NCAA 07 XBox 360 Thread

MUTTS · Post by **MUTTS** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 1:03 pm

MizzouRah wrote:Not sure if it's the best football game yet, but I agree with your comments.. it sure is one fun game to play and is the reason I finally caved in and bought a 360.

Ditto.

Tony

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 3:46 pm

I was in the same boat as Badgun for a bit. I felt that the gameplay of the PS2 version was superior to the 360 version, particularly in the "user control" department.

With that being said, I continued to play the 360 version more and more because it feels fresh and is a lot of fun.

I've now got the controls down pat and am having much more success at controlling my DB's and doing the things that I want to do on the field. Running between the tackles is more fun in this game as I feel the current gen ver. d-linemen break off blocks too easily and plug the hole as you hit it too consistantly. It's like their awareness is too high or something, not sure.

Also, the return game is more fun because the up-close 3rd person view all but takes the return game out of the equation. Same thing is holds true when you get a user pick. You next to no field vision.

I won't lay claim that 07 on the 360 is the best football game to date, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. Sure there was some serious growing pains, and at first I was actually a little disappointed. However, with time I've come to fall in love with it. Online the is especially fun and a great experience.

TheGamer · Post by **TheGamer** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:12 pm

so is there a consensus level everyone is playing on? All American is seeming to be very easy. I just lost the National Championship to Nebraska using Illinois, of all schools. I'm going to bump up to Heisman for my next season. does anyone have any sliders that they have been testing and getting good results with?

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:30 pm

All American is seeming to be very easy. I just lost the National Championship to Nebraska using Illinois, of all schools. I'm going to bump up to Heisman for my next season.

Man, if this is the consensus, then i guess I just plain suck. I'm playing All-American with no slider adjustments and after one season i'm 7-5 with Michigan and have gotten my a** waxed at least three times. Sure all have been by top 20 teams but i'm also still getting tight games from the likes of Central Michigan.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:56 pm

I'm going to tweak the sliders to make All-American a little tougher, but I'm not ready to make the switch to Heisman *yet.* I'm going to boost the CPU offense a bit, lower my interceptions, and increase CPU awareness. I've already increased kickoffs +10 for each. I'm going to try to decrease CPU FG, but I've read that they don't miss (m)any anyway. I think the only non-block I've seen them miss so far were a couple of really long FG that were short.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 11:36 pm

RallyMonkey wrote:
All American is seeming to be very easy. I just lost the National Championship to Nebraska using Illinois, of all schools. I'm going to bump up to Heisman for my next season.
Man, if this is the consensus, then i guess I just plain suck. I'm playing All-American with no slider adjustments and after one season i'm 7-5 with Michigan and have gotten my a** waxed at least three times. Sure all have been by top 20 teams but i'm also still getting tight games from the likes of Central Michigan.

Ya, I am playing with slider adjustments and AA is still hard. I will say that momentum is everything early in the game. If you lose momentum early in the game, you really have an uphil battle. I find the game easy when I have momentum, impossible when I don't have it.

bdunn13 · Post by **bdunn13** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:06 am

RallyMonkey wrote:
All American is seeming to be very easy. I just lost the National Championship to Nebraska using Illinois, of all schools. I'm going to bump up to Heisman for my next season.
Man, if this is the consensus, then i guess I just plain suck. I'm playing All-American with no slider adjustments and after one season i'm 7-5 with Michigan and have gotten my a** waxed at least three times. Sure all have been by top 20 teams but i'm also still getting tight games from the likes of Central Michigan.

Don't feel bad, I am Georgia on default AA and I just got shutout by UT at home in the rain 27-0.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:44 am

Leebo33 wrote:I'm going to tweak the sliders to make All-American a little tougher, but I'm not ready to make the switch to Heisman *yet.* I'm going to boost the CPU offense a bit, lower my interceptions, and increase CPU awareness. I've already increased kickoffs +10 for each. I'm going to try to decrease CPU FG, but I've read that they don't miss (m)any anyway. I think the only non-block I've seen them miss so far were a couple of really long FG that were short.

I don't like the super human abilities of the DB's at the Heisman level. I think it makes a lot of routes unusable, and since the DB's are boosted so high, I don't thin matchups come in to play.

I am on AA, but have boosted the CPU offense a bit, and have been having a great time. I am running a Stanford dynasty and am 1-1. Lost to Oregon on the road on a last second TD, in a game, I had in hand, lost momentum. I then beat BYU on the road 27-20.

