Penalty Slider impact on Gameplay in NCAA 14 - Slider Set included

[JoshC1977]

I started this thread a very long time ago when NCAA 14 first came out. Since then, we have learned a ton of information about this game. Thanks to forum members like Matt10, Charter04, Chedapalooza, jp18, etc., we have uncovered a great deal about this game. As such, I wanted to provide a much more contemporary view of not just the penalty sliders, but also some of the things the normal sliders do. This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of all of our observations but more of the “high points”. At the end, I have posted the current set I am using.

Penalties

Offsides: Higher settings give d-linemen a faster jump and greater block-shedding abilities. I do NOT recommend setting this significantly higher than the false start slider as the defensive line becomes overpowering. Line blocking is a very tricky business. If using a low threshold set, the FS and OS sliders need to be kept low. If not, the acceleration boost they get from the sliders will be boosted by the threshold, making line play horribly unbalanced. If using a high value (above 60 or so), I recommend going with a higher threshold so that the second-level blocks still happen.

False start: Higher settings give O-line a faster jump at the snap. Refer to Offsides slider as well.

Holding: Lowers settings causes more holding animations to occur (mainly on pass blocking) - this can assist in improving blocking. At values at or below 80, you will start to see some suction blocking, so tread carefully.

Facemask: Higher settings will result in bigger hits on tackles and more fumbles, but also more broken tackles. Lower settings will result in more wrap-up tackles but fewer fumbles. If you go too low, every tackle will look like a 'bear hug'.

OPI: The higher it is, the more likely the receiver is to dive for a catch or run through a catch (if it is too high though, they will just run through virtually everything). If it is at a low setting, receivers will do anything they can to make the "safe" catch (they will almost never leave their feet, jump for a ball, etc.).

DPI: The lower it is, the more the CPU seems to go for deflections (in conjunction with the PCV slider). If it is super high, they will rarely go for deflections (unless you use a high PCV). If it is super low, they will literally stop covering receivers to try for the deflection. Also, if it is too far below OPI, there will be too much separation between receivers and DBs.

KRI: The higher this is, the more quickly defenders react to a play. Set it too high and mis-direction plays (like read option plays, jet sweeps, etc.) become too powerful as defenders seem to suffer from ADD.

IG: Affects QB AI and aggression. Think of this as a confidence slider for the CPU QBs. For low CPU QBA settings, I recommend a setting of 99.

RTP: Low settings make the pass rush more aggressive while high settings reduce their effectiveness. However, it appears that CPU QBs get rid of the ball more quickly at low settings. For this game, I recommend keep this at 50.

RTK: Set it low and defenders will attack and react to everything. Set it high, and they will read more. This plays in conjunction with the PCI and TAK sliders.


Human Sliders

Human QBA: How accurate your QB throws. Settings of 5-10 are pretty much the only settings that will give you offline throws.

Human PBK: How much time your line gives you on pass plays.

Human WRC: Affects route running and ball catch skills.

Human RBA: Affects RB attributes, including stamina. I recommend matching this to whatever you have the CPU set to.

Human RBK: How well your line blocks on run plays.

Human PCV: Lower values means that DBs stick to their routes more, high values mean they bat down more passes. However, if you bump it up too much, CBs will actually stop in the middle of the route. If you lower it too much, you will get mirroring where the DBs will actually be out in front of the WR running the same pattern (which also takes them out of run plays more often). I believe that with most slider sets, a range of 20 - 30 is the optimal value for balancing this – however, extremely high values can also work.

Human INT: Higher value, more success picking off passes. May influence how often a DB goes for an interception.

Human Run Defense: More of a tendency slider. A setting of 50 is balanced. Below 50 and defenders will gear themselves more towards the pass. Above 50 and they will gear themselves more towards the run. I recommend setting this low to get the run game to collegiate-like levels.

Human TAK: The higher it is, the harder players hit and the more extreme their pursuit angles are. This is potentiated by both the KRI and RTK sliders.


CPU Sliders

CPU QBA: How accurate the QB throws. It also seems to affect their “confidence” and willingness to attack. With levels above 10, ‘Robo QB’ will be present.

CPU PBK: How long does the line hold its blocks on pass plays? Now....the higher this is, the longer the QB will hold onto the football. However, it also influences how many shots downfield the QB takes.

CPU WRC: Affects route running and ball catch skills.

