JoshC1977's Madden 20 CFM-only Sliders (User vs CPU Only)

[Hockenson]

Quote: Originally Posted by awffltony77

One thing: Read the entire OP Sent from my REVVLPLUS C3701A using Operation Sports mobile app

what about it?

[JoshC1977]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hockenson

what about it?

He was referring to your comment about not enough injuries at 10 (which I concur with). However, a further review of the OP would show that the injuries within CFM are set to 40 (though I will be posting an update later today which will change that).

[sabres32]

I’m getting slightly discouraged with the game and I don’t think there’s much sliders can do to fix the things that bother me.

1) I constantly have to make adjustments to cover the CPU Tight Ends. It doesn’t matter if it’s Kelce or Witten, the CPU targets the TE like crazy and big numbers are put up.

2) the Tight End issue sure makes every single game feel same.

3) it gets pretty boring when hardly any penalties are called but that’s been a Madden problem for the last 10 years plus.

4) it sure seems that every game the CPU QB starts off perfectly.

I’m dying to play and have fun with this game but it’s almost October and I haven’t even gotten half way through my first season yet lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[JoshC1977]

I've played a ton of games on pure default. While games were fun, reflected ratings well and were very competitive, two things continued to 'grind my gears':

1. The hesitancy of QBs to target intermediate/deep routes. This lead to them either throwing those short routes or taking ugly sacks.
2. Lack of dynamic line play - which lead to a lack of variety in pass rush and a run game that could be a bit too good at times.

The changes we made to DPI and thresh helped those to varying degrees, but it always felt like a 'band-aid' rather than truly addressing the issues. Something always felt to be just a bit out-of-sync to me (frankly, it has all year). Not only that, they introduced some issues of their own.

1. Changing thresh added way too much 'burst' for players. It really seemed to override ratings a bit too much and opened up the game.
2. 1.15 introduced some odd coverage animations with this set. Thanks to sms for pointing-out one of them (DBs running in front of receivers). Whether that was a byproduct of thresh, OPI, or both, I cannot say. Nonetheless, they were present.

I tinkered, and tinkered, and tinkered. In the meantime, Matt and I were going back-and-forth via PM about the injury slider (moreso in relation to his set) and as I was writing some stuff out to him, it occurred to me that we might be able to use a pure default setup but only modify that INJ slider to help re-balance things. The more I thought about it, the more it just made sense to me.

The INJ slider is the most important global gameplay slider in the game along with threshold (in fact, the INJ slider and threshold are relative to one another). This has a direct impact on player inertia, the 'forcefields' around the players and footplanting. This affects virtually every phase of the game and needs to be well-optimized. When you go too high, everything feels too tight (with a fair bit of 'suction') and player locomotion is very speedy, with no real sense of footplanting. Go too low, and you lose a lot of inertia, which impacts any momentum-based interactions (like seeing RB's momentum help gain an extra yard or getting line surge). I wanted to see if I could find a value that could add a little better footplanting and reduce suction without taking away player inertia.

After a series of tests with a number of different values, I quickly decided that a CFM INJ value of 39 (down 1 point from the old CFM value of 40) was optimal. In my opinion, it has greatly synced-up a lot of things. It's a whole lot of 'little things' but it adds up. The line play has more 'flow' to it, DBs show better footplanting on cuts, the coverage is tight, the LBs do a nice job filling the holes, there is a good sense of momentum without it feeling like players are on skates. The biggest improvement has been in getting the CPU QB's "reads" more in-sync with their receivers - which has made it so they will actually throw those intermediate and deep passes (in spite of the fact that they are covered).

