Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

[4thQtrStre5S]

I am starting this thread because, I for one have developed a slight obsession with figuring these two sliders out to perfection. And would like to get a conversation going and tests compared into how many of the slider gurus came to the conclusions they have for these two sliders...

Reason is - I have heard so many variations of how these sliders work from any number of players, for example -

1. Pass reaction lower means faster reaction time.
2. Pass reaction Higher means faster reaction time.
3. Pass cover higher is tighter coverage
4. Reaction Time is used during zone coverage
5. Pass Cover is used during M2M coverage

Myself, any of these slider settings above 80 or below 20 do not seem to show a difference...

I also seem to see that the effect of pass cover and reaction time may be related in that you get overall tighter coverage when reaction time and pass cover is closer together on the slider scale. Thus a reaction time of 70 and a Pass Cover of 45 will be tighter than say a reaction time of 0 and a pass cover of 100..and vice-versa.....

anyway, it seems there are so many theories in so many different threads, and I am so obsessed with finding the true answer that I decided to try and consolidate all the theories and work towards a universal agreement on what these two sliders do...

These 2 sliders, if pinned down, could make it so much easier in setting pass/run blocking, QB acc and WR catch, etc...to reduce sacks and get a better, or more enjoyable gaming experience for each of us.

and I have found that the results in practice is not transferred as well to a real game; seems in practice you want coverage to appear looser as it seems to tighten up in game....I believe EA/Tiburon has made adjustments to player ratings in practice to represent a more casual atmosphere that may be present in practice compared to a game....

I also believe that as you set coverage and reaction based on a specific pass route, like an out route, it makes another route more open; sort of like a rock, paper, scissor thing (and this is while understanding that certain coverage schemes cover better against certain routes than others)....So I am guessing a list of most abused pass routes is needed - I believe drag routes are always open and over used, for example? Where flat routes are generally a waste of time unless you set tackling low enough that it gives you a chance to break away from the first tackler...

Thank you in advance t all who chose to participate and give their theories

[capa]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

I think this is a great idea to focus the discussion in one spot.

I do have a question though...EA has been very attentive this year to user input on these boards. Could they not get a developer in here to explain the exact function and relationship to each other? I understand their reluctance to share patch info or release dates, but they surely must be able to provide expanded explanations for questions like this.

Are there any members here who have their ear and can request this specifically?

C

[4thQtrStre5S]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

Side note: I have spent the last few weeks sending out a form request through media outlets from Facebook to Twitter in hopes of getting official explanations of sliders and at what slider setting would we see pure, unmodified player rating game play.

I finally did get a reply, who replied is not of concern, just that they are in a position of knowledge and close work with game play; the individual stated that there have been no major changes to sliders since the last game, and there are no plans at this time in providing any detailed explanations of sliders and how they work or interact with the game and players....

So, again, as usual, the community is on its own. SMH

Actual reply I received in regards to slider explanations: " I'm gonna be honest with you; it's not gonna happen this year. We did little work on them, current descriptions are what we have."

[4thQtrStre5S]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

I think this is a great idea to focus the discussion in one spot.

I do have a question though...EA has been very attentive this year to user input on these boards. Could they not get a developer in here to explain the exact function and relationship to each other? I understand their reluctance to share patch info or release dates, but they surely must be able to provide expanded explanations for questions like this.

Are there any members here who have their ear and can request this specifically?

C

I believe I just answered your question above as you were posting.

[Dynastyyy]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

I'll add more once the discussion progresses...

It needs to be clear from the start (unless someone found the right combo with traits between the 20-80 threshold) whether someone is talking about CPU or USER settings bc the CPU's seem much more responsive. When I was playing with the sliders at 100/90 USER D was unchanged but CPU D changed significantly. Some longer developing routes were no longer and option.

As for defining their role, I think options 2 & 3 in your original post are correct. Yes zone will see a larger difference from increased pass reaction but I've also seen cb's catch up to WR's on slants and almost make a pick after being beaten off the line...

As for determining their impact on the game you will also have to consider all sliders that play into the passing game.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

This is an excellent question and thread.

