What good is a one game impression? None whatsoever, but here we go anyway...
I decided to jump right in with a Michigan dynasty (fictional player names) and played my first game. This is at the All American difficulty level with default sliders:
- The first game for Michigan this year is Utah, in Ann Arbor. Final score: Michigan 31 Utah 6. We're over .500. Woot!
- Either they've changed up the controls a touch or I have no sense memory from last year's edition. Probably a bit of both. Anyway, the only DT break block moves are on the shoulder buttons, so don't spend half the game using the triggers like I did and wonder why they didn't do squat.
- The Utah QB tossed picks on two consecutive first half drives. Fun! He only had one more the rest of the way, though and he finished 24 of 31 (no TDs) and had 177 passing yards. My Michigan QB went 7/15 for 147 yards with 1 INT and 1 TD. Most of the time I spent running around like a dope, flinging the ball every which way. This is common for me after spending the better part of a year away from the game. Hopefully I shake the rust off quickly.
- The AI averaged about 3 yards per rush. I was... uh, less. Note that I've taken Bill's advice about not switching up defenders to get the easy tackle. That making things... more challenging. Also note that I spent a lot of time screwing around with the option game since that's Michigan's thing now, something I've not done before, so I had a bunch of runs for losses. Not to mention a couple of QB sacks that I'm blaming on Kyle for running in front of the TV during plays.
- There were no fumbles.
- The AI faked a punt once on a 3rd quarter play. They were just past midfield so it was dicey, but not egregious. They also made a 56 yard field goal with a kick that has a power of, I believe, 86. Now, they barely made it, but somehow I don't think I get it if I'm kicking with that guy.
- I think they've tweaked the coverage AI a bit... in a real good way. This is a big one for me because in the past the AI has reacted to a ball being in the air with something bordering on claravoyance. I watched several replays of passing plays and, for the most part, the guys reacting to the ball in the air were guys that ought to be able to see it happen. Guys on the other side of the field didn't react, guys deep in coverage on underneath throws were slower to react. This, to me, is a huge step forward.
- On the other hand, you wideouts still appear to be incapable of fighting for the ball on deep bombs. This is annoying because if the ball is underthrown it really sets the AI up for an easy pick. I'm not saying an underthrown deep ball shouldn't give the defender the advantage, but it'd be nice if my #1 receiver would at least try to come back and make a play instead of (almost) always trying to just grab it in stride.
That's most of what has stuck out to me so far. If I get any more action in tonight (probably not) I'll post more later.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith WROCKS... or something
Before he left, Bill dumped a copy of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on my desk. Since I'm tasked with reviewing it I guess that means I need to suck it up and play it.
And?
It's... uh, surprisingly okay. Not good. Never good. But okay. If you like Aerosmith at least a little bit. With 31 tracks (at least in the main game) I'm having trouble figuring out what justifies someone spending $60 on the game. But, I won't deny that, almost against my will, I got into playing Love in an Elevator, Ragdoll, Sweet Emotion, etc.
Some plusses: They've brightened up the color pallette (at least I think they have). So while it's the same interface and engine as Guitar Hero III, the colorfulness of Guitar Hero II is back. The notion that in moving from venue to venue you're retracing the track the band took on its route to "super stardom" (that hurt to type) is as good a model for progression to follow as any. It's tough to say at this point, but the note charting does seem *a little* better than in GH3. It's not Rock Band quality, but GH3 was an absolute mess in this regard so anything better is good. (I'm playing on Hard right now, so we'll see if the same holds true in Expert.) There are some good non Aerosmith tracks that you play as a 2-set warm-up act in each of the game's venues. (For some reason I can't name a one of 'em off the top of my head.)
Some minuses: As much as I like some of the non-Aerosmith tracks, they shouldn't be in the game. They should be in GH4 where people who, you know, hate Aerosmith or won't pay $60 for an Aerosmith edition, might actually get to play them. If you're gonna go the route of a band exclusive GH game, then do it and don't apologize for it by throwing in some extra non-Aerosmith stuff that won't do anything to sell more copies of the game. As noted above, I'm okay with the notion of the "tour" following Aerosmith's progression as a band, but I think if you're gonna do that then have the songs and the band match the era. So, when you start out at a high school venue (the name escapes me), let's see a young Aerosmith playing their older stuff. It would just add to the flavor and the theme in a way that you don't get when you're playing the same venue with a geriatric Aerosmith playing stuff from 2007.
Ultimately, if you like Guitar Hero and you like Aerosmith and don't mind paying $60 for about 30 tracks, then hey, this is your game. Run don't walk and all that. But let's face it. You probably like Rock Band better than GH (or, at least, you should), don't like Aerosmith *that* much and resent the notion of paying full price for a game with just over a third of the tracks Rock Band 2 or GH4 are purported to have. In that case, just skip it.
And?
It's... uh, surprisingly okay. Not good. Never good. But okay. If you like Aerosmith at least a little bit. With 31 tracks (at least in the main game) I'm having trouble figuring out what justifies someone spending $60 on the game. But, I won't deny that, almost against my will, I got into playing Love in an Elevator, Ragdoll, Sweet Emotion, etc.
Some plusses: They've brightened up the color pallette (at least I think they have). So while it's the same interface and engine as Guitar Hero III, the colorfulness of Guitar Hero II is back. The notion that in moving from venue to venue you're retracing the track the band took on its route to "super stardom" (that hurt to type) is as good a model for progression to follow as any. It's tough to say at this point, but the note charting does seem *a little* better than in GH3. It's not Rock Band quality, but GH3 was an absolute mess in this regard so anything better is good. (I'm playing on Hard right now, so we'll see if the same holds true in Expert.) There are some good non Aerosmith tracks that you play as a 2-set warm-up act in each of the game's venues. (For some reason I can't name a one of 'em off the top of my head.)
Some minuses: As much as I like some of the non-Aerosmith tracks, they shouldn't be in the game. They should be in GH4 where people who, you know, hate Aerosmith or won't pay $60 for an Aerosmith edition, might actually get to play them. If you're gonna go the route of a band exclusive GH game, then do it and don't apologize for it by throwing in some extra non-Aerosmith stuff that won't do anything to sell more copies of the game. As noted above, I'm okay with the notion of the "tour" following Aerosmith's progression as a band, but I think if you're gonna do that then have the songs and the band match the era. So, when you start out at a high school venue (the name escapes me), let's see a young Aerosmith playing their older stuff. It would just add to the flavor and the theme in a way that you don't get when you're playing the same venue with a geriatric Aerosmith playing stuff from 2007.
