NCAA 2004 thoughts

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 3:32 pm

I played around with NCAA 2004 for the XBox and PS2 (online).
 
 One of the funnier games was when I fell victim to 5 turnovers as the Miami Hurricanes, a few interceptions and wet ball fumbles. My opponent, playing Ohio State, returned some of them for TD´s and was up 25-0 going into the 2nd half. But he hadn´t done anything against me offensively, so I calmed myself down....and proceeded to get to 25-20 and then ran out of steam. He couldn´t quite run out the clock, and punted it to me with only 43 seconds left. 3 quick plays, then a 25 yard zip pass right into the middle of the field splitting two converging defenders ...for a Touchdown with 5 seconds left.
 
 He started sending "NO FAIR!" and "REMATCH" messages to me...invited me to a game, this time on a Sunny Day at Ohio St. He started committing turnovers, and I turned it into a rout...but without any offense, as was the case in the prior game, he signed off in disgust before the game ended....oh well...
 
 The XBox version is definitely prettier, especially the helmet ´shine´ which looks more realistic and not unrealistically shiny. But the PS2 has online play ... oh well, Career mode downstairs on the XBox, and one-off online play upstairs on the PS2, I guess.....
 
 Randy

theworm · Post by **theworm** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 10:18 am

have to say that it´s titles like this that are increasingly getting me on the xbox. will have to see what the verdict is on madden though. played it the last year on xbox but will probably try it through rentals this year before committing to either ps2 or the x

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 12:35 pm

As pretty as the XBox version is, I´ll spend more time on the PS2 version because of online play.
 
 It really stinks that we can´t have the best of both worlds, but until MS and EA iron out their differences about online play the customer is the one that is getting shortchanged.
 
 Anyway, I´ll just keep playing NCAA on the PS2 for the most part. *sigh*

geehep · Post by **geehep** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 1:18 pm

randym:
 
 sounds like he was a real good sportsman. those are the best people to run into online.
 
 theworm:
 
 i may be renting madden too. unless the copy at blockbuster has peanut butter or some weird scratches on it. renting is becoming quite the task these days. <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon27.gif">

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 1:42 pm

I´ve had it with the dropped passes with this game.
 
 Last night I was playing UCLA in my SDSU dynasty.
 
 I went up 14-0 real quick but UCLA roared back to take a 24-14 lead.
 
 I hold them the last half of the 3rd and the entire 4th quarter.
 
 I score a TD to start the 4th quarter to pull to 24-21.
 
 I get the ball back and am driving. I get to the 30 and proceed to drop 4 straight passes.
 
 The WR´s were wide open and they flat out dropped the ball.
 
 The 4th pass was the kicker....my WR was wide open in the end zone...no one closer then 10 yards.....drop.
 
 I held again and my next drive the same damn thing happens......it´s like there is a code preventing me from going ahead of the CPU or something.
 
 I don´t mind passes being offline....balls dropped after being hit....but these wide open drops are killing me.
 
 No D1 receiver....crap...even HS receiver drops wide open passes like they do with this game.
 
 Sliders don´t help either.
 
 This is becoming a game killer for me.
 
 It does everything else so freakin well and to have this crap pop op pisses me off to no end.
 
 Half.com will be seeing this game...unless a fix is found....

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 3:14 pm

Hm, can you give me the settings you´re playing on? I´ll load up your team and give it a try.
 
 Admittedly my games have been largely online, but I haven´t feel unjustly victimized by the game code yet. I do want to research this, though.
 
 Randy

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 3:29 pm

These are sliders I got from Jistic on the OS forums.
 
 In that game I listed....Adam Hall was 21-43....with about 10 drops....
 
 Frederick Collins had 70 yards on 18 rushes I believe.
 
 
 JISTICS AA SLIDERS.
 
 (ALL ADJUSTMENTS MADE FROM DEFAULT)
 8 min quarters.
 
