NCAA Custom Stadium Sounds

[huntt26]

05.16.08
Custom Stadium Sounds Blog


In an effort to bring more user generated content to NCAA Football 09 on the next generation consoles we've included a Custom Stadium Sounds feature. This system allows you take the audio files you have ripped to your XBox 360 or PlayStation 3 and play them when various events occur during the game. The audio file will only play if you are the home team in their stadium and there are just over 20 scenarios for you to choose from including: kickoff, tackle for loss/QB sack, turnover, touchdown, start of the 4th quarter, defense on 3rd down, penalty on the visiting team, and more.
There is a limit of 50 events that can be created at any given time, however, there is an ALL option should you want to keep the same audio throughout the league. Specific team events have priority over the ALL setting; so if you have two touchdown events with one set to ALL and the other set to Miami, the Miami touchdown audio will be heard.

Differences between platforms
The only difference in this feature between the game machines is that on PlayStation 3 we can pull the actual song file and on XBox 360 we use playlists. Creating playlists is a simple process and can be done from the XBox Dashboard under Media - Music. Since the playlist will start from 0:00, we recommend using only one playlist per audio file (unless you plan on playing a bunch of really small clips sequentially).


Design Decisions
Why is it called "Custom Stadium Sounds" instead of "Custom Music?"
During one of our team meetings the Creative Lead demoed the feature using a bunch of one-liners from popular Hollywood comedies. Needless to say, it was a huge hit with the team and the Custom Music system gained an entirely new identity. We renamed it Custom Stadium Sounds hoping our users would enter this mode with a creative mind.


Why can I only hear my custom sound at my home stadium?
When teams travel to a neutral site they don't bring their public address system sounds with them as the stadium needs to stay unbiased. The stadium's audio atmosphere will come from the teams' band and fans in attendance.


Why no pregame or post game events?
The main reason for this decision was due to our current pregame and post game presentation; which doesn't take place on the field. The opening of the game has a "broadcast feel" with the NCAA 09 match up banner flying in and Brad, Kirk, and Lee setting up the contest before sending it to the coin toss. Also, during our post game presentation we're showing the Pontiac Game Changing Performance and the new post game montage, which showcase the best highlights of the game while Kirk or Lee sums up the contest.


Why did you remove the "Start of 3rd Quarter" event?
This was a late cut due to how we handle halftime. We pause the game at the half to give the user an opportunity to check out the stats for each team, make substitutions and other adjustments. Too keep consistent audio-wise across NCAA Football 09 the custom stadium sounds are turned off when you enter the pause menu. It wouldn't be good to have your speed-metal song melting your face when you're trying to answer the phone, or talking to your roommate about what to put on the pizza, etc. Since we pause the game between halves your song would only play for a second or two.


So where do we go from here?
Obviously, we'd like to reinvent our pregame, halftime, and post game presentations to provide the visuals needed to make having those events in Custom Stadium Sound worth it to your experience. But we definitely don't believe it ends with just playing audio files. This feature was a step towards exploring user created content from a different angle whether visually, audibly, or even from a game play stand point. The goal of the NCAA Football franchise is we want to get as much from the actual game "in the game" but there is something to be said about it being "in your game."

Why am I excited about this feature?
I think the coolest thing about Custom Stadium Sounds is I have an opportunity to affect the game other than just by my actions on the field. The purists out there will gather all of their team's marching band anthems and other songs in an effort to mirror their favorite team's actual playlist. Some will use the feature to talk smack to their buddies while playing together. Personally, I like to throw in my favorite metal tracks. There is nothing more satisfying than steamrolling my opponent's quarterback on third down and hearing my favorite heavy metal anthem pour out of my television's speakers.
-Greg Heddlesten, Associate Designer

[jdewaard]

I stand corrected. That looks great.

[jdewaard]

moving this thread to the Gaming and Groups Forum

[PDTcyclone11]

there are no sites that I know of that have the cheers, however you can get some of the chrowd cheers from here ....

YouTube - Iowa State Cyclone Power Cheer

, then download them to this site....ListenToYouTube.com: Youtube to MP3, get mp3 from youtube video, flv to mp3, extract audio from youtube, youtube mp3. That makes it into an Mp3 file, which you need for PS3.

The you can edit then with or with out JJ yelling. lol

To edit that just go and download Audacity it's free and works pretty easy.

I am doing this on a PS3 so I'll try to share all this stuff, but I really don't know how to do much with computers.

[SVT]

Does anyone have a link for some of the sounds. I can get them into an mp3 format, but I can't even find a youtube or anything with the sounds I'm looking for. a few are the chant/band after a first down "bum bum bum bum, go cyclones" and another is the band getting loud while the other team has 3rd and long, etc. those are the two on my mind, but anymore than that would be great too.

[cmoore_23]

Thats Another Cyclone..FIRST DOWN!!!

[SVT]

Just found this 07 highlight video. Didn't find any sounds for the new game, but still gave me some good memories.

YouTube - 2007 Iowa State Football Highlight Video

[jsheim]

Does anyone have the Marching Band music files they could share? I'm not in Ames to buy the CD but I want to put the files on my 360 seeing as the game comes out in almost 2 hours. Yes I am a loser who will probably go buy it at midnight and then screw around until I can download the rosters in like a week.

[cmoneyr]

Here's a link to the operationsports.com stadium sounds forum. Some ISU ones already up there, should be more coming.

*Official Big 12 Stadium Sounds Thread* - Page 2 - Operation Sports Forums

[huntt26]

I will be uploading the CYCLONE POWER chant and the Whatcha gonna do chant later today. I think those will be nice additions. Anyone have any more?

[jcs33]

Originally Posted by huntt26

I will be uploading the CYCLONE POWER chant and the Whatcha gonna do chant later today. I think those will be nice additions. Anyone have any more?

Great!

Are the files being hosted on a specific site? I browsed through Operation Sports.

[huntt26]

I'll provide a link here, it will be done over lunch...

Do the custom sounds pop right in on in the game?? (meaning, right after a sack, does the sound play INSTANTLY.. if they do, I think i'll put about 2 seconds of silence before them so it doesn't sound strange. It takes the band a little bit before they actually start playing, and if it's a song, it takes a bit for the guy to press the button in the stadium. Any thoughts? I want it to sound good.

[huntt26]

Found this link for a kickoff.. this sounds great!

YouTube - NCAA 09: Kickoff Stadium Sound

=

[jcs33]

Originally Posted by huntt26

I'll provide a link here, it will be done over lunch...

Do the custom sounds pop right on in the game?? if they do, I think i'll put about 2 seconds of silence before them so it doesn't play immediately. Any thoughts? I want it to sound good.

Awesome, thank you for posting the link.

Good question. I believe they do immediately play atleast from what I can tell with the defualt sounds and listening to other sound bits that have been posted for upload. Not 100% sure though.

[jcs33]

Originally Posted by huntt26

Found this link for a kickoff.. this sounds great!

YouTube - NCAA 09: Kickoff Stadium Sound=

Perfect.