NCAA FOOTBALL 10 -Tournament Info Inside "Are you in the game?"

Laonar

This is about the 75th installment of EA Sports version of College Football. This is my first OP be gentle.



On the covers!

Former Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree is the cover athlete for the Xbox 360.
Former Utah quarterback Brian Johnson is the cover athlete for the PS3.
Former Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo is the cover athlete for the PS2.
Former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez is the cover athlete for the PSP.

New features in the game!

Auto Pass
Procedural Awareness
Stadium Camera Flashes
Field Goal Nets / Field Goal Socks
Team Specific Bowl Game End Zones
Super Sim Improvements (On-the-Field Presentation, Updated CPU Clock Management, Skip Play in Road to Glory)
New Custom Conference feature in Dynasty Mode (Also available in Online Dynasty)
Player Lock and Defensive Assist
Sideline Reporter Erin Andrews
More Stadiums/Stadium Updates
Adaptive AI
Create-A-School mode, also known as teambuilder, is the most complex create a school feature in the game's history.
Road to glory mode, an improved version of campus legend with new sideline reporter Erin Andrews covering your career.
Branch-Tackling System
Improved WR/DB interactions
Improved OL/DL interactions, including a true "pocket"
1000 new game animations
Improved Pursuit angles
Evade sacks
Gameplanning
Defensive Keys
Set-up Plays
Marching Bands in the pre-game, including some authentic team specific ones.
Ability to Mix-n-Match uniforms
Revamped Flexbone playbook
Season Showdown
Progressive Lighting

Screen shots!

I am putting together this lame ass OP to see if anyone is interested in a tournament. This will be for the 360. If you are please leave your xbox360 name, what team you want to be and what times you are available.(This will help me set up matches as best as possible in the first round). This will be a bracket tournament until we have National Champion.

Only two rules. Only current updated 2010 teams are allowed, no history or custom teams. The second rule is treat everyone with some respect and while trashtalking is accepted lets not overdue it.

When games are played please post the score and any stats you wish to include. Screenshots and videos from the games are welcome.

Signed up and team

Laonar/Penn State
McClay/Miami

Santa Claustrophobia

I just want to know what the recruiting system is like. The NCAA games used to have the best setup and then at somepoint (I think it was this generation) they changed it to 'Hey coach thanks for calling me up! I'm really happy and getting happier. NOW I HATE YOU STOP CALLING!!!!!'

I mean, it sucked during the old way where the game handicapped you in three ways (lack of recruiting points, lack of recruiting areas, team specific ratings that recruits would reject you for even if you've won three straight Championships with Idaho...), but at least I knew how it worked. They switched to pamphlet sized manuals and then changed the function without giving you any idea what's happening.

Bitter? I'm not bitter.


Oh, and if I'm running a low-tier school program and get invited to a bigger conference, do I just inherit the old school's schedule and rivalries in a most non-sensical fashion, or have they finally figured out that the in-game scheduler needs 'a little work'.

Laonar

I have not gotten into any of those mode's yet as I been messing around with my friend trying to figure out on the game situations and which offense/defense to use. If I get a chance today I will add it to the OP. It says they improved create a school mode and the Road to Glory also. My fingers are crossed what you are asking(and I agree) was fixed.

Santa Claustrophobia

Also, I was pretty cheesed off that they removed the ability to select the number of players as zero and just watch a game play itself. Frankly, I felt it improved the game to my style since I'd love to see a Head Coach game for the college ranks.

The problem is that when watching the game play itself, it really exposes just how stupid the AI is. In both play calling and play execution. However, I'm shit at both play calling and execution anyway and would rather know that my team gave up that 80 yard winning TD because they were 'beat' on the play rather than knowing that I highlighted the wrong player and missed the tackle leaving the field wide open...

Then Tiburon made 'adjustments' to team organisation and now my overall recruiting strategy is fucked because the menu design suddenly entered retarded range and made it not worthwhile to even bother trying to manually adjust my depth chart.

