• NCAA Football 13 - Second Game Update

    The second NCAA Football 13 Game Update is now available on both XBL & PSN. While an early blog from NCAA Football Lead Producer Jason French detailed some of the improvements planned at that time, more game update details have been announced.

    Continue on to read the full blog from French with added game update aspects italicized. After you download the update, share your thoughts here with the community.


    Title Update Information

    Hello NCAA Football fans, I'm Jason French, lead producer for NCAA Football 13. I'm here to give you some information on the post-release updates that we are currently working on.

    Once the game was released, we started watching the forums and talking to our EA SPORTS Game Changers community to see what areas needed to be addressed. It came to our attention that there were two big issues that we were facing with the game and I commissioned a quick title update in order to get those two issues fixed as soon as possible. The first issue was a loss of functionality on the Playcall screen, which created a situation where you couldn't change the formation without pausing the game. The second issue was a random crash in our Dynasty mode while loading into a Dynasty game. Once we became aware of these issues, we got fixes in and submitted a title update to Microsoft and Sony. The first title update in order to fix these two issues will be released on July 31st.

    Our second update, which will be released by Sony and Microsoft on August 15th, will address the following issues that we have seen from our telemetry and heard about from our community:

    Gameplay

    • Zone Defense has been updated.
      1. We improved receiver leverage logic as well as predicting when a receiver will be in or out of their zone.
      2. Improved Deep Half Zone decision making about when to split between uncovered receivers. Also, allow more zone overlapping in deep half to cover more area.
      3. Deep half defenders were dropping too close to the sideline or dropping outside when no receiver was outside of their position.
    • No-Huddle QB Spy bug fixed. Defenders will no longer go into spy assignments while in man coverage.
    • Receivers weren’t looking for hot-read passes.
    • CPU QBs passing during the drop would get set passes instead of on-the-run inaccurate passes.
    • Change the logic of man defenders so they don't run into the backfield and past the receiver they are covering.
    • Route running near sideline was causing issues especially on comeback routes.
    • Fixed players not respecting global show blitz/press/back off coverage after handing off a receiver.
    • Fixed sideline streak routes so they don't get clamped in a way that the route would end after 10 or 15 yards.
    • Drive summaries should now reset after each scoring drive.

    • Fixed HB stretch play issue where TE’s would be frozen in place during certain blocking animations.
    • Fixed an issue where if a defender made an interception in the end zone and fumbled the ball before his feet touched the ground, it was being counted as a fumble and not an incomplete pass.
    • Resolved an alignment issue where DB on HB would pick up FB instead of HB when HB was put in motion
    • Removed exploit that allowed users to create slant routes to the sideline by motioning a WR and flipping the play.
    • QB Rushing up the middle from under center effectiveness has been balanced.
    • FG holders are no longer downed by contact.
    • Increased frequency of AI using ball carrier special moves.
    • AI play call tuning: No 4th and long run calls; less draws and screens.
    • Ball Hawk feature implemented for user pass defense.
    • Fixed frozen players after celebration dives.
    • Fixed wildcat Play Action exploit.
    • Fixed Defenders not reacting to the QB on read option and option plays when the users defensive adjustment vs. option is set to Aggressive.
    • Fixed shake blitz exploit.
    • Fixed exploit that allowed kicking team to recover squib kicks using low rated kickers.
    • Fixed defensive hot routes after offensive play flip.
    • Fixed issue where waiting for the defense to make their adjustments before picking a play when running ho huddle/hurry up offense caused the defense to reset their play back to the original play.
    • Fixed ‘Jump the Snap’ blitz exploit.
    • Resolved issue where defenders would not react or would be stuck in read and react behavior vs. the option.


    Dynasty

    • Once a promise becomes active, it was duplicating after each week advance.
    • Recruit Reports & Advisory options remained even after the "Allow Time Savers" setting was turned off.
    • Schools with a D+ Program Tradition could not get their grade increased through wins and championships.
    • In the off-season, post season games were not shown to have been played.
    • Fixed an issue where walk-on players were not appearing on the Online Dynasty Web Site.
    • You will now get your points back if a recruit instantly commits during a phone call.
    • Fixed an issue where swayed pitches and grades weren’t being displayed correctly.



