NCAA Football 13 - General Impressions Thread

[I OU a Beatn]

I have one thing on my wishlist for NCAA '14. Keep all the glitches. Keep the goon kick. Keep the shake blitz. Keep the online lag. Keep all the disconnection glitches. I don't even care. Seriously, I don't, just as long as they get rid of the stupid ass route mirroring. Not only does it look stupid as hell watching defenders consistently running routes ahead of receivers, but it kind of puts a damper on people trying to run legitimate offenses.

I've spent the last week trying to develop some kind of Air Raid offense that I can use online, even when I'm facing the route mirroring(which is especially noticeable against the better rated defensive teams), and I've come to the conclusion that it's not possible. I've found one route that consistently defeats man. One. On top of that, that one route is so effective against man coverage that you could probably even label it as "cheese" for those of you who use that word.

Want to be extremely good online? Grab someone like Virginia Tech or Texas, sit in Dime Cover 2 Man with bump and run coverage and sit back and let the CPU do everything. Rest assured, if you lose, it wont be because you got passed on.

[jaymo76]

As I am going through coaching carousel I can't help but appreciate how ALL coaches who are TOP candidates have a D+ for prestige even if they are listed as a A. There are some really annoying bugs in CC this year.

[souljahbill]

This may sound like whiny-baby complaining but what's up with the injuries? I'm playing Play Now trophy rivalry games until the August patch comes out (so I can officially start my dynasty) and EVERY game, either the starting RB or QB gets hurt. EVERY game. Sometimes both and occasionally, one of the starting WRs gets hurt too.

[beartide06]

This may sound like whiny-baby complaining but what's up with the injuries? I'm playing Play Now trophy rivalry games until the August patch comes out (so I can officially start my dynasty) and EVERY game, either the starting RB or QB gets hurt. EVERY game. Sometimes both and occasionally, one of the starting WRs gets hurt too.

No, it's not whiny baby complaining at all. I've experienced the same issue, but in dynasty. My starting RB, and I kid you not, got hurt EVERY game of the season, more than once per game. His injury rating was at about 82 I believe. I'm sorry, but even with an injury rating like that, there is no way a player would get hurt that much unless his bones were made out of glass.

[AustinWolv]

I lost my 2nd-string RB for the entire season in Game1 of the current dynasty season, followed by losing my starter about 3-4 games in for the rest of the season. He *might* be back for the conf championship game. My starting QB has been hurt at least once every game, pretty often he sits out a quarter. He was knocked out for the last 3 quarters in the game. Injuries certainly seem more frequent than in the past.

[souljahbill]

I lost my 2nd-string RB for the entire season in Game1 of the current dynasty season, followed by losing my starter about 3-4 games in for the rest of the season. He *might* be back for the conf championship game. My starting QB has been hurt at least once every game, pretty often he sits out a quarter. He was knocked out for the last 3 quarters in the game. Injuries certainly seem more frequent than in the past.

They seem more frequent to just the offensive skill positions. Still don't see injuries to o-linemen and very rarely to defensive players.

[AustinWolv]

souljah, yeah, I agree with that. Hell, can't take too many injuries as we only get 70 players on a roster.

[Rudy]

They seem more frequent to just the offensive skill positions. Still don't see injuries to o-linemen and very rarely to defensive players.

In my short time with the game I noticed my starting QB (especially if using Michigan or Oregon) and my starting RB got hurt a lot as well but they were mostly minor injuries that they would come back. Can only speak about play now games. I thought the injuries were over done last year, especially for the QB. It is still very disappointing that Madden will have an injury slider for 3 years now and NCAA still refuses to add it (along with fumbles and fatigue). EA needs to take a deeper look at sliders, how they work and adding new ones imo.

[jaymo76]

In my short time with the game I noticed my starting QB (especially if using Michigan or Oregon) and my starting RB got hurt a lot as well but they were mostly minor injuries that they would come back. Can only speak about play now games. I thought the injuries were over done last year, especially for the QB. It is still very disappointing that Madden will have an injury slider for 3 years now and NCAA still refuses to add it (along with fumbles and fatigue). EA needs to take a deeper look at sliders, how they work and adding new ones imo.

