Since there are so many folks here who refuse to open their eyes, I made a series of vids addressing the very issue of AI cheating, scripting, whatever you want to call it. I show examples of AI players closing down my attacker from behind even though my player has a 10 pt advantage in speed. I show plays where I clearly hit the jump button defending a cross, my defender starts the jump animation and then just stops allowing the attacker to score. Please note that in every one of the games I show, I actually won every game. So please, kishores_bin, don't give your snarky "just practice more"!! Maybe you have $60 burning a hole in your pocket every fall and are willing to purchase a crap product, but don't be arrogant and act like you somehow have higher abilities. What the AI does to your defense has nothing to do with real soccer. PERIOD!
Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_t7sJAnKuE
All video games are scripted, but that's not what people argue when they say that "PES12 is scripted" -- the people who describe the people who say that PES12 is scripted as "morons" are in fact pretentious douchebags who fail to comprehend a very simple argument. And no, in no way does "scripted" means the same thing as "rigged".
The term "rigged" implies that it is "fixed" so that one team wins; the term "scripted" implies that the scripted or predetermined animations that make the game are undermined by a computer that cheats the stats, it implies that the computer needs to cheat the stats in order to increase the difficulty, that for the mentioned reason it is impossible for the gamer to feel in control of the game due to the fact that the computer can and will cheat the stats, therefore meaning that the actual ability of the gamer is consistently undermined by the "script" which is determined by the computer, therefore meaning that a lot of experienced gamers will complain about PES12 being "scripted" by something that they have no control of, that's what "scripted" means in this fairly specific context, but "scripted" does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the game is already "fixed" before the match even begins.
If you are playing Mortal Kombat, and the fastest character inexplicably becomes slower than a character whom should be the slowest character in the game: that undermines your ability as a gamer, because you do not have control over the game, because the stats that make the game are undermined by a computer that will randomly decide that a weak player will now be strong, that a slow player will (for the most crucial of seconds) become fast, etc, etc.
A video game where the computer needs to cheat the stats, is flawed, and that's what a lot of people describe as "a scripted mess" because it is in fact a scripted mess, because in this day and age, a consumer should not pay $60 for a video game that is so fundamentally outdated that the computer needs to cheat the stats in order to provide a challenge to the user.
Such "scripted" video games were acceptable back in the PS2 days, but there is absolutely no excuse for it now, and the people (like kishores_bin or the muscular one) who defend or justify such a shameless profit-making should really feel ashamed of themselves for trying to justify a very simple truth with a very offensive lie: no, it's not your fault, your "terminology" is not wrong, the term "scripted" is perfectly adequate to describe both PES12 and FIFA12, because PES12 and FIFA12 are in fact scripted bullshit, PES12 and FIFA12 are in fact outdated, the result of greedy corporations wanting to make a huge profit by overproducing an outdated product, that's the truth.
Mortal Kombat, a 2D video game, is a better video game than either PES12 or FIFA12, because the computer does not need to cheat the stats, because the ability of the actual gamer actually amounts to something consistent and irrefutable -- that's where 3D video games like PES12 and FIFA12 fail.
So yeah, I agree with your point, but I don't look at it as a "soccer" related thing, I do not believe that a good soccer video game needs to look and feel exactly as real soccer, I see it more as a video game that failed to evolve: the computer cheating the stats, in a video game that revolves around stats, is a flawed and outdated concept irrespective of the genre or sport of the video game, both Konami and EA Sports should move on from that, but they won't.
Yes, this has been in every PES game, but it feels staggeringly more influential to the outcome this year. Are there ways to overcome this? Yes, but it requires an inordinate amount of rapid button pushing. This makes the game way to arcadey for me. If I have a great CD playing, he should act like a great CD whether or not I have pushed the correct sequence of buttons. In years past, I don't remember the outright stupidity of my teammates.
That has to be one of the best comments that I've ever read about PES: too much button smashing to do what? Nothing.
Konami should eliminate the unnecessary buttons such as pressing R2 whenever you want your defender to stand correctly, pressing R2 in order to do something that requires no directional input does not require any skill, it is as simple as: whenever the ball carrier gets close to the defender, press and hold the R2 button, it doesn't require directional input, it really doesn't require any level of skill, it is a complete waste of time. Bottom line: the time that is currently spent doing stupid things should be replaced by a more intuitive and entertaining system.
And by that, I mean, the R2 button should press itself automatically, whenever the ball carrier gets close to a defender, the defender should post up automatically; and as a result, the time that is currently spent pressing the R2 button in order to do something incredibly boring and redundant, is replaced by a new tackling system, where the user needs to determine the direction and the distance of the standing tackle.
That's the area that needs to be fundamentally overhauled, because by adding that new dimension into the game, a dimension where you can determine both the direction and the distance of a standing tackle, the direction and the distance of a dribble or feint, makes it possible to have a video game where the computer would not need to cheat the stats in order to increase the difficulty.
Because then a world class CB would have a wider range of movement within the space, meaning that his range of standing tackles would be superior to the limited range of standing tackles of an average defender, and then you apply the very same concept into every area of the game: dribbling, shooting, passing, etc, etc. The computer would no longer need to cheat the stats in order to increase the difficulty, the video game would be good enough for the computer to increase the difficulty by getting smarter and without the necessity of cheating the stats.
But for as long as that dimension of "direction and distance within the space that you occupy; as opposed to direction and distance within a perpetual cycle of moving from one space to another space all the time, because it is impossible to actually move within the space that you occupy" is not implemented into the game, then the computer will need to cheat the stats, and the same old fundamental flaws will remain untouched irrespective of the many gimmicks that will surely be added to the outdated core.
I think that both PES12 and FIFA12 have what it takes to make it happen, but I think that both Konami and EA Sports will continue adding gimmick after gimmick for the next five years or so.