NCAA 2005 First Impressions

Badger_Fan · Post by **Badger_Fan** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:20 pm

And just as important, here are the final scoring leaders and embarassments from last year:

Boise St - 43.0
Miami (OH) - 43.0
Oklahoma - 42.9
-----
Indiana - 14.8
Buffalo - 14.8
SMU - 11.2

So this is actually pretty accurate. Oklahoma returns 10 starters on offense, and could easily increase their scoring output this year.

That said, I was only able to get in a little time last night so I don't have definitive impressions, but this is what I liked and disliked:

Liked:
1. Running game is better to me. The slowed pace makes it easier to pick out holes, and while there is still some Mario action in there, I think it's toned down. I also think that the offensive line and fullback to a better job of finding someone to block. I don't know how many times I watched my fullback run right past a linebacker last year. It seems better this year.

2. The passing game is definitely more difficult. It seems as though the QB accuracy is toned down, which is very, very good. Again, I had limited time last night, but it seemed as though you really needed to have some discipline, stay in the pocket, and get set before throwing to make an accurate throw. Long drop-backs will be punished.

3. It seemed as though there wasn't as much stick-em on the blockers. I was able to shed blocks a little easier which made for better defensive line play and linebacker play.

4. The defensive swat button is a good addition...to a point. I like the fact that there is a risk in going for the interception and that they have a good, safe alternative in just batting the ball down, but...

Dislikes:
1. The tipped balls can get a bit crazy. Nothing totally absurd has happened yet, but I'm sure I will see something that pisses me off before too long.

2. I still don't think that the CPU runs the ball enough on default settings, but I was only able to play five minute quarters and that might have something to do with it. I'm sure that sliders will fix this to a point, but I played as the Badgers against Minnesota last night and the Gophers should be running the ball all day with the backs they have...but they didn't.

-------------

That's about all I have so far. The atmosphere is fantastic, and I think this is the first game that truly captures the spirit of the sport it's attempting to recreate. I don't know anything about dynasty yet, but I'm thoroughly heartened by the reports that there are less stud recruits in this version which should eliminate seeing teams with 7 or 8 freshman starting in year two of the dynasty.

Also, I only played home games so I can't really comment on the annoyance of (1) grass stains since UW plays on FieldTurf or (2) the vibration from the opponent's HFA. You should be able to turn vibration off while keeping the other parts of the HFA in tact, though it would be a nice feature to have the vibration on only for kicking since that seems like a cool feature.

That's about all.

Mike

RiverRat · Post by **RiverRat** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:45 pm

Blublub wrote:One thing that someone else mentioned in another thread - they've finally fixed the schedule rotation problem. This is HUGE! Last year using Arizona I could NEVER play Stanford, since they were the only Pac 10 team not on Az's 2004 schedule (and conference opponents couldn't be added). Now it seems to rotate properly. That alone is nearly worth the price of the update for me.

This is an important point. Everything else being equal, this makes the game a lot more fun for me, as there were a lot of teams in last year's game I would have liked to playas but didn't because a cool matchup with so-and-so would never be possible.

I also take the fact that gameplay is essentially the same as last year's as a good thing in that messing with sliders won't be such a hassle. I ended up in 2004 with the same sliders as I had in 2003 except for the picks. Sounds like 2004's sliders (whatever they may be for you) will be pretty good as a start for 2005.

The other cool thing about 2005 for me will be the addition of my alma mater ... Southeast Missouri State. GO INDIANS!

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:55 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Any chance you could post your latest and greatest sliders Bill, so we can use those as a basis for which to tweak this year? Thanks.

When I have some, I'll post them on the blog and copy them here.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:59 pm

Bill_Abner wrote:When I have some, I'll post them on the blog and copy them here.

What I meant to say is can you post the last sliders that you used in 2004...that way we can start tweaking from those. It's always good to have a solid base from which to work.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:07 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Any chance you could post your latest and greatest sliders Bill, so we can use those as a basis for which to tweak this year? Thanks.

