A few things you can do to make the game better

[drog1602]

Yeah, I like the lower scoring games and thus the lower shot speed. I just found that the Ai was too effective from far out with a high shot power. They can still snipe in the slot, but a shot from the boards is gobbled up easily.

Like you said, the stand up style does not represent the goalies for all styles, but I do think they play better overall and that is more important to me. This at least, has been what I have noticed ( but it could be more placebo, lol).

I kept the goalie reaction slider low, so that they don't overplay shots. It keeps them a little more grounded and makes it so they are less likely to over anticipate. I did not like how they were always out of position and overplaying every shot. Also, since my shot speed is lower, there are fewer large rebounds (except on slapshots). The goalie can corral them a little easier.

I have the acceleration high, because the Ai has issues with turning and it creates a huge disadvantage. They can still get burned if they step up on a play, but they are able to turn and try and cut off a player and adjust properly with a high acceleration setting. It gets rid of the herky, jerky movements.

[drog1602]

As a test, i changed all my goalies back to their original styles and I then went into edit attributes and set all starting goalie consistency to zero (0). Having a consistency of one, allows far too many soft goals. I still see a few too many short side goals, but with the defence playing better its not as bad.

I also set my goalie passing slider down to one, they still come out to stop dump ins but not as aggressive with puck movement.

[drog1602]

I made some adjustments to my custom Ai and WOW did it make a huge difference! The Ai are a lot more aggressive and more creative with passing. It has worked out so well that I can even lower the aggression slider by a notch, down to four 4. What I plan on doing is playing with four for the regular season and then ramping it up to five for the playoffs. (tested with my All-Star sliders)

I was surprised at such a difference this has made.

Here are my new Custom Ai set:

- I leave the team strategies as they are set for each team
- NZ - FC slider for each team, set at five (5)
- Set the PP carry -dump slider to six (6)

FWD Line 1
Carry /Dump- 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4
Efficiency -10
Block - 8

FWD Line 2
Carry /Dump- 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4
Efficiency -10
Block - 8

FWD Line 3
Carry /Dump- 8
Cycle/Shoot - 5
Efficiency -10
Block - 8

FWD Line 4
Carry /Dump- 8
Cycle/Shoot - 6
Efficiency -10
Block - 10

Def Pair 1
Hold/Pinch - 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4

Def Pair 2
Hold/Pinch - 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4

Def Pair 3
Hold/Pinch - 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4

[Cycloniac]

The only downside being that these strategy adjustments aren't usuable in BAGM mode, where they're actually needed.

The game also plays differently in BAGM, so one cann't even say that they'd work as well in a mode heavily affected by line chemistry, hot and cold streaks. Yes, I still believe that line chemistry still exists.

[drog1602]

@Cycloniac

Yeah, I don't know why they decided to leave the custom Ai option out of BeAGM/GM connected. You can load it for your team only, but that defeats the whole point of using it. They really missed a great opportunity here. That is the main reason I play Season mode instead.

I agree that there still seems to be hot and cold streaks in GM. Interesting thought about how line chemistry would affect the game. Would/do they program it so the guy is never in the right spot on the ice??? This is the kind of thing, along with intimidation, that EA needs to remove from the game. Its impossible to program some kind of human emotion and response.

[drog1602]

This is my final set, I am extremely happy with the way the Ai plays. The changes are with attributes at max, load custom Ai, adjust the consistency for the goalies. You will see nice pass, great defence, fantastic saves and a variety of goals (with few strange or soft ones). Shots average for mid 20's to 30 per game. The more physical teams will out hit the lesser team, powerplays can be deadly.

I will load some video of one of my games, later.


Rules
Skill: All-star
Period Length: 12 minutes
Penalties: Maxed
Post Whistle Rules : Authentic
Penalty Time Scaling: 2
Fighting: 3


General

Tuner Set Version: latest
CPU Aid: Hardcore
Broken Stick Frequency: 2
Game Speed: 0 *changed
Attribute Effects: 6 *changed
Fatigue Effect: 6 H, 6 c
Fatigue Recovery: 2 , 2
Injury Occurrence: 4 , 4 *changed
Puck Control: 1 , 1 *changed
Player Acceleration: 4 Hum, 6 cpu


AI

AI Learning: 0
CPU Difficulty Adjustment: 0
CPU Strategy Adjustment: 1
Human Strategy Adjustment: 0 or 1 if you don't want to set it yourself
CPU Face Off Difficulty: 4
Fight Difficulty: 6
CPU Penalties: Maxed
CPU Teammate Penalties:4


Passing

Pass Assist: 2 bump this up by one if you have trouble passing
Manual Passing: Off
Pass Speed: 4
Saucer Pass Speed: 0
Pass Accuracy: 6 , 6
Pass Reception Ease: 0 , 0
Pass Interceptions: 6 , 6


Shooting

Shot Accuracy: 0 , 0
Shot Power: 1, 1
Slap Shot Accuracy: 2 , 2
Slap Shot Power: 6 , 6
One-Timer Accuracy: 1 , 1 *changed


Checking

Hitting Assistance: 6
Aggression: 5 , 5
Hitting Power: 0 , 0
Stick Lift Effectiveness: 4 , 4
Poke Effectiveness: 1 hum , 6 cpu ( they only poke on loose pucks)


Goalies

Goalie Passing: 1
Goalie Cover Puck Frequency: 4
Goalie Screen Effect: 0 , 0
Goalie Reaction Speed: 2 , 2

Custom Ai set:

- I leave the team strategies as they are set for each team
- NZ - FC slider for each team, set at five (5)
- Set the PP carry -dump slider to six (6)

FWD Line 1
Carry /Dump- 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4
Efficiency -10
Block - 8

FWD Line 2
Carry /Dump- 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4
Efficiency -10
Block - 8

FWD Line 3
Carry /Dump- 8
Cycle/Shoot - 5
Efficiency -10
Block - 8

FWD Line 4
Carry /Dump- 8
Cycle/Shoot - 6
Efficiency -10
Block - 10

Def Pair 1
Hold/Pinch - 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4

Def Pair 2
Hold/Pinch - 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4

Def Pair 3
Hold/Pinch - 7
Cycle/Shoot - 4

All starting goalies had their consistency attribute set at zero (0)

[drog1602]

I just started my "True simulation Season" I made all teams human controlled, the team that I play as is Montreal (locked in as center). I load the "custom Ai" for each team before the game and for all of the other teams in the league, I let the Ai play head to head. The idea here is to avoid the sim engine and see accurate results based on real events. Once I get twenty or so games in, I will post some of the numbers.

I am using my last posted slider set (though you could do this with 5min periods and still have an accurate league, just not numbers that reflect the real NHL. But at least avoiding the sim engine and the false numbers it generates).

[Cycloniac]

The sim engine isn't THAT innacurate, you know...