The Gaming Tailgate: NCAA Football 12 Preview

How about run/pass commit and gameplanning--any significant tweaks that jumped out at anyone?

"The running joke from the events is that we'll be seeing a lot of 'the game is broke' comments on forums the first week (or month) as users adjust to the defense as they (at least on higher difficulties) shouldn't be able to wing the ball all over the field."

I was thinking the same thing. I cant wait to get mad at myself for not reading the D right! I just hope it stays this way and no tuner screws it up.

"In the tournament last week, I played RynoAid and lost 7-3. He was Oklahoma, I was Alabama. Neither one of us could mount drives against the other's defense. For comparison's sake, last year he defeated me in the tourney 27-14, most notably by running with the QB. That didn't work for either of us against OU/Bama."

Great to hear I enjoy a D battle more than a score fest.

"Presentation - All of it is great. In March, Tommy and I played with the new Stadium Sounds briefly and that adds so much to the team entrance. Like steelerfan said, I also get a kick out of watching and seeing all of the team specific entrances, stadium nuances, etc. GameTrack is a feature visible in Play Now that no one has mentioned yet. After the opening kick-off of the third quarter Brad will toss it to Erin and she will give an update from the coaches or on the game while the big plays of the game are shown. While I did not listen to the in-game audio nearly enough, the little I heard was impressive and the devs themselves (non-presentation) were very pleased with the commentary improvements this year."

This answers another one of my questions. I was wondering if you guys got the chance to play with the sounds.

Thank all you guys for taking the time to answer our questions.

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Originally Posted by coogrfan

How about run/pass commit and gameplanning--any significant tweaks that jumped out at anyone?

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Off the top of my head, no.

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Originally Posted by coogrfan

How about run/pass commit and gameplanning--any significant tweaks that jumped out at anyone?

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Nothing truly significant... I'm sure they tuned both to some degree but nothing earth-shattering. I believe the actual operation is identical to NCAA11 for both.

all of it sounds good, cant wait for OD and regular dynasty info.

Is there a noticeable difference from the elite defense's compared to say average or below average?

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Thank all you guys for taking the time to answer our questions.

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Glad to do it! TGT was VERY well represented at these events, you will definitely get a lot of perspectives here.

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Originally Posted by coogrfan

How about run/pass commit and gameplanning--any significant tweaks that jumped out at anyone?

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When on offense you can adjust your defensive game-plan, press LB/RB (IIRC) and it switches. A small, but welcome improvement. Users shouldn't forget to set their game-plan now as they won't have to wait until going back on offense or defense.

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Originally Posted by cdj

When on offense you can adjust your defensive game-plan, press LB/RB (IIRC) and it switches. A small, but welcome improvement. Users shouldn't forget to set their game-plan now as they won't have to wait until going back on offense or defense.

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I didn't even notice that, thanks cdj!!

One thing I don't know that I've seen clarified is that the new dive catches can be user triggered. I had one where the ball was WAY overthrown deep & I was able to haul it in by diving for the ball. Very nice to have more control over that type of thing.

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Originally Posted by ryby6969

Is there a noticeable difference from the elite defense's compared to say average or below average?

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I'm sure some others can chime in, but honestly, I never really played grossly mismatched teams. I can't imagine why it wouldn't be noticeably different though.

Everything sounds very encouraging, so far. I have a few specific questions.

1) It sounds like the improvements to zone AI will dramatically lessen the effectiveness of things like SG 5 wide and 4 verticals type plays. Is that the case?

2) Did you notice any difference in terms of defensive reaction to counter plays? On NCAA '11 they are way over-effective.

3) To what extent did you see a more fully developed running game from the shotgun? In other words, do more playbooks have non-finesse HB runs, such as dive and power plays? In a similar vein, the QB wrap plays from last year were basically broken. Do these work effectively now?

4) Bubble screens on NCAA '11 did not really work all that well because of poor blocking AI and some odd animations that seemed to throw off the timing of the play. Do these work better now?

5) Is play action fixed so that it does not result in a disproportionate number of sacks? Similarly, is the defense able to respond/recognize play action effectively?

6) In terms of pass rush, did you see any significant changes in terms of DEs/OLBs getting better speed pressure off the edge and/or containing mobile QBs? Have there been any changes to how "QB contain" works? What about DTs? Do dominant DTs get penetration against both the run and the pass?

