymo.

JeffHCross
07-20-2010, 12:24 AM
On matchup stick we will agree to disagree... I thought it was great for strategy purposes.Personally, I never found it useful or, to expand on what I said, very realistic. I can understand that in real football you can pick on a player, especially when you've broken his confidence. But that didn't seem to be reflected in the Matchup stick. I also didn't like the idea that you could look across the field and see how every player on the opposing team is doing. I understand knowing the composure of your own team, but the opponent? Please.

My objection is more for realism than gameplay, however, I will admit.

Height and weight editing DURING DYNASTY, not just during player creation. The players never change in stature from year one onAgreed ... but I wouldn't want to see this under player control. Without limits (which, I'm sure, there would be none), this would be easily abused. Seems like on PS2 there was some advancement of height and weight in the offseason. Be nice to see a return of that.

I lost to USC by 29 and they never pulled their starters. I have not seen mass subs other than if I put them in.I was speaking to 10, not 11. And I know it's darned rare, and much more rare than it should be ... but it is in. For whatever reason, it has to be a ridiculous blowout for it to occur. Even down 28 the CPU still thinks it can come back, for reasons passing beyond understanding.

The teambuilder / FCS thing drives me nuts as it gets to the issue of "realism." I just want to play real schedules, not see FCS teams replace real FBS teams.I agree completely, I just don't expect to see it ever again.

JeffHCross
07-20-2010, 12:25 AM
On another note, very good write up jaymo. Good read.

AustinWolv
07-20-2010, 12:26 AM
Even down 28 the CPU still thinks it can come back, for reasons passing beyond understanding.
Have you seen the CPU get hot on Heisman and become unstoppable?!!! :D
Yeah, AI thinks it can come back because it can! LOL.

JeffHCross
07-20-2010, 12:31 AM
Have you seen the CPU get hot on Heisman and become unstoppable?!!! :D
Yeah, AI thinks it can come back because it can! LOL.I have. I actually almost lost one of those games, because of the ability for the CPU to recover an onside kick last year. My Hands Team had 3 onside kicks bounce off the same player.

It's still borderline ridiculous to see the CPU running hurry up late in the game down by Herculean margins.

iBrandon
07-20-2010, 09:30 AM
I didn’t really read the post (no disrespect, but I am trying to avoid threads and posts about issues that I have yet to notice… not sure if your post even includes any) but I am having a blast with NCAA this year. Sure there are a few things that bug me, but nothing crazy. I think as I have gotten older, I’ve learned to enjoy the good things about a game and not to worry as much about the bad. Of course, if it’s a crazy bug and something that can’t be overlooked, it would put a damper on the enjoyment I get out of the game, but for the most part, I can over look minor things (some say the progression is broken, I can deal with that) and just enjoy the game for what it is.

Sinister
07-20-2010, 12:10 PM
i agree with you Brandon, by the way i don't think progression is broke guys are used to have stellar people to draft each year it won't happen like that . though apparently there is a kicker and punter issue of them not being enough to recruit.

I feel a week later the game is still good most of the issues i've seen over different boards are all the same . also the list isn't large either. I 'm hoping for a tuning set in next couple a weeks and it fix a lot of the gameplay stuff. Game is hard and fun at the same time i don't feel cheated when i have a turnover or cpu scores on me.

jaymo76
07-20-2010, 12:16 PM
i agree with you Brandon, by the way i don't think progression is broke guys are used to have stellar people to draft each year it won't happen like that . though apparently there is a kicker and punter issue of them not being enough to recruit.

I feel a week later the game is still good most of the issues i've seen over different boards are all the same . also the list isn't large either. I 'm hoping for a tuning set in next couple a weeks and it fix a lot of the gameplay stuff. Game is hard and fun at the same time i don't feel cheated when i have a turnover or cpu scores on me.

Yeah, I have no issues with progression. Overall I am really enjoying this game and the last time I said that about NCAA was NCAA 07 (or I guess NCAA Basektball 10...). The potential for this game moving forward is truly impressive.

