The title says it all. I’ve read too many reviews (and youtube videos) describing Madden 25 as a Madden 13 roster update with minor tweaks, for me to send more money to EA for a Madden game that ends up on the shelf after 5-10 days collecting dust (Madden 07, 08, 10, 11, plus several NCAA games…) I know I am not the only one who feels this way, so on to the point of the thread; I have compiled a collection of highly-reviewed Madden 12 sliders, as well as my own (I borrowed bits and pieces of most of the ones in this thread) along with my explanation of what each slider setting actually affects in-game.
Also, THE
HEX EDITED 25 ROSTER FOR MADDEN 12 PS3 IS
HERE, and the 360 MADDEN 25 ROSTER FOR 12 IS
HERE. So grab a roster file, load it up, tweak the settings, save your profile, and start playing a great game of football!
SUBSTITUTIONS:
QB 0/1 (QBs will never leave for a rest)
HB 88/95 (RBs take breather after 3-8 plays, you’ll see the #3 RB on 2-5 plays per game if there are long drives)
(Try HB 83/90 if you're experiencing HB's leaving the game in the 4th quarter. edited 12/13/2013)
WR 85/92 (WRs take breather after 4-10 plays)
TE/FB 78/85 (FB/TE take breather only on long drives after catches/carries)
OL 30/35 (very, very rarely sub out of game)
DT 78/85 (take breathers more often than FB/TE at the same settings)
DE 78/85 (out for 1-4 plays on a 14 play drive)
LB 68/75 (rarely leave, usually only after 8-10+ plays on long drives)
CB 78/85 (out for 0-4 plays on the same 14 play drive as DE)
S 68/75 (rotate out slightly more often than LBs at the same settings)
SPECIAL TEAMS:
FG Power 49 (different kickers range between 55-59 yards, tested in a dome)
FG Accuracy 45 (CPU misses on occasion, doesn’t seem to effect HUM very much)
Punt Power 55 (settled here, saw pretty similar results from 45-55, 65 was way too much leg)
Punt Accuracy 70 (pretty much keeps CPU from making stupid punts out of bounds netting 12-30 yds)
KO Power 54 (consistent touchbacks, but a lot of returns when kicking into wind)
PENALTIES: (IMPORTANT, AFFECTS THE GAMEPLAY)
Off-sides 66 high = d-line quicker off the snap, AI almost never flagged at any setting
False Start 55 high = o-line quicker off snap, too high & there's a lot of false starts
Holding 50 high = o-line holds their block longer, too high and there are too many penalties
Face Mask 50 = higher increases everyone's POW (unconfirmed), increases facemask animation and calls (confirmed)
Def Pass Int 1 =
def plays less aggressive at high settings, does nothing more often (100% confirmed no joke)
Off Pass Int 1 =
wr play less aggressive at high settings, don't try to get passes (100% confirmed no joke)
Punt Catch Int 50 = higher makes all defenders attack the ball more on all plays, penalties do increase on returns
Clipping 25 = lower increases blockers attempts at blocking, especially on punts and plays downfield (unconfirmed)
Int Grounding 1 =
lower makes qb get rid of the ball quicker,
higher makes them hold the ball longer and take more sacks.
(confirmed by kcsam's testing results 12/20/2013)
Roughing Pass 25 = lower increases defenders attempt to get to the QB, i.e. pass rush (somewhat confirmed)
Roughing Kick 1 = lower increases defenders attempt to tackle any ball carrier (I can’t confirm this to be 100%)
GAME SETTINGS:
11-12 Minute Franchise (20 second clock)
Injuries 40 (personal preference)
Fatigue 60 (needed for the substitutions settings I tested to work properly)
Game Speed 0 (Personal Preference) I play at Fast with 0 threshold currently (dfos81 posted good videos of M12 threshold on youtube) I have previously played at Normal and Very Fast, all 3 are somewhat similar. Threshold wise I’ve played at 25 and 50 but it’s too high, 88 SPD and 96 SPD in Practice (Offense only) mode on Go routes are almost stride-for-stride at 30+ yards with no fatigue or contact. Plus I hate watching a 3-4 RE tackle a RB on a toss play for a loss, a 4-3 RE is totally reasonable, but a 300lb 3-4 RE from a B or C Gap on a toss is not.
