A Fresh Look at Realism - Operation Sports

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A Fresh Look at Realism

Submitted on: 05/26/2008 by Jess Stewart

There is a certain level of integrity that the OS community tries to uphold when it comes to sports games and realism. The overwhelming majority hope for standings and stats that are on par with what they see happening in real life. It is understood that upsets will happen and certain players will have breakout seasons, but if overdone by a sim engine, the community attempts to feverishly right the ship. Often times the task can be too daunting and take away from enjoying a game that is meant to entertain not frustrate.

I have been guilty on several occasions of "doctoring" the outcome of the game. I have even quit a game due to my large lead early because I felt as though the other team was heavily favored. I have also run out of bounds on a third down even though I could have made the first down. Honestly I believe these tactics take a huge amount away from the game and cheapens the experience.

Look at Kansas last college football season. I vividly recall a poster saying, "If Kansas was in the Top 10 in my game I’d be ticked." This always stuck with me because it holds so true. Why play the game if the outcome is already determined? Why can't I take control of Notre Dame’s football team next season and go 13-0 and win the National Championship? The kids on ND and every other team in the country are thinking right now that they’re going undefeated including their bowl game. If they didn’t then the coaches on that staff should be fired. It’s not likely that Duke is going to win the ACC but why shouldn't they go out there and give it their best shot?

There is one goal in every sport: Win. Currently the view on realism is having standings and stats on par with real-life counterparts. I believe there is a better way to view realism. When you fire up your console to play a sports game, realism kicks in when you have to work for your victories while having an enjoyable gaming experience. Put the obsession with stats on the back burner while you enjoy the game. If you win 35 games in a row and each game feels like you earned the victory then more power to you. If you are using the USC Trojans and squaring off against the Troy Trojans, go after them. Focus on playing your style of game and don’t worry about having perfect stats. On the flip side, if you’re using Troy you should get after USC. If you have the game set on the appropriate difficulty for your user skill and you find a way to knock off USC, hopefully it feels really good!

Realistic stats are the most overrated sought after aspect of sports games. If you’re not having fun while playing the game then what’s the point? Don’t feel locked in to a certain outcome because of how your real-life counterpart is playing. I’m sure Kansas fans didn’t expect a BCS Bowl last year before the season kicked off. Ignore the negative comments you may get from people about winning too much or not having the most realistic stats.

Bottom line: Play to win. Stats should not be the main determinant of realism.

Member Comments

# 1 Tdiddy9182 @ 05/26/08 02:45 PM

Exactly! My main sim game of choice is NBA2k8 and if I have a role player that is on fire, I don't pull him out of the game just because its unrealistic. I play w a raptors association and with my last game, Delfino went 5/6 when he came in and was on fire, so i kept using him and he ended up with 35. Its not like things of that degree happen anyway, but its just part of the unexpected in the world of sports.

# 2 BrianFifaFan @ 05/26/08 05:37 PM

I totally agree with this article. I have no problem with a game that I win because I executed, regardless of the stat line. In baseball it is possible to bat .1000 and the Cornhuskers used to put up 70 quite often. My problem lies in a game that doesn't have the proper fundimentals of a sport coded in or has predictable second-rate AI that doesn't offer a challenge. Many sports games are guilty of having AI that doesn't get "smarter" as you progress in difficulty level, it just begins to "cheat." And then those built in coding flaws that the CPU uses end of getting discovered by a human opponent and used to win games in a way that undermines the basic rules of the sport. Or you get something really unrealistic like Shaq doing crossovers and spins, like in NBA2k5.

# 3 adembroski @ 05/26/08 10:55 PM

I generally don't concern myself with stats... if I find a slider set that makes the action on the field feel right, there are appropriate reactions to my actions, generally, the stats will fall into place.

Unfortunately, football is the only sport I know well enough to do this in. My first act with any new football game is to create 7 players... 4 defensive and 5 offensive, and put their ratings where, once I find the right blocking sliders, I should produce a stalemate over many plays. Then I start working on making sure my runningbacks and receivers are running at the same pace. Then I start throwing quick outs to see how quick the defensive backs are jumping the route, if at all... this gives me my baseline for all other sliders. I never, ever use stats to generate sliders.

# 4 RogueHominid @ 05/27/08 12:23 AM

Cum si, cum sa. Sports games are about statistics. Granted, you can't hold yourself to the unrealistic expectation that only teams and players who are "supposed" to be good are good, and vice versa; however, I don't see how you can play a sports game where there are seven turnovers a game, 5 2,000 yard rushers a year, 15 hits a game, or whatever over the long haul. IMHO, statistical parameters have to go along with gameplay as the two top determinants of a quality sports game.

# 5 ChaseB @ 05/27/08 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewaat


	Tdiddy, you hit it on the head. When you have to utilize what you are given to win there is a great feeling associated with that victory. Brian, I feel you. It's tough when games have to "cheat" to beat us. Hopefully games progress to the point where the AI just plays much better as opposed to making every shot and the like.

It's a divisive issue either way. I like your argument (I proofed the article after all ha) but some people just aren't going to bite on it.

# 6 PioneerRaptor @ 05/27/08 03:33 AM

I disagree with you opinion here, though I respect your choice. In my eyes, what's the challenge in using say, Utah State to beat USC if the game is going to scale it to make it easier?

