FIFA 18 Nintendo Switch users

[Bixer]

The place to discuss slider settings for the Switch version of FIFA 18!

Still getting a surprising amount of life out of my copy. My career modes have usually fallen flat by about May but this year as it stands I'm still playing it so much I may not even buy FIFA 19 immediately.

Latest update - 9th October

Here's what I'm currently using/testing;

Slow speed, 8 minute halves

User/CPU
Sprint Speed - 48/48
Acceleration - 48/48
Shot Error - 56/56
Pass Error - 56/56
Shot Speed - 53/53
Pass Speed - 44/44
Injury Frequency - 99/99
Injury Severity - 71/71
Goalkeeper Ability - 20/20
Marking - 50/50
Run Frequency - 50/50
Line Height - 83/83
Line Length - 30/30
Line Width - 45/45
Fullback Position - 100/100
First Touch Control Error - 60/60


Sprint Speed/Acceleration - Still fine-tuning these, but I'm pretty certain somewhere between 47 and 49 for both is the sweet spot. It's trying to find that consistent balance of not making play feel too zippy, but similarly not having it feel like your players are trying to turn in a swamp. You also want to reduce that dreaded jogging animation as much as possible too, which seems more directly linked to Sprint Speed.

Shot Error - Personal preference here really, but I find that both teams tend to get too high a shot accuracy % much lower than this. While of course overall you want to encourage lots of shooting opportunities, it's not realistic to have every single one be on target.

Pass Error - This is essentially to stop the unrealistic tiki taka from the CPU. You want a balance where the CPU aren't able to just pass through you as if you aren't there, but similarly once they get into crossing positions they're still able to create good chances - as opposed to them constantly just accidentally hoofing the ball out of play, which is what happens if you put this much higher.

Shot Speed - Helps good chances feel more lethal and reduces that 'trickle shot' you occasionally seem to get when trying to shoot under pressure.

Pass Speed - Similarly tied in to not making play feel too zippy, but as per the Sprint Speed/Acceleration sliders, you don't want it to feel like the ball's rolling through a swamp either. Pretty certain 44 or 45 is right here, I can't ever see it changing beyond that now.

Injury Frequency/Severity - If you check here at pretty much any point in a season - https://www.physioroom.com/news/engl...jury_table.php - you'll see that every club will usually have at least 1 or 2 injuries at any given time, some as many as 7 or 8. If you're finding that you have a full 35+ man squad that's fit and healthy most weeks, then that's just not realistic. This will change from user to user and how aggressive your playing style is, but with Frequency at 99 and Severity at 71 I've found a good balance of usually having at least a few of my players injured, but most fit again within 2-4 weeks. If you're finding too many serious injuries, a slight decrease in Injury Severity from 71 to 70 makes quite a big difference.

Goalkeeper Ability - Goalkeepers are superhuman at default and the commentary lines about the goalkeeper having an outstanding game or being impossible to beat etc crop up far too frequently. This has gradually been getting lower and lower and somewhere between 15-20 feels right. You want all shooting opportunities to feel dangerous (which is also the reason for the slight increase in Shot Speed), which is exactly why in real life you'll see a goalkeeper screaming at his defence if they give an outfield player too much space outside the box to take a shot - even if they hoof it over the bar. This in turn increases the need for actual defending, as you know you can't just rely on your keeper to save every single shot from outside the box. Bear in mind too, that if the aim of the game is to make it as realistic as possible, you want the occasional clanger or mistake from the keeper. Not too many, but just think about how often they happen in real life - way more than they seem to in FIFA. Definitely a personal preference slider though, if you feel plenty of chances are still going in at 50, then more power to you. If you're uncomfortable with lowering this slider so much, then increasing Shot Error slightly can have a similar effect.

Marking/Run Frequency - Every year I try tinkering with these thinking that I can make them better, yet every year I always end up just putting them back to default after realising they're incredibly sensitive and affect way more than is even immediately noticeable. From now on I think I'm going to make a point of saving myself the headache and just accept that these sliders shouldn't be touched, default works just fine for both.

