NCAA Patch #2 Quick Impressions & 'Guide'

[chia51]

NCAA Patch #2 Quick Impressions & 'Guide'

I want to start off by saying that I was very critical of EA pre-patch and how they handled the whole situation, but that is another topic for a different time.

So with Patch #2 being released today with the sub sequent tuner and the server side ‘fixes’ yesterday, where are we, College Football Gaming Enthusiast at?

Well let’s start in a chronological order:

Server Side Fix – EA came out yesterday and announced that they solved the OD issues with a server side fix.

Quote:

UPDATE: Through our server side updates, we were able to fix the score changing issue that some of you were experiencing in your dynasties. We were also able to clear up the problem where guys were getting transfer failed notifications when uploading bowl game results. http://twitter.com/#!/JDewiel

They also mentioned that not all ODs would be compatible with the fix after they released it and realized that it was not working properly.

Quote:

We released a server side update on the 7th to address the issue, but it didn't work for everyone. That's what the tweet was about. I am working with the team now to get a timetable, but they are trying to get it addressed right away. I'll let you guys know a time frame as soon as I have it.http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2042831168

So with that… right now, unfortunately all we can do is wait and see. But this does give us time to tweak the rosters a tad bit more and figure out the sliders now that the patch is out.

Next up, the patch

The patch was released on 9/8 for the PS3 and 9/9 for the Xbox 360... as we are well aware by now. The patch notes (to not include what was added later) can be found here: http://www.ea.com/ncaa-football/blog...date-2-details

After getting several games in with the patch, here are my quick notes: (all games played on default AA, 8 min quarters)

• Safeties are no longer brain dead and actually do play decent coverage.
• Sliders seem much more effective now the pre-patch.
• Spread option running game is nice for both Human and CPU
• New playbooks no longer have the same formations listed in separate areas of the play call screen. (But they completely jacked up the rest of Custom Playbooks)

  Quote:

  If you create a new playbook, your issues should all be resolved. We were hoping that some playbooks that already existed would be fixed, but there is no way for us to be certain. I've had confirmation from a few guys that creating a new playbook has resulted in no issues so far. FYI- Still looking into the No Huddle issue guys.http://twitter.com/#!/JDewiel

• Passing seems a tad bit more ‘accurate’ than before, but this could be placebo. I still need to get some more time with the patch before I can make a final decision.
• I have yet to have a WR get hit in the head with a pass.
• I am noticing more aggressive hits with the CPU off the bat, but at the same time I am seeing more tackling animations as well. I have seen my RB get hit low now multiple times, while pre-patch it almost never happened.
• As for the SLBs, it still happens if you bullet the pass, but nowhere near as often as before. Finally you can throw a 15 yard dig.
• WR blocking was supposed to be fixed and right now I cannot tell what is going on… some plays they run by the DBs and the next play they block perfect. I wonder what is going on with that? One thing that I did notice was that the WR on certain blocking assignments will not block until the ball has been handed off or until the QB passes the LOS (option plays).
• I have not seen the DBs doing nothing as some have pointed out. We have to be able to recreate this in order for there to be a fix.
• One thing that I have noticed is that the defense definitely does react more now post patch the right trigger being pressed.
• Also user screens now work, I have successfully completed multiple bubble and mid screens that were not blown up immediately.
• Menu times seem a bit faster, could be placebo?

So far those are my quick impressions of the patch, I will continue to get game time in and come back to update this post.

Now on to the tuner update.

The tuner update was released to fix coach progression, (quick overview of what was happening); basically coaches were going from ~C to ~A very quickly, too quickly really which was causing players to progress faster as well. So EA actually did something ‘good’ and so far the results from a few different impressions are that the coaches progress at a nice pace.

EA also took the chance to add in the toning down of the CPU jumping the snap aggressively all the time. So far I haven’t noticed any difference, but that’s probably because I wasn’t paying attention to it in the first place.

Quote:

For the tuner pack we have tuned the speed at which coaches in dynasty will achieve both an A rating as well as an A+ rating. This will prevent coaches from becoming “elite” too quickly and easily. Player progression was also tuned to decrease the overall quickness in which players will progress. Finally, the effectiveness of the CPU jumping the snap when adjustments were set to aggressive have been toned down.

With all of that said and all of the testing/games that I have played, I am very happy with the patch so far. Now if EA can clean up around the edges and knock out some of these latest ‘glitches’ (Hurry-Up) I will be a happy camper.

[havlen]

I'm sure I'll figure this out soon enough when I play it, but have the super backers been toned down? It'd be nice to run a play like a dig route that is good against zone coverage and actually be able to throw it against zone coverage

[cujo0622]

Im sorry but dont understand his playbook update...ive delted my prev custom playbooks, and starting from scratch again, yet i still have some plays i cant delete, and some plays i cant even choose...whats the workaround???

[arotwlv]

I just played my first game and for the first time in a while I had a real fun time passing the ball. I was finally able to pass to multiple routes unlike before where I could only pass to maybe 8 different routes. Another thing was defense was now a test, but not an impossible test. All around it was a quite enjoyable experience that I actually could have seen on tv.

[elprez98]

I'm with you, Chia. I've played the same OD game about 2.5 times (I wanted to see if I would see similar results) and I thought it was just me at first, but there are definitely more wrap up tackle animations and I believe (again, may be placebo) but it looks like my corners are doing a better job of sticking with receivers stride for stride.

So far so good for me.

Edit: I also thing LB jumping has been adjusted. I threw a couple of balls that I was pretty sure would normally be batted down, but actually made it in my receiver's vicinity.

[nova91]

I totally agree with this, all-in-all this is a pretty good patch the hurry-up thing is a bit annoying especially on defense but this seems to be a pretty solid patch like you said all EA has to do is clean up around the edges a bit.

[Mtneer08]

I'll add a few more of my impressions to what you have...

The plays in the playbooks are smaller
The graphics seem a tad sharper(at least on the ps3)
The speed of the game has increased and the speed of the ball when throwing it is faster(i dont like this) With the increase in speed it seems the players skate a little more but at the same time the game definitely runs smoother. So this is kinda a good and bad thing.
Human Pass defense is much better.
User WR and HB screens worked better

Overall Im happy with the patch.

[chia51]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mtneer08

I'll add a few more of my impressions to what you have... The plays in the playbooks are smaller The graphics seem a tad sharper(at least on the ps3) The speed of the game has increased and the speed of the ball when throwing it is faster(i dont like this) With the increase in speed it seems the players skate a little more but at the same time the game definitely runs smoother. So this is kinda a good and bad thing. Human Pass defense is much better. User WR and HB screens worked better Overall Im happy with the patch.

Yeah I forgot to add that Screens now work for me atleast.

But I have not noticed the other things, I play on Slow Gamespeed.