Offline Franchise... Any tips?

[cgalligan]

hey guys,

me and 5 friends are about to embark on our annual madden franchise, to go along with our NCAA dynasty...
We have waited until almost November, because we were waiting for the patch, but, since it seems like its not coming out until late November, we don't feel like waiting any longer...

I am asking anyone, for any tips... Or anything they do to make the game more real/fun/ect...

what sliders do you recommend? we are all veteran madden/NCAA players... we probably fit into that group that thinks all pro gets too easy, yet all madden is too unreal and hard... any suggestions would be appreciated...

any house rules?
control all 32 teams?
how to manage cap correctly?

any other known issues that we should be looking out for?

thanks, for your help...

[filtertmp]

Quote: Originally Posted by cgalligan

hey guys, me and 5 friends are about to embark on our annual madden franchise, to go along with our NCAA dynasty... We have waited until almost November, because we were waiting for the patch, but, since it seems like its not coming out until late November, we don't feel like waiting any longer... I am asking anyone, for any tips... Or anything they do to make the game more real/fun/ect... what sliders do you recommend? we are all veteran madden/NCAA players... we probably fit into that group that thinks all pro gets too easy, yet all madden is too unreal and hard... any suggestions would be appreciated... any house rules? control all 32 teams? how to manage cap correctly? any other known issues that we should be looking out for? thanks, for your help...

In terms of sliders, if your in that kind of grey zone between all-madden and all-pro, I'd recommend maybe just tweaking CPU running a bit better and making HUM running a bit harder. when playing against each other, sliders aren't as important.

I'd also recommend all 32 team franchise.. just set the 26 you aren't going to use to CPU for all their roster management (easier to set all to CPU when you start the franchise, then fix the 6 hum then the other way around). This way, if you want, you can tweak the 'coach options' for CPU teams.. make them less aggressive defensively, or run more or pass more etc. You can also tweak there depth charts (players coming of suspensions or whatever who are buried in the madden depth chart like calvin pace, marshawn lynch, crabtree etc. don't get fixed midseason by the cpu)

In terms of house rules, set up a veto system like fantasy football for trades.. aka don't house the CPU with its fairly lenient trade options. Also consider cap penalties when trading (the higher the players bonus, the less likely a trade).

my .02.

[roll2tide]

• Check the Slider Forums for sliders. I just started using DB's Stat Accurate Sliders in a franchise and I went ahead and set all the teams coaching profiles the way he suggests also.
• I would say all trades must go through the Trade Block feature to avoid any abuse.
• I would do a reverse snake(pick in order 1,2,3,4,5,6 and then 6,5,4,3,2,1) on Free Agents and let each guy pick up 2-4 (since there's only a few of you guys) prior to the season and then 1-2 per play week.

[roll2tide]

Quote: Originally Posted by filtertmp

I'd also recommend all 32 team franchise.. just set the 26 you aren't going to use to CPU for all their roster management (easier to set all to CPU when you start the franchise, then fix the 6 hum then the other way around). This way, if you want, you can tweak the 'coach options' for CPU teams.. make them less aggressive defensively, or run more or pass more etc. You can also tweak there depth charts (players coming of suspensions or whatever who are buried in the madden depth chart like calvin pace, marshawn lynch, crabtree etc. don't get fixed midseason by the cpu)

I 2nd this.

[Boregard]

Set all players to Custom difficulty 14 for all 4 settings, which is one less than Madden by counting the d-pad to move the bars.

Set the cpu skills to 25 Pass Block leave the QB Accuracy and WR catch at 50 and turn everything else in there up to 65.

Go into the penalties and move Pass Interference up slightly - otherwise you will probably never see this called, you can also increase holding and clipping but we never do. I like to hit guys out of bounds and draw late hit penalties with regularity so I often end up being the most penalized team in the NFL. I really like hitting any Eagle player late cuz I hate that team - JK

Make the game 10 min qtrs with 15 second acc clock - which means getting Probowl MLBs will be very hard due to the sim engine for the cpu, but any longer and you get too much scoring IMO!

[marktg30]

• When you play the CPU always use 'Ask Madden'.