Live Blog: NCAA Football 09

by pastapadre
Posted May 29th, 2008 at 7:48 am

1201: Was playing Shopmaster from MaddenWars but hopped off to start the live blog. Heading into the 4th quarter he held a 26-7 lead (my defense could not get a stop). Have a few notes already and will add them shortly. Got a couple short video clips for tonight also.

1207: Got a late start due to the 360 I sat down at having the red rings. My luck! Plus I was sick this morning but I’m feeling much better now.

1210: I’m attempting to upload a few short video clips now. We’ll see if I can get them up soon.

1211: Husky Stadium is not the best place to play a snow game. While it looks great on the field, the track surrounding the field looked terrible.

1213: Overall the gameplay is more constricted. It still has the wide open feel but the acceleration that led to so many big plays seems to have been toned down.

1215: At this point I can’t really go in and directly answer some of the questions you guys have posed. I will try and get time later to seek some of them out.

1216: Could just be a coincidence, but so far I’ve seen less turnovers even in the head-to-head. Just one INT thrown by Shopmaster and I was immediately tackled. Can’t say for sure that the INTs for TD issue from last month has been resolved, though with the overall feel of acceleration not being as extreme I suspect it is at least improved.

1217: I’ll look into Campus Legend more tonight, but my understanding was that the only significant changes were that you can stay in an activity such as practice and do the whole week’s at once rather than exiting and spending so much time with the game loading, and that the camera won’t adjust by flipping around at a change of possession which was disorienting. That was a big issue last year and was one of the first things I noticed when playing the mode in 09.

1220: Good news on roster sharing. You don’t have to be on a friends list to grab it. You can pull it from anyone just by typing in their gamertag/name. Just found this out!

1224: One thing that still irritates me is that after kicking off the play call screen defaults to special teams. Also saw one of the sideline catch animations when the player wasn’t close enough to the sideline to warrant it.

1229: Seen many more inaccurate throws than we saw back last month. There was one play I was rolling out with Jake Locker and missed the receiver by about 10 yards. Can’t speak much to the CPU throwing inaccurate passes yet, but from a user perspective it seems more frequent. I’d say that DE contain and QB Spy works better than in the past, though I haven’t really seen anyone who is an expert at exploting QB mobility.

1233: The clips I’ve uploaded still haven’t processed yet. I’m hoping to be able to link to them before I jump off.

1234: I believe with NCAA it is close to being final, there won’t be many changes made from this point on.

1238: For the short clips I’ve been able to get up check out my vimeo page. I think a couple have processed by now. It is just a RB animation, and then a big hit from three different perspectives.

1245: The game just seems to be more balanced than what I had previously played. Scores aren’t going out of control or anything. There is the potential for big plays, especially thanks to the player control, but I wouldn’t say it is easy to score. This has been with All-American difficulty setting.

1248: For the specific videos: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 I’ll try to get more later but likely won’t post them until late tonight.

1252: Head Coach live blog late this afternoon or evening. I’m going to play another game here so I can have more to discuss in the full write-up.

Tags:

I Peench

Two questions about NCAA.
1. Do you still see dumb WR play? I started playing 08 again and its one of the glaring problems I noticed. Balls thrown a foot over the WR/TE head while they are open and they don’t jump for it, ends up being a pick by the defender behind him.
2. How does the spread offense work with the new “wide-open gameplay”? Does this new gameplay emphasis favor this kind of offense.

THanks a lot, man. Hope you have a great time!
I Peench

Two questions about NCAA.
1. Do you still see dumb WR play? I started playing 08 again and its one of the glaring problems I noticed. Balls thrown a foot over the WR/TE head while they are open and they don’t jump for it, ends up being a pick by the defender behind him.
2. How does the spread offense work with the new “wide-open gameplay”? Does this new gameplay emphasis favor this kind of offense.

THanks a lot, man. Hope you have a great time!
http://www.pastapadre.com ricky

is there field goal nets
http://www.pastapadre.com/ ricky

is there field goal nets
http://www.pastapadre.com/ Ricky

Hey is ther field goal nets this year?
http://www.pastapadre.com Ricky

Hey is ther field goal nets this year?
Greg

hey pasta do you know if they brought back formation subs by any chance?
kingofkrunk

Are there ANY improvements in play calling for Campus Legend? That was my biggest issue with the mode.
Greg

hey pasta do you know if they brought back formation subs by any chance?
kingofkrunk

Are there ANY improvements in play calling for Campus Legend? That was my biggest issue with the mode.
MJ

I know it is a long shot, but have they added any more stadiums than there were in the beta you have?