CPU RBA: It affects the ratings of all RBs (and possibly other skill position players). If you set this to 50 and above, the CPU RBs will not use their special moves and will just start running like bowling balls (even the small scatbacks). I refer to this as "left-stick running", as it is akin to a human player running the ball using nothing but the left stick on your controller. I think a setting of around 40 is a 'sweet spot'.

CPU RBK: Same as Human RBK.

CPU PCV: Lower values means that DBs stick to their routes more, high values mean they bat down more passes. However, if you bump it up too much, CBs will actually stop in the middle of the route. If you lower it too much, you will get mirroring where the DBs will actually be out in front of the WR running the same pattern (which also takes them out of run plays more often). Same as for Human PCV, a setting of 20-30 seems to work well – however, extreme values may also work.

CPU INT: Higher value, more success picking off passes. May influence how often a DB goes for an interception.

CPU Run Defense: More of a tendency slider. A setting of 50 is balanced. Below 50 and defenders will gear themselves more towards the pass. Above 50 and they will gear themselves more towards the run. I recommend setting this low to get the run game to collegiate-like levels.

CPU TAK: The higher it is, the harder players hit and the more extreme their pursuit angles are. This is potentiated by both the KRI and RTK sliders.

Threshold

A tricky business. College football is a wide-open game of big plays, so a low threshold may seem to be the ticket (and it is indeed my preference). However, you can get as many big plays out of higher threshold settings as a long as your block settings are set properly.

However, you can get as many big plays out of higher threshold settings as a long as your block settings are set properly to allow for second level blocks.

In short, the higher your OS/FS sliders are, the higher the threshold needs to be.

Coach Settings

Global coach settings can add to the experience.

· Sub Frequency: I strongly suggest setting all CPU coaches to a sub frequency of 70 and the Hum-controlled team coaches to 85.
· Aggression: Slider to the right is more aggressive, slider to the left is more passive. This doesn’t just affect playcalling, but also how aggressive teams are.
· Offensive run/pass ratio: to the left is more running, to the right is more passing. Make sure the run/pass ratio of your team is set to what you are actually calling (i.e. don’t have the slider all the way to the right when you are running all the time).
· Defensive run/pass ratio: this influences a defense’s playcalling AND how players play the offense. I strongly recommend that all coaches keep this set to 50/50. At this setting, teams orient themselves towards the other team’s playbook. Think of it this way, would a team geared towards defending the pass still do so when playing Navy? No…they wouldn’t.

Extreme settings
Some people seem to think that a slider at “0” is the “worst”. That is actually not true. A run block rating of 0 isn’t the worst, 5 is the worst. At 0, some settings actually work BETTER – but they can cause deleterious effects on the CPU playcalling and behavior. A setting of 100 typically behaves oddly….I can’t really say more than that….again, tread carefully. If using 0 or 100 for a setting, I recommend restricting its use to the User sliders.

My current slider set

See this thread:
http://www.operationsports.com/forum...ncaa-14-a.html

[SECElit3]

I like your explanation of how penalties effect the animations. I noticed yesterday that increasing the facemask slider will change the way defenders tackle drastically.

[JoshC1977]

Quote: Originally Posted by SECElit3

I like your explanation of how penalties effect the animations. I noticed yesterday that increasing the facemask slider will change the way defenders tackle drastically.

What specifically did you observe? (just curious as I haven't raised it much)

(Glad you read the OP; I am hoping that the other slider gurus do as well; this should make the slider experience even better this year)

[Chedapalooza]

I think the higher you raise opi and dpi, the worse coverage gets

[JoshC1977]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chedapalooza

I think the higher you raise opi and dpi, the worse coverage gets

More or less. We used 0/0 for last year's game and it really made DBs and WRs battle for the ball.

[Chedapalooza]

Quote: Originally Posted by JoshC1977

More or less. We used 0/0 for last year's game and it really made DBs and WRs battle for the ball.

I thought about that, I'm currently at 55, 55.

Not seeing much anything in the way of holding calls (1), face mask (1), false start (1) after 5 games. Using secelites setup

[soonerfan1966]

ive used 5 on all penalty sliders for years, really seems to make the games play better(still get some offsides at 5 but nothing else). this has been suggested since this generation for sure maybe even last.

[JoshC1977]

Updated OP with another issue that I want to address.

I really think the option game is a bit too strong (it's a ton of fun, but it is too easy to rack up a 10 yard gain every time). So, I am experimenting now with the Roughing the Kicker slider. Some VERY brief testing seems to suggest that changing this will help defenders flow to the ball more quickly; reducing gains a bit. I will probably increase Clipping back to 50 or 55 to compensate for it's impact on line play at the point of attack.