 OFFENSE
 
 CPU
 QB Accuracy: DEFAULT
 Pass Blocking: +2
 WR Catch: DEFAULT
 RB Ability: +6
 Run Block: +7
 
 Human
 QB Accuracy: +1
 Pass Block: +1
 WR Catch: +1
 RB Ability: DEFAULT
 Run Block: +5
 
 DEFENSE
 CPU
 AWR: Default
 Knockdowns: +5
 INT: -10
 Break Block and Tackle: DEFAULT
 
 Human
 AWR: -5
 Knockdowns: +5
 INT: -5
 Break Block and Tackle: -5
 
 Special Teams
 CPU
 FG Length -3
 FG ACCuracy DEFAULT
 Punt Length -3
 Punt Accuracy -3
 K/o Lenth DEFAULT
 
 HUMAN
 FG Lenth DEFAULT
 FG ACCuracy -3
 Punth Length DEFAULT
 Punt ACCuracy -3
 K/0 Length DEFAULT
 
 Penalties
 ALL MAXED EXCEPT THE FOLLOWING
 
 Holding +2
 Face Mask DEFAULT
 Defensive Pass Interference +2
 Clipping +2
 Unsportsmanlike Conduct DEFAULT
 
 
 That´s it. If you´re interested, game test these using a team as a heavy favorite, a heavy underdog, and even teams. I hope you have the same great results I´m having!

Post by **Jared** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:40 pm

I´m having a lot of fun with it for the PS2. The dynasty play is fun, and even without slider changes it plays a relatively balanced brand of football (though it can definitely be tweaked). I might have to make the leap from All-American to Heisman though, to see how big the difference is.
 
 And online play is really fun...though I had problems in the beginning taking on all challengers that use Miami and Va. Tech and thinking I could win without having a perfect game (I usu. play Florida, which is NOT very good in this year´s version of the game). But I´ve learned to choose my opponents wisely and have had a lot of fun with online play. My last game was a defensive 13-3 victory over Auburn. A straight, real game of football. Have also lost close, low scoring games too (10-7 and 7-0). Once you learn how to choose the right defenses, it starts to be like a chess match.
 
 BTW, if anyone wants to play me online, the handle is jaredm.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 8:39 am

Okay, to look at the situation with this game I played against the XBox version using the slider settings you suggested. I then decided to go out of the ´mainstream´ and picked a matchup between Northeastern U (my college) and U South Florida (near where I now live). Although there were a lot of facemasking penalties with the slider settings you gave, I didn´t notice an issue with incomplete passes.
 
 I then created a custom dynasty team with a more-or-less balanced package and played a few games and after a few drops at the beginning which had me thinking maybe you were right, I completed 9 passes in a row.
 
 I then went upstairs to the PS2 version and played a couple of games online using default settings. Again, no real issue with dropped passes.
 
 I´m not denying they are happening, but I´m just not experiencing it yet. I´ll try to do more drastic mismatches and see if it happens.
 
 Cheers,
 
 Randy

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 5:12 pm

Hey Jared I added you to my Messenger list. My name in NCAA is bkrich83.
 
 I am always looking for straight non-cheese filled games online.
 
 -BK

Post by **Jared** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 6:17 pm

BK,
 
 Sweet. I´m always looking for non-cheese matches as well. Decided to take a challenge from someone in the top 500 and it was just insane amounts of cheese. Same 4 plays, tons of audibles and motion. I only lost 21-17 (was driving to win but fumbled the ball and that was that...sigh).
 
 Hope to catch you online.
 
 Jared

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 7:52 pm

Yeah I played a game last night in the "Str8 games only" room. I challenged this guy, he sends me a message : "Realistic?" I responded yes.
 
 He takes Texas, I take USC. He immediatly puts in the backup QB who´s got speed. First 3 plays he runs shotgun 4 wides drops way back, waits for coverage to clear out then runs with the QB. I was waiting for this and was play spy so I held him to 3 yds on those carries.
 
 So his next strategy is to drop back 25 yards, run around till someone breaks open and then hit him. After a while I caught on and blitzed the crap out of him sacking him several times and forcing a pick.
 
 His next strategy is then to just chuck it deep to Roy Williams. This worked a few times, also.
 
 On defense all he did was run 4-4 defense and blitz the house. And then wonder why I was killing him with short routes. I killed him, but it was basically just a cheese vs. Anit-Cheese match. How is that fun?? Or "realistic" as he asked me.

Post by **Jared** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 10:11 pm

More often than not, when someone says "no cheese", they end up playing a cheese game. I just try and find people with records around .500 and not a lot of disconnects...usually I get good games.
 
 (Oh, and I just about refuse to play against Miami, Va. Tech, and sometimes Ohio St. I always play Florida, and the lack of talent this year kills me online...oh well.)

