Adam Thompson (NCAA Designer) Q&A Thread

[Adam_Thompson_EA]

Quote: Originally Posted by RICK JAMES 1914

Adam who is incharge of online play? Will the records and levels for online play in ncaa 09 be reset this year? ncaa 08 online lost alot of its better players when the ranks were reset on ncaa 08 but not reset on madden 08. Are there seperate teams for the ncaa online vs. the madden online? One rumor I had was that ncaa always get the previous version of madden servers.

I don't really know how this all works. Old Madden servers? I doubt that.

Quote: Originally Posted by Geauxldenboy

Sorry if this has already been answered. Is it possible to schedule games at a neutral site in dynasty mode, besides the traditional matchups like the Red River Shootout?

This isn't in the game, if that's what you mean. Is it possible to put it in the game? Everything is possible.

Quote: Originally Posted by doublerballa20

as far as pride stickers what is the max # taht a player can get ?

Depends on the school.

Quote: Originally Posted by Semnoles9399

Hey Adam I want to thank you for taking time to answer our questions. I just have a few to ask. 1) Is the server bug fixed this year? I'm sorry if this has been asked but I just get tired of getting kicked off for no reason. 2) Is the option game better this year or do you know anything about that? I'm talking about last year where you would have 3 guys on ya and you could still pitch the ball. 3) What system do you personally own? I wouldn't mind playin ya after the game comes out LOL j/k

1) I'm not familiar with any server bug
2) I heard it was better from reading the community day reviews. I personally don't run the option when I play.
3) I have a 360, but I don't have Xbox Live. I know a lot of the designers play online a lot, and they are REALLY good.

Quote: Originally Posted by BUCKEYE_Bomber

Adam can you please tell me, does a players weight affect game physics at all? What I mean is basically this: If I have a 200 pound TB and a 225 pound tailback that both have all of the same ratings, will the 225 pounder run with more "power" or will the extra weight be meaningless? p.s.- Thanks Odogg for suggesting I post this here... GO BUCKS!

Good question. I'll try to find out.

Quote: Originally Posted by hustle55

I was wondering, when you change a player's position, does their speed change like it did in 08. For example, in NCAA 2008, when you changed a RB to a FB there speed went way down... Does anyone know???

Yeah, this still happens. I personally only change positions of kickers and move guys from left to right. Sometimes if I didn't fill a need I will do a change to avoid the walk-on, but this rarely happens cause I am the master at recruiting!

Quote: Originally Posted by HuskerFan

There is no way that this is true since it is in last years game. If it isn't, what is EA thinking?

We didn't have Online Dynasty last year.

Quote: Originally Posted by xxslim502xx

HEY IS THERE A IN GAME TICKER ON DYNASTY GAMES? LIKE SHOWING SCORES OF OTHER GAMES IN YOUR DYNASTY..I KNOW THIS WAS IN LAST GEN BUT HAVNT SEEN IT YET IN NEXT GEN AND WONDER WHY IT HASNT BEEN IN

NO, IT ISN'T THERE. I WILL MAKE A NOTE OF IT.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kingfish

Hey Adam, thanks for your time. I’m coming into this a little late but I have a few questions. 1) Pride stickers? Will they actually be awarded for on field heroics or are they just a random thing. In 08 they seemed just random. I might have a backup TE with 8 stickers after the first game and my starting HB with 250yds + and 4 TDs might have only 3. It seemed screwy somehow. 2) Is every game a sellout? I know that a large portion of college stadiums sellout but in a dynasty when you take over a 2-10 team, it would be nice to also have to win back your fans. As your season improves you start selling more tickets. Seems that was in the game a long time ago. 3) Regionally televised games. Any thought of bringing in just some regional guys to do commentary. The “First Team” is nice and all but lets face it, they wouldn’t be down in Jonesboro AR for the #25 Red Wolves vs. the #10 Alabama game. Especially not when #4 is playing #2 in Tallahassee. Always seemed unrealistic to me. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

1) It wasn't random in 08, but it should be fixed this year. Let know if you still see this happen on NCAA 09
2) No, we added dynamic attendance this year. It was never in the next gen game
3) Yes, it is unrealistic. We could bring in a second tier commentary team but I'm not happy with what we have with the commentary we have now. Not until I get that fixed will I look into this.

Quote: Originally Posted by xxbigjerm13xx

How are the alternates that teams wear 5 or 6 times a year not included in the freakin game, but jerseys teams haven't worn in 3 years are. Marshall wears all green uni's at least 3-4 times a season and all whites a few times and their not included. That's just rediculous.

