For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

[themick074]

Every year I play Heisman sliders and normally have found them to become too easy over time so there is always the need to adjust them (*I’ve never done AA at all because AA is just way too easy)….For example, last year my dynasty ended up substantially decreasing QB Accuracy/RB Ability as it was too easy to score. Certain quirks also irritated me last year like how the slot guy was always open. *It is probably pertinent to mention that I play Sim football and hate cheesing.

I have only played 3 full games on default Heisman sliders in 11 so far; but I like what I am seeing. Coverage is a lot tighter/everything just plays more realistically, it’s really has been great. Here are my initial reactions/concerns (mind you I only have played SEC vs. SEC matchups).

Reactions:

1. Human Passing seems to be where it needs to be. Sometimes the CPU gets too much of a rush, but I think it seems fine. I am always concerned when I complete a pass to the slot guy that it’s always going to be there….does anyone know how to fix this? The slot guys seemed covered on a good amount of pass plays I ran though. Overall I found pretty good success passing the ball with Stephen Garcia against all 3 teams I played (Ole Miss/Miss State/LSU).

2. CPU Passing seems to be good too. I thought it was somewhat challenging to stop, but not out of control; I liked where it was at. Jordan Jefferson did fairly well against me, but Miss State’s QB was awful.

Concerns:

1. Is human running hard or is it me? As someone who has found a lot of success in the past by pounding the ball…I found myself pretty frustrated using South Carolina against Ole Miss/Miss State/LSU; outside of a maybe 5 plays in the 3 games where I went for over 10 yards…I sucked, averaging 2 yards per carry if I was lucky.

2. CPU running is beastly lol. Bolden average like 10 yards a carry on 15 carries. I couldn’t stop the guy. I did a little better against Miss State/LSU, but not really.

These running issues may have been due to the fact I was South Carolina? Maybe their blocking/d-line is bad I don’t know, I’ve never been them before (I like their unis), but it was awful. The cpu running back seemed to be able to get great blocking/run through my d-line like it was nothing and break it open field…and always broke at least one tackle. Whereas my running backs….I called hike, handed the ball to them, and they got smashed behind the line more than half the time. I rarely had any holes to run through…and like I said, I’m a good runner in between the tackles in the past, I don’t know what happened. My brother told me he had no issues with Florida though, so I may have just had a bad night running.

Overall:

I like where the default Heisman sliders are. I see potential to make passing harder for human….maybe making run blocking/pass blocking better? Decreasing cpu running back ability (last year I had this up at like 60 and cpu run blocking at 80 so I really have no idea why I got trashed on by Bolden and Miss State’s RB’s)? I’m not sure.

Anyways, anyone else who plays Heisman have any similar experiences/comments/concerns/questions/or recommendations?

[themick074]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

It's also worth mentioning that the QB scrambling ability has been severly limited this year, or so it seems. The CPU defense is doing a great job containing and rushing the QB, i like this.

As for the CPU QB, I like their ability to pass, but it does piss me off how hard it's going to be to sack them....but I like the challenge more than I hate the lack of sacks on the stat card at the end of the game...and I do hate a lack of sacks on the stat card.

[DJ]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

I've been on default Heisman for my last 5 games and really like the way the games have been playing out. The option teams still struggle a bit, but they are a lot better than on AA, where they gained no yards at all.

CPU teams that utilize other offensive sets do run very well and as the OP said, the passing game seems very well tuned for both the HUM and CPU. As for HUM rushing, I've done OK. No huge games and no low numbers, either, so I think for my skill level, I'm good with where things are at.

I'm going to play 10-15 more games on default and see if there's any changes that I feel need to be made but as it stands now, I'm really liking the default settings.

[phillysfinest58]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

I totally agree with you that Heisman difficulty is the best playing level in years, with a few tweaks it could totally take the game over the top as the best playing football game. That being said, it's funny that you mention the difficulty your having running the ball opposed to the success you're having passing, because i'm experiencing the opposite lol... The run game to me, has almost been TOO easy, I ran for 220 yards with Bradford of USC against Oregon State with a long of like 57 yards, I also ran for 120+ with Clay of Wisconsin on Ohio States defense... All in all, I've easily surpassed 110+ yards with my RB no matter the team it seems. Some tips are: Never snap the ball right away once under center- always mix in a 1 or 2 count before snapping the ball, read your blocks and be patient- with the auto sprint, it allows you to focus on the play development, don't be afraid to quick audible to a run out of the formation you're in- if you come out in pass and the defense is in man coverage, with not many in the box, run the rock, and always flip the run and use motion when you see a weakness or strength on the defensive side of the ball.