Ultimately, if you like Guitar Hero and you like Aerosmith and don't mind paying $60 for about 30 tracks, then hey, this is your game. Run don't walk and all that. But let's face it. You probably like Rock Band better than GH (or, at least, you should), don't like Aerosmith *that* much and resent the notion of paying full price for a game with just over a third of the tracks Rock Band 2 or GH4 are purported to have. In that case, just skip it.
NCAA 2009 in Hand
Alright. Picked up my copy over lunch today. I'll get some impressions up either later tonight or in the morning.
Also - Nintendo's press conference? Yeah, not so much.
Also - Nintendo's press conference? Yeah, not so much.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Microsoft's E3 Presser
If you want to watch it, you can see the whole thing at IGN's Livewire. Just scroll it back to about the 10:30 mark if you want to watch the thing from the beginning. I glossed over a lot of it, but from what I did watch there were some things that stood out:
- Fallout 3: Man, I want this game to be good. I really do. I'm just not sure I'm getting that vibe yet. Bethesda appears to have the Fallout atmosphere and look down cold. The gameplay vids they showed, though... man, I'm just not sure. The VATS targeting system looks neat, except that every time you use it, it goes into what looks like a canned animation sequence. The transition to and from the sequence seemed a bit too jarring for something you'll be doing (potentially) in every combat sequence in the game.
- Rock Band 2: The Harmonix CEO (I forget his name) just came out and laid out some of what they had coming. More than 80 tracks on RB2. (You can find the full -killer- set list here.) You just know I'm gonna end up belting out Liv'n on a Prayer at the next Rock Band party I go to (after the game comes out). What really impressed me was the revelation that you'll be able to port your Rock Band 1 tracks into Rock Band 2. (There may be a fee for this, but the speculation is it's under $5, so to me that's no big deal.) I'm really, really looking forward to this one.
- Guitar Hero 4: I almost felt bad for the Activision guy who came out there, clearly expecting massive applause at multiple points, only to get crickets. Guitar Hero's big thing was signing up "exclusives" to the Eagles, Van Halen and Metallica. As an old Van Halen fan, that hurts a bit, but ultimately they're slapping themselves on the back getting exclusives to a bunch of bands I couldn't give less of a f#@ about, while Harmonix looks to be just be going for a broad, killer list of individual tracks and making sure everything I've spent money on in RB1 and its download content carries over to RB2. I don't know what will sell better at retail, but I know where my dollars are gonna be spent.
- Fable 2: I only played a little bit of Fable 1. I enjoyed it, but it didn't suck me in and I should really give it another go. That said, a lot of the Fable 2 presentation was both interesting and alarming. Some of the multiplayer co-op features could be fascinating, the way it lets you see other players from your Friends list in the game (as floating orbs) that you can then invite into your world without leaving the game. They talked about the dog companion a bit more without explaning at all how his advanced AI will affect the actual game. It was all vaguely cool, but on the other hand there was absolutely no discussion of the gameplay and that's a bit of a red flag.
- Lips: I know, as big a fan of fake plastic guitars as I am, I shouldn't poo-poo a singing game, but... yeah, not a day one purchase for me.
- New 360 UI: Evidently the fall 360 dashboard update will include an entirely new UI. What they showed off was considerably less colorful and used avatars that weren't totally dissimilar to the Wii's Miis. (There's a sentence I thought I'd never type.) This is a risky move. The 360 UI may be unspectacular, but it's very, very functional. This thing boast some interesting features (8-way chat rooms, media sharing, etc.) but some of it looked clumsy as hell to me and I see no need to make people re-learn a new UI when the old one worked just fine. Hopefully I'm wrong.
- Netflix Support: As a Netflix subscriber, I think this is great. Netflix's On Demand content may not be everything everyone wants it to be, but there's a lot there and making it accessable via the Xbox is just gravy.
They also showed off Gears of War 2, Resident Evil 5 and some other weird casual sh#@ that used the camera. Can't say any of those are in my wheelhouse, but if they're in yours, they're worth checking out. What I'm really waiting for is for some info on Dragon Age to start rolling in. Bioware had me at hello with this title, and this IGN gameplay screenshot makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
- Fallout 3: Man, I want this game to be good. I really do. I'm just not sure I'm getting that vibe yet. Bethesda appears to have the Fallout atmosphere and look down cold. The gameplay vids they showed, though... man, I'm just not sure. The VATS targeting system looks neat, except that every time you use it, it goes into what looks like a canned animation sequence. The transition to and from the sequence seemed a bit too jarring for something you'll be doing (potentially) in every combat sequence in the game.
- Rock Band 2: The Harmonix CEO (I forget his name) just came out and laid out some of what they had coming. More than 80 tracks on RB2. (You can find the full -killer- set list here.) You just know I'm gonna end up belting out Liv'n on a Prayer at the next Rock Band party I go to (after the game comes out). What really impressed me was the revelation that you'll be able to port your Rock Band 1 tracks into Rock Band 2. (There may be a fee for this, but the speculation is it's under $5, so to me that's no big deal.) I'm really, really looking forward to this one.
- Guitar Hero 4: I almost felt bad for the Activision guy who came out there, clearly expecting massive applause at multiple points, only to get crickets. Guitar Hero's big thing was signing up "exclusives" to the Eagles, Van Halen and Metallica. As an old Van Halen fan, that hurts a bit, but ultimately they're slapping themselves on the back getting exclusives to a bunch of bands I couldn't give less of a f#@ about, while Harmonix looks to be just be going for a broad, killer list of individual tracks and making sure everything I've spent money on in RB1 and its download content carries over to RB2. I don't know what will sell better at retail, but I know where my dollars are gonna be spent.
- Fable 2: I only played a little bit of Fable 1. I enjoyed it, but it didn't suck me in and I should really give it another go. That said, a lot of the Fable 2 presentation was both interesting and alarming. Some of the multiplayer co-op features could be fascinating, the way it lets you see other players from your Friends list in the game (as floating orbs) that you can then invite into your world without leaving the game. They talked about the dog companion a bit more without explaning at all how his advanced AI will affect the actual game. It was all vaguely cool, but on the other hand there was absolutely no discussion of the gameplay and that's a bit of a red flag.
- Lips: I know, as big a fan of fake plastic guitars as I am, I shouldn't poo-poo a singing game, but... yeah, not a day one purchase for me.