I did stream a test game last night with the set (it is archived on my Twitch page). I was a bit in 'testing mode' (evidenced by my testing coverage and running some particular plays a bit much) but you can see a lot of it in motion. I played vs Mahomes (who is a favorite 'test case' for me because he's never really played "right" in all the games I've played vs him). This was, by far, the best game, in terms of representing his skillset, I've played vs him. He was aggressive, but controlled; he scrambled a couple of times for good gains, and in the second half, he really started hitting me deep (including a beautiful bomb to Hill). The game just had a little bit of everything to it (even the injuries seemed 'better' with more variety - I'll chalk that up to small sample size for now). I played several other games vs various teams (not streamed) and they all felt this way.

The OP has been updated with the revisions. From a pure gameplay "feel" and animation perspective, this is EASILY my favorite setup from all the ones we've burned through this year.

[JoshC1977]

Quote: Originally Posted by sabres32

I’m getting slightly discouraged with the game and I don’t think there’s much sliders can do to fix the things that bother me. 1) I constantly have to make adjustments to cover the CPU Tight Ends. It doesn’t matter if it’s Kelce or Witten, the CPU targets the TE like crazy and big numbers are put up. 2) the Tight End issue sure makes every single game feel same. 3) it gets pretty boring when hardly any penalties are called but that’s been a Madden problem for the last 10 years plus. 4) it sure seems that every game the CPU QB starts off perfectly. I’m dying to play and have fun with this game but it’s almost October and I haven’t even gotten half way through my first season yet lol. Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

I think you'll find the new set a bit more to your liking

[skillz25]

Quote: Originally Posted by JoshC1977

He was referring to your comment about not enough injuries at 10 (which I concur with). However, a further review of the OP would show that the injuries within CFM are set to 40 (though I will be posting an update later today which will change that).

Looking forward to your update! I've definitely noticed some "wonkiness" with the last two updates, that an uninstall/reinstall of the game hasn't been able to resolve unlike previous updates.
For example, after RAC catching with a WR, he does not continue running at full speed while turning up-field. He slows down a lot while turning up-field which allows the defender to catch him from behind.
Also, the CPU defenders seem to let balls fly right over their head instead of jumping up to try to swat or intercept them. I've even looked at instant replay to see the ball go just over their heads to a receiver a couple of yards behind them.
Lastly on some curl or comeback routes, the CPU defense would be in perfect position to intercept the ball, but the defender would run too far in letting the ball sail right over their heads.

As an FYI, I have been using your previous sliders with threshold at 52, CPU Tackle and DPI at 51. These settings have always worked great for me, so that's why I never changed. But I was planning on trying your current OP sliders the next time I play to see if it fixes my issues.

Thanks again Josh, for all your efforts!

[JoshC1977]

Quote: Originally Posted by skillz25

Looking forward to your update! I've definitely noticed some "wonkiness" with the last two updates, that an uninstall/reinstall of the game hasn't been able to resolve unlike previous updates. For example, after RAC catching with a WR, he does not continue running at full speed while turning up-field. He slows down a lot while turning up-field which allows the defender to catch him from behind. Also, the CPU defenders seem to let balls fly right over their head instead of jumping up to try to swat or intercept them. I've even looked at instant replay to see the ball go just over their heads to a receiver a couple of yards behind them. Lastly on some curl or comeback routes, the CPU defense would be in perfect position to intercept the ball, but the defender would run too far in letting the ball sail right over their heads. As an FYI, I have been using your previous sliders with threshold at 52, CPU Tackle and DPI at 51. These settings have always worked great for me, so that's why I never changed. But I was planning on trying your current OP sliders the next time I play to see if it fixes my issues. Thanks again Josh, for all your efforts!

I'm not shocked you were seeing those things with those older settings. When I was in my tinkering mode, I was looking at higher inj and thresh just to see...I saw a lot of those things. The game is already too tight at default now and you had the three settings raised that will all make it even tighter. The animations can't "breathe" and you get a lot of those wonky artifacts you described.

Definitely test out the setup I just released, I think you'll see a noted improvement in those areas.

[steelersd26]

Gonna replay week 3 of my franchise with the new setup and I'll be streaming it on Twitch if anybody would like to watch.