From OS:

My Final NCAA 2004 House Rules and Stuff Post
#581990 - 08/30/03 09:57 AM Edit Reply Quote

First off, my apologies if this should go in the slider thread but I wasn't sure so feel free to lock this if needed.

OK this is it. This is what I am sticking with for the rest of my NCAA 2004 days.

I'll post sliders at the end of the post but the important part is the house rule system I am using. I'm having more fun with NCAA 2004 than ever before because of this and I still feel it blows the current NFL games out of the water. (ESPN not withstanding)

Anyway here's what I'm using:

Pre-Game:

-Before playing a game add a new coach in the coach options page. This new coach should be assigned to the team you are about to play. Takes about 30 secs to do this. Then go into coach strategy and alter the team's offensive playcalling to at least 70% running (I go as high as 80 sometimes unless the team is pass crazy ala Washington. Also, and this seems to be important, move the Conservative playcalling slider as far left as possible. Now, this does not make the team never throw deep it just makes most teams look underneath first before throwing it 30 yards downfield. As a result, CPU completion % is better and the game has a much better flow to it. You can also play with the defensive settings too; I usually make the CPU teams play run D more often than not. Also make sure to use the correct team playbook for your new coach. After you play the game make sure to delete this coach so you can make a new one for the next game. All of this takes less than a minute to do.

-Make sure the team you are playing (your Dynasty team) has its coach defensive slider at 80% pass. No idea if this helps the CPU run game, but it doesn't hurt to do this just in case.

Before Kickoff:

I'll add sliders later but play on AA. Seriously. As much as I think Heisman is better this year, you can certainly get great games on this level and in some respects get a much more exciting game than you can on Heisman.

Before kickoff, change the controller settings and take control of the CPU team *if* they have their starting HB as a kickoff and punt returner which seem to happen a lot. All this does is tire the starting CPU HB. Change this to another player and then set the controller back to your team.

Game Time:

Here are the rules I use during play and it makes AA a very playble and enjoyable lvl.

-No speed rushing (sprtinting) with defensive ends or outside linebackers. If you have a fast DE you can still get great pressure off the corner without sprinting, but speed bursting just makes it too easy to get a sack. You CAN sprint if rushing or blizting between the tackles, though. You may use all the swim moves and rip moves you want. I still get sacks doing this but rarely do I get the 8+ sacks per game I get when sprinting.

-No using motion on running plays. It's too easy to use motion to secure a great running scheme in this game. You'll still get good blocking but you just cannot take advantage of a game quirk if you don't use motion. You can use all the hot routes and audibles and motion you want on passing plays.

-Do not switch players on defense EXCEPT during pass plays. I still take control of a DB from time to time but to help the CPU run game, don't switch like crazy to the nearest guy and dive to stop the HB. Stick with the guy you started with and it helps a lot.

-Before you kick a FG (not the CPU, just you)--set the game level to Heisman. If you miss a FG on All American you suck. Just make sure to set it back to AA after the kick.

-Punt returns. Another issue with the game is the ease of which you can return kicks. Therefore I fair catch the ball every other punt return. Sucks that I have to do this but I like it better than returning every kick 20 yards.

-Play on 11 min quarters. This has been proven to help the CPU playcalling as well as it doesn't feel rushed. Work the clock and try not to snap the ball until 5-7 secs are left and you'll get a very accurate number of plays. (130-150 total)

-In using this system I am in year 3 of my OSY Dynasty and we're 3 games into the season and OSU is 2-1 after beating North Texas 45-41 in a thriller (they scored off 4 OSU turnovers). We then whipped #1 Oklahoma 34-17 and lost a heartbreaker to #9 Arkansas 29-24. The Ark game was the best NCAA 2004 game I have ever played against the CPU. They scored on a 98 yard pass and OSU answered with a 93 yd kickoff return to make it 29-24 with 2 mins to play. I shut down Ark on 3 plays and got the ball back but failed to score from the Ark 35. What a game. Arkansas also ran for 145 yards which was nice.

