I played a good 4 hours last night on my MLO, and it was hands-down the worst PES play from me since I bought the game. I was terrible, PES-itus all over again. Every decision I made was the wrong one, I lacked composure, guile, I was just plain rubbish. My confidence in my own play dwindled with every poor performance.
Anyway, it got me thinking about Form. For the most part, alot of my best players were on Blues and Purples, which didnt help, but I refuse to use that as an easy out, I sucked worse than a two-bit dime store hooker. End of story.
I really like the way the Form works, as it really does represent a footballers mentality. Football is 90% mind and 10% physical. You can be the worlds best player, with technique to burn, but if your suffering from a lack of confidence, you can play like a schoolboy. Rooney in the World Cup is one of the best examples of this. On the flip-side of that coin, you can be an average player, but if your high on confidence, you can perform way above your natural consistent level. The worlds greatest players are defined by their consistency, that's what make them great. It's not like any professional player isnt capable of smashing a 30 yard shot straight in the top bag, but the likes of Gerrard et al, do it on a more regular basis.
I personally would love to see Konami take this Form one step further, and add 'Dynamic Form'. This would be a system that reflects what happens on pitch during the 90 minutes, and changes the confidence/Form levels accordingly. For example, a striker is in a good run of Form and comes into the game on a Red, but after 3 shots, none of which hit the target, and maybe a few misplaced passes, drops to an Orange. I would these type of calculations made for every player on the pitch, and updated under the hud, say every 15 minutes of match play. This system would be so much more realistic with regards how this works in real life. I've played games in real life where I havent stepped over the line full of confidence, but as the game as progressed, and after some nice touches, passes, strikes on goal etc, my confidence has grown, and I'm playing alot better with more conviction. It's called 'getting into the game'. I would like to see this reflected in PES.
It would work the other way to, a midfielder maybe starts on a blue, but after some nice completed passes, interceptions, and the odd chance crafted, his Blue then increases to a Green. The same would go for a keeper, he starts on a Green, pulls off some early great saves, and is upped to an Orange, or even a Red. This is how it should work. Players can drift in and out of games as the match plays, and I think this is a system that would add much more realism in every area. You could even have a player that may drop two arrows, from Red to Green in the first half, after some poor play. As a manager you notice this, and that player is replaced for the good of the team. Another example would be a striker starting on a Green, he then scores two goals and is upped to Red as he chases that Hat-Trick. Confidence breeds confidence, and a Red 7% stat boost would certainly ensure that Hat-Trick is a little more forthcoming, which is how it is in real-life. Anyone who has played, and scored two in a game, truly believes that the 3rd goal is a pretty much a formality. It's just the way you feel, those first two goals have massively upped your confidence to the point you believe that 3rd goal isnt far away, you have an adrenline spike, and you perform above your natural level.
PES is so stat related, and the way the Form Arrows work presently, means that a player on a Red gets a stat boost across the board of 7%, Orange 3% and Green is his natural stats. Blue drops his stats percentage by 3% and a Purple by 7%. Thats the way it works currently, so why not accentuate that over the 90 minutes. It would make perfect sense, and also increase the variables even more. Which is always a good thing when simulating football. It adds further to the randomness, which is essential when replicating the game.
The end arrows would then carry over to the next match and so on. How many times do we see players start off a game quiet, then seem to lift their game as the match progresses, it happens all the time in every game. And it works the other way to, a player can start on fire, then just seem to fizzle out till eventually they are dragged off and subbed as their condfidence is shot. Having the Form Arrows is great, but for a player to maintain his Red form throughout the whole 90 minutes isnt really totally accurate from a realism perspective. Sure it happens, but only when players are on fire, constantly contributing, and maintaining that high level of confidence.
Just a thought........
: How the hell do you make the nets change their colors? I'm in my 2nd ML season with my own created team, and I'm yet to see another color for the nets in this game! Thanks!
