NCAA Football 13

[MizzouRah]

I seem to see more big plays on AA, leaning towards that setting with a few tweaks myself. College football is about the big plays and I'm not sure I see many playing Heisman level.

[pk500]

What quarter length are you cats using for realistic play totals? Thanks.

[Aristo]

I have mine st at 8 minutes, and that has been. Good for me. I also use set game speed to slow. I may go to very slow, as rumors are that at slower game speed the AI plays better.

and guess what I had this afternoon. The CPU got called for pass interference! I have it set to 100, but it is still the only time its been called in 10 games or so.

[pk500]

Are you guys seeing any framerate hiccups when playing? The demo was smooth as a newborn's ass for me, but I'm seeing occasional nasty slowdown -- bordering on freezes -- when playing some games from the retail game installed to my hard drive.

I have no apparent problems with my hardware. Every other game I own runs peachy.

[pk500]

Think I found a common denominator for the slowdown I'm seeing: It's happening all in games on Boise State's blue turf field. My kids LOVE playing on that field.

[JRod]

Think I found a common denominator for the slowdown I'm seeing: It's happening all in games on Boise State's blue turf field. My kids LOVE playing on that field.

SEIZURE FIELD.

There's another field that has some crazy colors, I wonder if you see it there too. Is it Western Kentucky or Toledo. Can't remember.

[MizzouRah]

8 mins plays well.. I have to use normal speed though.

[Aristo]

Think I found a common denominator for the slowdown I'm seeing: It's happening all in games on Boise State's blue turf field. My kids LOVE playing on that field.

I HATE playing against Boise on that field. It's freaking hard to see the players. At least it mimics real life since they were told to stop wearing all blue at home because it was a pain to look at film and scout. But in NCAA, it's borderline cheese because the colors match so closely.

[pk500]

I also saw some slowdown at the Big House in Ann Arbor during a night game against Georgia. Hmm.

[Danimal]

I had the slowdown once PK and it hasn't come back and I am playing as Michigan.

Come to think of it the slow down only occurred in a play now game, I have never seen it in my Dynasty games.

[pk500]

Thanks for the tips, Dan. Mine have all been Play Now games, as I'm not starting a Dynasty until I can get some named rosters this weekend.

[TCrouch]

I've had the "hiccup slowdown" in every EA football game of this generation--in Franchise, Play Now, Dynasty, RTG, Superstar, etc. It's something I've learned to live with...but it will periodically freeze for up to a second and then continue on.

Multiple XBoxes, multiple TV's and internet connections, etc.

[DChaps]

I have experienced many freezes and slow downs in Play Now at UGA's Sanford Stadium. This is my first real foray into next-generation football of any kind and so far I am loving it, but the hiccups were unexpected for me.

[pk500]

Sorry you cats are seeing some sluggish framerates, too. But I'm glad it doesn't appear to be a hardware problem with my rig. Every other game I own runs fine, and I try to remember to place a cloth over the vents when not playing to keep dust out of the machine.

[TCrouch]

Pretty funny what experience can do for you. I tried copying my XBox saves and profile from one memory stick to a bigger one recently, and ended up with it corrupted and losing every 360 save I've ever had. That meant I had to start my RTG over, and with many, many more games under my belt, I actually finished High School as the #1 recruit this time and had a much higher rating. I could have started from opening day at Stanford, for example, on the same All American difficulty selection that I made the first time around.

I went back to Cal, though, and was only 200 something points behind the starter, so I was able to get that trust level up and beat him in a position battle by week 4 of my freshman year. It wasn't easy, of course, but when you focus on not making mistakes like picks, sacks, or fumbles, you learn to take those 3 or 4 points per play and run with it. Even if you do nothing but basic plays and don't force anything, you're still getting 3 or 4 points each snap, and that ends up being almost 100 trust per practice if you don't screw up.

Anyway, my first start was on the road against #1 USC and I absolutely shredded them for the first half, building a 24-7 lead. Then my offensive coordinator goes into sleep mode and starts calling toss plays and play action and we get clobbered in the second half, losing 31-24. I had great stats, but a loss is a loss and I was pissed. I redeemed myself with a pedestrian performance against Arizona State (something like 13 of 19 for 180 yards and 1 TD but no turnovers or big mistakes) in a 28-6 win.

Pretty cool that practice and learning the passing system had such tangible results for me in 2 different RTG files. One I was clueless and flinging the ball all over, the second I was a bit more seasoned and knew the goals and ascended to the starter's role much, much quicker (2 full years quicker). I wasn't even benched after 2 games like last time, either! My trust is actually almost to the point where I can check out of plays a few times a game at this point, yay!

[pk500]

Every school in the land is either recruiting or has offered a scholarship to 7-year-old Landon Kelly, a 6-5, 215 quarterback for the Syracuse High School Wizards.

My 7-year-old is tearing up the high school ranks on the Freshman level. He's having a blast with RTG. It's fun!

[Danimal]

I had 3 DPI calls last night THREE IN ONE GAME!

I also had a catch over turned where the receiver barely stepped out of bounds, I was totally expecting that to stay as called like in the past. I also gave up a kick off return for a TD.

I have gotten the hang of running the option from shotgun with Michigan. Key is to not move the WB before his ball fake.