Coachdenz
07-20-2010, 04:15 PM
I really want Coaching Carousel , for me I enjoy the game, but it needs something else added outside the game.
Espn stuff is kinda a let down for me and I button pass the team entrances. but glad for the one's this matters too.
I want them to settle on a recuiting system tweak it from year to year and move on to something else.
I like the Spring game, but could live without it.
For me something really needs to be added to the off season like coaching carousel. I mean it's a major part of Football and this game is missing out.

I will say that the 2 online games that I have played so far have been really fun and I enjoy the game.

jaymo76
07-20-2010, 08:18 PM
I really want Coaching Carousel , for me I enjoy the game, but it needs something else added outside the game.
Espn stuff is kinda a let down for me and I button pass the team entrances. but glad for the one's this matters too.
I want them to settle on a recuiting system tweak it from year to year and move on to something else.I like the Spring game, but could live without it.
For me something really needs to be added to the off season like coaching carousel. I mean it's a major part of Football and this game is missing out.

I will say that the 2 online games that I have played so far have been really fun and I enjoy the game.

Agreed with the BOLD statement. Enough recruiting changes... let's get some other areas of dynasty going (aka carousel, custom playbooks, etc.)

JeffHCross
07-21-2010, 01:35 AM
I will say that, all things considered, I think this year's Recruiting system could be in the game for a long, long, time. It seems to have the right amount of balance. The difficulty and points awarded might need tweaked, but the actual interface should be around for quite a while.

AustinWolv
07-21-2010, 08:15 AM
Agreed, I like it.

More flexibility and usefulness compared to the little football guy. More realistic in that good teams are going to attract good players and bad teams aren't loading up with 5 stars after a season or two.

voltool16
07-21-2010, 11:19 AM
i know some think of this as just a useless feature....and it is the way ea implemented it last gen.

ive always had this idea for the spring game/spring training:

in real life, a lot of juco's and true freshmen enroll early in the winter and are able to participate and improve in the spring. this gives them an advantage over the other guys that come in in the summer, as the early enrolllees have gained important experience in the systems that the teams run.

if we could add this to recruiting, maybe a little emblem saying EE or something, it would be great to finish offseason recruiting and be able to play with and do some training camp practices with the new true freshmen. so say you needed a qb badly and he has a good chance of coming in and starting. a lot of elite qb's will enroll early and say he comes in as an 80 to start with, he would start the season as an 80. I think it would be cool to have a chance to take some early enorllees and juco guys come in and gain some awareness and progress 2 to 3 points before the season even starts. 6 extra months and all those scrimmages really does make a huge difference as far as being ready when the fall rolls around for a true freshman.

also, we all know that sometimes ratings dont matter and a guy just plays out of this world and over his rating in actual games. if you need depth at a position but want to redshirt somebody, you could play the spring game with the freshmen to see if any just "have it" as far as gameplay goes. this way before you redshirt, you can actually test players and see who may make more of a difference in gameplay than their rating suggests.

anyways....always wanted this in the game. the chance to sneak in one more wave of progression for a handful of recruits.

JBHuskers
07-21-2010, 12:02 PM
I wouldn't mind a spring game....to sim and analyze the stats. I wouldn't want to play one though.

HuskerBlitz
07-21-2010, 12:07 PM
Yeah, I always let the computer play out the spring game in last gen and looked at the stats. The problem I had with that, though, is the computer was programmed to start eating the clock in the second half.

JeffHCross
07-21-2010, 08:48 PM
I approached the Spring Game like the Prospects games in the College Hoops 2k* series ... decent idea, worthless to play through. The only reason I did the Prospects game is that you gained recruiting knowledge by playing. So I would set it to 1 minute halves and get through them as quickly as possible.

The Spring Game really does nothing that Practice can't. I'd rather see a "Scrimmage" implemented as a Practice option than a full-on Spring Game with recruits involved. The difference between Scrimmage and Practice is that one side of the ball would have CPU controlled playcalling.

jaymo76
07-22-2010, 12:33 AM
I approached the Spring Game like the Prospects games in the College Hoops 2k* series ... decent idea, worthless to play through. The only reason I did the Prospects game is that you gained recruiting knowledge by playing. So I would set it to 1 minute halves and get through them as quickly as possible.

The Spring Game really does nothing that Practice can't. I'd rather see a "Scrimmage" implemented as a Practice option than a full-on Spring Game with recruits involved. The difference between Scrimmage and Practice is that one side of the ball would have CPU controlled playcalling.