Yup, I personally like a lot of injuries as it creates more of a challenge. However, with Madden having SLIDERS for INJURIES, FUMBLES, etc and NCAA still not having them is just dumb. I cannot think of any reason for the omission of these areas for sliders.

[JeffHCross]

(knock on wood)

I still have yet to experience a freeze within the game, but I have now had at least four freezes on the initial "Press Start" menu, as it is transitioning to "Please Wait". And it's always at the exact same point too, just as the camera is starting to climb vertically. It's a full system freeze too -- have to shut off the PS3 via the power button.

[jaymo76]

(knock on wood)

I still have yet to experience a freeze within the game, but I have now had at least four freezes on the initial "Press Start" menu, as it is transitioning to "Please Wait". And it's always at the exact same point too, just as the camera is starting to climb vertically. It's a full system freeze too -- have to shut off the PS3 via the power button.

The FIRST time I put in the game it froze... at first I thought I had a bad disk so I took it out and cleaned it. I have had two freezes since then. For me it's not bad at all. But some people have really been impacted by the freeze issue.

[I OU a Beatn]

I haven't had a single freeze period. Suckers.

Does anyone know if they made changes to how user catches were triggered. I remember reading that once you took control of the receiver, the whole "receiver has to be looking" doesn't apply, but having messed around in practice mode a good bit, I would have to disagree with that. There are several instances where I am able to trigger user catch animations, but also some where I'm holding the buttons and the wide receiver makes absolutely no attempt to catch the ball. He literally wont even put his hands up.

[jaymo76]

Okay, now I am a little concerned. To end season 2 my game froze in the Beef O'Brady Bowl. Now to start season three my first gameright at the end just before you see the final score box... boom... the game freezes. That is now two straight games where it has frozen and at the exact same spot... once the game is over. I can live with the other stuff but this is a game killer. I will try again tomorrow and I guess we will see how it goes.

[xMrHitStickx904]

It's beyond me as to why the NCAA Dev team cannot properly emulate crowd noise, & the overall atmosphere of a college football game. They did it very well in 04 and it was consistently good for the most part on the rest of the PS2 titles. You know me, it's gameplay over everything, but I can't even listen to the audio while I'm playing, rather just have my Dre beats on instead. I'm spending the day watching College games from last season, starting with Michigan v. Notre Dame & all I want to experience aesthetically & audio wise is the college atmosphere that sets it apart. From not being able to have a (insert your color)-out for the crowds, certain generic animations besides clapping, the noise of their cheering/booing, additional band songs that are exclusive to certain schools that play on certain downs etc., It's wild that this present dev team cannot bring that to life in the game. I understand that the stadium sounds feature is supposed to help with that, but it's not like I play with just one team, and I'm not going to download, then upload all of the sounds for every FBS school, and my opponent can't even hear them. Makes zero sense to me.

[jaymo76]

It's beyond me as to why the NCAA Dev team cannot properly emulate crowd noise, & the overall atmosphere of a college football game. They did it very well in 04 and it was consistently good for the most part on the rest of the PS2 titles. You know me, it's gameplay over everything, but I can't even listen to the audio while I'm playing, rather just have my Dre beats on instead. I'm spending the day watching College games from last season, starting with Michigan v. Notre Dame & all I want to experience aesthetically & audio wise is the college atmosphere that sets it apart. From not being able to have a (insert your color)-out for the crowds, certain generic animations besides clapping, the noise of their cheering/booing, additional band songs that are exclusive to certain schools that play on certain downs etc., It's wild that this present dev team cannot bring that to life in the game. I understand that the stadium sounds feature is supposed to help with that, but it's not like I play with just one team, and I'm not going to download, then upload all of the sounds for every FBS school, and my opponent can't even hear them. Makes zero sense to me.

