OhMrHanky's Zero Sliders - Ratings Matter (Madden 17)

[OhMrHanky]

So, I first started messing around with sliders with Madden 13. And, I found some youtube video where some guy was talking about setting certain "Player Interaction" sliders to Zero. His rationale, I believe, was that would take the slider out of the equation, so to speak, and only the actual ratings of the players would dictate player interaction outcomes (video game dice rolls). It worked pretty good in 13, actually. But, it didn't work for 25, and I didn't try it for 15. Madden 16 actually played so good out of the box, I barely changed sliders at all with that guy, so I never tried zero's. As enjoyable as Madden 17 feels out of the box, it does need "something", imo. So, I thought, "why not try Zero's again?" So, I did, and so far, I'm really enjoying it. So, I thought I would share, see if anyone else gives it a try, and what people might think about it.

What am I seeing so far?
So, I think the most interesting thing to see, imo, is the lineplay. See, when u set blocking and tackling sliders to zero, it seems like u really see some "individual" lineplay, meaning the individual matchups look more dynamic. So, u don't always see that "wall" of linemen. U see one guy being pushed back, 1 guy swimming, 1 guy spinning, 1 guy winning, etc. So, to me, the pocket actually feels a little more organic. Now, do NOT get your hopes up, it still probably isn't perfect, but I do think it's more dynamic. And, legit, if u have a bad Dline, u will NOT get pressure. lol. But, that's sort of what I want. I want the realism of the ratings to matter most. And, it seems u can get this with Zero sliders. The players feel a little less "tethered" overall. I've played about 4-5 CFM games with the same sliders. I've had a monster game, 47-36, against GB. Not sure what their D is like in real life right now, but they struggled to stop the run. And, Rodgers and Nelson were able to light up my somewhat weak secondary. I had a defensive battle game I won 20-15 vs TB, where McCoy was in the backfield constantly. I won, 26-24, over Phi with a Safety with 11s to play. lol. Perfect coffin corner punt set that up. Honestly, that was AWESOME! And, I just lost to AZ, 34-31. So, still a small sample size, but u can see I'm seeing some variation in gameplay. And, I've been able to stop Lacy and Martin, but that young guy, Johnson for AZ ran all over my team like a freight train on steroids! So, again, I'm seeing variety, but I do feel I'm seeing the ratings play the biggest factor in outcomes. And, I play with Atlanta, and while I can break some big runs off with Freeman, I have already had a few games where he really struggled. So, again, I'm seeing variety there. Just depends on the D, I think, in those cases.

What canNOT be Zero?
Well, a part of this is history and what I've seen before with zero sliders, and it just is what it is. 1. QB ACC. This cannot be Zero. Your QB will look like an absolute clown. lol. So, this needs a certain #. WR Catch, also. Again, at Zero, they can't catch a cold. Fumbles and Interceptions. I've left these at 50 for right now, and feel I'm seeing "correct" gameplay out of them. But, again, at zero, u may not see any turnovers. So, these are sliders that must have values.

Again, the general concept here is modifying sliders to zero for "player interactions". And, u could ultimately define all these things as "player interactions", the way the game plays out (and, the way I've seen Zeros work), u see these key areas:
1. Blocking (Run and Pass) - The players have the ratings for this to "interact" with each other - Blocking and Block Shed/Power/Finesse Moves, so we let these play out
2. Pass D Reaction Time and Pass Coverage - The players also (I believe) have the ratings for these interactions - WR Catching (Spec, CIT, general Catch, etc) and Man/Zone Cov/Play Recognition/Awareness. We let these play out based on ratings. Now, WR Catch Slider, again, might sound like something, but ultimately, it leads to drop city. So, again, this cannot be zero.
3. Tackling - again, players all have Tackle rating, and Offensive players have Elusiveness, Truck, Spin, etc. So, here we let them play out. This one has the possibility of non-zero in this set, however, I've already seen this play out fairly well, imo.

The other general settings to note: I am now playing with 12 min qtrs and 15s Acc clock. I like the 15s clock, because I feel this is close to real life times breaking the huddle around 15, lining up around 10, and making any line adjustments. I started with 15 min qtrs, but found I was running too many plays per game. 12 min qtrs is giving me right around/under 120 plays per game.

League Settings (The important ones):
Skill Level - All-Pro
Game Speed - Normal
Qtr Length - 12 min
Acc Clock - Yes
Clock Time - 15 secs


EDIT (Aug 30, 2016): I have been playing around with a few things and have moved away from Zeros. I have used it as a starting point, but ultimately have really tweaked things around at this point. I may create a new thread with these. But, I will post them here as well as an ALTERNATE SET, below.

