The Ratings Matter Slider Project (CFB 26 Edition)

[kstater555]

I just can't stop robo QB in this game. It doesn't even matter if it's heisman or all American. The QBs seem to be incompetent or prime Peyton Manning. Rocco becht just threw for 468 yards on me with 78% completion LMAO. He had a 228 QBR with 14 yards a pass. Have you had robo QB for the CPU? I don't play defense and just allow my CPU players to play and it was horrible lol. Been my issue with the game that and cpu run game. But honestly cpu run game has been better of late for me

[bucknut7]

Curious to know what you’re seeing with W&T here

[kstater555]

With default sliders I've seen W&T have much more effect on the user than the CPU. Im not sure how we can change how much the career W&T goes down because with lowering it it works really well to reduce the season pool usage but then it just take more of the career pool instead. That was my experience at least. Have you been able to reduce the career pool use?

[MassChaos]

With default sliders I've seen W&T have much more effect on the user than the CPU. Im not sure how we can change how much the career W&T goes down because with lowering it it works really well to reduce the season pool usage but then it just take more of the career pool instead. That was my experience at least. Have you been able to reduce the career pool use?

I haven’t had time to actually play several seasons which is what it will take to know for sure. My overall philosophy with W&T is to lower the individual game to game effects, to try and make it only truly impact teams that have played a long stretch without a bye and/or playoff teams.
minimizing the amount of both impact and recovery should help with the career pool. CPU/CPU games seem to use their own settings, but those teams sort of revert to a wear and tear level based on your sliders when you actually play them (probably to cut down on what the sim engine has to keep track of) so it shouldn’t really matter what happens with a player on a cpu only team. They should revert back to a normal level if you get them in the portal, but I haven’t tested that so EA might’ve overlooked that aspect.

I wish I could just turn W&T off because it seems like a good idea/poor execution situation, but I want to see injuries.

[MassChaos]

The v3 set still works fine after the patch. I’m going to post a “raised threshold” set if anyone wants to test it out. I just don’t like some of the animations I’m seeing with the threshold lower than 40..

“Raised Threshold WIP Set - 8/24

User
QB Accuracy - 34
Pass Blocking - 70
WR Catching - 39
Run Blocking - 5
Ball Security - 52
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 60
Interceptions - 35
Pass Coverage - 35
Tackling - 20

CPU
QB Accuracy - 34
Pass Blocking - 65
WR Catching - 39
Run Blocking - 77
Ball Security - 52
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 60
Interceptions - 35
Pass Coverage - 35
Tackling - 40

Special Teams
Supersim all special teams plays.
(CPU still unaffected by sliders, will kick 59+ yarders if played, so sim all kicks)

Game Options
Injuries - 15 (testing, will probably change as the W&T settings get finalized)
Fatigue - 92
Min Player Speed Threshold - 57


Penalties
Offside - 75
False Start - 65
Holding - 55
Face Mask - 45
DPI - 75
Illegal Block in the Back - 25 (credit to Matt10)
Roughing the Passer - 47
Turn OFF Illegal Contact and Offensive Pass Interference
All Other Penalties are ON

League Settings
Quarter Length - 12
Minimum Play Clock Time - 17

Wear and Tear (Still WIP)
Normal Tackle Impact - 10
Catch Tackle Impact - 10
Hit Stick Impact - 15
Cut Stick Impact - 13
Defender Tack Advantage Impact - 10
Sack Impact - 7
Block Impact - 10
Impact Block Impact - 15
Play Recovery - 2
Timeout Recovery - 5
Quarter Recovery - 5
Halftime Recovery - 15
Week to Week Recovery - 25 (This is the one I'm most focused on right now, I want players to be a little banged up if the team is on a long stretch without a bye/deep in the playoffs)
In-Game Recovery Pool - 30

[Heyuimintojsus]

The Ratings Matter Slider Project (CFB 26 Edition)

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The reason I enjoy college football way more than the NFL is because of the large gap in talent between the different players on the field. Even the best college football teams have players that will be going pro in something other than football. While I understand that some gamers just want a "fun" game where the players do not make the types of mistakes that real life players make, I prefer to see those mistakes take place within the game. With this set I will try to introduce things like missed tackles, poorly thrown balls, broken coverages, and penalties into the game. The overall goal is a realistic experience, where having an elite player matters because bad players play poorly. Upsets can and should still happen, but only when the underdog plays exceptionally well, and the favored team, uncharacteristically, struggles.



