FOF 2004 Preseason Question...

[Chief Rum]

I am having problems getting starters to stop playing and reserves to start playing in my preseason games.

I know some people here say this happens,a nd I have seen it happen for the computer teams (or at least the quarterbacks split time), but it doesn't happen at all for me. I haven't found anything in the gameplans that seem to govern this behavior, so I have been setting playing time really low and hoping it would work. No luck yet. :(

This is with simming the games, BTW. I realize if you are actually playing the in-game module, you'll probably be able to switch players in and out as you desire, but I'm not a big in-game player. I much prefer to sim, and I would like the computer to run my team like a preseason squad without me having to go in and play every game.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.

CR

[Vikings13]

CR-
I'm having the same problems. I'm also not a big play-caller, so I was also setting playing time to 1 or 2 for my starters. I still had Culpepper and Moss playing at the end of the 4th quarter. Don't know how to fix this yet (I just got the game yesterday, so I'm still figuring out the features).

Side Note - I simmed through 3 different starts with the Vikings and had X-Factor OFF. Yet each new start my RBs were very different. One season I had Moe Williams as the starter with ridiculously high speed ratings, next season Onterrio Smith was the starter and the third season was Doug Chapman. Why is this happening if X-Factor is off? Any ideas anyone?

[Chief Rum]

bump

Anyoone?

CR

[Chief Rum]

So no one knows? All of you are getting proper players playing when they should in preseason games when you sim? It's just the two of us?

CR

[Eaglesfan27]

I just don't know how to fix it, but I'm definitely not getting proper playing times in the preseasons. I can't seem to stop my top QB from taking most of the time in the preseason even with a setting of 1. I just move my top players to the third string slots as a workaround and put the guys I want to get time at the top of the depth chart. However, I'm disappointed that this doesn't work better with natural depth charts.

[Ben E Lou]

Something is very strange here. Looking back through my preseason games from last season, here's the number of attempts. (I don't remember the playing time, but I'm fairly certain it was either 6 or 7 for Vick.)

GAME 1
Vick 12
Malone 12

GAME 2
Vick 6
Malone 27

GAME 3
Vick 9
Malone 15

GAME 4
Vick 9
Malone 25

So, my #2 guy got a clear majority of the passes, even with the playing time setting fairly high.

Looking at the game logs, here is when Malone got his first mention in each game

Game 1: 2:00 to go in 2nd quarter
Game 2: 13:16 to go in 2nd quarter
Game 3: 9:36 to go in 2nd quarter
Game 4: 3:48 to go in 2nd quarter

That looks pretty solid to me. I'm using the scout-recommended playing times at QB, (which is why I don't remember exactly what the setting is) and Malone is a scrub while Vick is a star, so I'm guessing it was set for at least a 6.

[Vikings13]

I'm going to start a new game again and save all my data to check this. I still am getting starters well into the 4th quarter though.

[Ben E Lou]

OK. Just ran a few trials

TRIAL ONE: Vick playing time=7 (recommended)
Vick 16 attempts
Orton 15 attempts, first mentioned at 14:07 to go in 3rd quarter (1st 2nd-half possession)

RUN TWO: Vick playing time=1
Vick 14 attempts
Orton 6 attempts, (5:34 in 3rd quarter first mentioned)

RUN THREE: Vick playing time=9
Vick 13 attempts
Orton 24 attempt, (2:06 to go in 2nd quarter first mentioned)



HYPOTHESIS: The AI uses an inverse function of the playing time setting to determine preseason playing time.

[Ben E Lou]

Dola--

If my hypothesis is correct, then ultimately it is a good thing. It reduces the micromanagement of setting the playing time down to 1 in the preseason, and then resetting it at the beginning of the regular season.

[Chief Rum]

Hmmm...your results haven't been flying with mine, SkyDog. :(

In Preseason Game One, I pretty much had the playing times set like normal, and Blake (and I believe all the other starters) played the whole game.

In Game Two, I set it all to 1 and they still all played the full game.

In Game Three, I finally got some variation, but only by starting some backups over normal starters, and by playcalling the game instead of simming it (I had the coach call all the plays and ran the game on high speed to the end of game time).

CR

[Chief Rum]

Dola,

I also ran into another potential issue. I have used the lock button at times on some players and changed playing time.

Even after the locks are removed, when I hit the recommend button, the playing time is no longer adjusted. For instance, after Preseason Game Two, I had all depth charts set at 1 for starter's playing time, and not one of them changed when I hit the Recommend button (even as the players themselves moved around).