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 10:42 pm

I am a USC guy, but I have also had a lot of fun playing with the small schools.. I had a great game the other day playing BYU vs. Air Force. I have had a lot of fun trying different teams out.
 
 Jared do you have a headset?
 
 Hit me up if you see me online.
 
 -BK

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 11:11 pm

BYU....Air Force....small schools?
 
 cmon BK...don´t get PAC 10/USC big school head on me....LOL
 
 Go Aztecs!
 
 
 I´m thinking maybe my WR´s were tired at the end of the game....I was calling a lot of Shotgun formations to try and catch up.
 
 Last year SDSU faded late in games because of this reason...Tolver and Osgood ran out of gas....I guess 200+ catches between them tired them out.
 
 I´ll keep playing...and try and rotate my WR´s more often.

Post by **Jared** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 11:51 pm

BK,
 
 Nope...no headset. I´m thinking about getting one though. Actually, I´m in the SR league and I think we´re scheduled to play against each other. But we can play some non-league matchups as well (i´d be happy to try some mediocre teams). I´ll definitely look for you next time I´m online.
 
 I first thought that when NCAA went online, you´d see tons of people playing their own schools and lots of matchups like Ole Miss v. Kentucky or Kansas v. Missouri along with the big games. But nearly everyone is playing Miami v. Virginia Tech, or Texas v. Ohio St. Ah well...maybe in the future some people will start playing with weaker teams.....

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Fri Aug 01, 2003 1:38 am

LOL Pigpen, didn´t mean it as a jab at the MWC. Hell I played at a WAC school. (Actually it was in the Big West at the time). I am a huge SDSU fan.
 
 Your right about Tolver and Osgood. They just ran out of gas. BTW Osgood has shown some flashes in the Chargers camp, and I hear Tolver is making a good impression in Miami.
 
 Jared, a headset adds a lot to the online experience imo. It´s a lot of fun to be able to actually talk to these people you´ve been "talking" to on the forums for so long. This is one thing that made XBL so enoyable for me.
 
 I am looking forward to getting some games in with you.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Fri Aug 01, 2003 8:18 am

Guys, count me in as well. I´m RSM13 (Marino´s # of course).
 
 The only bummer is this hatred of U Miami. I happened to pick that as my ´favorite´ college team, mainly because I´m a diehard Dolphin fan, and the equivalent for me is the Miami Hurricanes. Now I´ve started playing as Florida St just because people start disconnecting when they see I´m going to play Miami.
 
 It´s discrimination I tell you!
 
 Anyway, I´ll play as anyone. I just wanna play. I´ll watch for you guys in the evening.
 
 Randy

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Fri Aug 01, 2003 12:37 pm

One of my favorite online games so far was a battle of C+ rated teams. I was Eastern Carolina on the road at North Texas, and though I tied it up at 14 at the end of the 4th quarter, I choked in OT and threw an interception in the middle of the endzone. But what a game! I love the enormous veriety of teams in these college games.
 I wish there were no cheese ball at all, but there is something satisfying in defusing some guy´s cheese, especially if you fall behind early. Worst thing is, once you get a handle on the cheese and take the lead (for me usually in the 3rd quarter), the cheeser becomes the quitter.
 I would love to match up with you guys. Look for Zeppo online. Or Henri, my Wash U practice profile for the SR league.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 2:26 am

Damn Jared those games we played were tight. I think I Am now fully addicted to playing NCAA 2004 online.
 
 -BK

Post by **Jared** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 2:35 am

Tight games that YOU WON <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">
 
 Yeah....I expected that I´d be through a couple of seasons of dynasty mode right now....but because of online play, I´m still on week 7. When you have good, non-cheesy opponents (like BK, for instance), it´s amazing. I´m hooked (though I won´t be online tomorrow...and possibly Tuesday).

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 2:58 am

We will never speak of the 21-0 beatdown you handed me, ever again. <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif">
 
 Online play has totally slowed down the progress of my dynasty. I only got 1 dynasty game in the whole weekend. Probably played at least 7 games online.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 9:32 pm

anyone got any ID´s besides zeppo? He and I are the only ones that put in our EA IDs.

Post by **Jared** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 4:58 pm

Randy,
 
 Mine is Jaredm. Hope to catch you online.
 
 Jared