When playing as OC/DC, do you watch or sim plays? Issue with Game-Planning

[cdj]

I've noticed some weird things happening with the Game-Planning feature when playing as a coordinator and wondered if anyone else has run into it.

First off, I watch the other side of the ball and do not SuperSim plays so that could be why I haven't heard of this issue elsewhere yet as I'm sure 99.9% of people sim. However, I figure there's probably a few people here who watch at least the important drives by the CPU.


The issue I see is that in Game-Planning, Zone Coverage will get adjusted by the CPU (typically to Aggressive) when down by the goalline. However, on the ensiung possession(s), it does not shift back to Balanced. This will leave a significant number of defenders out of position and I've seen it give up an excessive number of big pass plays. (I need to test this more, but I also believe that when you are a DC the CPU will alter your Zone Coverage setting.) EDIT - Once in a while it will shift and stay at Conservative, but that's not nearly as disastrous as Aggressive Zone Coverage.

To help this issue, on offense I will go into Game-Planning on every possession and set Zone Coverage to Balanced. What really strikes me as odd is that I thought the CPU never utilized the Game-Planning feature (though I wish they would & think they should). However, it looks like this setting is prone to CPU action.

Now, I'm pretty sure (99.9%) that when SuperSim-ming plays Game-Planning is not taken into account, but I wanted to know if anyone else watches plays and if so, you now know to keep an eye on it.

[CLW]

That's interesting but I super sim anytime I am not on the field (with the exception of a a last second game deciding play)

[baseballplyrmvp]

i sim 98% of the pays, but if its a tight game in the final minutes of the game , i have to watch the final drive. i lost one game in the TGT 360 od on a last second 54 yard TD pass, and i didnt watch it. :( after that game, i decided to start watching the closing moments.

[morsdraconis]

i sim 98% of the pays, but if its a tight game in the final minutes of the game , i have to watch the final drive.

I do the same thing. Most of the time, I sim them, but if it's important, or they are just driving down the field on my defense/my offense isn't doing shit, I'll watch them instead.

[jaymo76]

I super sim. Well, I did back when I was a coordinator. However, it seemed that the cpu D was always aggressive after the first series or so. A few times I took over the cpu just to see the settings and the D was aggressive across the board pretty much everytime. Coincidence???

[Dukie98]

I hadn't noticed one way or the other with respect to the game plan settings. My primary issue is that my team's run defense seemed too strong on the games that I watched. I was OC of Western Michigan, and watched when my defense was on the field for most, but not all of the games. My team led the country in run defense, and by a pretty sizable margin --only allowed about 50 yards per game on the ground with 7 minute quarters. There were a couple of games that I didn't watch, and the simmed numbers were more in line with what you would expect from the defense for a 1* team.

Many of the teams that I was facing in conference play ran a lot out of the shotgun, and perhaps the low yardage totals were attributable to the overall problems people have noticed in that regard. But even when playing non-conference games against stronger opponents (Michigan, Illinois, UConn), my team was still holding them to 3-4 yards per carry when I was watching.

[bogeyexpress]

I was super simming every play 99% of the time when I wasn't on the field, however, I read in a forum post that if you watch the plays, the CPU is less likely to get big plays.

I just started watching the other side of the ball in my last OD game, Clemson (me season 3) @ Wake Forest. The CPU had only one real long play, 54 yd TD pass. A couple decent runs, but only the one big play. I seemed to always lose late in contests on supersim and it drove me nuts.

I will probably split the difference somewhere between watching 50-90% of the plays.

[cdj]

(I need to test this more, but I also believe that when you are a DC the CPU will alter your Zone Coverage setting.)

To follow-up, yes - the CPU will adjust your Zone Coverage setting even when you are the DC.

It also appears as if the CPU will adjust CPU Zone Coverage to Aggressive - or maybe it's just poor play-calling. I'm trailing big early and the CPU DBs seem to be up too close. My CPU QB has been able to connect on a good number of big plays once the team fell behind by several scores.

