FIFA 15 News & Discussion Thread

[mfmaxpower]

Apart from a few close ups with some stupid shoulders the player models aren't an issue at all for me. In game view they look fine. Never had a problem with them in any previous games either. Not sure what the fuss is about to be honest.

In all the years I've played FIFA, I've never had an issue with player models, until this year. In the past, all the talk of faces, hairstyles, player models - all of it - has been pointless to me.

This year however I'm really bothered by the new player models. For me, it's not just that they look cartoonish, the bigger issue is that when FIFA already feels too light and weightless, the skinnier models exacerbate this feeling.

FIFA 14 had for me the best feeling of weight to the players since they added 360 degree movement years ago, and this honestly is one of my biggest issues this year.

 

[mfmaxpower]

Offline is a mess also in certain key areas, it just depends which mess you want to put up with.

It has been extensively discussed that in PES offline single player

Fouling system is completely broken - AI doesn't foul (maybe 1 every 3 games)
Refereeing for fouls is completely broken - i have witnessed dozens of off the ball late challenges all ignored by the ref
Shots are far too overpowered - scoring regularly on full manual from 30-40 yards with div 2 players
AI is ridiculously scripted on superstar level scoring the same goals over and over again(pass into area turn and shoot bottom corner)
Keepers have some shocking moments palming it out into strikers or getting confused on headed back passes
I have read but not witnessed that the longer game time you play on master league the higher the AI/AI score lines are - i think some games going into double figure goals

Nothing a patch cant sort out if they choose to address

PES without a doubt has its own issues but I don't know how you can call it a mess. The only real issue that you've mentioned that I've seen to have an impact on gameplay regularly is the fouling/referee issue, which is really poor.

That and the CPU AI's lack of aggressiveness, both offensively and defensively, are the only two major issues I see that consistently detract from the experience. The other issues you mention I rarely or, in the case of scripting, never see.

The key issue is that PES plays a balanced version of football, and that while it has deficiencies throughout, none really throw off its gameplay to the point, like in FIFA, where it just doesn't feel like realistic football. FIFA absolutely crushes PES in so many areas with its more advanced features, but those features don't mix properly into a final product, if realistic, balanced football is desired. And then you add FIFA's relatively shallow and unvaried AI to the mix, and it's very hard for me to enjoy FIFA this year, especially when for the first time in a decade, PES is a solid product.

 

[hitmanuk]

PES without a doubt has its own issues but I don't know how you can call it a mess. The only real issue that you've mentioned that I've seen to have an impact on gameplay regularly is the fouling/referee issue, which is really poor.

That and the CPU AI's lack of aggressiveness, both offensively and defensively, are the only two major issues I see that consistently detract from the experience. The other issues you mention I rarely or, in the case of scripting, never see.

The key issue is that PES plays a balanced version of football, and that while it has deficiencies throughout, none really throw off its gameplay to the point, like in FIFA, where it just doesn't feel like realistic football. FIFA absolutely crushes PES in so many areas with its more advanced features, but those features don't mix properly into a final product, if realistic, balanced football is desired. And then you add FIFA's relatively shallow and unvaried AI to the mix, and it's very hard for me to enjoy FIFA this year, especially when for the first time in a decade, PES is a solid product.

agree on some points, and i think fifa is designed bad.
not sure about pes being balanced thoughts its either really easy or just plain stressful no inbetween..manual for me is the only playable mode but shooting individuality is removed

 

[mfmaxpower]

agree on some points, and i think fifa is designed bad.
not sure about pes being balanced thoughts its either really easy or just plain stressful no inbetween..manual for me is the only playable mode but shooting individuality is removed

Well I haven't played PES consistently enough over the past decade or so, so I consider myself a PES noob all over again (though I'm playing on Superstar). So it could be that more competent PES players are seeing things I'm not.

For me though it's well balanced and I don't see any of the gamebreaking exploits or imbalances that were evident within a few games of FIFA 15. (And I don't know what people are referring to when they talk about PES being stressful - compared with how fast paced FIFA can be, PES is a walk in the park. If anything, PES for me can lack intensity.)

 

[Bendit]

Just a question: the GOAL news in Match Day Live ... has anyone else had a problem where it hasn't updated since the end of November? (PC version FYI)

 

[angus]

For me though it's well balanced and I don't see any of the gamebreaking exploits or imbalances that were evident within a few games of FIFA 15. (And I don't know what people are referring to when they talk about PES being stressful - compared with how fast paced FIFA can be, PES is a walk in the park. If anything, PES for me can lack intensity.)

