NCAA Football 2005 Info

[Guest Flyboy]

April 19, 2004 - As the seasons wear on, EA's two popular football franchises, NCAA Football and Madden NFL, are starting to look less like fraternal twins and more like distant cousins. NCAA Football 2005, for the Xbox, PS2 and GameCube, is taking another huge step towards differentiating the game of college football from pro football thanks to the inclusion of the new Home Field Advantage feature. If there's any doubt that EA isn't serious about separating the two football simulations, look no further than the fact that Playmaker control on the right analog stick --a huge addition to Madden 2004-- will not be included in NCAA Football 2005. Improvising on the fly isn't as big a part of the college game as the jitters, momentum and crowd noise of playing in a hostile environment so that's exactly where NCAA 2005 is going to hang its helmet.

 

The home field advantage will lend ratings and composure boosts to the home team depending on the size of the crowd and intensity of the rivalry. The developers at EA Tiburon have ranked the top 25 toughest places to play in college football with Tennessee at the top at the time of this writing. This means when the Vols host Georgia, the house will be packed and especially vocal throughout the game. The size and subsequent intensity of the crowd is limited by the size of the stadium so that 100,000+ screaming Wolverine fans in Ann Arbor will be louder and more disruptive to the visiting Buckeye players than a full house (90,000) at the Rose Bowl even if it's USC versus UCLA. The volume of crown noise matters because you'll hear the extra roar coming out of your speakers and the visiting players on offense won't be able to hear audible and hot route calls when they're on offense. The "hype the crowd" control will now come with an on-screen meter for the home team so you'll see and hear the crowd getting more and more intense as you repeatedly mash the button. When the crowd-o-meter maxes out, the screen will begin to shake and, if you're playing against a buddy, his or her controller will start to vibrate.

 

If that's not distracting enough for the visiting team while they're offense, the fact that audibles and hot routes simply won't be heard by receivers and backs could be devastating. This comes with a unique set of animations of wideouts walking around the line of scrimmage, leaning in and straining to hear the quarterback as he's barking signals. They'll shrug their shoulders and throw their hands up in frustration as an indication that your audible wasn't heard. This means that receiver will more or less be running a useless route on that particular play. The thought is, you were calling an audible for a reason; you saw something you didn't like from the defense. Now your receiver has no choice but to run the route that you called in the huddle, since he doesn't know what you want him to do now. Former University of Pittsburgh star Larry Fitzgerald told us that normally he would use hand signals to communicate audibles while playing in hostile environments but crowd noise would force them to keep it pretty simple. However, he's a first round pick for good reason.

 

Utilizing the home field to your advantage is obviously a way to take audibles away from your opponent at any point in a game, but all of this ties into the new match-up stick and composure meters in the game. If a true freshman is starting at quarterback for Florida at Neyland Stadium, he's going to be especially easy to rattle even before the defense starts riling up the Volunteer crowd. Before each snap you can use the match-up right analog stick to show the composure of each player on the field. There are only three settings --composed, medium and shaken-- so you can be sure the freshmen Gator is only going to be medium at best. When you push the match-up stick in different directions to check the position groupings, the composure meter over each player's head is a full, half or empty circle next to a dynamic overall ratings bar. Rattled players actually lose ratings points in categories crucial to their position while confident players will get ratings bonuses. This way you and your opponent will be able to quickly see who's hot and who's not on any play.

 

The composure meter simply lets you know who's more or less likely to crack on that next play. To cause a player to lose composure on either offense or defense you simply do bad things to them individually. A rattled QB is more likely to throw an incompletion or an interception so when he does, he becomes even more shaken. Consistently throwing to a receiver for big yards will boost his confidence and totally wreck the opposing cornerback's composure as a game goes on. But the system works on a more subtle level as well. Hitting a quarterback or receiver consistently even when they don't have the ball, when done legally, will eventually build up the composure of an individual. The new tipped and loose ball system will keep plays live a lot longer, so there will be even more opportunity to lay some big hits legally.

The visiting team can take the crowd out of games and stay composed by consistently completing passes, making key tackles, converting third downs and scoring touchdowns, obviously. Team captains are being introduced this year to counter the home field advantage. Upperclassmen can call timely timeouts to calm your players down and get them back into the game with a little composure. Kickers can be iced before a potential game winner as well.

 

Longtime NCAA Football fans who love building their own powerhouse programs will appreciate the fact that your composure management skills from game to game will build up over the course of the season. If you consistently get your team to perform in hostile environments, they'll come into games with more confidence and won't be bothered by the rowdiest of crowds. Again, Fitzgerald told us that this was the level he was on as a sophomore for the Panthers. The great ones stay composed. Sounds like composure will be a key component in building a Heisman Trophy winner in NCAA Football 2005.

