PES 2012 Football Life thread

[Jimmy G-Force]

Quality, I deffo recommend adding custom chants to the game, I have assigned 4 chants for every premier league team and it certainly adds to the atmosphere.
Playing Liverpool and hearing them chant "Steve Gerrard, Gerrard, he smashes em from 40 yards...." or "you dirty nothern b****ds" when playing at Bolton spices the game up and draws you in more.

Where do you get your chants from Jimmy? I found a good website that has thousands on, all free, I used the generic EPL chants and the MK Dons specific ones for my fictional Milton keynes FC ML team.

Here, there and everywhere to be honest bud. What's the site you know of please ? I'm after adding some new ones.

I generally use 4 chants for the respective home team, then one Boro chant to make it sound like the Boro fans are there as well. It's a shame we don't have 10 chants per team, or Home and Away fans. Hopefully next year.

 

[xPJRx]

yeah I usually use 2 generic chants and 2 team specific ones per club.
Love hearing my fans sing "We are staying up, say we are staying up!" after every win!!!

I use this site Chants mainly but also have a zip file at home with a few hundred in if you want it bud.

 

[Suuuuupertalk]

LTFC - good stuff mate, on the up!!!
what level you nplaying on?

Also love the fact your playing with the classic ball. Im not usually bothered by boots and balls in the game but must admit i love using a ball with a prominent pattern on as you can see the spin on the ball and the flight it takes much better.

Haha it seems that way! Ten games played, and I've leaped from bottom to tenth with a five match unbeaten run. I'm now on four wins, three draws, three losses, nine scored, eight conceded. Not a bad start for default ML players and me learning the game at the same time

The game seems very balanced on patch 1.06, I'll give it that. No real differences that I can tell other than this, but it makes a huge difference. In fact, I've had the lions share of decent fortune all season, I've benefited from numerous deflections and dodgy keeping etc, and I'm rarely conceding late on either.

But the last few games have been great. I dominated in a 1-0 win, then churned out a very hard fought 0-0 away from home where I struggled to keep the CPU at bay in the second half, and ended up keeping possession at the end just to run the clock down. I then won a 3-2 thriller at the Stad De Luz, Ordaz muscling his way past a defender to ram the ball home after a deflection knocked the ball into his path. The CPU was very tough to defend against, and equalised almost straight from kick off. Ordaz then regained the lead with a powerful header that the keeper didn't deal too well with, before the CPU scored a sweetly struck volley from 25 yards into the top corner.

From then on, I struggled to keep their waves of attack at bay, but as the game went on I got a foothold once more, and won with a long range Camacho drive in injury time that caught a CPU defender full on in the face, deflected the ball across goal an into the net past the wrongfooted keeper. To say I got excited was an understatement. Only PES seems to be able to bring these moments.

YouTube - 3-2

Anyways, the goals aren't spectacular but in the context of the game, they were!

Oh and yeah, changing the ball type is a must! I like the old school panelled ball for the exact same reason, I like to be able to see the spin etc on the ball too, gives a kind of false feeling of weight to the ball IMO.

 

[Suuuuupertalk]

Don't forget to cursor switch to your CB (pushing the right stick in the direction of the player you want to control works better than L1 for the most part) when you feel a counter-attack coming. I take control immediately off the ball and track him back, this almost always stops any killer passes through the middle or over the top. Just let your CPU team-mates cover the ball-carrier whilst you take control of a player sitting much deeper. It's a great tactic for off-the-ball defending.

Thanks for the tips, yeah I'm learning to bring a second defender over to the ball while switching to a deeper defender and following the striker. Doesn't always work, but you're bang on that it deters them from playing the same level of cutting passes as before. If the pass isn't on and they hold onto the ball, I'll switch to the nearest player and hammer R2 when close, you either bully their player into a stumble animation or go in to win the ball.

I'm also finding that using the jockey controls the game introduced this year to be really useful when they break and go into that dribbling mode where they slalom past your players. It really holds up the attacker and slows both him and you down, allowing for the R2 tackle method I use to work. It seems to be all down to slowing down both you and the attacker otherwise you'll miss the tackle by a mile.

I'm starting to reap the benefits of this even with crap ML defenders!

