Mcmasterlock
06-08-2007, 05:56 PM
Part 1
By Brian Ekberg, GameSpot
Posted Jun 8, 2007 12:04 am PT
EA Sports' NCAA Football series has been on a roll for the past few years, churning out a series of high-quality football games that, for fans of the college game, were just as important as Madden NFL is to the rest of the sports gaming world. Last year's game, NCAA Football 07, the debut of the series on the Xbox 360, was one of the best-received versions of the game. However, in our review of the game, we had this to say:
While the mode is just as compelling as always, we're hoping that future installments in the next-gen versions of the game feature an overhauled dynasty mode at some point...
Apparently, EA Sports was listening. Today we had a chance to see the dynasty mode in NCAA 08, and it's safe to say that there's a whole lot that's new and much of it is improved from previous versions of the game. Up until now, EA's been mum on dynasty mode, and it's easy to see why; in some respects, this will be a much different way of playing the game than what you've come to be used to.
According to game producers, the choice to start anew with dynasty mode with NCAA 07 for next-gen consoles was a conscious one. As producers put it to us, had they simply ported over the system used in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game, they might have been stuck with that same system for the entire life span of the consoles. Thus, change was in order and, though last year's dynasty mode wasn't a huge departure, you could see the mode heading in some new directions. The big jump, then, comes now.
When you boil it down to its essence, dynasty mode is all about persuasion, as in a college coach (played by you) persuading top high school talent to play for his school. In previous versions of NCAA, that persuasion came through in a limited system that let you call or visit players you were interested and hit them up with a limited number of pitches. Coupled with incomplete, and sometimes confusing, feedback from players and an esoteric points setup that had you doling out points each time you made a recruiting move, and you had a system that was in need of a makeover. While the central aspects of NCAA 08's dynasty mode remain the same--it's still up to you to do the convincing--you'll have much more control over your powers of persuasion.
When you first start a new dynasty, you're given the opportunity to create a prospect from scratch--perfect if you're looking to add in a player that the NCAA roster might have missed, or create a future superstar of your very own making. You can create multiple prospects, and once you're done, you move on to the next stage of recruiting, researching players for your team. As in years past, you'll have a team-needs chart that will show you exactly what positions you're strong at and where you are lacking depth. The database of available players is absolutely huge, with thousands of players to choose from. To help you sift through all these players, a handy search tool is available. Here you can search for players by a number of parameters including position, state, caliber (based on the five-star rating system), ideal height, ideal weight, ideal 40-yard-dash time, and commitment status. Commitment status will be more important the further you progress through your season; as a player gets down to the final handful of schools he's interested in, this parameter will give you a better idea of whether it's even worth pursuing him.
As an example, we chose Auburn as our dynasty school and had two immediate needs to fill--a fullback and an offensive lineman. In the parameter section, we chose to look for a four-star blocking fullback from any of our pipeline states, weighing at least 230 pounds and running a 4.5 40. Once you hit the search button, you can go to your results and see who meets some or all of your criteria. Depending on the granularity of your search, you might not meet all of your criteria but you can get pretty close. In our case, our search resulted in 14 prospects that met more than 50 percent of the attributes we were looking for. The list of players that meet your criteria will show you how closely (in percentage) each player comes to your "ideal"; in our case we had one player that matched 75 percent of what we were looking for. We immediately tossed him and two others on our prospect list. It should be noted that you are not required to use the search tool to find your prospects--you can flip through the huge database yourself, or consult the familiar US map in order to search by state (though only during the season for the latter option).
Pipeline states will still play a crucial role to your program's success.
Once you've got a list of players on your recruiting board, you can change their order of priority by moving them up and down the list. This is important because where a player falls on your recruiting board will change the options available to you when it comes to recruiting him. For example, you can't visit a player at his home, invite him to campus, or make play-time promises to him unless he's prioritized in your top five on the recruiting board.
With your recruiting board populated and your list prioritized, it's time to get down to the brass tacks of convincing players to wear your school colors. To do so, you're going to need to work what you know about your program's strengths with what you know about each player's needs. The first part of the equation is easy: By checking out the "my school" menu item in dynasty mode, you can see how your school rates along 12 distinct categories: academic prestige, campus lifestyle, coach experience, coach prestige, conference prestige, championship contender, athletic facilities, fan base, pro factory, program stability, program tradition, and television exposure. Ratings can go from "sub-par" on the low end to "elite" at the top. For example, Auburn ranks "elite" in conference prestige, "very good" in academic prestige, and "excellent" in everything else. When it comes to recruiting players, then, Auburn and other powerhouse schools like it will have a distinct advantage against smaller schools that may only excel in a handful of areas.
But, as we mentioned, a school's program is only half of the equation. There are still the desires of the specific player to consider. And here's where things get interesting (and just a little complicated). Unlike in the past, where you spent recruiting points to make contact with players, in NCAA 08, you'll be making phone calls each week, making contact with your prospects and pitching them on the various aspects of your program that you think they might be interested in. Each week you have ten allotted "hours" to talk to your various prospects and each phone call you make eats into that time. When you call a player, it's all about the pitch you use. The problem is, you don't really know the player yet, so you're still trying to feel out his needs. As you make pitches, you'll learn what aspects of game are important to him, and which he couldn't care less about.
