• Updates from the NCAA Football Demo to Retail


    Courtesy EA Sports
    : On Monday the 14th, the demo for NCAA Football 11 was released on Xbox Live and the Playstation Marketplace, and so far the impressions have been overwhelmingly positive. But some are wondering, is the Demo truly NCAA Football 11? It came out a month before the game is due to hit shelves, so does that mean we put another month of work into the game after that? Yes it does! As a matter of fact, we finished the demo on the 1st of May and finished the game on the 1st of June. In this blog I will address some of the differences between the demo and the final product.

    What's Been Done Since the Demo? Click Read More to see the list.

    The following is a list of the most common issues reported on the demo that will not occur in the retail game:

    • On Xbox 360, the Reese's Perfect Play of the Game will not always be the final play. As some of you have already speculated, we temporarily save off highlights to the hard drive during the game so you can view them later, however this is not something we are able to do in the demo.
    • The CPU team will now decline penalties.
    • Front four defensive linemen will generate a better pass rush. There are many contributing factors to this that have been tweaked. CPU defensive linemen will rush the pass more aggressively and will not get thrown to the ground as often when "losing" to the blocker. Defensive ends will also do a better job of getting off their blocks at more appropriate angles to help contain a scrambling quarterback. Additionally, you can always tune the pass rush to your liking using the AI sliders if you still feel it is lacking (or overpowered) in the final product.
    • A major issue was fixed where the sound would cut out and eventually cause the game to freeze.
    • Pass defense has been greatly improved, both in man and zone coverage assignments. They will do a better job defending crosses, slants, and the flats in man coverage. Also, deep zone assignments have been improved to defend against the deep pass. Like the pass rush, you can further tune this to your liking using AI sliders.
    • Improved lead blocking by pulling linemen and fullbacks on tosses and sweeps.
    • Fixed an issue where place kickers were getting subbed out for (usually) quarterbacks on kicks.
    • Fixed issue where the commentary would occasionally sound garbled on Xbox 360.
    • Dual Stick Ballcarrier Control has been improved, making R-Stick moves look and feel more responsive. Also made some visual improvements with turning and leaning animations.
    • Fixed some issues that caused receivers to drop catches they should have made. Again, this is also something that can be tuned further using AI Sliders.
    • Quarterbacks will no longer stutter when scrambling and crossing the line of scrimmage.
    • Fixed several situations where the wrong team was celebrating after a big play.
    • Playcall will not suggest going for a 2 point conversion when it shouldn't.
    • In general, we made defenders a little better at getting off blocks. This helps in defending against outside runs and quarterback scrambles as mentioned before.
    • Fixed several camera issues on kickoffs, including the one where the camera would not follow the ball on the ground.
    • Fixed a broken play where the quarterback would get stuck in his handoff animation and just run backwards away from the line of scrimmage.
    • Fixed FB Fake HB Toss play so the quarterback will not toss the ball behind the running back.
    • Improved head tracking for ball carriers, receivers and defenders.
    • Fixed some issues with auto replay cameras where it was too low to the ground and was not focusing on the correct targets.
    • More general tuning was done on option plays to make them run smoother.
    • Fixed an issue with playcall where it was not remembering the last formation you called.
    • Fixed an issue where receivers couldn't make a tackle quickly after an interception.
    • Removed an exploit that would allow for "Rocket Catches".
    • Fixed an issue where the CPU Ballcarrier would continue to cover the ball during long runs, even if no defenders were near.
    • Defenders will now be able to press receivers when they are in preplay motion.
    • Fixed an issue where defenders would turn the wrong way on curl routes.
    • Fixed an issue where defenders in man coverage would make a bad direction change after pressing the receiver.
    • Tuned some out-routes out of the backfield that were too effective against man coverage.
    • Fixed an issue where linebackers would stutter in pre-play and would get stuck.
    • Fixed some issues with players bumping into each other during preplay adjustments.
    • Fixed some issues where defenders would get caught offsides a lot against the no huddle.
    • Fixed the issue causing a delayed whistle in post play.
    • Fixed an exploit that disables bump and run after a play is flipped, causing coverage to go back to normal.
    • Fixed an exploit that allowed you to consistently recover onside kicks.
    • Adjusted CPU AI for kick returns so that they will not attempt to catch kickoffs that are headed out of bounds.
    • Improved CPU clock management so they will call a timeouts properly to set up a late field goal.
    • Fixed an issue where the Read Option would not be executed properly from the hash marks.
    • Numerous Commentary Fixes and Additions
    • Various other tweaks and tuning to improve general gameplay.


    Thank you again for all the terrific feedback. I hope you continue to enjoy the demo until July 13th, when you can pick up the full retail version of NCAA Football 11.
    Comments 48 Comments
    1. I OU a Beatn's Avatar
      I OU a Beatn -
      Well, both of the issues I had with the demo(pass rush and pass coverage) have been supposedly "greatly improved," so I guess time will tell. Definitely encouraging to here, though.
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      Quote Originally Posted by IOUaBeatn View Post
      Well, both of the issues I had with the demo(pass rush and pass coverage) have been supposedly "greatly improved," so I guess time will tell. Definitely encouraging to here, though.
      Yeah... obviously we still have to see what the final product entails but it sounds like the majority of the complaints from the demo were at least addressed and potentially fixed. Very good to hear.