- New 360 UI: Evidently the fall 360 dashboard update will include an entirely new UI. What they showed off was considerably less colorful and used avatars that weren't totally dissimilar to the Wii's Miis. (There's a sentence I thought I'd never type.) This is a risky move. The 360 UI may be unspectacular, but it's very, very functional. This thing boast some interesting features (8-way chat rooms, media sharing, etc.) but some of it looked clumsy as hell to me and I see no need to make people re-learn a new UI when the old one worked just fine. Hopefully I'm wrong.
- Netflix Support: As a Netflix subscriber, I think this is great. Netflix's On Demand content may not be everything everyone wants it to be, but there's a lot there and making it accessable via the Xbox is just gravy.
They also showed off Gears of War 2, Resident Evil 5 and some other weird casual sh#@ that used the camera. Can't say any of those are in my wheelhouse, but if they're in yours, they're worth checking out. What I'm really waiting for is for some info on Dragon Age to start rolling in. Bioware had me at hello with this title, and this IGN gameplay screenshot makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Off to LA
Well I leave for E3 in about 2 hours so I will leave you in Todd's hands this week. Todd will keep the NCAA banter a flowin'.
My schedule...where is my ..ah yes here we go. I see EA at 9AM tomorrow. If I get a chance to play Madden, I'll do a little blogging on the road time permitting.
My schedule...where is my ..ah yes here we go. I see EA at 9AM tomorrow. If I get a chance to play Madden, I'll do a little blogging on the road time permitting.
More NCAA 09 Vids
Ball State loses to IU 41-31. Ah well. But the Ghost Juke is back again. Check out vid 1: Why did Thigpen run out of bounds? The second vid was just a cool play and I wanted to show that everything isn't ghost jukes and weird glitches. This was also on Heisman lvl...cool play, eh?
Sunday, July 13, 2008
NCAA 09: The Ghost Juke and the Confused LB
I restarted my Ball State Dynasty this weekend. Screw E3 prep, right?
Anyway I played a great game against Akron tonight, winning 34-31 on a last second 45 yd FG. Really fun game. But -- people keep asking me wghat I mean by "The Ghost Juke" well thanks to EA's highlight vid feature, I can show you.
This is the Ghost Juke.
Anyway I played a great game against Akron tonight, winning 34-31 on a last second 45 yd FG. Really fun game. But -- people keep asking me wghat I mean by "The Ghost Juke" well thanks to EA's highlight vid feature, I can show you.
This is the Ghost Juke.
Next we have the Confused Linebacker. Remember -- I am Ball State and this is the AI on Heisman. Again, this was a super fun game, but these are issues that at some point need to be addressed.
OOTP 2009 Patch #2
It's out.
Woo hoo. Now I can get back to my fictional league.
These two are great additions:
Added a Scouting Accuracy global setup option to allow people to globally influence the accuracy of scouts
Added a Development Report in the Team Reports section (in-game only, not HTML)
Woo hoo. Now I can get back to my fictional league.
These two are great additions:
Added a Scouting Accuracy global setup option to allow people to globally influence the accuracy of scouts
Added a Development Report in the Team Reports section (in-game only, not HTML)
Friday, July 11, 2008
2008 Test Sim with Screens
Yeah sorry about the pics again, but one of the designers of NCAA is on Op Sports and I need to post these to verify what I am seeing with everything on default stock settings. So, sorry about that, but hey--more pics!
8-14.
29-35
Anyway, this is on the Xbox 360 with every set to default with the Pasta rosters unloaded. 2009 is next although I may not take pics of that one. It's a pain and I think I have made my case as plain as I can.
Once again we're looking at QB numbers, sorted by Passer Rating:
QBs ranked 1-7 even though 2 have very few attempts and wouldn't qualify, including the #1 player who was hurt.
8-14.
15-21
22-28
29-35
36-42
43-49.
We're 49 QBs deep, with a handful not qualifying due to a lack of attempts (wish we could filter those) and we're still looking at QBs with ratings in the 150s. Last year in 2007 there were 11 QBs with ratings over 150. In 2006: 8. 2005: 5 players. 2004: back up to 10. Ironic thing is this is actually better than the 2010 season from below when Clausen had his 40TD 1 INT year.
And again, as I have been saying -- it's a combination of very high completion rates -- I see one player with a 59% and high TD and some with very low INTs. Every year you're going to see that guy with the 49 TD 3 INT season - usually more than one.
Anyway, this is on the Xbox 360 with every set to default with the Pasta rosters unloaded. 2009 is next although I may not take pics of that one. It's a pain and I think I have made my case as plain as I can.
Mr. Harris, E3, and Yes, NCAA 2009
Impressions from NCAA 2009 will be slowing down due to E3 prep work. I leave for the show Monday and will be back early as hell on Friday. Landing at 6AM. Woo. Hoo. My time with NCAA, as you may have guessed, has been a roller coaster ride that I am happy to have been able to share with all of you--even those who were convinced I didn't have the game until I posted those pics. My imagination just ain't that good, fellas.
In checking the referral log we've been getting hits from standards like Operation Sports, the IGN boards, NCAA Strategies, FOF Central and more. We've also been getting people from Michigan blogs (curse you Brakke) and a few of the Ohio State boards -- even people from NC State have dropped by. Damn it..I forgot to put up the Google Ads! There goes $20.
I have tried to be as honest as I can about the game, what works, and what doesn't. But if I had to return the game and then decide whether or not to buy it, I'd be in line just like the rest of you, forking over my $60 and change.
I stated when we really started to get into the game that it's the most fun I have had with NCAA since the 2004 version, and I still very much believe that to still be true despite some of the issues that have popped up. I hate the QB simmed stats, and the lack of a real CPU deep passing attack, the occasional CPU Ghost Juke, Miami(OH) playing for a title, and the abysmal kicking game. (And I still don't know why the Vanishing Stat thing happens.)
But for me the pros outweigh the cons. There's a lot of variety, the deep ball isn't a money play anymore, I can easily tell the difference between teams of varying talent even on Heisman, the INT issue from last year is fixed (with sliders), the Quick Calling for recruits makes it so much easier (was that in last year's game?), dropped passes seem perfect this year and the games are proving a challenge...especially with a team like Ball State! 2-6 baby!
I'm still excited to start our online 2-Star Only Dynasty. Yes Todd -- 2 stars and under. Does Michigan qualify? ZING!
