FIFA 15 Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (PS4, XB1)

[TheCloser]

Honestly, I'm not sure where to start but let me start off by saying that this game is possibly one of the worst iterations of the franchise that i've ever played. This iteration is plagued with numerous issues but lets start at the core with gameplay, the most important thing in a game. Under the gameplay segment, there are a lot of topics to address so I'll do my best to split it up into chunks.

Player Movement:

This is probably my biggest issue with fifa 15. In fact, it is the source of most peoples issues with this game. The player movement in this game handicaps players and prevents them from doing what they intended to do. It is clear that this year's iteration of the game attempted to refine the concept of momentum introduced in fifa 14 but unfortunately, it's implementation was downright abysmal. It has become very clear to me that their animation tree has become too complex and this combined with the poor implementation of inertia is the source of the issue. Changing direction drastically reduces your speed which it should to varying extent but it is far to much in this game. It is so bad that it has become impossible to close down a player properly or maneuver through a tight space. As a results, players are able to take the ball from half and run through your whole team to get a shot off. Now, this is as a result of what i discussed above and the ai which i will touch on in a separate segment. I appreciate their desire to push the game in the direction of realism but doing so should not affect a player's ability to control his/her players.

AI:

Honestly, this game is a prime example of EA's development philosophy which is mile wide but inch deep. I will break this down into smaller segments because there is a lot to complain about.

Goalkeeper AI:

As you all know, this year has brought to existence goalkeepers that are worse than those in previous iterations of pes. These keepers are horrible. Firstly, the frequency at which they get beat at their near post is simply unacceptable. In fact, shooting to their near post with semi manual shooting leads to a 100% goal. The lack of individuality is also evident as all goalkeepers in this game regardless of rating play the same. They all fall for the same tricks. Goalkeepers like Casillas love to stay on their line on corner kicks yet in the game, he comes out to challenge for the ball and wins it almost all the time. Goalkeepers like Neuer and Valdes play like a sweeper but in the game, they just stay in their 6 yard box. Again, this is just another example of the mile wide inch deep approach taken by ea. These are just some of the many issues with the goalkeepers in this game. In fact, they are so bad that EA had to nerf it's excellent shooting system from fifa 14 to compensate for the poor keepers.

Defensive AI:

This is by far the biggest AI related issue with this game. The poor defensive ai is the reason people can run right through your defense like Messi while using Sergio Ramos. What is the problem with it you ask? They are static. It's as simple as that. You can only control one player at once yet the AI does not account for that. When a player is coming at full speed towards a defender, the proper thing to do is begin to back off at a speed which allows you to contain the oncoming player or else he will blow by you. Instead of doing this, the ai just remains static waiting for you to switch over to the closest player. Its the desire to focus on the one on one battles but unfortunately, soccer is a team sport. Losing a one on one battle doesn't necessarily lead to a goal. It a sport that focuses on operating as a unit yet the ai isn't programmed to account for this. If the ai was programmed to defend properly, then the game would be a lot better. I almost forgot to mention the catch up bug and physicality cheat on legendary. Under no circumstance should Per Mertesacker be able to catch up with Gareth Bale. The Ai also relies on several cheats in legendary mode including the 180 100% pass to make the game artifically difficult. This is all because they haven't programmed the defensive AI to act as a unit. They need to be active instead of static.

Offensive AI:

Honestly, they really only need to improve the type of runs being made. Its nice to see angular runs but curved runs should be included as well. There needs to be more variety in the type of runs being made and I should not have to press L1 to tell a player to make a run. That needs to be removed from the game complete. In real life, you don't tell your striker or wingers to make runs. They do it based on the situation and the amount of energy they have left. This concept of pressing L1 to make a run only goes to show how much of a back seat the ai has taken in the last console generation. The constant focus on graphics(I will touch on this later) has left us with yawn worthy ai.

There are a lot of improvements to be made in this department and I surely haven't mentioned all the issues.

