I ran some controlled experiments to see what the gameplay tuning setting actually does and what merit there may be to "slider mixing". Now, I only played a couple of series per team to just get a feel for it.
All main menu sliders to "0" with CFM "default" and gameplay tuning "on"
Looked and felt "normal". Not sure if it was default, but felt like it - might've been a "blend", but I don't think so. Penalties were there.
All main menu sliders to "0" with CFM "default" and gameplay tuning "off"
Didn't feel much different than above. Penalties were there.
All main menu sliders to "0" with CFM "0" and gameplay tuning "on"
Definitely felt like an all-zero set. Couldn't get a penalty to save my life...constantly tried hard count and could get no false starts.
All main menu sliders to "0" with CFM "0" and gameplay tuning "off"
Definitely felt like an all-zero set. Couldn't get a penalty to save my life...constantly tried hard count and could get no false starts. No real change from gameplay tuning "on" (makes sense since sliders all matched).
All main menu sliders to default with CFM "0" and gameplay tuning "on"
Again, felt like a "zero" set. Could not elicit a false start from my line. Makes me think that penalty sliders were still "off".
All main menu sliders to default with CFM "0" and gameplay tuning "off"
This one felt more like a "zero" set. Same deal with penalties.
Conclusions (sorta....this is such limited testing, it is just for a flavor)
- It appears that the game properly takes the sliders from the CFM only. The zero CFM with default main menu runs seem to suggest that.
- Penalties definitely do not get 'mixed'. This is one thing I am confident of....
- I don't think that gameplay sliders get 'mixed', but that needs more data. I'm still somewhat convinced that the skill level settings may get 'mixed' if different between CFM and main menu; but that is hard to prove as evidence tends to be anecdotal in nature.
- I see nothing definitive on the gameplay tuning "Yes" or "No" functionality. It does not appear to turn off main menu settings or CFM settings as has been suggested.
Again, this is just for a 'flavor' and will hopefully give some information that will help to dispel any wild theories. Feel free to repeat these experiments or others that you all might consider.