PES is unique in that team tactics can be set to force the CPU to pass the ball around forever and essentially never shoot. That's impossible to edit in FIFA. But you can also adjust PES team tactics and player traits, and have the CPU play a quick counter-attack style. And yes, they absolutely attack and shoot, lots.

And the body models in FIFA can be fixed in 30 seconds by globally setting the body type value of all players to 2. (PC version, which is why I play PC and not console.)

My point here is that most of the issues people seem to have with both games can be easily and quickly fixed via a few edits.

 

[mfmaxpower]

PES is unique in that team tactics can be set to force the CPU to pass the ball around forever and essentially never shoot. That's impossible to edit in FIFA. But you can also adjust PES team tactics and player traits, and have the CPU play a quick counter-attack style. And yes, they absolutely attack and shoot, lots.

And the body models in FIFA can be fixed in 30 seconds by globally setting the body type value of all players to 2. (PC version, which is why I play PC and not console.)

My point here is that most of the issues people seem to have with both games can be easily and quickly fixed via a few edits.

That's awesome, if you have a gaming PC, which I don't. Also, my biggest issue with FIFA is with its AI - is that fixable with PC edits? Can you actually make the AI more intelligent? For example, fixing defender run tracking and threat analysis?

When it comes to PES, I've played some matches - typically knockout matches in the Champions or Copa mode - in which the CPU plays very aggressive and quick in attack. So I see that it's in the game; it's just in some matches, the AI is too passive, leading to easy, undeserved wins. Maybe I'll get around to adjusting CPU tactics, but that sounds extremely time consuming, again since I'm on PS4, and a pain in the arse for a PES noob like me.

And I'll once again reiterate that when I"m critical of these games, I'm speaking to how they're shipped and how they're played with default settings, as I don't have a gaming PC and I've yet to play a slider set that "fixes" FIFA.

 

[angus]

Also, my biggest issue with FIFA is with its AI - is that fixable with PC edits? Can you actually make the AI more intelligent? For example, fixing defender run tracking and threat analysis?

My fix for that with FIFA is to play on legendary as player behaviour and defender awareness in particular is much better. I also mod and edit the game in ways that make legendary easier and IMO more realistic as legendary is too much of a cheat fest otherwise. cl file edits are also available but I personally don't work much with game code edits.

But I think you're really talking about the inner nuts and bolts coding of these games. Both games IMO have issues in that regard that can't be fixed to any great degree. Example: PES at first glance appears to be the more realistic sim game from a tactical perspective. But a lot of that slow play buildup in PES is just empty programming, purely cosmetic. There's no intelligence or purpose to the buildup, the CPU simply passes the ball about to give the appearance of real football.

At any rate, I fix what I can and enjoy both games for what they are. And again, I switched to the PC version specifically because I wanted to be able to fix whatever I could, if possible. The body models are a perfect example. Took me less than a minute to globally revert them all back to FIFA 13-14 body models. Issue instantly resolved with one mouse click. And a number of issues in either game that people have problems with, year after year, can be fixed that easily - lack of fouls issue in FIFA is another example. Not all issues can be fixed, sure, but a lot of them can be.

 

[fernadez]

Angus, do you have any download links/guides to the changes you've made. Seen a few of your posts now and would like to implement your alterations and give them a go. Haven't turned on Fifa for a week now.

 

[angus]

Angus, do you have any download links/guides to the changes you've made. Seen a few of your posts now and would like to implement your alterations and give them a go. Haven't turned on Fifa for a week now.

No links, but what I will do is post something on the FIFA PC thread, probably more appropriate there than here.

 

[fernadez]

No links, but what I will do is post something on the FIFA PC thread, probably more appropriate there than here.

Nice one

 

[chiefrocka4real]

Apart from a few close ups with some stupid shoulders the player models aren't an issue at all for me. In game view they look fine. Never had a problem with them in any previous games either. Not sure what the fuss is about to be honest.

Absolutely same here!
Gotta admit that when I´ve seen the close ups of the player models at first, I almost had to puke.
But it´s not like that all of them looked shitty to me, but Lambert and a few others.
Ingame they look okay to me and I also like the animations, specially the keeper ones.

The gameplay could be a little slower though, I´m already on slow but sometimes it looks a little hectic.

