Features For A New College Football Game

These are features I have thought of to make a new college football game more realistic and immersive. All of these ideas revolve around Dynasty Mode. All of these were written and thought of before the College Football 25 trailer release.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: With Player Stories, Player Attributes, Coaching Attributes, and Player/Team Morale, users should have the ability to turn it on or off based on their own personal preferences. They are there to add realism to the game, but for those who want something simple they can be removed.

Player Stories: 

Choosing at least 5 players to profile with a story (from dad is a former NFL player to local kid playing for his home-school to player made a connection with a sick individual they met at a charity function to player has personal issues get in the way of playing and drops out). The stories can give them the ability to increase certain ratings faster and the stories would appear during gameplay and on “Gameday.”

Player Attributes: 

There are 8 player attributes a player can receive. They have an initial percentage chance of receiving it. After their first year performance, the chance is raised or lowered by a certain percentage (+/- 30). During the offseason in between their first and second playing year the player will either receive or not receive the attribute (it is all based around percentage chance). The attribute would not give them superpowers but would just give them the ability to increase their skill sets in certain categories at a faster rate.

Proposed Attributes are:

• “Unstrung Attribute” - All players in the top 500 have a Freeze/Subtraction chance when playing for a school with a prestige rating of 4-6. This would be anywhere from a 0-40% chance. The attribute should be determined when first generating recruits. Those who get the freeze would be labeled with the attribute.

• “Underdog Attribute” - All 1-3 star players have a certain percentage chance of receiving bonus training results from season to season and would be labeled with the attribute so by senior year they will be just as good as their 4 or 5 star counterparts.

• “Bodybuilder” - affected by (broken tackles, block shedding, tackles, pancakes, sacks allowed, etc.)

• Affects Strength ratings

• “Speed Demon” - affected by (YAC, YPC, sacks, PBUs, pancakes, etc.)

• Affects Speed ratings

• “Film Buff” - affected by (catches, YPC, sacks, PBUs, pancakes, completion percentage, etc.)

• Affects Awareness ratings

• “Handy-man” - affected by (catches, fumbles, sacks, PBUs, INTs, holding penalties, comp %, etc.)

• Affects Hand-based ratings

• “Slip N Slide” - affected by (broken tackles, block shedding, sacks, YAC, YPC, etc.)

• Affects Movement ratings

• “Superstar” - affected by (overall position performance - rec yards, pass yards, rush yards, sacks, INTs, tackles, etc. - hard to achieve top 30 Freshman (across all of college football))

• Affects all Ratings

Each rating in the game would fall into those 5 categories with some being influenced by 2 or 3 at the same time. Examples would include: play recognition (awareness), hit power (strength), carrying (hands), acceleration (speed), spin move (movement), catch in traffic (hands and strength), block shedding (strength, movement, and hands), throw power (strength and hands).

Coaching Attributes:

Each coach would fit one of five personalities: “Fiery/Intense” “Quiet Genius/Quirky” “Charismatic/Funny” “Calm/Loyal” “Diplomatic/Emotional.” When recruiting, recruits will have a rating based on how well they gel with a personality type (A, B+, B-, C, D). Adding elements such as pre-game speeches, halftime speeches, halftime TV interviews, post-game speeches, post-game interviews, would incorporate different responses based on their personality choice. Users select “Positive Response,” “Neutral Response” or “Negative Response.” and the algorithm will select a random response labeled in those categories for that specific question and that specific personality.

Each coach would also have an origin story and the ability to earn an attribute giving them an ability to use in gameplay. Their ability to earn the attribute coincides with them reaching a gameplay goal.

Proposed Attributes are:

• Coach’s Son - Tactician → “Lifeline” (much like the old Ask Corso/Ask Madden). It will bring up three plays that, based on the defense/offense of the opponent, should work. It can be used on every 3rd and 4th down.

• Boosts in team awareness/hands/superstar; players with this coach have a 10% higher chance of achieving attributes of Film Buff, Handy-man, Superstar

• HS/College Football Player - Soldier → “Personal Trainer”. Choose any 2 players from each year (2 Freshman, 2 Sophomore, 2 Junior) to increase their overall rating by double the rate it would have increased without your help (a +5 turns into a +10 or a +3 turns into a +6)

• Boosts in team speed/strength/movement; players with this coach have a 10% higher chance of achieving attributes of Speed Demon, Bodybuilder, and Slip n Slide

• Retired NFL Player - Politician → “Frequent Flier”. Choose between two options “Become friends with a recruit’s football dad” or Fully Scout any 10 players without using scout points. Become friends with a recruit’s football dad ensures the recruit puts your school #1 on his initial list (you can still lose their support - it is no guarantee of signing the player).

