Welcome back to the Campus Huddle, your home for news and information about EA Sports College Football 25, straight from the developers! Before we hear from our developers, Ohio State’s own Kirk Herbstreit is back giving an inside look into the Sights and Sounds of #CFB25!
Christian Brandt here, Senior Game Designer, proud alumni of Penn State and College Football fanatic. As the Presentation Lead, I am here to take you through all the sights and sounds of College Football 25.
During our development, we came in every day with the reminder that “Every team is someone's favorite team”. This led us to focus on ensuring the presentation contained as much of the detail, sights, sounds and traditions of the 134 FBS Schools as possible in College Football 25. Below is a behind the scenes guide of how a team of college football fanatics came together and packed it all into the game!
Picture this, you are playing as Penn State getting ready to take on your opponent. This all starts with your team running out of the tunnel to Zombie Nation blasting and the whole stadium chanting “We Are Penn State”.
We recreated that feeling, sound, and visuals of pre-game as if you are down on the field with them. There is nothing like it and we wanted to make sure that you could experience the same feeling that these players have when you are walking out as your favorite team.
Gameday tradition is a key element of what separates Saturday from Sunday all around the country. Knowing this, we went to painstaking lengths to build out and capture the sights and sounds of College Football.
To nail down that authentic feeling of College Football, the school atmosphere is where it all begins. Walk out of the tunnel with 100,000 family and friends screaming for you, supporting you. We stay up close and personal with our camera style throughout the game. This is done so you can feel the excitement with our epic run outs for each team and feel like you are just as much a part of this team as the real players.
Motion capture was the key to ensuring the accuracy and detail of all the props from historical items to the brand new traditions of gameday. Every prop was built to its accurate size and weight then mocapped in a studio, allowing real people to interact with them. Simply using a stand-in object would not replicate authenticity.
We built a 2-story ramp to replicate “THE HILL” for the Clemson runout. We hired stunt actors to give us their best jumps in the “middle” of the hill and run down that ramp like they were getting ready to meet their rival for the biggest game of their lives.
We built the Notre Dame stairs leading to the classic tradition of tapping on the “Play Like A Champion” sign. For Purdue, we built their rotating bass drum to pay off their pre-game show.
Georgia, Boston College, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Florida State each have tear through banners when they enter the field. To mocap this, we first created a door frame to mocap the header touches like for Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, and many others. Then we hung pool noodles from the top of that. The players ran through tearing between the pool noodles to simulate the effect of ripping the banner down the middle.
For the Gators tunnel, we traveled to Gainsville to get an exact scan of the gator statue that the players tap on their way from the locker room to the field. We also created a prop with the exact height to mocap tapping the Gator head then walking down the tunnel to the swamp sign overhead.
While those are just a few examples of the lengths we went to, you can be sure there is something for fans of every team. We’re talking cannons going off for kickoffs and TD’s, smoke for UCF TD’s, and all the way to the fountain at Arkansas State.
Speaking of Gameday, Mascots are one of the most fun aspects of College Football. The variety and detail is unmatched across sports. This encompasses everything from humans in massive costumes to real animals! We have 50 total mascots in the game including 40 Team Mascots and 10 real animals representing their schools.
For the mascots we initially did a lot of internal research for each one. Checking on what's unique about each mascot and what do fans enjoy about them the most.
For example, the Texas Hook’ Em had “follow me eyes”, the team worked to get that same level of practical effect in the game.
Along the way we talked to alumni and our school contacts to find out even more little details. Mascots such as the Stanford tree that change every year or even animal mascots that grew over time, such as Ralphie from Colorado, we did adjustments on her as she aged into her reins.
Fun things that we learned along the way like how Boomer and Sooner have the OU logo painted on their hooves
I know we couldn’t touch on all the mascots we have in-game but be sure to check out your favorite school and see what unique quirks you can find out about them!'
When we talk about a team of developers that loves College Football, this is what we mean. One of our developers got in on the action as a stand in, to ensure all the animal run outs were perfect. Go Stew “Dubs”!
Not only do we have the classic school traditions in the game, but the “New Era” of traditions including Turnover and Touchdown props made it into the game as well. All this action takes place during gameplay and examples of what you might see are chainsaws, championship belts, basketball hoops, and even a THRONE!
Where you play is one of the most important aspects of your College Football experience. We are proud to say that we worked hard to deliver as many stadiums with as much accuracy as possible. This was achieved by visiting local venues such as the University of Florida to gather detailed references from every corner of the stadium that we could possibly find.
For schools that were farther away, we requested reference materials, and over 80 schools responded, providing an average of 1,000 photos each, amounting to a staggering amount of nearly 80,000 photos to reference from.