There's no satisfaction to myself, if I didn't have to try my very best to win. I want to beat USC with Utah State, not because the AI helped me, but because I was skilled and smart enough to do it.

Not to mention, I like to use low-ranking teams in Dynasty and have the challenge of making that low-ranking team into a high-ranking team. I very much enjoy losing 4-5 games one year, a few less the next, and eventually making my team good enough to go undefeated and win the BCS bowl. And I did all of that with my own abilities, not the AI helping me.

# 7 Billym1973 @ 05/27/08 04:02 AM

I totally agree with the article. When I play MLB 2k8 I just look for the rosters that are up to date on Opening Day, and work with those throughout my franchise, and make trades as need be. I see alot of people wanting to start their franchise with rosters that are up to date to the middle of the real baseball season, and make the same trades that the real MLB teams do, nothing wrong with that, I just dont understand why. If someone wants there franchise to have the same stats as their real life counterparts, or make the same trades as the real teams, why play the game?

# 8 BlackJack @ 05/27/08 07:57 AM

I agree with this article whole-heartedly because, I believe that if they are going to make it that real, why don't they duplicate the wins and the losses as well? That way it can all be like real life, and you can have the"perfect" game, and in most cases your favorite team won't win the championship of the respective sport.

# 9 PaperLantern @ 05/27/08 11:42 PM

I expected a BCS bowl...

# 10 slickdtc @ 05/28/08 10:54 AM

A couple of years ago I was more gung ho about having the right statistics, but then it eventually made the games not fun anymore. Then, more recently, I just started playing the games for what they are. No, I don't want to have outlandish statistics and if I consistently can put up a crazy amount of points or goals or runs, then I'll tinker with those sliders a bit. But I'd rather have a game that's fun and challenging without it feeling like I was cheated out of a win (by some crazy CPU catchup logic where I can call their plays before they happen) or where I completely, consistently oblierate the opposition.

For me, it's a mix of trying to keep statistics relatively realistic while also having a good gaming experience. I enjoy a 5-11 season just as much as a 12-4 season. It adds some parity to the game, and that's what all professional league strive for; from worst to first in a short amount of time.

# 11 FSU_Animal @ 05/29/08 11:01 AM

I agree with everything that was stated in the article. I haven't so much been worried about the statistics being unrealistic as I was about the sliders. However, the one benefit to using statistics to determine realism is that if you know much about standard deviation or z-scores, they can help determine whether or not your team is playing within the ranks of all the other teams which helps me determine if I am winning with too much ease or losing unrealistically.

the only games I play are Madden 08 and NBA Live 07 which I can save stat reports without having to manually track them. I can easily take those reports into Excel, calculate the Averages, Standard Deviations, and then calculate the Z-Score which ranges anywhere from -3 to 3 on a Bell Curve Scale. If my results are too far out of the norm from the rest of the league then I know it's far too easy and I adjust sliders to make the games tougher or easier for me to actually play rather than growing bored from games being too easy or growing frustrated to the point of quitting mid-game because they are too hard.

# 12 huskerfan101 @ 09/03/08 09:31 PM

Its great when you execute and feels good to but there`s a fine line between realistic execution and fiction execution. Realistic exacution- when you play hard and you`re team is on top of their game usually resulting in a 20+ point win or if you`re playing a tough team realistic execution would be stick- ing with em either winning or losing or you could beat em by 3 touchdowns.
fiction exacution- Blowing out every team like there nothing. Now which one is more fun? I only come across a close game every now and then and there a blast! I want to feel like I really earned a win. Now I`m not saying make it super hard but hard enough for me to come out and win by a touchdown every so often, make blowouts every so often and, huge blowouts every so often.

# 13 huskerfan101 @ 09/03/08 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PioneerRaptor


	I disagree with you opinion here, though I respect your choice. In my eyes, what's the challenge in using say, Utah State to beat USC if the game is going to scale it to make it easier? There's no satisfaction to myself, if I didn't have to try my very best to win. I want to beat USC with Utah State, not because the AI helped me, but because I was skilled and smart enough to do it. Not to mention, I like to use low-ranking teams in Dynasty and have the challenge of making that low-ranking team into a high-ranking team. I very much enjoy losing 4-5 games one year, a few less the next, and eventually making my team good enough to go undefeated and win the BCS bowl. And I did all of that with my own abilities, not the AI helping me.

Perfect.

# 14 faster @ 09/04/08 12:40 AM

I agree totally, but I want to take it even a step further. In most years I know I can win it all in a couple years. However, now I turn up the difficulty so much that if I need a very very good team to win it all. I want it to be like college, where, to be honest... sometimes it's luck and how your team plays that week more than anything. 12 games isn't enough time to really know which team is the best. You can have an indication, but like baseball or basketball, teams get hot, have good and bad games, etc.

What I'm saying now is that I want a real challenge where even if I play my game, there's a good chance at losing. Make sense? Now, if I take a lower team, even if I progress significantly, even in 4 or 5 years I don't win championships because I don't want to or I don't quite get the bounces or breaks. It's been TOO easy to build a dynasty in most NCAA football games. Now I put the honus on having that perfect season, having some luck, etc.

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