Tried PES 2015 but couldn´t get warm with it (for the first time with a PES release), unfortunately spent 26 € to KONAMI, but whatever, came back to FIFA and it felt akward at first, as I was used to the gameplay of PES.
Needed a few games on FIFA to get in again and not ranting about the too fast movement on the pitch.

Someone here said, FIFA 15 doesn´t feel like real football.
Suprisingly to me it really does and the amazing ball physics contribute a lot to this imho.
Also the gameplay, no goal looks like the same, the AI fouls, my players get injured, the transfers are fun etc etc.
The scorelines are okay too, I lose, I win, draw, sometiomes having a winning and sometimes a losing streak, so it feels balanced to me, mostly.

The only thing I don´t like, are these classy 45 min and 90 min goals. They happen a bit too often imo.
It doesn´t happen all the time, but quite a lot.

Of course there is still room for improvements but here I feel I get enough for the price I paid for this game.

Also gotta say that I stopped playing online and FUT anyway (since someone hacked my account, sold all my players and took my 40K, lol).
Having a blast still, with CM on professional and the moddingway patch.
Got kicked out of the group stage @EL, damn nearly made it, if Lokomotive Moscow wouldn´t have won their last game.

I understand if someone doesn´t like the game and likes PES more, I guess it´s mostly about how and what modes you play and what you expect and where everyone´s priority is.

 

[CalcioCalabrese]

Absolutely same here!
Gotta admit that when I´ve seen the close ups of the player models at first, I almost had to puke.
But it´s not like that all of them looked shitty to me, but Lambert and a few others.
Ingame they look okay to me and I also like the animations, specially the keeper ones.

The gameplay could be a little slower though, I´m already on slow but sometimes it looks a little hectic.

Tried PES 2015 but couldn´t get warm with it (for the first time with a PES release), unfortunately spent 26 € to KONAMI, but whatever, came back to FIFA and it felt akward at first, as I was used to the gameplay of PES.
Needed a few games on FIFA to get in again and not ranting about the too fast movement on the pitch.

Someone here said, FIFA 15 doesn´t feel like real football.
Suprisingly to me it really does and the amazing ball physics contribute a lot to this imho.
Also the gameplay, no goal looks like the same, the AI fouls, my players get injured, the transfers are fun etc etc.
The scorelines are okay too, I lose, I win, draw, sometiomes having a winning and sometimes a losing streak, so it feels balanced to me, mostly.

The only thing I don´t like, are these classy 45 min and 90 min goals. They happen a bit too often imo.
It doesn´t happen all the time, but quite a lot.

Of course there is still room for improvements but here I feel I get enough for the price I paid for this game.

Also gotta say that I stopped playing online and FUT anyway (since someone hacked my account, sold all my players and took my 40K, lol).
Having a blast still, with CM on professional and the moddingway patch.
Got kicked out of the group stage @EL, damn nearly made it, if Lokomotive Moscow wouldn´t have won their last game.

I understand if someone doesn´t like the game and likes PES more, I guess it´s mostly about how and what modes you play and what you expect and where everyone´s priority is.

This is the first FIFA I've played where every goal does indeed look and feel different. If you want to play it as if you were playing football (even though the game allows you to do otherwise) you can get an enjoyable experience.

The main thing that they could improve on (for my taste anyway) is to reduce the distance taken with each touch, especially when players are turning from side to side. Well not as much distance as the ability to quickly change direction multiple times.

 

[DanielWins]

Ok so finally completed online mode, well became a winner of Division one...I finally figured out what this mode is for lol its not have an enjoyable game of football...but to win! all the games were horrible and if you want to win, gotta use Real Madrid like everyone else. I'll be honest, it did feel good to win the trophy.

Regarding offline mode, I think the biggest problem with the game is pace, so ive tried a few games with sprint speed turned down to 0....seems to be a good balance because fast players should be fast but they shouldn't be like gods. I'll post my experiences further down the line.

 

[DanielWins]

I played against an online show boating cunt last night, he was rainbow flicking and doing these fancy dribbles leaving my guys on the floor in heaps, he scored a thirty yard curled beaut and won 2-0. He had all the moves just the kind of mother fucker you don't want to play. He sent me a gg message i sent him one back ' If i could ever meet you in real life i would cut your fucking thumbs off and sew them to your chin you mother fucker' he also had just sent sent me a friend request. The joys of online gaming.

Lmao I played so many of these guys. You're right, its so annoying to play these guys but on some level I do give them credit to get so good at performing these skills.

