Slider Analysis (what sliders actually do)
 

Every year there are tons of slider sets to make the game play more realistic and/or give a better fight. I didn't play much NCAA 10 or 11 so it's been a while since I've messed with sliders.

I'm looking for insight into what each slider actually does on the field. Often we make changes assuming what a slider does when it may not affect the area we would like it to. If you have insight please post but when you make a post make it clear whether you have tested it on the field. Also difficulty level may play into the affects so keep that in mind.

Slider work is based around balancing certain sliders so I will pair up the ones thar should have a strong effect on eachother. These are all my guesses based on previous games.


QB Accuracy - Lowering this should cause more inaccurate passes but so far I have it down to 30 and haven't noticed a difference. I'm going to try 15 but maybe I should just 0 it and see what happens

Pass Coverage - How well a player stays manned up or how well he tracks in his zones. With this slider too high it used to lead to DBs running the route before the WR which is crazy.

QB ACC vs. Pass CVR - every year I try to lower qb passing until they actually under and over throw. Then I lower coverage enough that players can get open. I don't want to see DBs swatting down every incompletion.


Pass Blocking - how long a blocker keeps a defender from breaking free

Pass Rush - how fast a defender and disengage from a block on passing plays

Pass BLK vs. Pass Rush - sometimes rush can affect how well the snap is jumped as well. Pass Rush used to be how often a player attempted a swin or bull rush so it was better to have both raised.


WR Catching - This used to affect drops vs catches but also how far a player would slide (using suction) into a catch. With suction pretty well fixed I wonder if this affects Route Running or Release. This doesnt really have a true counterpart for vs.


RB Ability - Causes anyone with the ball to use more moves, be more effective with those moves and fumble less.

Tackling - Used to make it easier to engage in a tackle (using suction). Also made players less likely to break the tackle.

RB Ability vs. Tackling - Generally RB ability would be raised for the CPU because of an ineffective run game and tackling would be lowered to create more lanes for the RB. I'm curious how the new tackling engine will react with the tackling slider. Or maybe it will purely be how well someone wraps up to avoid broken tackles.


Run Blocking - I have done a bit of testing on this one since there were blockers running people over in the demo. If you raise this one it seems to make players keep their block for longer but also makes it more likely for them to run over a defender. It would be nice to finally get some pancakes for olineman!

Run Defense - As far as I know this used to decide how fast a player knows it is a run and how quickly he reacts. I hope it also makes players shed blocks but so far it does not appear to.

Run BLK vs. Run D - I would like to raise run blocking far enough to get pancakes and create holes but be able to have run d high enough that every team won't have 10 ypc.



I hope this can help people and that we can get some good info on what each slider really does.

Re: Slider Analysis (what sliders actually do)
 

This year.......game plays really well on default. Only thing I lowered was tackling and run defense for the user.

I put tackle at 10 and run defense at 25.

Re: Slider Analysis (what sliders actually do)
 

I agree. Minimal slider adjustments are needed at the AA and Heisman levels this year.

EA did a great job.

Re: Slider Analysis (what sliders actually do)
 

I don't know if you have notice this but Interception is defense players ball awareness while it is in the air.

For example if its at 0 the DB can be standing right in the path of the ball but if you don't user pick the ball he will just let it go by with out making any motion towards it at all.

Re: Slider Analysis (what sliders actually do)
 

Check out my statistics in slider thread I already tested some of these.

Incidentally I didn't test pass block and pass rush this year since they are currently fairly accurate for time to quarterback. However from prior years pass block controls pancakes more than holding blocks longer and pass rush controls defenders getting off of blocks. A subtle distinction but visually noticable. Either one effects time to pressure the QB. Depending on in game pancakes you could decide on what to do.

Re: Slider Analysis (what sliders actually do)
 

i think it sucks they got rid of awareness because cpu team awarness on defense is way to high

Re: Slider Analysis (what sliders actually do)
 

I've seen pass blocker drop a guy but I never see it show up as a pancake. On the other hand I cranked up run block and saw 5 guys get dropped on one play and still only one pancake was given to the TE. The run blocking slider definitely makes blockers hold their block longer and get down field better. The issue I have is that there isn't a break block slider like in madden so this can be difficult to balance.

I have been using matt10's zero based hiesman sliders and they lead me to a few conclusions. With tackling at 0 you have to have a good angle to make the tackle and hit sticks do not happen. I would like to see bad tackling angles taken advantage of but not every time. Also I would like to see some more big hits. I never saw a fumble in 6 or so games so I'm starting to think tackling controls the frequency of fumbles but it does seem that they just dont happen a lot this year.

These had both qb accuracy at 0 which was ok but the CPU qb made too many bad choices where he would loft a ball up into a very well covered position. Seemed better when bumped up to 15 but again he floated too many passes so even with 0 pass coverage there were too many swats.

I tried Heisman for the challenge but the play calling is pitiful so I'm going to try AA and see if plays are called differently. I'm debating whether to try some other sliders, use AA default, or use AA with a uniform number. I have heard a lot of people say that 30 is the slider point where there is no boost a no penalty to skills.

I haven't sat down with a stop watch and timed but normal just feels way to fast to me. I've been using slow and 0 threshold.