The last NCAA game I played was 08, so I don't know if they 'fixed' it. But it would nonsensically re-sort the Available players by putting the weakest player possible on top. Then it would remove a player from the starter in one position (left guard, for example), just because I decided they should be third in the depth chart on the opposite side of the ball. Oh, but they won't remove them if they're *not* the starter, so then I'd have to go back to the original position and re-place the original starter into the top slot.

And forget putting backups and third stringers in as 'starters' in specific formations just to get them some playing time and extra bonuses to improving for next year...


Clearly, I could go on and on and on. I still have NCAA Football 2000 for the PS1. That game used to have field goal nets that would be raised and lowered appropriately... A ten year-old game from two console generations ago had more detail and now it's a 'new feature'? Hell, NCAA 2000 also had the ability to track Div. 1AA teams and even had a couple of bowl games at the end of the year for them. The last generation came along and suddenly that was no longer a possibility?

Christ! I think I'm getting an aneurysm...

mclay8823

I'm in...even though I only have a few games experience. Should be fun, though.

Online Dynasty is another possibility.

Miami Hurricanes

Laonar

Might have to cancel work just said 10 hours 7 days a week for 4 weeks.

JihadJesus

I would play this if not for two things:

1) I suck at these games, horribly. Like, can't beat the AI bad.

2) My team is, sadly, worse than that at actual football.

Santa Claustrophobia

So I rent this to see if they made any improvements over the last NCAA game I played (08).


FUCK YOU, TIBURON!


Okay, first, to be fair, some praise.

They did fix the auto re-sort bullshit that would happen when you wanted to adjust your depth chart (but you still can't choose specific players for specific formations... Hey, third string position player! You're superfluous and don't deserve to get any playing time on special teams!).

And they put the ability to set the number of players to zero and just watch a game, though it's not as simple as it used to be. The graphics quality of the game is much improved. Every thing looks real nice. More (but not all) stadiums have been rendered 'accurately'. (Quotes because I can't prove they're accurate, but when Navy's field returns to the game more-or-less how it used to look, 'accurate' is good enough.)

That's it for praise, now for some niggling criticisms...

I still don't like how the 'tabs' function works. Pulling a trigger to open a drop-down menu. By tapping it, I can quickly switch to the next tab, but I can't quickly go back. They open faster than in '08, but it's still dumb.

The AI has no sense of clock management. If I don't take the time on defense to allow some time to tick off the clock, they'll break huddle almost immediately and then hike the ball as soon as the team is lined up. This turns full 15 minute games into literal shoot outs as the scores (and stats...) inflate due to the extra time being available.

And watching the bands doing their formations? Boring. Now that I've seen all the generic ones, I don't give a shit about team specific setups. Thanks for wasting development time on such a useless feature guys...

And now for the damnations...

Why on god's earth does the Road To Glory function allow me to pick a position other than QB? What's the point of trying to be a WR if the play calling AI is so fucked up? Why should I bother to attend practices to improve my position on the depth chart when the QB won't throw to me unless I'm open with nobody near me for a radius of five yards?

Primary receiver? What's that? Oh, you mean that orange route? The one I'm taking? No, don't mind me. Go ahead and throw it once again to the RB/FB on a dump pass route because he's 10 yards behind the line with nobody around and I'm leading the defender by a few steps and open field in front of me.

And thanks for not providing any way for me to shake off the defender interferring with my route off the line. 90% of all plays that fucker is 'bumping' me off my route and Quick Draw McGraw, the QB, can't wait three seconds for a play to develop so that I can get clear. Asshole.

Did I say the QB can't wait? I'm sorry. I meant he can't wait unless the shitty playcalling AI has called yet another screen pass. Or as I like to call them, 'Free 10 yard loss sacks for the defense!'... Thanks for the colander-like OL!

