Does the CPU cheat?

[eyeamg0dly]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

I respectfully disagree with you. The AI cheats a lot. Mind you, there is a lot less of it in the NG version than the PG version, because the AI is smarter all around. Without sliders, this game cheats, period. To be more accurate, I believe the game penalizes you for mistakes, in a non-realistic fashion, that definitely end up in a goal one way or another.

The fact you dont experience these things may be because youre so good at the game, it has no way to penalize you.

so which is it? i play poor and the cpu capitalizes or it cheats? I don't disagree with you in the way you are penalized for making poor decisions, however how many times do you have to make these type of decisions before you learn?

I just picked up the game on NG a few weeks ago and I think it is a little harder compared to last gen. The defense plays similar to last gen launch (pre patch). I don't have to adjust sliders too much, just a slight tweak to accel and speed. I play on WC difficulty and find the games plays pretty good. Just need more fouls.

[orion523]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

I respectfully disagree with you. The AI cheats a lot. Mind you, there is a lot less of it in the NG version than the PG version, because the AI is smarter all around. Without sliders, this game cheats, period. To be more accurate, I believe the game penalizes you for mistakes, in a non-realistic fashion, that definitely end up in a goal one way or another.

The fact you dont experience these things may be because youre so good at the game, it has no way to penalize you.

Talking real world here, in professional sports especially, mistakes/errors are 99% of the time the difference in the game, just look at last night's Eagles/Saints game, a Riley Cooper dropped pass and a bad cary Williams penalty on the final kickoff are ultimately what cost the Eagles the game, its harsh but its reality, one mistake is all it takes sometimes. Cheating would mean that the CPU was breaking rules to beat you, does that happen? I've never seen it. Do they defy physics in a way that you cannot? Haven't seen that either. Are there momentum swings that work for or against you depending on form? Yes there are, but at the end of the season the benefits/consequences usually cancel each other out. Here's a perfect example, I play on Legendary, I'm level on points with 3rd place Napoli, and ahead of 5th place inter by 3 points. In round 35 I'm at home against 2nd place Milan(on a 6 game win streak), and Napoli and Inter are playing one another. If the CPU was cheating, I would have lost and Napoli would have won, all but knocking me out of Champions league next season. What happened? I won 2-0, the second goal coming on a MISTAKE by the CPU, here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1384685105122049&set=vb.100007417173241&type=2&theater

As for Napoli, they lost 1-0 at Inter giving me a 3 point advantage over both clubs with 3 games remaining.

[linny]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

Im not sure if its sports game in general now but I find them really unaccessible to a a casual gamer

[ZoneBlitz]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

I am the king of calling out the CPU for cheating.

I must say, the CPU cheating in this game is mild. In fact, I just beat France with the USA by coming back from being down 1 to 0, and ended up winning 2 to 1. The CPU almost scored and had a chance late but twice the ball hit the bars. In fact the CPU could say the game is cheating against them - LOL!

While I do think it dumbs down your players at times, I can beat better teams from time to time, and I can play well against evenly matched teams. I play on Professional with default sliders.

[BL8001]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

NG really is better at toning it down. So there is hope for FIFA. Which is good.

There is cheating. I mean come on, the CPU still moves with esp when you try to get a foot in and still moves with esp when you feint on offense.

It's always been like this but hopefully won't be forever as like I wrote, it's toned down.

But anyone who says the game doesn't cheat explain this simple thing.

If I am flying down the wing, chased by the CPU and have a step and a perfect opportunity to cut in towards goal and instead I cut hard towards the touch line and stop then loop back and then zig zag back towards my own goal...why is the CPU all over me like white on glue?

My favorite thing to do at times is the complete wrong thing and where a real life normal defender would let me take a harmless route all day long the CPU will have none of it.

Which leads to the severe need for a circle system. By this I mean there is a halo around the ball. As the player and ball move closer to the goal the defense picks up their intensity. Any players on either team who are near this halo should react more urgently on both sides of the ball based on where it's located on the pitch.

If a simple system like that was in place when I turned to the touch line and went backwards with the ball the CPU would chill because there is no danger.

