Loose ball issues

[Don Jon]

matt10 calls it "loose ball ADD", I call it annoying, I hate capturing videos cause it takes me forever but I had to capture this one..Im running up the field with Aguero, take a shot, the goalie makes a nice save but the ball is in a nice spot for Silva to get there,

Keep in mind, as soon as it shot, I was tapping L1, trying to switch players, but the game wouldn't let me...

And while I was tapping L1, Silva decided to take a break, why? I have no clue. I could make 100's of these videos because it happens way too often, and 9/10 times its to favor the cpu.

Im playing on World class default sliders btw.

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[Resurrection403]

Re: Loose ball issues

it seems like every year theres something stupid in the coding. how this got past developers ill never know.

thankfuly, its USUALLY not game deciding. i sure hope its in a fix though.

[Zac]

Re: Loose ball issues

The only thing worse is when the ball is almost at their feet. They could stick their foot out and grab it with no issue, but no, they start back peddling away from it. That makes me want to start rage smashing everything in sight.

[talucchesi]

Re: Loose ball issues

This happens basically everytime the ball is cleared out of the box. It seems to be maybe a bit better this year but it's still inexcusible

[Chrisx]

Re: Loose ball issues

I posted this clip before but this thread is where it can truly feel like home.
Basically I've noticed that if the ball is not in possession, the ai controlled players can be oblivious to its existence. Possibly related to this, is how you sometimes launch a slow cross into the box and your players keep on running towards goal when the ball is obviously going to land elsewhere!

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I have high hopes that this will get patched though. Because if anything it looks real bad in videos and I suppose EA really cares about how things look. So we need those videos. And when I say high hopes I mean I think the chances are higher than 0%, but yeah.

[xicpanad]

Re: Loose ball issues

To me this os slider issue and mainly semi/manual controls issue. Test it on assitsted settings, for me it seems to solve most problems. Too bad assisted is not a good option for the most experienced.

[Zac]

Re: Loose ball issues

To me this os slider issue and mainly semi/manual controls issue. Test it on assitsted settings, for me it seems to solve most problems. Too bad assisted is not a good option for the most experienced.

Sorry, but no. Its not a slider issue or an assistance setting issue. This happens no matter what you are using. Its an AI programming issue. I've seen it on default pro, I've seen it on altered world class. AI teammates will run from the ball or ignore it. Your players will over run passes or clearances from the GK like the ball is sill in front of them. Heck, even your player you are controlling will veer away from the ball because the cpu player has been magnetically locked on to it even though you are closer. Its bull**** and needs to be fixed. Its been like this for years, its just not as bad this year as in the past.

[xicpanad]

Re: Loose ball issues

Ah ok maybe I've never bottered enough to even notice it that much.

[mfp]

Re: Loose ball issues

Sorry, but no. Its not a slider issue or an assistance setting issue. This happens no matter what you are using. Its an AI programming issue. I've seen it on default pro, I've seen it on altered world class. AI teammates will run from the ball or ignore it. Your players will over run passes or clearances from the GK like the ball is sill in front of them. Heck, even your player you are controlling will veer away from the ball because the cpu player has been magnetically locked on to it even though you are closer. Its bull**** and needs to be fixed. Its been like this for years, its just not as bad this year as in the past.

^This.

FIFA 16 is a much improved game over 15 imo, but there's still a lot of AI, and other, issues that you'd really like to see addressed by now.

You just have to learn to kinda take your bumps and bruises with this game.

[aarontab]

Re: Loose ball issues

Sorry, but no. Its not a slider issue or an assistance setting issue. This happens no matter what you are using. Its an AI programming issue. I've seen it on default pro, I've seen it on altered world class. AI teammates will run from the ball or ignore it. Your players will over run passes or clearances from the GK like the ball is sill in front of them. Heck, even your player you are controlling will veer away from the ball because the cpu player has been magnetically locked on to it even though you are closer. Its bull**** and needs to be fixed. Its been like this for years, its just not as bad this year as in the past.

Agreed, but i'll take it one step further: it's intentionally programmed this way to keep scorelines somewhat realistic and increase difficulty in the most ridiculous way possible.


The good news? This has been in the game since (as far as I can remember) FIFA 06. I remember not being able to switch my players until the ball was cleared MANY times. I can't remember which year (I believe it was the first full year when the games were switched to 360/PS3) but the issue was alleviated greatly, albeit replaced by the aforementioned "loose ball issues". It's back again and the loose ball issues remained.


My observations (that I mostly keep to myself because it's either you see them, or you don't) are balls speeding up/slowing down to be easier for the CPU to get to first, clearances or GK saves going perfectly over your players to the CPU team, players outright avoiding the ball or planting the wrong foot so that their momentum is screwed up so you can't get to a ball first, being unable to switch players, the ball sticking to the CPU's feet during tackles, your own players blocking the ball perfectly to a CPU player, the ref being used to hit the ball into the path of a CPU attacker off your pass to start a counter attack, and....honestly I could go on forever.