Thanks,
MJ

I know it is a long shot, but have they added any more stadiums than there were in the beta you have?

Thanks,
MJ

WOW, that’s great about roster sharing. This is probably the single best thing I have heard thus far.
MJ

WOW, that’s great about roster sharing. This is probably the single best thing I have heard thus far.
http://www.pastapadre.com/ Ricky

Hey pasta Are you playing the game on the xbox 360 and is there a big graphic difference?
http://www.pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

[quote comment="22581"]Hey is ther field goal nets this year?[/quote]

Not in NCAA, but will be in Madden.
http://www.pastapadre.com Ricky

Hey pasta Are you playing the game on the xbox 360 and is there a big graphic difference?
http://www.pastapadre.com pastapadre

[quote comment="22581"]Hey is ther field goal nets this year?[/quote]

Not in NCAA, but will be in Madden.
Afrodamus

Pasta,

Give me your impressions on QB mobility and the ability to sprint backwards and run left or right and throw strikes…

Is there DE contain to address that or has that asp[ect of the game been toned down to make passes less accurate?

Thanks
Afrodamus

Pasta,

Give me your impressions on QB mobility and the ability to sprint backwards and run left or right and throw strikes…

Is there DE contain to address that or has that asp[ect of the game been toned down to make passes less accurate?

Thanks
Callmetaternuts

Two questions, one NCAA and one Madden

NCAA – the roster sharing. This will allow us to put names and edit ratings, and share them online. This is the same as what we used to do offline? Im surprised they are allowed to offer that (guess no one is making $ off it)

Madden – EA Rewind. Im a sim gamer and wont ever have a do over or redo, but can we still access the feature where collinsworth shows us we missed an open WR or missed a block without doing a do over? Id love that feed back to see i missed a WR, just dont want to cheat to have to see that.
Callmetaternuts

Two questions, one NCAA and one Madden

NCAA – the roster sharing. This will allow us to put names and edit ratings, and share them online. This is the same as what we used to do offline? Im surprised they are allowed to offer that (guess no one is making $ off it)

Madden – EA Rewind. Im a sim gamer and wont ever have a do over or redo, but can we still access the feature where collinsworth shows us we missed an open WR or missed a block without doing a do over? Id love that feed back to see i missed a WR, just dont want to cheat to have to see that.
http://thequestforncaa.blogspot.com/ Kevin

I’m really glad to hear about the more constricted gameplay. NCAA 06 Part II wasn’t something I was looking forward to.
http://thequestforncaa.blogspot.com Kevin

I’m really glad to hear about the more constricted gameplay. NCAA 06 Part II wasn’t something I was looking forward to.
nolesfan

Has anyone tested the stadium sounds, just wondering how the sound blends in with the background sound of the actual game.

Thanks
Afrodamus

Also…The OPTION PITCH

Is the OPTION Pitch still suspect in that you can have people draped all over you and falling down but still manage to get off the perfect pitch to a RB????
nolesfan

Has anyone tested the stadium sounds, just wondering how the sound blends in with the background sound of the actual game.

Thanks
Afrodamus

Also…The OPTION PITCH

Is the OPTION Pitch still suspect in that you can have people draped all over you and falling down but still manage to get off the perfect pitch to a RB????
bipolar

Pasta,

Will they be able to fix some of the minor problems you find (ex.Huskies track in snow, sideline animation) or is the finished game?
bipolar

Pasta,

Will they be able to fix some of the minor problems you find (ex.Huskies track in snow, sideline animation) or is the finished game?
http://www.pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

[quote comment="22591"]Has anyone tested the stadium sounds, just wondering how the sound blends in with the background sound of the actual game.

Thanks[/quote]

CDJ from NCAA Strategies did, he’ll write about that tonight. He should also have some video/audio to display how it comes across.
JHeb

If you somehow see Oklahoma v. Texas at the Cotton Bowl, would you check to see if the crowd is actually divided at the 50 yard line like they do in real life? One half if Crimson, the other half burnt orange.