I really like the ebb and flow of the game, and have had a blast playing it. I also like having the ability to export screenshots to my PC. Makes the dynasty reporting that much more fun. I actually have become addicted to taking the screenshots.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:16 am

I guess AA is the official geezer level, because I'm on it too

I am getting a pretty good challenge at that level, with a few slider tweaks (some boosted CPU offense, lowered knockdowns). I played the first game of my Mizzou dynasty last night against 1-AA Midwest and won 35-8 in a very realistic fashion -- the 1-AA played me tight the first half, but couldn't keep up for the whole game.

It really does suck that the 360 version lacks the 1-AA schools. I wanted to play the game as a warmup and to check out the play counts, and it was so lame to see the generic school (especially after getting FK's rosters). I won't be scheduling those games in the future.

The penalties are definitely out of whack. With clipping at 70 and holding at 100, I saw 4 clipping penalties (two on kickoffs) and not a single hold. Did see a lot of false starts from the CPU, especially in 3rd and long when the crowd was going bonkers.

After a few games, I think the biggest improvement in this iteration is running the offense. It seems like every play has a chance to work. I never used to use shotgun-based runs, especially draws, but they can work in the right situation. A lot of that has to do with the line blocking, which seems so much better.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:51 am

I lost my first game of my Mizzou dynasty as the 1-AA Midwest running back tore me up.. not to mention 3 punt return fumbles as I kept forgetting to call a fair catch on certain punts.

Since then, I've reeled off 3 W's and had great defensive play as I beat New Mexico 24-7.

One thing about the 360 version, I find myself overjoyed when I have a road game, as each stadium is like looking at a never before seen new car. They did such a great job on the stadiums it's errie.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:21 am

I'm playing on AA also. I started my dynasty as Notre Dame and barely won my first game at Georgia Tech. It took a late-game interception return for a touchdown to put it on ice. I haven't played enough to start tweaking any sliders but the only thing that jumps out at me is the cpu running game needs to be improved. You can tell it's based off of the Madden 360 engine and not the Xbox/PS2 engine. It was harder to notice at first but I have now. The running game reminds me a lot of Madden 360/NFL 2k5 where you have to lay off the sprint button until you hit your hole and then use it to explode through it.

I know what you mean by the screenshots bk. I'm addicted too and I can't even get them onto my computer. I figure if I get good enough at taking them I can get a job with EA releasing preview screens and vids.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:33 am

I have been getting better games since i messed with the sliders a bit. Some of the ones out there for AA were OK, but one thing that some people do is drop the tackle slider all the way down and I just hate that. I want the CPU to be able to run, but not with a bunch of stupid missed tackles. I drop this slider down to make make it harder to tackle, but i also up the AI blocking and running and it has helped.

My personal "No Cheese" against the AI fix was to not use the sprint button for the QB until I the defensive line breaks through or I decide to run. It is just to easy to sprint toward the sideline and set and throw, so I took it out of the equation.

I have had a few good games messing around. I came from down 21-3 to beat Iowa with Northwestern when i thought i was going to get blown out (although I did make the sliders tougher after this game) and after simming a season, I played the Big 12 championship as Texas and I had a tough time beating Iowa State. It was late in the third quarter when i finally took control - almost like Iowa State ran out of gas.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:45 am

bkrich83 wrote:I actually have become addicted to taking the screenshots.

BK, I want to start doing this, but from what i read it seems like I am in trouble. I have the Datel software installed and apparently you need something else and can't have the Datel software installed, and it is impossible to remove without going back to an earlier save point which I am not sure I want or know how to do.

How hard was it for you to do?

billharris44 · Post by **billharris44** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:12 pm

What I'm really enjoying about this game is that even on Heisman, I don't get the sense that the A.I. is cheating. If teams blitz you, the DB's aren't super-glued to the receivers--guys will be open if you can find them in time. And I've had two games in the last two days where the CPU came roaring back in the last few minutes, but I intercepted passes (one of which I ran back for a touchdown) in both games and held on to win.

Plus here's something I've never seen before--a fake punt (run) on my 45 and it was blocked correctly.

All in all, I continue to be really, really impressed. You see the DB A.I. go brain dead on individual players (I've boosted awareness to 65 and may put it up higher), but overall it feels much less scripted than any NCAA version I've ever played before.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:09 pm

I played two great games yesterday. After getting the named rosters, I started a new dynasty and elected not to go with my traditional pick of Michigan (man they suck in this game) and try someone new. So i elected Tennessee. After winning my first two games fairly easily, a win against #20 Cal and a really contested game against Air force (man they are hard to stop) who had the nerve to pull a fake punt and go for 42 yards to the barn. I moved up to #11 in the polls. Next up was #6 LSU and at home. I got off to a 10-0 halftime lead and LSU had not even sniffed inside my 35. the second half was an exercise in game plan adjustment. LSU went from throwing deep to running and then mixing in Play action and I watch 20 unanswered points get posted for a loss.

