• College Football 15 - What Could Have Been

    In a recent article evaluating how next-gen sports titles fared in their first edition, Polygon's Owen Good included some previously unknown information on a game feature being worked on for the now cancelled EA SPORTS College Football 15.

    Designers he chatted with indicated plans for a new MMO-like feature within Road to Glory & Online Dynasty mode. Upon completion of RTG, users would see their recruits, as well as those of others in the OD and around the country, now in the pool of recruits to pursue. Users would then be able to see how their recruit fared in the 50 or so Online Dynasties where the player was seeded.

    Continue on to read more of the excerpt from Good's article and what could have been in College Football 15.


    Let's speak a word of charity for the NCAA Football series, which was working on a next-generation version right up to the day it was canceled in September, in light of the ongoing litigation former college players have brought over the use of their likenesses in products such as video games. Designers I've talked to since then were already sketching out some unusual features that borrowed a page from Madden NFL's Connected Franchise Mode.

    The game — likely to have been called College Football 15 — considered but didn't have the time to implement a true connected dynasty mode, allowing people to play either as a single performer or a coach controlling the entire team in the same online league, as with Madden. But it did have a novel idea for an MMO-ish experience. Players in the Road to Glory career suite would go through a high school career, exit it rated at a certain level, and then see their stars form the recruiting pool in the online dynasty they joined (as well as others.)

    So when they took over as a coach in an online dynasty, players would effectively be recruiting themselves, their friends, and hundreds of other real people they never heard of. (The potential for seeing awesome names on your big board seems stratospheric.) The high school career could be replayable to give someone better attributes, a better recruit ranking, or other unlockables. Players would be able to see how their high school performers progressed in the 50 or so dynasties where they were seeded.

    It'd be around this time of year we usually heard about new features for EA Sports' college football game. This year, though, it's only to hear what could have been. It's a shame. I was putting friends in custom NCAA Football recruiting classes 10 years ago; this concept sounds like an even more fun version of that.



    The game also more than likely would have included the new College Football Playoff, significant graphical improvements (with the move to PS4/XB1), new FBS programs, the gameplay leap (and then some) from Madden 25, and more. It's a shame the game couldn't have been published at least one more year to see the major leap it appeared would be coming to franchise.
    Comments 40 Comments
    1. GatorfanStovy's Avatar
      GatorfanStovy -
      Lame cover .. hes jyst back up a he should be. his hc said it even


      http://blogs.nfl.com/2014/05/13/john...like-a-backup/
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      Better than Tebow

      Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx since I'm too lazy to get to the CPU.
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      Quote Originally Posted by GatorfanStovy View Post
      Lame cover .. hes jyst back up a he should be. his hc said it even


      http://blogs.nfl.com/2014/05/13/john...like-a-backup/
      Of course he said that. You have to earn the starting job no matter who is in front of you.

      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      Better than Tebow

      Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx since I'm too lazy to get to the CPU.
      Yeah. Besides, how many NCAA cover athletes started as rookies in the NFL?
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by GatorfanStovy View Post
      hes jyst back up a he should be.
      Since I did an emoticon for Ram. This sentence kinda begged me to do a new one.

    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      Is the Gator Spanish?
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      Is the Gator Spanish?
      Hard to tell from his posts.
    1. ram29jackson's Avatar
      ram29jackson -
      spanglish
    1. xMrHitStickx904's Avatar
      xMrHitStickx904 -
      It's too bad we didn't get just 1 version of NCAA Football for Next-Gen systems. Now I have to get the 360 copy soon just so I don't have too many withdrawals lol.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      Quote Originally Posted by xMrHitStickx904 View Post
      It's too bad we didn't get just 1 version of NCAA Football for Next-Gen systems. Now I have to get the 360 copy soon just so I don't have too many withdrawals lol.
      Gamefly had it on sale for $13 earlier this week, but it's sold out.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      OS has current rosters too. I put the latest version in my locker.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      OS has current rosters too. I put the latest version in my locker.
      How accurate are they?

      Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx since I'm too lazy to get to the CPU.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      How accurate are they?

      Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx since I'm too lazy to get to the CPU.
      They had moved Funchess to WR for Michigan (is accurate). Looked good to me but I'm no expert on college rosters. Download the set in my locker and you can tell me lol.

