Jay IronHook's PRO STAR Sliders for NHL 19

[jaibubwan]

INTRODUCTION:

My goal was NHL REALISM. I refined everything from passing, puck possession, puck looseness, physicality, to play difficulty. I believe I've come up with something pretty promising with my new PRO STAR sliders!

PRO STAR is constantly updated. It works with the latest game patch & tuner update (1.55 patch, 1.04 tuner). It's also an "all-purpose" slider set that can be applied on any difficulty level (tested in Pro & All-Star difficulty levels, so far)!


THE FEEL:

The main problem with NHL 19, as you move from "Pro" difficulty to "All Star" is that the CPU begins to behave "perfectly". Passes are lightning quick & always reach their destination. The CPU always finds the perfect position & seems to hold the puck like a super-human. You can only compete by matching the AI's perfect behavior.

But that's not real NHL hockey. Players get out of position. They make bad passes. As the Nashville Predator's Ryan Johansen once said: "Hockey is a game of mistakes".

So what PRO STAR does is modify sliders such that we maintain the talent of the players - but bring out the high pressure & puck battling nature of hockey more. In the offensive zone, you'll find more gaps in the CPU's defensive structure & more rebounds/scrambles in front of the net. In the defensive zone, you & your teammates will be able to disrupt passing plays & battle for loose puck possession.

Previous users may remember me from my previous NHL 18 PRO PLUS sliders. Those served to modify "Pro" difficulty to make it more challenging (because "All Star" was impossible to tame).

But no longer! In PRO STAR for NHL 19..."Pro" level users can finally play on "All Star" difficulty - without the unfair & unrealistic competition other sliders & default settings produce!


APPLYING PRO STAR:

An easy way to apply these sliders is to first apply the default "FULL SIM" sliders. Then refer to the images below. Only the HIGHLIGHTED values are to be entered into your slider options.

Under any highlighted value, you'll see a triple-dash line & an un-highlighted value. That just represents the original default "Full Sim" value. It's there for your reference, in case you'd like to revert or experiment.

As noted before, these sliders allow you to play in either "Pro" or "All Star" difficulty. First set your overall difficulty level. Then, where applicable (mostly "Checking" & "AI" sections), apply the respective PRO STAR slider recommendation for that difficulty.

Finally, any observations/questions/problems can be posted here. Or you can hit me up on Twitter where my username is @JayIronHook. If you have a problem, please make sure you have applied ALL the slider values EXACTLY as suggested. Some values may seem bizzare or illogical to you. But rest assured that all the modifications have a PURPOSE. If you do have your own modifications, please note them so I can reproduce your problem accurately.

NOW...HAVE FUN!


UPDATED March 16 2019 (previous users - see this link for specific changes):

Via link (if image does not appear below): https://imgur.com/oeyrSKX

[jaibubwan]

As I said, I'll go into more detail later. But one thing I want to address now is the "PASS ACCURACY" slider. I'm sure some of you will see that "0/100" value and assume it's a typo...or have the impulse to increase it.

But this is actually a HUGE discovery I made. PLEASE DO NOT BE SCARED. This does not mean all your passes will go wide. It actually introduces REALISM to passing.

So one problem I've seen in both "Pro" & "All Star" difficulty is that there are so many unrealistic passes made. I watch NHL games every week, and NHL 19 passes look so fake & arcade-like.

At first, I initially tried lowering the slider value but didn't see any significant change. Then, for fun, I lowered the value all the way to ZERO. And the result was AMAZING!

What happens is that the game starts factoring in body positioning & pressure on the player. So if you think you're making a perfect tape-to-tape pass while being mobbed...or stretch passing through obstacles like a Star Trek teleporter...NOT GOING TO HAPPEN HERE.

One great benefit of this slider value is that you have realistic loose pucks that result in offsides, icings, & most importantly PUCK BATTLES!

When you actually play the game with these sliders, you'll see it all occurs at a REASONABLE pace and nothing is too extreme.

[fasteddy]

Like how you highlighted just the changes,saves time.About to try them soon.Nice work.

[jaibubwan]

UPDATE Feb 4 2019:

The slider images above contain the latest updates. This post is for the benefit of users who applied the sliders previously. For their convenience, I am specifying which values need to be edited & updated.

This Sunday allowed me to stress test the sliders a bit more. So here are some fixes for issues I noticed...

1) Puck Carrier Skating = 53/100

The speed of the puck carriers was slightly too fast. It contributed to an arcade-like feeling. This fix gives us a good speed balance. Image for "Skating" section has been updated.

2) Aggression = 100/100 (PRO Difficulty) OR 50/100 (ALL STAR Difficulty).

I forgot to note the slider setting for "ALL STAR" difficulty, when these sliders were first released. The original "PRO" difficulty setting stays as it was. Image for "Checking" section has been updated.


3) Slashing penalty bug = No fix yet

You may notice excessive slashing penalties taken by the CPU. This is a BUG in NHL 19 - possibly due to the new tuner update..

What happens is that if you are playing offense, possess the puck, & skate by a CPU defender, while extending the right joystick (PS4) to tuck/guard the puck...the CPU will try to stick lift you from behind & ends up slashing you. This is a penalty against the CPU every time.

At first I thought the cause was the "Aggression" slider being maxed to "100/100". But even after reducing it & even lowering the respective penalty sliders...I could still reproduce this bug.

Because the slider settings seem to have no effect on this behavior...it seems this is a problem only EA can fix. It might be an oversight in their recent tuner release (1.03 post-update).

[rhouserjr0614]

Looking forward to trying these out. I’m not usually a 10 minute period guy but I will try them out. Thanks for putting these together.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[jaibubwan]

Quote: Originally Posted by rhouserjr0614

Looking forward to trying these out. I’m not usually a 10 minute period guy but I will try them out. Thanks for putting these together. Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

10 minute periods are not a requirement. You can play under any length you like. My meaning was that I test these sliders using 10 minute periods. And I can only vouch for them in that context.

It might be that reducing or expanding the time has some effect on goal quantity, penalties, etc. But IMO, it's probably not a big deal.

My only concern is that if anyone posts a problem...and they use modified slider values...I'm aware of their customization - so I can try to solve the problem.

[cck2ca]

Jay, I love your slider set... do you think bumping up attribute effect will effect the sliders negatively at all?

[jaibubwan]

Quote: Originally Posted by cck2ca

Jay, I love your slider set... do you think bumping up attribute effect will effect the sliders negatively at all?

Thanks bro!

The only concern I'd have is that because we have pass accuracy so low, it *might* produce some weird passing from lower skill players.

BUT I don't think that will actually happen. Because as I explained before, the pass accuracy slider seems to be more of a logic & context thing...with little relation to actual skill.

So try out your experiment & let me know! I can then note your experience for others who have the same desire.