 

The home field advantage and player composure components of NCAA 2005 are likely just the tip of the football in what will be a laundry list of enhancements to the franchise. For example, there will be all new user-controlled celebrations this time around, but when asked if that means in addition to the ones found in last years game or simply new replacements, EA reps would only re-affirm that there will be all new user-controlled celebrations. Because of this, IGN will have much more on NCAA Football 2005 in the coming weeks and months.

 

 

Linky

[Damaramu 0]

Awesome.........the Vols is #1? I thought the Big House was the hardest place to win a football game.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

They need to add biast sportswriters so that you can use teams like Nebraska and get ranked way higher than you deserve......

[Guest MikeSC]

They need to add biast sportswriters so that you can use teams like Nebraska and get ranked way higher than you deserve......

Can they include mindless carping on how unfair the BCS is?

-=Mike

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Sounds like fun. I look forward to building up my program as an independant then making road trips everywhere and humiliating teams on their home field.

 

To be honest, I like it. I use audibles quite a bit depending on the defense and this seems to ramp up the difficulty a bit. Plus it makes for a better sim since you probably won't be able to be starting true freshman a lot unlike previous years' versions.

[MrRant 0]

That and it makes momentum even more of a factor... which can be good or bad depending on which way you are going.

[lomasmoney 0]

Awesome.........the Vols is #1? I thought the Big House was the hardest place to win a football game.

That's bullshit. The most distracting thing about Neyand is all the fucking orange. I've been in the Big House when its packed with 110,000 and while its not as loud as Death Valley and Texas A&M's stadiums it has to be so intimidating playing when you have so many fucking people in the stadium and a good 80,000 are booing you. The only thing I would say about Michigan Stadium is that the non student fans are quiet sometimes. I can't wait for next year at the Horseshoe in Columbus.

[teke184 0]

I'm not sure that Neyland has that mystique around it unless you're a Florida fan, but most of the SEC have huge stadiums and rabid fans.

 

Personally, I'd put Death Valley as #1 and The Swamp in the top 5, but I'm biased.

[Guest Jimbo]

This is the coolest feature I've seen added to a game in a long, long time, kudos to EA. I hope they add this to their college bball game in some fashion as well. This rules.

[Guest Flyboy]

The developers at EA Tiburon have ranked the top 25 toughest places to play in college football with Tennessee at the top at the time of this writing.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Eh, I've been in Kyle Field during regular games and it's crazy. I've been a good 2 miles away at a friend's apartment during A&M/Texas games and still heard the cheers and the chants. Tremendous atmosphere. Of course, I don't know how it is at Tennessee, the Horseshoe, The Swamp, or anywhere else but Kyle Field is tough to beat.

[Ced 0]

So now I have to deal with team momentum and player composure? God bless EA for adding the psychological element of football.

[Agent_Bond34 0]

Might just have to add this game to my list of games to pre-order this year.

[Guest Flyboy]

Might just have to add this game to my list of games to pre-order this year.

I pre-ordered when I traded in my copy of ESPN NBA Basketball last month.

[phoenixrising 0]

Time to go use my birthday gift - a pre-paid gift card. Or if it comes out to more, trade in a couple of games and get a gift certificate.

 

Cannot wait now. And I'm glad that they're developing NCAA as it's own game rather than a Madden clone. It will be quite a challenge to take a team into Neyland or the Horseshoe and win.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

this is cool since I don't use audibles anyway, so it will just help me pound the crap outta my friends. MUHAHA

 

but as for the college game being noticably different from Madden, well I'll belive it when I see it. It would certainly be the first time, put it that way.

[Guest Flyboy]

And I'm glad that they're developing NCAA as it's own game rather than a Madden clone.

NCAA and Madden have been different games ever since '03. I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Agent_Bond34 0]

Might just have to add this game to my list of games to pre-order this year.

I pre-ordered when I traded in my copy of ESPN NBA Basketball last month.

How much did you get for ESPN NBA Basketball?

 

I'm gonna pre-order mine when I get some more money.

[MrRant 0]

I think it's supposed to be 49.99 and 5 bucks to reserve at GameStop.

[Guest Flyboy]

Might just have to add this game to my list of games to pre-order this year.

I pre-ordered when I traded in my copy of ESPN NBA Basketball last month.

How much did you get for ESPN NBA Basketball?

$18. I plan to just pay out the rest when 2005 is released.

[yankovic fan 0]

I wonder if they are going to expand on the I-AA teams this year.