Additionally, we plan to update stadiums post launch as we receive new architecture and designs from schools so that CFB 25 is authentic to everything you see on Saturdays.
To streamline the stadium creation process, the team utilized a specialized stadium toolkit that allowed us to develop all of the essential structures for a stadium in record time. Things like tunnels, stairs, and stands are crucial to the authenticity of a College Football Stadium and this tool allowed us to curate that experience for you.
This toolkit enabled the artists to focus on crafting unique architectural details and implementing real-time lighting effects, ensuring that each stadium was both accurate and visually stunning. This efficient workflow allowed the team to meet the ambitious goal of building over 150 stadiums within a single production cycle while maintaining high quality and attention to detail.
College threads are ever changing each year and even game to game for some teams. Real-world uniforms are made with countless variations of: Cloth materials, stitching patterns, colors, patches, stripes, logos, names and numbers. To be able to create uniforms for 134 teams with multiple variations and helmets we had to create a brand new toolset which allowed artists and designers to build uniforms in real time seeing their work instantly in-engine. This allowed the team to create incredibly detailed uniforms across 134 different schools.
As we were getting the sights locked in, we knew the sounds would be just as critical to nail to ensure the soundscape of College Football delivered. The feeling of being at a game - The Crowd, Band, Cheerleaders, Chants, PA Music between plays is unlike any other sport.
Over the last two seasons, we worked with ESPN to capture crowd audio straight from their broadcasts. From Autzen Stadium to Death Valley (both of them), and more, this content will function as our crowd noise, swells, and reactions that you’ll experience in every game you play.
Remember that OT game from 2022 between LSU and Alabama? Yeah, we were there. And we got all of it.
In addition to that game in Baton Rouge, we ended up capturing crowd noise from 41 games in places like Oregon State, Georgia, Florida State, Duke, UCLA, Texas, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Ole Miss, Missouri, Kentucky, NC State, North Carolina, USC, Florida, Auburn, Louisville, Washington, Alabama, Michigan and from the previously mentioned, LSU, Clemson and Oregon.
One of our Feature Producers Torsten Staley, Oregon Marching Band Alumni, traveled to Nashville to record every team's Fight Song. We utilized an amazing group of musicians who were just as passionate as us in getting these songs right. Many were previous students and alumni from schools like Oklahoma, North Texas, Vanderbilt, USC, Auburn, and Tennessee.
Not only did we record each team's fight songs, but we also recorded many of the rousers that are normally heard between plays and during pressure moments throughout a game. Some examples include “Go Gators” and “Roll Tide Roll” for those stadium-rousing moments, “Dies Irae” and “Mars” for those 3rd and 4th down defensive moments, and a few others that you’ll just have to find out for yourself…
Over 180 school band songs and drum grooves, including all 134 fight songs, are in the game. This process took 11 days, across 3 different groupings of players, Marching Percussion, Brass, and Winds. We are so excited for you to hear and experience each one of these songs - whether it’s a classic like “Hail to the Victors” from Michigan; for the first time ever in our College Football game history, “War Eagle” from Auburn, or one you may be hearing for the first time…by the way, the JSU Fight Song from Jacksonville State, SLAPS!
Another example of what makes college football so special are the theme games when the crowd comes together in unison to create a pattern across the stadium. From the checkerboard pattern at Tennessee, to the triple stripe layout at Boise State. We have over 170 different patterns for schools that have them in real life.
Each seat in the stadium was hand set up seat by seat to match the patterns. Also if your school has multiple themes, those are in too. Here we have the Stripe Out, the Helmet Stripe, and then to one of the most electric atmosphere’s in College Football, the White Out game.
A new feature to help bring more authenticity into the game revolves around attendance levels in the stadium. To help paint a better picture, here is a great example from one of our team members who was playing a Dynasty with FIU. During the first couple of games the stands were not very full which resulted in a lower home field advantage stadium pulse. Once he landed a big win on the road at Indiana and the team record was 7-0, the stands were becoming more full to start the game. By the end of the season with a 10-1 record and finishing in the top 25 rankings, home games would result in sell out crowds and the home field advantage pulse meter was now rocking high on the way to the conference championship.
In addition to seeing the unison of the crowd come together for key matchups, each and every stadium is setup with its band section, away visitors section, and student section. Also schools are equipped with pageantry props accurate to life such as Pom-Poms at Michigan and Tennessee, towels at South Carolina and Pitt, and even the Tiger Tails for Missouri.