Player & Team Individuality:

Again the common theme here is the mile wide inch deep approach. It's one thing to nail their looks but its another to nail their movement and behavior. Now there are thousands of players in this game but you need to begin somewhere. In every league and every team, there are maybe one or two players who stand out in the way they behave and the way they move. The way ronaldinho runs and plays is different to the way ronaldo runs and plays. In fifa 15 however, they may as well be the same person. When they are controlled by the AI, they just play like all the other players in the game. When I play against Ronaldinho, I want to see him use skill moves to beat players in a one on one battle. I expect him to attempt no look passes and to have superior passing vision. I expect his set pieces to be unique to him. The same goes for ronaldo. When I play against Juventus, I expect Pirlo to be the focal point for their attack. I expect him to run the midfield and distribute the ball like no one else. The same goes for players like Xavi as well. These are some of the things EA needs to focus on to really improve the game. Their shallow additions are reall becoming less and less note worthy always failing to justify the new iterations of the game.

Presentation & Graphics

Graphics:

The transition to the new generation of consoles has been extremely disappointing. Instead of attempting to push towards photo realistic graphics, EA has instead chosen to double down on their pixar look for the game. Everything about the game's graphics is disappointing including the grass. From the lack of AA to poor jersey models, player skin tones, crowd model skin tones, crowd model clothing attire, color of the grass, etc. The whole game just looks like a cartoon. I know that you can't start from scratch every generation and you need to build ontop of what you have but fifa has not improved at all. It just looks like a ps3 game with more effects to me. This is the difference between last gen player models and next gen player models in nba 2k14:

This is the difference between Fifa 14 on the ps3 and ps4:

Here is pes 2015 vs fifa 15 and don't forget, Konami has far less resources than EA:

Fifa hasn't made this jump yet and I'm still waiting for a next gen looking game.

Presentation:

Again the common theme is mile wide inch deep approach. They have made the game look like a tv broadcast but they haven't still addressed some important issues. Crowd chants are still static. It needs to be dynamic. It needs to be a push and pull mechanic. At the Barca vs PSG game in Camp Nou, when the PSG fans started chanting, the Barca fans responded drowning them out. It's a us vs them mentality. When Atletico Madrid fans where chanting in the Bernabau, Real Madrid fans responded by whistling to drown them out and then they started chanting. It takes a lot to capture the atmosphere of a game but if they can capture the emotion, then it makes the game special. Fans tend to target opposition players depending on how they played and in fifa they need to implement this. If you are playing against a rival, then the game needs to remember(career mode) what happened in previous games and that should dictate how the fans react. If Pepe injured Messi in the last game then everytime he touches the ball, the fans should boo(north america)/whistle(spain). Things like this make the game feel alive. In fact, it is so of putting to be playing a game in spain and hearing the stadium announcer make announcements in english.

These are just some of my many complaints with fifa 15 and the franchise as a whole. They are always chasing the next back of the box feature instead of attempting to emulate the sport with it's little intricacies. Honestly, I could write a book titled what is wrong with fifa but no one would read it.