-Recruiting:

Use OSUMike's recruiting rules. See the sticky above. Makes the off season stuff so much more enjoyable from a realism POV.

Sliders:

AA

OFF (HUM/CPU)
QB Acc - 10/18
Pass BLK- 5/17
WR CAT- 13/13
Run ABL- 10/20
Run BLK- 5/20

DEF (HUM/CPU)
AWR- 5/18
KNOCK- 8/18
INT- 5/10
Break BLK- 5/18
TAK- 5/15

Special Teams:

MAX Human FG accuracy (remember this will be on Heisman)

MIN CPU FG Accuracy

Penalty Sliders:

False Start: Max right
Holding: +7 from left
Face Mask: +4
OFF PI: Max right
DEF PI: Max right

The rest are in the middle.

You WILL see more holding calls but this has given me a very good and fair # of penalties.

Anyway that's all for now. Hope they help.

bill

reeche · Post by **reeche** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:19 pm

Good Lord why would anyone do all that micromanagment. Video games are supposed to be fun... That's like working at a real job in my opinion...

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:19 pm

reeche wrote:Good Lord why would anyone do all that micromanagment. Video games are supposed to be fun... That's like working at a real job in my opinion...

It was fun for me. Was pretty easy to do, too. One man's posion is another man's Bacardi Black.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:21 pm

Abner is the slider king. his NHL 2001 sliders are EPIC!

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:28 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
Blublub wrote:BP, you're right of course. But a day later I'm still feeling a little let down by this year's version
But then again when was the last time we were completely awestruck by a game and realized that it completely met every single expectation. You mention 2004...but that game came at a price as well.

Scott - What are your impressions? I always like hearing from someone who tells it like it is! (plus a 'Canes fan as well!!)

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:40 pm

Steve,

Only played it for like 5 min. this afternoon at lunch...will play more when I get home this evening and I'll let ya know what I come up with.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 3:24 pm

Man I have to stop reading impressions before playing games. Hate having a negative vibe going into playing a game. The game does play slower but I guess I am not seeing a "slowdown" pertaining to framerate drops when you hit the line. Running in Classic and no widescreen which might be why.

Early graphical gripes are the washed out look of the fields, and inability to tell the difference between grass and turf. Also the player models "in game/not cutscenes" have an overly cel-shaded look to them. Someone needs to remove the black marks-a-lots from the graphics department. Another year, another port, another let down in the graphics department for the Xbox version.

One odd thing is the inability to name the classic rosters from 1979 and earlier. I would have like to name all the classic OU and Nebraska teams but it has been omitted. You can edit players from 1979 and earlier if they are on the All-Team roster but has no effect on the classic teams. Ball had to be dropped there.

Hmm Big Hit = Required use of the White button. Well I guess we won't be seeing alot of big hits from me, unless I get one of those controllers with the w/b buttons on the shoulder. Only two controller configuration options to choose from once again.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 4:08 pm

reeche wrote:Good Lord why would anyone do all that micromanagment. Video games are supposed to be fun... That's like working at a real job in my opinion...

Spending a few extra minutes beforehand to get a better game is no big deal to me. Although I did not take all of these measures for every game (for example, I truly do suck at kicking field goals - not surprising from an FSU fan).

What really amazes me is the people like BlackLover and others who spend 80 to 100 hours inputing player names using only a controller and a whole lot of staying power (combined with a lot of college roster research and compilation). That is like working at a real job. Kudos to those people - especially BL, who does it for free and doesn't even look for praise.

What always makes me laugh are the (most likely) 14 year old kids who announce in their first post that their 'exclusive' and 'ultimate' 'realism' sliders will be released in 3 days. Then, shortly after the drum roll and the big 'release', they expect to be awarded the Nobel Prize for taking a stab at a moving target.

Blublub · Post by **Blublub** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 4:18 pm

kevinpars wrote:What really amazes me is the people like BlackLover and others who spend 80 to 100 hours inputing player names using only a controller and a whole lot of staying power (combined with a lot of college roster research and compilation). That is like working at a real job. Kudos to those people - especially BL, who does it for free and doesn't even look for praise.