Finally, my good friend Bill Harris posted an interesting bit of info that is worth reading. Anything dubbed the Great Horn of Bullshit is at least worth a cursory look.
Oh, and yeah for those that asked: Ashley made it through Operation Braces unscathed. I do love that pic, though.
In checking the referral log we've been getting hits from standards like Operation Sports, the IGN boards, NCAA Strategies, FOF Central and more. We've also been getting people from Michigan blogs (curse you Brakke) and a few of the Ohio State boards -- even people from NC State have dropped by. Damn it..I forgot to put up the Google Ads! There goes $20.
I have tried to be as honest as I can about the game, what works, and what doesn't. But if I had to return the game and then decide whether or not to buy it, I'd be in line just like the rest of you, forking over my $60 and change.
I stated when we really started to get into the game that it's the most fun I have had with NCAA since the 2004 version, and I still very much believe that to still be true despite some of the issues that have popped up. I hate the QB simmed stats, and the lack of a real CPU deep passing attack, the occasional CPU Ghost Juke, Miami(OH) playing for a title, and the abysmal kicking game. (And I still don't know why the Vanishing Stat thing happens.)
But for me the pros outweigh the cons. There's a lot of variety, the deep ball isn't a money play anymore, I can easily tell the difference between teams of varying talent even on Heisman, the INT issue from last year is fixed (with sliders), the Quick Calling for recruits makes it so much easier (was that in last year's game?), dropped passes seem perfect this year and the games are proving a challenge...especially with a team like Ball State! 2-6 baby!
I'm still excited to start our online 2-Star Only Dynasty. Yes Todd -- 2 stars and under. Does Michigan qualify? ZING!
Finally, my good friend Bill Harris posted an interesting bit of info that is worth reading. Anything dubbed the Great Horn of Bullshit is at least worth a cursory look.
Oh, and yeah for those that asked: Ashley made it through Operation Braces unscathed. I do love that pic, though.
Pictures from the Sim
I really don't know why I am going to these lengths, but it is what it is. A few people via email and forums are basically convinced at this point that I am conning all of you. I'm lying about everything when it comes to the simmed stats (all the good stuff I am saying about NCAA...I guess I'm honest about that part. Funny how that works.)
So, before calling it a night here's a set of screens taken by my PowerShot. Quality isn't the best but you can see what you need to see.
Does anyone know how to view past title games? Yes, Wisky played Miami of Ohio but I have since simmed past that and can't find records listed anywhere.
So here we go
This was taken right before Bowl Week of 2010. This is the top 7 QBs ranked by Pass Eff. Note Clausen's year. Not bad, eh?
Another view of the same top 7 -- this time I added the Completion %.
We're now on QBs 8 - 14.
QBs 15-21 -- note the crazy high Completion rates.
And # 22 - 28.
29-35. 
# 36 - 42 -- and we are still in the high 150s.
This is the leading rusher screen. I still wish we could get the top rushers to carry it more. No one in the country carried it 300 times which more than a few people do every year.
Finally, my daughter during Operation Braces. Always good to end with some levity, eh?
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Saga of Tim Tebow
Before we get to Timmy...
The bug popped up again in 2009 this time. When selecting "Sim to end of regular season" I stopped the simulation at week 5 to check something and this time it was the PASSING season stats that "contained no data." I have no idea what's going on but folks...I don't like it and if you play Dynasty mode you are not going to like it either. I have no idea what causes this. The last time it was in 2010 and it was the rushing stats. Now it's 2009 and it's passing. Rushing was fine.
The stats ARE there -- you can go into the box scores and see the game by game numbers. It's just when choosing stats it's blank.
Then, after simming the rest of the 2009 season, sacrificing a goat and doing a Pygmy Rain Dance, the passing stats suddenly appeared again and everything was fine. Well, fine is a matter of perspective here I guess.
Anyway--I am trying my best to figure out where these inflated QB ratings are coming from. After simming 2008 again I think I know what's going on. And again, if this doesn't interest you and you want more game impressions...well...sorry. I told you I had OCD with this stuff.
When I was looking at the TD to INT ratio I was forgetting about Completion %. In 2007, there were 18 QBs that completed 65% of their passes (and up). (Go back a few years and it's even fewer than that) In the latest 2008 test sim: 47 QBs nailed at least 65% and 9 were over 70%. That's pretty darn high even for college.
Your average everyday NCAA D1 QB completes about 57-58%. In the videogame that is more like 64%. If you complete under 60% in NCAA you suck. Period. Think those extra points don't matter as far as QB Ratings go?
It matters.
Consider this (and yeah we're really getting into videogame geekdom at this point, but it's what I do...)
Let's take 2009 OSU "starter" Antonio Henton. We shall ignore the fact that Henton transferred to GA Southern over the summer. NCAA has him as a 91 rated QB after Boeckman leaves so he's the man. (We'll save any criticisms/discussions of this game's rudimentary player progression model for another day.)
Henton's 2009 stats were:
194/273 (71%) 2,447 yards 32 TDs and 6 INTs for a QB rating of 180.6. As a point of reference, Heisman winner Troy Smith had a 162 rating in 2005.
Now, let's bring Antonio back to reality. We won't even touch his TDs and INTs which are pretty darn great in their own right. Let's just give the man more incompletions.
Let's say Henton only completed 61%. Still very good -- better than average and way more believable than 71%. Just by doing that Henton's Pass Eff Rating plummets to (a still very good)140.73.
It's the same with every QB. The top guys, all of them, are 69-73% passers. I see this as more of an issue than the INTs. The 33-1 Bockeman season looks to be a bit of an anomaly. I haven't seen a season THAT crazy in the 6 seasons I have simmed. Any simulation is capable of the occasional malfunction. That was a doozie.
OK-- back to Timmy. This is a look at what the engine does.
Tebow's 2008 Simmed Season:
The bug popped up again in 2009 this time. When selecting "Sim to end of regular season" I stopped the simulation at week 5 to check something and this time it was the PASSING season stats that "contained no data." I have no idea what's going on but folks...I don't like it and if you play Dynasty mode you are not going to like it either. I have no idea what causes this. The last time it was in 2010 and it was the rushing stats. Now it's 2009 and it's passing. Rushing was fine.
The stats ARE there -- you can go into the box scores and see the game by game numbers. It's just when choosing stats it's blank.
Then, after simming the rest of the 2009 season, sacrificing a goat and doing a Pygmy Rain Dance, the passing stats suddenly appeared again and everything was fine. Well, fine is a matter of perspective here I guess.
