NCAA 2010 early anticipation thread

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:51 pm

Some info has been trickling out for sometime at ncaastrategies.com

Start at page 72 and work your way back
http://www.ncaastrategies.com/utopia/sh ... 89&page=72

All comments are from G-Reg13 - NCAA Football Designer

The highlights/lowlights

In regards to the ONE new camera - (similar to what we have in Madden 09?)

I've been able to implement some of the camera work I wanted to do this year. For example, we have a passing cam in the vein of Madden's where the camera tries to get into a position to show you as many receiver options as possible. The tough thing here is I didn't want the camera to be 25+ yards behind the quarterback to look at the flats (that isn't how you should play a football videogame). I have the ability to weight certain players more in the calculation so there is still time to tweak/tune.

For instance, the QB's position is worth more in the average so when you roll out to the right the camera is going to favor that side of the field, but still try to give you options cross-body (should you have WRs over there). We're still tweaking this and will be having a playtests as well. The other thing I want to avoid as well is selling out your screen play by focusing on the HB creeping out. The HB currently has some extra weight in the equation, but it's not as high as the QB's.

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Madden had the option to turn off their Action Cam and return to the regular cameras from previous years. But those are the ones that don't help you see the side flats. I just don't want to make an "off" option that puts you right back where we were before, you know? Like I said, there is still some tweaking that needs to be done, and I just had my programmer that's working on this give me a little more control of some of the variables as well. I'm confident I can give you guys a great update to how you view the game.

But please keep an open mind on this for now; you haven't even seen anything yet so I don't want you to look for an "out" already. We can't make progress if you only think about being able to go back to the "old" way.

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Having multiple camera options (side view like broadcast, etc.) is beyond the time I was given this year. I do want to continue investigating different options in this area, though. Hopefully, this iteration goes over well and builds some momentum for the following years products.

When you roll out with the QB I've been actively trying to give you vision to the sides so you can see any incoming defenders. I can also experiment with some things on Halfback as well; HB feels pretty good at the moment, but I'm sure there is more I can do there.

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There are some other features that revolve around this updated camera so I'm hoping to knock it out of the park and not have to have an on/off option. In my opinion, progress in this area is much needed and I would like give you guys an improved view of the game instead of the stale behind the back view that never alters. I'm still tweaking the system and any issues you had in Madden I'd like to find a way to fix or avoid those problems.

Regarding discipline

I mentioned this in an earlier response, we just haven't had the resources to get discipline back in the game. It's definately on the wishlist and has been mentioned by the team many times.

Online dynasty

I don't know the technical stuff behind it, but a spectator mode is something we want for Online Dyansty. I can't really give you a timeline, but we do want that feature.

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---using existing NCAA09 OD in NCAA10---
Unfortunately, we won't be able to do that for this year. It's not a simple task as databases change each year and translating a previous save into the new format isn't trivial. I'm sure there are other factors that go into this, but from the conversations I was a part of this is not easy. We are looking into how we can do this though as it's something we'd like to have for that feature.

DEMO

Our goal is to continue to release our demos ~1 month before release. And yes, I can mention not locking the quarter length at 2 minutes. I think part of that decision was how we've had the demo need to be "kiosk-ready" where you don't want 1 guy to dominate the machine for 30+ minutes. I should be able to get some traction here, but I can't promise this will change.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 7:02 pm

First NCAA 10 news.

http://www.operationsports.com/forums/n ... -info.html

Okay it is the same thing that was mentioned in Madden 10, just glad to see it making it's way to NCAA.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:22 pm

First NCAA 2010 Screenshot

http://insideblog.easports.com/archive/ ... image.aspx

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:54 pm

Screenshot looks great and a 5 minute per/qtr demo would be awesome.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:07 pm

No way that is a screen shot.

Wilk5280 · Post by **Wilk5280** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:04 am

Arms could use a little more gloss to them

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:23 am

Danimal wrote:No way that is a screen shot.

Yes way it is a screen shot.

http://www.operationsports.com/forums/n ... 2039180018

PRBoom wrote:Arms could use a little more gloss to them

http://www.operationsports.com/forums/n ... 2039180410

I am actually not stoked that this image was sent out, since the materials in the scene are not tuned at all. No fear the players will not look like plastic and the helmet reflections will be more realistic then ever.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:58 pm

Should of been more clear, that is not an in game screen, it looks like a replay screen that is touched up.

Not if that is a replay or game play screen that isn't touched up it is pretty impressive, but I don't play the game at that close up and angle, so show me a game play screen.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:55 pm

Danimal wrote:Should of been more clear, that is not an in game screen, it looks like a replay screen that is touched up.