[Matt10]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheCloser

Honestly, I'm not sure where to start but let me start off by saying that this game is possibly one of the worst iterations of the franchise that i've ever played. This iteration is plagued with numerous issues but lets start at the core with gameplay, the most important thing in a game. Under the gameplay segment, there are a lot of topics to address so I'll do my best to split it up into chunks. Player Movement: This is probably my biggest issue with fifa 15. In fact, it is the source of most peoples issues with this game. The player movement in this game handicaps players and prevents them from doing what they intended to do. It is clear that this year's iteration of the game attempted to refine the concept of momentum introduced in fifa 14 but unfortunately, it's implementation was downright abysmal. It has become very clear to me that their animation tree has become too complex and this combined with the poor implementation of inertia is the source of the issue. Changing direction drastically reduces your speed which it should to varying extent but it is far to much in this game. It is so bad that it has become impossible to close down a player properly or maneuver through a tight space. As a results, players are able to take the ball from half and run through your whole team to get a shot off. Now, this is as a result of what i discussed above and the ai which i will touch on in a separate segment. I appreciate their desire to push the game in the direction of realism but doing so should not affect a player's ability to control his/her players. AI: Honestly, this game is a prime example of EA's development philosophy which is mile wide but inch deep. I will break this down into smaller segments because there is a lot to complain about. Goalkeeper AI: As you all know, this year has brought to existence goalkeepers that are worse than those in previous iterations of pes. These keepers are horrible. Firstly, the frequency at which they get beat at their near post is simply unacceptable. In fact, shooting to their near post with semi manual shooting leads to a 100% goal. The lack of individuality is also evident as all goalkeepers in this game regardless of rating play the same. They all fall for the same tricks. Goalkeepers like Casillas love to stay on their line on corner kicks yet in the game, he comes out to challenge for the ball and wins it almost all the time. Goalkeepers like Neuer and Valdes play like a sweeper but in the game, they just stay in their 6 yard box. Again, this is just another example of the mile wide inch deep approach taken by ea. These are just some of the many issues with the goalkeepers in this game. In fact, they are so bad that EA had to nerf it's excellent shooting system from fifa 14 to compensate for the poor keepers. Defensive AI: This is by far the biggest AI related issue with this game. The poor defensive ai is the reason people can run right through your defense like Messi while using Sergio Ramos. What is the problem with it you ask? They are static. It's as simple as that. You can only control one player at once yet the AI does not account for that. When a player is coming at full speed towards a defender, the proper thing to do is begin to back off at a speed which allows you to contain the oncoming player or else he will blow by you. Instead of doing this, the ai just remains static waiting for you to switch over to the closest player. Its the desire to focus on the one on one battles but unfortunately, soccer is a team sport. Losing a one on one battle doesn't necessarily lead to a goal. It a sport that focuses on operating as a unit yet the ai isn't programmed to account for this. If the ai was programmed to defend properly, then the game would be a lot better. I almost forgot to mention the catch up bug and physicality cheat on legendary. Under no circumstance should Per Mertesacker be able to catch up with Gareth Bale. The Ai also relies on several cheats in legendary mode including the 180 100% pass to make the game artifically difficult. This is all because they haven't programmed the defensive AI to act as a unit. They need to be active instead of static. Offensive AI: Honestly, they really only need to improve the type of runs being made. Its nice to see angular runs but curved runs should be included as well. There needs to be more variety in the type of runs being made and I should not have to press L1 to tell a player to make a run. That needs to be removed from the game complete. In real life, you don't tell your striker or wingers to make runs. They do it based on the situation and the amount of energy they have left. This concept of pressing L1 to make a run only goes to show how much of a back seat the ai has taken in the last console generation. The constant focus on graphics(I will touch on this later) has left us with yawn worthy ai. There are a lot of improvements to be made in this department and I surely haven't mentioned all the issues. Player & Team Individuality: Again the common theme here is the mile wide inch deep approach. It's one thing to nail their looks but its another to nail their movement and behavior. Now there are thousands of players in this game but you need to begin somewhere. In every league and every team, there are maybe one or two players who stand out in the way they behave and the way they move. The way ronaldinho runs and plays is different to the way ronaldo runs and plays. In fifa 15 however, they may as well be the same person. When they are controlled by the AI, they just play like all the other players in the game. When I play against Ronaldinho, I want to see him use skill moves to beat players in a one on one battle. I expect him to attempt no look passes and to have superior passing vision. I expect his set pieces to be unique to him. The same goes for ronaldo. When I play against Juventus, I expect Pirlo to be the focal point for their attack. I expect him to run the midfield and distribute the ball like no one else. The same goes for players like Xavi as well. These are some of the things EA needs to focus on to really improve the game. Their shallow additions are reall becoming less and less note worthy always failing to justify the new iterations of the game. Presentation & Graphics Graphics: The transition to the new generation of consoles has been extremely disappointing. Instead of attempting to push towards photo realistic graphics, EA has instead chosen to double down on their pixar look for the game. Everything about the game's graphics is disappointing including the grass. From the lack of AA to poor jersey models, player skin tones, crowd model skin tones, crowd model clothing attire, color of the grass, etc. The whole game just looks like a cartoon. I know that you can't start from scratch every generation and you need to build ontop of what you have but fifa has not improved at all. It just looks like a ps3 game with more effects to me. This is the difference between last gen player models and next gen player models in nba 2k14: This is the difference between Fifa 14 on the ps3 and ps4: Here is pes 2015 vs fifa 15 and don't forget, Konami has far less resources than EA: Fifa hasn't made this jump yet and I'm still waiting for a next gen looking game. Presentation: Again the common theme is mile wide inch deep approach. They have made the game look like a tv broadcast but they haven't still addressed some important issues. Crowd chants are still static. It needs to be dynamic. It needs to be a push and pull mechanic. At the Barca vs PSG game in Camp Nou, when the PSG fans started chanting, the Barca fans responded drowning them out. It's a us vs them mentality. When Atletico Madrid fans where chanting in the Bernabau, Real Madrid fans responded by whistling to drown them out and then they started chanting. It takes a lot to capture the atmosphere of a game but if they can capture the emotion, then it makes the game special. Fans tend to target opposition players depending on how they played and in fifa they need to implement this. If you are playing against a rival, then the game needs to remember(career mode) what happened in previous games and that should dictate how the fans react. If Pepe injured Messi in the last game then everytime he touches the ball, the fans should boo(north america)/whistle(spain). Things like this make the game feel alive. In fact, it is so of putting to be playing a game in spain and hearing the stadium announcer make announcements in english. These are just some of my many complaints with fifa 15 and the franchise as a whole. They are always chasing the next back of the box feature instead of attempting to emulate the sport with it's little intricacies. Honestly, I could write a book titled what is wrong with fifa but no one would read it.

I'm not going to argue or defend FIFA 15 point by point, but imho FIFA 09 was the worst of all time. It had zero weight shift, weird animations and physics, terrible dribbling mechanics, and highly scripted AI to boot.

With that said, I can't form an opinion on your post because sliders take care a lot of the gameplay mishaps you mention, although the source of the gameplay issues you've mentioned are a bit off the mark. A balance of controlling your CM/DM with secondary pressure, along with making the right choice of when to super-cancel and when not to, you get a pretty stellar game of football on FIFA 15. Again, that's just my opinion with the game having sliders applied...without - then I agree with pretty much what you've said.

[TheCloser]

Quote: Originally Posted by Matt10

I'm not going to argue or defend FIFA 15 point by point, but imho FIFA 09 was the worst of all time. It had zero weight shift, weird animations and physics, terrible dribbling mechanics, and highly scripted AI to boot. With that said, I can't form an opinion on your post because sliders take care a lot of the gameplay mishaps you mention, although the source of the gameplay issues you've mentioned are a bit off the mark. A balance of controlling your CM/DM with secondary pressure, along with making the right choice of when to super-cancel and when not to, you get a pretty stellar game of football on FIFA 15. Again, that's just my opinion with the game having sliders applied...without - then I agree with pretty much what you've said.

I will only address the bolded points. Unfortunately, I didn't spend much time playing fifa 09 so i cannot really comment on it. I did spend a lot of time playing fifa 10 and that game was hot garbage as well. Over powered through balls and over powered chips broke the game. In regards to your other comment about using secondary pressure, that still fails to compensate for the poor ai. In fact, it only makes the problem worse as using it incorrectly leads to large gaps in your defense because the AI doesn't shift properly. Finally in regards to sliders, this isn't a knock against you but I've tried your sliders for both fifa 14 and fifa 15. Imo, sliders don't really resolve any of the fundamental ai issues. In fact, the implementation of sliders leads to laziness in gameplay balance. Sliders are good because it provides your fanbase with options but the base game must be good. This has not been the case with fifa 14 or 15 and sliders can only make a rubbish game slightly less rubbish. It cannot address or fix the underlying issues with the game. I've and still play football at a very high level. I've also had the opportunity to coach some teams as well. My experience with the sport may not be as much as yours but I completely disagree with your assessment that it plays a pretty good game of football. The core pieces to create an excellent game are in place but they are just being misused.

[Matt10]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheCloser

I will only address the bolded points. Unfortunately, I didn't spend much time playing fifa 09 so i cannot really comment on it. I did spend a lot of time playing fifa 10 and that game was hot garbage as well. Over powered through balls and over powered chips broke the game. In regards to your other comment about using secondary pressure, that still fails to compensate for the poor ai. In fact, it only makes the problem worse as using it incorrectly leads to large gaps in your defense because the AI doesn't shift properly. Finally in regards to sliders, this isn't a knock against you but I've tried your sliders for both fifa 14 and fifa 15. Imo, sliders don't really resolve any of the fundamental ai issues. In fact, the implementation of sliders leads to laziness in gameplay balance. Sliders are good because it provides your fanbase with options but the base game must be good. This has not been the case with fifa 14 or 15 and sliders can only make a rubbish game slightly less rubbish. It cannot address or fix the underlying issues with the game. I've and still play football at a very high level. I've also had the opportunity to coach some teams as well. My experience with the sport may not be as much as yours but I completely disagree with your assessment that it plays a pretty good game of football. The core pieces to create an excellent game are in place but they are just being misused.

It's what I figured your response to be, man. Again, I'm not going to go point by point, but I've put in 1000's of hours into this year's (and maybe last year's) game. Sliders make a big difference. They are constantly being undervalued, much like your post, because the mentality that the "core" of the game is still there - and sliders feel like a 2% change.

That 2% change is more like an 80% value actually because you take Sprint Speed, as just an example, bump it from the default of 50 to 53, and now you have the CPU playing smarter defense, and less bursting capability by you, resulting in less charity goals.

Look at pass error, on default at 50, CPU is going to pass at will, but will look for easier passes to break down your defense, where as you put it a bit higher, now the CPU starts to send some longer balls in because the completion percentage metric is less standard, and more room for error.

One of the biggest values in line length, keep it at 50 and you will see the gameplay be less compact, more wide open and more prone to dribble-dribble pass. Drop it to 40 and now there is a bit more compactness, more togetherness, more of those runs that result in checking to the ball versus running away from it.

Already, 3 points relating to sliders that change the "core" of FIFA 15 - and I can go through it all, but I won't.

Now, you also have to change your attitude towards the game. CPU plays the way they do as a result of what you present them. You want to chase them with secondary pressure, fine - instead of holding it down - tap it, and if you do hold it down, release it at the right time and the CPU won't know what to do, just make sure you're controlling your CM/DM. In this video, I show exactly how it's done (not perfectly, but the general concept is there):



Like I said it is tough to defend a game that has issues, but when the solution is presented in the form of sliders, pride swells up more than the thirst for realism. Instead we go into this consumer angry at the corporation mentality, and you get nowhere - and you don't put in 1000 of hours trying to fix the game, because it's not your problem. My mentality has been if we are going to complain, let's just go out and fix it, because they are still going to make their money - and you not playing is just going to make you more sad that there are no footy games to play.

So, yeah, I can say with a firm note, that FIFA 15, with sliders, is one of the best games I've ever played - I'd say FIFA 11 on PS3 was very close, if only there could have been a difficulty between World Class and Legendary.

At the end of the day, the reason I choose to get into these discussions is because 1. I want to present those that are complaining, but still want a solution, to have an option and 2. I want to educate FIFA players that sliders are very important and not to take them for granted. There was a time in FIFA when there were no sliders (just thinking of FIFA 11 with sliders makes me salivate), and it was a dark time.

Also, if you play online, none of this applies, see the source post and it's pretty much spot on because that mode is a joke and full of exploits.

[TheCloser]

Quote: Originally Posted by Matt10

It's what I figured your response to be, man. Again, I'm not going to go point by point, but I've put in 1000's of hours into this year's (and maybe last year's) game. Sliders make a big difference. They are constantly being undervalued, much like your post, because the mentality that the "core" of the game is still there - and sliders feel like a 2% change. That 2% change is more like an 80% value actually because you take Sprint Speed, as just an example, bump it from the default of 50 to 53, and now you have the CPU playing smarter defense, and less bursting capability by you, resulting in less charity goals. Look at pass error, on default at 50, CPU is going to pass at will, but will look for easier passes to break down your defense, where as you put it a bit higher, now the CPU starts to send some longer balls in because the completion percentage metric is less standard, and more room for error. One of the biggest values in line length, keep it at 50 and you will see the gameplay be less compact, more wide open and more prone to dribble-dribble pass. Drop it to 40 and now there is a bit more compactness, more togetherness, more of those runs that result in checking to the ball versus running away from it. Already, 3 points relating to sliders that change the "core" of FIFA 15 - and I can go through it all, but I won't. Now, you also have to change your attitude towards the game. CPU plays the way they do as a result of what you present them. You want to chase them with secondary pressure, fine - instead of holding it down - tap it, and if you do hold it down, release it at the right time and the CPU won't know what to do, just make sure you're controlling your CM/DM. In this video, I show exactly how it's done (not perfectly, but the general concept is there): Like I said it is tough to defend a game that has issues, but when the solution is presented in the form of sliders, pride swells up more than the thirst for realism. Instead we go into this consumer angry at the corporation mentality, and you get nowhere - and you don't put in 1000 of hours trying to fix the game, because it's not your problem. My mentality has been if we are going to complain, let's just go out and fix it, because they are still going to make their money - and you not playing is just going to make you more sad that there are no footy games to play. So, yeah, I can say with a firm note, that FIFA 15, with sliders, is one of the best games I've ever played - I'd say FIFA 11 on PS3 was very close, if only there could have been a difficulty between World Class and Legendary. At the end of the day, the reason I choose to get into these discussions is because 1. I want to present those that are complaining, but still want a solution, to have an option and 2. I want to educate FIFA players that sliders are very important and not to take them for granted. There was a time in FIFA when there were no sliders (just thinking of FIFA 11 with sliders makes me salivate), and it was a dark time. Also, if you play online, none of this applies, see the source post and it's pretty much spot on because that mode is a joke and full of exploits.

There is a reason I was brief in my criticism of sliders. I didn't want to go into detail point by point on my issue with sliders and I still won't go into detail point by point. Honestly, I've only spent a few hundred hours with this years game but I spent a ton of time with fifa 14 especially experimenting with sliders. I'll be as brief as possible to get my point across. If we look at the ai as a function or class(very simplistic approach), then slider values are the input values that the function/class is initialized with. They change the parameters of the ai by adding more or less restriction on what it can and cannot do. It does not change the logic in any way shape or form. Looking at your final set of sliders as an example, you have the pass error set to 65. This value does not supercede the ai's tendency to attempt and complete a perfect 180 degree pass. As much as you'd like to believe that the parameters change the core of the game, it simply doesn't. It just restricts the ai to use some known strategies more or less than others. It doesn't help the ai develop new strategies at all. The Ai is inherently stupid and relies on knowledge of your inputs to make decisions. In real life, you don't know if a player is going left or right. You may have a feeling based on the way he is leaning but it is still a guess. You're not privy to that information till after the player makes the decision. In the game, as soon as you choose to move left or right, that value is recorded and before the next frame is rendered, the ai has already made a decision. Call it seeing into the future. As a result, the ai should never lose to you because it always knows what you are going to do as soon as you know what you're going to do. Anyway, thats my brief spiel on sliders.

[Matt10]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheCloser

There is a reason I was brief in my criticism of sliders. I didn't want to go into detail point by point on my issue with sliders and I still won't go into detail point by point. Honestly, I've only spent a few hundred hours with this years game but I spent a ton of time with fifa 14 especially experimenting with sliders. I'll be as brief as possible to get my point across. If we look at the ai as a function or class(very simplistic approach), then slider values are the input values that the function/class is initialized with. They change the parameters of the ai by adding more or less restriction on what it can and cannot do. It does not change the logic in any way shape or form. Looking at your final set of sliders as an example, you have the pass error set to 65. This value does not supercede the ai's tendency to attempt and complete a perfect 180 degree pass. As much as you'd like to believe that the parameters change the core of the game, it simply doesn't. It just restricts the ai to use some known strategies more or less than others. It doesn't help the ai develop new strategies at all. The Ai is inherently stupid and relies on knowledge of your inputs to make decisions. In real life, you don't know if a player is going left or right. You may have a feeling based on the way he is leaning but it is still a guess. You're not privy to that information till after the player makes the decision. In the game, as soon as you choose to move left or right, that value is recorded and before the next frame is rendered, the ai has already made a decision. Call it seeing into the future. As a result, the ai should never lose to you because it always knows what you are going to do as soon as you know what you're going to do. Anyway, thats my brief spiel on sliders.

Then tell me why the Sprint value raised increases awareness and reactions by not just the CPU, but teammate AI?

Please don't mention the functions as if you have read the paramaters, the config files (or previously dat files) were built off of increasing or decreasing percentages of decisions to be made. Yes, like any video game, the rendering happens after the fact - but honestly, it's not the only way the engine determines decision making. I can put CPU pass error at 0 and still be able to defend them by controlling the CM/DM and using the proper super-cancel and secondary pressure.

Yes, you are correct that the sliders are the input, but individually they control various values, not just what they are "labeled". Add in the right combination, and the "core" actually gets canceled out in some instances. This seems like an arena of discussion that you just haven't spent enough time on to formulate an opinion. You can see what the sliders are at face value, but underestimate their importance because you don't understand them, I'll accept that's my fault for not producing point-by-point documentation, but it doesn't mean one should assume what they are, or aren't. Approach them with an open mind, much like many of the guys in the OS Sliders thread, youtube and Evoweb, you'll see the benefits.

That's all I'll leave it to be as this discussion is going far away from education and awareness, to pride swelling misguidance.

[TheLetterZ]

I'll avoid the slider discussion. I do strongly agree; however, with TheCloser's sentiments regarding the individuality and player tendencies.

It really irks me because I don't feel like these deficiencies would fly in any other sports game, and yet FIFA is nearly universally lauded despite them.

Imagine playing an NBA 2K15 where every team played essentially the same style. Doesn't matter if they're the plodding Grizzlies or the up and down Warriors — they're going to play the same way.

Imagine if every player had the same running and shooting animations.

Pretend every center, every forward, every guard — pretend they all played the same style.

Stephen Curry or Russell Westbrook? Doesn't matter — they're taking the same shots and making the same passes.

I feel like that is what FIFA is.

Would NBA 2K15 escape that same situation? Of course not. OS would rate it a 3/10.

When FIFA lacks player and team individuality, it doesn't seem to matter.

I don't get it and it frustrates me immensely.

[TheCloser]

Quote: Originally Posted by Matt10

Then tell me why the Sprint value raised increases awareness and reactions by not just the CPU, but teammate AI? Please don't mention the functions as if you have read the paramaters, the config files (or previously dat files) were built off of increasing or decreasing percentages of decisions to be made. Yes, like any video game, the rendering happens after the fact - but honestly, it's not the only way the engine determines decision making. I can put CPU pass error at 0 and still be able to defend them by controlling the CM/DM and using the proper super-cancel and secondary pressure. Yes, you are correct that the sliders are the input, but individually they control various values, not just what they are "labeled". Add in the right combination, and the "core" actually gets canceled out in some instances. This seems like an arena of discussion that you just haven't spent enough time on to formulate an opinion. You can see what the sliders are at face value, but underestimate their importance because you don't understand them, I'll accept that's my fault for not producing point-by-point documentation, but it doesn't mean one should assume what they are, or aren't. Approach them with an open mind, much like many of the guys in the OS Sliders thread, youtube and Evoweb, you'll see the benefits. That's all I'll leave it to be as this discussion is going far away from education and awareness, to pride swelling misguidance.

I think it's just best we avoid the slider discussion. I do believe that there are some benefits to sliders but in my opinion, the base game must be representative of the sport. Fifa 15 is a generic poor representation of the sport and is extremely lacking in all departments. The technology is in place to make a marvelous game but they spend every year trying to improve the technology instead of improving the game. Amazing collision engine: players fall every 3 seconds. Amazing shooting physics: nerfed because poor goalie ai. Extreme player likeness: all players and goalkeepers play the same. I have to applaud EA for the accomplishments they made on the tech side but fifa 15 is a poor game with poor gameplay. The base game is a horrid representation of the sport that attempts to chase the wow moments of football instead of focusing on the fundamentals and allowing those moments to develop organically. There is almost no midfield play to speak of and pace rules all. It's another entry in a franchise that has continued to stagnate and disappoint.