There are 250 uniforms in the game. All of the alternates would push this number up to around 400 uniforms. That is a TON of content. We will continue to add alternates moving forward.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dnxtlevel

Hey Adam i have two questions: 1. Will we be able to edit players equipment offline and see the changes when we play online games on our side? ( Meaning the opponent wont see it). If not this year, is this something ya'll have talked about implementing? 2. Will we be able to challenge calls online this year?

1) No. I'm not sure how hard this would be to implement.
2) I don't know.

Quote: Originally Posted by GetYaWeigtUp

Hey Adam... 1) How long will you be hanging around, posting, and answering questions here at OS? 2) When do you guys begin preparing for next years game? 3) Do the designers/EA Team actually play the game a lot after it's released, and is it weird actually playing a game you made? It would seem odd to get pissed at the AI for cheating you knowing you had a hand in creating it, although I know thats not your area. 4) Are Miami's all white alternate uniforms in the game this year?

1) I'll be here for the foreseable future. I also will be branching out to more message boards. One of the presentation guys is over on NCAA Strategies. He was complaining that my thread is like 50 pages and his is 5. Go ask him your custom sound and campus legend questions!
2) A month ago.
3) We constantly play the game. And when the next version of the game is in a playable state, we switch over to that one. I haven't played NCAA 08 since January... well, I went in recently to refresh my memory of what it was like to get a good idea how much it has changed on 09. It was terrible... I couldn't get through a quarter. The game is SOOO much better this year. I suggest the night before NCAA 09 comes out, dust off 08 and play for a little. It will make 09 THAT much better!
4) No. Just white and green and white and orange.

Quote: Originally Posted by dbrandon

What's the deal with the manuals? Why not write a good one. 3 or 4 pages for a game like this is crazy. It's amazing how lazy ea has gotten in this regard. For 60 bucks I expect something that at the very least tell us how to play the game. I find myself coming here and asking other people here at OS if they know how to do........... Thanks for your time, was shocking to read that you guys sign NDA's not to talk about the games you work on. Why don't they allow you guys to talk to us after the game comes out? Tell your bosses that talking to us (the costumer) is a GOOD idea. You ask about companies putting out more then 1 patch. Well, "The show" has had a few patches, and have 2 or 3 roster updates per week and have said that if they need another patch they would put it out. So yes other companies do support their game with more the 1 patch. Thanks again.

Lazy? For cutting the size of the manual? We did this to save trees. Did you actually read the manual? What do you need to know beyond all the buttons? Besides, we are moving the manual to in game. When you fire up NCAA 08, the first thing that plays is Chris Fowler telling you about all the features. Why bother putting that in the manual? On NCAA 09 we have help menus on every screen, with Fowler telling you what all the buttons do. Don't you think this is better than a manual? The whole game industry is probably moving this way... get the manual digital and in the game. I wouldn't be surprised if in 10 years games didn't come on disks.
We never signed an NDA saying don't talk about the game. We just signed a paper saying we wouldn't post on the message boards relating to the game. About anything, for any reason, even not identifying ourselves as EA employees. This is outdated, there is no reason to talk about this stuff because we don't have a competitor.
Last thing, roster updates aren't a patch. That is a game feature, and we do it on Madden.

Quote: Originally Posted by heavy_hitter

Adam, Are you going to confirm that the new Under Armour school is South Florida?

I will neither confirm nor deny this.

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

I know this isn't your area of expertise, but has the team discussed the DL play and moves much for next year? I'd like to see more moves (swim, spin, rip, etc - not just power and finesse) mapped to the controller. It would also be great if the R-stick could be used for some of these moves. Get rid of the commit feature or at least disable it if using a D-line so I could have more moves with the R-stick. I'd also like to see less suction blocking where a DE can just "brush by" an OT to get to the QB occassionally.

Yeah, I want better DL moves on the R-stick as I control defensive linemen when I play.

Quote: Originally Posted by bigturboweenie

hi adam... quick question and i apologize if this has ALREADY been answered. i'm so late to this thread. my question: how many face masks did you add this year? everyone was excited to see tim tebow's, but it appears that is the only one new this year. if true, what was the incentive in only adding tim tebow's and leaving out some other "very important players" and their helmets (i.e. revolution IQ helmets)? Just wondering! Thanks!

I don't know for sure and the guy that would know is out on paternity leave. Sorry.

Quote: Originally Posted by outkaz79

Adam, I have played NCAA for many years and I can remember back I think it was college football 99 (I can't remember) they had players running on and off the field. Will this ever come back?

We added this to NCAA 08. I know it happens in NCAA 09 because we had a bug where the players would run to the wrong sideline!

[HuskerFan]

Thanks for the responses. I misunderstood what you had said and thought you meant it was in the offline dynasties.