I'm not complaining for the record. Just like in the fable of the scorpion and the frog (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog): "you knew what I was when you let me on your back".

[flo182]

Re: Loose ball issues

I just wanted to start a thread like this today because I had this really weird feeling that my players often ignore loose balls. Good to know I'm not the only one ^^

[Chrisx]

Re: Loose ball issues

Agreed, but i'll take it one step further: it's intentionally programmed this way to keep scorelines somewhat realistic and increase difficulty in the most ridiculous way possible.

The good news? This has been in the game since (as far as I can remember) FIFA 06.

Obviously without some inside knowledge we won't know why, and in the end it's not too important. But IMHO it's not intentional because it looks too goofy and a bit too much like the result of some faulty AI logic. Superhuman GK saves and a tighter defence that can close down fast on most players is the intentional way of keeping scores low this year.

When spotting weird AI behaviour I can't help but think about it from a programming perspective and the fact that this has been in the game for years makes me think that it's a fundamental issue with legacy code carried over from the past. Come to think of it, in the 90s fifa was known as that unrealistic arcade game where the ball was constantly glued to the players foot. From a programming perspective the AI players have to "make decisions" and constantly move around the pitch from point A to B, in relation to some other co-ordinate = The Ball or The Player with the ball. Considering fifa's past I wouldn't be surprised if on occasion fifa's AI coding still forgets that the ball can be in fact loose. Of course I could be dead wrong. But fifa always had that feel to it "if it's not in the script it can't be happening". Well the script has gotten bigger and better and the animations even more so, but still.

[ZoneBlitz]

Re: Loose ball issues

This is such a real issue. I too believe that EA intentionally programmed it that way. They have to stop doing that and focus on realism. That will naturally keep the scores where they should be. This tells me the engine still needs work on realism. It's truly an awesome game this year. As in any human endeavor, there is still work to do ahead.

[ChiTownKid]

Re: Loose ball issues

Agreed, but i'll take it one step further: it's intentionally programmed this way to keep scorelines somewhat realistic and increase difficulty in the most ridiculous way possible.

I couldn't agree more with this. And it's maddening when the game is on the line. I love this year's FIFA, but I hate this aspect of the game.

[aarontab]

Re: Loose ball issues

Obviously without some inside knowledge we won't know why, and in the end it's not too important. But IMHO it's not intentional because it looks too goofy and a bit too much like the result of some faulty AI logic. Superhuman GK saves and a tighter defence that can close down fast on most players is the intentional way of keeping scores low this year.

When spotting weird AI behaviour I can't help but think about it from a programming perspective and the fact that this has been in the game for years makes me think that it's a fundamental issue with legacy code carried over from the past. Come to think of it, in the 90s fifa was known as that unrealistic arcade game where the ball was constantly glued to the players foot. From a programming perspective the AI players have to "make decisions" and constantly move around the pitch from point A to B, in relation to some other co-ordinate = The Ball or The Player with the ball. Considering fifa's past I wouldn't be surprised if on occasion fifa's AI coding still forgets that the ball can be in fact loose. Of course I could be dead wrong. But fifa always had that feel to it "if it's not in the script it can't be happening". Well the script has gotten bigger and better and the animations even more so, but still.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with some of what you're saying and offer this as evidence (that I'm sure everybody has noticed whether they express it not): The CPU has NO PROBLEM closing in on the ball and playing defense as a unit and working well together. The only time they don't is when they almost intentionally make a mistake. It's the checks and balances meant to look like a fleshed out, complex AI difficulty while actually just being closer to a probability generator. 9 times out of 10 the through ball will go astray or the ball will bounce wrong or your player won't be accessible to you (or maybe will slightly run off course RIGHT before you switch to him), but that tenth time everything works perfectly and there's a goal. That's how they regulate it and keep the games looking realistic.


If the AI is EVER capable of it, it can't be unintentional. There's no science in that way of thinking. It's lazy programming, but not faulty. It's doing exactly what it's supposed to do, and eliminating "money plays". When you see that guy make a run, it's realistic, so they have to include that. But they can't let it work too often and they don't have a defense that can truly foresee what you're doing, so they just make the whole thing break down via dubious errors that are so out of your control they become frustrating.


And right about the time you think the game is rigged, that ball you play goes through perfectly and you score, and all is forgiven. Such is FIFA. The intentional mistakes mean you will get that feeling, on average, only 3-4 times a match tops instead of 15-20 - like you would if all of your plays went off without a hitch.


EDIT: One more thing - a theory I have.


GK aren't superpowered, but much like the affordmentioned "probability generator-like" behavior, are programmed to make a certain amount of saves regardless of how well everything went before it. There's are times when you're just not going to score, sliders, stats, ratings, and sanity be damned. We see overpowered, but they're just evening out the scorelines.