Honestly, I just want them to bring back home field advantage from 06. The screen shaking and the fans going insane was absolutely awesome. It added so much to that game.

[JeffHCross]

I can understand why the screen doesn't shake still, but the reduced noise makes no sense.

[beartide06]

I can understand why the screen doesn't shake still, but the reduced noise makes no sense.

Well, they could possibly add the screen shake to the game, but just make it an option to turn it off. I played NCAA football 11 for the PS2 the other day, and they had options to turn on/off almost anything in the game. From camera shake, to LOS lines, first down lines, or BOTH, assistance with discipline and recruiting, and many, many more.

And I thought the sound was supposed to be VASTLY improved this year? To me, it doesn't sound as good as it was hyped.

[souljahbill]

So I'm dumping my pistol offense for a shotgun offense. The blocking out of the pistol just isn't as good as the blocking out of shotgun. My new shotgun playbook has every 2 back set, every set where the RB is slightly behind the QB, and a bunch of wing sets. It could use some refining but overall, I'm very happy with the change. Hopefully next year, pulling guards and fullbacks won't be so derpy-derp and will block somebody.

[skipwondah33]

This may sound like whiny-baby complaining but what's up with the injuries? I'm playing Play Now trophy rivalry games until the August patch comes out (so I can officially start my dynasty) and EVERY game, either the starting RB or QB gets hurt. EVERY game. Sometimes both and occasionally, one of the starting WRs gets hurt too.

My QB in the SBCOL dynasty has been hurt 2-3 times if not more every game I've played so far

[SmoothPancakes]

As I am going through coaching carousel I can't help but appreciate how ALL coaches who are TOP candidates have a D+ for prestige even if they are listed as a A. There are some really annoying bugs in CC this year.

This may sound like whiny-baby complaining but what's up with the injuries? I'm playing Play Now trophy rivalry games until the August patch comes out (so I can officially start my dynasty) and EVERY game, either the starting RB or QB gets hurt. EVERY game. Sometimes both and occasionally, one of the starting WRs gets hurt too.

No, it's not whiny baby complaining at all. I've experienced the same issue, but in dynasty. My starting RB, and I kid you not, got hurt EVERY game of the season, more than once per game. His injury rating was at about 82 I believe. I'm sorry, but even with an injury rating like that, there is no way a player would get hurt that much unless his bones were made out of glass.

I lost my 2nd-string RB for the entire season in Game1 of the current dynasty season, followed by losing my starter about 3-4 games in for the rest of the season. He *might* be back for the conf championship game. My starting QB has been hurt at least once every game, pretty often he sits out a quarter. He was knocked out for the last 3 quarters in the game. Injuries certainly seem more frequent than in the past.

In my short time with the game I noticed my starting QB (especially if using Michigan or Oregon) and my starting RB got hurt a lot as well but they were mostly minor injuries that they would come back. Can only speak about play now games. I thought the injuries were over done last year, especially for the QB. It is still very disappointing that Madden will have an injury slider for 3 years now and NCAA still refuses to add it (along with fumbles and fatigue). EA needs to take a deeper look at sliders, how they work and adding new ones imo.

(knock on wood)

I still have yet to experience a freeze within the game, but I have now had at least four freezes on the initial "Press Start" menu, as it is transitioning to "Please Wait". And it's always at the exact same point too, just as the camera is starting to climb vertically. It's a full system freeze too -- have to shut off the PS3 via the power button.

Okay, now I am a little concerned. To end season 2 my game froze in the Beef O'Brady Bowl. Now to start season three my first gameright at the end just before you see the final score box... boom... the game freezes. That is now two straight games where it has frozen and at the exact same spot... once the game is over. I can live with the other stuff but this is a game killer. I will try again tomorrow and I guess we will see how it goes.

My QB in the SBCOL dynasty has been hurt 2-3 times if not more every game I've played so far

Great, looks like it's official. No dynasty for me until at least the late-August patch that hopefully fixes half of this.