The CPU has to cheat though because it isn't as smart as the human player.

One other thing I consider cheating is stat cheating. The CPU pass accuracy is so high because they make so many short passes and rarely play the hopeful ball. If they did play that hopeful ball and pressed with their attackers in numbers I think they would create far more organic chances. Instead it is just short pass after short pass and bloated pass accuracy we can't fix.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

One thing I'm curious about is what determines the fact that suddenly my defender is caught flat footed and simply will not move or turn, or will not attack a cross in the air. That stuff is obviously somewhat random in real life, but it just feels wrong in the game. Scoring by the cpu rarely if ever feels like the result of execution and deliberate play, and more the result of something just determined to occur by the code at a particular time.

[NightmareBooster]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

Nah the computer doesn't cheat, more often than not the situations you describe are caused by human error, poor positioning, poor decision making, abuse of the sprint button, things like that. It sounds to me like you're just frustrated. I'm nearing the end of my first full season with the NG version of the game using Roma and I'm in 3rd position with a record of 19W 8D 4L
Playing strictly on world class and legendary, if the CPU did the things you've mentioned above, I'd have way more losses than 4

I don't know if I would call it cheating per se, but the things he mentioned does happen, granted not all of the time, but they do happen. I try not to let it bother me too much because I understand that the CPU needs some kind of advantage to have a chance at beating me. Lately I've been see-sawing between WC and Legendary because it happens more often on Legendary. While I still win more than I draw or lose, I've played enough games to immediately know it when I see it and I just don't feel like dealing with it (which I'll probably say until I get tired of WC and want more of a challenge).


The one thing I love about XB1 is the ability to record clips because I've been recording instances of these things happening. As soon as I figure the whole SkyDrive thing I plan on starting a thread for wonky things seen in-game.

These are things you've likely seen but haven't noticed. The next couple of times you're dispossessed on the periphery of the box, watch the replays. What you see may surprise you. It may be fair to say that you have those 4 losses because these things happen.

[orion523]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

I don't know if I would call it cheating per se, but the things he mentioned does happen, granted not all of the time, but they do happen. I try not to let it bother me too much because I understand that the CPU needs some kind of advantage to have a chance at beating me. Lately I've been see-sawing between WC and Legendary because it happens more often on Legendary. While I still win more than I draw or lose, I've played enough games to immediately know it when I see it and I just don't feel like dealing with it (which I'll probably say until I get tired of WC and want more of a challenge).


The one thing I love about XB1 is the ability to record clips because I've been recording instances of these things happening. As soon as I figure the whole SkyDrive thing I plan on starting a thread for wonky things seen in-game.

These are things you've likely seen but haven't noticed. The next couple of times you're dispossessed on the periphery of the box, watch the replays. What you see may surprise you. It may be fair to say that you have those 4 losses because these things happen.

Of course some of the time some of the things the OP mention happen, my point is that it's all in how you look at it, it may be frustrating as hell seeing a pinpoint tackle then clearance, believe me I know but, that stuff happens all the time in real life, it's not cheating, just a good play. I find it curious no one ever mentions the bad plays the CPU makes, the bad keeper clearances, ill advised back passes under pressure, keeper sometimes leaving the box when they should probably stay home, things like that. All I'm saying is that all in all the game is pretty fair for being what it is, a video game. Hell I just scored an 88th minute equalizer against Juventus, off the post and in mind you that secured Champions League for me next season with a game to spare, here's the video.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1387253341531892&set=vb.100007417173241&type=2&theater

[BL8001]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

Good goal.

Funny you mention the 88th minute. I have kind of just been keeping a mental tally in the 40 or so matches I have played and for me it seems like the CPU softens in the last 5 minutes of each half because I sure do score a lot of goals just before halftime and just before full time.

This does tend to make it exciting but hmmmm...

