• 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. Deuce's Avatar
      Deuce -
      Well this is just depressing. Hopefully one of these days we'll see the series make a comeback


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
    1. GatorfanStovy's Avatar
      GatorfanStovy -
      That player feature would of been awesoe! Damn u EA/players ! Also missing out on play offs .. next gen would of gotten sweater damn it.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      Yeah, I like sweaters too. I get a new sweater every Christmas. Next gen sweaters would have been amazing!

      Sent from my Droid Maxx using Tapatalk because I'm a lazy ass
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      Quote Originally Posted by Deuce View Post
      Well this is just depressing. Hopefully one of these days we'll see the series make a comeback


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
      Motherfucker! Deuce is still around! I thought you gave up the ghost. Glad you're well, brother.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      I took a deuce in his honor

      Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx since I'm too lazy to get to the CPU.
    1. Deuce's Avatar
      Deuce -
      Quote Originally Posted by steelerfan View Post
      Motherfucker! Deuce is still around! I thought you gave up the ghost. Glad you're well, brother.
      Yep!! Still here just been lurking. I've been in a state of mourning.


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
    1. Deuce's Avatar
      Deuce -
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      I took a deuce in his honor

      Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx since I'm too lazy to get to the CPU.



      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
    1. souljahbill's Avatar
      souljahbill -
      That would've been cool but I'm way more interested in the customization stuff they say they were working on.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Well, I hope all of the ex players in on the lawsuits enjoyed there $100. Thanks again for killing our series!
    1. Bohica1010's Avatar
      Bohica1010 -
      That was seriously a cool option! I know we all have our bits an pieces on the game play, but they were thinking of some cool stuff for the future!
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
      Yeah, I like sweaters too. I get a new sweater every Christmas. Next gen sweaters would have been amazing!

      Sent from my Droid Maxx using Tapatalk because I'm a lazy ass
      This. Next gen "would of" gotten sweater for sure.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      Well, I hope all of the ex players in on the lawsuits enjoyed there $100. Thanks again for killing our series!
      Exactly. Ed O'Bannon will still be selling used cars.
    1. SCClassof93's Avatar
      SCClassof93 -
      Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
      Yeah, I like sweaters too. I get a new sweater every Christmas. Next gen sweaters would have been amazing!

      Sent from my Droid Maxx using Tapatalk because I'm a lazy ass
      Are those ugly sweaters?

    1. Deuce's Avatar
      Deuce -
      Dammit! I want my next gen sweater!


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by Deuce View Post
      Dammit! I want my next gen sweater!
    1. Deuce's Avatar
      Deuce -



      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      I really really wish they would have managed to implement in-game saves into this game before the series died. I have had so little time to just sit and play a full game lately, I've had to play it in 15-20 minute increments, playing one quarter, pausing it, coming back 3 or 4 hours later and playing some more.

      Take right now for instance, I started a game against Boise State in my dynasty around 4-4:15 PM this afternoon. I got a minute and 28 seconds into the first quarter before I had to pause around 4:30 PM because of some stuff going on here at home. I never picked the controller up again until around 9pm tonight. Over a period of time from 9 PM to midnight, I got to around the 1:30 mark of the 1st quarter, playing a little here and pausing, playing a little there and pausing.

      It wasn't until after midnight that I was able to finally just sit down and play the last minute or two of the first quarter and the entire second quarter without interruption. I just got to halftime of my game against Boise State. It's now 1 AM. I have to be by around 8 AM so there is no way in hell I can finish this game tonight. I have no choice but to just leave it paused at halftime and come back to it later. My only option now is to just leave my 360 turned on and running all night with the game sitting at half time in the pause menu, hoping to god I don't wake up tomorrow morning to a frozen game.

      If they would have just managed to work an in-game save system into this goddamn game in the last two or three years, when there were constant votes for it in the various little tournaments we did for additions we wanted for the game to be submitted to the team as community requested features, if they would have just did what needed to be done to work an in-game save system into the game, I could save it right now, turn off my system and be guaranteed of picking it back up at halftime tomorrow or another day without having to sit here hoping and praying it doesn't freeze at any point between now and when I can resume playing, which would mean I just pissed away all that time playing the first half over the last 9 hours.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Totally agree. EA was the only company to not offer in game saves this gen. Incredibly useful.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      Totally agree. EA was the only company to not offer in game saves this gen. Incredibly useful.

      It is the same company that auto-saved your options/settings for years in NCAA, yet Madden did not have that option until last year for the PS3/360 generation? Tiburon's mascot should be Benny Hill.
    1. ram29jackson's Avatar
      ram29jackson -