Thanks…
http://www.pastapadre.com pastapadre

[quote comment="22591"]Has anyone tested the stadium sounds, just wondering how the sound blends in with the background sound of the actual game.

Thanks[/quote]

CDJ from NCAA Strategies did, he’ll write about that tonight. He should also have some video/audio to display how it comes across.
JHeb

If you somehow see Oklahoma v. Texas at the Cotton Bowl, would you check to see if the crowd is actually divided at the 50 yard line like they do in real life? One half if Crimson, the other half burnt orange.

Thanks…
Afrodamus

Pasta,

Have somebody take the QB and Sprint backwards and run left or right just to see how effective that can be…I know you guys are mainly sim players but in order to have Tiburon see what alot of fools do its often necessary to show them some garbage so they know what to address…

Ask Madsci to do it…He will know exactly what I’m talking about
Afrodamus

Pasta,

Have somebody take the QB and Sprint backwards and run left or right just to see how effective that can be…I know you guys are mainly sim players but in order to have Tiburon see what alot of fools do its often necessary to show them some garbage so they know what to address…

Ask Madsci to do it…He will know exactly what I’m talking about
Afrodamus

Pasta,

will weather be ONLINE???…and if it is will it be merely cosmetic or will there be a difference between a clear sunny day and a wet and rainy day…gameplaywise?????
http://www.pastapadre.com/ Ricky

From what ive been hearing and seeing would it be fair to say that that its gonna be another dissapointing year for from ea when it comes to gameplay in ncaa football 2009.
Afrodamus

Pasta,

will weather be ONLINE???…and if it is will it be merely cosmetic or will there be a difference between a clear sunny day and a wet and rainy day…gameplaywise?????
http://www.pastapadre.com Ricky

From what ive been hearing and seeing would it be fair to say that that its gonna be another dissapointing year for from ea when it comes to gameplay in ncaa football 2009.
Afrodamus

In terms of online play…What is Tiburon doing to remedy the online lag/delay issues…I know they are aware of the past years problems but what are they doing to make this year any different than the last 2-3?
Afrodamus

In terms of online play…What is Tiburon doing to remedy the online lag/delay issues…I know they are aware of the past years problems but what are they doing to make this year any different than the last 2-3?
Afrodamus

[quote comment="22598"]From what ive been hearing and seeing would it be fair to say that that its gonna be another dissapointing year for from ea when it comes to gameplay in ncaa football 2009.[/quote]

what makes you think that???
Afrodamus

[quote comment="22598"]From what ive been hearing and seeing would it be fair to say that that its gonna be another dissapointing year for from ea when it comes to gameplay in ncaa football 2009.[/quote]

what makes you think that???
Bumble14

BOWL PATCHES?
BOWL PRESENTION?
NON GENERIC BOWL ENDZONES?
Bumble14

BOWL PATCHES?
BOWL PRESENTION?
NON GENERIC BOWL ENDZONES?
MJ

[quote comment="22601"]BOWL PATCHES?
BOWL PRESENTION?
NON GENERIC BOWL ENDZONES?[/quote]

Wishful thinking at this point. But I am hoping these are in too.
MJ

[quote comment="22601"]BOWL PATCHES?
BOWL PRESENTION?
NON GENERIC BOWL ENDZONES?[/quote]

Wishful thinking at this point. But I am hoping these are in too.
http://www.pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

[quote comment="22597"]Pasta,

will weather be ONLINE???…and if it is will it be merely cosmetic or will there be a difference between a clear sunny day and a wet and rainy day…gameplaywise?????[/quote]

I’ll try and find out for certain. As to the weather I didn’t notice much difference in the snow in how it affected the game vs normal weather. In the rain I do think fumbles happen more often.
Bumble14

[quote comment="22602"][quote comment="22601"]BOWL PATCHES?
BOWL PRESENTION?
NON GENERIC BOWL ENDZONES?[/quote]

Wishful thinking at this point. But I am hoping these are in too. [/quote]

Pretty pathetic that this is wishful thinking- especially when it’s been a staple of the series since 2002.