NCAA 08 Xbox Classic Sliders

[PGaither84]

NOTE: Work in Progress. I began this project on Saturday, 16 Oct. 2021.

NCAA 08 Xbox Classic & PS2 compatible

SPRINT BUTTON BANNED


TIP: Actively use slide protection, not only on passing play, but also in the running game.

All-American
11 minute quarters


OFFENSE
HUM/CPU
40/65 QB ACCURACY
85/85 PASS BLOCKING
35/65 WR CATCHING
10/10 RB ABILITY
75/75 RUN BLOCKING

DEFENSE
HUM/CPU
35/65 AWR
95/95 KNOCKDOWN
00/00 INTERCEPTIONS
25/25 BREAK BLOCK
10/10 TACKLING

PENALTIES
99% FALSE START
50% HOLDING (60%+ results in way too many. 7 by half time for me.)
60% FACE MASK
90% OFFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE
10% DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE
90% CLIPPING
10% INTENTIONAL GROUNDING
90% ROUGHING THE PASSER
50% ROUGHING THE KICKER
60% UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

NOTES:
This supposedly makes your WRs more aggressive in going for the ball.
I never saw a DPI flag at 90%, but I have seen 3 so far at 10%.
I have yet to see clipping called. This allegedly makes your blockers more aggressive
Supposedly the AI is more likely to take a coverage sack with a low Intentional grounding setting. Unproven.

• Stats are nice to track, but I do not chase numbers and averages. The most important thing to me is respecting the ratings and having as realistic football as possible for a Generation 6 video game play out on the field. When the ratings are respected, the game comes down to tactics and execution.

F.A.Q.

Why is the sprint button banned?
It breaks the game. I cannot use the search feature to dig up the quote, but long ago EA developers went into detail about the sprint button. To paraphrase from memory, pressing sprint ignores the acceleration rating and the stamina rating. It brings your ball carrier up to their maximum speed and stays there for the duration of the play with an agility penalty. Sprinting is not only unrealistic and arcade style, but it also breaks pursuit - particularly the secondary. They take bad angles and allow you to turn nice gains into huge gains and even TDs. Play without sprint and earn your yards with your stick skills. Use jukes, spins, and the right thumb stick "Highlight stick" to avoid and break tackles, follow blocks, and make cuts.

"But, without sprint, speed doesn't matter!"
Wrong. Speed matters even more without the sprint button. You must have elite speed to beat defenders to the edge and break away. No more huge runs breakaway runs with a guy who has 91 speed as you call a toss and hold sprint to the sideline and turn up field. Jamaal Charles, Chris Johnson, and DMC are in the game, and you can tell the difference when using them instead of other slower but talented runners. The same is true on kick returns. Stamina also matters.

Why not play on Heisman?
Because Heisman doesn't respect the ratings. It is designed for User vs User play. All-American is tuned for User vs CPU play. here is what happens when you play on Heisman:

Image 1:


Image 2: The runner isn't in this screen shot. These are my blockers who "dumb out" and give you that "cheated" feeling.


Image 3: Playing on All-American consistently gives you satisfying blocks - both winning and losing. this single play is a perfect example of the ratings being respected.


Image 4: This is from testing, which is why CPU Block Shedding (Break Block) was only at 50%. I now use 75%. I bumped pass blocking up after this play from 65% to 70%.


I don't mind when I see instant pressure from a quick slip animation through the use of a swim or spin move performed by a finesse (speed+agility) pass rusher. I should NOT see a 74 STR player putting a 92 STR player on his back. The Tennessee Volunteers have a powerful DT who can dominate my RG, and I don't bat an eye when I see this same thing play out in that match up. Everything comes back to respecting the ratings and situation.

QB accuracy: Why not 25?
For players who chase stats, completion percentage is something the put a premium on, and they want to drop accuracy in the hopes of a quick fix. From Madden to 2k to NCAA games, dropping user and computer accuracy is constantly the "go-to" solution.

I have tried 25% accuracy, and I can throw better than that - and I am not a D1 QB.

Completion percentages can be fudged in real life through dink and dunk passes. Screens, check downs, play action dump off passes, hitches and spot routes, etc. What is far more important is the quality of the throws.

Incomplete passes come in variety of factors. Catches made out of bounds, swats, drops, being slightly off target, throwing the ball away under pressure, getting hit while you throw, off balance throws, etc. Dropping QB Accuracy to chase completion percentage average and forcing the user to watch "Passes gone wild!" is not the solution.

So far, in my experience with these sliders, the 99% knockdown rate causes defenders to contest passes thrown into tight windows.

What I am trying to measure is the quality of the throws. If you are throwing an IN route over the middle and your pass is too far in front of or behind the WR, that is okay. That can be blamed on timing. However, there is little to no excuse for missing a Curl route 3+ yards to the left or right on a basic drop back.

Finally, I disagree with having to use "precision passing" to overcome the wild throws of 25% accuracy. The purpose of precision accuracy is to make those small adjustments and lead a receiver to a spot and to place the ball in a PRECISE location - not to overcome horrible accuracy penalties to a QB with 80+THA. Even 35% feels low, but 50% was far too high.

[Von Dozier]

Going to try these out. All American I assume? Quarter length? HFA?

[PGaither84]

Quote: Originally Posted by Von Dozier

Going to try these out. All American I assume? Quarter length? HFA?

After the conversations on the main board and in Discord, I have updated what I hope to be my final sliders.


In my limited testing, I feel like I have mostly eliminated weaker defenders pancaking stronger offensive linemen, while still seeing block shedding taking place.


There is still some questionable blocking logic, which I do not think can be fixed by raising the sliders. I think it has more to do with the lower awareness of the offensive players. They will "dumb out" and will watch defenders run around them on a stunt some times.


For best results, use slide protection liberally and be ready to hot route any combination of TE/FB/HB into pass protection.


The CPU is not afraid to send the cover zero blitz at you and make you beat them through the air,and it is not afraid to keep doing it until you torch them and back them off.


It is important you keep calling different plays, or at least rotate the same concepts from different formations.

[chucknorris1]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

After the conversations on the main board and in Discord, I have updated what I hope to be my final sliders. In my limited testing, I feel like I have mostly eliminated weaker defenders pancaking stronger offensive linemen, while still seeing block shedding taking place. There is still some questionable blocking logic, which I do not think can be fixed by raising the sliders. I think it has more to do with the lower awareness of the offensive players. They will "dumb out" and will watch defenders run around them on a stunt some times. For best results, use slide protection liberally and be ready to hot route any combination of TE/FB/HB into pass protection. The CPU is not afraid to send the cover zero blitz at you and make you beat them through the air,and it is not afraid to keep doing it until you torch them and back them off. It is important you keep calling different plays, or at least rotate the same concepts from different formations.

Question sprint disabled I’ve never really payed attention but how reliant is the cpu of sprint cuz I guess I’m looking at it as I’m not gonna take it to the house as easily but will the cpu activate sprint button I assume they do???


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