MOBILE, Ala. — A four-person EA Sports crew has spent the past three days at Ladd-Peebles Stadium gathering photographs, video, laser scans and coaching information so South Alabama football can be added to NCAA Football 14, the next edition of the video game series, due out next summer.
The crew arrived Thursday and is scheduled to remain through Saturday’s home game, when it will record crowd audio and film the Jaguars and their cheerleaders running onto the field.
Making Up for an Omission
South Alabama was not included in NCAA Football 13, which was released earlier this year. According to Ben Haumiller, a site producer for EA Sports, the Jaguars were the only one of the 124 Football Bowl Subdivision programs not in the game. Texas-San Antonio, which South Alabama played last week, and Texas State are both in the 2013 edition, even though both started their football programs after South Alabama.
After the omission drew complaints from South Alabama fans, EA Sports offered to provide additional features for the Jaguars when they are added to the 2014 game.
Haumiller said the company was disheartened when it realized South Alabama had been left out, and that its next step was to make sure the school was taken care of in the next version.
“We could not have been any more embarrassed and saddened that it happen,” Haumiller said. “So that was one of the things where we wanted to make it right and how this trip became involved, getting everything we possibly can get to represent South Alabama so when they do make their debut it’s the right debut. It’s not just, yes, we added them, it’s yeah, here they are, and this is everything about them.”
Scanning the Stadium
Environmental artist Gregory Palinkas and Dan Goodman spent 12 hours at Ladd-Peebles Stadium collecting photographs and scanning the interior and exterior of the facility to recreate it in the game.
“We’re doing scans and photograph references, capturing material information, so we can get everything down to the gravel so that we can capture everything as true to life as we can,” Palinkas said.
Palinkas said each scan captures 44 million points. The scanner also takes color photographs, which the developers overlay onto the scanned points in their software to reproduce the colors of the stadium’s materials and lighting during the day.
“That scan is amazing,” Palinkas said. “We’ll be able to pick up every nut and bolt that makes up this place.”
Palinkas described the trip as the “Big Tour,” a level of on-site work that EA Sports normally reserves for the game’s highest-profile programs.
Coaches, Playbook and South Paw
On Thursday, two EA Sports representatives met with members of the South Alabama coaching staff about the team’s playbook. The Jaguars are putting together a DVD of plays for the developers to use, and the interviews are intended to make the team’s play-calling and its offensive and defensive formations as accurate as possible in the game.
The crew also filmed South Paw, the South Alabama mascot, on Thursday for inclusion in the game’s “Mascot Mash-Up” mode, and met with other school officials.
Haumiller said the visit has been well received by players and coaches.
“It’s neat because a lot of the players are fans of the game and a lot of coaches may have played (similar) games when they were younger but have probably gotten away from it,” Haumiller said. “But they understand the significance of it and for their team it can be a great team-building exercise.”
He added that the game teaches young players about football concepts such as a cover 2 defense, and that schools value the visits as a recruiting tool. “They love the fact that we are here to promote their school because it’s a big recruiting tool as well,” Haumiller said. “To be able to say that EA was at South Alabama, hey we weren’t anywhere else this weekend.”
Game Day Recording
The crew plans to be at Saturday’s game to record the crowd and collect additional photo references of fans in the stands. Crowd noise and fan chants captured during the game will be used in the video game.
“Because this is going to be South Alabama’s first time in the game we want to make sure that we absolutely nail it and get everything as close as we can to perfection so when you guys buy the game they’ll see the stadium just as it is,” Palinkas said.
Next Steps in Orlando
After finishing its data collection, the crew will return to EA Sports’ offices in Orlando, Fla., to begin assembling the material. Building the stadium, adding crowd noise and entering plays and formations is expected to take four to five weeks, with updates and adjustments continuing until the game is finalized for production.
When NCAA Football 14 is released, South Alabama will join the other 123 FBS programs in the game.
Update
Saturday’s game, at which the EA Sports crew is recording, is South Alabama’s home matchup with the Nicholls State Colonels. The Jaguars will wear their blue uniforms for the game. The forecast called for a high near 90 degrees with a chance of rain.
