Penalty sliders instead of gameplay sliders: 2013 all over again

[ForUntoOblivionSoar∞]

There are many slider adjustments suggested to get a more realistic output from the game, but a few years ago, it was discovered that merely adjusting penalty sliders had an affect for older versions of Madden.

Well, after being frustrated with slider adjustments that resulted in one problem after fixing another (and yielding a less dynamic experience in general), or animation variety suffering, I tried the "old ways" once again.

To get more realistic pass rush, I raised off sides.

To get better coverage, I raised defensive holding and pass interference.

To get more variety in speed, I lowered the speed threashold just a little bit.


I did not adjust a single game play slider. The difficulty is All Madden in my CFM, and I think it is Pro or All Pro in the game's main menu.


This was the result (Bears are CPU, user is the 49ers):





So I am wondering, has anyone else had success doing this? For the most part, the game seems to be playing much better. Both CPU and user pass rush is better. Both CPU and User coverage is better. And the variety of tackle animations, and animations in general, are much more varied than when you mess with game play sliders.


So, has anyone else tried it? I don't have much of a large sample size doing this, but will as the week progresses. What do you all think? Have you attempted this?

[tommycoa]

Quote: Originally Posted by ForUntoOblivionSoar∞

There are many slider adjustments suggested to get a more realistic output from the game, but a few years ago, it was discovered that merely adjusting penalty sliders had an affect for older versions of Madden. Well, after being frustrated with slider adjustments that resulted in one problem after fixing another (and yielding a less dynamic experience in general), or animation variety suffering, I tried the "old ways" once again. To get more realistic pass rush, I raised off sides. To get better coverage, I raised defensive holding and pass interference. To get more variety in speed, I lowered the speed threashold just a little bit. I did not adjust a single game play slider. The difficulty is All Madden in my CFM, and I think it is Pro or All Pro in the game's main menu. This was the result (Bears are CPU, user is the 49ers): So I am wondering, has anyone else had success doing this? For the most part, the game seems to be playing much better. Both CPU and user pass rush is better. Both CPU and User coverage is better. And the variety of tackle animations, and animations in general, are much more varied than when you mess with game play sliders. So, has anyone else tried it? I don't have much of a large sample size doing this, but will as the week progresses. What do you all think? Have you attempted this?

Yes. These are the glue to my cpu set. Penalty sliders modify the gameplay sliders and effect penalties. Works best if you 0 out everything in Main Menu. Think of penalty sliders as game play tuners.

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by ForUntoOblivionSoar∞

There are many slider adjustments suggested to get a more realistic output from the game, but a few years ago, it was discovered that merely adjusting penalty sliders had an affect for older versions of Madden. [...] So I am wondering, has anyone else had success doing this? For the most part, the game seems to be playing much better.

The very premise of this topic is flat-out wrong.

When I last spoke to Clint Oldenburg about gameplay and penalty sliders, he made it exceedingly clear to me not only that penalty sliders only affect penalty chances, but also that front-end sliders do not modify or override sliders other modes. He was well-aware when we spoke of the anecdotes to the contrary propagated by forums such as this one and he immediately and strongly dismissed as just that - stories.

Given that he's the lead designer of gameplay on Madden NFL and would know how the game works better than anyone on this forum, we all should consider the observations reported in the topic post as merely placebo.

[Aestis]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

The very premise of this topic is flat-out wrong. When I last spoke to Clint Oldenburg about gameplay and penalty sliders, he made it exceedingly clear to me not only that penalty sliders only affect penalty chances, but also that front-end sliders do not modify or override sliders other modes. He was well-aware when we spoke of the anecdotes to the contrary propagated by forums such as this one and he immediately and strongly dismissed as just that - stories. Given that he's the lead designer of gameplay on Madden NFL and would know how the game works better than anyone on this forum, we all should consider the observations reported in the topic post as merely placebo.

FWIW, I'm the analytics geek who tracks all kinds of raw and performance metrics for my 32-man league. Have for 2-3 years now.

I've swung multiple penalty sliders from 100 to 0 and seen absolutely zero impact on our #s (other than the penalty calls themselves). Most other gameplay sliders, sometimes even just moving them 2-3 points can result in a noticeable statistical effect.

So color me staunchly on the side of "penalty sliders = pure confirmation bias," at least until a single shred of evidence is posted otherwise. All I ever see is "trust me."

[JoshC1977]

Tweet from Clint....

Here's the thing: currently, only outcome tuning separates our 3 styles. Def. Holding is animations. We don't yet support different sets of animations triggering per game style.

— Clint Oldenburg (@ClintOldenburg) November 10, 2017

Here is the thing. If penalty sliders trigger animations...which they do (from his own mouth), then it would stand to reason that there may be an impact on how players interact on the field. If it changes how they interact on the field...well, what have we just done?

People have varying opinions, but when a dev says something like this....

(that's all I am going to say on this topic...we can all agree to disagree....just want people to hear a more current stance from devs on this topic)

[Nickda55]

To each their own. I absolutely noticed a difference. I keep my sliders default and have the difficulty at All-Madden in my CFM.

I've absolutely noticed a difference in the ability to gain a pass rush and decrease the completion percentage from CPU when I adjust my Penalty Sliders accordingly.

[Aestis]

Quote: Originally Posted by JoshC1977

Tweet from Clint.... Here's the thing: currently, only outcome tuning separates our 3 styles. Def. Holding is animations. We don't yet support different sets of animations triggering per game style. — Clint Oldenburg (@ClintOldenburg) November 10, 2017 Here is the thing. If penalty sliders trigger animations...which they do (from his own mouth), then it would stand to reason that there may be an impact on how players interact on the field. If it changes how they interact on the field...well, what have we just done? People have varying opinions, but when a dev says something like this.... (that's all I am going to say on this topic...we can all agree to disagree....just want people to hear a more current stance from devs on this topic)

Hey, that at least counts as 'evidence.' Already more than I've seen posted previously--thanks.

[Darth Aegis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nickda55

To each their own. I absolutely noticed a difference. I keep my sliders default and have the difficulty at All-Madden in my CFM. I've absolutely noticed a difference in the ability to gain a pass rush and decrease the completion percentage from CPU when I adjust my Penalty Sliders accordingly.

Yep, I agree with you here and along with JoshC. Penalty sliders are gameplay modifiers imo. Thats all I'm going to speak on the topic.