Hi everyone, and thank you for viewing my sliders. Let's cut right to the chase. I'm a total hockey nerd, and enjoy playing my Franchise or BEAGM mode religiously for multiple seasons. 82 games at 10 minutes a period...well that's a lot of digital hockey over the years. I've been doing so for as long as the NHL franchise has offered the franchise/beagm mode, and have spent many years with the 2K franchise doing the same when it was in its glory days. I've always come to this site for my sliders for any sports game I choose to invest great amounts of time with, namely hockey, baseball and basketball titles with deep franchise modes (NBA 2K, The Show). OS has always offered a way to improve my game and make it more real, and so I hope to offer the same with these sliders.
I've used information gathered from other posters on topics such as puck control, attribute and player acceleration, which has been greatly helpful in putting the finishing touches on the slider set I crafted through my own experimentation and knowledge of previous installments. I'll also explain the reason behind any commonly controversial slider being at the setting it is.
Enjoy & please leave feedback!
Phantom's Real Simulation Sliders
Step 1: Adjust the
Game Style to "
High Impact" before making any slider adjustments. This turns on the hidden CPU-Aid setting, a feature in previous years which remains useful in boosting CPU teammate AI. This hidden setting is turned off by default on the "Hardcore Simulation" style of play. Enabling it makes your AI teammates more aggressive and prone to breaking up plays.
** It is interesting to note that even with player acceleration at equal values on Hardcore Simulation vs. High Impact styles of play, the speed of the game is naturally faster at the High Impact setting. This actually increases the authenticity of the speed of play, something I found to be very sluggish in many of the more realistic slider settings I tried previously. Hockey is the fastest game on earth!
Make all other adjustments only
AFTER first changing the game style to High Impact. Once you begin to make your slider changes after this, the style will change to say custom. This is fine.
Step 2: Go to Visual Settings and change "puck size" and "puck trail/glow" to
Authentic.
Difficulty: Superstar
Game Style: High Impact base, Custom
I also recommend playing with manual line changes for the best experience. It adds to the depth of the game play, as you can easily cause an opposing scoring chance on a rush due to your poorly timed change.
RULES
PERIOD LENGTH - 9 Minutes
OFFSIDES - Delayed
ICING - On
INJURIES - On
TIE BREAK - 5 Min (4 on 4) then Shootout
PENALTIES - 4
POST WHISTLE RULES - Relaxed
(Authentic doesn't work properly/fairly)
PENALTY TIME SCALING - 6
FIGHTING - 1
9 minute periods offers plenty of opportunity for all 4 lines to get ice time and generate statistics, especially with the penalty time scaling maxed. It also makes the game move at a comfortable pace for those playing out entire seasons. Fighting can be adjusted to 0 if you absolutely hate it.
GAMEPLAY
GENERAL
Tuner Set - Latest
Game Speed - 1
Attribute Effects - 0
Fatigue Effect - Human: 2 / CPU: 1
Fatigue Recovery - 2 / 2
Injury Occurence - 2 / 2
Puck Control - 3 / 3
Player Acceleration - 2 / 2
Broken Stick Freq - 3 *
The key sliders here are the attribute slider being at 0 and puck control being at 3. For the attribute slider 3 is the default value, which makes players play at a level that accurately reflects their actual in-game attribute ratings. This sounds great, however leads to far too many goals on average and 4th liners sniping far too frequently.
Maxing the attribute slider makes everyone play like Crosby. Leave it at 0, stars will stand out and grinders will have to grind. You can still score pretty goals! Having the puck control at 3 allows for a number of unpredictable lose pucks which you don't see when it is adjusted too aggressively.
This slider works counter-intuitively, setting it to 0 will not cause more lose pucks - it will do the opposite! It essentially means "how difficult it is to knock the puck away from other players", however testing reveals it best set at 3 to produce realistic gameplay and shooting/passing stats. I have read this explanation posted in the official EA forums by legit EA staff members who went into detail on sliders for many previous versions of the NHL franchise, and nothing has changed in regards to the details of those sliders this year (typical EA). Maxing this will cause the "puck glued to stick" issue to become even worse however, and you'll see players getting shots off on lose pucks that seem to be nowhere near them logically.
This combination of sliders should eliminate a lot of the issues with the puck being "glued" to players sticks. It will now take strange, high bounces on the ice occasionally that can really throw you off in the defensive end. Players will also noticeably over-skate passes.
