NCAA Football 13 Q&A: Sights, Sounds & Gameplay

[gschwendt]

Guys, this week, several members of TGT (among other sites) will be attending a community event for NCAA Football 13. Due to that, I thought I'd start a thread where you guys could ask questions relating to Sights, Sounds, and the upcoming Gameplay information on Tuesday.

Obviously you may not know what to ask for Gameplay until after Tuesday, but that will be fine as well. I assume most information has already been covered related to the Sights and Sounds but in case we didn't answer your question yet or you want further clarification, ask away.

I myself will be traveling Tuesday evening so I won't be able to answer very many questions for you on Tuesday but while I'm there, I can look for answers for you. That said, I likely wouldn't be able to provide answers to your questions until next weekend or after. As well, the version we'll be seeing will not be the final product so we wouldn't be able to give 100% specifics... rather generalized impressions of what we see.

Since they won't have covered Dynasty, Heisman Challenge, nor Road to Glory, those questions are obviously out. No questions about rosters. Questions about uniforms and stadiums likely won't be answered though if someone wants to spend the time to answer for you, they're welcome to do so.

All that said, each of us will have our own agendas of things in the game to look at while we're down there. I would suggest limiting your questions to the ones you feel most important. If you ask 20 questions, you almost certainly won't get 20 answers since we're limited on time as is. This is simply intended as a thank you for the regulars here at TGT.

[WolverineJay]

The most important question for NCAA Football 13 is in regards to the NCAA Football 12 game killer in which CPU teams make adjustments to their zone D gameplan by switching to Aggressive Zones. The game did this glitch in NCAA 11 as well but since zones weren't very responsive in 11' it really didn't impact the game much at all. However, in 12' the zones were so amped up it made changing the zones to aggressive a game killer since all you had to do was throw to the open guys deep every pass play vs zone defense(safeties just took themselves out of their assignments instantly). PLEASE tell me EA fixed this for NCAA Football 13 or it will be fixed and demonstrated in the demo or this is a 100% no buy for me and my 3 brothers whom I play Dynasty against each year. We don't touch the gameplan feature and supposedly the CPU doesn't either, but they do and it ruined the game for us this year.


1. Pass rush? Does the front 3 or 4 put pressure on the QB within 4 seconds consistently without the need for blitzing?

From the real quick video from GTTV I didn't see any upfield pass rush actually I saw the QB having all the time in the world to throw. Last gen had good upfield pass rush for both the USER and the CPU. I would love to here about line play in 13' and how much time you and the CPU were getting in the pocket to pass using the new system.

2. Penalties? Do they have any new ones? Do they get called on default sliders or on maxed out sliders?

Mostly on default only holding, clipping, and facemask get called maybe once a game. While those 3 are the most sensitive to slider adjustments some others like Offsides, False Start, and Roughing The Passer can be manipulated to be called. However ones like the Pass Interferences and Intentional Grounding penalty never get called even on maxed out sliders. Penalties in football are a huge part of the game and by throwing them out of the equation you are making an arcade game for us to play rather than a simulation.

I mentioned this earlier but watching the CPU WR or my WR go out of bounds and then come back in to catch the pass is unacceptable especially since last gen had an illegal touching penalty.

3. Special Teams any significant changes to this important aspect of football? New plays or formations? More realistic FG attempts? Blocked kicks a possibility(mostly punts since I blocked some FG's on 11' and 12')?, Better blocking on punt returns, coffin corner kicks for CPU and more control of the Punt for the user(deadening the ball inside the 10 rather than always having it bounce into the endzone)?

I would love to see a game lost because of a bad special teams play or won because of a great game by your special teams. FG logic is messed up on Heisman and whether a FG attempt is warranted should be based solely on the weather conditions (wind, rain, snow, or fog) and the ability of the kicker. Play on Heisman and the game thinks every kicker can make a 60 yd FG regardless of the conditions or the FG kicker ability.

4. Non-option pro style running game improvements? Better blocking by lead blockers, pulling linemen, and WR's? Better power back animations(trucking, dragging defenders, and carry defender)? More effective stiff arms, jukes, spins, and trucking moves for USER and CPU?

Run blocking where the OL actually drives defenders away from the designed whole and lead blockers that don't dance around and look lost on blocking assignments is sorely needed in this series. In NCAA 06 I had fun running over smaller weaker defenders using the up motion on the right stick(Trucking) but that was the last year it was actually properly implemented because ever since there really is no difference in feel of a power back and a finesse back. In fact the running game is much easier if you have 1 attribute (SPEED) please tell me powerful guys like Rex Burkhead (Neb.) or Doug Martin (Boise) are properly represented and different on the field than scat back LaMichael James (Ore.).