 

[xPJRx]

Played a few games in my late night session last night and finished the season, finishing 4th, and qualifying for the Champs league qualifiers, got the the FA Cup Semi Final and last 16 of the Champs league so not too bad a season consiering i prob ‘wasted’ 8 or so matches tinkering with differing difficulty levels.

Have played 2 of my 3 pre-season training matches and have chosen to stick with Top Player level, for me it still plays quite a free, open game of footy, with the CPU well positioned and passing the ball around nicely but doesnt quite have the CPU ‘wonder dribble mechanic’ that superstar loves so its a happy balance, still tough but rewarding all the same.

Signed 3 new players so far, Luciano, a 92OVR rated Right Winger, F. Navarro, an 82OVR rated 16yr old CB signed on a free, and R. Myachi from Arsenal, a 88OVR CF/SS.

Had a bid come in for my influential AMF, Henriksen, as soon as i saw I had a bid I said NO WAY, as he’s my key player, great dribbling, awesome shot and grabs a ton of goals from that ‘hole’ position behind the strikers, but upon checking the bid AZ Alkamar had offered £17 million for him, hes 31, and in the last year of his contract, so I reluctantly cashed in.

Am consciously trying to keep my squad size to 26-28 players max, i had the full quota of 32 for last season and whilst it gave me options, you cant please everyone and as a result I lost Isco, a great CM, due to him being unhappy at not getting enough chances.

New Home and Away kit and a change of ball to the classic Black/White Panelled job for the new season, and a few new adboards in the stadium.

I Love PES.

 

[Jimmy G-Force]

Anyways, the goals aren't spectacular but in the context of the game, they were!

Every goal is a 'Cup Final Goal' when playing with a squad of that technical ability bud. Great stuff.

but also have a zip file at home with a few hundred in if you want it bud.

If you could mail it to jimmygforce@hotmail.com bud when you get time I'd be most appreciative. Thanks.

 

[xPJRx]

If you could mail it to jimmygforce@hotmail.com bud when you get time I'd be most appreciative. Thanks.

No worries, will do it tonight when i get home.

 

[Suuuuupertalk]

Every goal is a 'Cup Final Goal' when playing with a squad of that technical ability bud. Great stuff.

That's very true, playing this way, you can start to see why real life teams do anything to win. Having to take anything you can get ends up being paramount to anything else! Benfica's luck must change at some point though, out of nine goals this season I think four of them have come from massive deflections and dodgy goalkeeping!

So does anyone know if that trick really works to get other clubs to make bids for your players? The one where you repeatedly transfer list a player, take him off the list, then re-list him to piss him off? I'm not sure how much of a trick this really is, rather another mechanic of the game. What I mean is, a squad player happily sitting there doing nothing, whether listed or not, will not be noticeable to other clubs when compared to one who is visibly annoyed at being there. Seems like the game clearly identifies this as a game mechanic and automatically bids for them when their morale is suitably low.

Either way, it could be a useful tool. I paid a small amount of money early doors to release a decent number of players so I could make space in the squad to promote a large number of youth players, most notably Cinalton who's wages were miles higher than everyone else's. But there are still other squad players I could do with selling off to raise a tiny bit more cash. Every penny counts it seems.

 

[Jimmy G-Force]

That's very true, playing this way, you can start to see why real life teams do anything to win. Having to take anything you can get ends up being paramount to anything else! Benfica's luck must change at some point though, out of nine goals this season I think four of them have come from massive deflections and dodgy goalkeeping!

So does anyone know if that trick really works to get other clubs to make bids for your players? The one where you repeatedly transfer list a player, take him off the list, then re-list him to piss him off? I'm not sure how much of a trick this really is, rather another mechanic of the game. What I mean is, a squad player happily sitting there doing nothing, whether listed or not, will not be noticeable to other clubs when compared to one who is visibly annoyed at being there. Seems like the game clearly identifies this as a game mechanic and automatically bids for them when their morale is suitably low.

Either way, it could be a useful tool. I paid a small amount of money early doors to release a decent number of players so I could make space in the squad to promote a large number of youth players, most notably Cinalton who's wages were miles higher than everyone else's. But there are still other squad players I could do with selling off to raise a tiny bit more cash. Every penny counts it seems.

