There seems to be some really knowledgeable people here

[parkerjr]

I'm somewhat new to these games and need some clarification on few things. I am a sim style player that wants the most realistc game. Thanks ahead to anyone that takes the time to answer my questions. I've been close to just throwing this game away because of some of the garbage I've seen. I' just want to figure out if its my skill level or gameplay issues.

Q: It sometimes feels like the computer has already decided the outcome of the game or more specifically how all players on both sides will respond in certain situations regardless of their skill level or my influence. Is this happening? Does the computer have more influence in the outcome of the plays I call than I do?

Q: Does the players weight have any significance in the game?

Q:What is the difference btw the difficulty levels? It seems like the majority of people on these forums choose to play on AA. Why is this?

Q: Is there or isn't there a speed cheat in heisman?

Q:I play on Heisman and usually try to play with the awareness cranked up btw 80 & 100, but really struggle because the AI seems to know everything I'm doing. I can pass with some consistency, which I like, but running seems nearly impossible. I've noticed some slider sets the set HUM run ability and block at 0. How is this possible?

Q: Does the technology exist to create the game we all hope for each year? I assume that it does, but that profits would not be as great if the "perfect" game was made. Coudln't they make that game and require us to subscribe annually to the game and its updates. What am I missing?

Q: I'm looking for a set of sliders- AA or Heisman- that creates consistent pass rush, pancake blocks, and tight coverage. Any suggestions

Q: is there a way to slow down the computer before it snaps the ball so you can make reads?

Q: I don't seem to get many pancake blocks on heisman or in gerneral. What could be the problem?

Q: does anyone know what the developers used to decide when any certain player will dominate any other player on any given play? I imagine this involves a few variables, but does anyone feel comfortable breaking this down?

[doctorhay53]

Quote: Originally Posted by parkerjr

I'm somewhat new to these games and need some clarification on few things. I am a sim style player that wants the most realistc game. Thanks ahead to anyone that takes the time to answer my questions. I've been close to just throwing this game away because of some of the garbage I've seen. I' just want to figure out if its my skill level or gameplay issues.

I'll take a crack at these.

Quote:

Q: It sometimes feels like the computer has already decided the outcome of the game or more specifically how all players on both sides will respond in certain situations regardless of their skill level or my influence. Is this happening? Does the computer have more influence in the outcome of the plays I call than I do?

Well, in the sense that you only control one player at a time, the CPU does have way more influence than you. I don't think there are games where the CPU 'decides' you're going to lose. But I do think there are games where your team 'doesn't show up' or the other team 'comes to play'. In other words, I do feel like there are times when my team plays ridiculously better than their ratings, but also worse. I don't mind this....it happens in real football all the time.

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Q: Does the players weight have any significance in the game?

No. Not directly....I think weight are strength are directly proportional, but in terms of the game's animations, no. This is a common gripe amongst NCAA'ers....maybe the most common.

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Q:What is the difference btw the difficulty levels? It seems like the majority of people on these forums choose to play on AA. Why is this?

I personally think that the biggest difference is in the way the momentum affects your players, and home field advantage. On AA, no matter what happens it seems like I always pull out the win, regardless of who I'm playing. Last year I was about 89-13 on AA. This year I'm right around .500 through 4.5 seasons on Heisman.

I was one of those AA people until this year. To me, the people who play AA do it for a couple of reasons:
1) When you first jump to Heisman, it seems like the CPU is cheating. It's not.
2) Actually taking the time to play realistically while building up a team just takes too long unless the odds are slightly stacked in your favor.
AA is the way to go for competitive games, that you'll usually win, and a relatively quick route to building a team. Heisman is the way to go to get as much realism out of the game as possible. People will claim adamantly otherwise....but I've played 300 games of NCAA against the CPU over the last few years, and used slider sets from Varsity up to Heisman. Once I was good enough to play on Heisman, there was no other way to go. AA is just too easy. People who don't like Heisman either aren't good enough yet, or are good enough but prefer to play the lower stress level of AA.

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Q: Is there or isn't there a speed cheat in heisman?

I don't think so.

Quote:

Q:I play on Heisman and usually try to play with the awareness cranked up btw 80 & 100, but really struggle because the AI seems to know everything I'm doing. I can pass with some consistency, which I like, but running seems nearly impossible. I've noticed some slider sets the set HUM run ability and block at 0. How is this possible?

I like 60 for the CPU D AWR. Too high and their D players are way better than yours and you're giving the CPU an unfair advantage.
It sounds like you're talking about fistofrage's sliders....he is unhuman. I don't know how he runs with his sliders either. It's crazy. But he plays the game differently than I do.....he (used to anyway) calls his own plays and so gives the CPU a crazy advantage to make up for their horrible playcalling. I personally use ask corso with more even sliders, to balance it out in a different direction. The point is, it all boils down to how you like to play and what kind of compromises you're willing to deal with to get a good game.

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Q: Does the technology exist to create the game we all hope for each year? I assume that it does, but that profits would not be as great if the "perfect" game was made. Coudln't they make that game and require us to subscribe annually to the game and its updates. What am I missing?

I personally think the 'profits' argument is a total load of crap. Just complete nonsense. It boils down to the difficulty in programming something of this magnitude. Good AI is very difficult. In this case, it isn't really even any kind of true AI...the CPU has certain things that it is going to do in certain situations because that is how it is programmed, but it doesn't have a deep system of actions/reactions by human standards. This kind of technology in a game like this probably WOULD reduce profits, because they can't sell it for more than $60. In some sense, it is a business thing....but not an intentional way to get us to buy the next game. It's just the reality of the complexities of programming to try to make the CPU act 'human'.

