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While July is usually a dormant time on the college football calendar, this year was a different experience 麻豆精品 S� at least for video game fans.

Ending an 11-year hiatus, EA SPORTS returned to the collegiate gridiron with College Football 25. During a three-day early access period prior to the worldwide release on July 19, 2.2 million unique players started enjoying the new game, according to an Electronic Arts (EA) press release.

One of the year 麻豆精品 S檚 most anticipated and successful games is in part credited to the many Knights who work at EA SPORTS. From menu screens to online play, College Football 25 has Black & Gold fingerprints all over it.

Providing an Authentic Experience

With UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 football stadium located 25 minutes from EA 麻豆精品 S檚 studio in downtown Orlando 麻豆精品 S檚 Creative Village, the developer has college football source material in its backyard.

To capture the realism of game day in an electric college environment, EA SPORTS modeled and textured indoor and outdoor
environmental assets based on photographs taken at FBC Mortgage Stadium, often called the Bounce House. The production team used tools such as lidar (light detection and ranging) scanners to capture 3D models of the stadium and the lighting inside. They also used individual scanners to capture models ranging from trash cans to cleats.

Plus, EA SPORTS was also on hand for UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 2023 Space Game against Oklahoma State University, researching crowd audio, stadium and natural lighting, and various textures.

The relationship between the university, the video game developer and the alumni who contributed to the game is seen in the details. An occasional Easter egg even appears when you play as the Knights on their home field; a rocket launches from Kennedy Space Center 麻豆精品 S檚 Launch Complex 39, which aligns with the 50-yard line at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

麻豆精品 S淲hen UCF kicks off, you hear 麻豆精品 S楿-C-F Knights! 麻豆精品 S� and that 麻豆精品 S檚 stuff that you wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 hear unless you have boots on the ground and were able to be here to experience it, 麻豆精品 S� says Senior Associate Athletics Director for #Content Eric DeSalvo 麻豆精品 S�09, who led UCF Athletics 麻豆精品 S� involvement with the game. 麻豆精品 S淏ecause of [that], I think we can sneak a little bit more into the game. 麻豆精品 S�

The Video Game Academy

Before UCF alumni worked on the game, many honed their skills through UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 graduate game design program, the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA). Housed at UCF Downtown, FIEA is the result of a collaboration that began in 2005 between EA, UCF and Orlando city leaders to meet a need by producing skilled talent for a growing industry. A total of 42 FIEA alumni are credited in the new game.

Among those FIEA alumni are Development Director Zachary Karlins 麻豆精品 S�19 and Kaitlin Bliss 麻豆精品 S�17, technical lead for the game 麻豆精品 S檚 Ultimate Team mode, an online format where players create teams comprising current and historical players. Karlins 麻豆精品 S� and Bliss 麻豆精品 S� roles included managing developers and ensuring the game was within its computing metrics, running at the proper speed and frame rate.

Karlins pursued a project management track during his studies at FIEA, where he led a team in creating a game as part of a capstone project. His experience in the program prepared him for his role at EA SPORTS, he says.

麻豆精品 S淸It 麻豆精品 S檚 so important to] have a school like FIEA where you are actually in an industry-simulated environment versus just reading textbooks and watching lectures, 麻豆精品 S� Karlins says.

Before attending FIEA, Bliss was interested in a gaming career but did not have an extensive computer science background. The program brought her up to speed, teaching her about various stages of game production and allowing her to learn software used by developers at EA SPORTS.

麻豆精品 S淸FIEA faculty members] really do a good job at not just teaching you programming and those details, but how the industry works and what really goes into the development of a game, 麻豆精品 S� Bliss says.

A Big Return

While more than a decade passed between College Football 25 and the last collegiate football game EA SPORTS made, NCAA Football 14, some Knights were able to work on both iconic games.

One of them is Chris Husein 麻豆精品 S�05, a senior experience design lead for EA who says this franchise has been his favorite to work on at the video-game company.

麻豆精品 S淸We] brought back small navigational patterns and elements from NCAA [Football] 14 just so it felt familiar for people who had picked that game up, 麻豆精品 S� Husein says of College Football 25. 麻豆精品 S淭he design choices we made were intentional, where we look at, 麻豆精品 S榃hat is the college vibe? What does that feel [like]? 麻豆精品 S� It 麻豆精品 S檚 raw. It 麻豆精品 S檚 rough. It 麻豆精品 S檚 gritty. 麻豆精品 S�

A member of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Greater Orlando Community Alumni Board, Husein says he took extra pride in UCF-related design tasks for College Football 25, which were mainly creating the user experience and defining the visual identity in the menus and screens.

麻豆精品 S淲e have such an incredibly talented group of people [from Knight Nation] at EA, 麻豆精品 S� Husein says. 麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檓 just really proud that we were able to represent UCF that way. 麻豆精品 S