CPU vs CPU Players... How are you enjoying the game. Anything Specific you recommend?

[Zuddyyy]

The Thread is back! Just wanted to see what yall thoughts are with slow sim in cfb 26. This thread was made last year so I wanted to bring this back especially for CPU VS CPU People out there. Love to see yall opinions and suggestions!

[ChaseB]

We've been chatting about it a bit in another thread, seems mostly promising so far.

[jd@os]

I mentioned this in another thread (not the one Chase linked), but when it comes to watching a CPU vs CPU game, I wish the camera switched from broadcast to an end-zone view during field goal and PAT attempts as it does on television broadcasts.

[Matt23134]

That would be awesome.

[Kyleimb]

Personally, since I think CPU vs CPU is the best way to understand the AI logic and updates (and because I work from home and can run these in the background all day lol), I've spent about 80% of my hours so far playing the game this was. Slow Sim dynasty. I have done a TON of tinkering with sliders so I haven't fully settled on anything yet, but I will confidently say as a heavy slow-sim guy for the last few cycles of EA football games, this is easily, far and away, the best it's ever been. No doubt for me personally, at least. All the new animations and a lot of the improved AI in many areas make watching the game feel way more dynamic than ever before, IMO. If I can just figure out how to get sacks dialed in (may not be possible again unfortunately), I'd be in heaven with the slow-sim in this game.

Just note that it did take a lot of slider tinkering to get close to a really good spot. In addition, I haven't tested as a G5 team playing a G5 schedule yet either, so I'm not sure how everything plays out there, as that can sometimes be quite different from watching mostly P4 matchups. At default sliders, you'll still see some of the great new WR/DB interactions, some of the really cool movement and decision making when QBs scramble or throw on the run, etc. But there will also be some wonky stat results per usual, mainly completion percentages being too high and lack of run game, in addition to the high sack count, of course.

It's crazy with the sacks too, because I feel like I'm simultaneously getting by far the best looking and most logical pressure handling/escaping/scrambling ever, but also still a TON of sacks. They seem to come in bunches at times, too, which is super frustrating because I'll be fairly deep in a game thinking, okay, there's only been 2 or 3 total sacks, so maybe I'm on to something, then boom, four sacks in like a 10-play stretch and then by the end of the game there's 10 to 13+ total sacks for the game. Almost makes me feel like it could be related to the CPU teams actually doing things like Pass commit or other adjustments when up late in games, which is boosting the pass rush/confusing the CPU QB or something. This is actually really good news if true, they just need to keep tuning the Pressure to sack conversion rate, where even if a CPU QB starts feeling more heavy pressure and/or stickier coverage, they increase their urgency to scramble or get rid of the ball at the same time.

The coverage logic is waaaay improved and can be seen really easily doing slow-sim, no more inexplicable wide open Streak TDs because of some broken coverage rule in Palms or Quarters. The safeties get over the top with much more urgency in their deep zones, so I'm not seeing the Cover 2 hole shot being automatic and/or even turning into a consistent, easy TD down the sideline because the safety is nowhere close like it did a lot in last year's game.

I know I focused on some negatives here, but it's because this feels sooooo close to being perfect. I've had a blast watching these games. If we can figure out how to get the sacks in a decent spot, keep the QB completion percentage realistic (I've had some solid success with a low accuracy slider) and the run game strong when it should be, I'll put like 2000 hours into this game hahah.

I also can't wait for them to move away from the static coaching suggestions game plan logic for CPU. I think they are heading that direction with what we've seen in Madden, too. I know the CPU adjusts via the RTC engine, but I don't really get the logic because I also know that they are limited to the same 20ish plays that are set up in the game plan for each situation on offense, which are also rated for frequency with the star system. So I don't know whether the AI adjusts those star ratings dynamically in game based on the flow, or if it's more simply a run-pass ratio type situation where they understand runs are having success, so they're more likely to pick one of the run plays available for the gameplan situation they're in. I just don't like the limitations of the gameplan setup. If I watch PSU play with Penn State playbook in 2025 and then again in 2040, it's still the same 20 plays that are available in each situation for the CPU to call on 1st down, 2nd medium, 3rd and long, etc. etc.

[TarHeelPhenom]

Biggest thing for me right now is the QB's hardly miss, and when they do none of them are overthrows. That's my current mission right now.

[Kyleimb]

I'm having success getting the completion percentage down on All-American, Revamped passing, QB Accuracy at 10, pass blocking at 100, pass reaction at 55, pass defense at 60 and speed parity at 55. I do 12 min/20 sec clock settings. I've had multiple games finish with QBs in the 50s and 60s with these recently. I've also seen plenty of overthrows, often uncatchable.

Here are the four quarterbacks' stats from the last two games I've watched as PSU in the 2026 season.

