AI Rushing priority- missing in all of this year's sims.
Well, it seems that like all the football releases so far (ESPN 2K5 and NCAA 2005) Madden 2005 AI seems to have a similar lack of "run urgency" when on offense as the other titles all share. It seems to be a big challenge for designers to program AI to utilize the run effectively and often.
I've really been noticing this. I'm playing ALL-Madden, 5 min quarters, and I took my Raiders against the Cheifs and an AI controlled Priest Holmes. Priest racked up a mere 30 yards by game's end, despite having a comfortable lead against me. One would think that the AI, with a lead, would definitely want to pound the ball. But it really doesn't. Unfortunately, I forgot to record my end of game stats to show you guys the paltry number of rushing attempts they had.
So this morning before work, I played a half against my least favorite team- The Patriots. I played 5 minute quarters, All Madden, at Gillette with my Raiders. Well, it was tied 14 all at the half (when I had to go to work.)
The stats...
Corey Dillon: 2 attempts, -3 yards.
Something is wrong here. And I really don't mean to pick on Madden 2005, because NONE of the 2005 football titles "gets it right" on the ground. ESPN NFL 2K5 requires some significant slider adjustments to get the AI to place any priority on the run. NCAA 2005 is also woeful in terms of running the ball- and even playing against running teams! SERIOUS slider adjustments are required to get the AI to post even quasi-realistic rushing yards against you. And this is done by "dumbing" down the AI of your defensive awareness slider, seriously juicing the AI RB ability, and seriously juicing the AI offensive blocking. And still- at least in the two EA games, time must be really stretched. (Much longer quarter lengths than what we normally play.)
But why is this? I realize that playing 5 minute quarters is nothing like a 15 minute quarter game of real football, so rushing stats would tend to be on the low side. However, I would expect more balance as far as run/pass playcalling, even in the span of one half 5 min. quarter football.
Of 16 offensive plays run by the AI Patriots before the half on All Madden, 14 were passes, 2 were runs. And the game was tied through most of the half, or within 7 points. No team took a 2 score lead at any point.
So there's several issues going on here. The AI has very little "run urgency", nor does it feel compelled to establish the run. The AI is an effective passer, and I have a feeling that the AI adjusts to whatever is working. Which feeds into the next problem- the AI seems to call bad rushing plays. We all know that there's some really bad running plays in every football sim. There's some we just don't use. These are the runs that don't have much blocking, or rely on some kind of trickery that often isn't that effective. (Example, the occasional draw may work, and keept the defense guessing, but if your rushing philosophy is solely predicated on gadget runs, you'd be up sh*t creek eventually.)
And that's the other problem with the AI. Not only does it not feel compelled to run often, but it also calls lame run plays when it does run, often netting negative yards. (Example, Corey D. got stopped in the backfield on both of his meager 2 attempts in the half I played before work. One was a draw that got blown up. The other was a slow to develop counter-trey play.
What's worse is that the Patriots got to my two yard line, and threw three times. Admittedly, the third pass was a TD to their FB, but I find it hard to believe that even in that circumstance, the Pats would throw every down. (Considering they have Corey Dillon this year.)
So, I'll be working on sliders to fix these problems, and I'll no-doubt have to "stretch quarter time". I'm sure I'll come up with something, or one of the gurus over at Op. Sports will post some good sliders. That's not really a big concern. We are quite used to this.
But, note to EA and Sega for next year- and Microsoft if Fever 2006 comes out....
About 95% of the teams in both college and pro football believe in running the ball at least more than 45% of the time in a tight, one score ballgame.
That percentage should probably drop to about 30% should the opposition go up by more than 2 scores.
And a college/pro team with a lead will run about 70% of the time. and if the is more than two scores, this should go up to about 85% or so.
...also, most teams favor running plays that allow for more blocking as opposed to draws and trickery. There's a place for that, but this should be only a small percentage of the type of runs called.
There's something for the developers to work on for next year.
Quietcool72 from over at ConsoleFooball.com
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