Anyway--I am trying my best to figure out where these inflated QB ratings are coming from. After simming 2008 again I think I know what's going on. And again, if this doesn't interest you and you want more game impressions...well...sorry. I told you I had OCD with this stuff.
When I was looking at the TD to INT ratio I was forgetting about Completion %. In 2007, there were 18 QBs that completed 65% of their passes (and up). (Go back a few years and it's even fewer than that) In the latest 2008 test sim: 47 QBs nailed at least 65% and 9 were over 70%. That's pretty darn high even for college.
Your average everyday NCAA D1 QB completes about 57-58%. In the videogame that is more like 64%. If you complete under 60% in NCAA you suck. Period. Think those extra points don't matter as far as QB Ratings go?
It matters.
Consider this (and yeah we're really getting into videogame geekdom at this point, but it's what I do...)
Let's take 2009 OSU "starter" Antonio Henton. We shall ignore the fact that Henton transferred to GA Southern over the summer. NCAA has him as a 91 rated QB after Boeckman leaves so he's the man. (We'll save any criticisms/discussions of this game's rudimentary player progression model for another day.)
Henton's 2009 stats were:
194/273 (71%) 2,447 yards 32 TDs and 6 INTs for a QB rating of 180.6. As a point of reference, Heisman winner Troy Smith had a 162 rating in 2005.
Now, let's bring Antonio back to reality. We won't even touch his TDs and INTs which are pretty darn great in their own right. Let's just give the man more incompletions.
Let's say Henton only completed 61%. Still very good -- better than average and way more believable than 71%. Just by doing that Henton's Pass Eff Rating plummets to (a still very good)140.73.
It's the same with every QB. The top guys, all of them, are 69-73% passers. I see this as more of an issue than the INTs. The 33-1 Bockeman season looks to be a bit of an anomaly. I haven't seen a season THAT crazy in the 6 seasons I have simmed. Any simulation is capable of the occasional malfunction. That was a doozie.
OK-- back to Timmy. This is a look at what the engine does.
Tebow's 2008 Simmed Season:
- Hawaii - 16/20 230 yds 3 TD 0 INT
- Mia (FL) 21/36 268 3-0
- Tenn 25/47 344 0-2 (this game was "super simmed" and not simmed regularly...make of that what you will)
- Ole Miss 4/8 21 0-0 (hurt)
- Arkansas 17/22 367 5-0
- LSU 16/19 227 5-0
- Kentucky 26/29 300 5-0 (it's starting to hit Absurdville at this point)
- Georgia 7/7 136 4-0 (weird game..wasn't hurt)
- Vandy 19/27 263 4-0
- S Car 14/23 140 1-0
- D1-AA 17/27 313 0-2 (I found this hilarious)
- FSU 18/24 167 3-0
- Aub 15/26 206 2-1
- Oklahoma (Bowl) 14/18 232 0-0
He lost the Heisman that year to Chase Daniel. Chase's numbers were even better.
Oh, yeah, 2008 champs?
Wisconsin
Who'd they beat?
Miami...
....of Ohio.
Watching From the Peanut Gallery
I've been keeping a low profile this week since I know most of you are popping in to read Bill "I get the game early because I'm the golden child" Abner's NCAA '09 impressions. The notion that a Bucknut gets the game more than a week ahead of time is proof enough that there are dark forces at work in Columbus. (sigh) I do miss the Pre-Tressel era so.
Every now and then this past week I'd start to get jealous of Bill's good fortune, but then I remember that my interest in this franchise (and most sports games, in general) has nosedived in recent years as the genre continues to stagnate (the Sony MLB and EA NHL franchises excepted). Frankly, I was all set to skip out on NCAA this year, but since I'm saddled with writing the Gameshark review for it, I guess I'll still have to pick up a copy on release day. I know, I know. It's such a hard knock life being a game reviewer. The things I'm willing to do to earn myself a little extra green.
Anyway, I'll be sure to get some impressions of the game up next week while Bill's at E3. I'm also still planning to do that Pixar movie round-up I threatened you all with last week (still can't stop thinking about Wall-E) and I need to get some thoughts together for a DC movie roundup, what with The Dark Knight soon to hit the big screen. Plus there's that whole Out of the Park Baseball 9 review I still owe Bill...
Any bets on how much of that I actually accomplish?
Every now and then this past week I'd start to get jealous of Bill's good fortune, but then I remember that my interest in this franchise (and most sports games, in general) has nosedived in recent years as the genre continues to stagnate (the Sony MLB and EA NHL franchises excepted). Frankly, I was all set to skip out on NCAA this year, but since I'm saddled with writing the Gameshark review for it, I guess I'll still have to pick up a copy on release day. I know, I know. It's such a hard knock life being a game reviewer. The things I'm willing to do to earn myself a little extra green.
Anyway, I'll be sure to get some impressions of the game up next week while Bill's at E3. I'm also still planning to do that Pixar movie round-up I threatened you all with last week (still can't stop thinking about Wall-E) and I need to get some thoughts together for a DC movie roundup, what with The Dark Knight soon to hit the big screen. Plus there's that whole Out of the Park Baseball 9 review I still owe Bill...
Any bets on how much of that I actually accomplish?
2010 and a Bug Pops In
Well I simmed 2010 and wanted to look at rushing stats to see if teams weren't carrying it enough.
It was then when a bug popped up. It gave me "no data" under rushing stats for every single team when viewing season stats. Career stats were there but there was no data inside a team's stat line OR when viewing the entire NCAA.
Nice.
So um, let's hope that's a rarity, eh?
A few things I did note:
46 teams in 2010 scored 30+ points a game, which is right on line with real life.
In 2007 53 teams rushed for 2000+ yards. In 2010 NCAA: 31. GA Tech was first in the nation with 2800 yards rushing. There were 9 teams in 2007 that had at least 3000.
This isn't definitive proof, but it is leading me to think that teams are not rushing well enough or rushing enough in general. Of course I'd like to TEST that by looking at stats but noooo...
It was then when a bug popped up. It gave me "no data" under rushing stats for every single team when viewing season stats. Career stats were there but there was no data inside a team's stat line OR when viewing the entire NCAA.
Nice.
So um, let's hope that's a rarity, eh?
A few things I did note:
46 teams in 2010 scored 30+ points a game, which is right on line with real life.
