On Monday the 14th, the demo for NCAA Football 11 was released on Xbox Live and the Playstation Marketplace, and so far the impressions have been overwhelmingly positive. But some are wondering, is the Demo truly NCAA Football 11? It came out a month before the game is due to hit shelves, so does that mean we put another month of work into the game after that? Yes it does! As a matter of fact, we finished the demo on the 1st of May and finished the game on the 1st of June. In this blog I will address some of the differences between the demo and the final product.
What's Been Done Since the Demo?
The following is a list of the most common issues reported on the demo that will not occur in the retail game:
• On Xbox 360, the Reese's Perfect Play of the Game will not always be the final play. As some of you have already speculated, we temporarily save off highlights to the hard drive during the game so you can view them later, however this is not something we are able to do in the demo.
• The CPU team will now decline penalties.
• Front four defensive linemen will generate a better pass rush. There are many contributing factors to this that have been tweaked. CPU defensive linemen will rush the pass more aggressively and will not get thrown to the ground as often when "losing" to the blocker. Defensive ends will also do a better job of getting off their blocks at more appropriate angles to help contain a scrambling quarterback. Additionally, you can always tune the pass rush to your liking using the AI sliders if you still feel it is lacking (or overpowered) in the final product.
• A major issue was fixed where the sound would cut out and eventually cause the game to freeze.
• Pass defense has been greatly improved, both in man and zone coverage assignments. They will do a better job defending crosses, slants, and the flats in man coverage. Also, deep zone assignments have been improved to defend against the deep pass. Like the pass rush, you can further tune this to your liking using AI sliders.
• Improved lead blocking by pulling linemen and fullbacks on tosses and sweeps.
• Fixed an issue where place kickers were getting subbed out for (usually) quarterbacks on kicks.
• Fixed issue where the commentary would occasionally sound garbled on Xbox 360.
• Dual Stick Ballcarrier Control has been improved, making R-Stick moves look and feel more responsive. Also made some visual improvements with turning and leaning animations.
• Fixed some issues that caused receivers to drop catches they should have made. Again, this is also something that can be tuned further using AI Sliders.
• Quarterbacks will no longer stutter when scrambling and crossing the line of scrimmage.
• Fixed several situations where the wrong team was celebrating after a big play.
• Playcall will not suggest going for a 2 point conversion when it shouldn't.
• In general, we made defenders a little better at getting off blocks. This helps in defending against outside runs and quarterback scrambles as mentioned before.
• Fixed several camera issues on kickoffs, including the one where the camera would not follow the ball on the ground.
• Fixed a broken play where the quarterback would get stuck in his handoff animation and just run backwards away from the line of scrimmage.
• Fixed FB Fake HB Toss play so the quarterback will not toss the ball behind the running back.
• Improved head tracking for ball carriers, receivers and defenders.
• Fixed some issues with auto replay cameras where it was too low to the ground and was not focusing on the correct targets.
• More general tuning was done on option plays to make them run smoother.
• Fixed an issue with playcall where it was not remembering the last formation you called.
• Fixed an issue where receivers couldn't make a tackle quickly after an interception.
• Removed an exploit that would allow for "Rocket Catches".
• Fixed an issue where the CPU Ballcarrier would continue to cover the ball during long runs, even if no defenders were near.
• Defenders will now be able to press receivers when they are in preplay motion.
• Fixed an issue where defenders would turn the wrong way on curl routes.
• Fixed an issue where defenders in man coverage would make a bad direction change after pressing the receiver.
• Tuned some out-routes out of the backfield that were too effective against man coverage.
• Fixed an issue where linebackers would stutter in pre-play and would get stuck.
• Fixed some issues with players bumping into each other during preplay adjustments.
• Fixed some issues where defenders would get caught offsides a lot against the no huddle.
• Fixed the issue causing a delayed whistle in post play.
• Fixed an exploit that disables bump and run after a play is flipped, causing coverage to go back to normal.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed you to consistently recover onside kicks.
• Adjusted CPU AI for kick returns so that they will not attempt to catch kickoffs that are headed out of bound.
• Improved CPU clock management so they will call a timeouts properly to set up a late field goal.
• Fixed an issue where the Read Option would not be executed properly from the hash marks.
• Numerous Commentary Fixes and Additions.
• Various other tweaks and tuning to improve general gameplay.
