PSS
Registered User
I am about to start an ML for the fourth time, having found the first three offering little in the way of a challenge. I have set myself some rules to abide by in this game, in order to make the game more realistic and harder. I post them here for anyone else who finds the game too easy, and to hear others suggestions of other ways I can make the ML harder, more challenging, and more realistic. Let me know what you think, and any more that I might add.
1. First of all – obviously I want to play on the hardest difficulty level, and have always played on 5 star/top player, but I read a few weeks ago on a different PES fan site that 4 star is more difficult than 5 star… He was saying something along the lines of – the AI plays more conservatively on top player, making it harder to score against but also easier to defend, leading to lower scoring games, while playing one difficulty level down the AI is more aggressive, attacking more, but leaving itself more open. He stated that he definitely found it harder to play on 4 star (or whatever it’s called – one below top player). Does anyone know more about this?
2. Start with ML default players rather than real players - of course
3. Start in Division 2 - naturally
4. Start with a small club - lowest possible team ranking so as to start with as few fans as possible and as little money as possible, as well as sponsorship deals worth next to nothing.
5. No youth players to be promoted in first season - The players that you get in your first youth team are good enough to be promoted and immediately used. What's the point in starting with default players if you promote and play with a youth team XI instead? Players like Schwarz, Shimizu, Palmieri etc. are way too good to get in season 1.
6. Operating Costs: Permanently Level 1 Doctor and Fan Club - Injuries are WAY too rare in Pro Evo, and this is something that Konami needs to sort out, and should have been fixed years ago. In real life, no matter how good a club's medical staff is, they are dealing with half a dozen small injuries and niggles at any one time, as well as one or two long term ones. Look at Arsenal, or Man Utd this season - United have not been able to field their first choice defence at all for one reason or another. Level 1 Fan Club is to make new fans harder to come by and thereby restrict cash flow in later seasons.
7. Not allowed to increase operating costs IF already increased that month – this is in order to prevent a very simple ‘cheat’ which is that operating costs can be increased to level 5 for the first month of every year, for free, and benefits gained from top level coaches and scouts for 4 weeks at no cost to the player. If an operating cost is increased, it should not be decreased until next season. This is simply for the sake of realism – no backroom staff would work for a month for no salary. The only exception to the rule is youth team, because no benefit is gained from this being increased and decreased in the same month.
8. No negotiation of transfer fees, wages, or lengths of contracts. Take it or leave it – this is in order to reduce availability and increase the value of money. When any offer is on the table, consider it as a final offer, the best possible deal you or your scout could have negotiated for your team. When a contract comes up for renewal, the player must be given what he asks for, or let go. I am the kind of player who always tries to sign young players on long term deals so that I can still be paying them a pittance in 3 or four years when they are world class. Shorter contracts mean salaries are increased higher, more often. Salaries will get quite high after a few seasons, maybe to the point of forcing the selling of players simply to cut the wage bill, leading to some difficult choices. Also means that even after a few seasons, not every player in the squad will be a world beater, as some cheaper/younger players will be required to meet costs.
Are there any other ways in which I can challenge myself while also making the game more realistic? I know some people might suggest not buying certain players, not spending more than a certain amount on transfer fees (even not spending any at all and relying solely on youth players) or selling players once they get ‘too good’, but, for me, this lessens the enjoyment of the game – I should not have to try less hard or make bad management decisions in order to make the game a challenge – management is part of what makes the game fun. I don’t want to spend several seasons developing a player and then get rid of him because I have done a good job.
Any other suggestions would be welcome.
1. First of all – obviously I want to play on the hardest difficulty level, and have always played on 5 star/top player, but I read a few weeks ago on a different PES fan site that 4 star is more difficult than 5 star… He was saying something along the lines of – the AI plays more conservatively on top player, making it harder to score against but also easier to defend, leading to lower scoring games, while playing one difficulty level down the AI is more aggressive, attacking more, but leaving itself more open. He stated that he definitely found it harder to play on 4 star (or whatever it’s called – one below top player). Does anyone know more about this?
2. Start with ML default players rather than real players - of course
3. Start in Division 2 - naturally
4. Start with a small club - lowest possible team ranking so as to start with as few fans as possible and as little money as possible, as well as sponsorship deals worth next to nothing.
5. No youth players to be promoted in first season - The players that you get in your first youth team are good enough to be promoted and immediately used. What's the point in starting with default players if you promote and play with a youth team XI instead? Players like Schwarz, Shimizu, Palmieri etc. are way too good to get in season 1.
6. Operating Costs: Permanently Level 1 Doctor and Fan Club - Injuries are WAY too rare in Pro Evo, and this is something that Konami needs to sort out, and should have been fixed years ago. In real life, no matter how good a club's medical staff is, they are dealing with half a dozen small injuries and niggles at any one time, as well as one or two long term ones. Look at Arsenal, or Man Utd this season - United have not been able to field their first choice defence at all for one reason or another. Level 1 Fan Club is to make new fans harder to come by and thereby restrict cash flow in later seasons.
7. Not allowed to increase operating costs IF already increased that month – this is in order to prevent a very simple ‘cheat’ which is that operating costs can be increased to level 5 for the first month of every year, for free, and benefits gained from top level coaches and scouts for 4 weeks at no cost to the player. If an operating cost is increased, it should not be decreased until next season. This is simply for the sake of realism – no backroom staff would work for a month for no salary. The only exception to the rule is youth team, because no benefit is gained from this being increased and decreased in the same month.
8. No negotiation of transfer fees, wages, or lengths of contracts. Take it or leave it – this is in order to reduce availability and increase the value of money. When any offer is on the table, consider it as a final offer, the best possible deal you or your scout could have negotiated for your team. When a contract comes up for renewal, the player must be given what he asks for, or let go. I am the kind of player who always tries to sign young players on long term deals so that I can still be paying them a pittance in 3 or four years when they are world class. Shorter contracts mean salaries are increased higher, more often. Salaries will get quite high after a few seasons, maybe to the point of forcing the selling of players simply to cut the wage bill, leading to some difficult choices. Also means that even after a few seasons, not every player in the squad will be a world beater, as some cheaper/younger players will be required to meet costs.
Are there any other ways in which I can challenge myself while also making the game more realistic? I know some people might suggest not buying certain players, not spending more than a certain amount on transfer fees (even not spending any at all and relying solely on youth players) or selling players once they get ‘too good’, but, for me, this lessens the enjoyment of the game – I should not have to try less hard or make bad management decisions in order to make the game a challenge – management is part of what makes the game fun. I don’t want to spend several seasons developing a player and then get rid of him because I have done a good job.
Any other suggestions would be welcome.