 

I-AA people are always hyping the SLC and yet it gets passed over for the Ivy and SWAC that hardly ever has serious contenders.

 

Heck, the top 2 SWAC teams don't even participate in the playoff format and instead have their own little bowl game.

 

And considering the SLC teams traditionally beat the crap out of the SWAC.

 

 

And with the addition to Flordia Atlantic to the Sun Belt conference, I wonder what that's going to do for other things.

[Damaramu 0]

Awesome.........the Vols is #1? I thought the Big House was the hardest place to win a football game.

That's bullshit. The most distracting thing about Neyand is all the fucking orange. I've been in the Big House when its packed with 110,000 and while its not as loud as Death Valley and Texas A&M's stadiums it has to be so intimidating playing when you have so many fucking people in the stadium and a good 80,000 are booing you. The only thing I would say about Michigan Stadium is that the non student fans are quiet sometimes. I can't wait for next year at the Horseshoe in Columbus.

Agreed.

Jeez fucking Texas A&M. I hate that school more than any other schoo. It is the only school in the Big XII that I refuse to root for. I will root for every other Big XII school if they aren't playing OU. But I refuse to root for A&M under any circumstances.

There f'n stadium sways! That's right it moves. The bleachers move. I've never gotten how it's still standing.

 

And the worst thing is that we have to play them in Rugby at there home pitch the day before OU plays them in football. And we're all going to the game after that......and it's going to be wild. I've known there fans to be loud but I sure hope they aren't violent like Philly fans.......

[Agent_Bond34 0]

I think it's supposed to be 49.99 and 5 bucks to reserve at GameStop.

It's like that everywhere.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

I'm sorry Dam but the fact that you actively root against A&M and not UT means:

 

-20 overness points

[Damaramu 0]

I'm sorry Dam but the fact that you actively root against A&M and not UT means:

 

-20 overness points

A&M sucks.

I don't have to root against UT because they'll screw it up somehow. They always do.

[MrRant 0]

Back on topic....

 

 

I wonder if say you take Washington (which is pretty loud when they are at capacity) and you are highly ranked if you can move up the list.

[yankovic fan 0]

I'm sorry Dam but the fact that you actively root against A&M and not UT means:

 

-20 overness points

A&M sucks.

I don't have to root against UT because they'll screw it up somehow. They always do.

Eh, any team that gives up 77 points deserves a good booing.

 

 

Heck people get on me for not rooting for LSU since I'm living in the state, but I see no reason to root for a school that did not give me my degree, nor give anyone in my family their degree.

 

 

 

So now the little sister is looking at LSU for a degree in psych.

 

 

I forsee a house decorated in purple and gold in my future.

[Damaramu 0]

I'm sorry Dam but the fact that you actively root against A&M and not UT means:

 

-20 overness points

A&M sucks.

I don't have to root against UT because they'll screw it up somehow. They always do.

Eh, any team that gives up 77 points deserves a good booing.

 

 

Heck people get on me for not rooting for LSU since I'm living in the state, but I see no reason to root for a school that did not give me my degree, nor give anyone in my family their degree.

 

 

 

So now the little sister is looking at LSU for a degree in psych.

 

 

I forsee a house decorated in purple and gold in my future.

Did you go to LSU?

Because if you did you kind of have to earn that degree.....they don't hand them out.

[Sandman9000 0]

Unless your an athlete destined for stardom.

 

 

Or Bill Cosby.

[yankovic fan 0]

I'm sorry Dam but the fact that you actively root against A&M and not UT means:

 

-20 overness points

A&M sucks.

I don't have to root against UT because they'll screw it up somehow. They always do.

Eh, any team that gives up 77 points deserves a good booing.

 

 

Heck people get on me for not rooting for LSU since I'm living in the state, but I see no reason to root for a school that did not give me my degree, nor give anyone in my family their degree.

 

 

 

So now the little sister is looking at LSU for a degree in psych.

 

 

I forsee a house decorated in purple and gold in my future.

Did you go to LSU?

Because if you did you kind of have to earn that degree.....they don't hand them out.

No I didn't go to LSU.

 

I could have, but I went to Nicholls State in Thibodaux, LA (I-AA).

 

 

Folks refused to pay for a dorm/apartment even though I would have had 4 years tuition covered.

 

Yet, they'll shell out for the younger sibiling.

 

 

 

Damn the man.

 

 

 

Yeah, I know LSU just doesn't hand out degrees, but who does? A lot of times, from talks to people online from smaller universities, professors are more bitter and make things more difficult just to show they are on par with the bigger schools.