• Boosts in recruiting; earn an extra two hours of recruiting and scouting per week

• Teacher/Youth Coach - Royal → “Thermometer”. Inside Menu-Strategy an option will be included to check in-game morale of each player on your team and their team. Giving you the opportunity to talk to a player with low morale or exploit a player on the other team. It will also highlight what type of pep talk action will elicit a strong positive response in your player.

• Boosts in team morale and pipeline recruiting; player morale increases by 5 before every road game and 10 before every home game and you earn bonus recruiting points for in-state and in-pipeline recruits.

Depending on the origin they choose the other the attributes will decrease. Decreases would be:

• The chance of a player getting Film Buff, Handy-man, or Superstar decrease by 20%

• The chance of a player getting Bodybuilder, Speed Demon, or Slip N Slide decreases by 20%.

• The time allowed in recruiting per week and scouting per week decreases by 10%

• The starting team morale goes from 50% to 30%. Practice Reps only increase by 3% but decrease by 7%.

After year one, the coach’s performance markers will be evaluated. If they hit a certain mark, they will earn the attribute and the decrease is removed. If they fail to hit a certain mark, the decrease remains.

Player/Team Morale:

Player Morale will affect your player/team’s performance in the game. This will be shown by having wide receivers run the wrong route on third down, running backs fumble the exchange, a QB fumble the snap, O-Line to completely miss a block. Zone defenders playing out of position, man-to-man defenders marking the wrong man, D-Line running into each other, etc.

The chances of the above happening start at a really small number like 1%.

• If a player's morale is between 41-59%, it remains at 1%.

• If a player's morale is between 60-100%, it goes to 0%.

• If a player’s morale is in the 30s, it doubles to 2%

• If a player’s morale is in the 20s, it doubles to 4%

• If a player’s morale is in the 10s, it doubles to 8%

• If a player’s morale is below 10, it doubles to 16%

Team Morale is 70% measured by the average morale levels of the 24 starters (11 offense, 11 defense, punter, kicker). 20% measured by the average morale levels of the HC, OC, and DC. And 10% measured by the average morale levels of the bench players. If a player gets hurt, the bench player turns into the starter for measurement purposes. If the team morale is less than 25, then regardless of the player’s morale, every player has a chance of at least 5% of making a mistake. If the team morale is less than 10, then regardless of the player’s morale, every player has at least a 12% chance of making a mistake. If the team morale is greater than 85, then regardless of the player’s morale, every player will have a 0% chance of making a mistake.

Special Note for QB Morale: If QB morale drops below 20, route preview will no longer work for the user and the QB will not be able to audible a play or route.

Player Morale will rise and drop throughout the season carrying over from one game to the next and from one season to the next. In Game Player Morale will show itself through route preview. A player with a green name is 60% or higher. A player with a yellow name is 41-59. A player with a red name is below 40%. Colored names will also appear on the depth chart. Exact numbers of morale are only shown to those with the “Thermometer” attribute.

Various Factors that Will Rise or Drop Player Morale:

• Home Crowds: Players playing a home game in a stadium ranked in the top 50 toughest places to play will get a 10% morale boost. Top 25 will get a 20% morale boost. Top 10 will get a 25% morale boost. Top 5 will get a 30% morale boost.

• On Field Performance: If a QB throws an interception, his morale will go down. If a DE gets a sack, his morale will go up. 

• Morale will update after each series, not each play (although it can be each play - it would just be more code). 

• End Result of Drives: An offensive three-and-out will negatively affect the morale of the defensive players. A pick 6 by the defense will positively affect the morale of the team’s offensive players.

• Year of School: If the team they are playing are in the top 5 or the stadium is ranked in the top 5 hardest places to play, Freshman morale drops 45%, Sophomores 30%, Juniors 20%, Seniors 10%. If the team is in the top 25 or the stadium is ranked in the top 25 hardest places to play, Freshman morale drops 30%, Sophomores 20%, Juniors 10%, Seniors 0%. If the team and stadium is outside the top 25, Freshman drop 15%, Sophomores 10%, Juniors 0%, Seniors 0%.

• Pre-Game Practice: Before the game, users select a unit to play as (offense, defense, special teams). They will be given 5 reps. Depending on their success in those reps the players of that unit will have their morale rise or drop. Successful reps rise the player’s morale 5%, unsuccessful reps lower the player’s morale 5%.

• Game Results: At the end of the game, if a team wins a home game all the players and coaches morale will increase by 10, if the team wins a home conference game it will increase by 15, if the team wins a home top 25 game, it will increase by 20, if the team wins a home top 10 game, it will increase by 25, if the team wins a road game it will increase by 15, if the team wins a road conference game it will increase by 20, if the team wins a road top 25 game it will increase by 30, if the team wins a road top 10 game, it will increase by 40.