Not if that is a replay or game play screen that isn't touched up it is pretty impressive, but I don't play the game at that close up and angle, so show me a game play screen.

When is the last time a developer put a gameplay shot in their first batch of screens, let alone a teaser?

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 2:59 pm

bdoughty wrote:When is the last time a developer put a gameplay shot in their first batch of screens, let alone a teaser?

No I understand that, just people are going gaga over at that other place over this shot and it doesn't tell me anything. Hmm how can I get across what I mean....

A supermodel sure looks good on my arm, but if she fucks like a robot then I'm not going to enjoy it.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:15 pm

I just want them to fix the pick 6 issue. Even with interceptions turned all the way down I would still get too many easy interceptions for TDs that would change the game.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:37 pm

NCAA Football 10: First Look

http://insideblog.easports.com/archive/ ... -look.aspx

A feature we get asked for by some of the more simulation (SIM) oriented crowd is the ability to just call plays and let the CPU make the moves on the field (basically “Coach Mode”). Just calling plays hasn’t worked in years past because the Quarterback would never throw the ball so you would be stuck making at least one decision on the field.

A new option in the Game Controls Settings called Auto Pass aims to solve the problem. Very simply put when it is turned on your QB will be under CPU control if you just snap the ball and don’t move the analog stick. Note: This option is OFF by Default, so make sure you visit the Game Controls – Passing screen and turn it ON when you pick up the game

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:12 pm

http://insideblog.easports.com/archive/ ... tails.aspx

Time for this week’s look at what’s new in NCAA Football 10 for the PS3 and Xbox 360!

I am Adam Thompson, one of the designers on NCAA Football 10. I’ve been at EA SPORTS since 2002 working on every NCAA Football title since 2004. I am in charge of content related features such as art and commentary, and I’m going to show you some of the new updates to the in game experience this year.

Camera Flashes, Field Goal Nets, and Windsocks

One small detail we added this year is camera flashes going off in the stands. The bigger the game, the more flashes will be going off. This will help give the bigger games that “big game” feel. We were able to borrow this from Madden NFL and are tuning the intensity of these now.

Field goal nets have been missing for too long, so we were sure to bring these to the current gen consoles this year. Nothing too exciting, but it brings a little more realism to the game. Another small detail you’ll notice are the wind socks on top of the goal posts. Want to add a challenge to the kicking game? Don’t look at the meter for the wind factor and use the socks instead.

Swappable Bowl Endzones

Ok, enough of the little things. Here’s the addition I’m very pleased to FINALLY get in the game. Team specific bowl endzones! We call these “swappable endzones” as we can swap them around dynamically when we please.

Unlike the previous generation of consoles, the high definition consoles we have today require much more detail for the fields. The technology for having team specific endzones on the PS2 wouldn’t get the job done, so we had to come up with a new solution for the current generation.

Fortunately, our brilliant graphics engineers created what is called the Texture Compositor. This was originally developed for handling created stadiums and uniforms for Madden. It allows the game to take multiple pieces of art and combine them into one as the game loads. Before we had to use a single piece of art for every field. With 120 teams and 38 bowl and championship games there was no way to create a field for every game with every possible team matchup and fit it on the disk (I was going to do the math but gave up quickly!). Instead we have 38 bowl and championship fields with blank endzones, and 120 custom endzones (one for each team). When you load into a bowl or championship game, the Texture Compositor takes the three pieces of art and combines them into one field.

One of the nice things about this system is that instead of getting an endzone from your home field and throwing it on the bowl field (like on PS2), we have a bowl game specific endzone for each school (though for many schools we went with the design of an endzone used on their home field). Instead of slashes across the endzone for Notre Dame, you’ll actually get this:

This addition is long overdue, but we finally have it on NCAA Football 10. Below is a gallery of each team’s endzone. Click each thumbnail for the full sized image.

Be sure to check in every week as we roll out new features, updates and changes that are going into NCAA Football 10. See ya next time.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:28 pm

Hope that the refs still being missing is only because it's a work in progress. It would be a shame to have to wait until year 6 for on-field refs, especially since it sounds like they're going to be in Madden this year. It's a small thing, but hard not to notice.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:33 pm

GTHobbes wrote:Hope that the refs still being missing is only because it's a work in progress. It would be a shame to have to wait until year 6 for on-field refs, especially since it sounds like they're going to be in Madden this year. It's a small thing, but hard not to notice.

That is what I was hoping. What amuses most from that article is how much praise he kept giving his team for the ability to have swappable end zones. Really? Four freaking years and you guys finally broke the code on swappable endzones. Brilliant team you have there Adam.

