Adjusting team strategies for realism

[blazer89]

Adjusting team styles for realism

Has anyone tinkered around with the "Team Style" sliders to get the game to play as realistic as possible?

It seems to play pretty well as is, but I was wondering if there was anything in particular that has been discovered by adjusting the team styles (The section for each team where there are four offensive sliders and four defensive ones).

A few things I would like to improve, after the limited play time I have had with the game (just got it a few days ago):

1. The number of fouls seems to be pretty low... Though not every game. I've been playing on Professional with 20 minute halves, and I don't think I've seen more than 8 fouls by a side. I haven't been keeping very close attention to this though.

2. On Professional the pressure seems to be a tad high, with the AI pursuing me at an absurd rate. I noticed there is a particular slider for this in the "Team Style" section, though I wonder if you lower this if it would adversely affect the back line.

I'm going to be looking into this... If anyone has any insight, please post.

 

[rpgboy]

you should set "offensive pressure" to 100, that way players will always go up.

 

[blazer89]

you should set "offensive pressure" to 100, that way players will always go up.

After more play time I would agree that players need to go forward more. The setting is actually called "Player Support".

These settings are called "Team Style" and they are found under "Tactics".

The options are:

Offense
1. Player Support (Behind the ball - Ahead of the ball)
2. Support Range (Far away from ball - Close to ball)
3. Position Switch (Never - Frequent)
4. Offensive Style (Wide - Middle)

I think "Player Support" should be raised to get players to push up more.

Defense
5. Pressing (Loose - Tight)
6. Defensive Line (Deep - High)
7. Compactness (Wide - Narrow)
8. Defensive Strategy (Line or Cover)

I think "Pressing" should be lowered so you aren't constantly attacked if you have the ball, and I think "Compactness" should be lowered to open up more space for passes and shots.

I haven't made any changes yet though. I'm currently grinding my way through the "Be a Legend" mode.

 

[blazer89]

I am still interested in this, and any other adjustments that will make this game play as well as possible. I just haven't gotten around to trying it out.

 

[blazer89]

I thought of a good way to do this, and the more people that help the easier it will be. Basically this can be done bit by bit, with multiple people testing out each one of the eight sliders at a time. This way the burden won't fall upon one person to do all the testing.

The idea will be to find a proper range of values for each of the eight "Team Styles" found in the "Tactics" section for each team, with the ultimate goal of getting gameplay as realistic as possible.

The first seven sliders range from 1-100, and the last one just has two options.

I think it would be best to start out testing the extreme, setting one team at "1" and the other at "100". Then maybe going in large increments, like say 20, so that only a few games would have to be played to see the difference.

So let's start the first one:

1. Player Support (Behind the ball - Ahead of the ball)

It seems pretty clear like the value range for this one should be pretty high, nonetheless I'm going to try one team at "1" and the other at "100". I'll see how it affects the way the computer AI plays, make adjustments in increments of 20, and try to find the most realistic range. My guess is it will be pretty high, around 60-100, but we will see.

If anyone else wants to try this first one please feel free. The more testing the better. Once we find a suitable range we will move on to the second slider.

I say "we" hoping that it won't be just me doing this.

 

[bluechampion]

Has anyone tinkered around with the "Team Strategy" sliders to get the game to play as realistic as possible?

It seems to play pretty well as is, but I was wondering if there was anything in particular that has been discovered by adjusting the team strategies (I think that's what it's called... The section for each team where there are four offensive sliders and four defensive ones).

I just made a thread on tactical sliders and I saw there is one you've made already. Anyway my thread is about what values in tactical sliders must be set for different teams to make them play like they do in real life. Chip in there mate.

 

[wipsnadepoo]

Great thread - these slider settings could unlock a whole new level of game play and realism!

 

[blazer89]

I just made a thread on tactical sliders and I saw there is one you've made already. Anyway my thread is about what values in tactical sliders must be set for different teams to make them play like they do in real life. Chip in there mate.

If I knew enough about the way individual teams played I would contribute, but as is I'm just going to try to find overall adjustments that will help the game.

Also, I found that testing this is a lot easier than I had thought it would be. You can simply take a team into training mode and adjust both sides, and then play for a bit until it becomes clear how the changes affect things.

For the first setting:

1. Player Support (Behind the ball - Ahead of the ball)

I found that this slider has a not so dramatic effect on things, even when maxed out. You'll definitely notice a change if you put it at 100 or 0, but it's nothing too excessive.

I went through a bunch of teams to see what the default setting was for this slider, and most teams are at somewhere between 40-80. In fact I found no team outside that range, though I didn't check every team. It is my feeling that the game overall plays a bit too passively, so I think every team could use a boost in this area.

