Utopia: Online Dynasties Interview with Ben Haumiller

[cdj]

At the NCAA 09 Premiere Event on April 24, ncaaStrategies.com was able to interview Producer Ben Haumiller. In the ten-minute interview, the primary focus is the addition of Online Dynasties, but we also touch on the new Stadium Sounds feature, how defenses are affected by the new Wide-Open Gameplay, and changes to recruiting in Dynasty Mode.

The interview is available as a special edition of the Utopia Podcast.

Special Podcast - Audio interview with Ben Haumiller, producer of NCAA Football 09 (recorded on April 24). Focuses on Online Dynasty and also covers Stadium Sounds, changes to recruiting, how the 360/PS3 versions stack up, and more. (Runtime: 10:48) Haumiller Interview (right-click and select Save As)

[cdj]

After the audio interview was recorded, Ben was kind enough to answer several follow-up questions via e-mail:

Utopia: Can the 'commish' of an Online Dynasty set a particular set of sliders for that Dynasty? (This seems to be the major question.)

Haumiller: Yes, the commish determines the settings and sliders for the dynasty. When accepting an invite the user’s can see what the commish has set them to, but will not have the ability to edit the settings themselves. The commish can edit the settings/sliders during the dynasty as well, but the changes will not go into effect until the following week, this way the commish cannot force everyone to play on Heisman and then quickly change the settings so they can play their game on Freshman. All users will be using the same exact settings for the same week.

Utopia: Can custom rosters be used as part of the Online Dynasty?

Haumiller: Whatever roster the commish has loaded when the Online Dynasty is originally created is what will be used for the dynasty. Everyone will be using the same exact roster file and that file will be contained inside of the dynasty file.

Utopia: Can commishes change owners in the dynasty on a particular team from CPU to owner, owner to CPU, owner to different owner at any time?

Haumiller: Yes, the commish has full control of which teams are user controlled and has the authority to change which team a user controls as well as adding/deleting users at any time during the dynasty. If a user’s team has been changed they will be alerted to that the next time they log into the dynasty so that there is no surprise if they all of the sudden go from controlling USC to controlling North Texas.

[Deuce]

You know...I did a lot of whining about CAS/FCS not being included in 09 but EA deserves some credit for online dynasties. That's what everyone was screaming for last year and EA delivered. I think they gave us exactly what we wanted and then some. I don't play online but I can appreciate what they did. Hopefully they'll be as thorough next year if/when they add CAS/FCS!!!.

[keyser soze]

you have no idea how long I have been wanting this. I would have loved this back in 2004! I am super pumped to get my game on with my buddies that live across the country. In the past we always had to save the dynasty, download it to the computer and then e-mail it back and forth. That was a total pain in the butt plus it didn't allow us to play eachother in the dynasty. This is going to be unbelievably awesome IF THE GAMEPLAY doesn't suck too much.

[texacotea]

From reading all the things about online dynasty I think EA has something good going here. They sound like they have put alot of things into account as far as sorry owners, sliders, and recruiting. If it plays out as well as it sounds this will be a good thing

[Dave.Wales]

Aha, you were talking to Ben a long time that night Chris. I was like, "Jesus, they're still going." Ben's an awesome guy, you could really tell he cares about this product.

[JBHuskers]

This is going to be money.

[Deuce]

Ben mentions you can only use MP3 format...when you copy a cd to your 360 HDD is it in MP3 format?

[Golden Bear]

I've got a Wii, so will the online dynasty be available? We have the WiFi, but will it support the online capabilities? I don't think that it can cross over platforms, but it would be sweet! Can the music also be added on the Wii? There are USB ports on the Wii (Picture Channel) which can support MP3s, so will it work? Sorry for the questions, but no one is talking or posting info for the Wii! I just want more specifics on what's in the Wii version, and what's not. It's my first NCAA Football since 2005 version, and I need a new one! Also want to hear Cal's fight song. If the music is supported, I'll just use my Cal music instead!

[illinifan91]

wowo so they left out some features, but it really seems like they did this one correctly, so im excited about this.

[cdj]

Originally Posted by Golden Bear

I've got a Wii, so will the online dynasty be available? We have the WiFi, but will it support the online capabilities? I don't think that it can cross over platforms, but it would be sweet! Can the music also be added on the Wii? There are USB ports on the Wii (Picture Channel) which can support MP3s, so will it work? Sorry for the questions, but no one is talking or posting info for the Wii! I just want more specifics on what's in the Wii version, and what's not. It's my first NCAA Football since 2005 version, and I need a new one! Also want to hear Cal's fight song. If the music is supported, I'll just use my Cal music instead!

I'm guessing the Wii version will be more like the PS2 version than the PS3/360 version. If it had online dynasties or customizable music, I think they'd have mentioned that by now.

[TheFlame]

Originally Posted by cdj

I'm guessing the Wii version will be more like the PS2 version than the PS3/360 version.

That's what I've been saying.....

[sl8b]

I don't think I have any questions about this years NG game. CDJ, awesome job with everything man. Just another reason why this is the best NCAA fansite out there.

[Golden Bear]

I understand what you're saying about the Wii version, but it can support better graphics that are a little better than PS2, it does have the ability to have music added (USB ports), there is an online feature in most sports games (Nintendo WiFi, though it has been for their more cartoonish games) and there has been nothing to confirm it is like the PS2 game. No one's said anything except "Family Plan: its great!" or "Family Plan: it's new!" I want to hear something in general about the Wii version.
Please!

[Trendkilla]

Does anyone know what happens if someone disconnects during a game? Also I read the part where if someone quits then that team will then be controlled by the cpu. Was wondering if that happens then if someone else could join the league in the middle of the dynasty being played and would they have to play with that team or would they be able to pick another team.

[Mr. Option]

Originally Posted by Trendkilla

Does anyone know what happens if someone disconnects during a game? Also I read the part where if someone quits then that team will then be controlled by the cpu. Was wondering if that happens then if someone else could join the league in the middle of the dynasty being played and would they have to play with that team or would they be able to pick another team.

The Commisioner has totally control of all the teams.

If someone drops out and the Commisioner has someone ready to step in than he can invite them and give them a team.

Also, if someone in the league wants to go to a team that just had an owner drop (ex. Miami (Fl), to South Florida) the Commisioner can change that owners team.

But, the changes only occur once the week is over.

[cdj]

Some more info:

- Using more than 12 players. This won't be possible because of the way dynasty is set up. Once you remove a player from the dynasty, it cancels the result of their game that week. This was done in order to be able to replace a delinquent owner and not force a new owner to be stuck with the old owner's stats in the most recent week. Adding more users to dynasty is obviously something that will be considered for the future.

- Canceling results. This is something you should be able to do. The way this works, the commissioner is able to cancel the result during the week before the week is finished. The commissioner decides when it's time to move on to the next week, so they can wipe out any results they'd need to. You can't technically force a win or loss, but you could sim a game and keep cancelling the result until you got what you wanted.

[ODogg]

That is great news cdj, thanks!