    Custom Playbooks

    • Fixed an issue where if CPU coaches were given a custom playbook, the players were occasionally lining up close to the ball.
    • Fixed an issue where the user was unable to create an offensive playbook that consisted of 1 of every formation.
    • Fixed an issue where the user was sometimes losing functionality after the UI disappears in Custom Playbooks.
    • Increased the stability of the product by fixing various crashes.



    In addition, we will be adding a "Uniform Store" to the game. In the past, we have had a cut off of mid-April for uniform submissions from schools in order to get them onto our disc in time. Sometimes those came in after the deadline and we would have to wait until the following year in order to get those default uniforms in. The "Uniform Store" will allow us to give you updated uniforms during the season. If it's an update to a team's default uniform, you will get those uniforms at no additional charge, via download in the store if and when available.

    After these title updates are released, we will continue to monitor forums and look at our internal telemetry to see if there are additional updates we should release. The NCAA Football Development Team is committed to releasing a fun and stable product for all of its fans.
    Comments 112 Comments
    1. I OU a Beatn's Avatar
      I OU a Beatn -
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      • Fixed wildcat Play Action exploit.
      • Fixed Defenders not reacting to the QB on read option and option plays when the users defensive adjustment vs. option is set to Aggressive.
      • Fixed shake blitz exploit.
      • Fixed exploit that allowed kicking team to recover squib kicks using low rated kickers.
      • Fixed issue where waiting for the defense to make their adjustments before picking a play when running ho huddle/hurry up offense caused the defense to reset their play back to the original play.
      • Fixed ‘Jump the Snap’ blitz exploit.
      Wow, I see a BUNCH of fixes for things I sent to G. I don't know if G sending those to EA had anything to do with it, but color me wildly impressed.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      Shit, that completely throws off my timeline for starting up my Tulsa dynasty. Now I've got to get my ass hauling to have that thing up and running. I wasn't expecting this patch until at least August 24th.
    1. PeteyKirch's Avatar
      PeteyKirch -
      Still upset nothing about white uniforms degrading as quickly as colored uniforms.
    1. xGRIDIRONxGURUx's Avatar
      xGRIDIRONxGURUx -
      can any of you Game Changer guys shed some light on this "Ball Hawk" thing they "implemented"? what is it? what will it do? etc... i like when they fix things, but get a little frightened when they toss out the word "implement"

      thanks
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      Quote Originally Posted by xGRIDIRONxGURUx View Post
      can any of you Game Changer guys shed some light on this "Ball Hawk" thing they "implemented"? what is it? what will it do? etc... i like when they fix things, but get a little frightened when they toss out the word "implement"

      thanks
      It's in Madden... you might try the demo out. As I have read on a few twitter conversations, it's essentially a changed/updated user defense when the ball is in the air. I'm thinking this should help out with everyone complaining about not being able to pick/swat the ball. That said, I haven't played Madden at all (the demo or otherwise) so I don't have any feedback for you.

      Here's what Shopmaster wrote on it regarding Madden.
      http://mymaddenpad.com/2012/08/10/ne...madden-nfl-13/
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      You will now get your points back if a recruit instantly commits during a phone call.
      I wondered if I was seeing things with that .... good to know it's going to be fixed.


      G, Jason didn't post if the Dynasty fixes would be active for existing dynasties, or a restart would be necessary. Could you confirm?
    1. xGRIDIRONxGURUx's Avatar
      xGRIDIRONxGURUx -
      cool... i may need to check the demo then on 360, sounds like it could help out a lot for defensive gameplay... if all of this tightens up the zones the correct way, and you can have a legit user go at deflecting/picking the ball... we may FOR ONCE have users in OD's who can build a program to be DEFENSIVE POWERHOUSES instead of everybody having a QB in the race for the Heisman... i dont expect it to be that big of a change up but will definitely add i assume... thanks for the info
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      According to JDewiel on twitter, the uniform store will be unlocked tomorrow, however don't expect any of the uniforms to be in it yet.
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      Quote Originally Posted by JeffHCross View Post
      I wondered if I was seeing things with that .... good to know it's going to be fixed.