PSU vs Michigan 2026:
Bryce Underwood (86 overall) - 14/23 60% (They ran for 244 yards on us, so not a ton of passing from Bryce in this one lol)
Ethan Grunkemeyer (78 overall) - 26/31 63%

PSU vs Northwestern 2026:
Aidan Gray (80 overall) - 22/42 52%
Ethan Grunkemeyer - 18/31 58%

[Art01]

Hello Kyle,

Have you encountered any unusual issues at the end of games? In another thread I mentioned two instances in CFB25 CPU-CU mode, of seeing games end when there was enough time left for the CPU to run at least one play whereby the team trailing might have scored to either tie or win the game. The worst example was with 23 seconds remaining, the trailing team with one TO left and in possession of the ball at the opponents one yard line and trailing by 3 points.

[TarHeelPhenom]

I posted about this in the Impressions thread, but maybe it would be more appropriate here. Once you, and if you're willing to get past all of the NIL players and Real Coaches, there is actually a decent amount of customization at our disposal. The biggest thing for me as an offline gamer is the ability to have a multiple team Dynasty with full access to each team offline without being connected to the internet. Well, EA made that possible this year. Last year if you truly went offline, you could only access one team and that was the team the Dynasty was set up with. This year, you can truly do up to a 32 team Dynasty offline and have full access to each team. That's a big win and the biggest battle when it comes to customization.

Next, you can sim out however far you like and still be able to create however many coaches you want. For example, I plan on simming 6 seasons out to get rid of all NIL players so that I can have the ability to edit all game generated players. At the start of year 6, I can create 32 New Head Coaches. Creating New Coaches instead of using Existing Coaches will give me the ability to set up each Coach Adaptive AI, their Offensive/Defensive Aggression and their Schemes and Playbooks. Even better is if you ordered the Deluxe version of the game, you get 100 Coaching Points every single time you create a new Coach, no matter how many times you do it. So, each coach will start out at Level 1, but with 100 Coaching points to be used to help craft their style. I want to make each coach unique.

As for the players, the benefit of simming out until all NIL players are gone is that you can edit ratings and their Play Style if you want which can make each player look and feel different on the field.

I say all of this to say, that all of these things can/will go a mighty long way when it comes to the CPU v. CPU experience. I'm cool with having real NIL players and Real coaches. But, with that brings a lot of restrictions and limits our ability to customize the way we want. But, apart from that is where I feel the meat and potatoes are. Where the real fun begins with this game. I look forward to digging in and keeping up with what you all are doing as well.

[Kyleimb]

Hello Kyle,

Have you encountered any unusual issues at the end of games? In another thread I mentioned two instances in CFB25 CPU-CU mode, of seeing games end when there was enough time left for the CPU to run at least one play whereby the team trailing might have scored to either tie or win the game. The worst example was with 23 seconds remaining, the trailing team with one TO left and in possession of the ball at the opponents one yard line and trailing by 3 points.

Nope, haven't seen anything crazy like this at all yet. But, just wondering, were those in play now? The CPU has much larger issues with the clock in play now vs dynasty because of all the stadium cutaways they do in play now. The clock keeps running when they do these cutaways so if the game situation is one where the CPU should be hurrying to the line, calling timeout, spiking the ball, etc.....that logic doesn't kick in until AFTER the cutaways are finished.

Here's an example, if there are 10 seconds left in a game and a team trailing by 3 completes a pass over the middle of the field for 30 yards to their opponent's 40-yard line, in playnow mode, there will often times be a stadium cutaway or a replay, some kind of presentation element that plays out...but the clock just keeps running and often times the game will just expire during these situations. If it does cut back to the game before time expires, that's when the CPU will finally call the timeout or hurry to the line, etc.

In Dynasty mode, this does not happen as the CPU's time management logic triggers before any cutaways or replays that would potentially play out. So in the scenario above, the team that completed the pass would immediately call a timeout if they had one available, or immediately be hurrying to line with no presentation elements interrupting it.

Hopefully that all makes sense with what you experienced. If not, you may have encountered something totally different that I'm just not familiar with or seen yet.

[Kyleimb]

I posted about this in the Impressions thread, but maybe it would be more appropriate here. Once you, and if you're willing to get past all of the NIL players and Real Coaches, there is actually a decent amount of customization at our disposal. The biggest thing for me as an offline gamer is the ability to have a multiple team Dynasty with full access to each team offline without being connected to the internet. Well, EA made that possible this year. Last year if you truly went offline, you could only access one team and that was the team the Dynasty was set up with. This year, you can truly do up to a 32 team Dynasty offline and have full access to each team. That's a big win and the biggest battle when it comes to customization.

Next, you can sim out however far you like and still be able to create however many coaches you want. For example, I plan on simming 6 seasons out to get rid of all NIL players so that I can have the ability to edit all game generated players. At the start of year 6, I can create 32 New Head Coaches. Creating New Coaches instead of using Existing Coaches will give me the ability to set up each Coach Adaptive AI, their Offensive/Defensive Aggression and their Schemes and Playbooks. Even better is if you ordered the Deluxe version of the game, you get 100 Coaching Points every single time you create a new Coach, no matter how many times you do it. So, each coach will start out at Level 1, but with 100 Coaching points to be used to help craft their style. I want to make each coach unique.

As for the players, the benefit of simming out until all NIL players are gone is that you can edit ratings and their Play Style if you want which can make each player look and feel different on the field.

