the little things make the game...

[utvols22]

to me I enjoy all the work preparing for a season (dynasty mode), but playing the actual game lacks in it's surroundings. I did like that for 2005 they added media at the endzones, also the cheerleader section, and mascots are ok but
the teams benches are horrible. there's like 10 players and one coach - I want to see the full teams and coaching staff and trainers over there, plus when a player runs out bounds whoever's in his way gets run over, not just the ref holding the chains. plus how about the tv crew in the cherry picker on the sidelines, maybe an onfield reporter giving updates to injuries. Whatever they do just fill up the sidlines with people.

Also I like the idea that if I use CREATE A SCHOOL, and create kind of a small school, that if successful - I should be able to add on to my stadium from of those stupid templates they give you, or change uniforms, or the field.

How about a weekly version of gameday, Corso and Herbstreit make picks, talk about heisman favs, do this from the campus of the game of the week.

Well just afew ideas that I would love to see - the gameplay itself is ok enough that if more of the little things were present that make college football what it is, I would be happy

[wolverinejay]

to me I enjoy all the work preparing for a season (dynasty mode), but playing the actual game lacks in it's surroundings. I did like that for 2005 they added media at the endzones, also the cheerleader section, and mascots are ok but
the teams benches are horrible. there's like 10 players and one coach - I want to see the full teams and coaching staff and trainers over there, plus when a player runs out bounds whoever's in his way gets run over, not just the ref holding the chains. plus how about the tv crew in the cherry picker on the sidelines, maybe an onfield reporter giving updates to injuries. Whatever they do just fill up the sidlines with people.

Also I like the idea that if I use CREATE A SCHOOL, and create kind of a small school, that if successful - I should be able to add on to my stadium from of those stupid templates they give you, or change uniforms, or the field.

How about a weekly version of gameday, Corso and Herbstreit make picks, talk about heisman favs, do this from the campus of the game of the week.

Well just afew ideas that I would love to see - the gameplay itself is ok enough that if more of the little things were present that make college football what it is, I would be happy

The little things can come in second for me. I want a madden-type play editor, in-season recruiting w/new pitches, and create-a-coach w/ import to Madden are just a few of my ultimate wishes for 2006.

Give us the big additions first then the little things (which I also want). Why doesn't EA just make the best possible game? The answer is then they wouldn't get to make another one at $50 bucks a pop?

[djwill13]

How about a weekly version of gameday, Corso and Herbstreit make picks, talk about heisman favs, do this from the campus of the game of the week. sounds great, but only for the xbox, idt the ps2 could handle that.

[VTHokie32]

sounds great, but only for the xbox, idt the ps2 could handle that.


It might help the PS2 handle some of this stuff if they dumped the stupid Mascot games, practice mode, and cut the frickin million special teams down to like a top 10 of all time. Does anybody really use those extra teams? I can see maybe once with GA '81 to use Hershel, or ND '88 to use the Rocket, but after that it's just wasted space.

[Farmer]

sounds great, but only for the xbox, idt the ps2 could handle that.



This wouldn't be a problem if EA made use of the HDD. :rolleyes:



-Farmer

[djwill13]

It might help the PS2 handle some of this stuff if they dumped the stupid Mascot games, practice mode, and cut the frickin million special teams down to like a top 10 of all time. Does anybody really use those extra teams? I can see maybe once with GA '81 to use Hershel, or ND '88 to use the Rocket, but after that it's just wasted space.
noooooooo, i use practice mode.........in fact a lot of people do. don't do away with that. the other stuff i could live without, but gimme practice mode

and as far as the hdd goes. i think sony's pretty much ditched it. i mean, the new ps2's aren't even capable of carrying the hdd, which means programmers aren't waisting money programming for the few of us that do have them.

[Soccerbest7]

Yea. practice mode is a must. I also like the all-time greatest games. Mascot game is pure trash. lol. and yes there are wayyy to many old great teams. that should be an add-on you can get for like $5, if that's possible somehow

[VTHokie32]

noooooooo, i use practice mode.........in fact a lot of people do. don't do away with that. the other stuff i could live without, but gimme practice mode

and as far as the hdd goes. i think sony's pretty much ditched it. i mean, the new ps2's aren't even capable of carrying the hdd, which means programmers aren't waisting money programming for the few of us that do have them.

I've honestly gone into practice mode like 1 time on this year's game. What's the point? Is it necessary to practice? I jumped right into my dynasty, and I'm now like 72-0, started first few seasons on AA, on Heisman since. I've been playing this game since like '97 though, (whichever one had Danny Wuerffel on the cover) and the gameplay has stayed about the same. I guess maybe I could see how it would help with online.

[djwill13]

that's what i use it for, to practice stuff for online

not only that, i get to practice more plays, not just offense but defense too. the computer itself just isn't enough. like i've said before, i can kill the computer with 3 plays. 3 on offense and 3 on defense, but against a human opponent i have to dig deeper into the bag. i love practice mode, that's where i learned to user catch, how to run the speed option, how to learn blocking schemes....things like that

you'd be amazed how much your game can change with just an hour in practice mode

[sparepart33]

I like practice mode as well. I just wish that you could take your dynasty team into practice and I wish the CPU would practice like they do in a real game. I'm sure we are all amazing in practice mode but once the game starts, it seems like for me anyways that 1/2 my plays don't work at all. But, those same plays work like a charm in practice.

