NCAA Football 10

[CentralMOBuck]

Gameplay Camera Presentation Updates: This year we were able to convert our gameplay cameras to a new system that can be tuned by the designers on the team while playing the game. The benefit to this is we now have the ability to prototype new camera angles quickly and see how we can make your view of the game even better and more dynamic.
One aspect of the new tech is the camera's ability to frame all of your receiver options on-screen as much as possible. What we do is have the camera behave like a turret on your head and as you and the receivers move on the field the camera will focus at a calculated point on the field (called a proxy target) that will give you the best vantage point. We are able to add weights on the calculation that can force the camera to pay more attention to the QB's location, the receivers, or even the player going out for the screen pass. In addition, we can lock this point to be a set distance from the line of scrimmage so that its location keeps a steady position instead of flying up, down, and all over the field as your receivers move in real time.

Using this proxy target can really open up your ability to read the coverage on the play and make an educated decision on which player to pass the ball. And if there are no options available, you'll be able to determine if you should tuck the ball and scramble. Also, we'll be paying attention to how this benefits/burdens the defense's perspective as well and update the camera's placement and proxy target weights accordingly. The camera is a work in progress at this point, but you can see some examples of things we've can do with this new system.

In addition, we are also able to create dramatic camera angles for some of the areas of the game. One example of this would be during kickoffs. With the new system we are able to cut from one camera to another and create some really interesting transitions. For instance, we can fly down to the ball on the kick off and create some great shots that weren't necessarily easy to do on the old system. Also, when the ball is in the air we can give you a better view of it coming into your return man as well as show if someone is flying down a lane untouched.

Lastly, this new system has given us the ability to implement another feature that has been requested by the community a number of times. However, we're not quite ready to announce what it is, so stay tuned...
-Greg Heddlesten
P.S.: You've probably noticed the passing icons are somewhat transparent in the images. New to NCAA Football 10 is the hiding of the passing icons as you run further from the line of scrimmage. If you are looking to run 20 yards backwards and launch a crazy arcade-like pass, we hope you memorized the routes your receivers are running and their assigned button on the controller. Otherwise, you could end up throwing into double/triple coverage and giving the ball away.

About time they do something to keep people with speed QB's from just running around the backfield and throwing up junk.

 

[CentralMOBuck]

Here is some more on the new custom conferences feature and upcoming community date. Supposedly they are going to use the community date to get some feedback from people who actually play the game, instead of using it as a way to promote the game and it's features!

Hey Everybody, I'm Ben Haumiller and I'm a designer on the NCAA Football series. I've been at Tiburon since 2000, starting out as a tester in QA, and I've been a member of the NCAA Football design team since NCAA 06. Since joining the team I've primary worked on our career modes (Dynasty, Campus Legend, etc.) our Online features, as well as a lot of the features you'll find when checking out the My NCAA and Team Management sections of the Main Menu. You would be hard pressed to find a more passionate college football fan than myself, so working on the NCAA Football series has been a dream come true.
On NCAA Football 09 I was the designer for what had been long considered the "Holy Grail of NCAA features", Online Dynasty. I couldn't have been more excited to get this feature into the game. Dynasty is without a doubt my favorite feature in any sports game, and bringing that experience online brought a tremendous amount of life into an already great game mode. Based on the feedback from the community I was not the only one that was able to resurrect gaming rivalries with old college roommates that now live on the other side of the country, increase my desire to sign the recruits in the nation for no other reason than to force the other dynasty members to settle for a 3 star prospect, and feeling the pressure of knowing the result of your head to head game will mean the difference between a BCS berth or finishing your season in December.
When it comes to any Dynasty (online of offline) it all starts with which team(s) will be human controlled. One of the most difficult decisions to make is which conference will be used. If you are all about the head to head games and want that BCS tie-in then the PAC-10 and Big East are great options since you know for sure you will play everyone each year. If you have a full 12 members and want to decide the conference title in a championship game, or if you want the challenge of taking a "mid major" and turning them into the next powerhouse you have a number of options.
However, sometimes it's not that easy, sometimes it can be next to impossible to find a conference with the right mix of teams to make everyone happy. Well in NCAA Football 10 we have made life easier on commissioners across the nation with the addition of Custom Conferences. Now you will be able to swap any school in or out of your conference and replace them with another FBS school. Each conference will keep their current number of members, so if you feel it's about time that Notre Dame joins the Big Ten you've got to decide which school will become an Independent. Since there are 120 FBS schools in real life, you will need to keep 120 FBS schools in your dynasty. While Michigan fans won't be able to prevent Ohio State from ever playing football again, they can take pride in relegating them to the MAC.
Custom Conferences will allow for increased flexibility in your dynasties. Now it's entirely up to you how the college football landscape will look in your dynasty. If you can't play with anyone but your Cornhuskers, and your friend feels the same way about Clemson don't just duke it out in a non-conference game, put a conference title on the line.
Wanna create a super conference with the top schools in the nation? Go right ahead. Do you miss the days of the old Southwest Conference, dust off the old wishbone playbook and put them all in the WAC, Mountain West, or Sun Belt. In NCAA Football 10 it's up to you how you want to set it up.

What's on tap for NCAA Football 10 community day?
On Friday when our community day attendees come to the Tiburon studio, they'll spend the day going through the features of NCAA Football 10 and giving the development team direct feedback on the game. In fact, we're so early in the year that our attendees won't be able to talk about most of what they will see and won't have detailed previews of the game immediately after community day wraps up. Instead of using the community day as a means of getting news out about the game, we've shifted 100% of the focus toward making sure our attendees can help impact the quality of the product.
Why tell you about the event if you won't hear a lot about the game features? Good question. Even though we're not quite ready to open the floodgates of information and tell you everything about NCAA Football 10, we do want you to know that we're taking a lot of care in developing the game. We are taking the quality of our games to new heights by involving the community early on. You've seen some examples of this with our producer involvement on the forums and here on the Inside EA SPORTS Blog and this Friday's NCAA Football 10 Community Day is another step towards making sure we involve the community every step of the way. And while you may not learn all of the NCAA 10 features this Friday, you will get an inside look at the community day.