I get the feeling that one slider applies more to zone and the other to man, but I'm still unsure about that.

[4thQtrStre5S]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

This is an excellent question and thread.

I get the feeling that one slider applies more to zone and the other to man, but I'm still unsure about that.

And that would be an important bit of information to have when testing sliders, cause if Reaction Time is used more or all for zone coverage ability, then testing it on M2M defense would be useless...

[greed8819]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

I am almost sure a lower pass reaction is slower reaction to the ball for the defender after the ball is thrown, I tested this with post and flag routes and you can see the difference between 1 and 100. At 100 the man beaten will catch up with no problem, at 0 they never do..... On AM level I think 15-20 plays very realistic. A Higher pass coverage means the man defending will be tighter in coverage, yet again I tested this too. Not sure how this applies to Zone coverage because I always play man, the sad thing is drags and cross routes are always open no matter what numbers you use.

[4thQtrStre5S]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

You really have to user a defender to cover drags and crosses....

[greed8819]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

You really have to user a defender to cover drags and crosses....

Yeah I figured that, it's just stupid to see your CB just stand there for a second when the WR he is covering is half way across the field on a drag route before he moves.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

Yeah I figured that, it's just stupid to see your CB just stand there for a second when the WR he is covering is half way across the field on a drag route before he moves.

Yes, this is the most peculiar thing. On drags and crosses it's like that defender waits an extra second to even start thinking about covering the route, so they're always wide open in man regardless of sliders. This should not be.

The only hope you have of defending those in man is a bad through, a good user play, or enough of a delay via the press to throw the timing off.

[greed8819]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

Yes, this is the most peculiar thing. On drags and crosses it's like that defender waits an extra second to even start thinking about covering the route, so they're always wide open in man regardless of sliders. This should not be.

The only hope you have of defending those in man is a bad through, a good user play, or enough of a delay via the press to throw the timing off.

Yup that's it, so now I play man coverage with the secondary and put LB's in hook zones or QB spy and that solves some of it.... I always played straight man before but this years Madden I cant. I kinda like it better with the LB's in zone because I get less sacks and a more realistic completion percentage from the CPU QB, and I still see deep passes against me as well.

[rudyjuly2]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

Love this thread as I'm trying to figure out what to do with pass coverage.

Too many sliders in Madden are so weak that it's hard to tell if they are even working. There should be NO debate as to whether 0 pass reaction means slower reactions/weaker pass defense like it should or be reversed. Rushin in his slider set said this is the case. Orageon (sp?) said he tested in practice mode and found the opposite. I'm going to simply assume that the simple solution is the best and that 0 means worse coverage.

Many slider sets have pass reaction and coverage at similar levels while some go with very low reaction and high coverage. I'm not quite sure what to do. I just tried the low reaction/high coverage and am not sure how much different it was after only 1 game.

I do agree that some routes like drags seem to be open no matter what against man. That's why I personally like to use LB or S Robber type plays where one man can sit in zone in the middle and help against that. Whenever I call Cover 2 Man I get chewed up by either drag routes or corner routes. I never call that defense anymore. I call Zone or a Robber Man defense unless I blitz.

[hanzsomehanz]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

One hard truth to face: EA did not give enough variation to these sliders in question re animation library : slider value

I have experienced seeing CPU coverage moreso affected by the adjustments than HUM - this also applies to penalty sliders that influence coverage

Keep fighting but keep your heads ✊

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk

[NimitsTexan]

Re: Reaction Time & Pass Cover Focus Thread

I have noticed with the reaction slider in the 5-15 range (and pass coverage steady at 75) that HB screens turn into automatic sacks, especially against man coverage. The HB is covered tight, and the QB cannot drop back fast enough to throw before he is sacked (the DTs seems to move toward the QB faster). Against zone, they are slightly less suicidal (though most result in a hurried throw and incompletion). When it goes back to 50, HB screens work more or less as normal. From in season testing, it seems that, against screens at least, pass reaction has some effect on man coverage, though exactly what, I am not yet sure.