[JohnDoe8865]

Quote: Originally Posted by auburntigersfan

I was also wondering the same thing

I'd like to "third" this question.

[bad_philanthropy]

Question about recruiting.

For as long as I can remember most recruits in the game come to your school pretty much physically mature. Has the team ever discussed making certain positions like offensive line recruits come in a little bit more raw physically and have their strength attributes as well as their weight increase significantly over their career? Basically improved physical progression for players in dynasty.

As it is recruits rarely progress much physically in the game (I think most gain 2-5 lbs in a career in the game) when in real life players coming into college usually experience a significant increase in their physical attributes over a career. With the exception of some players that are complete studs from day one of course.

[adembroski]

Paternity leave? How did I miss this development?!?!? I didn't get no time off when my kid was born:P

[kt-od]

Quote: Originally Posted by adembroski

Paternity leave? How did I miss this development?!?!? I didn't get no time off when my kid was born:P

Paternity leave is great. I took a week off when my child was born. But I am my own boss, so that makes it a little easier I guess.

[heavy_hitter]

Adam,

Thanks for responding to these questions. This is a great PR move for Triburon.

Are Custom Playbooks something that we can look into seeing int the future? You had this feature, I believe, for 2004 offline play and we haven't seen it since. It would be really nice to get custom playbooks add as well as being able to take that custom playbook online.

Are you able to take you saved offline audibles and transport them to online? This was another feature that was on 2004 that we haven't seen since.

Thanks for confirming that USF is the new UA school. .

[GetYaWeigtUp]

Hey Adam,

1) When will the referees make it back on the field during play? I know they are in the cutscenes.

2) As far as edit/create player options are concerned...Is implementing QB throwing styles and player running styles on the radar for an upcoming NCAA game?

Meaning...QBs can have maybe 5-7 different arm throwing motions to choose from, just like how in basketball games you can pick your jumpshot style. And vice versca for running styles.

3) Does it tick you and the rest of team off who read these boards when guys get on here and flame you guys and call you lazy for this and that reason?
I've always loved all the EA games until NBA Live became weaker then NBA 2k in 07, and March Madness took a nose dive. I liked Tiger Woods and Fight Night but now its mainly football for me as the other games just arent as fun to me.

4) Do you guys ever play 2k games like NBA 2k8 which I happen to like a lot?

[ODogg]

Can you set your depth chart offline and then when you go online the depth chart won't need to be adjusted? I play a lot of random folks online and most won't give me time to do my depth chart adjustments before they unpause the game (because they're jerks but that's a whole different story).

[Adam_Thompson_EA]

I was not able to meet with the Art Director to talk about progressive lighting today. I'll try again Monday.

As far as putting a man in motion, I got it added to the list of things to fix. Thanks for the tip.

I found out the release date of the demo. I can't tell you guys what that date is, I'll just say it will be coming out much sooner than later. I was suprised at how close it is to dropping.

Now... onto the questions.

Quote: Originally Posted by sweettouch

Are we able to edit the special teams line ups this year?(besides the returners) if No then when? Can you explain why this option is out? Thanks

Thought I answered this already. No, we don't have that feature and I don't know if there are plans for it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Cyros

What all would go into getting a custom playbook feature implemented next year?

It would be just like any feature. We'd brainstorm ideas for it, determine the scope (extent) of the feature; is it pick plays, formations, draw up your own plays, etc. Then we'd have to mock up the screens and the menu flow. Then the engineering gets done... putting in the code to make the custom playbook, adding the database to the user profile, stuff like that. Then we'd test it and fix all the bugs in it and then it is in!

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

Adam - Are wheel routes and bubble screens back in the new playbooks? These are plays Hawai'i uses a lot and I enjoyed using on the pS2 version but have been MIA since we got to next-gen.

I'll just cut and paste from my IM:
White, Anthony says:
Wheel routes are in along with other concepts that Hawaii used (levels, inside switch, strong flood, curl flat corner).
Thompson, Adam says:
bubble screens?
White, Anthony says:
Bubble screens got cut because right now they're waaayyy too money. We'll have to plan out for next year on how to get our defensive AI to handle those types of plays.

Quote: Originally Posted by JIMF25

Re: alternate unis: Will you be able to select an alternate uni for your opponent? i.e. playing a single user dynasty game at home as Auburn, will you be able to select either blue, orange or white pants (assuming they are available) for Florida as the visiting team. In the past, you had to control the team to select the alternate uni. thanks in advance for your response.

No, it is still like that. It is just the way our team select UI works. Once you move your controller back over to the team you wish you control, it resets the other uniform. I am definitely going to try and design it for 2010 so that you can select your opponent's uniform.