In 2007 53 teams rushed for 2000+ yards. In 2010 NCAA: 31. GA Tech was first in the nation with 2800 yards rushing. There were 9 teams in 2007 that had at least 3000.
This isn't definitive proof, but it is leading me to think that teams are not rushing well enough or rushing enough in general. Of course I'd like to TEST that by looking at stats but noooo...
2009 Test Sim
The results are in and I need to look at this a bit closer (daughter confiscated the TV again...) but I wonder if NCAA uses the same QB rating formula as the real NCAA?
I thought the numbers looked a bit better in 2009. I saw no Tebow-esque or 33-1 Boeckman season. USC's Sanchez was #1 in Efficiency at 185. He had 34 TDs and 7 picks. To me, that's very reasonable - and by the way that is all I am asking from NCAA 2009 as far as stats go: just keep it within reason and I'm good.
I'm curious as to why his rating is 185 in the game because a 34-7 season is not too crazy.
Tim Tebow in 2007 at Florida had a 32 TD 6 INT season that saw him complete 67% of his passes for over 9 yards per att. His rating was 172. So how does Sanchez net the 185? I have no idea how the game or the NCAA gets that number, but maybe that's part of the problem?
Now, look, there is NO excuse for Todd Boeckman having a 33 TD 1 INT season. I'm not saying this is all hunky dory, but the 2009 numbers did look a bit better as far as QBs go.
There were 65 QBs in 2009 with a rating of 160 or higher. In 2007 (real life) there were three. But I really question if these formulas are identical.
Rushing numbers. 36 backs had over 1,000 yards in the 2009 test sim.
2007 real life: 57.
Hmm.
More later..after Spongebob.
I thought the numbers looked a bit better in 2009. I saw no Tebow-esque or 33-1 Boeckman season. USC's Sanchez was #1 in Efficiency at 185. He had 34 TDs and 7 picks. To me, that's very reasonable - and by the way that is all I am asking from NCAA 2009 as far as stats go: just keep it within reason and I'm good.
I'm curious as to why his rating is 185 in the game because a 34-7 season is not too crazy.
Tim Tebow in 2007 at Florida had a 32 TD 6 INT season that saw him complete 67% of his passes for over 9 yards per att. His rating was 172. So how does Sanchez net the 185? I have no idea how the game or the NCAA gets that number, but maybe that's part of the problem?
Now, look, there is NO excuse for Todd Boeckman having a 33 TD 1 INT season. I'm not saying this is all hunky dory, but the 2009 numbers did look a bit better as far as QBs go.
There were 65 QBs in 2009 with a rating of 160 or higher. In 2007 (real life) there were three. But I really question if these formulas are identical.
Rushing numbers. 36 backs had over 1,000 yards in the 2009 test sim.
2007 real life: 57.
Hmm.
More later..after Spongebob.
Uh, Yeah...This is a Shade Screwy
EA, please fix this.
Just for me.
Do it for me.
I'd do it for you.
The second test sim using the 2008 teams ended up in some ways better and in some ways much worse than the first. I am simming 2009 as I type this.
The notables:
Todd Boeckman set OSU passing records for yards (3400) TD (33) and fewest INTs ...thad' be ONE. Yep, Todd had a 33-1 season, marched his team to the National Title and STILL didn't win the Heisman.
That would be 43 TD 2 INT Tim Tebow.
Red Alert. Red Alert.
Wasn't this fixed last year? Did EA just decide to use old code? WTF?
The good news is that the rushing stats were much BETTER. Yards are again low (1675 lead the nation) but fewer 7+ YPC backs.
Other oddities:
Animal Jr. was the leader (for OSU) in tackles for the season. With 45. How is that even possible?
The B10 leader in tackles was the MLB out of Minnesota..he had 85.
Chris Wells lead OSU with 1245 yards with Saine getting 894. Wells won every HB award that the game carries. The game also had Beanie returning kicks and punts. He is Iron man,m apparently.
A top 25 nightmare for the BCS.
UGA, OSU, OKL, BYU and Boise State all go undefeated. BYU, somehow, gets 2 first place votes.
Mormons.
UL Lafayette goes 11-1 and is ranked #17?
VTech runs a 12-1 season and is #12? At 12-1?
I also noticed another old (and I thought fixed) sim issue -- very high scores. Most games are in the 30s, 40s, and 50s with games with both teams in the teens or 20s pretty damn rare. Fact is, the defenses (let's focus on pass defense) in the simmed games are absolutely useless which bears out the crazy QB stats.
So we're back to the burning question: does this matter to you? Do you play your games in a vacuum and not look around the league or care about league stats and possible ranking bugaboos? I know a lot of you don't, which is fine. But for a guy like me that really gets into delving into the guts of the Dynasty, this is a huge deal. And I know for a fact it'll be a big deal with our Online Dynasty players. This is really the first Three Alarm Fire I have seen in the game thus far. Weird thing is, wasn't this all fixed last year?
Some good news--Pastapadre's rosters are free inside the EA Locker. Totally free and you can snag 'em in 10 seconds. Awesome.
Just for me.
Do it for me.
I'd do it for you.
The second test sim using the 2008 teams ended up in some ways better and in some ways much worse than the first. I am simming 2009 as I type this.
The notables:
Todd Boeckman set OSU passing records for yards (3400) TD (33) and fewest INTs ...thad' be ONE. Yep, Todd had a 33-1 season, marched his team to the National Title and STILL didn't win the Heisman.
That would be 43 TD 2 INT Tim Tebow.
Red Alert. Red Alert.
Wasn't this fixed last year? Did EA just decide to use old code? WTF?
The good news is that the rushing stats were much BETTER. Yards are again low (1675 lead the nation) but fewer 7+ YPC backs.
Other oddities:
Animal Jr. was the leader (for OSU) in tackles for the season. With 45. How is that even possible?
The B10 leader in tackles was the MLB out of Minnesota..he had 85.
Chris Wells lead OSU with 1245 yards with Saine getting 894. Wells won every HB award that the game carries. The game also had Beanie returning kicks and punts. He is Iron man,m apparently.
A top 25 nightmare for the BCS.
UGA, OSU, OKL, BYU and Boise State all go undefeated. BYU, somehow, gets 2 first place votes.
Mormons.
UL Lafayette goes 11-1 and is ranked #17?
VTech runs a 12-1 season and is #12? At 12-1?