No s***. He even used to put it on people's memory cards for folks that didn't have a Sharkport, only to get accused of stealing the cards when some got lost in the mail. I tried to edit just one conference one year and nearly ended up babbling to myself in a corner before finishing. Sure hope somebody buys him a beer if they ever bump into him.

The real bloodsucking leeches of the world are those who take these (and other free) rosters and then turn around and sell them on the 'net. Amazing little subculture in the world of video game rosters.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 5:07 pm

BL used a keyboard last year.

I get the sense that he gets a lot of contributions.

Not that that's the reason he's doing it. But he's gotten recognition for his efforts.

He said he stayed up until 5 AM on Sat. and Sunday.

Blublub · Post by **Blublub** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 5:40 pm

He working on the Xbox this year?

FloridaGators · Post by **FloridaGators** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 5:51 pm

bphilipb wrote:Blub-

That is the one thing that I forgot to mention and you are so right..... why is this game coming out in mid July? I so agree with working on the game a few weeks more to make sure everything is up to speed. (no pun intended) I think early August would of been the best time for release. Just when NFL football camps have opened and all the different websites start talking college football.

I also agree about the money side of all of this. IMHO, EA has tried to totally distance Madden and NCAA. With EA releasing college football in July and Madden in August they have continued their trend of seperation. If you remember when college football first starting coming out on the Sega Genesis it was a total after-thought to Madden. (Remember it Bill Walsh was the title on the game when he was coaching Stanford. How scary is that?) Then college football started to take on a life of its own and here we are now releasing the game in mid July.

BB

I am still waiting for my local videogame store to get the game, should have it when I get out of work tomorrow afternoon.

That being said, I think they release the game in mid July so that people can play it, and then it gives them time to hype Madden.

A mid August release would then push people to get Madden in September. Which would be too late.

You can't release NCAA and Madden at pretty much the same point.

FloridaGators · Post by **FloridaGators** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 5:52 pm

Blublub wrote:He working on the Xbox this year?

No, he's working on PS2 again.

A guy named FAIRDALE_KINGS is working on the Xbox rosters.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 7:46 pm

After a few short games of NCAA, some of my complaints don't seem to be adressed.

Wishbone still doesn't work - play as AF the running plays to the Wing Backs are still pretty useless. I'm playing against CSU and their d-line is that much more dominant, I don't think so.

Last year's bad runnings plays are still useless - There are just some plays in these playbooks that don't work yet they are still in the game. You would think they would have been addressed.

CPU can't run - sliders will need to fix this again. Geez how hard would it be to have the default sliders at last year's +10 then allow for the sliders to actually have an effect on the game.

NCAA is pretty pass happy - again this is to please all the frat boys and cheeser who love to see 65 passes a game.

Okay now for the wacky... Guys I don't see slowdown but it doesn't feel smooth. In fact it feels slow. Its even more clunky feeling than Madden. I don't know why they did this maybe it was to balance out the defense or something but this is going to take some getting used to.

BTW I played a few on Heisman so it might be back to All-Pro.

Right now I'm feeling entirely underwlemed. There's a lot of stuff that feels good. Passing and rushing feels okay. The HFA option is neato. But unless there are nuances I'll pick up in the coming games, I don't see much to get excited about. Its a solid effort but only a $20.00 effort not $50.00.

reeche · Post by **reeche** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:40 pm

Played the game today. My initial thoughts.

The Bad.

Graphics are really starting to show their age for this generation. Particularily on the Xbox.

Slowdown is very evident to me on the Xbox version. Particularily when you are towards your own endzone and the game has to render the entire field.

Game Speed is slower. I don't like it.

Too many dropped passes. Actually I wouldn't mind all the drops if there was like an animation for it. Instead you throw a bullet at a guy and it hits him and falls down and the player doesn't react. Takes me out of the game.