Your right, it's value is minimal BUT I just like having the option of playing it. It makes the experience feel more real for me. Now of course I'm also one of those guys watching the BIG TEN NETWROK spring games each year so you know I like it.

JeffHCross
07-22-2010, 02:25 AM
Hell, I can barely watch Ohio State's spring game, and I live and breathe Buckeyes.

Coachdenz
07-26-2010, 07:34 PM
Well today is the 1st time I have tried the new recuiting system and I think it's boring as hell, but if they would leave it alone and do something else with the game I can live with the current system..........just please I hope they leave it alone and move on.

Aglemar
07-26-2010, 10:47 PM
Personally, I like the new way of recruiting...for a lot of reasons, but what I hate is the fact that I always get a timeout error when finalizing an advancement in my OD's week.

Well, its not the first time that bothers me. Its the next 15 minutes of futility that does....retry...retry Maybe 30 minutes would show enough dedication as commish... :sick:

Outside of that, my biggest complaint is air linebacker.

JeffHCross
07-26-2010, 11:25 PM
Well today is the 1st time I have tried the new recuiting system and I think it's boring as hell, but if they would leave it alone and do something else with the game I can live with the current system..........Agreed on all points. I'm not nearly as entertained by this system as I was the previous version. But it is more even and will likely create more recruiting battles, and I'm always up for that.

Plus the point system is actually nice. Last year it seemed 100% pointless.

But the actual interface ... the calls are freaking boring.

jaymo76
07-27-2010, 12:10 PM
Agreed on all points. I'm not nearly as entertained by this system as I was the previous version. But it is more even and will likely create more recruiting battles, and I'm always up for that.

Plus the point system is actually nice. Last year it seemed 100% pointless.

But the actual interface ... the calls are freaking boring.



I just want them to leave it as is and work on other things next year. I can live with this system and in truth it's not too bad at all. Plus, if it's not your thing you can still do the quick call. I tend to use quick call with the low priority recruits (or when my wife is yelling at me to get off the PS3 lol).

JeffHCross
07-27-2010, 12:15 PM
I just want them to leave it as is and work on other things next year.Oh, absolutely. I think we're all in agreement about that.

I think one reason I'm less entertained by the calls is that they're extremely linear. Last year I was effectively doing the same thing these calls do ... I was setting amounts of time for every recruit, then hanging up the call when I reached the predetermined amount. So there was actually some drama of "Can I fit in one more Hard Sell?". But I guess that was all manufactured drama on my end.

Weird thing though ... I swear I'm slower on recruiting this year than last year. Maybe it's that I'm still freaked out about making a mistake, but it sure seems like I'm a lot slower this go around.

JBHuskers
07-27-2010, 12:19 PM
Oh, absolutely. I think we're all in agreement about that.

I think one reason I'm less entertained by the calls is that they're extremely linear. Last year I was effectively doing the same thing these calls do ... I was setting amounts of time for every recruit, then hanging up the call when I reached the predetermined amount. So there was actually some drama of "Can I fit in one more Hard Sell?". But I guess that was all manufactured drama on my end.

Weird thing though ... I swear I'm slower on recruiting this year than last year. Maybe it's that I'm still freaked out about making a mistake, but it sure seems like I'm a lot slower this go around.

How would you make it better with what we have now, making it non-linear?

griffin2608
07-27-2010, 12:29 PM
I like the calls this year, I also like them being linear because in the old system you could pick a pitch and it would go on forever. The longer it went the less interested the recruit became. Then if you hung up you lost all the time and gained nothing from the recruit. I like it how it is, it is just a small part of the overall game, not recruiting but the call itself, and hopefully other aspects of the game will be worked on next year.

JeffHCross
07-27-2010, 12:31 PM
How would you make it better with what we have now, making it non-linear?Honestly I don't know if you can. And I don't know if I would. I just realized why I'm so bored with the calls now. And that's because the interactivity has gone significantly down.

But that's not a bad thing. That was just, essentially, stream of consciousness.

JBHuskers
07-27-2010, 12:36 PM
Honestly I don't know if you can. And I don't know if I would. I just realized why I'm so bored with the calls now. And that's because the interactivity has gone significantly down.

