• NCAA Football 13: Gameplay Webcast - Recap

    Tuesday afternoon, EA SPORTS held their NCAA Football 13 Gameplay Webcast in which they announced gameplay features and improvements coming to the game.

    Among the areas of focus to gameplay in NCAA Football 13 are a new Total Control Passing Mechanic (including new pass trajectories), a new catching system (including 430+ new catch animations), Read & React Defensive AI, improved punt coverage and return formations, as well as option, playcalling, and custom playbook improvements, among other changes.

    Continue on to view the LiveStream archive of the event, a detailed list of announced Gameplay improvements, links to media articles and blogs discussing the improvements, and also thoughts from fellow community members.


    Gameplay Improvements:
    - All-new Pump Fake
    - All-new Shovel Pass
    - New Dropbacks (20+ new animations)
    - New Play-Action Abort Fake
    - New Play-Action Pick Up Blitz
    - Throw on the Run Animations
    - Multiple Pass Trajectories (20+ new; new zones/ball speeds)
    - Receiver Route Awareness
    - 430+ New Catch Animations
    - Enhanced Option Pitch
    - Improved Punt Coverage
    - Read & React Defenders

    For detailed information on the gameplay improvements, check out the archived NCAA Football 13 LiveStream event:
    Watch live streaming video from easports at livestream.com


    Media Articles & Video:
    ESPN Video Games - 'NCAA Football 13 ends psychic defense' by Jon Robinson
    IGN - 'Tweaking the Gameplay of NCAA Football 13' by Greg Miller
    Kotaku - 'A Backup Quarterback Pushes You to be Better in NCAA Football 13' by Owen Good
    Game Informer - 'NCAA Football 13 Strengthens Its Aerial Attack' by Matthew Kato
    G4TV - NCAA Football 13 Gameplay Preview (Video)

    Official EA SPORTS Blog:
    'NCAA Football 13 - Gameplay' by Larry Richart
    'NCAA Football 13 - Community Gameplay' by Chris Jacobs
    Comments 175 Comments
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      Quote Originally Posted by I OU a Beatn View Post
      Slowed down user catches...that's a nice little way to try to remove the rocket catches. I guess time will tell as to whether it'll work or not.
      I heard that as they are making it easier to user/rocket catch but perhaps I'm wrong.
    1. baseballplyrmvp's Avatar
      baseballplyrmvp -
      holy shit! different zone depths!
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      I don't want to take complete credit for getting correct/realistic alignment/assignment in but yeah...
    1. psuexv's Avatar
      psuexv -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      I don't want to take complete credit for getting correct/realistic alignment/assignment in but yeah...
    1. baseballplyrmvp's Avatar
      baseballplyrmvp -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      I don't want to take complete credit for getting correct/realistic alignment/assignment in but yeah...
      lol
    1. xMrHitStickx904's Avatar
      xMrHitStickx904 -
      EA messed around and added Madden PS2 pre-snap adjustments. Yup, I like it.
    1. baseballplyrmvp's Avatar
      baseballplyrmvp -
      "alright, i'll send this guy in motion.....alright, man coverage.....hut.....oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, its zone!"
    1. psuexv's Avatar
      psuexv -
      Quote Originally Posted by baseballplyrmvp View Post
      "alright, i'll send this guy in motion.....alright, man coverage.....hut.....oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, its zone!"
    1. baseballplyrmvp's Avatar
      baseballplyrmvp -
      alright.....who was it that hugged larry? cdj?
    1. I OU a Beatn's Avatar
      I OU a Beatn -
      Quote Originally Posted by CLW View Post
      I heard that as they are making it easier to user/rocket catch but perhaps I'm wrong.
      In order to rocket catch, you have to be able to jerk the receiver in a quick motion to get him turned around. If they're slowing that down, it's going to make rocket catch a lot harder if not impossible. Definitely a good thing if it works.

      Love all the new features. I love the different pass trajectory, I love the defenders have to react to the receiver's cut before making a cut themselves, I love the ability to disquise defenses, I love the new punt returns, options, etc...

      It all sounds amazing, but it always sounds amazing. Hopefully it plays just as well. One thing I'm going to point out is just how bad the pass rush still is. The QB still has 5 or 6 seconds to throw against a 4 man rush which is simply unacceptable. Hopefully edge blitzing works a lot better this year to kind of offset that.
    1. xMrHitStickx904's Avatar
      xMrHitStickx904 -
      man ... I said I wasn't gonna get excited, but I'd be fool to say that I'm not. Love the improvements on paper. Still not a fan of the "handicap" for those with no user skills, but it is what it is. The PS2 version of Man Align & Man Lock is a huge addition.
    1. ram29jackson's Avatar
      ram29jackson -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      I don't want to take complete credit for getting correct/realistic alignment/assignment in but yeah...
      i'm sure you and oneback both could take a little credit
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      Thoughts 2.0:

      #16 Read/React - Wait/See approach on if they eliminate psychic DBs by CPU. ?: if I user control the defender must my player be able to see the ball to swat?

