Aaron McHardy Scripting Interview

[UK0wnag3]

Not sure if anyone else has seen this, so I thought I'd share it with you guys.

Aaron McHardy interview on scripting:

"Momentum, Scripting, Simply having a bad game. Call it whatever you like, but it’s probably the most discussed topic on the FIFA boards ever and one that’s divided the community in a bigger way than the manual vs assisted debate could ever hope to.

EA are steadfast in their denial but there are groups that are having none of it and firmly believe that some form of scripting exists to weigh in on the outcome of matches. Given that it’s such a massive issue for some people we put together a list of questions related to the topic and sent them over to EA.

Romily Broad then sat game play producer Aaron Mchardy down and got him to work through them, reading each question out before answering, giving us the Dev teams perspective on things. Here it is, 20 minutes of explanation, straight from the horses mouth so to speak.

We’d like to say a massive thank you to Rom for putting this together and to Aaron for taking the time to answer our questions."

http://fifasoccerblog.com/blog/momen...rdy-interview/

[Yeats]

With the PC version, there are gameplay mods with .ini codes that can be edited to completely eliminate the momentum programming:

AI Use Morale Effects - Change to 0
CPUAI Use Mentality - Change to 0
Use Home And Away Effects For Player Attributes - Change to 0

I've edited the .ini file in my game, and now teams no longer have any kind of momentum advantage or disadvantage throughout the entire match. And I've done it for both regularcat's and fidel's gameplay mods.

EDIT: You'll notice I prefer the term momentum programming to scripting. That's what it actually is -- a team momentum advantage. And that's all it is.

[Maxflier]

They can deny it all they want, but there are just WAY too many 45' & 90' goals for it to be conicidence.

[Yeats]

Quote: Originally Posted by Maxflier

They can deny it all they want, but there are just WAY too many 45' & 90' goals for it to be conicidence.

All a result of the momentum programming. The momentum programming will give the CPU team a skill advantage for a time, at which point you'll see more of those types of goals.

[Maxflier]

Yet they claim there is no momentum programming in the game...

[Yeats]

Quote: Originally Posted by Maxflier

Yet they claim there is no momentum programming in the game...

Scripting is different from momentum programming. Some claim that scripting exists, and causes specific outcomes to occur. That's not how the game is programmed. Rather, both the CPU team and the User team will at various stages of each match be given a momentum advantage. Which is why you'll see more goals flying in the net from distance, due to increased Finishing ratings for example.

But those goals aren't pre-programmed, and can be prevented with good defence and proper positioning. Where the game "cheats" somewhat is when the CPU has the momentum, and gets a free kick from close in. They score cheap goals that way as there's no real defense for that. Thankfully, raising the CPU Shot Error slider helps cut down on those goals. But even there with the PC version, I haven't had an issue with those types of goals ever since I edited the .ini file and did away with the momentum boosts.

[DemiGodzillla]

Quote: Originally Posted by Yeats

All a result of the momentum programming. The momentum programming will give the CPU team a skill advantage for a time, at which point you'll see more of those types of goals.

You're missing the point, if the game is giving one of the teams a momentum boost before the half, every game, no matter what, whether it's the player or the AI, it's still scripted, it's a scripted momentum boost. It's got nothing to do with whether or not one of the teams has actually built momentum fairly, it's just given to them.

Same thing with free kicks, if a player all of a sudden has unfairly, artificially high numbers for his free kick stats just because he's going to take a free kick during a time his team needs a goal, that's not a momentum boost because it's not built on momentum. That boost should come from something like a mentality or clutch rating, not a free handout from the AI to itself.

Yes, all these things can be avoided and defended and you can beat this unfair system, but you shouldn't have to. You shouldn't have to play against Blackburn players who's numbers have gone up 10 points behind the scenes because they somehow have the momentum when they're losing 2-0 away from home to a superior team and being battered on possession numbers.

[Yeats]

Quote: Originally Posted by DemiGodzillla

You're missing the point, if the game is giving one of the teams a momentum boost before the half, every game, no matter what, whether it's the player or the AI, it's still scripted, it's a scripted momentum boost.

I'm not missing the point, and I agree with you: you're right on. There are "scripted momentum happenings" going on in the game every single match. My point is that some people claim you can't prevent the CPU from scoring when the scripting happens, and that CPU goals are predetermined or something. And that's incorrect.

Anyway, I stopped buying FIFA after 09 precisely because of this momentum scripting issue. I was playing the game on the console at the time and I vowed never to buy FIFA again until the devs removed the momentum scripting. But last year I bought a gaming PC, and picked up FIFA 12 knowing there was a good chance someone would create a gameplay mod ala the PES community. And that the scripting issue could be fixed that way. Sure enough that was the case.