I've struggled a bit finalizing a set for the current state of the game. Even with the patch, I'm finding the running game to be way too easy for the user, and way too difficult for the CPU. So I highly recommend playing "No Switch" on defense, at least on running plays, as well as trying your best to avoid certain running plays that often lead to 10+ yard runs without any contact.

Also, a few settings have been set at values that are not exactly where I'd ideally have them, but where I believe they need to be to give the CPU a better chance on the offensive end.

USER Tackling at 8 does help the CPU establish some semblance of a run game, however there are a few issues it creates. 1. QBs are more likely to break sacks, this can lead to some pretty bad looking animations. 2. Broken tackle animations can chain together in a way that not only looks terribly unrealistic, but occasionally actually leads to the CPU losing more yards than they would have if the first tackle was successful. 3. The game looks wildly different from an animation stand point depending on which team has the ball. The user run game might actually benefit from increasing tackling a little more, but I don't want the discrepancy between broken tackles to be even worse than it already is.

WR Catching at 44 does help the receivers gain a little more separation, which I believe helps the CPU "force" balls into tighter spots, leading to more incompletions, however it does lead to some pretty wonky catching through contact animations. I have it set the same for both User/CPU because I don't want an advantage either way when it comes to the ability to catch in traffic.

Speed Threshold at 37 allows the typically speedier RBs to have a speed advantage over most of the defense (except against some CBs) again the goal is to help out the CPU without giving too much of a boost to the user. I think the game "feels" better in the 45-55 range, but the running game feels too congested for the CPU to manage when it's that high imo.


Wear and Tear and the injury settings are still a WIP. I'm trying to find a balance to where in game wear and tear is low enough that the Season and Career pools are drained for a lot of QB/RBs while also having players feel the effects of a long stretch of games without a bye.

here is a WIP alternative set with a raised threshold and without some of those concessions. I haven’t played enough to make it a “final” set though. Please note which set you’re using when providing feedback.

Spoiler

“Raised Threshold WIP Set - 8/24

User
QB Accuracy - 34
Pass Blocking - 70
WR Catching - 39
Run Blocking - 5
Ball Security - 52 Pass Defense Reaction Time - 60
Interceptions - 35
Pass Coverage - 35
Tackling - 20

CPU
QB Accuracy - 34
Pass Blocking - 65
WR Catching - 39
Run Blocking - 77
Ball Security - 52
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 60
Interceptions - 35
Pass Coverage - 35
Tackling - 40

Special Teams
Supersim all special teams plays.
(CPU still unaffected by sliders, will kick 59+ yarders if played, so sim all kicks)

Game Options
Injuries - 15 (testing, will probably change as the W&T settings get finalized)
Fatigue - 92
Min Player Speed Threshold - 57


Penalties
Offside - 75
False Start - 65
Holding - 55
Face Mask - 45
DPI - 75
Illegal Block in the Back - 25 (credit to Matt10)
Roughing the Passer - 47
Turn OFF Illegal Contact and Offensive Pass Interference
All Other Penalties are ON

League Settings
Quarter Length - 12
Minimum Play Clock Time - 17

Wear and Tear (Still WIP)
Normal Tackle Impact - 10
Catch Tackle Impact - 10
Hit Stick Impact - 15
Cut Stick Impact - 13
Defender Tack Advantage Impact - 10
Sack Impact - 7
Block Impact - 10
Impact Block Impact - 15
Play Recovery - 2
Timeout Recovery - 5
Quarter Recovery - 5
Halftime Recovery - 15
Week to Week Recovery - 25 (This is the one I'm most focused on right now, I want players to be a little banged up if the team is on a long stretch without a bye/deep in the playoffs)
In-Game Recovery Pool - 30

8/17 V3

All-American
Classic Passing
No Switch on defense

User
QB Accuracy - 32
Pass Blocking - 75
WR Catching - 44
Run Blocking - 5
Ball Security - 52
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 65
Interceptions - 40
Pass Coverage - 42
Tackling - 8

CPU
QB Accuracy - 37
Pass Blocking - 75
WR Catching - 44
Run Blocking - 100
Ball Security - 52
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 65
Interceptions - 40
Pass Coverage - 42
Tackling - 37

Special Teams
Supersim all special teams plays.
(CPU field goals are still unaffected by sliders, will make 59+ yarders if played, so sim all kicks)