I can perfectly understand how this would/does work. Lowering morale of a player will attract the vultures looking for a bargain and quick deal. I know this, because I'm one of those vultures. That's how I sought my players early in my ML career. The only problem I had, was that on a few occasions, the unhappy player was a terminal sulking fucker. I bought two players that remained on Purples for the full season they were with me.

 

[Lami]

 

[Suuuuupertalk]

I can perfectly understand how this would/does work. Lowering morale of a player will attract the vultures looking for a bargain and quick deal. I know this, because I'm one of those vultures. That's how I sought my players early in my ML career. The only problem I had, was that on a few occasions, the unhappy player was a terminal sulking fucker. I bought two players that remained on Purples for the full season they were with me.

Ahh the perennial problem of signing a talented player who doesn't have the mentality to see their talent through! The lower leagues in real life are full of them ...

Actually Ordaz is like that for me. He's spent 90% of the season on a purple arrow, never gets any game time as a result, then he spends half his time scratching at the door to moan that he never plays. Yet one random week he was on a red arrow and he destroyed the opposition with two goals and physically bullied the opposition. All that but he just can't keep any form, he's a true spineless, whinging, occasional match winner!

 

[xPJRx]

That 'Trick' does work LTFC.
Id been trying to get rid of Guegan for about 3 seasons, no takers, he hardly ever plays, so i transfer listed him and kept taking him off and relisting him every few days until his happiness/affection was real low and he was unhappy, ignoring his moans and not answering his player talks all the time, I had a bid came in for him and duly sold him.

 

[Jimmy G-Force]

What is even funnier is that I had a player called Zemmama, he was one of Boro's original players. Anyway, he was shit, I kept him but never played him. He always moaned and I blagged him telling him I'll play him next game and never did. After two seasons he must have thought, fuck this, and retired at the age of 29. I basically shattered and ruined his love for football....

 

[TheJinxedOne]

What is even funnier is that I had a player called Zemmama, he was one of Boro's original players. Anyway, he was shit, I kept him but never played him. He always moaned and I blagged him telling him I'll play him next game and never did. After two seasons he must have thought, fuck this, and retired at the age of 29. I basically shattered and ruined his love for football....

Wow, brutal end to his career.. Great man management Jimmy

Edit- I remember him now, he was bloody useless for me when I was Boro, probably better retired!

 

[xPJRx]

After two seasons he must have thought, fuck this, and retired at the age of 29. I basically shattered and ruined his love for football....

PMSL ive just actually laughed out loud at that!! poor bastard!

 

[Suuuuupertalk]

Well my season was going brilliantly until a run of four games without a win and a spate of horrible injuries has left me struggling again. I'm sitting 9th in the table at the halfway stage with six wins, six draws, five losses. That doesn't tell the full story though, as the last four matches have been a terrible grind. Done over in the 92nd minute by a 45 yard wonder strike, then done over again in the 90th minute with an equaliser, then the next two matches were kind of similar to how I remember the game on patch 1.02, with overpowered challenges and slaloming, dribbling freaks up front. Oh, and the CPU had a little help with one of my own defenders sprinting into me, knocking both me and the ball into my own net as I ran back to save the ball from going over the line in the first place ...

I've also had El Moubarki out injured for 26 weeks, Jaric out for 12 weeks, and a ton of other players out for 2 weeks at a time.

So, in the January transfer window, I bolstered my squad with my first permanent transfer and a couple of loan signings, totalling four loan players now in my squad.

In came 31 year old goalkeeper Elana, from French club Stade Brestois 29, for a fee of £400,000. That's my absolute limit for transfer funds right now, but I hope was worth it. He's rated at 78 overall and keeper skills are 80, with decent teamwork ratings too. His stats are light years above the keepers I currently have, and having conceded some soft goals this season that a better keeper would have got to, I'm hoping he'll make the difference to be able to save some of those. He was unhappy at his club, and randomly appeared on the targets list for players interested in a move away, and convinced him to join. For £400,000 hopefully he'll be a bargain.

