Changelog & Updates:
Timestamp: 9/29/22 | 4:10 PM CST --
Version 2 is posted below.
The main focus here is to get the congestion in the midfield in a better spot, but more importantly address the flank play. One would think that increasing width would work, but the problem with that is the length was too low to take advantage of the space for those 1v1 battles. Often times the defending winger would tuck in too far and get caught out not helping the fullback, which made it fairly straight forward to beat. Pair that up with a 50/51 acceleration discrepancy in World Class difficulty, and now the challenge is not only on the wings, but in all areas of the pitch.
The last bit of the line settings was establishing the defensive positioning throughout the banks. We have the defensive line needing to meet the attackers, but not constantly in a position where the attackers can just run off them for through balls. In addition, and probably more importantly, there was a need to establish an actual midfield that goes past their own defensive third - rather than drop back in a shell and allow waves of attack. This is why both height and length took a significant bump, and why width was even more important to get under control.
After that was established, we discussed raising GK Ability to 55, which meant shot speed had to get a bump as well so everything can stay in-sync. There are definitely goals still there, and even some more room to raise GK, but overall it's a nice balance of saves and misses. Furthermore, we've increased the error values for shooting which makes for some quality misses and goals. The reward on the goals is quite the feeling.
In terms of overall feel, the games are much more human-like. I say even sloppy at times, which is okay because you can see the players actually putting in an effort to stay engaged. I provided a clip earlier that showed the way players stay engaged throughout. Yes, you may have to be aware of the tucked in look, but it gets wider in the right spots - especially as the transition into attacking third happens.
I'm quite happy with Version 2. I wanted to post this to the thread and public right away. It doesn't look like FIFA 23 out of the box, and it's an improvement on Version 1. Let me know your thoughts as we continue to fine-tune the base set and start to establish the more specific sets.
Enjoy!
Timestamp: 9/29/22 | 1:51 PM CST --
Making progress on Version 2. It's going to be called Version 2 because it's a fairly different from Version 1, and it's fine tuned some of the error values. Stay tuned.
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