The student section is the life-blood of the stadium that brings the energy, passion, and emotion that spreads across the full stadium creating that over the top college football atmosphere that we all love. We all know what the students do all game, stand and cheer, so in the game the student section stands the whole game cheering on their team. We captured both male and female actors screaming at the top of their lungs to recreate those high intensity 3rd down moments. Not only are the big moments captured but also the heartbreaking ones. Anyone remember the Surrender Cobra? It’s in the game, just don’t miss that game winning field goal and you will be spared.
Next, we researched schools and captured each team's hand signal traditions. During pre-game run outs and after positive plays throughout the game, you will be able to see the fans supporting the team.
A few examples include:
Another huge tradition, essential to College Football, is stadium-wide chants. The fans, alumni, and students all work together to fire up their players as an inspirational rally cry or to intimidate the opposition when your favorite team needs a critical stop.
For schools we weren’t able to visit, we went to the top of the parking garage at our Orlando Studio and yelled out each chant over and over again to nail down the pace and accuracy for each chant needed. 11 sessions later, we ended up capturing over 220 chants for our game. From O-H-I-O for Ohio State to the 3rd Down Chirps for the Cardinals of Ball State, we’ve covered as many as possible.
Not only will you hear the chants, but many are timed to the mass crowd movements like “Let’s Go Blue” with the crowd pumping their arms into the air three times or the War Chant with the WHOLE stadium doing the tomahawk chop.
Beyond what I’ve already mentioned, here are just a few more of the chants to listen for…
Any experience in our games isn’t complete without voices to speak to the action on the field. In College Football 25, we have two iconic Broadcast Teams lined up for you!
The celebrated team of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will be on the call in your Dynasty and Road to Glory seasons when your weekly matchup is declared the Game of the Week. They will also be present if you reach a Conference Championship game, each game of the College Football Playoff, and the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
But like I said, we have two teams that will be a part of your playing experience. Referring back to the Thursday Night broadcasts in the final years of our original iteration, the iconic crew of Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer and David Pollack will be on the call for the other games on your Dynasty and Road to Glory schedule.
Each commentary team will be available in Play Now when you’re looking to just get a quick game in.
We chose these talented individuals because of the impact they have had in the commentary space for College Football and we felt it was best to give you the most authentic and unique experience to date. The team recorded 68,000+ lines, over 870 hours, and all of it was recorded remotely in the talent's homes and in at least 3 different countries. Each member of our commentary team couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this experience!
As fans of College Football, we know that week-to-week games are happening at all times. Through studio updates, you’ll be informed of the latest news from around the country. Long-time ESPN Studio Host, Kevin Connors, will be jumping in from time to time to call out national upsets, scores for games you care about in your conference, or updates on how your rival is doing when in Dynasty mode. These updates will happen whether you are playing in a Dynasty that is offline or online. For an Online Dynasty, you’ll hear about scores from other members in your Dynasty if they have already finished their match-up that week.
No season is complete without a championship celebration. Celebrations come with the glamor, flair, and the most important aspect of it all, the hardware. We built each trophy from scratch, matching the weight and dimensions of real life trophies such as the National Championship. After building the foundations, we brought the trophies into the motion capture studio and had the team hold these trophies as if they had just won. We did this to maximize our authenticity when you celebrate in-game, you will see players actually feeling the weight when they hold the Championship trophy.
Presentation is not just about the visuals and audio but how the game flows and feels from play to play. We have built a whole new look and feel to the game that takes our authentic atmosphere & pageantry wrapped into our new streamlined PIP Dynamic Playcall experience.
Team members Chris Husein, UCF Alumni - Sr. Experience Designer, and Alejandro Thornton, FSU and FIU Alumni - Tech Designer, helped develop the new play call screen very early in the production cycle. We tested dozens of layout variations throughout the year until hitting on the right one. In this new streamlined experience you won’t miss a beat of the action and will be informed on important information pertaining to the situation and game. Once the play is finished, the screen shrinks to the top left corner as replays and pageantry continue to show, you can start navigating the playbook while also viewing important updates / informative data in the top right corner.
Types of information panels you will see throughout the game:
And there it is, a behind the scenes look at the presentation of College Football 25.. We can’t wait for you to experience the world that we have and will continue to pour our passion into. To us, this truly is THE most authentic and unique College Football experience ever produced. Next up, our incredible teammates over on the Dynasty Team will be providing a Deep Dive into all things coming to Dynasty Mode.
See you on the field soon, “We Are!!!”
- Christian Brandt and the dev team
___
College Football 25 launches worldwide on July 19th, 2024. Pre-order the Deluxe Edition* or the EA SPORTS™ MVP Bundle** and play 3 days early. Conditions and restrictions apply. See disclaimers for details. Stay in the conversation by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Answers HQ.