Old Tiger
04-15-2007, 02:38 PM
http://www.maddenmania.com/articles/2007/04/ncaa-new-engine041407.html
The NCAA 08 news is coming hot and heavy now and this next version is looking better and better with each passing day. IGN recently previewed NCAA 08 and several new details were announced:
"But the question we all have for NCAA Football 08 is the same question every fan asks of their own team come autumn: How's it look on the field? We had a chance to check it out at EA Tiburon this week and the prognosis is good. NCAA runs at a smooth 60 frames per second, has gang tackles, bruising hits and raucous crowds that don't stop for anything, not even the pause menu.
While we didn't get our hands on NCAA, the new football engine that EA Tiburon is using for both football titles on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is just plain rad. Gone are the days of running out of bounds because you're stuck in some animation. The focus on the field is dynamic gameplay, and thanks to a new branching animation system, your quarterback can sprint left on the option, get gang-tackled, pitch the ball to a halfback before falling down, who then sprints to the sideline to outrun a defensive end before cutting straight upfield, hurdling into the air before being spun around by a mean-spirited free-safety that doesn't like guys hurdling on his football field. The ball is knocked out, a senior stud cornerback picks it up, spins an O-lineman out of his shoes and takes it to the house."
And finally, there is a sim to finish type feature in the game, quite frankly it sounds awesome!
"Campus Legend makes great use of the new Super Sim feature that allows you to skip single plays or to the next change of possession. You can still watch every play from the sideline through the eyes of your legend, but you can also skip ahead to the next time he takes the field. Super Sim is available in every game, which will come in handy during Dynasty mode when you want to get your second stringers on the field to mop up."
And is it raining on you in Norman, Oklahoma and you want to play a game of NCAA 08? Well The Weather Channel real-time weather might be a cool feature:
"NCAA 08 will include possibly the single greatest sports feature of all time: The Weather Channel. That's right, EA penned a deal with the network so that every game will kick-off with the exact weather conditions at that very moment in wherever the heck you are playing. Hurricane season in South Florida at 3 a.m.? Game on."
http://www.maddenmania.com/articles/2007/04/ncaa-include-stadiums041407.html
Gamespot recently previewed NCAA Football 08 and we were able to take away several details of the new version of the game with one of the more noteworthy being that 115 stadiums will be in this years game. That almost assures that places like North Texas and Middle Tennessee State will be without stadiums again because that number almost certainly includes most bowl stadiums. Fortunately, it means Texas Tech will have their stadium in the game most likely!
"One last stat to whet your appetite: NCAA 08 will include 115 modeled college football stadiums, up from around 40 in the previous year's game. In addition, several stadiums have been tweaked in accordance with their real-life upgrades from the previous year (Crimson Tide fans, we're looking at you)."
Also noted was the ability to replay almost every play in every game (in shorter quarter lengths) as well as being able to make a highlight package with those replays. That certainly sounds interesting but we'll reserve judgment until we find out if they can be shared, especially over the net! Check out Gamespots full preview for their full article which includes more details!
http://www.maddenmania.com/articles/2007/04/ea-is-delivering041407.html
With the recent releases of info from various sources all I can say is wow! Some of the features that NCAA 08 is going to include has me excited for EA football again. My case in point is the fact that both Madden and NCAA will have a new gameplay engine this year with branching animations! What this basically means to the general gamer is that the gameplay will be more dynamic and won't be as static as years past.
So case in point, you run a sweep and get hit by a cornerback but your running back is breaking free of the CB and while that animation is playing a strong safety comes in to mop up the play. In previous versions of both NCAA and Madden the SS would bounce off of the running back because the animation was playing. Now, the original animation is capable of being added upon, so the SS will hit the RB and another animation will play which will mean a gang-tackle happens. As long as there are possible animations that can be played, then something new will happen when players interact.
Let's take that a step farther and go into the trenches. With all the grinding and pushing that goes on in there on a real football field, the static animations of past EA Football Titles just didn't work. Now, expect run and pass blocking to be much improved because of the new animation system. Also, I would expect that without a doubt, the blocking schemes and stuff probably had to be rewritten to compensate for the new systems. Therefore, I suspect my previous article asking for better offensive line play will happen. Which should make every gamer happy.
That is not the only reason I am excited for the new version of NCAA. The new super sim feature sounds like the feature I've always wanted since I played NFL 2kx and I could "Sim to End." Now, if you are bored because you are blowing out San Jose State (sorry Spartan fans) 35-0 at halftime, you can just super-sim to the end and forgo playing the rest of the game. And what if you didn't want to play defense for some reason? Well you can just super-sim through the drive if you want and get right back in to playing offense. See where this is going? The possibilities are endless.
