The Solid Verbal: Have questions for NCAA 12 Designer Russ K.?

[cdj]

Our friends at The Solid Verbal (http://www.solidverbal.com/) have dropped us a line to let us know that on Tuesday's show they will be interviewing NCAA Football 12 Designer Russ Kiniry. (Russ helped work on Dynasty Mode & Coaching Carousel.)

They want to know any questions we may have. While they cant guarantee all will get asked, Ty has said they will try to incorporate some of them.

Post your questions here by Monday night and we will send them over on Tuesday morning!

[Paakaa10]

Post your questions here by Monday night and we will send them over on Monday morning!

Time Paradox! :D

Now, to add something useful to this post:


What addition to NCAA Football 12 was most difficult for you to implement, and why?

[Pig Bomb]

Now that we can totally transform our dynasty experience with custom conferences and full player editing....will we ever get the option to ditch the BCS and implement playoffs like the old days?

[Cipher 8]

Oh goody! I hope they find at least some of these good enough questions to ask...

Q: Are the contract feedback job security goals dynamic? Will the goals change and update to accommodate change of Quarter Length or will the goals always be generated with 5 minute quarters in mind making it way too easy to accomplish for those who choose to play longer minute quarters? At the very least the amount of credit/penalty should change depending on modified quarter length. Since it would be easier to reach a 4,000 yds of offense goal in 8 Min. QTRs compared to 5 Min. QTRs. they should give it a :3redarrow:|:2greenarrow: when playing on 8 Min. but when playing on 5 Min the same goal should be :2redarrow:|:4greenarrow: or something like that.

Q: Why do hard committed recruits still count against your 35/35 recruiting board limit? Once they hard commit they shouldn't count against the recruiting board limit anymore because your no longer actively recruiting them. You should be able to add another prospect to your board in their spot, that way you have a backup plan in case a different prospect on your board commits elsewhere. I understand there's a need to still see who has committed to you already and their position so keep the hard commits on the recruiting board, stickied at the bottom like usual, but just don't make them count against your 35/35 limit. The 25 scholarship max and roster size limits are already in place to restrict how many players you can have so why should their spot still count against your ongoing recruiting? There's no reason why they should count against your 35 after they hard commit.

Q: Are their plans to expand the current limit of 12 user controlled teams for an online dynasty? I know some leagues out there are very well organized and would like the ability to get more users in, maybe not all 120, but more than 12.

Q: What are the plans in the future to expand the coaching carousel feature? For Example: Can we expect to see things like positional coaches implemented at some point or how will you expand upon this great feature?

Q: Since the coaching carousel works as a sort of draft where teams are placed on a list then it goes right down the list... team after team after team picking new coaches/coordinators to hire, How then does the game determine the order of which schools go first? Couldn't that be considered an unfair advantage towards teams lower on the list because it seems it would be unfair. If there's only a few A+ caliber coaches the teams that are picking earlier get an advantage, no? They could hire one of those few A+ coaches where teams down the list wouldn't even have the chance or option until they come up. Do they do it by school prestige or something where the higher schools are placed earlier on the list and get to pick first? That I guess would make the most sense because coaches would covet those jobs more then the lesser schools. I understand a coach can decline offers and I'm assuming the A.I. is set up as to where these coaches just don't accept the first offer that comes their way either but I'm just wondering how the list is determined. In real life it's not a draft order all the schools are searching and hiring at the same time.

Q: How has player progression been improved and how does Coach Prestige play into that this year? Do players actually gain weight from the time they step on campus as a freshman to the time they are a fifth year senior because the weight training they'll have received?

Q: What recruiting A.I. improvements have been made for the CPU controlled teams and can you explain more in depth what position maximum caps does? Ben Haumiller said many fans have expressed frustration over CPU controlled teams signing too many players at certain positions. This issue was fixed early in the cycle for NCAA Football 12, by adding in position maximum caps to prevent the CPU from being able to over sign at a position.

Q: Can you talk about the A.I. behind how schools decide who to hire during the coaching carousel? The deciding factors they consider like Alma Mater, playbook style you run, coaches age, and coach's prestige? I heard Alma Mater is the biggest influence schools will take into consideration among all the other things that go into it. It doesn't guarantee you they will hire you though right? But it may be the deciding factor between you and another candidate that are neck and neck.