Game Options
Injuries - 15 (testing, will probably change as the W&T settings get finalized)
Fatigue - 92
Min Player Speed Threshold - 37


Penalties
Offside - 55
False Start - 60
Holding - 45
Face Mask - 37
DPI - 75
Illegal Block in the Back - 80
Roughing the Passer - 50
Turn OFF Illegal Contact and Offensive Pass Interference
All Other Penalties are ON

League Settings
Quarter Length - 12
Minimum Play Clock Time - 17

Wear and Tear (Still WIP)
Normal Tackle Impact - 10
Catch Tackle Impact - 10
Hit Stick Impact - 15
Cut Stick Impact - 13
Defender Tack Advantage Impact - 10
Sack Impact - 7
Block Impact - 10
Impact Block Impact - 15
Play Recovery - 2
Timeout Recovery - 5
Quarter Recovery - 5
Halftime Recovery - 15
Week to Week Recovery - 25 (This is the one I'm most focused on right now, I want players to be a little banged up if the team is on a long stretch without a bye/deep in the playoffs)
In-Game Recovery Pool - 30

8/8 WIP set

Spoiler

User
QB Accuracy - 22
Pass Blocking - 67
WR Catching - 37
Run Blocking - 3
Ball Security - 55
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 90
Interceptions - 45
Pass Coverage - 50
Tackling - 36

CPU
QB Accuracy - 22
Pass Blocking - 67
WR Catching - 37
Run Blocking - 96
Ball Security - 55
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 90
Interceptions - 35
Pass Coverage - 50
Tackling - 36

Special Teams
Supersim all special teams plays.
(CPU still unaffected by sliders, will kick 59+ yarders if played, so sim all kicks)

Game Options
Injuries - 15 (testing, will probably change as the W&T settings get finalized)
Fatigue - 89
Min Player Speed Threshold - 45


Penalties
Offside - 65
False Start - 80
Holding - 63
Face Mask - 40
DPI - 75
Illegal Block in the Back - 52
Roughing the Passer - 50
Turn OFF Illegal Contact
All Other Penalties are ON

League Settings
Quarter Length - 12
Minimum Play Clock Time - 20

Wear and Tear
Normal Tackle Impact - 10
Catch Tackle Impact - 10
Hit Stick Impact - 15
Cut Stick Impact - 13
Defender Tack Advantage Impact - 10
Sack Impact - 7
Block Impact - 7
Impact Block Impact - 12
Play Recovery - 3
Timeout Recovery - 7
Quarter Recovery - 10
Halftime Recovery - 15
Week to Week Recovery - 50 (This is the one I'm most focused on right now, I want players to be a little banged up if the team is on a long stretch without a bye/deep in the playoffs)
In-Game Recovery Pool - 50

7/31 WIP set

Spoiler

Went back to the drawing board a little. Ignored any “Penalties affect gameplay” outside of the intentional grounding, and instead went for where they’d ideally be if penalties were actually called this year..

Also for the sliders, I reset back to default, and any point I took away from one slider, I added to another, to keep the same amount of points. Don’t ask why that makes any difference, but that, combined with a higher than typical Interception setting, have provided some of the first sub 70% cpu passing games I’ve seen. The running game is still hit or miss from them, but I think that’s a patch issue, not a slider one.

All American
Classic passing

User
QB Accuracy - 13
Pass Blocking - 47
WR catching - 40
Run blocking - 10
Ball Security - 40
Pass Defense Reaction - 20
Interception - 45
Pass Coverage - 62
Tackling - 23

CPU
QB Accuracy - 15
Pass Blocking - 50
WR Catching - 40
Run Blocking - 70
Ball Security - 55
Pass Defense Reaction - 35
Interception - 45
Pass Coverage - 75
Tackling - 45

Injuries - 35 (Currently testing values)
Fatigue -90
Speed Threshold - 42

Penalties
Offsides - 60
False Start - 60
Holding - 70
Face Mask - 65
DPI - 80
Block in the Back - 50
Roughing Passer - 50
Intentional Grounding - OFF
Illegal Contact - OFF

Wear and Tear OFF

Special Teams
Supersim all special teams plays. (This can lead to situations where the cpu goes for it on 4th. Personally I am okay with it.)