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Q: I'm looking for a set of sliders- AA or Heisman- that creates consistent pass rush, pancake blocks, and tight coverage. Any suggestions

Good luck. Pancakes I'm just not seeing alot of in this game. It's not a big enough issue for me to worry about, because my guys seem to be on par with other guys of similar ratings. I had horrible problems with pass rush until I started moving my DL around. If I'm blitzing, I shift the DL in whatever way I think would give me an advantage. DL shifts are the only viable method IMO for increasing sack numbers....some people claim that setting HUM D AWR to zero increased their pass rush....I did it for three games and didn't see any evidence whatsoever of this.

In this thread I posted my sliders:
http://www.operationsports.com/forum...n-sliders.html
Feel free to try them out.

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Q: is there a way to slow down the computer before it snaps the ball so you can make reads?

No.

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Q: I don't seem to get many pancake blocks on heisman or in gerneral. What could be the problem?

Most slider sets lower blocking sliders because of the pass rush issue. This lowers pancakes. Personally, my pancakes are a little low but it doesn't bother me too much. It's a compromise.

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Q: does anyone know what the developers used to decide when any certain player will dominate any other player on any given play? I imagine this involves a few variables, but does anyone feel comfortable breaking this down?

This is basically a question of 'How do the players ratings affect the game?' My answer would be :' I have no idea, but not enough.'
Obviously we have no idea how EA does it, and they're not going to tell us, but there are alot of ratings that I have no idea that they actually do anything for my players.

It almost seems like it has to be some sort of probability that is based on a number of ratings. The real problem seems to be that the sliders are ancient, and they affect too many ratings with not enough impact, and not a linear impact, on all of them. One of my big hopes is that next year introduces a completely new slider system since we have so many more ratings than when the system was first developed.

[parkerjr]

doctorhay53

thanks for taking the time to do answer my questions. I'm sure these have been asked in some form, but I just have no desire to read countless thread for my answers. You pretty much confirmed what I had assumed.

[rudyjuly2]

I agree with everything you said in your post Doctorhay. I think Heisman is the way to go this year but that's obviously related to your gaming skills. NCAA '09 is easier than in the past. I've always been an AA guy but the cpu offense just wasn't good enough this year on that level. I don't see the cheating on Heisman either. The cpu pass blocking tends to be insanely good and the robo QB on default levels is annoying but I'm enjoying the game a lot more on Heisman.

[Starter]

Quote: Originally Posted by parkerjr

I'm somewhat new to these games and need some clarification on few things. I am a sim style player that wants the most realistc game.

I won't answer on all the questions but focus on the bigger issue.


A wise man once said, "You cannot turn a Whore into a Housewife" I think it was Too Short.

The game has too many flaws to get a "realistic football experience". And trying to force this game into being somethings it is not (a simulation of real life football) will only lead to frustration. But I you accept these flaws you can have a fun experience online. The CPU really has nothing to offer.

[ftball11]

Quote: Originally Posted by Starter

I won't answer on all the questions but focus on the bigger issue. A wise man once said, "You cannot turn a Whore into a Housewife" I think it was Too Short. The game has too many flaws to get a "realistic football experience". And trying to force this game into being somethings it is not (a simulation of real life football) will only lead to frustration. But I you accept these flaws you can have a fun experience online. The CPU really has nothing to offer.

I fully agree...on both points. This is not a sim-type game, as most football video games are not. And to answer the first Q in the post, yes I do believe the outcome of games and even dynasties may be predetermined.

I used some "test" dynasties to get a handle on the recruiting, so there was a lot of stopping and reloading. In those two dynasties, the games I played were way too easy, even against superior teams. In my current dynasty, I play staright up with no reloading. If I screw up on something, make a recruit mad or whatever, I just play through it. Whether it is a direct result or not, I have had some good games - way more than I did before. Two ESPN Classics in 9 games so far.

I am not saying I found the magical formula to make this games better, I am just talking about my experience. If, and the key word is "If", games and/or dynasties are predetermined, which I don't really know if they are or not, but if they are then maybe reloading over and over again has some bearing on how things turn out.

[thelasthurtknee]

my sliders that my od use are in fist's forum close to the end. a little easier than fist's but close to his. we play sim or aleast we dont manipulate the cpu ai. 0 for run blocking 100 for cpu d awarness with no probs running for anyone in our dynasty. you will run the ball fine if you know how to shift you o line to seal and reach. i also run the ball alot 1500 yards with number one back last year and had 2 first team acc and 2 second on my oline. 12 pancakes on the year i high for this level. speed cheat go removed three years ago so no worries.

just wanted to say to dochay that you are right on about everything you said.

the biggest thing that i have noticed with the switch to heisman from aa is the passing game. on aa the cb dont cover as close but when the ball is in the air the get faster and warp to the ball, this makes deep passing hard. on heisman the db's cover better but dont get burst when the ball is in the air. so you have less guys open but you can fit balls in with out something unrealistic happening. thats just one diffrence but the biggest. the other would have to be that on aa you have to put the cpu rb ability very high. anything over 60 makes the rb's bounce all over and break to many tackles. played ohio st. in my aa dynasty last year and wells had 17 bt's in the game and 7 on one play. wasnt even fun. and im not talking about breaking a tackle and getting a extra yard im talking about bowling over a team and going house. i still won. gay!

the best thing you can do is put hum awarness at 0 for the d. for some reason it takes the aggresiveness out of the cpu 0 and makes them play more realistic. you will get more sacks and get off blocks better. with it at 40 i was getting about 80 tackles a year with my mlb at 0 i got 127 last year. this fixed the game 100% and all my dyanasty partners agree. what a difference and i owe fist for that. yea its a little harder on d but not really a big change. you will be fine. the thing to remember is if they put more speed on field you need to counter that.

damn, sorry for the spelling, at work and trying to hurry.