[WolverineJay]

Yes, it is pretty easy to spot when the CPU changes the zones to aggressive then it is like taking candy from a baby with the deep ball. The big problem with the CPU doing this is they never change it back so it is just poor programming. I don't have any p[roblems with allowing the CPU to change it's gameplan during a game just change it back when you get burned for crying out loud. This is the biggest gripe I have with playing the CPU and why it gets old real quick playing offline Dynasty.

[cdj]

Yes, it is pretty easy to spot when the CPU changes the zones to aggressive then it is like taking candy from a baby with the deep ball. The big problem with the CPU doing this is they never change it back so it is just poor programming. I don't have any p[roblems with allowing the CPU to change it's gameplan during a game just change it back when you get burned for crying out loud. This is the biggest gripe I have with playing the CPU and why it gets old real quick playing offline Dynasty.

I agree - it's turning into one of my bigger game issues as well. Have you figured out the pattern or reason for the CPU switching to Aggressive Zone Coverage? Sometimes I can see why, other times cannot. With it being the only Game-Planning aspect that changes (even when you are DC), I'm beginning to think that failure to switch to back to Balanced may not be the bug....I wonder if it is supposed to switch at all.

[WolverineJay]

I'm beginning to think that failure to switch to back to Balanced may not be the bug....I wonder if it is supposed to switch at all.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Whenever I want to work on some new offensive plays in a team's playbook I usually go straight to a play now game pitting the exact same teams against each other. Practice mode to me is useless since I can get plays to work without much effort whereas those same plays are much harder to execute in Play Now games or Dynasty. Anyways I noticed that when I switched teams to remain on offense the gameplan automatically switches to Aggressive zones each and every time regardless of the situation. The CPU simply changes zone gameplan to aggressive any chance they get and it makes practicing any deep route completely pointless. The bug as it may well be only changes zones to aggressive no other gameplan feature is touched by the CPU. This is the biggest gamekiller for me hands down since it so dramatically affects gameplay which is where I want to enjoy this game the most. Please let EA know about this maybe it can be tuned IDK.

[cdj]

This is exactly what I was thinking. Whenever I want to work on some new offensive plays in a team's playbook I usually go straight to a play now game pitting the exact same teams against each other. Practice mode to me is useless since I can get plays to work without much effort whereas those same plays are much harder to execute in Play Now games or Dynasty. Anyways I noticed that when I switched teams to remain on offense the gameplan automatically switches to Aggressive zones each and every time regardless of the situation. The CPU simply changes zone gameplan to aggressive any chance they get and it makes practicing any deep route completely pointless. The bug as it may well be only changes zones to aggressive no other gameplan feature is touched by the CPU. This is the biggest gamekiller for me hands down since it so dramatically affects gameplay which is where I want to enjoy this game the most. Please let EA know about this maybe it can be tuned IDK.

This would explain some of the differences in play between Practice Mode and regular games people have claimed exists. It alters the play of the secondary significantly.

I fired off an e-mail a few weeks ago. I'll see if I can get a follow-up this week.

[WolverineJay]

Thanks cdj. I figured you inquired about this issue since this thread was started a couple weeks ago. Let's hope it is something that can be tuned gameplay wise in the next tuner update.

[cdj]

Unfortunately, this bug is back in NCAA 13. :( If you watch plays as a coordinator, your Zone Coverage setting will ultimately change to Aggressive and keep reverting back, even if you manually change it back.

I know most people do not watch plays as a coordinator, but a YouTube commenter believes it also pops up in RTG if you watch plays.

Just a heads-up on this nasty bug.

[JeffHCross]

I don't ever watch plays anymore, but I do some super-simming in order to get back on offense quickly in test games. Lately I've noticed, most often on the first play after halftime, that my guys will rush to the line as if my Chew Clock Gameplan is set to Aggressive. After the first play it reverts to normal though.

[mizzou24]

i super sim, just because when i watch it's always a bomb for a touch down by the cpu or if i am defensive cordinator, my cpu qb will just throw horrible passes for interceptions.. one game my 85 overall qb threw 6 picks just because he lobbed them like a retard right into a defenders hands..