But that's not a bad thing. That was just, essentially, stream of consciousness.

Yeah. The strategy and planning I think has gone up, which is why the new system is a win for me.

morsdraconis
07-27-2010, 12:38 PM
I never found the recruiting fun. It was always a chore to do it and it's even more so because it actually requires some sort thought to do now. At least the previous system I could turn my brain off and just do it. Now I actually have to pay attention...

AustinWolv
07-27-2010, 01:43 PM
I like this year's recruiting much more than in the past. I still don't like the limited roster size however, which makes depth planning much tougher.

JeffHCross
07-27-2010, 01:46 PM
I like this year's recruiting much more than in the past. I still don't like the limited roster size however, which makes depth planning much tougher.I found out last year that the limit of the travel squad in the BCS conferences is 70. That's made it much easier to deal with the limited roster size.

AustinWolv
07-27-2010, 02:19 PM
Yeah, I know. Still doesn't address depth. Lots of young players stay at home when the team travels, but they are still on the roster providing depth in case of injury or down the road, such that you aren't stuck playing a freshman FS or FB, for example.

jaymo76
07-27-2010, 05:10 PM
I like this year's recruiting much more than in the past. I still don't like the limited roster size however, which makes depth planning much tougher.

Unless development is switched to a PS3 specific version I don't think you will see 85 man rosters because I just don't think the 360 version has enough space to add 15 rosters spots for 119 teams and then the equivalent of 100+ more prosepcts per season for recruiting.

Solidice
07-27-2010, 05:45 PM
Unless development is switched to a PS3 specific version I don't think you will see 85 man rosters because I just don't think the 360 version has enough space to add 15 rosters spots for 119 teams and then the equivalent of 100+ more prosepcts per season for recruiting.

PS3 doesn't have any more memory than the 360. I don't think disc space is the reason for not increasing roster space, it's the available system memory to have rosters loaded along with everything else. while the rosters are saved on the hard drive, I'm pretty sure everything you see 'loading' at the main screen when you start the game, are loaded into memory for use. it doesn't read directly from the hard drive(or disc) every time you look at the rosters.

and for the recruits, it's just templates I believe. all they would have to do is increase number of recruits that are generated in one season. and once generated, it's saved on the dynasty file on the hard drive.

JBHuskers
07-27-2010, 06:07 PM
I know the dev team has told us before. I think disc space is the issue, either that or going over 70 for some reason opens up other cans of worms. I know it is one of these two things. We're talking about 3000+ more players worth of data per team per season.

Solidice
07-27-2010, 06:22 PM
I know the dev team has told us before. I think disc space is the issue, either that or going over 70 for some reason opens up other cans of worms. I know it is one of these two things. We're talking about 3000+ more players worth of data per team per season.

I don't really see how text info could use up that much space though. most of the space used are for Art, videos, and Audio. while 3,000+ more players in no small amount, I still think system memory would be an issue before disc space when it comes to roster space. but I'm not sure how the consoles and console video games work when it comes to memory management. I'm just going off how computers work.

JBHuskers
07-27-2010, 06:26 PM
I don't really see how text info could use up that much space though. most of the space used are for Art, videos, and Audio. while 3,000+ more players in no small amount, I still think system memory would be an issue before disc space when it comes to roster space. but I'm not sure how the consoles and console video games work when it comes to memory management. I'm just going off how computers work.

Yeah that's why I'm leaning towards > 70 is breaking more things than it's worth.

Solidice
07-27-2010, 06:48 PM
Yeah that's why I'm leaning towards > 70 is breaking more things than it's worth.

If I remember correctly, I believe when they made the jump from 55 to 70, them saying that was a big task. I would guess that going from 70 to 85 would be as well.

JeffHCross
07-27-2010, 11:17 PM
Yeah, I know. Still doesn't address depth. Lots of young players stay at home when the team travels, but they are still on the roster providing depth in case of injury or down the road, such that you aren't stuck playing a freshman FS or FB, for example.True. And I would like to see 85-man rosters. But it did make it easier to rationalize with myself "why" we're at 70 when I found out that info. I didn't know that previously.