The NCAA 08 news is coming hot and heavy now and this next version is looking better and better with each passing day. IGN recently previewed NCAA 08 and several new details were announced:
"But the question we all have for NCAA Football 08 is the same question every fan asks of their own team come autumn: How's it look on the field? We had a chance to check it out at EA Tiburon this week and the prognosis is good. NCAA runs at a smooth 60 frames per second, has gang tackles, bruising hits and raucous crowds that don't stop for anything, not even the pause menu.
While we didn't get our hands on NCAA, the new football engine that EA Tiburon is using for both football titles on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is just plain rad. Gone are the days of running out of bounds because you're stuck in some animation. The focus on the field is dynamic gameplay, and thanks to a new branching animation system, your quarterback can sprint left on the option, get gang-tackled, pitch the ball to a halfback before falling down, who then sprints to the sideline to outrun a defensive end before cutting straight upfield, hurdling into the air before being spun around by a mean-spirited free-safety that doesn't like guys hurdling on his football field. The ball is knocked out, a senior stud cornerback picks it up, spins an O-lineman out of his shoes and takes it to the house."
And finally, there is a sim to finish type feature in the game, quite frankly it sounds awesome!
"Campus Legend makes great use of the new Super Sim feature that allows you to skip single plays or to the next change of possession. You can still watch every play from the sideline through the eyes of your legend, but you can also skip ahead to the next time he takes the field. Super Sim is available in every game, which will come in handy during Dynasty mode when you want to get your second stringers on the field to mop up."
And is it raining on you in Norman, Oklahoma and you want to play a game of NCAA 08? Well The Weather Channel real-time weather might be a cool feature:
"NCAA 08 will include possibly the single greatest sports feature of all time: The Weather Channel. That's right, EA penned a deal with the network so that every game will kick-off with the exact weather conditions at that very moment in wherever the heck you are playing. Hurricane season in South Florida at 3 a.m.? Game on."
http://www.maddenmania.com/articles/2007/04/ncaa-include-stadiums041407.html
Gamespot recently previewed NCAA Football 08 and we were able to take away several details of the new version of the game with one of the more noteworthy being that 115 stadiums will be in this years game. That almost assures that places like North Texas and Middle Tennessee State will be without stadiums again because that number almost certainly includes most bowl stadiums. Fortunately, it means Texas Tech will have their stadium in the game most likely!
"One last stat to whet your appetite: NCAA 08 will include 115 modeled college football stadiums, up from around 40 in the previous year's game. In addition, several stadiums have been tweaked in accordance with their real-life upgrades from the previous year (Crimson Tide fans, we're looking at you)."
Also noted was the ability to replay almost every play in every game (in shorter quarter lengths) as well as being able to make a highlight package with those replays. That certainly sounds interesting but we'll reserve judgment until we find out if they can be shared, especially over the net! Check out Gamespots full preview for their full article which includes more details!
http://www.maddenmania.com/articles/2007/04/ea-is-delivering041407.html
With the recent releases of info from various sources all I can say is wow! Some of the features that NCAA 08 is going to include has me excited for EA football again. My case in point is the fact that both Madden and NCAA will have a new gameplay engine this year with branching animations! What this basically means to the general gamer is that the gameplay will be more dynamic and won't be as static as years past.
So case in point, you run a sweep and get hit by a cornerback but your running back is breaking free of the CB and while that animation is playing a strong safety comes in to mop up the play. In previous versions of both NCAA and Madden the SS would bounce off of the running back because the animation was playing. Now, the original animation is capable of being added upon, so the SS will hit the RB and another animation will play which will mean a gang-tackle happens. As long as there are possible animations that can be played, then something new will happen when players interact.
Let's take that a step farther and go into the trenches. With all the grinding and pushing that goes on in there on a real football field, the static animations of past EA Football Titles just didn't work. Now, expect run and pass blocking to be much improved because of the new animation system. Also, I would expect that without a doubt, the blocking schemes and stuff probably had to be rewritten to compensate for the new systems. Therefore, I suspect my previous article asking for better offensive line play will happen. Which should make every gamer happy.
That is not the only reason I am excited for the new version of NCAA. The new super sim feature sounds like the feature I've always wanted since I played NFL 2kx and I could "Sim to End." Now, if you are bored because you are blowing out San Jose State (sorry Spartan fans) 35-0 at halftime, you can just super-sim to the end and forgo playing the rest of the game. And what if you didn't want to play defense for some reason? Well you can just super-sim through the drive if you want and get right back in to playing offense. See where this is going? The possibilities are endless.