[kbell97]

We all know the mascot games shouldn't be in the game, not only this forum has been saying it but others as well. These forums have been saying this the past 2-3 years, and EA still has mascot games., yet they are still in the game, it is a waste of space on the CD. I would like to see a practice mode like Madden , as I have said before, and DJ mentioned a spring practice. Things you practice you stick skills , such as running, punting , FG's, LB's , etcc.........



the reality is the most likely the mascot games will be in this years game also, someone in EA must like to play them

[Farmer]

the reality is the most likely the mascot games will be in this years game also, someone in EA must like to play them


Sadly................. this is a very true reality. Some EA exec's young nephew ( who proabably don't know diddly about college football ) really likes those mascot games [ which I can honestly say that I haven't played more than once ] and keeps begging him to keep putting them in.

As far as practice mode goes, I would like for EA to implement something like this:

Blitzing: In this mode, if I'm on offense, no matter what formation I pick for myself the defense will be blitzing ( They will be blitzing if I actually choose their formation or select random formations. ) me.

Zones: Same as above but the D will be running nothing but zone plays.

Man to Man: Self explanatory.

Man/ Zone combo: The D will only call plays where there's a mix of man and zone coverage in the play.

I think this would do wonders for the time spent on the practice field.



-Farmer

[kbell97]

I will never understand the whole mascot games thing, I think Farmer is exactly right on that one. Every year every forum complains about mascot games, even on EA Forums, yet they are still in the game. I have a theory about NCAA: now let me know what you guys think: I think NCAA 2004 was one of the best football games ever made, here is the real kicker, BETTER THAN MADDEN, which I think EA didn't want, therefore NCAA football takes a step backwards with its gameplayand new features., and Madden takes a step forward with its new features and gameplay. Why else would there still be Mascot games and no play editor. I think EA wants Madden to be the better selling game, that is my theory.

Farmer I like your suggestions on the practice mode, good idea.

[djwill13]

I will never understand the whole mascot games thing, I think Farmer is exactly right on that one. Every year every forum complains about mascot games, even on EA Forums, yet they are still in the game. I have a theory about NCAA: now let me know what you guys think: I think NCAA 2004 was one of the best football games ever made, here is the real kicker, BETTER THAN MADDEN, which I think EA didn't want, therefore NCAA football takes a step backwards with its gameplayand new features., and Madden takes a step forward with its new features and gameplay. Why else would there still be Mascot games and no play editor. I think EA wants Madden to be the better selling game, that is my theory.

Farmer I like your suggestions on the practice mode, good idea.
well..........sorta. more people buy madden so of course they wanna sell more of madden than they do of ncaa. here's my thinking though. i think ncaa has more potential than madden does simply because of the rivalry. i won't even look at rank if someone challenges me with florida. like i've said before though, i wish we could play at neutral sites or be able to use hand signals for our base audibles, but that's another topic. madden's already established. i'll admit, i played this game way back in the bill walsh days and it was madden with different plays (they added the option). honestly i think ea just took a risk with this years game. i mean hfa was hit or miss and they hit it. what other game makes you feel the crowd? granted it works a lil too much, but they'll fix it a lil next year (hopefully). i think they'll revert back to how the defense played in 04 with hfa and fix the bugs and they'll be fine.

[wolverinejay]

like i've said before though, i wish we could play at neutral sites or be able to use hand signals for our base audibles, but that's another topic. madden's already established. i'll admit, i played this game way back in the bill walsh days and it was madden with different plays (they added the option).

I also played Bill Walsh College Football back on the Genesis primarily because I love college football but also I wanted to use the wishbone.

I don't play online so I don't know if this will work, but in practice mode and Play Now on the PS2 version I can change stadiums. I press select at the matchup screen an it allows me to pick a stadium to play at. Give it a try and see if you can select a neutral site stadium at the matchup screen maybe you already tried this I don't know. Just trying to help if I can.

[Soccerbest7]

I press select at the matchup screen an it allows me to pick a stadium to play at.

Nope, this doesn;t work

[Farmer]

I think djwill hit the nail on the head. The NCAA development team at Tiburon ( the company that actually makes the game. ) took some pretty high stakes risks, that were pretty much hit or miss. IMO, on about 90% of this years game................. they missed.

dj was also right in the fact that no other game [ college, pro, or arena league ] put you square in the middle of the action by bringing the crowd or 12th man if you will, into play and having them have a say so in the momentum swings. HFA was and is a unique thing in sports video games, and I for one wouldn't be suprised if Madden 06 didn't have some sort of HFA.

But I honestly believe that if EA does the following:


Use Madden 05's graphics engine.
Improve the offensive line A.I.
Have the O-line use realistic and fundamentally sound blocking schemes for what ever play they're running.
Put some kryptonite into the defense's jerseys.
Make the awareness stat in conjunction with a players composure rating dictate how they act/react to any given situation.
Based on a QB's composure rating, he should be able to use hand signals to comunicate play changes to the rest of the team.


Then there should be no reason why NCAA 06 wont be as popular as '04.


-Farmer

[sparepart33]

great post Farmer. I especially like the touch on the "kryptonite" part. that was money.

What I would like is a realistic AI especially when you play against the CPU. After a while, it doesn't matter what you do, you can't get a competitive game from the CPU. I still lose games to the CPU but that happens once in a blue moon and it only happens because of some crazy thing happens like you fumble 6x in a game or your 90+ rated QB decides to throw 6 picks and only completes 8 of 30 passes. I don't get the opportunity to play against people as often as I would like so I would like to see the CPU improve it's game without all of the superhuman effects. For example, I shouldn't be able to whip the 'Noles with Northwestern. Beat them maybe, but when the score is 66-13 in the championship game, give me a break.