ALTERNATE SET shown in (RED)
Gameplay Sliders:
Player Skill
QB Acc - 44 (45)
Pass Blk -0 (21)
WR Catch -51 (52)
Run Blk - 0 (21)
Fumbles -50 (47)
Pass D Time -0 (47)
Int -50 (47)
Pass Cov -0 (47)
Tackling -0 (44)

CPU Skill
QB Acc -44 (46)
Pass Blk -0 (21)
WR Catch -50 (50)
Run Blk -0 (21)
Fumbles - 0 (47)
Pass D Time -0 (47)
Int -50 (46)
Pass Cov -0 (47)
Tackling - 0 (44)

Special Team
FG power 51
All others set to default 50

Game Options
Injuries -50
Fatigue -52
MPST -44 (46)

Penalties
Offside -53
FS - 54
Holding -54
Def Holding - 52
Face Mask -51
Def PI -53
Off PI - ON
KCI - ON
Ill BlkBack - 50
Int Ground -ON
RP - 50 - do NOT even think about touching this! lol
RoughKicker -ON
RunKicker -ON

I will continue to tweak everything where needed. But, most specifically, I will continue to tweak penalties to see what I want. And, I think fatigue at 53 is about right as I'm also messing with auto subs right now (but, struggling a little). I think I'm close to something "decent" on auto subs, but I just now got there. So, I'll update OP when I have a setup I like.

Feel free to ask questions, and let me know how they play for u. I don't mind criticism, lol, but remember, everyone plays differently, so u may see the game play completely different than me. But, I hope a few people try this out and see if u see the more dynamic gameplay that i'm seeing. U can also feel free to ask general slider questions. I've played around with these stupid things for a few years now, lol, and I tend to have a few ideas as to what u might see in certain scenarios. I may come out with another set if this one starts to play "funky", but for this particular set, it is really all about the "zeros" and seeing if/how the ratings dictate gameplay.

[SpaceBoyXVII]

Interesting concept. IIRC seeing something like this for NFL2K(Not starting a discussion about the two games), and it seem to work ok. I'll be watching the topic for replies, otherwise thanks for sharing!

[Big Bankhead]

I love the zero theory sliders, been a fan of them since Smitty brought them up in madden 15. One question for you, are you still seeing big hits with the tackle slider at 0?

[OhMrHanky]

Quote: Originally Posted by Big Bankhead

I love the zero theory sliders, been a fan of them since Smitty brought them up in madden 15. One question for you, are you still seeing big hits with the tackle slider at 0?

I tell u what, I don't think i was seeing them much before the zeros! lol. With the changes they made to the RB special moves, I feel like every time I try to hit stick, I get JUKED! And, end up on the turf. So, it's tough, it's possible there have been less since I went to zeros. Because, I def don't feel like I'm hit-sticking as much, so maybe a little less. I still get fumbles, but normally off the LB button. I may play with fumbles slider a little now that u mention this. I like big hits, so I may want to introduce some more. And, in M16, I def noticed that lowering the fumble slider does this. The set I played M16 with, I set fumbles to 43. That not only has the result of causing more fumbles, but in essence, it triggers the "fumble animation" more often which can be generated by hit stick. So, actually, I might play with that a little, and lower it. I kept it at 50 for now, because I am still seeing some fumbles, but again, mostly from LB. In fact, I'll tell u from last year, as well - my slider set, I set tackling to like, 43, or something less than 50 as well, because I wanted more broken tackles. And, I noticed, for sure, that big hits felt more "attached" to the fumble slider than the tackle slider.

[Big Bankhead]

Great, I'm about to plug these in now. Thanks for sharing these.

[JoshC1977]

You set these the same in both the main menu and franchise menu? I'm asking because if you aren't, it's not a true "zero" set...franchise sliders slave off of the main menu sliders to a degree.

[kingsofthevalley]

I actually use a very similar set that I really enjoy. Major difference I see is with our QB acc. Playing with CPU at 13 and HUM at 17. Looking at other slider sets, I have absolutely NO clue how people play with ANY numbers on Run Block. To me, that MUST be zeroed out.

Its very possible I'll end up raising the Tackle slider though. I'm thinking 5 or 10 for both HUM/CPU.

[OhMrHanky]

Quote: Originally Posted by JoshC1977

You set these the same in both the main menu and franchise menu? I'm asking because if you aren't, it's not a true "zero" set...franchise sliders slave off of the main menu sliders to a degree.

u know, I think I'm the ONLY person in this forum that does NOT believe that! lol. I've seen people talk about this for years now, and honestly, it just hasn't affected my CFM sliders. I have always ONLY set CFM sliders IN CFM. I have never imported sliders. I have never set "menu sliders". I only tweak IN CFM sliders, and I see results. So, again, I know I'm in the minority here, but I have never had to import sliders. And, I change sliders per game from time to time in CFM and see instant changes. Have the madden devs ever said that is the case? Just curious if there's a thread I missed where a dev may have specifically said that. Because, if not, I'm not going through that mess of importing/setting menu sliders/etc. lol. that is just TOO much trouble. And, whether they slave off the menu or not, I'm going to simply set inside the cfm, and see what I get.

I appreciate the heads up, though. But, I'm too stubborn to mess around with the menu/import stuff.