      At the very least all of the kids that are left are gone and the class has been updated for everyone. I'll put the download user name as well.
      PS3 "Schoene503" which is latest, not original OP : http://www.operationsports.com/forum...14-15-ps3.html
      360A "JC Spinner" or : http://www.operationsports.com/forum...box-360-a.html
      360B "Call Me LSU" : http://www.operationsports.com/forum...x-360-wip.html
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Food for thought... at about this time each year we begin to contemplate which team we will run with in dynasty mode. Just for old times sake, I will do the same ritual.

      NCAA 2015 (PS4) Starting school: OC for

      Alma Mater:

      Other teams that would get serious consideration between now and "release date" would be:

      This will hurt the most on July 8th... the former release date.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      My team would be wherever I end up moving to next when I eventually leave Utah State.

      I suppose the good thing this year, once I finish up my current season at Utah State, after which I'll reach the end of my current contract, I no longer have to potentially leave Utah State due to a new game coming out. I'll be able to give it some serious thought and decide if I want to sign on at Utah State for another 2-3 years or decide if I do feel like it's time to move on and find a new team to play as.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
      My team would be wherever I end up moving to next when I eventually leave Utah State.

      I suppose the good thing this year, once I finish up my current season at Utah State, after which I'll reach the end of my current contract, I no longer have to potentially leave Utah State due to a new game coming out. I'll be able to give it some serious thought and decide if I want to sign on at Utah State for another 2-3 years or decide if I do feel like it's time to move on and find a new team to play as.
      It's 2019 in my UNLV dynasty. I am committed to finishing the 2020 season... and then I am outa there. I NEED a change from Vegas and the MWC. My desired conferences are either the ACC or the BIG10. However, we will see how it goes. My alma mater this year is Indiana but they don't appear to be in need of a new HC.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      It's 2019 in my UNLV dynasty. I am committed to finishing the 2020 season... and then I am outa there. I NEED a change from Vegas and the MWC. My desired conferences are either the ACC or the BIG10. However, we will see how it goes. My alma mater this year is Indiana but they don't appear to be in need of a new HC.
      Yeah, I'm sort of split on what I want to do. I like to move on after a few years because playing the same conference opponents year after year gets sort of old after a while. I like to change conferences and see new faces on the entire schedule every few years.

      However, I sort of want to stay at Utah State after my contract expires. I haven't been able to do anything yet. I haven't won the Mountain Division yet, I haven't played in the MWCCG at all, and I've only been in one bowl game so far at Utah State, missing out last season due to a losing record. I have a LOT to still accomplish at Utah State, and I'd like to add at least one Mountain West championship to my list of accolades.

      Of course, that could be difficult. New Mexico went from 4-8 last season to somehow an 8-0 record so far this season. Making, thus far, a 4 positive swing compared to last year, and still being undefeated and ranked in the Top 25 with just four games left in the regular season, I'm not sure I want to think of what New Mexico will be like in another one or two seasons if they stay at such a high level or get better.

      So I've got some thinking to do before I get to the end of my current season. Do I cut my losses at Utah State and exit without a MWC championship and potentially only one bowl win, or do I stick around for another 2 or 3 years (however long the contract extension offer ends up being for) and try to win a couple of MWC championships and try to rack up some bowl wins.
    1. souljahbill's Avatar
      souljahbill -
      My usual:
      Start as an OC at (where I got my Masters degree) then on to HC at (where I got my Bachelor's degree). Usually, by the time UL starts cooking nationally, USM needs a new coach so I coach there and essentially stay there for the rest of the dynasty.
    1. PDOGEMP 8's Avatar
      PDOGEMP 8 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      OS has current rosters too. I put the latest version in my locker.
      im waiting till we get near the start of the 2014 season before i download any updated roster's, im sure they will have them better by then. i did get CALL ME LSU 2014 rosters but most of the FR for all teams wont be there till June so you wont know what # they will have yet.
    1. PDOGEMP 8's Avatar
      PDOGEMP 8 -
      would have loved it if EA came out with a Playoff Patch for NCAA 14, they could have sold it for at least $15.
    1. ram29jackson's Avatar
      ram29jackson -
      Quote Originally Posted by PDOGEMP 8 View Post
      would have loved it if EA came out with a Playoff Patch for NCAA 14, they could have sold it for at least $15.
      they were never really great with updates or patches anyway. The updated roster sounds interesting