I've experimented with the attribute slider at 3, and the major drawback is that late in the game CPU players tend to get a "boost" that allows them to snipe unrealistic goals from sharp angles way too frequently. Sometimes 2-3 goals in the closing minutes. Having the attribute slider at 0, and later the goalie sliders maxed will almost totally eliminate that annoying issue.
Don't forget, this slider set keeps BEAGM players in mind. Players attributes increase after multiple years and this can quickly offset the scoring balance created by your adjustments, as a few years in to your career there are far more players with 88+ shot accuracy around the league. Having the attribute slider at 0 will counteract that problem before it happens!
As mentioned previously, player acceleration at 2 is still a faster game when the game style is set to High Impact rather than Hardcore Sim. This slight difference is enough to add just enough to the speed of players skating that it doesn't feel like they're stuck in sand. It also keeps it realistic too however, and the fatigue level ensures all lines must play, but that at least 1 is somewhat fresh at all times. You get a more realistic pace to the game with these sliders and the High Impact style with acceleration at 2 than with Hardcore Sim style and acceleration value at 4, which is something I tried previously.
Having the fatigue set to 2 for the player and 1 for the computer has some effect on 2 things. One, because this slider effects all player attributes, giving the CPU a slight edge will make the opposing AI play at a level closer to that of a human opponent. It also aids slightly in negating the CPU comeback issue late in games; something already essentially eliminated by other combinations of changes in these sliders. Credit to Fiddy for the idea behind the difficulty assistance through the fatigue slider.
* Thanks to RefMixture for the suggestion to boost the broken stick frequency slider up to a value of 3. I initially had it set to 2, but this was carried over from an older slider set not based on the high impact style base. Looks like either a slight difference in this is also caused by our other slider changes, or most likely the change to the high impact style.
AI
Created Plays - OFF
AI Learning - 3 (Any higher makes the CPU cheat)
CPU Difficulty Adjustment - 6
CPU Strategy Adjustment - 3
Be A Pro Strategy Adjustment - 0
Human Strategy Adjustment - 0
CPU Faceoff Difficulty - 4
Fight Difficulty - 4
CPU Penalties - 6
CPU Teammate Penalties - 6
Keep the AI learning to 3, any higher will make it feel like it has the power of foresight. Max out the CPU Difficulty, this will provide you with the ultimate AI challenge, but with the attribute slider already at 0, it won't feel like the AI is a superhuman cheating snipe-machine!
Keep the strategy adjustment at 3, as maxing it out causes the CPU to adjust too quickly and too often. Thanks to info from Cycloniac and his NHL 13 sliders thread for pointing to this also being a contributor to the comeback issue. When maxed out, the CPU becomes overly desperate and adjusts for maximum aggression to the point of being unrealistic. While we've already eliminated the computer's ability to score cheap and again unrealistic goals with mediocre players late in the game with these sliders, the vanilla game in NHL 14 doesn't. Think of it as a perfect storm that creates the CPU comeback issue. On one end the cpu strategy adjustment slider is too high and this drives the CPU to push hard late, while on the other end the combination of the attribute slider, goalie reaction, shot accuracy, and other sliders remain unaltered, granting the CPU unrealistic abilities with even their worst players.
PASSING
Pass Assist - 1 **
Manual Passing - ON
Pass Speed - 1
Saucer Pass Speed - 1
Pass Accuracy - Human: 5 / CPU: 4
Pass Reception Ease - 1 / 1
Pass Interceptions - 5 / 5
Pass assist at 1 keeps the game more realistic, stretch passes are possible for skilled playmakers but are risky for clunky defenders. You may bump it to 3 if you feel you can't complete even the simplest of passes, but easier tape to tape passing results in more goals. I suggest keeping it set to 1 for more accurate statistics.
If you watch NHL Hockey, most players make tape to tape passes pretty effortlessly, even banked off the boards and at distance. However at the speed of the game, a lot of passes miss because of ill-timed or mishandled receptions that get lost in player's skates, or simple deflections along the way. Having pass accuracy at 5 for the player and 4 for the CPU allows you to make your passes crisp, but the pass reception slider at 1 and interception slider at 5 makes the route to your target all the more dangerous. I hate having a pass from the CPU float right through my perfectly positioned defender, and these sliders eliminate that pet-peeve of mine entirely. The CPU always has an edge passing wise, hence the slight advantage to the player. Expect many lose pucks and gritty battles.
** I recommend keeping Pass Assist at 3 when you have friends over. They might not be used to the differences from the vanilla game and this will meet them half-way. Keep it at 1 versus the CPU and experienced players for best sim results.