      #17 Defensive Allignment - Thank God this has allegedly been improved/fixed! Way EASIER to hide coverages!!!
      #18 - Glad Punts Coverage/Returns got redone.

      #19 - Option - Animations look better but not sure it will affect the game play any. I don't like the term boost when referring to something.

      #20 - Love the new hot routes for RBs/FBs

      #21 - Wait/See on alleged improvements to CPU AI on play calling/clock management

      #22 - Custom Playbooks - sounds like they improved most of the "screw ups" from last year

      Overall, generally/largely unimpressed as most of these changes seem "minor" (although mostly good changes) and the rest I have just been "burned" with these same alleged improvements for years so I just don't believe them when they say CPU playcalling clock management is better. Also concerned that an already WIDE OPEN gameplay was just made even more offense friendly. If this is it in terms of gameplay 13 is really 12.5 as nothing really seemed to be a "game changer" in terms of these improvements.

      Liked that they pointed out the bug they were aware of but seriously stop saying "this isn't final". It's like an odd excuse that divides the community about whether to ask questions/complain about what they see.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      Quote Originally Posted by baseballplyrmvp View Post
      alright.....who was it that hugged larry? cdj?
      Ha! No....While I like the improvement, I didn't hug Larry.
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      So real quick... no overhauls for Line Play, WR/DB Interactions, nor Special teams but each has been touched and tuned.

      I gotta travel tonight so I can't really stick around to answer many questions but I'll try to hit on a few before I leave. As well, post in the Q&A thread and I'll do my best to get as detailed as I can since I'll be hands on with the game this week.
    1. WolverineJay's Avatar
      WolverineJay -
      I absolutely love the changes and new additions to the game. I feel like the gameplay should finally be more sim and way less arcade. Only things I didn't see addressed are Line play and penalties. What goes on in the trenches so to speak is probably the most important factor on how successful you are on gameday. I would appreciate it if the CD guys would chime in on those two legacy issues.

      Ok I see G has addressed some areas that weren't overhauled, but what about penalties? Any tuning or changes to them?
    1. baseballplyrmvp's Avatar
      baseballplyrmvp -
      they didnt talk about weight/momentum.....was anything changed regarding that?

      i keep coming back to this extreme example but its a good indicator of how flawed some aspects of the game are.

      you can edit a d-tackle to be 7'0" tall, 400 lbs, but only a 50 ovr rating, and have him line up over an offensive guard who's 5'5" tall, 160 lbs, but a 99 ovr; and the guard will hold the d-tackle back all game long. a sumo wrestler vs a 6th grader in a shoving match....and the 6th grader wins?
    1. xMrHitStickx904's Avatar
      xMrHitStickx904 -
      Quote Originally Posted by baseballplyrmvp View Post
      they didnt talk about weight/momentum.....was anything changed regarding that?

      i keep coming back to this extreme example but its a good indicator of how flawed some aspects of the game are.

      you can edit a d-tackle to be 7'0" tall, 400 lbs, but only a 50 ovr rating, and have him line up over an offensive guard who's 5'5" tall, 160 lbs, but a 99 ovr; and the guard will hold the d-tackle back all game long. a sumo wrestler vs a 6th grader in a shoving match....and the 6th grader wins?
      Honestly, I don't this engine allows for all of that. At least to the degree that we want it to be.
    1. I OU a Beatn's Avatar
      I OU a Beatn -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      So real quick... no overhauls for Line Play, WR/DB Interactions, nor Special teams but each has been touched and tuned.

      I gotta travel tonight so I can't really stick around to answer many questions but I'll try to hit on a few before I leave. As well, post in the Q&A thread and I'll do my best to get as detailed as I can since I'll be hands on with the game this week.
      Did you feel as though the pass rush was able to get there quicker than last year consistently? Last year it was basically an instant sack or 8 seconds to throw the ball.
    1. illwill10's Avatar
      illwill10 -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      So real quick... no overhauls for Line Play, WR/DB Interactions, nor Special teams but each has been touched and tuned.

      I gotta travel tonight so I can't really stick around to answer many questions but I'll try to hit on a few before I leave. As well, post in the Q&A thread and I'll do my best to get as detailed as I can since I'll be hands on with the game this week.
      I will try to find that thread. I have 2 questions to ask about Gamplay.