FRANCHISE SETTINGS - COACHING SCHEME: (VERY IMPORTANT, THESE DRASTICALLY AFFECT THE GAMEPLAY!)
All Priorities = 100 (default), All Styles set in middle (set at 1, none at 0 nor 2) for gameplay (set it to your preference when simulating your franchise games, then back to all 1’s before playing). Styles (for gameplay) only affect tackle & break block animations (apparently; however I believe setting CB to Press might boost their press rating BUT lower their man/zone coverage skills and vice versa). Also the consensus is that Priorities affect both teams, Aggressiveness only affects HUM... I agree with the Aggressiveness setting, but I'm unsure, even after tons of testing, about the Priorities affecting the CPU exactly the same way they affect HUM.
dfos81’s thread (mentions prey2god as finding the info)
here (scroll down to the “Coaching Scheme Tips and Info”). KBLover’s thread
here. tarantism’s thread
here.
Okay. According to prey2god, KBLover, dfos81, and tarantism the coaching schemes can be tweaked to affect the gameplay. I have been testing this rigorously since I decided to pass on Madden 25 and I can definitely confirm 100% that the Coaching Scheme DEFINITELY CHANGES GAMEPLAY… I’ll post some results here later, but the gist of it is this; I keep breaking the gameplay by trying to tweak Aggression and Priorities, so I will be suggesting that you set all Priorities to 100 and Aggression to 50 (40 if you’re beating the CPU by more than 1 score p/game, 60 if you’re losing more than winning; any more or less and you’re better off tweaking slider settings). I believe prey2god originally posted this: “QB-50, RB-50, FB-50, WR-50, TE-50, T-0, G-0, C-0, K-50. DE-90, DT-50, OLB-90, MLB-90, CB-50, FS-50, SS-50, P-50.” as his set that he was testing back in 2011 (it was quoted by tarantism but never credited to anyone, and I never found the thread it was from). I know tarantism set his much lower but I couldn't get the game to play consistently that low, everyone seems to have dropped about 20-30 IQ points & players did a lot of… waiting. However I do know that “Priority only affects Proximity” is NOT accurate. It affects much, much more. Personally I believe Aggression = Human Game Difficulty (affects HUM only) Low Aggression = Harder, High Aggression = Easier. However, depending on what you've done to Priorities, it could be hard or easy at either setting. Confused? Example, at 100 Aggression with 0 Priorities across the board, I was getting 11.3 yd/carry on otherwise moderately difficult sliders against the CPU, and had -1.8 yd/carry at Aggression and Priorities all set at 0. Combinations of such are yielding odd results. Moving one thing to tweak some area of gameplay, always seems to affect something else negatively. Also I tested all the different settings in a Franchise by quitting game w/o saving and reloading (same teams playing each time) and also I only chose the same 2 pass plays and 2 run plays for each game as well as the same 2 defensive plays (3-4 Cover 3 and 4-3 Man Press), so I know that the results aren't skewed by my “game” or play call being “on or off.” For now I suggest trying the default “All 100” Priorities and a balanced 50 Aggression on O and D, also balance all the positions at 1 (in the middle). If you really super-duper want-to/have-to tweak your coach settings I recommend starting with prey2god’s settings, as the game was still playable at those settings. After shaking my head at this, I think I might be done testing these for now.
SLIDERS:
(read the above first)
I started with “Equal Based Sliders” that sets the HUM and CPU at the exact same settings. This drastically cuts down on BS plays, cheats, sliding, warping, and unstoppable CPU 4th quarter drives. However… my play call, general football strategy knowledge, audible ability, and all-around awesomeness still results in me occasionally beating the pants suit off the CPU. Enter “Equal Based Plus” Sliders which expands on the concept of “Equal” sliders by adding points to the CPU in specific categories. Start at the bottom in difficulty “Equal Based” (roughly a good All-Pro like or higher difficulty) and work your way up in difficulty to “+1” (All-Madden Lite), “+2” (All-Madden), and “+3” (All-Madden Hardcore) until you find your groove. If the “Equal Based” is a bit heavy, try the Lite version “All-Pro Equal Based” or “All-Pro Equal Based Plus” which (when set at 295 total user points or higher) keeps the kicking meter at All-Pro setting and makes passing (at 20) still feel pretty easy.