Quote: Originally Posted by TylerDurdenVol

Adam first of all thank you for doing this for the OS community!I need your personal and professional opinon.I'm about to turn 39 this month and I've been playing football games since Atari and really appreciate the evolution of football games over the years as many of my generation do.My question is how many generations of consoles away are you guys from having so much computing power that the graphics and all the bells and whistles that everyone screams for will be much easier than it is today for you to produce?I know what I want is gaming heaven and it may not be attainable in my lifetime but a man can dream can't he?I hope it's with XBOX 720 and PS4 and I appreciate your realistic insight to this question. Thank's and GO VOLS!!!!!

I don't think I have seen an idea for a feature that isn't doable on what we currently have.

Quote: Originally Posted by WinstonWolf

Adam thanks for coming here and giving us some insight on the game. I've played EA football since the Bill Walsh game. I understand that this is a new build but it is frustrating as a fan to have to "make do" without features on a "next gen" system. Sometimes I feel like the game takes 2 steps forward and one step back. That's the reason I continue to play on PS2 although I have a 360. I will give the game a try this year on 360, just because of this thread. As a fan I would like to see some sort of decal editor (like Forza) when you bring create-a-team back. This shouldn't be too difficult for the current systems to handle, as Forza had one on the Xbox 1 version of the game. I went to a small school that doesn't have a football program and I enjoy creating them and playing in dynasty mode.

Yeah, when we were doing initial designs for Create a School last year, I spent some time with Forza (Microsoft sent us a box of copies! Thanks for the free game, Bill!) looking at the car skin feature. It looked pretty difficult to me! I'd rather have the ability to go on the web and upload a logo, then connect to the website and download it to your console, kind of how Tiger Woods did Photo Face.

Quote: Originally Posted by CRKnight13

Thanks for the response, Adam. actually, that feature only appeared in NCAA 2005, PS2 version or otherwise. Believe me, that was something I always checked. Is there any chance of this seeing this feature or a "create-a-rivalry" trophy feature in future games?

I could see a create a trophy type feature if we wanted the theme of the game for that year to be rivalries. We would have a lot of features designed about rivalries like game modes and dynamic rivalries and the like. Surely a createable trophy would be considered.

Quote: Originally Posted by ncthompson11

hey adam this may have been asked or already talked about before but will there be coaches on the sideline like on ps2? and if so can we make a coach like ps2 for dynasty?

PS2 didn't change anything regarding coaches, so whatever they had last year will be in 09.

Quote: Originally Posted by stlcardsfan44

Thank you so much, for taking time to answer questions! That is very important to us all! I have 2 questions! 1)I know this may not be very important, but was a cool feature a few years ago. Will the teams standings be brought back into the game intro? Back in (I believe 07), the players would come down teh walkway, then Nesler, Corso and Herby would introduce the game, and then they would show the conference standings, and they would talk about it! I kinda miss that! 2)How many teams will we be able to control in dynasty, and will we be able to play every single game, like in years past? Thanks again for taking the time to answer these!!!!!!!!!

1) Head over to NCAA Strategies and ask Greg. He's your man. He's not getting enough questions!
2) 12 teams like usual. You can play every game... that's a lot of games!

Quote: Originally Posted by bad_philanthropy

Question about recruiting. For as long as I can remember most recruits in the game come to your school pretty much physically mature. Has the team ever discussed making certain positions like offensive line recruits come in a little bit more raw physically and have their strength attributes as well as their weight increase significantly over their career? Basically improved physical progression for players in dynasty. As it is recruits rarely progress much physically in the game (I think most gain 2-5 lbs in a career in the game) when in real life players coming into college usually experience a significant increase in their physical attributes over a career. With the exception of some players that are complete studs from day one of course.

I'm pretty sure weight progression is factored as a percentage... a small guy will gain less weight than a big guy.
I think player progression needs to be improved greatly in dynasty mode. Thanks for the tip, I will add it to our discussions.

Quote: Originally Posted by heavy_hitter

Adam, Thanks for responding to these questions. This is a great PR move for Triburon. Are Custom Playbooks something that we can look into seeing int the future? You had this feature, I believe, for 2004 offline play and we haven't seen it since. It would be really nice to get custom playbooks add as well as being able to take that custom playbook online. Are you able to take you saved offline audibles and transport them to online? This was another feature that was on 2004 that we haven't seen since. Thanks for confirming that USF is the new UA school. .

Yes, I think it is safe to say custom playbooks are in the future. I'm not saying next year, but this is a feature we all want.
Not sure why audibles aren't usable online. I'll look into it.
The only thing I will confirm about USF is that I don't like them.