Thank you again for all the terrific feedback. I hope you continue to enjoy the demo until July 13th, when you can pick up the full retail version of NCAA Football 11.
What's Been Done Since the Demo?
The following is a list of the most common issues reported on the demo that will not occur in the retail game:
• On Xbox 360, the Reese's Perfect Play of the Game will not always be the final play. As some of you have already speculated, we temporarily save off highlights to the hard drive during the game so you can view them later, however this is not something we are able to do in the demo.
• The CPU team will now decline penalties.
• Front four defensive linemen will generate a better pass rush. There are many contributing factors to this that have been tweaked. CPU defensive linemen will rush the pass more aggressively and will not get thrown to the ground as often when "losing" to the blocker. Defensive ends will also do a better job of getting off their blocks at more appropriate angles to help contain a scrambling quarterback. Additionally, you can always tune the pass rush to your liking using the AI sliders if you still feel it is lacking (or overpowered) in the final product.
• A major issue was fixed where the sound would cut out and eventually cause the game to freeze.
• Pass defense has been greatly improved, both in man and zone coverage assignments. They will do a better job defending crosses, slants, and the flats in man coverage. Also, deep zone assignments have been improved to defend against the deep pass. Like the pass rush, you can further tune this to your liking using AI sliders.
• Improved lead blocking by pulling linemen and fullbacks on tosses and sweeps.
• Fixed an issue where place kickers were getting subbed out for (usually) quarterbacks on kicks.
• Fixed issue where the commentary would occasionally sound garbled on Xbox 360.
• Dual Stick Ballcarrier Control has been improved, making R-Stick moves look and feel more responsive. Also made some visual improvements with turning and leaning animations.
• Fixed some issues that caused receivers to drop catches they should have made. Again, this is also something that can be tuned further using AI Sliders.
• Quarterbacks will no longer stutter when scrambling and crossing the line of scrimmage.
• Fixed several situations where the wrong team was celebrating after a big play.
• Playcall will not suggest going for a 2 point conversion when it shouldn't.
• In general, we made defenders a little better at getting off blocks. This helps in defending against outside runs and quarterback scrambles as mentioned before.
• Fixed several camera issues on kickoffs, including the one where the camera would not follow the ball on the ground.
• Fixed a broken play where the quarterback would get stuck in his handoff animation and just run backwards away from the line of scrimmage.
• Fixed FB Fake HB Toss play so the quarterback will not toss the ball behind the running back.
• Improved head tracking for ball carriers, receivers and defenders.
• Fixed some issues with auto replay cameras where it was too low to the ground and was not focusing on the correct targets.
• More general tuning was done on option plays to make them run smoother.
• Fixed an issue with playcall where it was not remembering the last formation you called.
• Fixed an issue where receivers couldn't make a tackle quickly after an interception.
• Removed an exploit that would allow for "Rocket Catches".
• Fixed an issue where the CPU Ballcarrier would continue to cover the ball during long runs, even if no defenders were near.
• Defenders will now be able to press receivers when they are in preplay motion.
• Fixed an issue where defenders would turn the wrong way on curl routes.
• Fixed an issue where defenders in man coverage would make a bad direction change after pressing the receiver.
• Tuned some out-routes out of the backfield that were too effective against man coverage.
• Fixed an issue where linebackers would stutter in pre-play and would get stuck.
• Fixed some issues with players bumping into each other during preplay adjustments.
• Fixed some issues where defenders would get caught offsides a lot against the no huddle.
• Fixed the issue causing a delayed whistle in post play.
• Fixed an exploit that disables bump and run after a play is flipped, causing coverage to go back to normal.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed you to consistently recover onside kicks.
• Adjusted CPU AI for kick returns so that they will not attempt to catch kickoffs that are headed out of bound.
• Improved CPU clock management so they will call a timeouts properly to set up a late field goal.
• Fixed an issue where the Read Option would not be executed properly from the hash marks.
• Numerous Commentary Fixes and Additions.
• Various other tweaks and tuning to improve general gameplay.
Thank you again for all the terrific feedback. I hope you continue to enjoy the demo until July 13th, when you can pick up the full retail version of NCAA Football 11.
and the PA pass was ineffective this year...I simply chose not to throw it and play defense and control the clock. But I do this in real life too with the Single Wing! 