Here’s the breakdown for each slider setting:
QB ACCURACY: 8-20 range is very playable and realistic. No more 25 of 28 for 380+ and 4 TDs with 0 INTs for either team.
PASS BLOCK: 0 is THE way to go. There are very few “Suction/Sliding/Warping/Morphing” offensive lineman animations.
WR CATCH: in testing this I believe there are 2 ends of the spectrum, 0 = lots of drops/very few spectacular catches, 100 is opposite. 50 there aren’t many drops, 48 there seems to be a difference (at least to me)
BROKEN TACKLE: This also controls CPU juke moves, spins, cut backs, trucks, and BC vision. For HUM it affects only broken tackle animation.
RUN BLOCK: 10 is about the minimum even on vanilla Pro settings with HUM slider turned down. Higher numbers encourage suction blocks.
FUMBLES: This should be equal for both as it only controls the frequency of fumbles, as far as I can tell. Also there are now sack/strip animations at a more realistic occurrence of 1-2 (both teams) per 3-4 games. Any lower than 15-25 and the fumbles from statistically sure-handed RB’s can get very out of whack (a 1 fumble p/100 carries guy can fumble 4 times in 6 quarters at a 5 setting).
PASS REACTION: adjusts the amount of time it takes the defense to react to a play. CPU’s increases “psychic reads” as well. Contrary to some opinions I don’t think it directly affects the DL’s pass rush.
INTERCEPTIONS: There are picks at 0, but too many DB drops. Note: higher numbers INCREASE defender sliding/warping/INT animation trigger but there are still organic should-be interceptions. I used to play at 50 (CPU) and get mad at the animation trigger/warping. I still throw picks but their almost always my fault and not just a randomized script animation. Increase the fun factor of the game, throw fewer slants/drags & try more X/Z outs.
PASS RUSH: affects the DL’s ability to get off blocks, acceleration. Double edged sword, on Draw plays some 4-3 DE’s speed past just like NFL/NCAA/CFL.
RUSH REACTION: adjusts the amount of time it takes the defense to react to a play. CPU’s increases “psychic reads” pre-snap as well.
BLOCK SHEDDING: the line play is very realistic with this at 0. Raising it seems to encourage more sliding/morphing blocks followed by a DL block shed move. Those play out well at Pass Rush 100 on their own. There’s no need (in my opinion) to cause any more warping/morphing/sliding blocks than there already are, just so the DL can break them. At 0 (run or pass) there are plenty of block shedding animations already.
TACKLING: Honest moment, broken/missed tackles happen in every NFL game at a regular occurrence. With HUM at 25 Break Tackle (and using stick controls and spins with my ball carrier) I can make defenses miss several tackles per game with CPU at 75 tackle.
TOTALS: Anything at or under 295 total points for the HUM settings and you’re at All-Madden. 296 or more and you’re at All-Pro. With Equal Based sliders (or EB+) you should only go above 296 if the kicking meter is a significant issue for you. Also don’t forget you can kick field goals repeatedly in practice mode to get accustomed to it.
Equal Based Slider sets in
green are the sliders I compiled into my sets. The other picture with the alternating gray and white columns are "legacy" sliders from 2011 from which I tested and took bits and pieces from. Wanted to give credit to those guys' work. The names above the columns are the creators of that set. dfos81, SECElit3, armyofone, and playmakers are all "equal" sliders where the CPU and HUM are set the same. playmakers has 2 sets, the other one is a hybrid. dfos81 and KBLover both did extensive work on Franchise Coach Scheme sliders. Jarodd21, playmakers, KBLover, and dfos81 all had pretty big followings back in 2011. Personally SECElit3's set got me started on this whole tangent. Its a great set, just get ready for tons of fumbles and being forced to blitz a lot to get any pressure. Oh and using a 6 for QB Accuracy is just insanely fun to try too! I went something like 18 for 20 in one game (didn't attempt any passes over 10 yards though) but you gotta be on your toes at all times with that set. Zero outside distractions is a must.
I think my slider set has taken some of the best aspects of these other sets and merged them together very well. Of course everyone is free to tinker with their own sets, I just thought I would share mine and give credit to the ones that came before and the guys that worked hard on them!