      The only thing I see missing is the QB Walk. I don't play online randoms but I know that can be horrible for those that do.
    1. Sinister's Avatar
      Sinister -
      i would like for them to allow scrambling out of the wildcat formation
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      I have a feeling we definitely owe some thanks to CDJ on a few of these....he took a LOAD of notes when we were playing the hell out of the demo at the NFL Draft.
    1. Deuce's Avatar
      Deuce -
      Good stuff. I was really only worried about the pass coverage. If they corrected that I'll LOVE this game.
    1. Thelaw's Avatar
      Thelaw -
      Very glad to see that they fixed the camera for the squib kick.
    1. Flav's Avatar
      Flav -
      * Fixed an issue where the Read Option would not be executed properly from the hash marks.

      I hope that is when the quarterback took the same path as the running back?!?
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      Here's to hoping these fixes are effective!

      Sounds like they hit on everything we've talked about.
    1. psusnoop's Avatar
      psusnoop -
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      I have a feeling we definitely owe some thanks to CDJ on a few of these....he took a LOAD of notes when we were playing the hell out of the demo at the NFL Draft.
      Thanks guys!

      Really looking forward to seeing this game on the 13th.
    1. AustinWolv's Avatar
      AustinWolv -
      Good read. rhombic's zone assignment complaint might still exist, but a lot of other items that have been noted have been fixed. Thumbs-up. Days are ticking!
    1. Kwizzy's Avatar
      Kwizzy -
      Sounds like they touched on a majority of the issues we've experienced... Still curious to see the extent of the changes they can make using the new "tuning" feature.

      From what I can tell from the demo, IMO this is a VERY GOOD game that has the potential to be GREAT if a few of these issues are in fact fixed or able to be fixed using tuning.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      I have a feeling we definitely owe some thanks to CDJ on a few of these....he took a LOAD of notes when we were playing the hell out of the demo at the NFL Draft.
      I'd say some of these changes are the result of Community Day feedback in March, but more importantly from feedback on NCAA Football community sites and gaming sites like The Gaming Tailgate, EA Forums, Operation Sports, NCAA Football Freak, pastapadre, Madden Matrix, Console Sports, Tradition Football, The Sports Game Guy, etc. The dev team enjoys reading constructive feedback from passionate fans of the series who play the game and genuinely want to see it improve. Just because they don't post doesn't mean they aren't reading forums.
    1. AustinWolv's Avatar
      AustinWolv -
      Just because they don't post doesn't mean they aren't reading forums.
      Lurkers! I know you are there! Still haven't figured out why you haven't tabbed myself and JeffH to fix the UM and OSU rosters for you every year!!

    1. Kwizzy's Avatar
      Kwizzy -
      Quote Originally Posted by AustinWolv View Post
      Lurkers! I know you are there! Still haven't figured out why you haven't tabbed myself and JeffH to fix the UM and OSU rosters for you every year!!

      HA! Don't count on it, us Husker fans have got 2 guys WHO GO TO THE COMMUNITY DAYS EVERY YEAR & still we can't seem to get any input! Although I will say I'm pretty happy with the Husker's roster this year for the most part so maybe we do have some pull after all! :p
    1. Deuce's Avatar
      Deuce -
      Man, I just read the list again. Awesome! I'm so happy to hear about the pass coverage and d-line pressure...and both can still be tweaked. I realize we always had those sliders but the demo had me scared b/c the pass d was so bad. Its going to be hard to stay away from the demo for the next 22 days.
    1. ebin's Avatar
      ebin -
      That's an impressive looking list. Its going to be a long three weeks!
    1. iBrandon's Avatar
      iBrandon -
      Great stuff. Hopefully everything is works as well as it should.
    1. Coachdenz's Avatar
      Coachdenz -
      this is good news.
    1. AustinWolv's Avatar
      AustinWolv -
      Quote Originally Posted by Kwizzy View Post
      HA! Don't count on it, us Husker fans have got 2 guys WHO GO TO THE COMMUNITY DAYS EVERY YEAR & still we can't seem to get any input! Although I will say I'm pretty happy with the Husker's roster this year for the most part so maybe we do have some pull after all! :p
      That is because they are still being punished for burdening college football with the Solich years. College football is much more harmonious when Nebraska has a solid team.
    1. Kwizzy's Avatar
      Kwizzy -
      Quote Originally Posted by AustinWolv View Post
      That is because they are still being punished for burdening college football with the Solich years. College football is much more harmonious when Nebraska has a solid team.
      haha... better Solich than Callahan & that's saying something... Well hopefully harmony will be restored this year, it'd be nice to win the Big 12 on our way out! Sorry for getting off topic.... so yeah... updates from the demo look good :p