Next up, came CM Keith Andrews on loan from West Brom. He's rated at 70 but has decent passing and teamwork stats, so should provide good competition for Camacho and Ettori. And finally, I brought in striker Delibasic from Rayo Vallecano. He's a current Montenegro international, and he's also on loan. He's rated at 68 so doesn't look great, but I'm hoping his aerial ability can come in handy.

I went into the season break having finally won a game, a very close fought 1-0 away win thanks to a 90th minute Maqualao drive from 25 yards that curled into the top corner, after twice hitting the post late on, most notably from Ordaz who I somehow contrived to miss a near open goal by shooting against the post. I swear the ball was magnetically attracted to the post, I have no idea how my shot, aimed to the centre of an ope goal, travelled right across the goal and against the post.

Onwards and upwards ...

 

[xPJRx]

It really is tough going at the start LTFC, just hang in there mate, try and grind out those results and after 3-4 seasons you should start to see the team take shape and get better.
promoting youths with fast development curves is always good as they bolster your squad and can also be sold on for a profit if need be.

If its any consolation, im in my 14th ML season and havent won a trophy yet, but now have a squad with an Avg OVR of around 88, and every category of my team attributes is an A.
May seem a long way off but getting into Europe is where it all turns around, Even in the Europa league, over 2million in gate receipts per home match.

 

[Suuuuupertalk]

What level do you play on? I'm on Professional with zero assists etc. I even started to think about moving up to Top Player during my winning streak, but then three games without a goal and only one point would suggest I should stay where I am.

 

[xPJRx]

Was playing on Superstar, 1 bar assist, but have since moved down to Top Player, its tough but very rewarding.
Id suggest a few seasons on professional before moving up as the difference in difficulty is massive.

 

[P34SEMM]

Well I started ML as Valencia with their proper players.

I agree what someone said when they said that if you put all your new signings in at once and it disrupts the way your team play.

I bought Naymar (£17m) and Joe Cole (free) and D Cisse (£4m) and I started them all them at once for first 2 games my team seemed like a team of strangers. I guess they were.

For the next few games all new signings went back to the bench along with Shimuzu and I went back to default 11.

The difference was amazing. The team played lovely football and scoring goals. Piati is a gem of a player. Soldaldo clearly didnt like playing with Neymar at the moment as he couldnt find the net. Now he has 3 in 2 thank to the assists of Piati who has also chipped in with 3 goals himself.

I am now using new players for Copa Del Rey and for last 20 minutes of matches and introducing them slowly.

 

[P34SEMM]

I also find -1 speed better for me. I dont like the game too fast but -2 its like they are running through custard...........with superglue on their boots.

 

[Suuuuupertalk]

I have to admit some of the stuff I'm starting to see is utter bullshit. Every time I take a 2-0 lead, the CPU kicks into sudden overdrive and ends up plastering me. I'm almost scared to score more than one goal.

Last game, I absolutely dominated, went 2-0 up on 40 minutes. From kick off, the CPU suddenly kicks up about ten gears and is miraculously first to every loose ball, every deflection goes their way, and they suddenly start slamming passes around at 100mph like a robot. Their one touch passing is out of this world and they trounce me, scoring four goals.

Utter bollocks. This was a team third from bottom of division two for fucks sake. I've played the game against Barcelona before and they didn't even manage to rake the ball around with such speed and precision.

Oh well, at least I did okay the game before. Oh wait, no I didn't, I lost that game too because it randomly made my keeper come flying out of his area without me telling him to, then pound a kick that I didn't tell him too do, straight against Palmieri, before it then loops thirty five yards backwards and into my net.

Brilliant. I can't buy a result at the moment, and whenever it looks like I might get somewhere, the CPU kicks into this shitty robotic 'Messi on speed' mode.

I've loved playing it until now, so after half an entire season, I don't know why the CPU is suddenly now bringing out it's lovely bag of tricks against me.

 

[Suuuuupertalk]

Played a few more, and I'm on the verge of quitting the game already. I just don't get it. Earlier in the season I won four out of five games, and kept five clean sheets in a row. My method of defending was working brilliantly, midfield battles were evenly fought and the games felt like 'proper' matches.

