The Legacy of Imitation

[inidlaM 3]

​

It's time for the big league seasons to begin - NBA, NHL. The NFL is in full swing.

I've always been fascinated by these leagues with the formats they play in. Divisions, conferences, playoffs, dynasties, records, emotions, legends, everything seems so confusing, but there's a certain charm and grandeur in this, which is imprinted in the histories of these leagues.

Sometimes I get the urge to simulate various tournaments using PES. Of course, it should be a game in which things are simulated in an interesting and realistic way. Everything else is up to your imagination and the goal you're pursuing when you're simulating.

I've already held more than one tournament this way. Quite short ones in different formations and leagues. There were different games, from 2k, tennis and most importantly - football.

When I rediscovered the PES generation for PS2, I started looking for the best option for watching matches between CPUs.

Among all the versions, the best were 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014. But the most diverse and dynamic, in my opinion, was PES 2010.

​

Format​

So, the game was selected. A lot of all kinds of matches were held and experiments with settings were made to make the scenario more motivating.

And it all started when I invented the Scandinavian Division. Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark participated in it.

These were my "guinea pigs" for finding the optimal settings for simulating matches.

So, I play matches in the usual friendly match mode. The hosts are always in a "good" mood, and the guests are in a "normal" mood. This is to make the "home field advantage", so to speak. Time 15 minutes. Difficulty level "professional". These settings, in my opinion, are best suited for watching matches with intrigue.

From what I saw, the matches looked interesting and lively. The variety of goals is the main advantage of games of this era of PES. The biggest drawback is that the referees do not give red cards even for a tackle from behind.

So, I took 55 national teams. I divided them into two conferences and ten divisions. Each division has a different number of teams. From four to eight.

In the European conference, 30 teams are divided into six divisions, in the World, 25 teams are divided into four divisions.

Spoiler

Each team will play once against all rivals. That is, the regular season will consist of 54 matches for all participants, 27 at home and 27 "away" matches.

At the end of the regular season, all division winners advance to the playoffs of their conference. In the playoffs, the relegation matches will have one meeting on the field of the opponent who took a higher place in the regular season. But there is a nuance. I will describe it right away.

For example, if the division winner finishes outside the top 16 playoff teams, he will still play in the playoffs. This will be a playoff with the opponent from the 16th step on his field.

In general, any division winner, if he gets to the playoffs, but has a lower position than his opponent, still plays the matches at home. Except for the case when the opponent is another division winner, but with a higher seed in the conference.

Let's say Canada won the North American Division, but took 17th place in the conference, which is outside the playoff zone. Then Canada plays a playoff match. If it passes, it plays further in the playoffs.

The playoffs themselves are slightly divided into certain categories. The first place in the conference gives the right to participate immediately in the 1/4 finals.
Places from 13 to 16 play the play-in (where without it 😀). After that, the 1st round of the playoffs begins, where teams from 2 to 14 places play for the right to play in the 1/4, where the winner of the conference already awaits 7 more participants.

Then the 1/2 and the conference finals. At the end, the champions of the European and World conferences play for the title of world champion. The home team will be the team that is higher in the general table.

Phew, it seems that I have more or less described the playoffs. In general, it should be very familiar, because I have collected here various formats known to all leagues in the real world.

I did not touch the player base itself in PES 2010. That is, where teams play with fictional players, I leave it as is. For me, it doesn't matter what the name is.





I also won't change the game uniforms or anything else. I even like this purely Konami identity better. It's also convenient that teams without licensed uniforms can change the color of their socks when their opponents have the same ones.

As for tactics and team instructions, everything remains unchanged. Everything is by default. At least, at the start of the season.

To add a bit of “coaching activity”, players who receive a rating of 5 or lower after the match will start the next game on the bench and will lose one unit in each of the attributes - endurance, reaction, agility, aggression, mentality, teamwork.

If the player gets 7, he returns 1 unit to these attributes next time. With a rating of 8, the player will receive 2 units.

But it should be clarified that this will operate in a kind of accumulation system. For example, player A got the first 7. If he is younger than 25, then all attributes increase by 1. If he is older than 25, then only the six attributes that I have already mentioned improve - endurance, reaction, agility, aggression, mentality, teamwork.

For the next improvement, player A needs to accumulate three 7s or 8s. Then six sevens, ten sevens and so on in ascending order.

7- 1; 77- 1; 777-1; 7777-1... The same with a rating of 5 and a decrease, the accumulation system will work. This will be a kind of game form of the player. An imitation of the game form.

If the player gets injured, the number of missed matches will be determined by the "doctor" Randomizer. The randomizer wheel will determine the severity of the injury from 1 to 54 matches. This is also part of the game.

"Firing the coach", that is, changing the game scheme and other tactical settings, is also planned. Also for the randomizer. But for this the team needs to lose five matches in a row and take a place below the 16th line.

This is in general terms what I planned. It is possible that there will be changes along the way. I don't know.

The first round looks like this:​

​

 

[inidlaM 3]

First round, matches #1-6​

The tournament started with a confrontation between teams from the same conference but different divisions - Ecuador vs. Japan. South American style vs. Asian.

Oddly enough, the match turned out to be open. The teams scored a lot, but still, the Ecuadorians controlled the game more and, with the support of their home stands, did not stop attacking.

By the end of the first half, the score was 2-0 in favor of Ecuador, but at the end of the half, after hitting the crossbar from a free kick, Hasebe was the first to finish, making the score 2-1. And after the break, with a wonderful header, Okazaki equalized the score.

But the Ecuadorians, having a game advantage, pressed Japan towards the end of the match, scoring two more goals thanks to the efforts of Benitez.

Denmark and Cameroon played a good match. With chances from both sides, but without goals. The rivals are quite equal in strength. Cameroon's defense seemed to be playing pretty solidly. And it was Cameroon who had a great chance to go home with a win, but the penalty, Denmark's goalkeeper Sorensen, saved, preserving a draw for his team.

Among the other first matches of the first round, the Colombians won against Costa Rica 2-1, having only two shots on goal.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt did not find a stronger one, and Switzerland was content with only one goal in the confrontation with Greece to win.

And the icing on the cake was supposed to be the meeting of the Netherlands and Germany. But no one could stop Huntelaar. As a result, the hat-trick of the orange team's striker and the furious 5-0 defeat of the main rival in the first round already provide an incredible start to the season.

And the Germans need to interact better in defense than they have been now. Just terrible form of some players.

The widescreen patch has gone off. Didn't notice when I was recording.

​