Pinball running model is still effect.

The Good

Dynasty mode is great as always.

Always love the play action stuff in NCAA. For some reason it always feels better to me than in Madden or ESPN.

I know I'm alone on this one but I actually like the controller vibration and camera shake for the crowd noise. Completely fluff feature but for some reason it gets me in the proper mood like I really am playing a big game.

Game seems tougher than last year to me. Maybe to many deflected passes but it doesn't really both me and it makes passing tougher which I like.

Undecided.

I'm not sure whether I like or Dislike the compsure stuff.

Haven't tried online so I can't comment on it. Despite whatever I said, the game still feels like the same NCAA Football I've been playing for the last 3 years. That is both reassuring on one hand and a little dissapointing in another.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:49 pm

The game is growing on me.......Its like that ugly chick at 2 AM.......or that song says."If you cant be with the one you love, Lve the one your with".........

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 9:27 pm

The classic camera does indeed eliminate some of the Xbox slowdown. The game has been growing on me since I switched the camera and bumped up my receiver slider and CPU running. I'm seeing some more penalites without touching a slider, which is nice.

TheFormerBrett44 · Post by **TheFormerBrett44** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 9:58 pm

wco81 wrote:BL used a keyboard last year.

I get the sense that he gets a lot of contributions.

Not that that's the reason he's doing it. But he's gotten recognition for his efforts.

He said he stayed up until 5 AM on Sat. and Sunday.

So I guess what you're trying to say without actually coming out and saying it is that you don't think what he does is a big deal, correct?

Brett

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:09 pm

My first impressions after 2 online games and 1 offline.

Running is nearly impossible online on All American...not a lot better offline either.

Passing is nearly impossible online and offline. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but my guys are all dropping passes that they caught last year. I've also noticed that some of the same routes I ran last year to get guys open are not working this year. One of the games I played online, I was 6-31 passing and the other guy was 8-34. That's pretty darn bad. This game just doesn't have the pick up and play feel to it anymore and online games take forever to play because you can't run and the passing game is atrocious.

I like the Home Field thing and the new crowd animations are pretty cool, but I can see me turning HFA off since I can't stand the shaking screen and controller. Wouldn't be so bad in small doses, but I can't take it for a whole game.

The game pace has slowed down, but maybe too much. My guys felt like they were running in quicksand and the guy I played online against said the same thing. Playing with the NCAA view the game is unplayable for me, but after switching to the Classic view it felt better.

All in all, I am very disappointed so far. I am going to play some more, but I doubt this game will hold my interest after ESPN comes out next week. Hopefully, some of my problems can be fixed with sliders, but I can't see slider fixing the overall pace of the game. It's just too slow, not to mention that now I have to stand at the line and run off 10-15 seconds to get a realistic play count.

What I was really hoping for was last year's game with updated rosters and maybe a little fluff thrown in, but what I think we got was a huge step backward in both gameplay and framerate. Again, I'm just not feeling it right now. Last year I finished my first season in one day and wound up playing 5 full years in my dynasty...I couldn't get enough of the game. Right now I'm thinking about playing some Riddick instead of NCAA tonight. Again, words can't describe how disappointed I am.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:20 pm

[quote="Badgun"]This game just doesn't have the pick up and play feel to it anymore... quote]

perfect. that is exactly how i feel. something just seems a bit off...it is almost like this is 2004 and 2004 should be this year's game...(does that make any sense?)

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:25 pm

Sudz wrote:
Badgun wrote:This game just doesn't have the pick up and play feel to it anymore... quote]

perfect. that is exactly how i feel. something just seems a bit off...it is almost like this is 2004 and 2004 should be this year's game...(does that make any sense?)

Exactly! That's what the guy I played online said. He said, "This game actually feels like a downgrade from last year" I agreed and told him that there was just no flow in this game...it just feels awkward.

Do you know if anyone has done new rosters for the 2004 version. If I could get really good rosters, I believe I'd get my 50 bucks back and enjoy last year's version more.