• Player/Unit In-Game Speeches: During gameplay there will be an option to “Talk to Unit or Talk to Player.” You can use this button up to 5 times or choose to never use it. When talking, you will be given four options “Motivate” “Threaten” “Strategize” “Calm.” Game Designer’s choice whether to include dialogue or just non-verbal movements (calm sitting next to player, motivate clapping next to player, strategize showing player tablet, threaten yelling at player). Each player on the team will be coded to respond to each method differently. 1 will yield a strong positive response, 1 will yield a slight positive response, 1 will yield no response, 1 will yield a negative response. When addressing a whole unit, players will go up and down based on their personal preference.

• Getting Benched/Earning a Starting Position: Players who are benched have their morale decrease, players who earn a starting position have their morale increase.

• Playing Time: Players who go the whole game without playing (when healthy) will have their morale drop.

• Individual Recognitions: Players’ morale will get a major boost for any individual recognitions such as postgame game balls, POTW awards, being a National Award Semifinalist, etc.

• Post-Game Meetings: Works the same as in-game speeches only users choose 10 players.

• News/Radio Stories: If a player is profiled in a positive light their morale will increase by 25, if the player is profiled in a negative light their morale will decrease by 25.

• Poll Rankings/Conference Rankings: If a team moves up in the rankings, player morale will increase, if they fall in the rankings, player morale will decrease. If they move up in their conference, player morale will increase, if they fall in their conference standings, player morale will decrease.

• Offseason Workout Success/Failures: If a player increases their overall by a certain amount, their morale will increase. If their overall does not increase, their morale will decrease.

• Attribute Acquisition: If a player earns an attribute after their Freshman year, their player morale will increase.

Player morale cannot go below 0 or above 100. If a player’s morale at the end of the season is less than 10%, there is a high chance of them requesting a transfer or otherwise quitting the team.

College Football Traditions

I think incorporating as many traditions as possible into the game would be great for pre-game festivities, teams entering the field traditions, end of the third quarter traditions, and post-game traditions. Whether it’s Clemson’s run down the hill, Virginia Tech’s whole stadium jumping as they come out, Tennessee’s T, Notre Dame’s Play like a Champion, Wisconsin’s third quarter jump, Georgia’s third quarter lights out, Navy, Army, and Air Force’s march-ons and flyovers, Florida State’s Osceola and Renegade, Iowa’s children’s hospital wave, Penn State’s white out, Purdue’s drum, Ohio State’s dotting of the I, Michigan’s sign jump, Miss State’s cowbells, etc. or a good old fashioned storming of the field when a major upset happens, gatorade baths for big wins, coach’s handshake, rivalry trophy presentation, bowl trophy presentations, etc. Something so small can go such a long way when it comes to creating an atmosphere for the gamer. Even if certain songs cannot get cleared for the game, having a song with the same feel to replace it would be awesome. 

Having a choice of how to experience these moments would be a really cool feature as well. If users had a choice to view it from the broadcast perspective or from the coach perspective. The coach perspective would be POV with the ability for the user to look side to side slightly. So the user can experience the adrenaline of being a part of the Penn State run-out as the coach or the quiet fear/nervousness of being in the road tunnel as Enter Sandman plays and the whole Virginia Tech crowd is jumping up and down. It would just be for the opening runout and for the post-game. In Road to Glory I think it should always be from the player’s perspective. They don’t get the broadcast elements.

Having College Gameday or Big Noon Saturday appear in the game. Have them live at the campus/stadium of the game of the week. Talk about the game of the week for one minute, talk about a story for two minutes and then make picks of the top 9 games (plus the user’s game or top 10 if the user’s game is a big game) with a celebrity picker. Make sure the “Game of the Week” takes into account rankings more than traditional powers. Either every school has a unique celebrity picker or each week of the season has a unique celebrity picker. When the user selects to play the game it should go to College Gameday/Big Noon Saturday. Users can skip or listen to talk of the game of the week, users can skip or listen to the profile story, then users can skip or listen to the Gameday/Big Noon Saturday picks. Once over, users will appear in the locker room where they give a pep talk to their team which they can also skip. Then the broadcast is shown with warmup footage and player entrances and then onto the pre-game interview and kickoff.

Having 3 radio stations when in the menu screen to listen to. One profiling the top 10, one profiling the user team’s conference, one profiling the user’s team. Even if it’s 3 minutes of a person talking about the previous game, the next game, a newly signed recruit, Heisman race, etc.

