Plays do matter... big time

[baa7]

I’ve known for some time that the CPU performs/responds/cheats according to the play you’ve called. Example: with an I Pro All Hot, the CPU will play you straight up. But call certain other slant plays and it will magically know to move the CB into inside coverage. I’ve even seem the CB shift from inside to outside coverage, after I’ve audibled out of one of those slants.

NFL players must be psychic… and that’s why they pay them the big bucks I guess.

But this morning I discovered something that blew my mind. And it makes no sense. I called a Flip Triple, 50 Double Outs. Now, Barlow is supposed to swing out of the backfield for the pass, but he blows his assignment and hangs around the pocket with me. So I figure it’s his low Run Route rating (which along with his Catch should be bumped up 25 points – the guy caught 35 balls last year playing part-time).

Anyway, I call the play again: same nitwit results. What the HECK? So I go replay, and I see the D was blitzing, and Barlow decided to block. To make a long story short, after twenty minutes of running that play it became apparent that EVERY TIME the D blitzed, Barlow, instead of heading out for the pass, stayed to block. I even created a custom playbook with just blitz plays, took it into a game, and every time Barlow just stood there.

The good news is that he correctly runs his assignment on other plays where the D is blitzing and where I’ve kindly asked him to PLEASE RUN OUT FOR THE PASS!

Folks, this is weird programming IMO. Nevertheless, I enjoy this game too much. So I have – once again with this glitchy game – decided to look on the bright side: I’ve got a new project! I get to comb through my playbook and discard those plays in which the ability of my players to perform properly and run their routes correctly is directly dependant on the CPU’s play calling.

[baa7]

Well, I found another play where the HB won’t run out for the pass as instructed, but stays instead to block if the D is blitzing: Trips, 50 Y/A Curl-n-Go. So obviously there are a bunch of plays programmed like this. And I found a fix of sorts: you can hot route the HB into a Speed Out or whatever and he’ll take off instead of blocking, which is good. But you shouldn’t have to do that if you’ve already chosen a play where you’re expecting him to swing out for the pass. Goofy.

[baa7]

A couple more plays where the HB stays to block on a blitz when he’s supposed to be running out for the pass (in other words, these plays doesn’t work properly): Quads, 50 All Curl, and Triple, X Arrow-n-Go. So far these are all plays in single back formations.

And now the REALLY weird news, which I’ve suspected for some time. First, try running a Doubles, 50 H Wheel, and throw to the HB coming out of the backfield. What happens? The QB throws the ball several yards up field, in front of the HB. Nowhere close. In fact, the ball heads straight to where the CB is if he’s in zone coverage and… INT! And this doesn’t just happen once in a while – it happens every time. And this doesn’t just happen with certain QB’s throwing to certain HB’s – it happens no matter who your team is and who your players are. The “bad pass” is programmed into the play itself.

I’ve thought for a month now that VC pre-programmed “bad passes” and INT-friendly plays into this year’s game. This is one, obviously, and there’s undoubtedly others, because I’ve seen a ton of idiotic passes that fly several yards off the mark. What’s sad is that these pre-programmed cheat plays have NOTHING to do with player ratings. That’s the awful news in this for me, and it makes editing ratings completely useless unless one can find a bunch of plays that aren’t programmed like this.

I also believe this is one of the reasons for the at-times awful DB play. Some of the DB nonsense is pre-programmed IMO – different DB nonsense programmed into different D plays. The difference is that I’ve yet to find a D play where I can replicate the nonsense or cheat every time. The closest I’ve seen was in last year’s game where the RCB in 43, 2 Hard would go diving for the swing pass to the HB, taking himself completely out of the play. I once ran that play ten times and caused ten RCB dives in a row. But it didn’t work EVERY time ;-)

[Medway]

Interesting. I wonder if they actually programmed it to play "bad" like this or maybe its just certain plays confuse the AI. If its possible to edit the playbook I'd like to see if maybe you could get the pass to go correctly.

Jesse

[Rocky]

You have to take into account that even the best QB's in the world make bad throws and the best CB's in the world make bad plays. Swing passes work fine for me, don't know what you're doing. There are just too many factors than "it must be programmed into the game". If you're playing with the Niners, Rattay has low consistency. He will throw more bad balls than most other QB's.

[zappa55]

There are some plays where if you look closely the RB looks to block first and then runs his route. That is how some plays are designed. The RB looks for a blitz and if there isn't a blitz he runs into the flats. I am not sure if that is the case of the plays you were talking about or not but look closely it might show a blocking symbol and then the route.

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by zappa55

There are some plays where if you look closely the RB looks to block first and then runs his route. That is how some plays are designed. The RB looks for a blitz and if there isn't a blitz he runs into the flats. I am not sure if that is the case of the plays you were talking about or not but look closely it might show a blocking symbol and then the route.

I’ll take a look, thanks. And anyone who wants to try, please go run a Doubles, 50 H Wheel a dozen times with two or three different teams and then tell me if you think the bad throw the to HB is legit.

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by Medway

Interesting. I wonder if they actually programmed it to play "bad" like this or maybe its just certain plays confuse the AI. If its possible to edit the playbook I'd like to see if maybe you could get the pass to go correctly.

Interesting theory about certain plays confusing the AI. And I’ll restate my belief that VC programmed certain plays to breakdown – either defensively or offensively – in order to increase the possibility of the reception or interception. So it’s a matter of knowing which plays will produce which results, the highest percentage of the time. Want to go slant route in the middle? Be careful calling an I Pro, 90 Quick Hit. On that particular play, the CPU D often anticipates the slant in and so the CB lines up inside, looking for the INT. Other slants work fine with no sense the CPU is cheating inside.

I’m going to run some tests on the different screens in the various formations. I feel the CPU is often cheating here as well: the User chooses screen, so the CPU chooses zone coverage and sits there with its CB’s waiting for the lob pass over the HB’s head.