SHOOTING
Shot Accuracy - Human: 0 / CPU: 0
Shot Power - 3 / 3
Slap Shot Accuracy - 1 / 1
Slap Shot Power - 4 / 4
One Timer Accuracy - 2 / 2
You can still snipe pretty goals bar-down, but those weak wristers and 10-foot out slapshots won't be as effective. A boost to slapshot power really makes you feel the difference, while one-timers aren't as deadly but won't miss an open mark.
CHECKING
Hitting Assistance - 0
Aggression - 4 / 4
Hitting Power - Human: 0 / CPU: 1
Stick Lift Effectiveness - 4 / 4
Poke Effectiveness - 4 / 4
Hitting power at 1 for the CPU is perfect, as putting it to 0 will cause defenders to be afraid at the blue line and give you easy entry to the zone. Aggression at 4 is ideal as any higher and defenders scurry out of position to go for big hits. The game is like NHL Hitz on default, so toning down the hitting game while keeping play aggressive is crucial.
GOALIES
Goalie Passing - 2
Goalie Cover Puck Freq - 6
Goalie Screen Effect - 3 / 3
Goalie Reaction Speed - 6 / 6
Goalies react more realistically and don't put every puck back into play. They actually go for whistles. Reaction speed at 6 eliminates CPU cheese goals late in the game when in combination with the attribute slider and shot accuracy changes.
That's it! I've been using this slider set for a long time now, and thought I'd finally share it. So far so good in my personal BEAGM, games averaging about 5 goals combined and 29-30sh shots a side.
The passing might seem unforgiving at first but remember the goal is realistic simulation hockey with accurate statistics. Give this a shot for a few games in a season and you should feel real satisfaction in scoring a nice goal, or grinding out a nice defensive 1-0 win. Each game will play out different over the course of a season, some higher scoring than others. So don't base all of your final judgment just on one quick game!
Once again, credit to OS for knowledge into a lot of key topics, such as the use of certain sliders and how they really effect the gameplay. Please leave comments once you've tried these yourself!
Gameplay Video Clips
These are simply here to highlight specific areas of interest with the sliders and game in general. Quality isn't the best as I didn't want to wait around for the game to encode everything, and the team is a custom Las Vegas squad ranked dead-last in the league rating-wise. Huberdeau being the only player rated above an 80 overall (we replaced Florida and added some foreign talent from other leagues).
Physics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPf-IehE-zw
This video demonstrates a few things quite nicely. While generally the AI is aggressive and effective at taking you off of the puck, this clip begins with a player brushing off 3 separate checks before finding space for a shot. It also demonstrates a nice lose puck and board battle created by the rebound. Notice the two players at the end? That's not the board-pin animation (triangle button), that's two AI players fighting for a lose puck and positioning.
Variety in Goals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjJfC1tGO_8
In the first goal video you'll see the offensively gifted Zherdev create some space with his speed and puck-handling before beating the goalie clean with a laser of a wrister. Zherdev is the team's leading goal scorer, so the sliders allow stars to be stars on their respective teams despite the aggressive difficulty adjustments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSA6PrJmPTs
This second clip shows that it's also possible for a big clunky defender to get lucky through a screen every once and a while. Here we see Valabik, who has a horribly inaccurate shot, put one through a screen to win a game in OT. The difference between this goal and Zherdev's? Zherdev has 15x the goals that Valabik does on the season so far; that was Valabik's first. So while both CAN score one clearly does so much more frequently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiaRGeN8Rik
The third video shows two attacking players gain the zone and create space with a drop pass for a chance in-close on net. Once again a hard shot beats the goalie clean. Notice the tight spacing between the players on both teams but that a well-timed pass to a well-positioned player can still offer room to make a good play, just not for too long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuYAGXMQawo
Fourth is some variety in CPU scoring. Notice that the offense didn't come from the blue-line or off a tip? The computer makes a nice passing play and is robbed blind, but wins a lose puck battle off the rebound to bury it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9rcsVcrwhk
Fifth we clearly see the user win a clean race to a lose puck in the computer's zone. It is possible to create space and distance if you're smart and sometimes a little lucky. Separation is very possible, as is closing the gap however as...as our next video will illustrate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6C0fmfoC5I
Valabik is 6'7" and has speed well under 80. He's still able to close the gap along the boards and lay out a vicious hit. We've seen players get through the D so far, but don't be fooled, they're all over you too and can lay you out in return.
More/better to come as I can record more specific areas of the game in action. I've got some game encoded replays in higher quality I want to get uploaded to better detail things.