 

[pepper63]

Lmao I played so many of these guys. You're right, its so annoying to play these guys but on some level I do give them credit to get so good at performing these skills.

His skills were beyond belief, so my i want to torture the fucker.

 

[jaygrim]

Bad sport.

 

[pepper63]

Where have you been Bollock Head?

 

[Chris Davies]

I played against an online show boating cunt last night, he was rainbow flicking and doing these fancy dribbles leaving my guys on the floor in heaps, he scored a thirty yard curled beaut and won 2-0. He had all the moves just the kind of mother fucker you don't want to play. He sent me a gg message i sent him one back ' If i could ever meet you in real life i would cut your fucking thumbs off and sew them to your chin you mother fucker' he also had just sent sent me a friend request. The joys of online gaming.

FIFA feels more like Street Fighter to me now (online). If you don't know the super-duper-mega combos you can't win. Whatever happened to good football being enough?

It's why I play Pro Evo online and really enjoy it, the lag is so bad that you just can't do skill moves. They happen half an hour after you execute them so you end up rainbow-flicking the ball off the pitch.

Every cloud, eh...

 

[Matt10]

There were a couple videos I wanted to share with Evo that I think can breed some good discussion. Obviously FIFA 15 is not limited to one or two "issues" (bugs, glitches, whatever the term) - but there are a couple things I haven't seen mentioned within this thread. I'd post in the video thread, but it's a bit cluttered - and not sure discussions will be as good as they would be on here.

The first is the Defensive "improvement". The issue with the defensive line dropping back automatically has gotten quite a bit annoying. Has it even helped the online guys as it was intended? Offline guys like myself have to endure this terrible result, although we have been able to "cover" it a bit with sliders. The marking continues to have ADD (Attention Deficit Defending) as well:

YouTube - FIFA 15 Sliders Breakdown - Defensive Improvement?

Second video is the jogging animation. It's just not good when Sprint is on 50 - which is why the next sliders will be on 52/52 and on slow game speed. It makes a BIG difference:

YouTube - FIFA 15 Sliders Breakdown - Dat Jogging Animation...

 

[goldfinger35]

Good analysis Matt.
I am not a player who abuses flaws in the game but FIFA15 has one huge flaw and I can exploit it almost every time: straight from the kick-off (by using any above average player) I can run-dribble from the center of the pitch to the opponents goal and shoot at the goal from 10m. That is on WC difficulty.

 

[dannyfc2]

Would love to play the game online with me being Leyton Orient and someone else being Dagenham for example, but will never happen as people just want to whore Barca, Real, Bayern. Shame.

Add me - Lucifa-XYX.

In fairness it's very easy to find 3* matchs on Seasons. Haven't tried teams below that standard, but it certainly isn't all Real Madrid/Barca, unless you select those teams yourself.

Still really enjoying this. Think the patch has been a big improvement. I'm in Div.1 on Seasons and haven't played any 'skill' abusers.

 

[Matt10]

Good analysis Matt.
I am not a player who abuses flaws in the game but FIFA15 has one huge flaw and I can exploit it almost every time: straight from the kick-off (by using any above average player) I can run-dribble from the center of the pitch to the opponents goal and shoot at the goal from 10m. That is on WC difficulty.

Try 52/52 acc and spd. Marking @ 60/60. Had the same issue (I call it the speed burst because its not just the ease in dribble but the recovery of the cpu player and teammates) and with adjustments above the issue lessened.

 

[mfmaxpower]

There were a couple videos I wanted to share with Evo that I think can breed some good discussion. Obviously FIFA 15 is not limited to one or two "issues" (bugs, glitches, whatever the term) - but there are a couple things I haven't seen mentioned within this thread. I'd post in the video thread, but it's a bit cluttered - and not sure discussions will be as good as they would be on here.

The first is the Defensive "improvement". The issue with the defensive line dropping back automatically has gotten quite a bit annoying. Has it even helped the online guys as it was intended? Offline guys like myself have to endure this terrible result, although we have been able to "cover" it a bit with sliders. The marking continues to have ADD (Attention Deficit Defending) as well:

YouTube - FIFA 15 Sliders Breakdown - Defensive Improvement?

Second video is the jogging animation. It's just not good when Sprint is on 50 - which is why the next sliders will be on 52/52 and on slow game speed. It makes a BIG difference:

YouTube - FIFA 15 Sliders Breakdown - Dat Jogging Animation...

I'm a little confused by this post - everything you've highlighted has been pointed out, in videos no less by myself and others, since the game was released. The defensive AI and positioning is shockingly poor in too many instances. So what's new?