Q: In the future are there any plans for a online co-op mode where players can play co-cooperatively on the same team, whether in exhibition or online dynasty? Madden 11 had online co-op and I'm hoping it makes its way into NCAA Football in the future.

Q: Why did you decide to give players who were offensive or defensive coordinators of a team the full abilities and control of a head coach when they were playing user matches instead of having to watch the other side of the ball? I understand usually it's boring to have no control over anything in a game and be stuck to just watch but in this case I would be fine with having to watch your defense against the user's offense, perhaps in the new Broadcast View, and wait for your chance to get the ball where they then watch you. Or if your offense and their defense OC's play against each other then have to both watch while the other two sides are on the field until your side gets the ball back. It would add to the tension in the game I would think. Say they go down and score then you know you gotta match it or fall behind. At least in Coach Mode it would've made sense. I think maybe they should make it optional like a Yes-No thing the commish can choose when creating the dynasty. User Match Coordinator Restrictions: Yes - No type of deal.


Q: What are your plans for future improvements to custom conferences? Will you consider giving the players the ability to re-name and/or create your own conferences? Maybe some features could be worked into the Teambuilder site where you can then create a custom logo for your conference. Will we ever be able to delete existing conferences rather than just move teams around and will the conference prestige ever change, or let us set their prestige rating at least? Giving the players the ability to rework the whole college football landscape for their online dynasties would be a good addition to the game.

Q: Instead of bowl tie-ins and at large, can you please give us PLAYOFFS? Similar to college basketball with seeding to determine who faces who with winners advancing through the bracket and the final two teams play for a BCS Title at the end. If it's NCAA stopping you from doing this try to sway them please, it's just a game not like it will affect them IRL. An option to do this would be greatly appreciated by thousands of your fans.

Q:What are the chances that in the future we'll have a full fledged contract system for scheduling games? Where coaches (players) can offer like a home and home with a school, or a 2 for 1, for future years down the road. Obviously the others teams coach, whether human or A.I., could accept or decline the offer and thus you wouldn't see big time schools accepting small time teams offers because it doesn't benefit them in any way shape or form.

Q: How do you keep track of linked plays in custom playbook?

Q: What are the chances you can bring in the Michigan and Notre Dame throwback uniforms from their "Under The Lights" game through DLC or update? I understand they didn't announce it in time so you guys weren't aware/didn't have time to implement them into the game this year at launch but couldn't you take some time post launch to include these uniforms in on a patch update?

I think 15 is enough from me...


P.S. I know some of you guys here at TGT already tried to answer some of these questions but I still would like to have them asked to Designer Russ Kiniry to see what he has to say and see if it brings about any good discussion. Thanks.

[Dr Death]

Now that we can totally transform our dynasty experience with custom conferences and full player editing....

I have a really stupid question... w/ full player editing in dynasty now, does this mean we can recruit all 1 and 2-star players and then edit them to 4 and 5-star players? I hope not, but being able to edit some details will be nice.

Can anyone clarify?

[gschwendt]

I have a really stupid question... w/ full player editing in dynasty now, does this mean we can recruit all 1 and 2-star players and then edit them to 4 and 5-star players? I hope not, but being able to edit some details will be nice.

Can anyone clarify?That is the theory, yes. It's essentially letting you make the dynasty however you want it to be. If you want to cheat, go for it... you're only cheating yourself. The intent though is to battle problems like last year where there were very few worthy kickers & punters.

[Cipher 8]

That is the theory, yes. It's essentially letting you make the dynasty however you want it to be. If you want to cheat, go for it... you're only cheating yourself. The intent though is to battle problems like last year where there were very few worthy kickers & punters.I just hope they would fix the recruit generation thing to battle that specific problem myself but this will do for now I guess.

[ram29jackson]

Will Teambuilder have any customizing improvements for NCAA 13?
any improvements that could be added after release of NCAA 12?

[souljahbill]

I think you guys are beating a dead horse asking for playoffs. I can't possibly see the NCAA giving a playoff option the ok when they're clearly in bed with the BCS.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jaymo76]

Why is conference prestige NOT dynamic? Is there any way this can be patched???