Conclusion: Raise each team by 20.

 

[blazer89]

2. Support Range (Far away from ball - Close to ball)

This setting actually had a fairly significant impact on things, more so than the first. However, even when maxed out at 0 or 100 it really didn't add to or take away from the realism.

Conclusion: No changes.

 

[blazer89]

3. Position Switch (Never - Frequent)

For this setting I think it is best to stay away from the extreme ends. In other words the range should be around 25-75, and I'm pretty sure the default already is.

When at 0 players stick to their position too much, and when at 100 players are all over the place.

Conclusion: No changes.

 

[blazer89]

4. Offensive Style (Wide - Middle)

The title of this one is a bit misleading, because it reflects positioning more than it does actual style. The good news is when players play more wide it has a beneficial impact on the way the game plays.

I lowered it all the way down to zero and the game played with much more fluidity, and it also freed up the penalty area nicely. At 100 things get much more cramped up.

Considering the default settings has players a bit too bunched together, I think lowering this setting helps.

Conclusion: Lower every team by 20.

 

[blazer89]

I've gone through and adjusted most teams with these new offensive settings, and so far I am getting pretty good results.

Things I am seeing:

• Computer AI more willing to push the ball forward.
• More space for shooting, passing, dribbling, and ball control.

The difference isn't dramatic, but it's noticeable. Next up I will do the defensive ones.

 

[blazer89]

5. Pressing (Loose - Tight)

For this setting it was kind of hard to find a balance, and my findings don't fix things completely, but I think they make the game better.

I think most every team could use a boost in this category, but nothing too big because not all teams apply tight pressure. Also, I think I did find a realistic range that every team should be within.

If this setting is too low the backline backpeddles way too much, allow oncoming attackers a free path to the edge of the box to rip off a shot. If this setting is too high you'll get forwards running down every ball within 20 yards, and really it just looks a bit silly.

Conclusion: Raise every team by 10, and have every team within the range of 40-70.

 

[blazer89]

6. Defensive Line (Deep - High)

When this setting is maxed out at 100 you'll see a good number of balls lofted over the defense. At the default I don't think you see this enough.

Conclusion: Raise every team by 20.

7. Compactness (Wide - Narrow)

This setting has a significant impact on the backline. When at zero you'll see sidebacks really attack the ball down the wing, but you'll also see gaping holes through the middle. When at 100 everything gets jammed up in the middle, too much so.

So it's best to keep this setting away from the extreme ends.

Conclusion: Have every team within the range of 30-70.

8. Defensive Strategy (Line or Cover)

I decided not to test this, because I do not know what style every team plays here. I'm just going to assume the devs did their research, which may or may not be the case.

Conclusion: No change.

Overall conclusion:

This testing was done on the Professional difficulty level, so I'm not sure how it differs for Top Player (or the one above that on the Japanese version).

In my opinion the differences enhance the realism to the point where I think it is worth it to make these changes. It is nothing too dramatic, but it fine tunes it for the better.

 

[wipsnadepoo]

Great suggestions Blazer89

 

[blazer89]

Great suggestions Blazer89

I'm glad to know at least one person likes these. :unsure:

 

[blazer89]

Oh yeah, if anyone wants the edit file for this (PS3 North American version) I would be willing to post it. I've also edited every team's automatic setting so that the computer will handle all the managing duties, as well as:

-added missing emblems (though not the best resolution)
-changed team and stadium names to correct ones.
-edited club kits (very basic though and not 100% authentic)

So it's not the greatest edit file, but it's available if someone can point me to a good site where I can upload it.

 

[juza09]

Oh yeah, if anyone wants the edit file for this I would be willing to post it. I've also edited every team's automatic setting so that the computer will handle all the managing duties, as well as:

-added missing emblems (though not the best resolution)
-changed team and stadium names to correct ones.
-edited club kits (very basic though and not 100% authentic)

So it's not the greatest edit file, but it's available if someone can point me to a good site where I can upload it.

i'm really interested to the overall teamstyles. Could you upload your edit file to sendspace or filefront?

thx in advance mate.

 

[wipsnadepoo]

I am just hanging back waiting for Daymos v2 OF before I start editing all the teams in each league - so thanks for all the hard work Blazer89. I reckon there are plenty of people interested, they just haven't left comments =D

 

[blazer89]

i'm really interested to the overall teamstyles. Could you upload your edit file to sendspace or filefront?

thx in advance mate.

I forgot to mention that this is for the PS3 North American version. If you or anyone else is still interested, post here.

edit: and to reiterate, this was all done on professional difficulty, so I'm not sure how it differs on the other difficulty levels.