League Settings
Quarter Length - 12
Minimum Play Clock Time - 20


It's incredibly difficult to balance wear and tear for both the user played games, and the cpu simmed ones. It also leads to too many short term injuries. Having fatigue at 90, I'm seeing a good enough rotation of players, so I don't really see the benefit of the wear and tear system.


Other notes
Use either Classic Passing or Placement (I use Classic)
Auto Player Progression

Still testing XP and Transfers, for now, I'd set all xp sliders near 0 (Especially WRs) except FS at 150, and SS at 300.

Still testing transfer settings, but leaning on limiting the total number per team to around 10-12 but using 100 chance. Lower ranked teams are losing more players than good teams, so when you have too many players leaving, the talent stays at the top teams, and the bottom teams become very bad.

Launch Day V1 set

Spoiler

All-American Difficulty

User
QB Accuracy - 10
Pass Blocking - 39
WR Catching - 38
Run Blocking -20
Ball Security - 30
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 50
Interceptions - 30
Pass Coverage - 60
Tackling - 60

CPU
QB Accuracy - 10
Pass Blocking - 39
WR Catching - 38
Run Blocking -80
Ball Security - 30
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 50
Interceptions - 40
Pass Coverage - 60
Tackling - 65

Special Teams
Supersim all special teams plays.
(CPU still unaffected by sliders, will kick 59+ yarders if played, so sim all kicks)

Game Options
Injuries - 10 (was seeing too many, even at 15 and 20) potentially could go higher if Wear and Tear become useful, more on that later)
Fatigue -90 (Seems pretty broken. Getting players rotating realistically seems impossible, having it too high can occasionally lead to players disappearing, but its more likely you'll rarely see starters subbing at all outside of the defensive line.)
Min Player Speed Threshold - 95
All other precipitation sliders at 30, except movement penalty at 40

Penalties
Offside - 60
False Start - 60
Holding - 66
Face Mask - 35 (should help with wrap-up tackles vs hit stick)
DPI - 75 (very rarely called)
Illegal Block in the Back - 53
Roughing the Passer - 30 (Credit to YaBarber and Matt10, lowering this greatly reduces pass rush)


League Settings
Quarter Length - 11
Minimum Play Clock Time - 17

Wear and Tear

Please read above paragraph before using this set, it does not make wear and tear based substitutions, because I can not find an combination of sliders that cause substitutions without causing starting players to miss the 4th quarters of games. This set will allow for a small amount of wear and tear to occur during games, you can play with the default settings, or turn Wear and Tear off entirely, for the time being.
All Impact sliders - 50
All in game recovery sliders - 5
Week to Week Recovery - 50
In-Game Healing Reserve Pool - 100



Other notes
Use either Classic Passing or Placement
Auto Player Progression
Max Transfers between 17-23
Transfer Chance needs more testing

Spoiler

End of Day 3 WIP set for Launch Day

User
QB Accuracy - 20
Pass Blocking - 70
WR Catching - 38
Run Blocking -20
Ball Security - 30
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 50
Interceptions - 40
Pass Coverage - 60
Tackling - 40

CPU
QB Accuracy - 20
Pass Blocking - 80
WR Catching - 38
Run Blocking -80
Ball Security - 30
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 50
Interceptions - 40
Pass Coverage - 60
Tackling - 40

Special Teams
Supersim all special teams plays.
CPU unaffected by sliders, will kick 59+ yarders if played

Game Options
Injuries - 20
Fatigue -75 (Seems pretty broken. Getting players rotating realistically seems impossible)
Min Player Speed Threshold - 80 (testing a higher threshold, might go back to 57, would lower cpu rb significantly)
All other precipitation sliders at 30

Penalties
Offside - 60
False Start - 60
Holding - 66
Face Mask - 85 (Haven't seen it called)
DPI - 70 (very rarely called)
Illegal Block in the Back - 53
Roughing the Passer - 50 (Rarely called, if raised, results in calls at the slightest bump.

Player substitutions seem to be broken. The Wear and Tear sliders are very touchy, and the inclusion of the "In-Game Healing Reserve Pool" even at 100, means that raising the impact values too much can lead to disappearing players late in games. I'm keeping these at default for the time being, I spent two days testing different combinations along side different fatigue values and didn't find anything even close to resembling a realistic rotation. (you can use the in game sub feature as well as formation subs, but obviously the cpu wont..)