[themick074]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

I totally agree with you that Heisman difficulty is the best playing level in years, with a few tweaks it could totally take the game over the top as the best playing football game. That being said, it's funny that you mention the difficulty your having running the ball opposed to the success you're having passing, because i'm experiencing the opposite lol... The run game to me, has almost been TOO easy, I ran for 220 yards with Bradford of USC against Oregon State with a long of like 57 yards, I also ran for 120+ with Clay of Wisconsin on Ohio States defense... All in all, I've easily surpassed 110+ yards with my RB no matter the team it seems. Some tips are: Never snap the ball right away once under center- always mix in a 1 or 2 count before snapping the ball, read your blocks and be patient- with the auto sprint, it allows you to focus on the play development, don't be afraid to quick audible to a run out of the formation you're in- if you come out in pass and the defense is in man coverage, with not many in the box, run the rock, and always flip the run and use motion when you see a weakness or strength on the defensive side of the ball.

I like the advice and it is encouraging to see others have success...I'm definitely going to play a few more exhibition like their dynasty games (more seriously): Setup audibles/Read the defense/Read blocking assignments.....hopefully I can make some things happen on the ground....good call.

And I agree, I'll probably start the dynasty off on default heisman...see how everyone does, and I'm sure we'll slightly tweak it down the road to make sure its realistic/challenging.

*Passing wise...had a great game with Garcia against Ole Miss: 16-21 240 yards 3 tds 0 pics....on 5 min quarters....I threw like 3 pics against Vandy tho...so Idk, passing is where it needs to be, I"m liking it thus far.

[SoulAssassin]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

I've always played Heisman level on past editions of NCAA but not usually without some sort of slider set. Default wasn't too bad on last year's game other than the CPU's pass rush as it abused 'jump the snap' quite a bit, and CPU pass coverage. Heisman pass defenders were pretty over the top with the amazing knack to cover so much field with even average players... including a heavy dose of leaping LBs with one handed INTs.

For this year I'm rather certain human pass blocking should probably be raised slightly and the CPU pass defense toned down again. The run game I'm not sure yet, as I've not played enough games on Heisman with a running team.

The biggest plus for playing on Heisman though, is the CPU offense actually feels like it has a chance to score because they can actually move the ball. AA does not really give me that feeling, even vs. a very average defense.

[themick074]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

Also, 2 other things.....kick returns=i feel like i have to have the return of my life to get to the 30 yard line on heisman haha...

and minutes per quarter...I think 6 or 7 will be good? Probably 7...any thoughts?

[SoulAssassin]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

Also, 2 other things.....kick returns=i feel like i have to have the return of my life to get to the 30 yard line on heisman haha...

and minutes per quarter...I think 6 or 7 will be good? Probably 7...any thoughts?

I think the return game may be broken no matter what level it's on.

In the 10 games combined that I've played, I took one kick up the sideline to the 40 yard line and thats the farthest I've gone. Punt returns are pretty minimal too.

Playcalling is streamlined to be quicker and several of the teams actually run more hurry up offense so I'm going to start with 6mins.. but 7min is where I settled last year for Dynasty play.

[phillysfinest58]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

Also, 2 other things.....kick returns=i feel like i have to have the return of my life to get to the 30 yard line on heisman haha...

and minutes per quarter...I think 6 or 7 will be good? Probably 7...any thoughts?

I think 8 is perfect, and thats with audibles/flipping plays and reading the defense at the line of scrimmage.

I can pass the ball, its just that it usually my slot WR, TE, or RB getting most of the catches. My outside guys dont get much love because of how the corners telegraph the routes before the WRs do and that bugs... Julio Jones is the only player I had any success with, probably because he's so big and tall and leaps for every ball... Are you having success with your outside guys? What am I doing wrong? LOL

[acidraindrops08]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

I've been playing pretty steady on Heisman... So far I've raised hum pass rush to 95, seems good. Still I'm having a hard time gettin sacks, mainly because if the cpu QB is tacked behind the line on an option it doesn't count towards a sack. Dropped both cpu and hum kick power to 40, CPU QB Acc to 45 CPU WR cat 45 and thats all.