Here is hoping they are able to break the code for bowl patches by the year 2020.

Ready
10 Paste artwork on unfiorms
20 Dangit I said paste the artwork on it already
30 Put the damn things on there already
fail

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:38 pm

Flash bulbs going off in the crowd means it's a big game?

Good grief....

Murph · Post by **Murph** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:39 pm

Yeah, it is pretty frustrating that the PS2 has team specific endzones in bowl games, yet the 360 and PS3 don't.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:48 pm

I'd like to hear if they've improved the lighting. Seriously. That horrible looking orange hue lighting was so distracting and very unrealistic. Progressive lighting would be great, but I'm not counting on it.

Windsocks....sheesh.

Murph · Post by **Murph** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:50 pm

Maybe some REAL 1-AA (FCS) teams this year. PS2 has 'em.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:57 pm

Murph wrote:Maybe some REAL 1-AA (FCS) teams this year. PS2 has 'em.

There might be a possibility of this.

In the latest OS thread on this update, OMT (Adam) said.

Yeah, there are 120 teams in the game right now. I don't talk about NCAA 10 unless it is something I'm authorized to.

I'm not saying FCS IS in of course, I'm just saying it shouldn't be considered out at this point.

Also some of the features listed so far are pretty tiny in scope but he also mentions.

The idea is to release better stuff each week. You should feel underwhelmed this early.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:59 pm

sportdan30 wrote:I'd like to hear if they've improved the lighting. Seriously. That horrible looking orange hue lighting was so distracting and very unrealistic. Progressive lighting would be great, but I'm not counting on it.

The Madden and NCAA devs both said that progressive lighting would be back this year (this was before 09 came out and they had to say that it was left our for 09).

This is a big one in the presentation department for me. It adds a ton to it and playing 4 quarters in that orange hue drives me nuts.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:59 pm

http://insideblog.easports.com/archive/ ... dates.aspx

NCAA Football 10: Super Sim Updates

What’s up everyone, this is Greg Heddlesten and I’m a designer on NCAA Football 10 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I started with the team late in NCAA Football 08 cycle, after concluding my duties on NFL Head Coach 09, and have been with the team ever since. I work in various areas of presentation including custom stadium Sounds, Super Sim, PA audio, cameras, and more.

Speaking of Super Sim here’s a little scoop of what’s to come for NCAA Football 10…

• On-the-Field presentation: This helps keep you “in the game” by drawing the simmed play bars directly on top of the field. Once you are ready to go back into the game, the lines are erased and the players are thrown back onto the gridiron.

• Updated CPU Clock Management: We’ve been able to update our CPU Clock Management logic, which now causes our CPU coaches to call time outs when needed late in the half or game. Also, the team that is up will attempt to burn out the clock by running the ball late in the game, or by having the QB kneel the ball (once their opponent has exhausted all three timeouts).

• Skip Play in Campus Legend: Everyone is already used to seeing Super Sim when their Legend is on the bench, but we have found another way to leverage this feature. Skip Play is new to NCAA Football 10, and it does exactly what you think it should. Tired of having to block on offense as a WR or HB? No problem, hit Skip Play from the Legend Play Call screen, Super Sim will simulate that down and return you to the huddle the next play call. And it’s all at the press of a button.

On-the-Field Presentation: Stanford has a long drive that ends in a 36 yard FG.

Updated CPU Clock Management: Cal has just turned the ball over on downs late in the 4th quarter and has no timeouts remaining. USC runs QB Kneel to end the game.

Hope you enjoyed this quick preview of our updates to Super Sim in NCAA Football 10. I look forward to sharing more about other areas of the game with everyone over the next few months.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:33 pm

New image

http://insideblog.easports.com/cfs-file ... 0_ea/A.bmp

U think this one confirms the return of dynamic shadows back in the game. No more ugly orange tinted late afternoon games.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 1:26 pm

bdoughty wrote:New image

http://insideblog.easports.com/cfs-file ... 0_ea/A.bmp

U think this one confirms the return of dynamic shadows back in the game. No more ugly orange tinted late afternoon games.

Looks like it to me.

Have they said anything about having an accelerated clock?

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:56 am

I don't know about an accelerated clock, but it sounds like there are still no in-game saves, that there are still no multiple playable camera angles, and that there are still no on-field refs or chain gang this year. Look at the responses from G-Reg13 (NCAA football designer) here:

http://www.ncaastrategies.com/utopia/sh ... 89&page=87

http://www.ncaastrategies.com/utopia/sh ... ost1903771