CR

[Ben E Lou]

This is very, very strange. I just ran a few more tests with Vick's playing time set at 9. Orton was in the game with 6:30 to go in the 2nd quarter in one of them, and was in before halftime in every one of them. I have no idea what you and I could be doing differently.

[Chief Rum]

What are your global option settings (for depth charts)? And do you leave the lock on in the depth charts when you sim the games?

CR

[Ben E Lou]

Are you using the Arizona '03 roster for your test? I'm going to run a few with that team, to see if there's something peculiar to your personnel (or mine) that is causing the difference.

[Ben E Lou]

Chief:

It is almost certainly something about the Cardinals team. I just ran a test with Blake's playing time set to 9 of preseason game 1, and he threw every single pass.

[Ben E Lou]

Well, not so fast. I just set it to 1, and here were the passing numbers. (I'm playing Game 1 of the preseason each time, re-loading the same roster set.)

Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
12 McCown 22 13 150 6.8 45 1 1 3
11 Blake 8 4 53 6.6 24 0 0 1
10 Player 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0

[Ben E Lou]

One thing is consistent though: every time I set it to 9, Blake plays every snap.

[Ben E Lou]

With Blake's playing time at 5 (which is my scout rec.)

Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
11 Blake 18 15 233 12.9 55 4 0 1
12 McCown 11 8 99 9.0 25 0 1 1McCown came in at the start of the 3rd quarter in this one.

[Chief Rum]

This is just weird. :(

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for it. It does seem to be linked to certain teams, or at least it happenes sporadically for some of them.

I am using the '03 Cards, with primelord's name changes.

CR

[Vikings13]

I just ran a test with the Vikings '03 roster. Culpepper playing time set to 6, Scouts set Depth Chart and Game Plan. My results turned out ok this time around.

Number of Attempts:
Game 1: Culpepper 13, Frerotte 25 (Frerotte went in at the beginning of the 2nd Q)

Game 2: Culpepper 7, Frerotte 30 (Frerotte went in at the beginning of 2nd Q)

Game 3: Culpepper 19, Frerotte 18 (Frerotte went in 2nd Half)

Game 4: Culpepper 27, Frerotte 18 (Frerotte played some in 3rd Q and all of the 4th.)

This seems ok to me now. I'm going to run a couple more to see if I can duplicate the starters staying in the whole game as I saw before.

[Ben E Lou]

Just set it to 1 for the '03 Cards...

Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
11 Blake 19 8 85 4.4 26 0 1 2
12 McCown 15 9 91 6.0 31 0 0 3


This time, he came in with 9:06 to go in the third quarter.

[Ben E Lou]

Could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that '03 is Blake's first year with the team?

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by SkyDog
Could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that '03 is Blake's first year with the team? Just ran a test with Green Bay. Favre only threw four passes in game 1, with playing time set to 8. Maybe I'm on to something here...

[Ben E Lou]

Nah...there appears to be too much randomness in this. I just set it to 5, and Favre threw every single pass.

[henry296]

What about the willingness to play injured players settings. Maybe there are minor injuries when the backup comes in.

Todd

[Buccaneer]

All of these tests with real rosters bother me for some reason. It seems that there could be some pre-conceived level of expectations and desired outcome. Probably nothing at all to do with the issue at hand, just a passing thought.

[Easy Mac]

I normally just set all of my guys to 1, then rotate my skill players on offense each game (Qb1 starts the 1st game, QB2 the 2nd, QB3 the third). This may seem tedious, but it gives each of my guys pretty good playing times (and takes about 30 seconds for all the positions.)

Stats:
Rushing Att Yds Avg TD
Davis 32 95 3.0 2
Foster 20 87 4.4 0
Bennett 18 82 4.6 0

Passing Att Comp % Yds YA TD INT Rat Sack
Battle 25 10 40 116 4.6 0 0 54.8 2
Middleton 53 25 47 255 8.0 0 7 21.9 1
Chilton 22 11 50 147 3.5 1 0 86.7 2

Receiveing Catch Yd Avg YAC TD
Muhammed 9 124 13.8 12 0
Northcutt 6 76 12.7 12 0
Young 6 64 10.7 1 0
Proehl 5 70 14.0 2 0
Loverne 2 28 14.0 0 0
Becht 2 18 9.0 0 0
Berry 4 43 10.8 0 0
Davis 3 19 6.3 10 0
Bennett 4 21 5.3 5 1
Terry 3 35 11.7 12 0
Foster 1 11 11.0 2 0


And yes, Middleton is complete ass. But he is an undrafted rookie FA (as is Chilton, while Battle is my #8 pick QB, tops in the draft).

[Easy Mac]

dola, and I should really win with Michael Bennett, DeShaun Foster and Stephen Davis in the backfield.