Found something Interesting in NCAA 08 Files

[Austinmario13]

Take a look:

[Harry97]

Very interesting. I extracted PDAD.csv from NCAA 06's TEMPLATE.DAT.File00008 to compare it to the NCAA 08 PDAD.csv you posted and noted some differences between them.

Firstly, the NCAA 06 PDAD.csv only has up to PDID 45. So PDIDs 46-52 which are in NCAA 08's PDAD.csv are not in NCAA 06's PDAD.csv. That makes sense given that PDIDs 46-52 involve Auto (pre-snap) Motion which was a feature added after NCAA 06.

Here are the differences I found in values between NCAA 06 and NCAA 08's PDAD.csv.

PDID 2 Chase Ball in NCAA 06 PDP1=0 & PDPC=0 / in NCAA 08 PDP1=41 & PDPC=1

PDID 11 Pitch Ball in NCAA 06 PDV3=100 / in NCAA 08 PDV3=0

PDID 15 Run Block in NCAA 06 PDP2=0 & PDPC=1 / in NCAA 08 PDP2=45 & PDPC=2

PDID 29 FG Spot in NCAA 06 PDP2=0 & PDPC=1 / in NCAA 08 PDP2=39 & PDPC=2

PDID 37 Option Follow in NCAA 06 PDP3=0 & PDPC=2 / in NCAA 08 PDP3=37 & PDPC=3

PDID 41 Pass Rush Gap in NCAA 06 PDP2=0 & PDPC=1 / in NCAA 08 PDP2=38 & PDPC=2

PDID 44 Handoff Fake in NCAA 06 PDP1=6 / in NCAA 08 PDP1=40

Besides these, everything else is the same between NCAA 06's values and NCAA 08's values.

I suspect that the PDID 29 FG Spot PDP2 value going from 0 in NCAA 06 to 39 in NCAA 08 has to do with the delay in spotting the ball before the kicker kicks it. Because in NCAA 07 and 08 they implemented Right analog stick kicking and in those games, it's much easier to block Field Goals due to the longer delay before the kicker kicks it. Perhaps that delay in the spotting of the ball on FGs in NCAA 07 and NCAA 08 works with the right analog stick kicking mechanic in which the motion is completed after the ball is hiked. Whereas in NCAA 06, the 3-button kicking system is completed before the ball is kicked.

This makes me wonder if I were to increase the PDP2 for FG Spot in NCAA 06's PDAD.csv if that will make it easier to block FGs, because as it stands it's pretty much impossible to block a FG in NCAA 06 due to how quickly he kicks it. It's easier to block FGs in NCAA 08 due to the increased delay.

I also wonder if we can implement a similar delay on Punts to make blocking punts possible. In NCAA 06 it's pretty much impossible to block either FGs or punts due to how quickly the ball is spotted and kicked, and for punts how quickly he punts it after catching the snap, so being able to implement a delay to FGs and Punts would allow us to block kicks which would be fantastic.

This is definitely something I want to try, editing some of these values in NCAA 06's PDAD.csv, importing them back into the .DAT, then rebuilding the NCAA 06 disc and seeing if that works and has an effect on the ability to block FGs and punts.

For Pitch Ball, it appears that there's different kind of pitches we can set as default when we press R2. (in open field I'm guessing) The default seems to be 6 (PDP1) which is QBUnderHandLong. What would happen if we switch that to 8 (QBOverHandQuick) or 9 (QBOverHandLong)??

The last 3 options listed in the description for Pitch Ball in NCAA 08's PDAD.csv (10=SpotterOvershoulder 11=SpotterFlip 12=HookAndLateral) are not listed in NCAA 06's PDAD.csv.

Here are the options for Pitch Ball in NCAA 06 :
0=QBUnderHandQuick, 1=QBUnderHandFakeQuick, 3=Option, 4=OptionFake, 6=QBUnderHandLong, 7=QBUnderHandFakeLong, 8=QBOverHandQuick, 9=QBOverHandLong

in NCAA 08 :
0=QBUnderHand 1=QBUnderHandFake 3=QBOption 4=QBOptionFake 6=QBUnderhandLong 7=QBUnderhandFakeLong 8=QBOverhandQuick 9=QBOverhandLong 10=SpotterOvershoulder 11=SpotterFlip 12=HookAndLateral

Fascinating. Will need to test all this. It would be fantastic if we can change the default type of pitch when pressing R2 to make laterals faster and more effective.