Concerned about Feildgoal Kicking...

[Magnum357]

After much testing of the PDS and the US Based Rules model game, I'm starting too think that Feildgoal kicking needs work. I don't know if anyone else has notice this, but it seems to me that Feildgoal Kicks hardly get any height off the ground at all. I use to Kick a lot of Feildgoals years ago and I know I could get the Ball at least 20 to 30 feet off the ground on its way torwoard the goalposts. In MaxFB, it looks like the Ball hardly gets more then 5 or 10 feet at most. Kickoffs in the game seem to have much greater height then FG Attempts and I think it would be more accurate if the game had FG Kicking more like the Kickoffs at least when it comes to how High the Ball gets.

I have no idea how well Kick Ratings in MaxFB effect Feildgoal accuracy. Since I can hardly get any of my kicks high enough or far enough (been using lower rated Kickers in there 60's) Its hard to tell how accurate a kicker can be with High Kick Accuracy.

For all I know, maybe the Arc of the FG attempts have little to do with how accurate FG Kicking can be, but I would think most Kickers can get it high enough to get it well above the Cross bar, especially if the team is in good FG Range.

[Breeze]

What should happen is when you select the direction and power of the kick, you should have a height selector as well. Or at least have different buttons for different types of kicks like Madden has had.

[Magnum357]

Oh, I guess I forgot about the people that play the game with a game pad. I just strictly play in Coach Mode. Can the height of the kick be adjusted with a gamepad?

[Magnum357]

David, just curious, are you aware of these problems with Feildgoal Attempts? As it right now (Beta version 1.088), unless your on the 5 yard line or less, Feildgoal kicking is almost useless (unless you pick Live FG's). I know you are a busy man, but for the U.S. and Indoor Models, I really think Feildgoal kicking needs to be seriously looked at.

[Erik Rutins]

Magnum,

I'm wondering if this is another issue with you being well below minimum spec as I'm seeing realistic FG accuracies in my testing here.

Regards,

- Erik

[darrellb9]

In coaching mode I have to agree with Erik I think FGs are made at a reasonable level. The kicks do look too low but that's aesthetics.
In arcade mode, they are darn hard to hit. I think my longest successful kick was from the 21 yd line [:'(] But that just may be me...

[Magnum357]

Well, I must admit, that I"m not sure how well the completion percentages are doing in my games, I would need more testing for that. But I do know that the FG attempts for Kickers are hardly getting any height in there kicks. Are you trying to tell me that the Frame Rate could be effecting this?!?!? [X(] Kickoffs seem to have pretty good height, I don't see why the Feildgoal attempts would not have nearly as much height as the Kickoffs. If the Kickoffs are getting good height, why am I not getting that with Feildgoal attempts?

Also, I need to test this futher, but its hard to get good Range of Feildgoal Attempts. For example, I've been using both the US League model (with extremely high Kicking Ratings for Kickers) and a Custom Based league (also US Rules model) with players rated at Highschool level (most Kick Ratings for Kickers are around the 60's range). When I try to test FG Attempts in the PDS, the High Level Kickers in the US Based League try there FG Attempts at the 50 yard line (where all plays in the PDS start at) and usually kick the ball around the 5 yard line or Goalline. So that tells me the Best Rated Kickers in the game (having Ratings of 90+) can only kick the ball about 55 to 58 yards tops. In the NFL, the Record is 63 Yards, and I only think that has happend maybe 3 times in the history of the league, but even when these kicks are successful they usually have a few extra yards of distance to make it over the Uprights. With the Custom Based league I made, the Kickers (with Ratings around 50 to 60 usually) can barely get 25 yards of Distance. Even I can kick a FG 25 yards.

Ok, this is a lot of explaining, sorry about that. But I just have a hard time beleiveing that my Feildgoal Kicking problems are due to just my Low Frame Rate.

[Erik Rutins]

The displayed height is one thing, the accuracy is another. I haven't tried the arcade mode FG-kicking lately, so there may well be an accuracy issue there. In Coaching mode however, FG accuracy seems fine. I agree that the kicks look a bit low, but the accuracy is realistic. FG accuracy at different stat ranges is a separate thing as well. I'm basing my comments on US Pro settings. I'm not sure what High School accuracy should be, but if it seems low to you try tweaking the kicker stats up a bit.

Regards,

- Erik

[Breeze]

60-plus yard field goals usually only happen when there's a decent amount of wind behind the kicker. Since there's no wind in the game right now (that I know of), 55-58 yards seems very reasonable.

[Magnum357]

Ok, that may be true. If there is no wind in the game, then perhaps 55-58 yards of Feildgoal Range is reasonable.

But I still have to suggest that the Height of these FG Attempts are still really low. Do you think David could adjust it so that they can get a little more height? Like I said above, the Kickoff Attempts in my games seem to have enough height, I don't see why the FG attempts can't.

Sorry if it seems I'm complaining too much about this. [8|]

[Sonny]

In coach mode I do not see aproblem with field goals but the extra points are terrible. I see only about a 60-70% rate for them. This is with the stock quick play US teams.

[Sonny]

Well, I gotta change my mind here. I juat played a half and missed all three field goal attempts I tried. Line of scrimage was 19, 30 and 12.

BTW - my frame rate is consistantly between 32 and 35.

[Magnum357]

Sonny, I was wondering, in your opinion do you think the Feildgoal Kicks are way too low?

[darrellb9]

I think I have to change my mind as well.
Playing 1.092 beta.
Games I simmed and the half I played PATs were only hit maybe 20-30% of the time and field goals were even rarer.
In arcade mode the kicks always seemed to veer to the right (in dome so wind shouldn't be a factor, if it is in this game at all).
Not sure what exactly was changed but IMO the kicking game was better in the release version and 1.088 than it is now.

[Magnum357]

You can adjust the Kicking game a little with the "Feildgoal Threshold" value located in the "MainData.mdb" file. You can go to www.fbmax.com to get this utility I created "DataConstant" Utility to edit this value. I don't think it completely solves the issue, but I do think it does help accuracy some.

[darrellb9]

Thanks.
I was about to sit down and write my own but if you've already done it, I'll be lazy and download yours [:D]

[Sonny]

ORIGINAL: Magnum357

Sonny, I was wondering, in your opinion do you think the Feildgoal Kicks are way too low?

I never noticed. I don't put too much reliability in what the graphics seem to do There seem to be too many which fall short. So I guess they would be too low. Now that I think of it, all the misses are to the right or short.

[Magnum357]

Ya, I agree. I still think the Feildgoals need more height when they are kicked, but I seem to be in the Minority in this opinion. [8|]

Not sure about the Kick Ranges yet, still testing this too see What the Max Range is for a 99+ rating Kicker. I'm not totally sure that all Missed Kicks are just going to the right. After much testing with the PDS, it seems to me that Missed Feildgoal Kicks do sometimes go Left aswell, at least so far that I have seen.

[MjH]

Ya, I agree. I still think the Feildgoals need more height when they are kicked, but I seem to be in the Minority in this opinion. [8|]

I agree, because they are so low, the field goals 'look' strange. However, it doesn't seem (to me, anyway) affecting the performance of the kicker, so I can live with it. It would be nice to have it fixed, but I would put it low on the priority list.

Not sure about the Kick Ranges yet, still testing this too see What the Max Range is for a 99+ rating Kicker. I'm not totally sure that all Missed Kicks are just going to the right. After much testing with the PDS, it seems to me that Missed Feildgoal Kicks do sometimes go Left aswell, at least so far that I have seen.

Now that I think about it, I think you're right. I don't remember a missed field goal that goes left of the goal posts. They are always to the right.