And regarding the second video, why the focus on the animation? My interpretation is it's just another example of poor AI - improper threat analysis and response, one of the biggest issues with the game.

Honestly though, if you're interested so much in realistic football, just play PES, which plays such a great brand of football straight out of the box this year (finally).

 

[Matt10]

I'm a little confused by this post - everything you've highlighted has been pointed out, in videos no less by myself and others, since the game was released. The defensive AI and positioning is shockingly poor in too many instances. So what's new?

And regarding the second video, why the focus on the animation? My interpretation is it's just another example of poor AI - improper threat analysis and response, one of the biggest issues with the game.

Honestly though, if you're interested so much in realistic football, just play PES, which plays such a great brand of football straight out of the box this year (finally).

What a grand suggestion, mfmax. Play PES - such a simple solution. Why are you in the FIFA forums if you support "just play PES". PES is missing a lot more than just gameplay elements for me, so I choose to play FIFA. I really don't want to, or have to, explain it to you.

Regarding the videos. Where are these videos that illustrated exactly what I'm talking about? Where is the why the defensive line moves back the way they do? Do you know?

It's because the second you pass by the DM, they drop back even further. The immediate "fix" is to increase line height significantly, increase marking - but then you lose the realism because the line height is just too high - and balls over the top become OP.

Why is it new? Because in previous patches, the defensive line height didn't act as obvious as it did now in being this passive the minute the ball goes past the DM. See this video, at the 3:57 mark how it looked with update #1:

YouTube - FIFA 15 Sliders Breakdown - Two Impactful Changes (Gameplay)

See the difference?

Jogging animation - yes it's an animation because it's triggered by the low sprint speed value of 50. This means we have to raise it to lessen the animation. Again, I haven't seen anyone else mention this within the thread, if it did - then I apologize the 147 pages was a bit lengthy for research.

Improper threat analysis is built from marking @ 50 - raise it to 60, combine it with a length discrepancy and width - and you've "positioned" the players to find the threat. Anything below 60 marking and the CPU stops caring. In addition, line height is important because it serves two purposes. Transition in defense and it also prompts the players to step up to intercept the ball.

I haven't seen anyone else within this thread address the why the defensive position acts the way it does. I have seen the common complaint and the comments, but noone analyzed the why - so that's why I made those videos a bit ago, but didn't share here.

Again though. I'm interested in this game, I'm not interested in the other - and if you know me, which you do because we've never agreed on anything, you know I have been a PES supporter longer than most. I've invested countless hours in FIFA 15 - so I'm going to continue until it is where I want it.

The sliders are built in 1-click values, so the possibilities are significant as are the effects. It interest me and interests others on here, and elsewhere - not sure why you are here though if all you're going to do is provide criticism of those that are trying to dig a bit deeper to find solutions.

 

[superleeds1]

I'm a little confused by this post - everything you've highlighted has been pointed out, in videos no less by myself and others, since the game was released. The defensive AI and positioning is shockingly poor in too many instances. So what's new?

And regarding the second video, why the focus on the animation? My interpretation is it's just another example of poor AI - improper threat analysis and response, one of the biggest issues with the game.

Honestly though, if you're interested so much in realistic football, just play PES, which plays such a great brand of football straight out of the box this year (finally).

Simply do not post in this thread with something that amounts to PES is better than FIFA.


Thanks for Your work Matt10, have been following on Operation Sports with some interest.

 

[pepper63]

Appreciate your efforts Matt10.

 

[banbenbin]

Yup! Thanks Matt, very informative posts!

 

[mfmaxpower]

Simply do not post in this thread with something that amounts to PES is better than FIFA.


Thanks for Your work Matt10, have been following on Operation Sports with some interest.

I didn't say it's better. I think an argument could be made that FIFA 15 is the better video game and there's a lot that sucks about PES, but in terms of realistic, balanced football, FIFA is just a bit of a mess this year. And I just don't know why you'd try to fit a round peg into a square hole when there's a quality alternative for once, if realistic football is the priority.

 

[Disqo]

I didn't say it's better. I think an argument could be made that FIFA 15 is the better video game and there's a lot that sucks about PES, but in terms of realistic, balanced football, FIFA is just a bit of a mess this year. And I just don't know why you'd try to fit a round peg into a square hole when there's a quality alternative for once, if realistic football is the priority.

So just a remix of your original 'go and play PES' comment only a bit wordier.