Now, as soon as the transfer window passed by, the CPU has transformed to how the game felt on 1.02. The CPU leaves gaping holes in the midfield by packing defences with up to nine men, leaving a couple up front, win the ball, pump it long, and somehow the two strikers win the ball and then destroy me on the break. My five clean sheets are a long way away now, because for some reason no-one is able to win a single tackle. The CPU just glides past 90% of them all now, and I only win it by virtue of bad passes or fluke.

I just lost again, thanks to dominating 90% of the game then getting fucked over by a 35 yard strike out of nothing. And I'm plummeting down the table. The game before that, I lost because the CPU glided over two challenges like they weren't there, way before the cross came in I saw Palmieri just wander away from his marker for no reason at all, and I desperately tried to use the right stick to change cursor to someone to cover but it wouldn't select anyone in that area, the cross came in, and the guy scored a free header. Nothing, literally nothing, I could do.

I just don't get it. Prior to the transfer window I was scoring some lovely goals, had a mean defence and was climbing the table steadily. Since then, the lovely organic feel to my formation and player runs has gone, I struggle to get anyone to make forward runs, and I'm hopelessly outnumbered when I attack. Throw more men forward, and the CPU destroys me on the break.

My players all stand still now and can't tackle.

 

[P34SEMM]

I agree.
I go 2 up and then all of a sudden the CPU starts to walk through me at will.
They then just attack straight down the middle and it's impossible to stop most of the time.

The more I play the more the glitches kick in. I am enjoying it but boy oh boy the really have their work cut out for Pes13 and pes12 sometimes is so rigid.

Also the final replay you get for a goal scored is unwatchable. By looking at it really slow you can see the ball and players morphing through other players, terrible GK animations and dives, the ball that you thought went in the top corner actually going in the middle of the goal. It basically looks a mess.

It's been said a 1000 times but Keepers need completely redoing and from what we hear they will be. Some of the animations are still there from ISS on Snes. Like the one where the shot is right at him and he catches it and falls in his side. Just standing there and catching it would be a lot better and not from 1995s game.

 

[CalcioCalabrese]

Out of curiosity, do you go to the game plan when you're 2-0 up? Any good coach would make changes to rectify a 2 goal deficit, so it pays to check the screen and see what their formation is and counter it.

Not saying that the CPU doesn't ramp up its stats but trying to counter it might actually help.

 

[zlac]

Many Div2 teams do not have preset all 4 tactics (long ball, posession, etc.), but only 1 or 2 of them and rest of the slots are set to Standard. I've noticed that when CPU teams have 'Standard' tactics, they tend to change formations too when they really need something to happen - they either bring in 3rd CF when they are chasing result or extra DMF/3rd defender to close the shop.

When they introduce 3rd CF, thing get a little 'hairy' if you do not react properly - then they usually play with 3 CFs and two wide SMFs and your standard 4 in the back line will be stretched, outruned, confused and utterly bamboozled. Your best bet is to introduce 5th man in your back line, set up deep defence line with low compactness (4-6 on both, do not hesitate to move your CB's closer to the GK on formation screen too) and use 2-bar attack mentality. You simply have to try to close the shop. It ain't foolproof, but doing that saved my ass many times.

 

[Jimmy G-Force]

Many Div2 teams do not have preset all 4 tactics (long ball, posession, etc.), but only 1 or 2 of them and rest of the slots are set to Standard. I've noticed that when CPU teams have 'Standard' tactics, they tend to change formations too when they really need something to happen - they either bring in 3rd CF when they are chasing result or extra DMF/3rd defender to close the shop.

When they introduce 3rd CF, thing get a little 'hairy' if you do not react properly - then they usually play with 3 CFs and two wide SMFs and your standard 4 in the back line will be stretched, outruned, confused and utterly bamboozled. Your best bet is to introduce 5th man in your back line, set up deep defence line with low compactness (4-6 on both, do not hesitate to move your CB's closer to the GK on formation screen too) and use 2-bar attack mentality. You simply have to try to close the shop. It ain't foolproof, but doing that saved my ass many times.

Amen.

 

[Nobleknight]

Many Div2 teams do not have preset all 4 tactics (long ball, posession, etc.), but only 1 or 2 of them and rest of the slots are set to Standard. I've noticed that when CPU teams have 'Standard' tactics, they tend to change formations too when they really need something to happen - they either bring in 3rd CF when they are chasing result or extra DMF/3rd defender to close the shop.

