Two new NCAA Football 09 screenshots
March 21, 2008 by pastapadre
When the first screens from NCAA Football 09 were released they were met with a level of disappointment. I expressed that when I questioned whether they were really from 09. EA Sports has now released two brand new screens that are intended to showcase the player models.
NCAA Football 09 Art Director Jason Renfroe shares some details on what his team has done to improve the in game visuals and some of what you’ll see in future screens of NCAA Football 09.
On player models:
“We’ve done a lot of work this year to improve the player models. They have a much more dynamic body shape. A key example here is what we’ve done with our linemen. In years past all of the linemen were big, fat guys. This year we have added lineman body types that are much more athletic. This really helps make the players look more authentic. We also added extra padding to accentuate the players’ form and see the pads and their movement.”
On improved lighting:
“In the past we had one lighting model. This year we have two. One model is for environments and one is for players. This does a lot to help the way players look better when they are in the shadows.
We also added a subtle rim light around the players so they pop more on screen. To improve the look of the stadiums, we’ve saturated our crowds and really brought in a lot of color to better bring out the college atmosphere. Our skies and field art are new as well.”
You can check out the full images below by clicking the thumbnails. Needless to say these look significantly better than the initial McFadden screens.
Good find…I hope that the models in Madden’ll be more of the same. I also wish that EA goes in a new direction w/camera views for both football games this year. Go BILLS!!!
nice
so far… so great!
those two models look really good, I’m ready to see this game get fleshed out
Oh man, this game is going to be so great this year!
Pasta, if you get a chance to interview any of the developers can you ask them what phase of the game they’re planning to put this year’s game-killing bug?
Is that a screenshot form the 360 or for the Wii?
Looks awesome so far.
I like that they look like normal humans. I’d actually like to see a screen shot of a kicker. In Madden 07, Jeff Wilkins is so buff that I put him in as an OLB.
Yo pasta whats the deal with EA? They seem to actually be putting max effort in their games. I turned my back on EA but Head Coach and now this looks phenomenal. Im ready for some football
Dave Everett wrote:
lol, do you really need to know
I am impressed. The uniforms stand out. The countdown to July begins…..
Game is coming out real good, but somehow the only thing that caught my eye outside of it being real good looking, was that EA still hasnt gotten to the scrubs on the sidelines. I think maddens for sega still had the same scrubs with 00 jerseys on.
Believe me thats not a problem id just like to see them do something like all pro football did for sidelines. Or even just easily have the people who arent on the field just be on the sidelines. Im no game maker or anything but there has to be a way to just mathematicaly,scientifically whatever the years of going to school for gamemaking is, to have all the players on your team who is ever not on the field.. just on the sideline, makes for a more realistic game.
Eski wrote:
They’ve always had great looking uniforms (at least back as far as 2003)… in both games. I’m much more concerned about the LB-sized kickers and QBs.
Seriously??? Those look the same as the models from Madden 08. They don’t look any different at all. Same pre-modeled wrinkles in the uniform and the same poor texture work on the player equipment.
The sidelines still look like crap. Wow, the crowd that I’m sure still looks like crap is going to have more color to it now. Why should that impress me? All the lighting and fancy graphic tricks don’t mean a thing if the game still plays like total crap.
By the way, if you didn’t notice yet, on the 360/PS3 EA just takes the Madden engine and makes it into the NCAA engine. THey used to be somewhat different. Not anymore. That is why the big feature for NCAA is branching/dynamic animations. That was the big deal feature of Madden 08.
Eric wrote:
Okay you realize these are early development screens right? This is why companies tend not to release screens at this point because they get nitpicked. The sidelines are not going to like like that in the final version and they were not what the screen was taken to show off. The branching thing from Madden you reference is not what they are touting for NCAA BTW but you jumped to conclusion on that too.
I see something ive never seen in any video game screen ever, that really popped out at me atleast….You see the veins on their arms, thats tight.. the face close-up on the southern miss dude looks real too, if u say it doesn’t u must bein denial
Quoted from a different site (gametap.com):
“One of the things we’re focusing on this year is our breakaway animation engine. What that means is that for the first time, you really have control of all of the moves that you’re doing.”
The rest of the article states the same things that EA says every single year. Gameplay will be better, more electric, and more exciting. There will be all new moves and animations. Playbooks are all new and better. There are hundreds of new montion-captured animations. I could put together the exact same interview from the Madden 06 release.
The interview did say that they were going to have more interactive sidelines, so perhaps you are right, but I doubt it. If I’m wrong, I’ll be sure to come back and tell you I was wrong. Not afraid to admit that. Note that the sidelines have looked like crap for the last 7 years in EA Sports games, so forgive my hesitation to beleive they did anything different.