Generally speaking, how would you compare the pass rush in '12 to '11. I don't just mean in terms of sacks generated, but do you see a more realistic pocket? Do you see more realistic amounts of time in the pocket to pass against a 4 man pass rush? On NCAA '11 it basically felt like you either had all day or no time at all, and the real problem is that there weren't enough instances where the offense did not get sacked but was forced to throw it in under 4 seconds. To what extent is that still the case?

7) I don't know if this counts as a non-play now feature, but do we have the Madden QB ratings yet? Similarly, NCAA QBs have been way too accurate for years, which has contributed to zones being under-effective and spread offenses being too hard to stop. To what extent is that the case this year (on default sliders)? Will there finally be a premium on pocket passers? Are there more significant penalties for throwing off-balance or on the run?

8) Any changes to the way run/pass commit work?

9) Do dominant nose-tackles, particularly in a 3-4 defense, actually command a double team, particularly in the run game?

10) Ever since NCAA '09, the OL has basically been psychic, in that they know who is blitzing and who is dropping back into coverage based on pre-snap assignments. This tends to make overload blitzes much less effective than they should be, and actually opens up some potential exploits with "fake blitzing." One of the most frustrating things about pass defense on NCAA '11 is drawing up a zone blitz, and the having the OT on the complete opposite side of the play peel back at the snap of the ball to pick up an overload blitz to the other side. Does this still happen on NCAA '12?

11) Many of the triple option and read option plays on NCAA '11 did not work as well as they should have because the double team logic often struggled to correctly identify players at the second level to block. This was especially an issue when the defense blitzed linebackers in the gaps between offensive linemen. Is this issue improved in any way on NCAA '12?

12) Suppose my opponent keeps throwing the same route over and over. For instance, let's say that he keeps coming out and throwing the slant pattern to the right side on 3rd and short. Does the defense ever react to this? Is there any mechanism for me to manually tell a defender to shade to a particular side?

Generally speaking, is the defensive AI better suited to adjust when the offense runs the same play (or very similar plays) over and over?

13) Any adjustments to hot routes on offense or defense?

14) Any changes to the kicking game? Will FGs be any more difficult to make than they have in the past?

15) One of the things that is frustrating about run defense on NCAA '11 is that defenders really have no concept of gap responsibility. Essentially, at the snap of the ball everybody moves to try and tackle the ballcarrier, without any respect to the gap/hole they are responsible to fill. This is primarily an issue for DL and LBs. Do we see any changes in this respect? Will linebackers who are not assigned to blitz be more effective at stepping up and plugging holes when they recognize the play?

Off topic, and I know the community guys cant answer but has anyone heard if teambuilder will be out early this year?

lol rhombic dropped a bomb, gonna take a while to chew through that ;)

OS dropped a interesting bit of info but I'm not sure if you guys can talk about it:

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Custom Playbooks

Custom playbooks are in the game this year, and the interface to tweak your selected plays is really intuitive. Beyond just picking plays, you can even switch the three plays you see on each page of your playbook. So that means while you are in a game, you can flip through your playbook and know what three plays are on each page of that playbook.

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http://www.operationsports.com/previ...ll-12-preview/


It sounds to me like no play creator but you can pick and choose formations/plays from the different playbooks to create your own playbook and even select where each play is in the formation.

#2 Can anyone comment on the Aggressive/Balanced/Conservative Coaching Options? Specifically, is there any negative to setting the d-line to aggressive every play? Since this was implemented I don't think I've ever seen a player jump off-sides when set to aggressive even with a fake snap. If this has been fixed will the CPU mix up their snap count so they don't snap the ball on the first sound?

DAMNIT! Right in the middle to replying to Rhombic's questions & it disappears. FML! I'm gonna take it in chunks if that's ok... This may take awhile.

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Originally Posted by CLW

#2 Can anyone comment on the Aggressive/Balanced/Conservative Coaching Options? Specifically, is there any negative to setting the d-line to aggressive every play? Since this was implemented I don't think I've ever seen a player jump off-sides when set to aggressive even with a fake snap. If this has been fixed will the CPU mix up their snap count so they don't snap the ball on the first sound?