I also noticed another old (and I thought fixed) sim issue -- very high scores. Most games are in the 30s, 40s, and 50s with games with both teams in the teens or 20s pretty damn rare. Fact is, the defenses (let's focus on pass defense) in the simmed games are absolutely useless which bears out the crazy QB stats.
So we're back to the burning question: does this matter to you? Do you play your games in a vacuum and not look around the league or care about league stats and possible ranking bugaboos? I know a lot of you don't, which is fine. But for a guy like me that really gets into delving into the guts of the Dynasty, this is a huge deal. And I know for a fact it'll be a big deal with our Online Dynasty players. This is really the first Three Alarm Fire I have seen in the game thus far. Weird thing is, wasn't this all fixed last year?
Some good news--Pastapadre's rosters are free inside the EA Locker. Totally free and you can snag 'em in 10 seconds. Awesome.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
NCAA Thoughts on a Test Season Sim
After losing 31-27 to Akron....
My god I really lost to Akron?
I decided to sim the rest of the season w/o saving to see how a test year turned out. By the looks of it it still seems as if the folks at EA could use a better sim engine. How much this stuff annoys you will very much depend on your anal-ness. For me, I've always had a case of OCD when it comes to this sorta thing. It irks me a bit.
OSU loses to USC but gets back in the title game and plays...PITT. Yes, PITT ran the table.
PITT.
Arizona State beats Georgia and USC and loses to Washington 34-33 and ends up ranked 19.
Tough crowd.
As it is in most NCAA games, QB stats are way too high. Look, Tebow is good and all, but 30 TDs and 2 INTs? The dude from Nebraska throwing 35 TDs with 4 picks? Across the board QB stats are too good. Way too good. Take a look at this:
See the ratings? Well, in my Dynasty, Bradford's 176.52 would rank him 6th. Not too insane but here's the catch: In my NCAA test season, 24 QBs came in with a rating of 160 or higher. Last year in the Real World (tm) there were THREE. It's the same with QBs who have a 150 and up rating. It's too high. It's sorta stupid high, really. It's like playing an NFL game and 3/4 of the league has a 90+ QB rating.
Same with HB stats. Javon Ringer leads the nation in rushing and gets a lovely 7.3 yards per carry. Well done Mr. Ringer. Beanie is 2nd in the nation and gets only 6.9. Slacker. Rushing yards are a shade low--not too low but lower than today's NCAA, but the yards per carry is just ...yeow. No running back in the top 10 total rushing yards has a YPC under 5.9. Most (9, actually) are at least 6.0 with Ringer looking like Jim Brown on roller skates.
Anyway, just some observations. Some of you won't give this a second thought, which I understand, but I can't help but wish this was a bit tighter.
Oh, OSU did beat Michigan 41-3.
Realism baby, realism.
My god I really lost to Akron?
I decided to sim the rest of the season w/o saving to see how a test year turned out. By the looks of it it still seems as if the folks at EA could use a better sim engine. How much this stuff annoys you will very much depend on your anal-ness. For me, I've always had a case of OCD when it comes to this sorta thing. It irks me a bit.
OSU loses to USC but gets back in the title game and plays...PITT. Yes, PITT ran the table.
PITT.
Arizona State beats Georgia and USC and loses to Washington 34-33 and ends up ranked 19.
Tough crowd.
As it is in most NCAA games, QB stats are way too high. Look, Tebow is good and all, but 30 TDs and 2 INTs? The dude from Nebraska throwing 35 TDs with 4 picks? Across the board QB stats are too good. Way too good. Take a look at this:
See the ratings? Well, in my Dynasty, Bradford's 176.52 would rank him 6th. Not too insane but here's the catch: In my NCAA test season, 24 QBs came in with a rating of 160 or higher. Last year in the Real World (tm) there were THREE. It's the same with QBs who have a 150 and up rating. It's too high. It's sorta stupid high, really. It's like playing an NFL game and 3/4 of the league has a 90+ QB rating.
Same with HB stats. Javon Ringer leads the nation in rushing and gets a lovely 7.3 yards per carry. Well done Mr. Ringer. Beanie is 2nd in the nation and gets only 6.9. Slacker. Rushing yards are a shade low--not too low but lower than today's NCAA, but the yards per carry is just ...yeow. No running back in the top 10 total rushing yards has a YPC under 5.9. Most (9, actually) are at least 6.0 with Ringer looking like Jim Brown on roller skates.
Anyway, just some observations. Some of you won't give this a second thought, which I understand, but I can't help but wish this was a bit tighter.
Oh, OSU did beat Michigan 41-3.
Realism baby, realism.
Navy 38 Ball State 24 -- Power Goes Out
Argh.
Well, I lost again, but the damn power kicked off for 10 seconds right after the game so I didn't get to save it. Nice. Going off memory:
I passed for 278 with 2 TDs and 2 INTs (I HAVE to stop throwing into coverage...) One of those TDs was a 65 yard score where my WR beat the DB on a flag route and then outran him to the end zone. Really cool.
My ground game was nil -- maybe 40 yards, but I could tell a HUGE difference between playing against Bama's defense compared to Navy. Not even close.
Navy ran 38 (roughly) times for 200 or so and the QB was 8/13 passing for 95 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Navy scored on a 95 yard Super Sim kickoff return. Doh.
One cool bit -- at the end of the half the Navy QB actually tossed a Hail Mary about 50 yards downfield. Maybe it's a Heisman thing? I never saw that on AA.
A really fun game for the most part. A few drops (my HB dropped a crucial screen pass that was wide open late in the 4th. Yep. Ball State baby.
This game saw more sideline issues than most I have played. On one pass the Navy FB caught a dump off and was literally standing 3 yards out of bounds; funny this is, the game registered it as a 1 yard gain. I'll chalk that one up to a bug, eh?
Well, I lost again, but the damn power kicked off for 10 seconds right after the game so I didn't get to save it. Nice. Going off memory:
I passed for 278 with 2 TDs and 2 INTs (I HAVE to stop throwing into coverage...) One of those TDs was a 65 yard score where my WR beat the DB on a flag route and then outran him to the end zone. Really cool.
My ground game was nil -- maybe 40 yards, but I could tell a HUGE difference between playing against Bama's defense compared to Navy. Not even close.
Navy ran 38 (roughly) times for 200 or so and the QB was 8/13 passing for 95 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Navy scored on a 95 yard Super Sim kickoff return. Doh.
One cool bit -- at the end of the half the Navy QB actually tossed a Hail Mary about 50 yards downfield. Maybe it's a Heisman thing? I never saw that on AA.
