Fouls idea for Fifa 20

[Jolly Roger]

So we all know that (a) Fifa gameplay has suffered from a longstanding lack of fouls, especially from the AI, and (b) the Fifa dev team isn't always the best at focusing on simulation gameplay improvements. But I've got an idea that hopefully would be implementable and it goes like this:


- Probably the biggest reason for low foul counts in Fifa is that, unlike real-life modern footballers, the players in Fifa try to stay on their feet during contact. Like it or not, modern footballers do the opposite; they'll take any contact as an excuse to go down in hopes of drawing a free kick.


- Several years back, I did an experiment where I reduced players' Balance attribute drastically. I think I also lowered strength, agility, and ball control, but I think balance was probably the key factor. Anyway, this led to an appreciable increase in fouls, as players were going to ground a lot more from contact. I.e., they were behaving more like real-life players in this regard.


- So, here's my idea: Add a new "Draw Fouls" variable under Player Instructions. If switched to on, a player's Balance Attribute will switch to 0 (or whatever's appropriate to achieve the desired affect) when in contact with opposing players in the attacking third. I'm no programmer, but perhaps "under the hood" it could work as such:

Is player in attacking third: Yes
Is opposing player making contact with player: Yes
If both yes, switch Balance to '0'

I doubt we'll see this change, but I think it's an achievable programming tweak that could add the realism of more yellow cards (and eventual suspensions) and dangerous free kicks to the game.

[coach422001]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jolly Roger

So we all know that (a) Fifa gameplay has suffered from a longstanding lack of fouls, especially from the AI, and (b) the Fifa dev team isn't always the best at focusing on simulation gameplay improvements. But I've got an idea that hopefully would be implementable and it goes like this: - Probably the biggest reason for low foul counts in Fifa is that, unlike real-life modern footballers, the players in Fifa try to stay on their feet during contact. Like it or not, modern footballers do the opposite; they'll take any contact as an excuse to go down in hopes of drawing a free kick. - Several years back, I did an experiment where I reduced players' Balance attribute drastically. I think I also lowered strength, agility, and ball control, but I think balance was probably the key factor. Anyway, this led to an appreciable increase in fouls, as players were going to ground a lot more from contact. I.e., they were behaving more like real-life players in this regard. - So, here's my idea: Add a new "Draw Fouls" variable under Player Instructions. If switched to on, a player's Balance Attribute will switch to 0 (or whatever's appropriate to achieve the desired affect) when in contact with opposing players in the attacking third. I'm no programmer, but perhaps "under the hood" it could work as such: Is player in attacking third: Yes Is opposing player making contact with player: Yes If both yes, switch Balance to '0' I doubt we'll see this change, but I think it's an achievable programming tweak that could add the realism of more yellow cards (and eventual suspensions) and dangerous free kicks to the game.

But with the 50/50 balls they touted this year, why not just have a 'realistic foul' toggle instead of a balance toggle to accomplish the same thing. In my games guys go down all the time with no calls. OR increase the existing lenient, moderate, strict ref profiles such that the strict and moderate have an increased chance of calling something a foul? Or have the hand ball 'on' toggle actually work like it did years past? There isn't anything wrong with your idea...The bottom line to me is that because of the 'play for prizes' crowd that doesn't want to have collisions randomly called fouls or do not want to play with breaks in the game like that, EA has been removing more and more of the things that would lead to free kicks. I'm sure that it is because of concerns of competitive play for prizes players who do not want games influenced by fouls.

In American football, defensive holding is a huge concern for the defense. You stop the opponent to get the ball back but then there is a penalty for holding, 5 yard and the opponent gets a new set of downs. Gameplay follows the quarterback with the ball until he throws it downfield, so the penalty is often out of view. In a video game it would seem random,but likely an outcome influence by a defensive player's discipline rating along with other factors. EA's football game has 3 modes. One is competitive, where I think there are no injuries or anything else that would prevent a player from purely with his 'stick skills' be successful; another one is sim, where you're supposed to have more of a real NFL experience with injuries, fatigue and penalties. When the game was released last year, defensive holding was in both modes. Again they had two game modes catering to two different game play crowds. When the competitive crowd began to complain about late game holding calls, EA took defensive holding out of the game, INCLUDING Sim. Sim players were up in arms as it wasn't realistic anymore in their mode. This year's release: no defensive holding again.

This seems to be EA's mentality. People are also complaining about lack of fouls in NBA2K so it is crossing over to multiple developers. I agree with your thoughts and your workaround seems reasonable and likely most coders would be able to put something like that into play. But they also used to have more fouls called that are going away, like my center forward fouling the CB the long ball from the keeper going up field, so there must be easier ways to bring that back. I think we have to consider getting away from 'how can they implement fouls' because I'm sure they can...it is more 'why won't they implement fouls' because from multiple game forums, fouls and penalties are becoming more of a rarity.

[JayD]

Fouls slider would be nice.

[pk500]

Quote: Originally Posted by JayD

Fouls slider would be nice.

As long as it's better implemented than the penalty slider in the NHL series. You can max out that slider, and there still aren't enough penalties called.

[coach422001]

Quote: Originally Posted by pk500

As long as it's better implemented than the penalty slider in the NHL series. You can max out that slider, and there still aren't enough penalties called.

Sounds like alot of the penalty sliders of Madden. Offensive pass interference, defensive holding, offsides, etc., in various iterations of Madden never get called despite being maxed out. Madden also has had iterations where if you put the slider past a certain point, the penalty gets called and maybe too often, and below that point nothing gets called. So the slider amounts to an on/off. If NHL suffers from the same thing I think this adds weight to the argument that EA just doesn't seem to want that many fouls/penalties in their games.

[pk500]

Quote: Originally Posted by coach422001

If NHL suffers from the same thing I think this adds weight to the argument that EA just doesn't seem to want that many fouls/penalties in their games.

Fact. That's why I snicker and roll my eyes every time EA developers claim an increase in realism in any of the latest installments of the company's sports titles.

Infractions are real, guys. Reflect that in your games, and then tell me about realism.

[Jolly Roger]

Never mind; was talking about this in the Sliders thread and turns out it's just a matter of shielding the ball around the opponent's box and trying more dribble skills around the opponent.


/thread.

[Kombalar]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jolly Roger

So we all know that (a) Fifa gameplay has suffered from a longstanding lack of fouls, especially from the AI,

Not anymore. See here.
https://www.evo-web.co.uk/threads/fi...y-video.80146/