I forgot to address the fact that you didn’t dispute my claim that the player models pretty much look the same. The jerseys still have the same pre-modeled wrinkles from Madden 06 and the texture work on the equipment is still poor. It has no depth. It is just a texture swap on a model. I want those things to have some actual depth to them and not be flat.
pastapadre wrote:
trying to pick a fight with the organizer of the site, very cool dude…not.
I know its early, but the lighting that you mention seems a bit sketchy and stretched out, don’t you think?
didn’t a dev say a few weeks ago somewhere that the college linemen were going to be pudgier, and that pro linemen were typically leaner than their college counterparts?
Nick wrote:
nick, i think it is the other way around buddy.
why are you here Eric, you must be the guy that goes on all forums and nitpicks about every thing but just like padre said ITS AN EARLY BUILD!!!!!
chill out bro! just calm down! deep breaths ******in********** and *********out*********.
Didn’t NCAA get new player models last year? Wasn’t that the reason we didn’t get alternate jerseys? I seem to remember reading that in an interview- guess it was a lie?
I can just see it now- we’re going to get another year with no alternates, no classic teams, no bowlpatches, etc…and EA will give us some line about how they couldn’t free the memory up because of thenewjuke system, or because of the new player models, blah blah blah.
Anyone get the idea that EA has absolutely no clue or plan on how to make a rock solid football title on the ps3/360 like they did last gen? I honestly don’t think these guys know how to develop on these systems yet.
Not picking a fight at all. I posted my opinion, and he responded. I responded to what he said. He can choose to ignore me or engage in the discussion.
I’m not picking a fight. I’m posting what I truly think and belive about the game. I said I would be more than happy to admit when/if I was wrong. I LOVE the NCAA series and Madden as well. I would love for them to be a lot of fun and great games again.
Sadly, after two plus years of them sucking and EA Sports constantly feeding us the same hype over and over, I don’t have any faith in them.
blitzy wrote:
Why show me an early build if they aren’t trying to impress me with what they are showing? I’m supposed to be impressed with the fact they they show a guy that they say is a lineman, even though he wears number 30 and is probably just a DB?
That same exact player model has been in Madden already. Look at any of the DBs. Just because EA might have allowed the DB player model to be available for a lineman doesn’t make it more realistic.
Like I said, same excat jersey wrinkles and same exact flat textures for wristbands and such that we have had for years now. Show me how that model looks any different than a DB of safety from Madden 08.
bravesboy wrote:
As a matter of proof, tell me that you can see a huge difference in any of these player models, other than the sleeves on the 07 version.
I have no idea if you can actually see this pic or not.
http://www.operationsports.com.....media.jpeg
I think the player models look better and can’t wait to see them in motion.
The one thing I like is that EA is informing gamers of what is coming out, unlike 2K which withheld info on MLB 2K8.
I have a feeling we will know plenty about NCAA before its release and if people don’t like what is offered, don’t purchase it. At least you will be well informed…..
I hope they also address the stiff arm defect. Yea I agree the players were entirely too big at times an the limited faces to choose from while building a player. I hope just by judging from the early models that they rectify a lot of these issues as well as a host of others
i think you need to calm down dre.
i have said this many times no matter what we say you, me, all of us come july and august we will all be in line at midnite to buy madden and ncaa. period !
hubcapp, i’m gonna have to ask you to settle down. kay big guy?
Why are you guys fighting over a video game? I mean it’s still very early.
soonerhomie12 wrote:
I know its an early build , but i want them to rectify an clean up some of the issues from thr last two games. Add nets, cheerleaders, players on the sideline. Just make it like it was on the last-gen system
soonerhomie12 wrote:
i’m gonna ask to chill out buddy.
steve wrote:
It’s still early so im gonna wait a couple months to decide.
Hey pasta do you know anything about the wii version? What and if campus legend will be like? Peace
thats cool ea posted some new info on the game at easports.com just go to the ncaa football 09 website and read about it…this game is going to be the greatest yet!
Me and my boy’s hav’nt been this excited about the EA Sports NCAA College football game for years. It appears that you guy’s may finally get this thing right. The 09′ player models look great! It should be pointed out that the side view camera option of the field would be a nice return to the game; it was my favorite angle; made the game appear more real to what you would actually view when watching a game on Tv. I’ve heard that the cheerleaders will be on the sidelines cheering again as well. It would be great to see the sidelines really populated with more game spectators that actually appears to get excited about what is happening on the field. Referee’s would be a nice addtion as well. In any case I’m looking forward to the 09′ college football game. DKP
I feel you guy’s are finally on the verge of taking this awesome game to the heights of its full potential. Get it done guy’s.