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I'm not sure that this is correct. They dramatically changed this after the patch last year, so that now you almost always get drawn offsides of the offense fake snaps and you have your DL set to aggressive.

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Originally Posted by rhombic21

Everything sounds very encouraging, so far. I have a few specific questions.

1) It sounds like the improvements to zone AI will dramatically lessen the effectiveness of things like SG 5 wide and 4 verticals type plays. Is that the case?
It definitely will... however a good player on offense can find the holes in the zone (like they should in real life). I think it was very well done. As well, I had good success using the Quarters Normal (I think that's the formation name) where a safety is in the box beside the LB against 5-wide.

2) Did you notice any difference in terms of defensive reaction to counter plays? On NCAA '11 they are way over-effective.
I can't say one way or another... I didn't look at this specifically.

3) To what extent did you see a more fully developed running game from the shotgun? In other words, do more playbooks have non-finesse HB runs, such as dive and power plays? In a similar vein, the QB wrap plays from last year were basically broken. Do these work effectively now?
There are more plays to work with out of the shotgun run game but some of the shotgun formations are still missing attacks at all of the various gaps. Essentially it's better but wouldn't call it case closed. I didn't run any but in talking with Anthony White, he did specifically mention that they worked on QB Wraps.

4) Bubble screens on NCAA '11 did not really work all that well because of poor blocking AI and some odd animations that seemed to throw off the timing of the play. Do these work better now?
Another one that I didn't really run that much of... too hard to break out of the habit of the same playcalling from NCAA11. I do know that they are working on better WR blocking out of screens but a lot of that was going to happen after we left last week.

5) Is play action fixed so that it does not result in a disproportionate number of sacks? Similarly, is the defense able to respond/recognize play action effectively?
Yes... they made sure to mention to us in January that they would be addressing it. Essentially the problem with NCAA11 and the past was that the DL didn't react at the possibility of the run... instead they just had the reaction to get to the QB. This year though, the DL will have to pause to figure out whether it's a run or a pass, and then react. I didn't call a lot of playaction while I was there but the ones I did, it certainly seemed to work better while not giving the offense a big advantage.

6) In terms of pass rush, did you see any significant changes in terms of DEs/OLBs getting better speed pressure off the edge and/or containing mobile QBs? Have there been any changes to how "QB contain" works? What about DTs? Do dominant DTs get penetration against both the run and the pass?
Honestly the DTs were overpowered last week, particularly in the run game so I couldn't give a fair estimate of them... it's part of tuning that I'm sure they'll address before they ship it. As for the others, I don't think there were any significant strides in edge pressure other than the fact that since there is less suction, the rushers do have more opportunity to get around the edge; that said, there aren't any new animations (that I saw) to provide a true speed rush DE.

Generally speaking, how would you compare the pass rush in '12 to '11. I don't just mean in terms of sacks generated, but do you see a more realistic pocket? Do you see more realistic amounts of time in the pocket to pass against a 4 man pass rush? On NCAA '11 it basically felt like you either had all day or no time at all, and the real problem is that there weren't enough instances where the offense did not get sacked but was forced to throw it in under 4 seconds. To what extent is that still the case?

7) I don't know if this counts as a non-play now feature, but do we have the Madden QB ratings yet? Similarly, NCAA QBs have been way too accurate for years, which has contributed to zones being under-effective and spread offenses being too hard to stop. To what extent is that the case this year (on default sliders)? Will there finally be a premium on pocket passers? Are there more significant penalties for throwing off-balance or on the run?
No new QB ratings. Regarding QB accuracy, I think it's better but at the same time it's hard to gauge while also adjusting to the new zone defenses.

8) Any changes to the way run/pass commit work?
No changes

9) Do dominant nose-tackles, particularly in a 3-4 defense, actually command a double team, particularly in the run game?
As mentioned before, the DTs were overpowered while we were there last week. I'm not aware of any code-based changes to account for focusing on double teaming them.

