Rubberbanding?

[Harkonnen]

I really like the game so far, but my biggest complaint I've come across is that the game seems to have some really hard anti-upset cheese happening behind the scenes.

I fully acknowledge that I'm bad and this might be my imagination, but when playing a small school and trying to turn them into a dynasty, it's really very easy to gameplan correctly and get into a position where you have a lead on a better opponent, or to take a lead late in the game, when suddenly the simmed DC which has been shutting them down all game gives up 80 yards in 3 plays one drive, then you fumble, then he gives up 50 yards in two plays the next. It doesn't seem to matter what his scheme and tendencies are, the game has simply decided that it's time for you to lose.

I'm not expecting to go 12-0 each year, and I actually LIKE that I'm going to lose more than I win most of the time when playing as a weak school, but a couple of these losses have felt really cheap.

[Bohemian Rap City]

I have heard too much about how you can OP your team vs opposing AI when you call specific plays, so I just sim games entirely. That way, it is AI vs AI.

I chose San Diego State as my Prestige 1 school in a weaker conference and have been slowly climbing the Prestige ladder ever since.

[Harkonnen]

Originally posted by Bohemian Rap City:

I have heard too much about how you can OP your team vs opposing AI when you call specific plays, so I just sim games entirely. That way, it is AI vs AI.

I chose San Diego State as my Prestige 1 school in a weaker conference and have been slowly climbing the Prestige ladder ever since.

I mean to an extent that's the nature of football games. You call a goal line defense on 3rd and 1 at the 50 because you know the AI isn't going to trick you, you run overlapping routes against zone and routes with a bunch of moves and motions against man. It isn't a completely trivial thing unlike Madden, but you can still heavily stack the deck in your favor with the right playcalls. The problem is more "the things which you can't control suddenly all turn against you on a dime."

I picked Kent State with the expectation of winning 3-4 games year one, but when I call the plays instead of purely simming, I either blowout opponents who never make adjustments or I have a great first half before everything just... inexplicably stops working.

Honestly I've just started simming until five minutes left in the game, then I make a few adjustments based on what I need to do, and that seems to win me the majority of close games. I can't prevent a blowout, but if it's a one-possession game it really just seems like the AI can't adjust to me suddenly calling what beats them as opposed to if I've done it the whole game.

[Bohemian Rap City]

I honestly focus only on recruiting and training in the first 3 seasons, as I focus recruiting efforts on specific goals based on my coaching archetypes and my personal preferences. Season 4 is my team and reflects my choices. For me, season one always seems to have a roster with an abundance of Juniors and Seniors, so the team seems to over-perform. Season 3 seems to be stuffed with a LOT of underclassmen based on my recruiting.

[Oldfarticus]

I rarely sim games and have called a lot of plays (700 hours on legendary). In 30 seasons I have seen many different story lines play out and have thought a few times early on that the game was stacked or scripted. But I really don't think it is. Sometimes RNG just kills you, like Ricky Foggie killed Michigan in 1986.

[JimmysTheBestCop]

I can't call def for anything. It's like an automatic td.

[ROE]

The game does seem to favor certain schools, and I think it predetermines who will be good at the start of a season, but that is just conjecture. If you really want to know the truth you will have to dig into the code.

[Bohemian Rap City]

Originally posted by ROE:

The game does seem to favor certain schools, and I think it predetermines who will be good at the start of a season, but that is just conjecture. If you really want to know the truth you will have to dig into the code.

I disagree. I let the AI sim the actual games for me, and I took San Diego State from Prestige 1 to Prestige 10 and in the last 10 seasons I have not failed to have a top 10 finish. It is all about talent, and talent is more than just the Star rating of the student.