[JeffHCross]

Q: Instead of bowl tie-ins and at large, can you please give us PLAYOFFS? Similar to college basketball with seeding to determine who faces who with winners advancing through the bracket and the final two teams play for a BCS Title at the end. If it's NCAA stopping you from doing this try to sway them please, it's just a game not like it will affect them IRL. An option to do this would be greatly appreciated by thousands of your fans.

EA is one of the largest licensees of the NCAA's licensing arm (CLC). I'd imagine they'd disagree with you that it's "just a game". I've read in the past that the NCAA denied their requests to put playoffs in as an option, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[Cipher 8]

EA is one of the largest licensees of the NCAA's licensing arm (CLC). I'd imagine they'd disagree with you that it's "just a game". I've read in the past that the NCAA denied their requests to put playoffs in as an option, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

You know what I mean. I'm not saying it's "just a game" as a negative. I would never imply games are meaningless. I'm a big time gamer, probably more so than most here who appear to be just sports gamers okay... I haven't gone a single day in the past three years without turning my xbox 360 on and I usually play for upwards of 8 hours a day. It's not uncommon to go 12+ either.

What I'm trying to say is it's not harming them at all to have playoffs in a game, in fact it may actually quiet some NCAA fans that want it done in real life if they are able to live out their college football playoff dreams in the game. It's not replacing the default bowl bids system but an option for online dynasties especially when they allow team builder and other customization features more and more latelly, come on NCAA loosen up!

Ultimately I don't expect them to but I think outside organizations shouldn't have this much control over what goes into games. I know it's their image and their license but it's not like EA is shining bad light on their product whatsoever by including playoffs.

I don't even watch any college football, ever! not even the bowl games but I plan on watching some games this year because I play NCAA Football games upwards of 400, 500, sometimes 600 hours a year because it's fun and the online dynasties are robust more so than anything Madden has offered. I do actually watch a ton of NFL games, in fact I haven't missed one Viking game in 5 years, but I don't even buy or play Madden the game because it doesn't compare to the online dynasty mode. NCAA should be happy they are getting fans into the sport and allow them more freedom to improve the game.

[Cipher 8]

Why is conference prestige NOT dynamic? Is there any way this can be patched??? +1 Forgot about the one, very important especially when they added in custom conferences but restricted us to only moving teams around.

[JeffHCross]

You know what I mean. I'm not saying it's "just a game" as a negative.I know ... but ...

Ultimately I don't expect them to but I think outside organizations shouldn't have this much control over what goes into games. I know it's their image and their license but it's not like EA is shining bad light on their product whatsoever by including playoffs.Maybe, maybe not. Another thing to consider is that maybe it's a condition of using the BCS trademark and logos. The BCS could certainly make the argument that it would be harmful to their image to allow people to choose playoffs.

Since you mentioned that you're more of an NFL fan ... if EA wanted to put bowl games into Madden, do you think the NFL would look kindly on that request? To an extent, that would be a similar situation. I can't see the NFL going for that either.


+1 Forgot about the one, very important especially when they added in custom conferences but restricted us to only moving teams around."Only"? What else were you hoping for in regard to custom conferences?

[Boucher]

You guys are friends with Ty and Dan?

[Cipher 8]

"Only"? What else were you hoping for in regard to custom conferences?

What I meant was specific to his example. You can only move teams around to conference that already have a prestige rating, so say you move all the shitty teams to SEC it's still an A. While you got all the powerhouse :6star: teams in the MAC it's still a C or whatever.

As for what else? Oh I don't know maybe renaming the conference for starters, or better yet just being able to create your own conferences from scratch (and delete the current conferences if you don't want that many) that would be cool. Make your own logo, which you could create on the teambuilder site thing, and that way all the people that wanted an updated teambuilder would be happy. Heck they could actually make all the Div II schools and play an online dynasty with them making their conferences. That or use teambuilder teams for all these online dynasties that people put a lot of time and effort into, websites and all that, could have their own custom league if you will.