10) Ever since NCAA '09, the OL has basically been psychic, in that they know who is blitzing and who is dropping back into coverage based on pre-snap assignments. This tends to make overload blitzes much less effective than they should be, and actually opens up some potential exploits with "fake blitzing." One of the most frustrating things about pass defense on NCAA '11 is drawing up a zone blitz, and the having the OT on the complete opposite side of the play peel back at the snap of the ball to pick up an overload blitz to the other side. Does this still happen on NCAA '12?
Another thing that I didn't really focus on... I do think it's better but to what degree I couldn't tell you. I do know that in January we made sure to mention issues with blitzes in the past, particularly the OL knowing a blitz is coming including mentioning the exploit of hot-routing a DB to blitz and then manually controlling him. Whether or not they were able to fix that, I'm not sure.

11) Many of the triple option and read option plays on NCAA '11 did not work as well as they should have because the double team logic often struggled to correctly identify players at the second level to block. This was especially an issue when the defense blitzed linebackers in the gaps between offensive linemen. Is this issue improved in any way on NCAA '12?
I will say that run blocking is better and I believe Oneback discussed this with them but I don't think it's something that they fully corrected. I can't be certain either way though.

12) Suppose my opponent keeps throwing the same route over and over. For instance, let's say that he keeps coming out and throwing the slant pattern to the right side on 3rd and short. Does the defense ever react to this? Is there any mechanism for me to manually tell a defender to shade to a particular side?
Not that I'm aware of.

Generally speaking, is the defensive AI better suited to adjust when the offense runs the same play (or very similar plays) over and over?

13) Any adjustments to hot routes on offense or defense?
Not that I'm aware of.

14) Any changes to the kicking game? Will FGs be any more difficult to make than they have in the past?
They seemed relatively the same from last year. Granted I'm a guy that hits 99% of all of my FGs so I may be a bad one to ask but I still had no trouble hitting FGs.

15) One of the things that is frustrating about run defense on NCAA '11 is that defenders really have no concept of gap responsibility. Essentially, at the snap of the ball everybody moves to try and tackle the ballcarrier, without any respect to the gap/hole they are responsible to fill. This is primarily an issue for DL and LBs. Do we see any changes in this respect? Will linebackers who are not assigned to blitz be more effective at stepping up and plugging holes when they recognize the play?
I want to say it's better but not leaps and bounds. I do know that it was one of the things that we talked with them while we were there but I don't believe it was something they were able to fully implement for this year.

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Answers in-line... obviously all of it is subject to change.

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Originally Posted by rhombic21

I'm not sure that this is correct. They dramatically changed this after the patch last year, so that now you almost always get drawn offsides of the offense fake snaps and you have your DL set to aggressive.

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Really? That has NEVER happened to me. However, I've only really used it against the CPU. I think in almost if not all of my ODs the aggressive D-line setting is banned b/c there was no penalty for using it.

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Originally Posted by rhombic21

Everything sounds very encouraging, so far. I have a few specific questions.

1) It sounds like the improvements to zone AI will dramatically lessen the effectiveness of things like SG 5 wide and 4 verticals type plays. Is that the case?

2) Did you notice any difference in terms of defensive reaction to counter plays? On NCAA '11 they are way over-effective.

3) To what extent did you see a more fully developed running game from the shotgun? In other words, do more playbooks have non-finesse HB runs, such as dive and power plays? In a similar vein, the QB wrap plays from last year were basically broken. Do these work effectively now?

4) Bubble screens on NCAA '11 did not really work all that well because of poor blocking AI and some odd animations that seemed to throw off the timing of the play. Do these work better now?

5) Is play action fixed so that it does not result in a disproportionate number of sacks? Similarly, is the defense able to respond/recognize play action effectively?

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1) Obviously still being tweaked but I'm confident it will based on where it's at already.

2) I ran them quite a bit and defended them quite a bit and I didn't notice any running stats that seemed too far off. I think the game has a great chess match balance to it right now. It feels like you're always one or two blocks away from breaking the big one.

3) Def. noticed more shotgun & pistol runs like you described. QB Wrap & Shotgun HB Counter blocking has been redone. Had a real nice 12 yd gain on a Shotgun HB Counter & the Wrap blocking looked improved. I only ran it twice, once for no gain & once for 2 yds but it felt realistic when it happened, no more instant pressure for a loss.

4) More tweaks made to this aspect rather than dramatic changes though I know that they'd like to do more. I will say that the tweaks definitely had an impact as I was able to have some success with WR screens in general.

5) PA Blocking is fixed & more realistic. As for how the defense reacts to it, I can't say anything definite however I felt like the production I got from PA was realistic.