Live community day coverage on my Twitter feed. Twitter / raczilla

 

[Smooth Olaf]

P.S.: You've probably noticed the passing icons are somewhat transparent in the images. New to NCAA Football 10 is the hiding of the passing icons as you run further from the line of scrimmage. If you are looking to run 20 yards backwards and launch a crazy arcade-like pass, we hope you memorized the routes your receivers are running and their assigned button on the controller. Otherwise, you could end up throwing into double/triple coverage and giving the ball away.

Uhhh...most have memorized the routes. It's not that hard. Good idea, and I think it's neat, but I doubt this really changes how long-time users play. If it works, however, hallelujah.

 

[fanaticbuckeye]

RE: Proxy targets:

I am curious to know how the controls will work if the camera is rotating. If I am scrambling and the camera rotates to show the opposite side of the field is holding the control stick forward still move straight or will we need to compensate for the rotating view? That will feel awkward if yes and if no, I bet there will be some missed tackles/cuts during the transition.

 

[CentralMOBuck]

NCAA Football 10: Pocket Protection


Quick note before I get into the shots below; this is not the official post for NCAA Football 10 this week. Expect another drop of information really soon.
Hey NCAA Football Fans I wanted to jump in and show some work being done with the Offensive/Defensive Line play. Rather than just a bunch of stuff I read, figured it would be better to post some shots and comment a little on each one.

Well there you have it, a full pocket. You can see that both Offensive Tackles (OT) were able to ride the Defensive Ends (DE) or Linebackers (LB) out wide behind the Quarterback (QB) instead of just standing them straight up. This year we are giving the Tackles the ability to take a Defensive End wide around the QB in a realistic fashion.
First look at the right side of the line:

Here is a close up view of the LB being strung out wide by an OT; you can see the body lean as the LB is trying to get around the OT using a speed rush. Instead of being pushed once or twice and standing still you'll notice the interaction between the OT and DE (or LB) play out in a more natural sequence.
Now let's take a look at the other side of the line and the different rush style:

This example is showing an attempt to use a bull rush and muscle his way to the QB; however the OT is able to keep the DE at bay. And like on the other side of the line push him out wide to help create that pocket from the first screen shot.
All the above shots are from the same play to give an example of how things are progressing on the NCAA Football 10 game-play front. And before you ask this does mean we are working on the ability of the Defensive Line to get to the QB as well:

The edge rusher in this case was able to make a move back inside. Sorry to ruin the suspense... it ended in a sack.
We are still in the process of working how often the defender vs. the offensive line will win. Like how much does Finesse Moves factor against Pass Block Footwork? Or how often will AI defenders attempt special moves? And a number of other tuning issues. It is a high priority to the team right now to ensure our line play is balanced on both sides of the ball.
That is all for today... Check back in a few days for this week's NCAA Football 10 Blog.

Interesting addition to the game.

 

[Smooth Olaf]

Interesting addition to the game.

Interesting? That's one of my top wishes. I hate the line play in 09.

 

[Jerry Seinfeld]

I'd love to see a more realistic pocket. Drop back too far and you walk right into the path of a properly blocked end. Step up and buy your pocket passer some time (and actually have a use for accurate statues), or sneak outside if an end overpursues. Force the opposition to give up some pass rush pressure in order to contain your QB.

Right now it's extremely difficult to step up in the pocket past a pass rusher, and too many get away with dropping way off the LOS.

 

[CentralMOBuck]

Interesting? That's one of my top wishes. I hate the line play in 09.

LOL, I had to type something to post the message and that was the only thing I could think of. I think the new line features combined with the running out of the pocket and the WR icons disappearing will make that aspect of the game that much better. I said earlier that I won't be buying this game, but I may acctually end up buying it.

 

[Smooth Olaf]

Oh, thank God.

Goodbye HB Sweep abuse.

 

[Buckeye86]

The new pocket dynamics and pursuit angles alone seem like they would make this game worth the buy. I am thinking about buying a new system just to play NCAA 10, can someone give me any input on whether to get a 360 or ps3? I pretty much only care about college football games, with maybe some branching out into other sports games in the future. Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Wells4Heisman]

360 would probably be best... and I own both consoles.

 

[jwinslow]

The consoles will be about identical for sports titles. The 360 will be much cheaper. IF you'll plunk down the bucks for bluray movies, the PS3 is a good value.

I'd suggest buying it from dell using their 20% off coupon. Here's an old deal:
http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/gaming/606069-xbox-360-ps3-wii-6.html

If that coupon has expired, go to slickdeals.net, forums, hot deals, and search for dell 360. The deal is still going.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Oh, thank God.

Goodbye HB Sweep abuse.

now the angles are awful in the other direction. as soon as the guy gets past the LOS they all just start running for the pylon.

 

[jwinslow]

Yup, I need to see a video of a punt return solving the twitching/pursuit issues before I'm sold.

 

[Piney]

I am thinking about buying a new system just to play NCAA 10, can someone give me any input on whether to get a 360 or ps3? I pretty much only care about college football games, with maybe some branching out into other sports games in the future. Thanks for any feedback.

All I will say about this subject is if you like dynasties and specifically online dynasties the BP PS3 Online Dynasty leagues kick ass versus only 3-4 players on the 360 dynasty :tongue2: