Welcome to my first publicly shared Madden settings, rosters and sliders.
I’ve been playing Madden for 12 years, playing and watching football for 15. Every year, like everyone else, I rush to the forums to find the best sliders to get the sim experience so I can have my football fix aside from Sunday's.
It was when M18 hit that I realised there are some fundamental flaws in Madden that simply cannot be fixed through sliders. Yes, a lot of that is to do with awful coding, but.... I started to look at Madden from a different perspective.
What if it wasn't the sliders that needed changing? What if it’s the 'under the hood' logic of the players themselves? I began experimenting with M18 and saw amazing changes. (Shoutout to Trojan Man & DaReal Milticket for the support on M18). M19 is no different.
This set is built upon:
1. Immersive Rosters
2. Minor Slider Changes
3. Simulation Human Play Style
Roster & Draft Classes
Final roster available on PSN
It appears there is a bug with Madden Share which makes 2 of my uploaded files un-downloadable, so please download the following files:
PSN: iMac2307
Roster: IMACOFFICIAL
2019 Draft Class: IMAC19
Auto-Generated Class: IMACF1, IMACF2
More Draft Classes coming soon.
Below are the edits for the final roster:
High Motor: OFF
The High Motor Trait baffles me. It is described as: ”Players with this trait are more likely to to give "more effort" during plays, and continue to do their jobs, despite obstacles"
This makes sense, but when you analyse who owns this trait, it is applied to almost every player on every roster, which makes it redundant. Strangely, the trait is removed from a number of elite players, but is given to backups rated in their 50's as well. I think this is disastrous to players playing true to their actual rating.
I believe this is where the statement, "ratings don't matter" stems from. If my 85 OVR WR has 'High Motor' off, but a 72 OVR DB has it on, the DB can, in theory, beat the WR to the ball. When you remove High Motor from all the players, the game has a sudden 'calmness' about it. Blocks are generally picked up better, players play more true to their ratings and animations tend to play out better.
One of my most enjoyable moments going from having this trait ON to OFF was playing vs. the Vikings. Griffin racked up 3 sacks in Q1 with the trait ON, and was beating my Tackle with cheesy, Insta-Shed animations.
Turned it OFF, and immediately he started to become engaged with blocks and fighting in the trenches. He didn’t get his first sack until Q2, and when he did, it was a beautiful swim move that completely beat my Tackle off the line and left him for dirt.
It’s a step in the right direction for immersion.
Big Hitter: OFF
This is the most noticeable change.
This year, the new Hit Stick animations are cool, but they look like something out of WWE. I don’t want to see that happen 2 or 3 times in one drive, and I don’t want to see it 8 times in a game. It just doesn’t happen like that in the NFL.
Now, the Big Hitter trait has been removed from the majority of defenders, and kept on for those who are universally known for taking heads off. No longer will you be running through the hole with Zeke, to be taken out WWE style from some no-name, 73 OVR LB.
A huge benefit from gameplay perspective is that we don't have to nerf the tackle slider to see more realistic pursuits or animations. This has been dealt with purely by taking the Big Hitter trait off, which keeps sliders balanced.
Ball Carrier Edits
Fight For Yards - ON
All RB's, WR's, TE's & FB's have now had Fight For Yards turned on. With this trait on, it produces some really nice animations on a regular basis, ball carriers are wrestled to the ground more regularly as opposed to a hit that instantly floors them, and it's good to see them pick up another 2 or so yards when carrying.
Covers The Ball - Brace For All Hits
This seems to also make for nicer animations, but after a bit of testing, it seems to also discourage the ball carrier dodging from left to right as much when they carry. It makes for more head down running and taking the contact when it's incoming.
Make Sideline Catches - ON
All RB's, WR's, TE's & FB's have now had Makes Sideline Catches turned on. This is really nice to see in games and can be the difference maker to keep drives alive. This doesn't mean FB's are making catches like elite WR's. The players' awareness and catch ratings will determine the success of the sideline catch, but it's nice to see as opposed to a player just running out of bounds as they make the catch. I also firmly believe any player on an NFL roster will practice catching balls near the sideline, so it seems silly that some players have the trait and others don't.