A really fun game for the most part. A few drops (my HB dropped a crucial screen pass that was wide open late in the 4th. Yep. Ball State baby.
This game saw more sideline issues than most I have played. On one pass the Navy FB caught a dump off and was literally standing 3 yards out of bounds; funny this is, the game registered it as a 1 yard gain. I'll chalk that one up to a bug, eh?
E3 is a Comin'
I haven't been able to get back to NCAA since the Bama game. I have had a lot of E3 prep work to do and I need to leave around 4 PM today to get some new carpet remnants for the basement. Floods suck. I plan on getting some more time in today and I also want to test out the custom stadium sounds. (Thanks Aub)
I leave for E3 Monday and should get back Thursday so it will be 3 days of games, PR hype, and walking. Lots and lots of walking. I've been to about 8 of these shows so it's pretty much old hat at this point, but I'll be posting on the old blog here at night after I get back from the show floor. If I see anything particularly nifty I'll do a quick write up. Madden is sure to be there (and probably playable) and I want to see how it looks. The Browns should be good in Madden for the first time since the creation of fire.
The Hump Day Music Break will be posted later today -- I owe you guys two since I missed last week.
I leave for E3 Monday and should get back Thursday so it will be 3 days of games, PR hype, and walking. Lots and lots of walking. I've been to about 8 of these shows so it's pretty much old hat at this point, but I'll be posting on the old blog here at night after I get back from the show floor. If I see anything particularly nifty I'll do a quick write up. Madden is sure to be there (and probably playable) and I want to see how it looks. The Browns should be good in Madden for the first time since the creation of fire.
The Hump Day Music Break will be posted later today -- I owe you guys two since I missed last week.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Alabama 37 - Ball State 6
Here are some thoughts and some numbers from the opener.
As I have continued to play and get familiar with the game again (I shelved NCAA 08 pretty quick last year) I am starting to beat the AI consistently on AA lvl. I do not want to radically alter AA sliders because some sliders do not do what they should -- specifically QB Accuracy. I am not lowering my Acc to 30 which will prevent my QB from throwing it over 40 yards in the air.
And since I usually play on Heisman anyway, that's where the Ball St Dynasty will be. Heisman with some slider tweaks.
37-6 was the result. Here's a quick stat line:
Ball State:
QB 26/41 223 0-2 This is Nate Davis, a future NFL draft pick and a damn good college QB. He's very good in this game, too.(87 OVR with a 92/93 Acc/Arm Str) The BState receivers? Well...5 drops. Ah well.
HB: 17 carries 61 yards
Bama:
QB: 19/31 184 2-0 -- A very efficient game. The deep passes: they tried two. Both around 25-30 yards in the air. One worked, one didn't. This was with play aggressive at (I think 85%)
I do not know if the playcalling at 85% did this, but I really hate how often the AI goes for it on 4th down. 2nd quarter and you are up 23-6 and you have it 4th and 4 on the opponent's 9 yard line. What do you do? Me? I'm kicking the FG. Saban flipped me off from the sideline and called a toss sweep.
HB: 21 carries 177 yards with a long of 50. Yikes. Now, the Ball State defense is BAD. The offense is actually quite good, but man -- nothing but 70s and a few 60s on defense.
I still think this works best by just controlling one defender and not switching like mad. The reason I say this is because the AI when running the ball just flat out panics when it gets near the sideline. I saw 3 Ghost Jukes in this game, and one was looked hilarious. If you never see these...your copy is just different than mine.
I expect to lose big to Bama, even though Ball State did take Nebraska to the mat last year (41-40). I was in the red zone three times and failed to score.
Another item of note: I fumbled the ball and now that I think about it the only time I have seen a fumble is on Heisman. I have yet to fumble on AA lvl.
You are also going to have to tweak (heavily IMO) the auto subs. On default players only get tired and need a break if you completely hammer them over and over again. If you want to be forced into using backup RBs and DTs, etc, this will need to be changed. Changed to what...I'm not sure just yet.
So, with that ass kicking out of the way let's see how the Cards bounce back against a lesser team. Take us to the MAC tirle Nate!
As I have continued to play and get familiar with the game again (I shelved NCAA 08 pretty quick last year) I am starting to beat the AI consistently on AA lvl. I do not want to radically alter AA sliders because some sliders do not do what they should -- specifically QB Accuracy. I am not lowering my Acc to 30 which will prevent my QB from throwing it over 40 yards in the air.
And since I usually play on Heisman anyway, that's where the Ball St Dynasty will be. Heisman with some slider tweaks.
37-6 was the result. Here's a quick stat line:
Ball State:
QB 26/41 223 0-2 This is Nate Davis, a future NFL draft pick and a damn good college QB. He's very good in this game, too.(87 OVR with a 92/93 Acc/Arm Str) The BState receivers? Well...5 drops. Ah well.
HB: 17 carries 61 yards
Bama:
QB: 19/31 184 2-0 -- A very efficient game. The deep passes: they tried two. Both around 25-30 yards in the air. One worked, one didn't. This was with play aggressive at (I think 85%)
I do not know if the playcalling at 85% did this, but I really hate how often the AI goes for it on 4th down. 2nd quarter and you are up 23-6 and you have it 4th and 4 on the opponent's 9 yard line. What do you do? Me? I'm kicking the FG. Saban flipped me off from the sideline and called a toss sweep.
HB: 21 carries 177 yards with a long of 50. Yikes. Now, the Ball State defense is BAD. The offense is actually quite good, but man -- nothing but 70s and a few 60s on defense.
I still think this works best by just controlling one defender and not switching like mad. The reason I say this is because the AI when running the ball just flat out panics when it gets near the sideline. I saw 3 Ghost Jukes in this game, and one was looked hilarious. If you never see these...your copy is just different than mine.
I expect to lose big to Bama, even though Ball State did take Nebraska to the mat last year (41-40). I was in the red zone three times and failed to score.
Another item of note: I fumbled the ball and now that I think about it the only time I have seen a fumble is on Heisman. I have yet to fumble on AA lvl.
You are also going to have to tweak (heavily IMO) the auto subs. On default players only get tired and need a break if you completely hammer them over and over again. If you want to be forced into using backup RBs and DTs, etc, this will need to be changed. Changed to what...I'm not sure just yet.
So, with that ass kicking out of the way let's see how the Cards bounce back against a lesser team. Take us to the MAC tirle Nate!
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