Search articles from thousands of Examiners
Write for us
Newark Games and Hobbies Games Examiner
Games Examiner

NCAA Football 10 Features

February 23, 12:16 PMGames ExaminerDaniel Nations
21 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe


Get alerts when there is a new article from the Games Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.
Email Address


  Include other special offers from Examiner.com
Terms of Use

NCAA Football 2010 Features: Expect a bit more attention to detail in the NCAA Football 10 engine

Like Madden, the NCAA Football 10 features will be leaked week by week rather than having a big huge lump of information thrown at us as we get closer to the release date. Right now, there's not quite as much information about NCAA Football 2010 as there is about Madden, but new features will be added to this list as they become available.

Last year's version focused on wide-open gameplay, which translated to really dumb defense in the actual implementation. While nothing has been announced, let's hope one of the NCAA Football 10 features will be boosting the intelligence of the defense and making it so that they actually cover the receivers. Maybe a return of the '08 defense?

NCAA Football 10 Features

Here are the NCAA Football 10 features that have been announced:

Procedural Awareness. This really boils down to the ability for players to dynamically turn their head, and it means the engine can take into account what the player is looking at and how long it might take for them to, say, turn around and actually find the ball rather than doing one of those super interceptions. This will be used for receivers as well as defensive backs, and it will even be used by ball carriers to track potential threats like 260 lb linebackers bearing down on them.

Coach Mode. Okay, this isn't an official coach mode, but the team has put in the ability to turn on an "auto pass" feature that will let the CPU control the quarterback so long as you don't do anything after hiking the ball. Yeah, I know, it'd be much better if they went the extra 2 yards and made a coach mode that restricts the controlling of players, but this does open the door for those that like the sim aspects more.

Adaptive AI.  This is possibly one of the neatest of the NCAA Football 10 features.   Essentially, the computer can track how often you run certain plays or types of plays and react accordingly.  Throw a lot out in the flat?  They'll put a player in zone over there.  Run the QB a lot?  QB Spy defenses get a boost in priority.   Run the same play over and over?  The defense will get a boost to their play recognition.  This should help mix things up a bit.

Team Builder.  The return of Create-a-School will no doubt be one of the more popular NCAA Football 10 features.   Team Builder will come with pre-created logos and allow players to upload and share their own logos.

Season Showdown.  An interesting new way to play the game, Season Showdown lets you choose your favorite team and build points for them by winning online matches, single player modes and online web games.  This will be an interesting NCAA Football 10 feature to watch develop.  

QB Improvements.   One improvement to the animation engine is called 'layered blending' and allows two different animations to play out on different parts of the body at the same time.  This means that when a QB is being hit right as he's about to throw, rather than just take the sack, he'll sometimes try to get the pass off -- which could result in a great play or a flutter ball and possible interception.  

Game Planning.  Taking a tip from the original NFL Head Coach game, this feature will let you adjust how your players play in order to maximize the chance of a big play.  Of course, it has its risks.  Tell your corners to go into press coverage and try to get a pick and you might end up giving up a long bomb.   This has to be one of the coolest NCAA Football 10 features.  

Strategic Playcalling.  This might be the best of the new NCAA Football features. An emphasis is being put on being able to set up the opponent by running similar-looking plays fromt eh same formation.   So, if you run that dive play from the I formation a few times, you'll have a better shot at burning them deep with the play-action pass from the same formation.

Road to Glory mode.  The Legends mode has been renamed to Road to Glory and features Erin Andrews as a reporter covering your athlete's college career.  These new features take the form of actual highlights being shown in virtual news shows about how well you are doing in the game.

Expanded Stat Range?. Madden has announced a change to player abilities where things like route running would go from a range of 62-99 to an expanded range of 35-99. This means there's a bigger difference between great players, good players, and not-so-good players. It also makes player fatigue and depth charts play a more important role. No announcement yet on whether this will be a NCAA Football 10 feature, but considering that they do like to keep the products together on many of the added features, I wouldn't be surprised if we hear something about this in the future.

 

NCAA Football 10 Features - Minor Tweaks

  • Improved Super Sim.  The Super Sim will now happen on the field so you get the feeling of still being in the game. You can also skip a play while in Legend Mode, so if you are WR and the play called is a run up the middle, you can skip it rather than waste time blocking.

More NCAA Football 10 and Madden 10 Info:

Madden 10 Features
NCAA Football 09 Recruiting Tips
NCAA Football 09 Passing Tips

NCAA Football 10 Features - Screenshots
The early screenshots of NCAA Football 10 look pretty good.
More About: Sports Games

Comments

Name:


Comments:
characters left

NOTE: Do Not Alter These Fields:

Recent Articles

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Companions are one of the neatest things about Dragon Age. Not only will they lend you their fighting prowess in battles, but they'll add to the …
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Each NPC companion in Dragon Age has an approval rating that will change throughout the course of the game based on the decisions you make. For …

Things to see and do

Michal Barkai: As Autumn Leaves II
10 Nov 2009 - 10 am
Springfield Free Public Library
More art »