RAC Catches - ON
All RB's, WR's, TE's & FB's have now had RAC Catches turned on. This one perplexed me. Firstly, all RB's had this trait turned off, which really hindered their ability to turn up field when catching the ball out of the backfield. But it would also be turned off for a number of WR's. I don't understand the logic on this. Turning up field when making a catch is just a basic part of the game and it makes the transition between catching and running look really smooth.
Defensive Edits
Linebackers
Play Ball In The Air - Conservative
All LB's have had their Play Ball In The Air trait edited to Conservative. The pass defense on M19 is legit this year. But maybe a bit too legit. I found it pretty infuriating to see LB's making crazy picks across the middle, or warping themselves in to position to bat the ball down. With the trait set to conservative, they interact with the ball and the receiver in a much more realistic way. They don't close in on the space between the ball or receiver as quickly, meaning you can squeeze the ball in to tighter windows or over their heads. They also tend to bat the ball down instead of going for the pick, but, don't be fooled, they will still get up there and snag it, it just has to be something legitimately within their reach.
Defensive Backs
Play Ball In The Air - Balanced
All DB's have had their Play Ball In The Air trait edited to Balanced. The WR & DB interactions are beautiful this year. But sometimes they would still leave me with my head scratching because it would seem like the DB would go up and make a pick when it just didn't seem justified. It would also become infuriating when they would constantly jump routes out of nowhere and make a pick, especially on All-Madden. With the trait set at balanced, every interaction seems legitimately justified. It gives receivers a chance to go up and get it, and the DB will now make a judgement on whether they also go up for the pick, or if they will play the receiver and look to bat the ball out. Previously, a huge number of DB's would have the trait set to Aggressive, meaning they are just always on the hunt for the pick, which would override ratings and and the way the play worked out. With it at balanced, there are more contests for the ball and you can see when an elite DB is truly covering their assignment and not just winning battles because of a trait.
The 'Play Ball In The Air' traits have really opened up the passing game in a different way. Similar to turning High Motor off, it has given it a sense of calm, especially on All-Madden, which always felt so stressful because you had no idea when the CPU was going to break on the ball or receiver unusually fast. I've been playing on default All-Madden and it's felt the most balanced it's ever been.
Special Teams
Punters - Attribute Changes
Every punter has their Kick Power rating between 92-98 on EA's base roster. This would explain why so many kicks are able to fly the length of the field. It often means stating positions for drives are from the 20 yard line or under, unless you're kicking from your end zone. The average starting field position in the NFL in 2017 was between the 25-35 yard line. It's a part of the game I don't think we pay enough attention to and how wrong EA get the ability of punters and the importance of realistic starting positions. With this, each Punter has had 10 points removed from their Kick Power and Kick Accuracy which means drives more often start in realistic places.
Draft Classes
3 draft classes are now available:
PSN: iMac2307
Files:
IMAC219 (Real collegiate class)
IMACF1 (Auto-generated class)
IMACF2 (Auto-generated class)
Settings
I have heard a number of people say that these rosters work fantastically with the following:
Armor & Swords Slider Set
Matt10's Slider Set.
Below is what I am personally using:
Spoiler
Simulation Human Play Style (Notes provided)
1. No switch Defense (Strict Rule)
2. No user catching (Strict Rule)
3. No Hot-Routes (Strict Rule)
4. Sensible play calling (Strict Rule)
5. No controlling DL & user blitzing (Optional rule, but advised)
6. User from the LB spot on Defense (Optional rule, but advised)
Notes
Spoiler
Honourable mention to Armor & Sword and JoschC - I have watched their streams and read their threads for years to learn about how to optimise the Madden experience and there are elements of their theories woven in to this set.
Happy Madden 19!
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