Man this game continues to impress me and then it does things like this occasionally. My WR is split out in 5 wide. The AI is in straight up man. I snap the ball and look to the right and see my guy wide open, not a defender within 20 yards of him easy bomb for the TD. Go back and look at the replay and the CB on the snap just ran straight across the field. No idea who he was covering as his head rotated to follow my WR as he ran that way and he ended up looking like the girl in the exorcist.

To have all that good stuff in one game and then that one terrible thing..ugh.

[TheGamer]

Every school in the land is either recruiting or has offered a scholarship to 7-year-old Landon Kelly, a 6-5, 215 quarterback for the Syracuse High School Wizards.

My 7-year-old is tearing up the high school ranks on the Freshman level. He's having a blast with RTG. It's fun!

That's great stuff. I normally create my two sons on the game. This year, I'm going to try a different route. I'm going sim to the seasons where my sons would be entering college, 2018 and 2020. Not only am I going to create my two sons, I'm going to create the all their teammates from their Chicagoland Pop Warner football team, the Bensenville Bandits, that I coach and let the schools have their shots at them and see who can make it to Madden.

[pk500]

Landon Kelly had offers from nearly every major school in the land but accepted a full ride to Oregon after a last-minute push from Michigan.

Signing Day was hilarious. He made my 11-year-old son and I cover our eyes or leave the room while he decided. Then he told us to either re-enter the room or open our eyes so we could see his choice. All that was missing were the Starter cap and my wife next to him, weeping with joy about her baby's accomplishment.

He's pushing for the starting QB job as a frosh on Freshman skill level but has failed twice in position battles in practice. Still, he holds on field goals and extra points and got some mop-up QB duty late in a blowout victory against a Division I-AA team.

RTG is a VERY cool mode. I'm also enjoying playing as Herschel Walker in the Play as a Heisman winner mode.

[pk500]

That's a fantastic idea, Gamer!

[TCrouch]

Landon Kelly had offers from nearly every major school in the land but accepted a full ride to Oregon after a last-minute push from Michigan.

Signing Day was hilarious. He made my 11-year-old son and I cover our eyes or leave the room while he decided. Then he told us to either re-enter the room or open our eyes so we could see his choice. All that was missing were the Starter cap and my wife next to him, weeping with joy about her baby's accomplishment.

He's pushing for the starting QB job as a frosh on Freshman skill level but has failed twice in position battles in practice. Still, he holds on field goals and extra points and got some mop-up QB duty late in a blowout victory against a Division I-AA team.

RTG is a VERY cool mode. I'm also enjoying playing as Herschel Walker in the Play as a Heisman winner mode.

That's exactly why I've loved it for years. Taking playcalling out of my hands, and not allowing me to control every player on the field makes it a much more difficult and engaging game for me. When I laser a ball between 2 defenders, only to watch my wideout drop it, I'm b*tching at the TV screen like a whiny quarterback. Conversely, when I lead a receiver into an Earth-shaking hit from a safety, I feel bad.

Even though it's all digital, it brings out very real feelings as you play through a game as a single player.

[MizzouRah]

X360 rosters - PASTAPADRE (excellent)

I'm going to play like I always do and adjust from there. AA defaults, 8 min quarters, KP/PP down to 40 for both CPU/HUM and that's it for now.

Beat FCS SE 57-17, at half it was actually 26-10. We will see how I do against #5 Georgia next.

I love what I saw so far. The ticker is great to finally make it into the game and unlike the demo, the break ins come at perfect times and add to the immersion.

Gameplay is solid, and making that perfect lead pass to a WR on a slant and taking it to the house is quite a feeling.. passing is so well done. We played in the rain and players were slipping all time time, more so than in NCAA 12.

Threshold seems fine or default as far as I can tell. My speedy players break away from the pack just fine. I let the CPU do recruiting, I just handle the recruiting plan.. just landed a 5* athlete and a 3* HB.

I'm guessing I'll throw less INT's now since the passing is so much better and robo LB's are a thing of the past.

For a casual gamer like me, it plays a good game of football. I've always liked this series though.

[Aristo]

I agree with just about everything you wrote here, Mizzourah.

I'm up in the air about kick power. I was concerned with the deep kickoffs, but the NCAA moved the kickoff to the 35, which I think is the root of it.

I will be curious to see what teams do in real life this year. They also moved the spot on a touchback on a kickoff to the 25 yard line, which makes running it out a bigger gamble. But with the 25 being the new spot, it might encourage kickers to try an drop kickoffs inside the 5, even if they can kick into the endzone every time.

I also think you need to bump pass coverage to at least 80 on both sides of the ball. It does help eliminate the easy bombs, but you can still hit them.

[dbdynsty25]

After playing more and more of the game I'm starting to see the nuance of the game and I'm able to see some of the differences. That being said I'm actually really beginning to like it more and more.

[Danimal]

I'm guessing I'll throw less INT's now since the passing is so much better and robo LB's are a thing of the past.

I'd be careful about assuming that. With the new passing system you'll be able to make throws you never could which will lead you to try and put balls into places you shouldn't. So yeah you'll not see the super jump LB interceptions but you'll see the go up and take it away interceptions (and receptions). I swear I saw one in a game just a little bit ago that was so real I tried to hit my streaking slot guy who had a few steps but he was much smaller then the SS who closed on the ball went up over him and took it away.

I've settled in with a good set of AA sliders I've worked out. Every game is it's own story line right now which is a good thing.