When they introduce 3rd CF, thing get a little 'hairy' if you do not react properly - then they usually play with 3 CFs and two wide SMFs and your standard 4 in the back line will be stretched, outruned, confused and utterly bamboozled. Your best bet is to introduce 5th man in your back line, set up deep defence line with low compactness (4-6 on both, do not hesitate to move your CB's closer to the GK on formation screen too) and use 2-bar attack mentality. You simply have to try to close the shop. It ain't foolproof, but doing that saved my ass many times.

I agree with that.Sometimes I put another DMF or as you said another CB.Also you may need to lower Player support (0-5 )and do Defensive when you need to secure the win.
Also when I don't need to attack ,I just do long balls to their half so I don't get my players out of position in the last 10 mins.

 

[Suuuuupertalk]

Many Div2 teams do not have preset all 4 tactics (long ball, posession, etc.), but only 1 or 2 of them and rest of the slots are set to Standard. I've noticed that when CPU teams have 'Standard' tactics, they tend to change formations too when they really need something to happen - they either bring in 3rd CF when they are chasing result or extra DMF/3rd defender to close the shop.

When they introduce 3rd CF, thing get a little 'hairy' if you do not react properly - then they usually play with 3 CFs and two wide SMFs and your standard 4 in the back line will be stretched, outruned, confused and utterly bamboozled. Your best bet is to introduce 5th man in your back line, set up deep defence line with low compactness (4-6 on both, do not hesitate to move your CB's closer to the GK on formation screen too) and use 2-bar attack mentality. You simply have to try to close the shop. It ain't foolproof, but doing that saved my ass many times.

I'll give that a try, thanks. It's no coincidence that this is happening on my ML rather than in friendlies etc where I can generally win the ball and see out leads. I think my problem is a combination of what you say and having crappy ML default players. Like Jimmy said earlier on, starting with ML players is the toughest way to go about ML as it really throws you at the mercy of the game.

I do find it odd though how I could have kept five clean sheets, and now my defence is like hot butter. Maybe it's the game tying to replicate inconsistency amongst lesser players or something. Also, could the fact that I brought in three players during the transfer window have caused a disruption in my teamwork etc? I signed a keeper, midfielder and striker but no defenders, but one odd thing is that I have an AMC who was regularly arriving late in the other team's box, but now he's constantly just sittingso deep he's just in front of my defenders. I haven't changed anything so that's really odd, but it does invite pressure because there's no midfield options to use as an outlet.

 

[zlac]

It could be something related to teamwork, at least partially. Defaults haven't got any decent teamwork ratings to begin with (on per-player basis), and there is another, somewhat hidden layer of teamwork in PES - team-level teamwork (sorry, can't find better wording at the moment) which describes how players click together with other players in starting 11. That team-level TW used to be a lot more visible in old gen (PES 6, for example), you could see those numbers in pre-game menus, if you dug deep enough. Another useful piece of info that simply disappeared in current gen :/ But mechanics are probably still there in current gen.

Signing a lot of new players and placing them as regular starters has always been the best way to ruin team cohesion. As a rule of the thumb, it took almost half of the season for new players to really click together with the rest of the team. Back in PES 6 era, Yoda used to say something like "Introduce your new players not as starters. As substitutes bring them in."

IMO, it is still valid advice. But since you might already be half-way through that 'clicking period', stick with it, just play safe(r). Although, new GK, midfielder and striker shouldn't have such fatal influence on defensive line's TW ... at least I believe that it wouldn't have such a strong influence in older versions (usually you had to introduce two brand new CBs or something like that to mess up defensive TW drastically). On the other hand, you are playing with uber-crappy defaults. Who knows how fragile their team cohesion really is in 2012 ...

On the other hand, in ML game certainly is trying to simulate ups&downs, but given the level of current-gen AI (non)sophistication, it has only pretty blunt weaponry at disposal - handicaps, stat boosts, etc.

All of it probably leads to a classic case of 'adding insult to the injury' (insult - simulated ups&downs, injury - to many new players in starting 11).