League Settings
Quarter Length - 11
Minimum Play Clock Time - 17
Wear and Tear
All default for now. Potentially need a patch to make actually useful.
(If fatigue gets patched to make rotations work like last year, I'd recommend setting all of these super low, including minimizing the recovery ones. To make it a more season/career feature vs trying to balance it for single game uses.)


Other notes
Use either Classic Passing or Placement
Auto Player Progression
Max Transfers between 17-23
Transfer Chance needs more testing

End of Day 2 WIP set

Spoiler

All-American Difficulty

User
QB Accuracy - 11
Pass Blocking - 57
WR Catching - 38
Run Blocking -25
Ball Security - 40
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 45
Interceptions - 45
Pass Coverage - 58
Tackling - 40

CPU
QB Accuracy - 11
Pass Blocking - 67
WR Catching - 38
Run Blocking -40
Ball Security - 40
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 45
Interceptions - 45
Pass Coverage - 58
Tackling - 40

Special Teams
Supersim all special teams plays.
CPU unaffected by sliders, will kick 59+ yarders if played

Game Options
Injuries - 20
Fatigue -100 (Seems massively broken. Wear and Tear will be primary reason players sub in/out
Min Player Speed Threshold - 57
Precipitation Catch - 35
Precipitation Pass Strength - 35
Precipitation Movement Penalties - 40
All other precipitation sliders at 50

Penalties
Offside - 58
False Start - 80
Holding - 67
Face Mask - 99 (Haven't seen it called)
DPI - 99 (very rarely called)
Illegal Block in the Back - 55
Roughing the Passer - 50 (Rarely called, if raised, results in calls at the slightest bump.

Player substitutions are almost entirely based on W&T. Its going to take some time to lock in a perfect combination for these. The following settings are extremely WIP, they might work for a single game, but might break over the course of a season. Getting that balance right will be the result of a lot of trial and error.

League Settings
Quarter Length - 11
Minimum Play Clock Time - 25
Wear and Tear
Normal Tackle Impact - 70
Catch Tackle Impact - 70
Hit Stick Impact - 70
Cut Stick Impact - 70
Defender Tackle Advantage Impact - 70
Sack Impact - 70
Block Impact - 70
Impact Block Impact - 70
Per-Play Recovery - 15
Per-Timeout Recovery - 70
Between-Quarter Recovery - 70
Halftime Recovery - 85
Week to Week Recovery - 95
In-Game Healing Reserve Pool - 100

Other notes
Use either Classic Passing or Placement
Auto Player Progression
Max Transfers between 17-23
Transfer Chance needs more testing

(XP sliders, as well as Wear and Tear sliders will be worked on as well, but will probably be completed after the gameplay set.)

How would these do with bad teams for like a rebuild dynasty and only using small/bad teams?

[kaos]

Any adjustments?

[MassChaos]

User
QB Accuracy - 30
Pass Blocking - 70
WR Catching - 39
Run Blocking - 5
Ball Security - 52
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 62
Interceptions - 35
Pass Coverage - 37
Tackling - 20

CPU
QB Accuracy - 30
Pass Blocking - 65
WR Catching - 39
Run Blocking - 77
Ball Security - 52
Pass Defense Reaction Time - 62
Interceptions - 35
Pass Coverage - 37
Tackling - 40

Game Options
Injuries - 15 (testing, will probably change as the W&T settings get finalized)
Fatigue - 92
Min Player Speed Threshold - 57


Penalties
Offside - 75
False Start - 65
Holding - 55
Face Mask - 45
DPI - 75
Illegal Block in the Back - 25 (credit to Matt10)
Roughing the Passer - 47
Turn OFF Illegal Contact and Offensive Pass Interference
All Other Penalties are ON

Still tweaking W&T

[MassChaos]

Any adjustments?

I've been using these tweaks to the "Raised Threshold" set and have been seeing good things.

[Footballjunki3]

I've been using these tweaks to the "Raised Threshold" set and have been seeing good things.

Can you elaborate on the speed threshold? From what I can see using practice mode, 57 doesn't really allow for any WR separation, even if the WR is exponetionally quicker than the DB. 17 seems to create proper separation.

[AustinWolv]

CPU Qba can't be higher than 20 as RoboQB will live on, been true for any slider set I've tried across Heisman or AA.
Ideal number in Heisman is 10-12 to avoid RoboQB.
I'll have to experiment with AA but already seen it with the QBA used above that is 20+.