Made a bunch of updates to the engine over the last few days:
- Zone defense a little more conservative in coverage
- Man defense a little more conservative in coverage
- Man and Zone defenders don't react immediately to running plays. Reaction time based on skill
- Defenders don't dive into the line to get at the RB. They try to move laterally until there's a path to get at the RB
- Block engagement system implemented for pass blocking and run blocking
- Special teams coverage improved
- Dropped passes reduced to a more realistic level
- Missed tackles dropped to a realistic level
- Pancakes reduced to a non-annoying level
- Defenders don't try to cover receivers that pass block
With all the new updates, I thought it was a good time to run a couple of the Blues games. Just sit back and play, to see what pops up.
Week 6: Blues vs Reds
Blues win 42-14
The good:
The good part of the game is that there were a lot fewer huge plays. Over the whole game, we only had 3 30+ yard plays. One KR, one pass, and one run. That's a pretty big step. The pass blocking was legit, too. The Blues OL did a great job against the Reds. They got a couple sacks, but overall I was pleased. I also started picking up on a few things I hadn't noticed before. In the running game, teams are having a lot more success against Man defense. When the defense switches to Zone, they usually have an easy time holding the RB to small gains. However, zone defense is getting beat in the passing game pretty regularly. Man defense is having much more success defending the pass. Not good or bad, just interesting.
Now for the bad:
The Reds offense was embarrassing. I get that they were a defense first team, but no team should look that bad on offense. 90% of the plays were either no gain or less than 3 yards. Come on, the Blues don't have a stellar defense. The Reds should have been able to get something going.
Also, kick returns still are still a little overpowered. Not all are going for TDs, but I can tell that Urquhart would have housed at least 4. It's looking like edge containment is the problem. If the KR can get to the outside, he's usually got a pretty clear path.
Week 7: Yellows at Blues
Blues win in overtime 28-21!
The good:
This was a fun game. It was more of a defensive struggle than I expected. For some reason, the Yellows DL was getting to Hecker regularly. I couldn't figure out why, because the Blues OL is dominant and the Reds couldn't get this kind of pressure. I'll have to look at the ratings to see if there's a clue... It made me adjust my gameplan, which is kind of fun to see. Again, there were very few huge plays. Whenever there was a catch, there was usually someone in the area to quickly make the tackle. The one area the Blues were able to exploit was the WR1/CB1 matchup. If I could get the Blues WR1 on a quick slant, he was usually able to turn it upfield for a pretty nice gain. The speed difference was a killer.
The bad:
I found a ton of problems with this game. There's something that broke the Yellows passing game. Early on, it looked fine, but when I made defensive coverage adjustments with the Blues, the Yellows QB just broke. He'd sit in the pocket forever, just cycling through WRs. He never took off running, and could never find an open WR. It makes no sense. Hecker took off running a few times, so I know scrambling works. Why the Yellows QB won't run, I have no idea. Also, the Yellows OL was getting pushed into the QB a lot. This was causing the QB to "slide" around. It looks like he's standing on ice. On one play, he actually slid backwards 20 yards before getting sacked. wtf?
There was also something weird with the KR game. The Yellows KR was extremely effective, way above his ratings. The Blues had a hard time containing him. That's weird.
Overall not too bad. I'm happy with how the engine is coming. I have to tighten up some of the QB AI and special teams, but it's looking pretty nice. I should accomplish everything I wanted to in Exhibition Season 1 before the playoff game. I'm starting to draw up the Exhibition Season 2 and 3 goals now, and it looks like that's all I'm going to need. If everything goes well, we'll then move on to real seasons!