Line Height - At default, both defences will just sit in their own half doing absolutely nothing while their team has the ball. This just isn't what happens in real life. Defences should try and press slightly further up the pitch to both force opposition attackers into offside positions but also to provide some actual support to the midfield when needed. It's a lazy/broken way of defending in football games where you don't have those same precise nuances in your attackers, but if they behaved that way in real life then they'd just be exposing themselves to way too many long shots. After gradually lowering down from the extreme of 99, 83 feels like a really good balance. Even as high as 80, I still too regularly find that I'll break into what looks like space in midfield, only to find the 4 CPU defenders then just sat hovering outside the box as I get closer, which just isn't realistic. If you find you're getting way too many offside calls in a game (although at least 3 or 4 per team is probably normal), then just gradually decrease this 1 point at a time until it stops feeling excessive.

Line Length/Line Width - Experimenting with this at the moment. An easy trap to fall into with FIFA is that the game will often just fall back to end to end action, ultimately due to its aim at a more casual/arcade-y audience. That's obviously exciting, but for a more realistic experience you want the game to feel like a bit more of a midfield battle at times too. I'm trying lowering both of these in an attempt to keep teams a little more compact throughout and fundamentally reducing the amount of free space in midfield, which is what's required to prevent either team from simply bypassing the midfield at times.

Full Back Positioning - Even at 99 I found my fullbacks sometimes seemed reluctant to drive into space on the wings when the occasion allowed, which I think may have actually been part of my mistaken frustrations with the Run Frequency slider previously. I've realised that the difference been 99 and 100 in a lot of sliders can be massive and almost like an on/off switch at times, so 100 here prompts my fullbacks to make use of space of their own accord and prevents me from having to spam the left trigger to get them to make a run.

First Touch Control Error - A sensitive slider as unfortunately this seems to negatively affect you way more than it does the CPU, however you want an increase over default here to help keep the ball feeling like a separate entity that can potentially be won back at any opportunity.

[matt2053]

I'd be very interested in this too! I love playing FIFA on my Switch, it's so much better than expected.

[Switched_17]

I've been testing just about every legendary set available. Really wish there was a set that went off player stats not adjusting this or that.

I wonder what would happen with everything to zero, would it make the stats drive the game????

[Bixer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Switched_17

I've been testing just about every legendary set available. Really wish there was a set that went off player stats not adjusting this or that. I wonder what would happen with everything to zero, would it make the stats drive the game????

Give it a try and let us know!

I've been slowly tweaking my sliders for the past month or so and I think I'm on the verge of coming up with a set I'm happy enough with.

I really like the fact the Switch version doesn't seem to get any patches, so when and work you do on sliders isn't just completely eradicated after a few weeks.

[stlducks]

How is the game on the switch? I've been thinking about buying it but I already play it on the PS4. I'd like to play everything on the switch and possibly sell the PS4 since it's only used for FIFA now.

Is the switch version good? I only play career so not interested in online aspects.

[Bixer]

Quote: Originally Posted by stlducks

How is the game on the switch? I've been thinking about buying it but I already play it on the PS4. I'd like to play everything on the switch and possibly sell the PS4 since it's only used for FIFA now. Is the switch version good? I only play career so not interested in online aspects.

I similarly only play Career Mode so the Switch version is absolutely perfect for me.

That said, if you've now played and like the PS4 version, the Switch version will likely feel a little different. The Switch version is still based on the Ignite engine I believe which was used for FIFA 14 -16, whereas obviously 17 and 18 on other consoles now use the Frostbite engine. As someone who really didn't like FIFA 17 and so just kept playing 16 for an extra year, I would say that the Switch version does feel like an upgraded version of FIFA 16.

Whereabouts are you based? I only ask as FIFA 18 is currently as low as £22.99 on Amazon which is a bit of a steal. You could give it a go and then probably just sell it for your money back or more on eBay or something?

[Switched_17]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bixer

Give it a try and let us know! I've been slowly tweaking my sliders for the past month or so and I think I'm on the verge of coming up with a set I'm happy enough with. I really like the fact the Switch version doesn't seem to get any patches, so when and work you do on sliders isn't just completely eradicated after a few weeks.

What does your set look like?

[spideurmane]

I too am quite interested to see what your switch sliders look like... been looking for a good set for a long time :-)