[Tarhead10]

Hey gschwendt can you or somebody possibly see how the crowd reacts now to in-game situations??... I know in the podcast they talked a little about sounds, but maybe somebody can look into this a little more.

[Rudy]

1) I would love to know if they have added any new sliders. Like splitting pass coverage into zone vs. man, especially for those of us that found throwing into zone defense difficult. Splitting run blocking between conventional and shotgun would really let us fine-tune the spread option offenses better.

2) Will they add an option to change the player momentum of the game? We have the speed threshold, why not a momentum threshold to make this better. Does the EA team feel that a more realistic player momentum system would be a bad thing or why hasn't it been implemented?

3) Will the cpu ever be able to run the spread option effectively? Most cpu running QBs can be bottled up easily. Oregon should be deadly to stop and yet they are easy to stop. That's why I would love to see a separate slider for shotgun running.

4) Will they actually use game tuning files this year? For two straight years they have only been used to supplement a patch.

5) How have the juke, stiff arm and truck moves been treated? The r-stick juke was nerfed last year and the stiff arm and truck move have largely been nerfed for the last few years as well imo.

6) Any new animations to separate scat backs from power backs? Any new logic so RBs actually show some personality? Every cpu back seemed to use the same logic and that gets boring. Any new throwing animations or attributes for QBs? Quick release vs long release? Short vs deep accuracy? I want to see more personality in this game. Great players don't seem to stand out enough in the game.

7) Big time WRs - do they actually matter now for the cpu? The cpu never made any extra effort to get them the ball. Great players like Justin Blackmon in the game would do nothing against you. How has the double team WR option changed? I've always found it dumb that EA has treated that like two players boxing in a gunner on the punt team.

8) Does the game have personality against the cpu? A lot of guys hated the impact players in NCAA 06 but I loved them. They gave the game personality. There was no doubt who were the best players on either side and those guys made plays. When I played NCAA 12 last year the cpu just seemed the same no matter who the team was.

[coogrfan]

Which (if any) of the following Houston Cougars items will be "in the game"?

New logos



New field art





New helmets




New uni's

(no pics yet, scheduled to be unveiled sometime this summer.)

[Jayrah]

LOL Coogrfan did you read G's post that specifically states no Uniform or Stadium questions?

[coogrfan]

LOL Coogrfan did you read G's post that specifically states no Uniform or Stadium questions?

"Questions about uniforms and stadiums likely won't be answered though if someone wants to spend the time to answer for you, they're welcome to do so."

That doesn't sound like a prohibition to me; G merely stated that there were no guarantees that any such questions would be answered. At the very least there is a chance that my questions may make someone at EA aware of changes they may not have known about. Either way, I'm willing to take that chance.

[Jayrah]

My initial questions:

1: Is this something that can be/has been looked at AND fixed before launch? - http://www.thegamingtailgate.com/for...l=1#post133567

2: Like I've said elsewhere, I'm an aesthetics guy as much as (if not even a little bit more than) I am a gameplay guy. Has the crowd movement been updated to match the crowd swells? Basically does the crowd reaction look better than years past, because I still don't get the euphoria of a big play from the 3D crowd. I love Nba 2k's crowd and although I know it will never be like that because of the sheer numbers, I would like a step in that direction from EA. Also, is there an "away crowd" cheering section that we can hear (I've always thought it would be cool to use the HS crowd sound for this since it was introduced), or is this just something that's difficult to mesh because it's too complicated to layer those sounds?

Thanks guys. Possibly more questions later

[Jayrah]

"Questions about uniforms and stadiums likely won't be answered though if someone wants to spend the time to answer for you, they're welcome to do so."

That doesn't sound like a prohibition to me; G merely stated that there were no guarantees that any such questions would be answered. At the very least there is a chance that my questions may make someone at EA aware of changes they may not have known about. Either way, I'm willing to take that chance.

Fair enough.

[baseballplyrmvp]

are o/d-line battles still static or will i be able to see a 380 lb o-lineman drive a 180 lb safety playing d-end 10 yards downfield?

[ram29jackson]

someone just be in depth about the passin trajectory and touch and stuff

[illwill10]

Is there any changes to the Run game/Will ballcarriers actually use their special moves?
Any Changes to DLine play?

[volstopfan14]

1. In the webcast they said there were new punt formations, but I never heard them explain that. Are the spread punt formations in the game or is it just some minor changes to the regular punt formation?

