Is there a way to not have my CPU teammates play like idiots?

[LAfan1624]

Be a gm mode there are nights where they just play like absolute idiots. They'll play a passing lane then at the lest second just get completely out of the way to allow a wide open one timer. Ill look at the replay and just absolutely dumbfounded at it. They skate around and dont receive easy passes, turn their back to the puck and make no effort at playing the puck carrier what so ever. Anchors on their skates and just move super slow. Even with good players they just play like morons. On power plays they stand around not even looking to get open for a pass.

So my question is, is there a way or a setting to turn this off? In play now, the teams I select play fine and normal to their attributes. Then be a gm mode, every now and then on random nights they will skate like elementary school hockey players and will stare off into the stands instead of playing the game, intentionally getting out of passing lanes, etc.

[actionhank]

You can search through the sliders forum and see if you can find any that suit your tastes. The sliders if unaltered should be the same between game modes, but I'm not 100% sure.

Unfortunately though, there's no sure-fire way to get the AI to play normally. They just don't have the know how to play smart hockey 90% of the time. Offensively can be frustrating, but since they generally do a good enough job of following the puck carrier (you) it's not too bad. On the defensive side of things however, they can be a nightmare. AI defenders just don't seem to know who to guard, how to stop and not drift away, or when to even pivot. I've had so many breakaways happen because I simply skated between two defenders who were ahead of me, but didn't pivot to keep up with my skater. They just skated through neutral ice in reverse, not turning until I was already well past them.

But, sliders can help to at least nerf/boost certain things to help make them more noticeable, and get a more even gameplay for you.

[LAfan1624]

I think team chemistry must have something to do with it. Team certainly plays a lot differently with a 70 % chemistry than they would with an 85 %.

[GlennN]

And this highlights one of my gripes with this game (and its predecessors in the series) - this should be a reflection of each player's offensive and defensive awareness, nothing more. A player with high defensive awareness should usually notice a man being left open for a one-timer, while a player with a lower rating may not. Yet, from my experience, the rating of the player does not really dictate this at all.

To answer your question, though, no, I do not know a way to have the AI play better.

[MizzouRah]

One thing that absolutely drives me INSANE.. I'm pinned against the boards and the logical pass to the opposite side of the player on the other team, my open players goes to the other side of the player that has me pinned so there is no way to get a pass to him.. even if my open player is on the correct side, he skates over to the wrong side. It really ticks me off and it's been this way since pinning was introduced into the series.

[LAfan1624]

I just had another game where my team decided to just skate at half speed and not even play with any effort what so ever. My goalie gave up 4 goals on 10 shots. I was doing everything I can to get back and defend but the other 4 linemates were consistently skating really really slow.

I understand the point of making it realistic in Be a gm mode because in the NHL some nights guys wont put in their usual effort. But there needs to be a way to turn this crap off so that I can just play normally.

[Vikes1]

Its the defensive stupidity that really drives me nuts.