Stinging from the defeat next up was Marshall, Who I expected to run into the ground. Problem is I didn't know Marshall had a QB / WR combo that made Montana to Rice look pedestrian. I couldn't stop them, and only by the grace of a fumbled kick off and and INT return setting up scores did I manage to find myself in the game. down 27 - 24 with 1:19 seconds left i took the ball over at my 29. I marched down the field using the shot gun and just hitting crossing routes and mixing in a few out patterns. Before I knew it I ran a screen and got the ball to their 4 yard line with 9 seconds left and the clock ticking. Having only one timeout I let the clock run down to 2 seconds and burned it, content for the OT. What happened next I can't explain, I lined up and Marshall called a timeout, I turned to the wife and said marshal is trying to f***in Ice me, she looked at me like I was a dope. So I line up again and... I swear on all that is holy, that the kick meter was dead in the middle when stopped and I was lined up properly (not really true I guess I was aimed left)... missed the kick wide left, with a Ron Santo like "NOooooooooooooooooooo!!!" echoing through my household I threw my $40 controller against the wall creating an even louder thud which woke up my 3 year old. The conversation that happened next is something only a gamer could relate to:

Wife: what the f*** is wrong with you?
Me: I missed the kick, a chip shot i missed it and i was dead red, I mean did you see that he missed a kick you could hit. I mean thats not possible...
Wife: It's just a game, now you woke up...
Me: Just a game!?!, I just lost to Marshall, unranked f***in Marshall at HOME!. I am going to drop right out of the top 25, I just lost to a team with a nick name called the herd or something stupid like that, I just lost to a bad ESPN radio program! I mean a chippie for fucks sake....

Somewhere during that rant she walked away shaking her head and somewhere is virtual Tennessee papers the headline read:

Vols lose in stunner to unranked Marshall, Coach sentenced to doing dishes for post game tirade.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:25 pm

^^^^ ROFLMAO @ Danimal....been there, done that.....had a number of similar experiences playing Tiger 99 PC back when EA had the Internet TOUR.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:34 pm

That's great Danimal.

What level and settings have you settled on?

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:38 pm

awesome recap!

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:39 pm

MizzouRah wrote:That's great Danimal.

What level and settings have you settled on?

All american with some slider tweaks to give the CPU a offensive boost, but also to reduce QB accuracy etc. I found heisman too tough and I didn't like the way LB could jump up and snag bullet passes out of the air on that level.

Phototropic · Post by **Phototropic** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:55 pm

Take it easy on my team there, Danimal.

I just wish I could achieve the success they had against you!

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:51 pm

Danimal, I am sorry you lost, but that was hilarious. I remember my wife saw my case for MVP 2005, which was severely cracked from throwing it on the floor.

Her: "What the hell happened to your game?"

Me: "The ump and I had a disagreement over balls and strikes."

I'm actually kind of happy the controllers now are expensive enough that I won't chuck them.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:52 pm

Danimal wrote:
MizzouRah wrote:That's great Danimal.

What level and settings have you settled on?
All american with some slider tweaks to give the CPU a offensive boost, but also to reduce QB accuracy etc. I found heisman too tough and I didn't like the way LB could jump up and snag bullet passes out of the air on that level.

Yeah, the CPU DB's on heisman are too much for me. I'll tweak AA some to give the CPU a tad more of a running game - and I've also been able to pass pretty well. I might wait until I play a powerhouse team first to see where I am.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:09 pm

Danimal wrote:
bkrich83 wrote:I actually have become addicted to taking the screenshots.
BK, I want to start doing this, but from what i read it seems like I am in trouble. I have the Datel software installed and apparently you need something else and can't have the Datel software installed, and it is impossible to remove without going back to an earlier save point which I am not sure I want or know how to do.

How hard was it for you to do?

I had just installed my Datel drivers (am running XP). So I just went to a previous restore point and that was that.

You then have to install the xplorer360 software.

If you get to that point it's easy. A couple of guys have made some apps that convert the pics to jpeg for you.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:11 pm

Couple of example screenshots. From my Stanford Dynasty.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 12:14 am

Nice shots, BK. I took a few tonight that I need to upload -- I'm going to use my wife's laptop.

I am officially in "this game rocks" mode. It's got some rough edges but it gets most of the fundamentals down really well. I played my second game in my Mizzou dynasty, at home against Ole Miss, winning 24-17 when I picked off a tipped pass and ran it 40 yards for the score. The game featured a roughing the kicker that kept an Ole Miss drive alive and a wicked, snot-bubbling crackback block on one of my players during a 25 yard counter for a TD. I think I need to bump up CPU passing (at 65), but the computer mounted a decent rush against me and kept running.

I, too, think I'm becoming a picture addict. Much more interesting than the magazine covers, although I wish the 360 had those.