ALL MADDEN SLIDERS FOR XBOX 360

[JoeGibbsStudent]

Hey,

This is an update.

I have now run roughly 30 trials of rushing and passing plays. Each trial contains 50 running plays and 30 passing plays, for a total of about 2800 recorded plays. I am using Excel to analyze the stats of the CPU offense.

I am getting what I believe is pretty useful information. If I could, I would like to post the excel document in which I recorded and analyzed the data so you guys could look at it for yourselves.

All this data will tell us is the relative effect of each slider for the CPU offense and the User defense.

I decided we need a foundational point on which to place the analyzed slider information...here's what I decided...

In the NFL, only about 2% of rushing attempts wind up in runs for more than 20 yards. The same is true in the passing game for passes (pass + run after catch, or net yards gained) of more than 40 yards.

In all of these trials, the rate of the "big play" (runs of 20+ yards, passes of 40+ yards) was much higher. Roughly 20 percent of attempts wound up in big plays.

The reason for this is pretty apprent: once the wide receivers and back penetrate the secondary, they take the ball all the way down the field. This doesnt happen as often in the NFL.

Therefore, the foundational point upon which I will apply the slider settings will be the speed of the running backs and wide receivers. What I intend to do is start by setting the RBA slider to a specific number. That setting will make it so that the backs run at their actual NFL speeds, and not faster.

I then went and timed (with a watch) how fast Reggie Bush runs at specific RBA settings. With RBA at 100, he dashes 40 yards in roughly 4.25 seconds, wearing football pads and carrying the ball. If I lower the slider to 0, he runs it in about 4.65 yards.

Therefore, the trick is to adjust the RBA slider so that Reggie runs that distance at a rate at which he would run it in real life (roughly). Then, we can apply the slider information and have a testable set.

This is pretty encouraging news.

By the way, two more neat pieces of info I found:

1. The defense speed is constant. I.E. no slider can be adjusted to change the speed of the defense (Champ Bailey dashes the 40 yard in 4.25 seconds no matter what you do with the sliders).*

2. Wide receivers carrying the ball are not affected by the RBA slider.

In theory, this approach should reduce the rate of "big plays" and provide more realistic games and stats.

Sorry for my babbling!

*This is when he is already moving, so he doesnt have to accelerate. Therefore, I don't think it is out of line with real life. I'm just unable to find out how much slower you move when you're wearing football pads.

[NetCelly]

Remember, RBA also affects how agile the backs are with spins, hurdles and jukes, and affects their ability to hold on to the football.

But i'm sure youre taking everything into account. Can't wait to get more info.

[Flightwhite24]

This is very impressive what you are doing. Has anyone tried his Special Teams sliders yet?

[JoeGibbsStudent]

Quote: Originally Posted by NetCelly

Remember, RBA also affects how agile the backs are with spins, hurdles and jukes, and affects their ability to hold on to the football. But i'm sure youre taking everything into account. Can't wait to get more info.

Yeah absolutely agree. For example, you see fewer moves (spins, etc.) from backs when the settings are at zero. However, the good news is that it seems that at any setting above zero, the backs make about the same amount of moves, regardless of the setting (the higher the setting, the more successful they are, but they make about the same number of spins, hurdles, jukes at any setting above zero).

I have somewhat arbitrarily decided that a runner out of the backfield carrying a football should move at about 95-97% of his forty yard dash time.

Also of note is the fact that the RBA slider affects the speed of the User backs and CPU backs the same way (I don't know about agility, because there is no way for me to measure it).

Therefore, I have arrived at a base slider setting of 25 for both User and CPU RBA.

This setting makes Reggie Bush, the fastest back (SPD + ACC) run forty yards at about 4.48-4.54 seconds. This is about .11 - .16 (roughly 1/10th of a second slower) than his actual NFL combine dash of 4.39.

I'm not actually sure how much slower a guy runs when he's wearing pads and carrying a ball, so I just sort of decided that 95%-97% is correct.

The affect this has in the trial tests is that it decreases the frequency of 20+ yard plays. With the RBA setting at 25, I can apply BRB, RBLK, TAK, and AWR settings so that the backs average 3.5-4.5 YPC.

The only thing that will make me change the RBA slider from 25 will be if I ever find out how much slower pads and a ball actually make you. Otherwise, I will use it (along with QBA) to adjust the other sliders.

For QBA, I have done some research and it seems like the strongest, most accurate quarterback in the NFL tops out with an accurate pass at about 70 yards.

Looking at Madden, Carson Palmer has the highest average of THP and THA (97 and 97 respectively, I think). I'm therefore running offense only trials with him. I am trying to isolate a slider setting that allows him to throw a hail mary pass that does not exceed 70 yards. So far, it appears that a QBA slider setting of 45-50 accomplishes that. I have yet to clear 70 yards with him at those settings.

As with the RBA, I believe the other, less qualitative settings sch as Tackle, Run Block, Block Break, etc can be adjusted to align the stats.

Still lots of work left to do.

[booker21]

I would love to see that .XLS file...

[JoeGibbsStudent]

I will try and figure out how to post it.

Re: Wide Receiver Catching

It appears from the franchise sets that wide receivers with an average Catching Ability of 87 drop about 18 percent of their passes.

I ran a fair amount of trials with these numbers. Using wide receivers with 87 catch, I tried and isolate the sliders...here's what I came up with...

WRC Slider at 0: 27% drop rate
WRC Slider at 50: 7% drop rate.
WRC Slider at 25: 13% drop rate.

I wonder if you guys wouldnt mind setting your Wide Receiver Catch at between 20 and 25. Then, keep a note and post the following:

1. How many times your receiver caught a pass
2. How many times he dropped a pass.
3. His Catching Ability
4. The slider setting

Again, let me summarize my approach...

There are certain quantitative sliders in Madden that are quantitative (ones that have a direct measurable effect in terms of speed, distance thrown, dropped balls, etc). These are Quarterback Accuracy, Running Back Ability, Wide Receiver Catch, and all the Special Teams sliders.

All of the rest are qualitative (their effect is not directly measurable, and they can only be measured through statistics).

My idea is to match the quantitative ones as close as possible to the Madden and NFL numbers. Then, adjust the rest to create realistic game stats. I can do this by using the trial data I got this weekend.

[joeysosa]

Can someone hire this guy please?

Great work, man. Keep it up -- I'm following your work all the way.

[joeysosa]

I posted this in the thread you made asking about how much speed a player loses in pads:

"I just contacted a reliable source and posed to him this question (his name is Ram209 on the forums... he's a slider and edit guy for 2k5, and a part-time football coach).

He said that you lose anywhere between .2 and .3 seconds (two tenths to three tenths of a second). He said .2 for sure, and .3 would be pushing it.

Hope that helps, bud."