2. Will Tennessee run through the T this year?

[Jayrah]

1: With the alignment fixes, will one corner be able to be up in coverage while the other is off? Also is there a "matchup" option to keep one cb on a specific receiver all game no matter where the wr lines up?

2: Do Safeties finally react appropriately to help over the top of man coverage or do they still turn late and allow the wr to get by them on a regular basis?

3: Do Defensive players still replace themselves if you move them presnap and then switch off of them?

4: "Man Align" was in the preplay adjustments in previous versions for the defense. Has that been removed due to the finally proper alignment on defense? If it has not been removed, what is it's purpose and how does it work?

5: With the new throwing system, is it still possible to overthrow receivers or do they always adjust to the throw?
(to be frank only the best/most aware wrs should be able to make an easy adjustment to on purpose overthrows. A lot of young receivers simply can't make this adjustment). Obviously it's not happening in this cycle but for '14 I would like to see the system taken a step further and add "offensive chemistry" and "defensive chemistry" ratings. With good Offense Chemistry Qb's and Wr's would be on the same page and rbs would be apt to pick up blitzes more often in these situations than those offenses with poor ratings. Defense would work the same way for zone coverages and S help, etc.

[GatorBait06NC]

Does anyone know if the game will include alternate team colors? Just saw the new gameplay video and Florida is still wearing blue cleats. Wrong for the second year in a row after being right in NCAA 11.

Florida's team color needs to be changed to Orange, NOT blue.

EDIT: I see that questions about uniforms, equipment, and stadiums wont be answered? WHY NOT? I thought this was Sights and Sounds Q&A. Last time I checked, stadiums and uniforms were both sights.

[ram29jackson]

Does anyone know if the game will include alternate team colors? Just saw the new gameplay video and Florida is still wearing blue cleats. Wrong for the second year in a row after being right in NCAA 11.

Florida's team color needs to be changed to Orange, NOT blue.

EDIT: I see that questions about uniforms, equipment, and stadiums wont be answered? WHY NOT? I thought this was Sights and Sounds Q&A. Last time I checked, stadiums and uniforms were both sights.

live with it dude.. I ask a million visual questions and get nothing back..just Steelerfan making fun of me and I move to the next question

..didnt you learn last year dude that an attitude like that will get you not much on a site like this?

[JeffHCross]

EDIT: I see that questions about uniforms, equipment, and stadiums wont be answered? WHY NOT? I thought this was Sights and Sounds Q&A. Last time I checked, stadiums and uniforms were both sights.

It says will likely not. Not an absolute.

[steelerfan]

live with it dude.. I ask a million visual questions and get nothing back..just Steelerfan making fun of me and I move to the next question

..didnt you learn last year dude that an attitude like that will get you not much on a site like this?

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[GatorBait06NC]

live with it dude.. I ask a million visual questions and get nothing back..just Steelerfan making fun of me and I move to the next question

..didnt you learn last year dude that an attitude like that will get you not much on a site like this?

Who cares about Steelerfan making fun of you or me for asking questions.

The general answer I get from other consumers is a smart ass answer saying that EA doesn't care about small issues like shoe color. Thats not true though. EA just released that article over at OS about how they got Michigan State's green color right. So it does matter to them getting small details right. Isnt this why they go to all the stadiums and add all the alternate and pro combat uniforms??? So give me a break.

My thought is that why even include colored name brand cleats in the game, if they werent planning on getting them right. And why is NCAA Football the last sports game on the planet to include alternate team colors in equipment options. NBA 2k, MLB The Show, and even Madden has this. It seems like it would be a very common sense move seeing as how they are adding all the alternate and pro combat uniforms.

If they dont want to get it right, FINE. But dont come out preaching on how real your game is and how they focus so much on getting all the small details right. Its a simple fix for Florida, all they have to do is change the team color to Orange. Like it should be. Like it was in NCAA 2011.

It matters to me. So if it dont matter to you, then dont reply to my post or quote me. I like my game, and especially my team to be as real as possible. So when I am saving photo highlights after a game, Id like to see the right color shoes to make it more authentic. The shoes stick out like a sore thumb so they are highly noticeable. I dont think Im asking for much. Ive been shelling out money on NCAA and Madden for over 15 years. Its not too much to request a simple fix for my team.

[steelerfan]

I don't think anybody had a problem with you asking about shoe color last year. The problem was that you mentioned in like 5 different threads and like 3 times per thread. The same thing some other guy is doing with socks this year.

If you're posting things a hundred times in the hopes that someone from EA will read it, why not spare the rest of us and send it directly to their feedback email?

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