ESPN Football - Ever see a missed FG and other thoughts

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 8:50 am

Would editing the kickers do any good at keeping the field goal percentage down? This is my major problem with the game at this point. Since there are virtually no blocks, and the AI team never misses a kick, it makes this part of the game the weakest link to a fine, fine sports game. I tried single game experiments and it seemed to make no difference. Not sure if it would be worth the time to edit every kicker in the game and then start a season.
 
 Sure, I still can´t run the ball (Bad habits from Madden/NCAA I guess) and lose almost every game I play, but it is a blast to play this game. This game has the perfect balance between strategy and gamepad skills. I just can´t stop playing it. I love a game where matchups matter. If you get a fast TB lined up against a slow linebacker, like in the real game, you can break one. And like the real game, a mistake will cost you. Even the penalties seem to be timely. And so do the challenges. Last night i used up both of my challenges on ball spot errors and found myself mashing buttons in frustration when I could not challenge a fumble that clearly was a incomplete forward pass by my QB.
 
 I wish that the developers could come up with some sort of formula for blocked/botched kicks/punts. Perhaps figure the percentage over the past 20 years of blocks/misses combined with the skill levels of the kicker/punter and O and D lines. It would add even more strategy to the game.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 10:31 am

One reason the AI never misses a FG is that they never seem to try longer FGs. I´ve seen them punt or go for it on 4th and 10 when they´re on my 35.
 
 But despite a few minor AI flaws, I´m still enjoying the heck out of this game too.
 
 And it´s weird, just the opposite of you, I´m enjoying actually being able to run the ball for a change, I never could in Madden. [ This message was edited by: lexbur on 02-10-2003 07:33 ]

Waddupcouzin · Post by **Waddupcouzin** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 12:25 pm

I´ve been playing with the sliders posted on this forum, and I have been having a BLAST!
 
 I enjoyed the game prior to playing with the sliders, but I think my love of the game has increased 1000x fold.
 
 Whoever thought of changing the fatigue slider and auto-sub fatigue factor, was simply genius.
 
 Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

NoJoke · Post by **NoJoke** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 1:08 pm

I haven´t really seen the AI fail to kick a field goal that was a gimme. I´ve seen them pass on 50 yarders in the rain, but that almost makes sense.
 
 Wadzup- are you referring to the nolefan sliders that PK posted earlier? What were the fatigure settings you are talking about??
 
 Thanks, Joe

Waddupcouzin · Post by **Waddupcouzin** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 10:26 pm

NoJoke,
 
 He set the fatigue slider to 0, and he changed the auto-sub(only located in-game) to Sub-In-80, Sub-Out-50. [ This message was edited by: Waddupcouzin on 02-10-2003 19:29 ]

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 8:27 am

Well, the good news is that adjusting the sliders does make a difference. I just went way to far and turned down the accuracy slider (or whatever it is called). There were 3 missed extra points by the AI, so I guess I need to ´fine tune´ things a bit. If I find a happy medium, I will let people know.
 
 One thing that I have to say is that as much as I love NCAA football, when I went back and played a game last night I immediately noticed how bad the jaggies and the player models are in EA´s game (PS2). I imagine EA will avoid revamping the NCAA engine until the next generation of consoles, but after a few excellent years, I am afraid that NCAA may be a disappointment next year unless they put some real work into the game for next year. It is simply amazing to me how much improvement Sega made this year. The visuals alone on the PS2 are simply incredible. I can´t stress it enough - this is a damn fine looking game. It plays a pretty good game of football as well!

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 11:21 am

kevin:
 it might not be so much EA Sports but the PS2. I´ve said this from the Launch of the Xbox, there´s a great pontental for this machine. Muck like the DC where they were doing some pretty neat stuff later it it´s life, I don´t think these developers have even reached the full potential of the Box. It would be ashame if we get to the Xbox 2 and the Box wasn´t ever fully realiszed.
 
 And regarding EA Sports and the Box. Most if not all their games are being held back by the PS2. You can see the difference in game like Fever and ESPN were they develop for the Box.
 
 It might be time to move on over...

snate · Post by **snate** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 2:25 pm

From what I understand editing kickers accuracy down to the 30-50 range gives good results.