Realism

As cool as it would be to see an undefeated Navy playing an undefeated Central Michigan in the BCS National Championship Game, that would never happen. A 2-loss Power 4 team would easily be ahead of both of those schools in real life. With the 12 team playoff and the guarantee that one of those 12 teams is a non-power 4 school, there is an avenue for a person to win the National Championship with Umass or Texas State so making sure the algorithm has some realism with how they evaluate teams would be really nice. Also with schools like Air Force, Navy, and Army, none of them have ever signed a 4 or 5 star recruit due to the military obligations after graduation.

Other Miscellaneous Ideas

Other miscellaneous ideas to include in the game to give it some personality.

• Having 3 different announcer crews. One for National Games, One for Regional Games, and one for non-televised games. Fowler and Herbstreit would not be announcing a game between 1-9 Ball State and 0-9 Akron. It will allow the gamer to feel accomplished for playing in a big game by getting the big announcers.

• I love how recruiting was in NCAA Football 13, straying away from that would be a mistake

• I love how the gameplay felt in NCAA Football versus Madden. Highly recommend keeping that gameplay feel.

• I love the coaching carousel, straying away from that would be a mistake

• I love the coaching contracts, straying away from that would be a mistake

• I love the college football updates and running scoreboard in NCAA Football 13, staying away from that would be a mistake.

• I love the toughest places to play rankings, team rankings (championship contender, conference, etc.) in recruiting, Coaches, AP, and CFP Rankings, etc.

• I think adding a transfer portal version of the coaching carousel where teams can recruit transfers after the season is over would be a really cool feature

• Adding NIL deals into the game. It can be a part of each school’s profile during recruiting

• Adding the ability to hire your own offensive and defensive coordinators when your coordinators are fired, leave for another job, or after you’re hired as a head coach. I would also love to have the ability to hire a “Trainer” and “Scout.” Trainers and Scouts would have different strengths and weaknesses. Trainers help with offseason improvements. The better the trainer, the more your players will improve in the offseason. The scout will tell you information about the teams you face. The better the scout the more information you will receive. Information would be “Best Players” “Who to Avoid” and “Who to Exploit.” The best scouts will have 5 names per category, the worst scouts will only have 1 name per category.

• I think adding walk-ons into the game would be really cool. They train with the team during the offseason and then they either get cut or not. They should have a little “W” symbol for being a walk-on. Certain big schools will have a higher chance of getting good walk-ons.

• Having offseason injuries. As frustrating as it is to have to deal with it, it would be part of the experience of being a coach. Offseason Injuries can be turned on or off by the user.

• Having a spring game with the recruits that you have signed and some of the non-star players on offense and defense.

• Having an option to watch the NFL Draft where you can sit in the Green Room with a player and their family or sit in the living room with a player and their family. Even if it only shows the first round/the first player of yours picked (if not in the first round it will skip to that pick and just show that pick). Watching the first round, you can skip ahead picks or skip ahead until one of your players is picked. The presentation would be much like the Madden presentation with a clock, people talking about the recruits, and the commissioner announcing the pick.

• Having neutral site games allowed with a select number of stadiums to choose from.

• Having fan bases factored in. Ohio State playing Navy in Baltimore led to a stadium that was about 70% Ohio State (for example). When the team you are playing travels well. A home game can turn into a “Road Game at Home” where all the attributes of a road game are added to your home game.

• Trash Talk before the game. Certain players with certain personalities may trash talk an opponent on social media or in an interview. Certain coaching personalities will allow them to trash talk the other team before the game in an interview. Trash talk will give both teams a morale boost. But the team on the receiving end of the trash talk will have a larger morale boost.

• Having FCS schools in the game with the ability to promote them to the FBS during the custom conferences portion without the need to replace them with a current FBS school. In custom conferences, allowing up to 20 teams per conference and giving the user the ability to disband a conference.

• The ability to start new rivalries with conference realignment and create a trophy and name for the rivalry. For instance UCF and Houston have started a rivalry in the Big 12 due to their connections to NASA.

• In a loss, being able to see the post-game on field interview of the winning coach.

• The ability to turn on and off CPU generated conference realignment. For instance if Memphis gets really good, maybe the Big 12 asks them to join the conference. Then another team like say James Madison gets asked to join the AAC to replace Memphis and so on.

• Either the ability to create a tradition at a school without one or a tradition getting created at the school if the stadium/team get to a certain point in the rankings of “Toughest Places to Play.”

• Having hidden achievements that get highlighted within the game. Consecutive games with 300 yards passing. Consecutive throws without an interception, home winning streaks, winning streak versus top 25, a school’s all-time record versus top 5 or #1, etc.

• Allowing users to pick whatever team they want to start with at the beginning of dynasty. If users just want to coach Alabama, they can do that. If they want to start as a coordinator at a small school and work their way up to a power 4 team, they can do that. Don’t force them into a storyline/path.