      G, Jason didn't post if the Dynasty fixes would be active for existing dynasties, or a restart would be necessary. Could you confirm?
      I believe it was confirmed when the blog first went up... I'd say we can wait and check tomorrow and if there's any question then I can forward it on. That said, generally, unless they specifically state that you will need to restart, it should apply to all existing dynasties.
    1. ram29jackson's Avatar
      ram29jackson -
      we'll see if any of this comes true...? hopefully it doesnt put any other parts backwards
    1. AustinWolv's Avatar
      AustinWolv -
      Anxious to see how the zones play out. Optimistic.

      Very curious about Ball Hawk also, since I suck at getting a DB into position on a ball in the air.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      Does the improved option D just involve the LBs or does it fix the "retarded" CPU CB that either freezes and/or runs away from the play?
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      It sounds like it's supposed to, CLW. The last item in the Gameplay caught my eye.

      "Resolved issue where defenders would not react or would be stuck in read and react behavior vs. the option."
    1. PeteyKirch's Avatar
      PeteyKirch -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      According to JDewiel on twitter, the uniform store will be unlocked tomorrow, however don't expect any of the uniforms to be in it yet.
      But on OS people were saying that Pasta Padre confirmed that any team that announced changes to their main uniforms would be available as soon as the thing went live.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      Quote Originally Posted by PeteyKirch View Post
      But on OS people were saying that Pasta Padre confirmed that any team that announced changes to their main uniforms would be available as soon as the thing went live.
      I think I'm gonna go on the word of someone actually there at EA over that of the people at OS or Pastapadre (and his "sources"). It should be updating and showing up on 360 soon, so I'll find out for sure this morning.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      Looks like it's already out on 360. I just got on the game and downloaded a patch. Have the uniform store in my list of options on the Team Management blade, but when I go into it, it says "The Uniform Store is currently unavailable. Please try again later." So looks like JDewiel is correct.
    1. PeteyKirch's Avatar
      PeteyKirch -
      Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
      I think I'm gonna go on the word of someone actually there at EA over that of the people at OS or Pastapadre (and his "sources"). It should be updating and showing up on 360 soon, so I'll find out for sure this morning.
      I just think it's another half assed attempt out of EA.

      Every team that has announced changes to their main uniforms has been released already. They've had since April to have someone in the art department creating the file for the uniform. It should have been included as soon as the store went live.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      Quote Originally Posted by PeteyKirch View Post
      I just think it's another half assed attempt out of EA.

      Every team that has announced changes to their main uniforms has been released already. They've had since April to have someone in the art department creating the file for the uniform. It should have been included as soon as the store went live.
      Good lord man, give them some time. The patch just literally came out on 360 not even an hour ago, and if I understand correctly, it won't even be out on PS3 until like 6pm tonight or something. The uniforms will show up eventually.
    1. morsdraconis's Avatar
      morsdraconis -
      Quote Originally Posted by PeteyKirch View Post
      I just think it's another half assed attempt out of EA.

      Every team that has announced changes to their main uniforms has been released already. They've had since April to have someone in the art department creating the file for the uniform. It should have been included as soon as the store went live.
      It's just uniforms. It's not that big of a deal. I think people would MUCH RATHER have a game that semi-works, don't you?
    1. PeteyKirch's Avatar
      PeteyKirch -
      Quote Originally Posted by morsdraconis View Post
      It's just uniforms. It's not that big of a deal. I think people would MUCH RATHER have a game that semi-works, don't you?
      I don't know, considering the fact the bulk of the problems people have with the game I haven't ran into.

      I've held off on Dynasty until uniforms dropped and rosters were truly finalized, so no freezing for me.

      I don't know, I do think that both of these things should have been on disk from the get go. It's amazing going through that list, finding all those things, that the people who get paid at EA failed to pick up.