Official FIFA 12 Custom Team Tactics Thread

[Krebstar]

Okay, another year, another similar thread. As many who have played the game so far know, the AI defense is pretty nice to play against. They're patient and they're not overly aggressive. However, the AI attack is a bit too fast and they're always looking to get the ball to a forward immediately. I think with CTT that we can adjust this and really have teams play differently.

Where to start? How about the last several years. People have been playing with CTT's for years now so we might as well revisit what they've done. Below are the categories for CTT's.

BUILD UP
Speed
Pass Distance
Positioning

CHANCE
Pass Risk
Crossing
Shooting
Positioning

DEFENSE
Pressure
Aggression
Team Width
Defensive Line

First, FIFA 10 Realistic Tactics Project. Every EPL team from two years ago along with some others are on the site. Great starting point.

Second, Understanding Custom Tactics. Another fabulous resource, including generic tactics near the bottom to apply to teams.

We only have 28 slots available, so it's important to have many generic sets that you can apply throughout a league.

The biggest thing that I think needs to be adjusted from any of those sets for this year is the 'Build Up - Speed' setting. This needs to be lowered on almost all of them, period. I just played QPR with their's set at 10 and they really took their time and were patient. They still go forward when given a chance, but they don't just hammer it up front.

Also, 'Chance Creation - Shooting' should not be as high. With this lower, I feel that we will also see the AI try and work around the ball more.

Now, just slowing down isn't enough, but it's the first step. After slowing down, we can adjust whether the team plays long (Stoke) or short (Arsenal). With Stoke's Build Up -Pass Distance setting to at least 80 or above, you'll see them lob balls in from the back up front, something other teams won't even try if they're setting is low.

Can we make every team play perfect? No. Can we have more variety and slower and more methodical attacks from the AI? I believe so. Share any tactics you have or things you've noticed.

Soon I'll hopefully post a spreadsheet with the EPL tactics I'm playing with right now. As of now, I think the best thing is to use what was posted from two years ago and lower the Build Up - Speed and Shooting.

[Krebstar]

Realism Project Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...3lOQ0g3QTA1eVE

12/10/11: Preliminary EPL custom tactics entered.
12/11/11: Preliminary EPL formations entered.

[Qb]

Good stuff. I did CTTs for a ton of teams in FIFA10 using mostly generic tactics somewhat based on the tactics project you linked. Like you, I felt some of those tactics sacrificed playability for variety. Also, the old defensive system restricted the ranges of the defensive values, again playability versus variety.

I think Pass Distance and Crossing are two of the big ones for separating offensive styles. High settings in these capture a long ball team looking to hoof it into the box, while low settings give the feel of a possession team that prefers to keep the ball on the ground. Also important in this regard are the positioning designations of organized and free form. EA doesn't do the best job with these, in fact, I noticed Arsenal is set to organized build up at default. Free form is what generates more overlapping and position swapping, so it would seem obvious enough how to use it.

Build-up speed is important as well; in the past it seemed to control how aggressively the team pushes forward in numbers. So while a low speed will see a team build up more slowly, it also makes them less attacking in nature. Perhaps the gameplay slider for forward runs can help to balance this out. What I did in the past was tailor the build-up speed by league -- England had the highest range, Germany the next, Italy and Spain on the low end, etc -- to better represent each league's general style of play.

Pass risk is another one that poses a dilemma. Higher pass risk will see more runs and incisive passing, but teams are less likely to patiently work the ball around. It's almost backwards; a high setting means more runs, but it also means the AI won't probe to find the killer ball and leads to very direct play.

Hopefully this plays out differently this year, as all this babbling is based on my time with FIFA10/11. If I get a chance to play offline tonight, I'll try playing against these teams/tactics to see how it goes.

[Krebstar]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

Good stuff. I did CTTs for a ton of teams in FIFA10 using mostly generic tactics somewhat based on the tactics project you linked. Like you, I felt some of those tactics sacrificed playability for variety. Also, the old defensive system restricted the ranges of the defensive values, again playability versus variety. I think Pass Distance and Crossing are two of the big ones for separating offensive styles. High settings in these capture a long ball team looking to hoof it into the box, while low settings give the feel of a possession team that prefers to keep the ball on the ground. Also important in this regard are the positioning designations of organized and free form. EA doesn't do the best job with these, in fact, I noticed Arsenal is set to organized build up at default. Free form is what generates more overlapping and position swapping, so it would seem obvious enough how to use it. Build-up speed is important as well; in the past it seemed to control how aggressively the team pushes forward in numbers. So while a low speed will see a team build up more slowly, it also makes them less attacking in nature. Perhaps the gameplay slider for forward runs can help to balance this out. What I did in the past was tailor the build-up speed by league -- England had the highest range, Germany the next, Italy and Spain on the low end, etc -- to better represent each league's general style of play. Pass risk is another one that poses a dilemma. Higher pass risk will see more runs and incisive passing, but teams are less likely to patiently work the ball around. It's almost backwards; a high setting means more runs, but it also means the AI won't probe to find the killer ball and leads to very direct play. Hopefully this plays out differently this year, as all this babbling is based on my time with FIFA10/11. If I get a chance to play offline tonight, I'll try playing against these teams/tactics to see how it goes.

Please do. I'm seriously convinced we can drastically change the game with these. Playing against Arsenal was so annoying as once they had the ball, it was hard to get it back.

[misterbroom12]

Will try to help and create some generic CTT for this thread to use but can we also get a list of teams added to those generic sets so as all users can know quickly which teams to employ the CTT to. (Especially when some of us really focus only on one league. I want to make my CM with Arsenal as authentic as possible, but don't specifically know which category some teams would fall into like a Lille or Valencia that I may run into in the CL.)

This may then make it easier to figure out what playing styles haven't been touched on if you can't assign a team to the CTT set and will also help us all decide whether or not any alterations need to be made from one set to more accurately fit some teams.

EDIT: Is there any way we can sticky those generic CTT settings and corresponding team list to the beginning of this thread so it won't move around as changes keep coming along?

[dunlopp9987]

Question: is there going to be a new fifa 12 version of custom tactics for a lot of the teams? Because if so, I won't use those tactics from fifa 10, as there are many teams that have changed since then.

[RoyceDa59]

My might chime in my two cents with tactics, I did one for Man City. But for now I can't do much until I get the game since my Early release timed out.

[xbxwire]

I hate to sound like a moron but where do you go to apply this to your opponent? On the Pre game screen? Team management in the main menu and save the squad?