I'm just putting out ideas... Some take it as me asking for too much but see I'm a designer at heart. That's how my mind works, I'm not just a gamer who enjoys games. I have the mindset as everything can be improved and by god I have ideas of how to improve it. Since I don't work for EA these are where I share my ideas on how to improve that specific feature. Places like TGT. I may not be a gamechanger but I know I could be. Don't take anything I'm saying as negative. That's not how I mean to come across. I'm not complaining about the game with negativity in mind I'm just sharing my ideas.

[JeffHCross]

What I meant was specific to his example. You can only move teams around to conference that already have a prestige rating, so say you move all the shitty teams to SEC it's still an A. While you got all the powerhouse :6star: teams in the MAC it's still a C or whatever.Totally get it. Was just looking for clarification.

I consider myself a designer-type too, so I share most of your ideas. Would be nice. Certainly don't see it as a negative.

[SolidVerbal]

You guys are friends with Ty and Dan?

The Gaming Tailgate has always been very supportive of our efforts and we definitely consider you guys friends of the program. Not in a weird, Ohio State kinda way, either.

The questions on here are fantastic. We'll do our very best to cover as many as we can in addition to some of the ones we've brewed up on our own. Keep 'em coming!

--Ty

[JeffHCross]

Not in a weird, Ohio State kinda way, either.Hey now. :P

[ram29jackson]

any Easter eggs hidden in game this year..like a really short player or a bizarre/unusual endzone dance ?

one year on old gen,.. something like a safety or 2 point conversion ...it may have depended on game situation or a particular team or field... triggered a little walk like an Egyptian dance a player would do

[Cipher 8]

Another question, Why isn't there an option to use Coach Mode in Online Dynasties and will you include that in NCAA Football 13?


:(

[Coach Kernzy]

Another question, Why isn't there an option to use Coach Mode in Online Dynasties and will you include that in NCAA Football 13?


:(
+1

[ram29jackson]

Explain- Teambuilder roster share ?

[mtoo22]

Explain- Teambuilder roster share ?

+78,906

Spot the.....

[kabbey520]

I got a question:

Why are Arizona's uniforms wrong for the 2nd year in row? The white helmets have blue facemasks, they should be white. Also there is no 'A' logo on the pants. I know there is bigger issues as far as gameplay, presentation, etc. I'm gonna by the game regardless, but it kinda dampers the experience for me being my favorite team & having our uniforms wrong. And there should be no exuse w/ them being wrong for 2 straight years. Also why can't we have teams that have new uniforms or stadium updates that didn't make it in the game be patched in?

[Pig Bomb]

I got a question:

Why are Arizona's uniforms wrong for the 2nd year in row? The white helmets have blue facemasks, they should be white. Also there is no 'A' logo on the pants. I know there is bigger issues as far as gameplay, presentation, etc. I'm gonna by the game regardless, but it kinda dampers the experience for me being my favorite team & having our uniforms wrong. And there should be no exuse w/ them being wrong for 2 straight years. Also why can't we have teams that have new uniforms or stadium updates that didn't make it in the game be patched in? there's your answer right there

[ram29jackson]

there's your answer right there

i'm pretty sure I heard them say your screen name during the ustream...

[swampee]

I have a question about why there is a lack of camera views. This is a video game where you play visually shouldnt multiple views be in the game. We had them in the last generation where everyone had their own preference. I like a more zoomed in view for depth reasons. Is it there a gameplay reason that has caused them not to be able to put them in the game? I have read many forums and seen posters wonder about this but they have never been added. I know most dont care but it really takes away from the game for me because I only see depth well on a zoomed view. Thanks

[kabbey520]

there's your answer right there

Agreed, but how would you feel if your favorite team didn't look like they were supposed to?

[Pig Bomb]

i'm pretty sure I heard them say your screen name during the ustream...
LOL

[imalive1459]

I'd like to know why some formations are considered "hidden" and cannot be freely added into any custom playbook. Technical issue?

Swyped from my Android phone.

[SituationSoap]

Simple question: Porting between the Xbox 360 and a Windows 7 PC is fairly simple due to the extreme portability of the XNA framework (which, while not required to the best of my knowledge is incredibly useful for developing 360 games). In light of this fact, has EA looked at returning the NCAA series to the PC?

[ram29jackson]

sooo...did this take place / happen ?