By Brian Ekberg, GameSpot
Posted Jun 8, 2007 12:04 am PT
EA Sports' NCAA Football series has been on a roll for the past few years, churning out a series of high-quality football games that, for fans of the college game, were just as important as Madden NFL is to the rest of the sports gaming world. Last year's game, NCAA Football 07, the debut of the series on the Xbox 360, was one of the best-received versions of the game. However, in our review of the game, we had this to say:
While the mode is just as compelling as always, we're hoping that future installments in the next-gen versions of the game feature an overhauled dynasty mode at some point...
Apparently, EA Sports was listening. Today we had a chance to see the dynasty mode in NCAA 08, and it's safe to say that there's a whole lot that's new and much of it is improved from previous versions of the game. Up until now, EA's been mum on dynasty mode, and it's easy to see why; in some respects, this will be a much different way of playing the game than what you've come to be used to.
According to game producers, the choice to start anew with dynasty mode with NCAA 07 for next-gen consoles was a conscious one. As producers put it to us, had they simply ported over the system used in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game, they might have been stuck with that same system for the entire life span of the consoles. Thus, change was in order and, though last year's dynasty mode wasn't a huge departure, you could see the mode heading in some new directions. The big jump, then, comes now.
When you boil it down to its essence, dynasty mode is all about persuasion, as in a college coach (played by you) persuading top high school talent to play for his school. In previous versions of NCAA, that persuasion came through in a limited system that let you call or visit players you were interested and hit them up with a limited number of pitches. Coupled with incomplete, and sometimes confusing, feedback from players and an esoteric points setup that had you doling out points each time you made a recruiting move, and you had a system that was in need of a makeover. While the central aspects of NCAA 08's dynasty mode remain the same--it's still up to you to do the convincing--you'll have much more control over your powers of persuasion.
When you first start a new dynasty, you're given the opportunity to create a prospect from scratch--perfect if you're looking to add in a player that the NCAA roster might have missed, or create a future superstar of your very own making. You can create multiple prospects, and once you're done, you move on to the next stage of recruiting, researching players for your team. As in years past, you'll have a team-needs chart that will show you exactly what positions you're strong at and where you are lacking depth. The database of available players is absolutely huge, with thousands of players to choose from. To help you sift through all these players, a handy search tool is available. Here you can search for players by a number of parameters including position, state, caliber (based on the five-star rating system), ideal height, ideal weight, ideal 40-yard-dash time, and commitment status. Commitment status will be more important the further you progress through your season; as a player gets down to the final handful of schools he's interested in, this parameter will give you a better idea of whether it's even worth pursuing him.
As an example, we chose Auburn as our dynasty school and had two immediate needs to fill--a fullback and an offensive lineman. In the parameter section, we chose to look for a four-star blocking fullback from any of our pipeline states, weighing at least 230 pounds and running a 4.5 40. Once you hit the search button, you can go to your results and see who meets some or all of your criteria. Depending on the granularity of your search, you might not meet all of your criteria but you can get pretty close. In our case, our search resulted in 14 prospects that met more than 50 percent of the attributes we were looking for. The list of players that meet your criteria will show you how closely (in percentage) each player comes to your "ideal"; in our case we had one player that matched 75 percent of what we were looking for. We immediately tossed him and two others on our prospect list. It should be noted that you are not required to use the search tool to find your prospects--you can flip through the huge database yourself, or consult the familiar US map in order to search by state (though only during the season for the latter option).
Pipeline states will still play a crucial role to your program's success.
Once you've got a list of players on your recruiting board, you can change their order of priority by moving them up and down the list. This is important because where a player falls on your recruiting board will change the options available to you when it comes to recruiting him. For example, you can't visit a player at his home, invite him to campus, or make play-time promises to him unless he's prioritized in your top five on the recruiting board.
With your recruiting board populated and your list prioritized, it's time to get down to the brass tacks of convincing players to wear your school colors. To do so, you're going to need to work what you know about your program's strengths with what you know about each player's needs. The first part of the equation is easy: By checking out the "my school" menu item in dynasty mode, you can see how your school rates along 12 distinct categories: academic prestige, campus lifestyle, coach experience, coach prestige, conference prestige, championship contender, athletic facilities, fan base, pro factory, program stability, program tradition, and television exposure. Ratings can go from "sub-par" on the low end to "elite" at the top. For example, Auburn ranks "elite" in conference prestige, "very good" in academic prestige, and "excellent" in everything else. When it comes to recruiting players, then, Auburn and other powerhouse schools like it will have a distinct advantage against smaller schools that may only excel in a handful of areas.
But, as we mentioned, a school's program is only half of the equation. There are still the desires of the specific player to consider. And here's where things get interesting (and just a little complicated). Unlike in the past, where you spent recruiting points to make contact with players, in NCAA 08, you'll be making phone calls each week, making contact with your prospects and pitching them on the various aspects of your program that you think they might be interested in. Each week you have ten allotted "hours" to talk to your various prospects and each phone call you make eats into that time. When you call a player, it's all about the pitch you use. The problem is, you don't really know the player yet, so you're still trying to feel out his needs. As you make pitches, you'll learn what aspects of game are important to him, and which he couldn't care less about.