I say all of this to say, that all of these things can/will go a mighty long way when it comes to the CPU v. CPU experience. I'm cool with having real NIL players and Real coaches. But, with that brings a lot of restrictions and limits our ability to customize the way we want. But, apart from that is where I feel the meat and potatoes are. Where the real fun begins with this game. I look forward to digging in and keeping up with what you all are doing as well.

So, I hate to be a downer if you hadn't noticed this yet, but something in what you mentioned above that is pretty soul crushing for us CPU v CPU guys......You actually CANNOT edit any of the coaching details for the real coaches. Similar to NIL players. So unlike last year, where you could go in and play around with different adaptive AI settings, no huddle styles, aggression stuff for the fake coaches......you can't do that at all this year. It's super annoying because I was excited to run a bunch of tests with the new adaptive AI selections, basically watching the same game multiple times to keep variables the same, but changing these settings to see if I could identify the effects.

[TarHeelPhenom]

I'm having success getting the completion percentage down on All-American, Revamped passing, QB Accuracy at 10, pass blocking at 100, pass reaction at 55, pass defense at 60 and speed parity at 55. I do 12 min/20 sec clock settings. I've had multiple games finish with QBs in the 50s and 60s with these recently. I've also seen plenty of overthrows, often uncatchable.

Here are the four quarterbacks' stats from the last two games I've watched as PSU in the 2026 season.

PSU vs Michigan 2026:
Bryce Underwood (86 overall) - 14/23 60% (They ran for 244 yards on us, so not a ton of passing from Bryce in this one lol)
Ethan Grunkemeyer (78 overall) - 26/31 63%

PSU vs Northwestern 2026:
Aidan Gray (80 overall) - 22/42 52%
Ethan Grunkemeyer - 18/31 58%

I'll definitely be trying those out. Thanks

[Kyleimb]

WR catching at 35 and INTs at 20 with this current test set as well, just to complete all the sliders that would seemingly impact completion percentage.

[Art01]

Nope, haven't seen anything crazy like this at all yet. But, just wondering, were those in play now? The CPU has much larger issues with the clock in play now vs dynasty because of all the stadium cutaways they do in play now. The clock keeps running when they do these cutaways so if the game situation is one where the CPU should be hurrying to the line, calling timeout, spiking the ball, etc.....that logic doesn't kick in until AFTER the cutaways are finished.

Here's an example, if there are 10 seconds left in a game and a team trailing by 3 completes a pass over the middle of the field for 30 yards to their opponent's 40-yard line, in playnow mode, there will often times be a stadium cutaway or a replay, some kind of presentation element that plays out...but the clock just keeps running and often times the game will just expire during these situations. If it does cut back to the game before time expires, that's when the CPU will finally call the timeout or hurry to the line, etc.

In Dynasty mode, this does not happen as the CPU's time management logic triggers before any cutaways or replays that would potentially play out. So in the scenario above, the team that completed the pass would immediately call a timeout if they had one available, or immediately be hurrying to line with no presentation elements interrupting it.

Hopefully that all makes sense with what you experienced. If not, you may have encountered something totally different that I'm just not familiar with or seen yet.

Yes, I was playing in Play Now Mode. And yes, your response answers my question. I will have to consider whether or not to continue in Play Now Mode, or switch to Dynasty to avoid the possibility of clock mis-management during CPU-CPU games. I hope that this situation is different in CFB26, but, if not, I hope that EA will address this issue. The cut-away scenes add nothing to the enjoyment of the game for me and, when they screw up clock management in Play Now, either the issue should be fixed, or if the issue cannot be fixed, then eliminate the cut-away scenes to make clock management work properly.

[Kyleimb]

Unfortunately, I have watched some CPU vs CPU games in playnow mode in the new game and the same issue is still there with the clock running during cutaways and CPU clock management logic not kicking in till after those are done.

[TarHeelPhenom]

So, I hate to be a downer if you hadn't noticed this yet, but something in what you mentioned above that is pretty soul crushing for us CPU v CPU guys......You actually CANNOT edit any of the coaching details for the real coaches. Similar to NIL players. So unlike last year, where you could go in and play around with different adaptive AI settings, no huddle styles, aggression stuff for the fake coaches......you can't do that at all this year. It's super annoying because I was excited to run a bunch of tests with the new adaptive AI selections, basically watching the same game multiple times to keep variables the same, but changing these settings to see if I could identify the effects.

My apologies if I wasn't clear, I have scattered brain lol. What I was trying to convey was that because you can't edit real coaches, my plan is to create new coaches from scratch. That way I'll be able to edit their information. Having real NIL players and real Coaches is great and adds authenticity to the game. But, it severely hampers our ability to edit and customize. So, I'm going to bypass them in my Dynasty and sim in order to have game generated players only and then create new coaches from scratch.

[Kyleimb]

ahhhh gotcha, makes sense. I may have to tinker with this path as well eventually.

[1CK1S]

If you guys find some legit great Cpu v Cpu hit post them, had a hard time finding a decent one last year.

[Lukeduke78]

I only play offense and super sim at slow speed on D. Wish the score ticker stayed up the entire time when on D. Also at the end of the first half if I miss a field goal, it seems to skip the second half kickoff.