And when he finally deigns to throw my way? It's too bad I can't actually see him because of the fucking camera angle. But boy when that target icon magically appears I'm ecstatic. Or at least I would be if it hadn't appeared along the route I was taking before my assigned cut in/out... If you're AI is going to throw to where it expects me to be and this means he's going to throw somewhere where I'm not expecting to be, having a little heads up they're about to throw would be nice.

And forcing me to follow the proscribed route for the first eleventy billion steps, yeah, that's fun. Fighting with myself to try and get open sure is the height of 'fun'.

Oh, and 'coach'? If I show up for practice and run my routes as assigned and the fucking QB doesn't throw it in my direction, how about you don't tell me afterward that you'd like to see more effort from me. Strangely, I can't even drop a pass if I don't see any come my way... And while I'm up in his grill: Again, playcalling AI is for shit. Stop calling running plays if we're down by three or more touchdowns at the beginning of the second half. Six runs in a row? Thank god we're both eating up yards and clock time... I'd hate to win this game or anything.

How about a future function where as a player I can post on 'myspace' or something giving shit to my retarded teammates and coaches? Or maybe the ability to transfer out if being the highest rated WR in the country isn't enough to get more looks during a game... Thank god we lost to Indiana (!) because the coach really thought giving away free sacks was a charitable thing to do... Or at minimum, some kind of 'description' of the school I'm signing with and what type of offense/defense they run so I don't waste my time hoping they call a play where I might be used. (For all the excitement, I'd rather be an OL...)

And Erin Andrews? So I understand she's 'popular' these days... Who thought hiring this hatchet-face was a good idea? I mean, I suppose she's not really that ugly, but the last time I saw a nose that big I was watching a Froot Loops commercial. It's distracting... Thank god they put effort into this portion of the game, what with her hairstyle creating shadows on her face (which isn't helping...) and the same outfit in every appearance... What's the matter, couldn't spring for a few costume changes? She's following my carreer over four years and can't be bothered to wear something else? Classy.

But at least due to my not being involved in many games, I don't have to see this portion of the game all that often...

Oh, one last thing. Could they make practices more worthless? Now that I'm the #1 reciever (For all the good that does... Keep throwing to the TE jackass, three steps off the line and his back is still not an acceptable target...) what's the point in continuing to do it? I don't seem to gain any stat bonuses anymore. And running the same six or so plays that rarely ever appear in an actual game doesn't really help at all. And evening events? What happened to hanging out with my roommate or meeting other students to do shit? All I can do now is study for classes/playbook and workout with the trainers/at the gym? Wooooo! I'm the king of the campus!

So, thanks Tiburon. Thanks for taking a game series I used to like and fiddling with it until I'd prefer to play older versions of the game. Versions that look worse and play worse but function better and have better sets of features to play with. Thanks for putting more effort into the Madden games and not even trying to trickle down some of those features into the NCAA game. Assholes...

Santa Claustrophobia

And just to further catologue the poor decisions, I think I've figured out the receiver progression priority the AI QB checks off. The QB will start from where they are and pick the closest available player in the formation at the time of the snap using the following order:

1-The TE.
2-The RB/FB
3-Anybody running a route in the flats.
4-Any other receiver running a route.
5-The defense.
6-The cheerleaders.
7-The peanut vendors in section XX43.
8-Your mother back home.
9-The king of the moles.
10-The defense.
11-The opposing team's head coach.
12-The mascot.
13-The opposing team's mascot.
14-Any receiver running a route that is in heavy coverage.

28-And then, maybe, you.

I might be kidding about points 5 through 13. Couple that with a QB incapable of putting loft on a ball on crossing routes through the middle or simply always underthrowing when I've got a step or two on the defender or, strangely, always throwing the ball just out of bounds where it's impossible to catch it legitimately.

Then there's the 'Catch' button which only seems to server to make the receiver look like he's trying to scratch under his arms using only his pads. Of course, maybe I just need to time it right (and hope the defender doesn't jump first...) to prevent the player from looking like a Special Olympics competitor...


Bah!