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Platform: Xbox Series X
Slider Set: Current version with minor adjustments
Gameplay: FUMA, 8 minute halves, default speed, Legendary difficulty
Gametime: 40-60 hours per week, all offline Manager Career mode
Hello all. This is my first ever post to the site. Have been diligently following all the slider adjustments, proposed changes, and user feedback for eight years (FIFA 17). First I wanted to thank the development team for their never ending persistence and dedication, and provide some background on my playstyle. In the past I experienced a work related injury, resulting in continual carpal tunnel complications. Consequently, I am unable to play EA FC 24 in the same manner as most of you, in which all players on the pitch are controlled by the user. In Manager Career mode, I play every single fixture controlling only one player, generally a CDM or CM. Therefore, squad formation selection, tactics, player instructions, sliders, and game difficulty are paramount for successfully navigating the game mode.
The difference between a fair and satisfying career mode game, and matches where the user or CPU has a clear advantage is on the proverbial 'knife edge'. Even slight Title Update changes or slider configuration adjustments have monumental impacts on gameplay. I have perhaps a unique perspective of the gameplay, as only one user controlled player is utilized. During matches, I have a chance to observe AI behavior, CPU tactics, and gameplay anomalies. Whenever a new update is dispatched, or slider adjustments are revealed, I always begin a new career mode save.
As not to deviate from the purpose of this forum, and comply with the rules set forth by Matt10 (apologize for the length of my first post, and off topic rhetoric), I would like to share my insight into the slider set configuration. As many users have stated in the past, the game does not 'feel' satisfying, unless the settings for both the user and CPU are the same. In my career mode saves, I incorporate two personal preferences, first using the Legendary settings, I average the user and CPU pass and shot errors (e.g. for the current set, 74 shot error and 66 pass error), and secondly, slightly adjust every configuration in the slider set that is deemed even (value ending in zero of five). For example, I have both user and CPU speed at 8, first touch error at 84, goalkeeper at 62, etc. The only value that remains constant is acceleration. I believe this modification allows for more variability, as the game coding system is preprogrammed more to 'accept' slider values incremented by five. For the final thought on sliders for now, one reason for employing the proposed changes is to even out, or mitigate CPU 'cheating', especially in Legendary or Ultimate difficulty. One value that I have experimenting with recently is raising the line width from 52 to 54. This dramatically the user team with engaging the opposing wings and fullbacks close to the midpoint line, forcing the CPU to pass inwards during attacks. A second, unexpected consequence, is the 'cheat forcefield' on Legendary and Ultimate difficulties is reduced on the edge of the eighteen-yard box. Beforehand, the CPU attacker could posses the ball with a full yard of protection, by extending the line length to 54, the barrier is reduced to half a yard, and in many cases, clicking the contain button (not holding down), the nearest defender will instantly close the gap, and winning the ball approximately thirty percent of the time.
Lastly, as an IT professional, I wanted to comment on the number of recent posts regarding deletion of files, and disconnecting from the Internet to 'reset' gameplay interaction or CPU tendencies. When loading the game, simply clicking the cancel button (A button on Xbox) to remain disconnected for the EA servers is the same as unplugging your Ethernet cable, or turning off the Wi-Fi. Logging into the EA servers only affects three aspects of the game; squad updates, online gameplay, and saving a copy of personal and game setting to the cloud servers. As for the file deletion, Profile and personal settings comprise game settings, user match history, created players, and created manager appearance (face). The DLC file only contains minimal system information, for instance bonus features for people who purchased the Ultimate Edition (4600 points, EA Founders Kit, etc.), and very rarely added content outside of the normal squad updates. You can test this by going into the game settings and selecting the new Adidas APA ball (white with blue and black cross appearance) for your default ball in every game mode. Next, in settings delete the DLC file, exit the game and reload without connecting to the EA servers. The file will be absent in the menu, and going back into the settings, you will see the Adidas ball is missing from the selection set, and your ball will be configured to 'Default'. In my case, because the language is set to English, the ball is the default Premier League ball, however, if the language is Spanish, should be set to La Liga Puma (have not tested this).
The main problem everyone is experiencing is the inherent coding of the game, where a hidden algorithm is used to adjust primarily the CPU interaction and difficulty, and also AI controlled user players. As the difficulty is raised from World Class to Legendary, then Ultimate, the algorithm becomes more apparent. The calculations that are programmed into the algorithm include not only strength of each team playing a match (top table versus bottom table, player ratings in the starting eleven), derby or cup match, but also the results and gameplay of recent user matches. This is easily tested by either going on an unbeaten run of four to six matches, even if all draws, or three or four wins in a row. The algorithm will then 'max out' making each successive match harder. Conversely, if you lose a number of matches in row, the games will become easier. If playing a career mode with a mid-table team, this is not as apparent straight off; may be in the middle of the season before evident. These factors are predominately visible when beginning a career with a bottom table team, or top table club. I prefer to use the lowest rated teams in my careers, and nearly always can finish in the top six at the end of the season, while starting a new save with a top table, all matches play out as UCL semi final games, unless a streak of losses eclipses five.
The two easiest methods for restoring 'fair gameplay' is to delete the one career mode auto save in the profile section of the settings, and after each gaming session, physically unplug the gaming console from the power source. By deleting the auto save file, the algorithm has to reset with no prior meta data from previous matches (can be executed while still playing, simply save your career mode, exit to the main menu, delete the file, and continue the career mode). Removing the power supply will delete the console short-term memory cache, which if not deleted, does inject data into game when reloaded.
Again, I want to apologize for the length of this post and deviation from only commenting on slider adjustments. Thank you to everyone for providing years of feedback, and attempting to create a 'perfect' game from an otherwise disastrous EA iteration. Looking forward to the new ground up FIFA game, projected to be released in November or December of 2024.
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11-16-2023, 05:39 AM