[half-fast]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

Talking real world here, in professional sports especially, mistakes/errors are 99% of the time the difference in the game, just look at last night's Eagles/Saints game, a Riley Cooper dropped pass and a bad cary Williams penalty on the final kickoff are ultimately what cost the Eagles the game, its harsh but its reality, one mistake is all it takes sometimes. Cheating would mean that the CPU was breaking rules to beat you, does that happen? I've never seen it. Do they defy physics in a way that you cannot? Haven't seen that either. Are there momentum swings that work for or against you depending on form? Yes there are, but at the end of the season the benefits/consequences usually cancel each other out. Here's a perfect example, I play on Legendary, I'm level on points with 3rd place Napoli, and ahead of 5th place inter by 3 points. In round 35 I'm at home against 2nd place Milan(on a 6 game win streak), and Napoli and Inter are playing one another. If the CPU was cheating, I would have lost and Napoli would have won, all but knocking me out of Champions league next season. What happened? I won 2-0, the second goal coming on a MISTAKE by the CPU, here it is:

I agree, mistakes account for much of the difference. I respect your perspective, but still stand by my original opinion. We will see less cheating on PS4/XBOne because of more cores = more processing = more AI, but the EA devs are getting better at cheating, also. Take for instance, all the times I get scored on simply because the script that controls which player I will control fails to give me the most obvious player needed to save the play. This is no accident, I assure you. Even when using the right stick to manually select a player, its near impossible to get the player you need all the time. When you can cycle through 3/4 defenders 2-4 times and CAN NOT select the player most obvious to be in the best position to defend, that is cheating, especially when you have absolutely no problem changing to whom ever youd like to while defending in midfield. As a programmer, I commend them on finding a creative way to level the odds.

Cheating comes in many forms, it does not necessarily mean the AI is breaking the rules, rather at times preventing you from even carrying out your task properly. Thank fully, I see far les of this on PS4.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

Grallis you mentioned player switching, and I have to agree. Even using the right stick the programming of switching is terribly lacking. It isn't just in the defensive third either. Attacking headers is at time laughable. I am trying to switch to the man closest to where the ball is going to land (as he is just standing away from the spot like a fool), so I can attack the ball in the air, and instead I frequently get a man on the edge of the box. Now this man is eventually going to be near where the ball lands after the cpu knocks it out, but the cpu hasn't even made contact with the ball yet!

[orion523]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

Good goal.

Funny you mention the 88th minute. I have kind of just been keeping a mental tally in the 40 or so matches I have played and for me it seems like the CPU softens in the last 5 minutes of each half because I sure do score a lot of goals just before halftime and just before full time.

This does tend to make it exciting but hmmmm...

I have notebooks full of statistics that I've kept for dynasty pages going back to FIFA 12, earlier this year(Summer maybe?) I went back and checked goal scoring times in five minute increments for me and the CPU and there really wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I'm through one season + now in FIFA 14 NG, if I get a chance tomorrow I'll tally up the numbers and post them here.

[BL8001]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

Very cool! I love statistics. Bring 'em on!

[BL8001]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

I will add one to the cheat file.

The weekly challenge between rovers and crawley

Starts with you taking a corner. Well, I redid that corner a zillion times because scoring there gives you the best chance of getting out of there with the 2 goals need in such a short time.

Count the players for your team in the box.

Now win a corner later in the game and count the players for your team in the box.

Maybe this is more a case of the scenario cheating...but where there is smoke...

[orion523]

Re: Does the CPU cheat?

OK, finally got it done today. This is a full season plus five games into the next one, so a total of 45 games. Here's the numbers for both the human player and the CPU:

start to 5th minute: 1 goal

6th to 10th minutes: 4 Goals

11th to 15th minutes: 10 Goals

16th to 20th minutes: 6 Goals

21st to 25th minutes: 7 Goals

26th to 30th minutes: 6 Goals

31st to 35 minutes: 2 Goals

36th to 40th minutes: 8 Goals

41st to halftime: 9 Goals

46th to 50th minute: 4 Goals

51st to 55th minute: 6 Goals

56th to 60th minute: 10 Goals

61st to 65th minute: 8 Goals

66th to 70th minute: 5 Goals

71st to 75th minute: 4 Goals

76th to 80th minute: 4 Goals

81st to 85th minute: 4 Goals

86th to End Of Match: 5 Goals


Similar to last year, nothing really sticks out, some random variation to be sure but certainly nothing to say that there's any type of "pattern" to the goal scoring.