[DJ]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

Ran 2 test games today. First game was Michigan (CPU) @ Notre Dame (me). I won 24-7. It was a defensive battle, but I hit a couple of big plays and pulled away in the 2nd half. I punted 9 times and Michigan punted 8 times. Just a weird game. Lot of pass deflections at the line and aside from a couple of big runs, the running game on both sides were held in check. It was a fun game, despite the struggles on offense.

Second game was Air Force (me) @ No. 9 Nebraska (CPU). Huskers rolled 47-0! I wasn't mad at all, as that's the kind of result I would expect if these 2 teams matched up. When I was on AA, I almost beat No. 1 Alabama with Wyoming. I couldn't stop Nebraska's offense; they ran for nearly 200 yards and passed for over 200. I only managed 3 first downs and only crossed midfield once. Nebraska's defense is the real deal.

Going to try out some more matchups later.

[cincy14fan]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

In an online league we have it set on Heisman straight up since we started it on midnight and sliders weren't out. I think running is too easy on the game especially for Heisman. Played eight games so far and every game have had over 100 yards with my halfback. In two of them I had 2 halfbacks with over 100 yards (although one was 1-AA team). This is coming from someone who is usually Cincinnati(using Kansas) and hardly ever runs the ball in years past. I think last year in the over 150 games I played I only had like 20 100 yard rushers (with probably 13 of them coming against 1-AA teams). I think its just cause they finally got the blocking somewhat down, and I just follow my blocks and usually pick up 10 yards a carry on Heisman.

On a separate note in my offline dynasty with Cincinnati I have been testing out different sliders on AA though, and so far I have 4 kickoffs back for touchdowns with one coming against Oklahoma so it does work. Haven't scored any with Kansas (red shirted all my fast people), but my friend who is in it with Kansas State has had 3 on Heisman, but apparently thats the only way he can score since he is 1-7 and I am 6-1.

[Shade]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

Default Heisman is amazing and infuriating at the same time. Some games it plays very well and other games it feels terrible with psychic defensive back and line backers pulling off one handed interceptions.

My most recent game was one of the best I have had so far on default Heisman.

I beat up Minnestoa 35 - 17. Which could have easily gone there way when I was up 21 - 3 and I played stupid, trying to force a touchdown which ended with a Minnesota touchdown(99 yard FR touchdown) and forcing a throw over the middle which eventually brought it to 21 - 17 going into the third but I buckled down and ran all over them.

My passing game was less than stellar but I only threw twelve times for 155 yards and three touchdowns( as well as 2 thrown picks by me). But they could not stop my ground game. Vincent Smith had an amazing 214 yards on 29 carries 7.9 YPC with a 54 yard run being my longest run and his only touchdown which was really salt in the would late for Minnesota.

Turnovers might have been a little much but not really unrealistic in the way they happened. Eight total turnovers(Split 4 - 4) with two fumbles and two picks for each side.

Really hope I can start consistently getting games like this(not score wise, just how good it felt.)

[DJ]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

Default Heisman is amazing and infuriating at the same time. Some games it plays very well and other games it feels terrible with psychic defensive back and line backers pulling off one handed interceptions.

Agreed. The more I played Heisman, the more the game started to drive me nuts. At first it felt like a fair challenge but in my last 3 games, the CPU was out-of-control in regards to forcing turnovers, sacking my QB, blowing up my run game and scoring at will on offense.

If I were to stay on this level, I'd have to definitely bump up HUM Pass Coverage, HUM Pass Rush, HUM Run Blocking and lower CPU Pass Blocking and CPU QB Accuracy.

[CBizzle]

Re: For those who play Sim Heisman: Initial Judgment/Concerns

OP, I've got the same problem with the slot WR ALWAYS being wide open. I just made a thread about it, CPU playcalling is mind boggling sometimes. I can almost always count on that 50+ yard catch to my wide open slot WR at least once a drive, while all the CPU's LB's and a couple corners are roaming around the LOS as my WR's streak up field, I hate it. Very frustrating

As far as everything else, I love Heisman default with a few minor tweaks.