NCAA Football 14 Playbook 4: Dynasty

Dynasty mode in NCAA Football 14 offers several new features that should excite any would-be head coach. All-new Coach Skills allow you to focus on the traits you believe are most important for a coach both on and off the field, while Power Recruiting streamlines the process for scouting and signing players without sacrificing depth.

Furthermore, presentation enhancements tell the story of your Dynasty with more detail than ever before. Players can also once again export their NCAA Football 14 Draft Class into Madden NFL 25, allowing your players to continue their journey into the NFL.

Here’s a look at what makes this year’s Dynasty the best yet.

A GREAT TEAM STARTS WITH A GREAT COACH

College football coaches have to devise on-field strategy as well as recruit, star elite prospects to join the team.

This year introduces a new wrinkle in the form of Coach Skills, which allows coaches to excel in specific areas. There are 18 upgradeable, multi-level skills spread across two skill trees for head coaches, as well as separate skill trees for offensive and defensive coordinators. Altogether, there are 36 upgradeable skills.

Here’s an example: if you know which players you want and would like to sign them with minimal fuss, you can invest in Insta-Commit. This higher-level skill takes a while to unlock, but it’s a must-have for anyone who spends a substantial amount of time recruiting players. This skill provides a 5% chance of instant commitment when you offer a scholarship, and goes up to 10% and 20% over the next two levels. Insta-Commit allows coaches to spend more resources on those guys who are playing hard-to-get.

Conversely, if you’re more interested in on-field bonuses, you may want to upgrade a skill like Clutch, which helps your team out in close games. This is a high-level skill that isn’t available right away, but it’s worth strong consideration once it unlocks. At its first level, Clutch will let your team start off the fourth quarter HOT if the score is within 14 points. At the next level your team stays HOT throughout the entire quarter, and when maxed out your players get VERY HOT in the final two minutes (and overtime) if the score differential is within a touchdown. The HOT and VERY HOT descriptors are dynamic ratings adjustments, so you’ll see your team perform well above their normal skills as long as they’re in those states.

Coach Skills are also available for offensive and defensive coordinators, each of which gets nine upgradeable skills.. These skills will assist in certain areas on one side of the ball, such as improving blocking or enhancing zone or man coverage.

A LEAN, MEAN RECRUITING MACHINE

This year, NCAA Football 14 introduces Power Recruiting, which streamlines the process of scouting and recruiting players without sacrificing the depth fans have come to expect. Rather than using phone calls and pitches to try and sign players, Power Recruiting allows coaches to assign a set number of points to each recruit on a week-to-week basis. If you see a player you want, set your board so that you spend the maximum number of points available each week to win him over. Once you feel a commitment is imminent, move some of those points over to a different player who needs a bit of extra persuading. Power Recruiting makes it easy to efficiently adjust your focus and put the perfect amount of energy into signing the players your team needs most.

Dynamic Pitch Grades return this year, but with benefits measured in a slightly different way. Now you’ll be able to see which factors are most important to a given recruit, and you’ll be granted bonus points based on how your school measures up. Players enamored with your program are easier to reel in without having to expend precious resources.

Power Recruiting also plays a role in deciding when to offer scholarships or schedule campus visits, so there’s an added layer of strategy when planning your moves. Power Recruiting will be further detailed in another article devoted solely to the sweet science of snagging those highly-coveted players.

Offseason recruiting has been streamlined into one stage, which creates a quicker, more intense experience. This is your last chance to make a play for those undecided prospects, and your ultimate opportunity to go all-in on that player (or players) your team desperately needs. For more on Power Recruiting, be sure to check out the blog that lays out all the details.

TELLING YOUR STORY

In addition to all these new features, presentation upgrades will help make your league feel more alive.. Right from the outset, loading screens give info on stats and standings, and pregame commentary will sometimes center on your team’s position in the college football. Studio Updates with Rece Davis have returned, and have been tuned to be particularly relevant to your team. Are conference rivals squaring off at the same time as your game? Is a team close to you in the standings trailing late in the game? Hear all about it from Rece. Not only do the updates relate more directly to your team, but they’re also designed to appear during natural breaks in the action, such as after a kickoff or change of possession.

Neutral site games have been added to Dynasty mode this year, so all games for the 2013 season are scheduled at their correct location. Furthermore, you can set up neutral site contests of your own with Custom Schedules, and even put your team in one of the season-opening Kickoff games if you wish. You can also schedule both conference matchups and non-conference contests at neutral sites.

This year has been one of big changes for the NCAA Football franchise, and that goes double for Dynasty mode. Coach Skills and Power Recruiting put great new spins on this classic mode, all while making the experience faster and more intuitive. Whether you prefer to take over a powerhouse program and extend their dominance or build up a small school from scratch to national acclaim, Dynasty in NCAA Football 14 lets you build your team your way.

This is just a small glimpse of what you can expect in NCAA Football Dynasty Mode, and we’ll be diving into additional insight on the all-new Coach Skills feature.



NCAA Football will be available on Tuesday, July 9, for Xbox 360 and PS3, and fans can learn more at the NCAA Football website. Pre-order today to receive exclusive Conference Packs.

Fans can keep up to date by visiting the NCAA Football website, Facebook, and Twitter for exclusive assets and unique insights into all of this year’s new features. College football enthusiasts can also get involved in the conversation by tweeting with the hashtag #PLAYTRUE