AI easily beat with simple repeat plays...

[Kwacker]

OK, a little more testing, all with the Pro Set Z Drag and setup as above but varying teams:

Dallas v Denver
3 drives all for a TD
18-22 completions (2 penalties, 2 incomplete passes)

Houston v LA
2 drives both for a TD
10-11 comp

Miami v Milwaukee
2 drives both for a TD
14-16 comp

NY v Oakland
2 drives both for a TD
11-11 comp

Seems the issue is more systematic rather than personnel related.

One thing I did notice was that I attempted 1 drive in the rain and this only gave 1 completion and a turnover on downs. I didn't test this again but maybe the slower speed of the reciever disrupted the play?

[Magnum357]

Ok, we get the idea. LOL. In Football Pro, this could be considered what we call an "AI Buster" Play. The only way around that is with certain Play Design restrictions to allow the Defense to defend against it better.

[Kwacker]

Excuse me for answering Erik's question. Just trying to help out.

[Magnum357]

No problem, I wasn't making fun of you. I think its good that you are keeping an eye on this as it is a problem.

[Old Coach]

Erik,
Last night, I emailed the Fun and Gun playbook with plays I tweaked and some added plays. In PDS and gameplay, I haven't had that kind of production from Pro Set Z Drag. Usually, what I have with that play is a completion on the first attempt and them overthrows (QB leading the TE too far) or sacks on subsequent attempts. And then I'll try again say middle of the next quarter and then I'll get a completion. The route-redesigned version- is designed to be run about 12 yards down field. My frame rate stays constant in the 30 FPS range unless I forget and still my MSN browser running in the background.

Old Coach

[Kwacker]

In case it matters my frame rate is pretty constant at 25-26 fps.

[Kwacker]

Bump.

Anyone got any ideas on resolving this? - I just tried the latest patch with maybe a minor improvement (some fumbles and interceptions) but I can still drive the length of the field at will with 1 offensive play....

This is a game killer for me. Desperately hoping for a solution.

[David Winter]

I'm working on many improvements to the PDS but they're not going to be completed short term. They're large changes that are quite involved. I would almost call this PDS 2.0 after I'm done.

As for the play in question, what I find interesting is that with that particular play, I generally get sacked because my RB's come up to provide blocking support and get tangled up with the QB. The QB can't drop back properly and is easy picken's for the DL.

The other strange point about this is that after that many consecutive passes to the same receiver, that receiver should be too tired to actually catch the ball and run his route properly (this is the result of the tackles, not the catching). Every time a player is tackled they're fatigued quickly. So several tackles against the same player will wear him out to the point he can't properly do his job.

The best interm solution I can suggest at the moment is to visit the members area and download additional defensive plays (I believe Marauders has made a couple of new playbooks). There are likely to be defensive plays in those collections that can deal with this.

In regards to the frame rates, 32 is the cap. Anything over 24 will work pretty well. 15 FPS (or lower) like Magnum is getting will introduce a lot of problems. Yes, there is math to try to keep the physics in check but even that starts to break down at those rates. The intervals between movements is too much. Even the animations of the players starts to break down and keyframes get missed. At the very least it all looks pretty choppy on the screen.

[Deft]

That's great news! We'll be waiting.

[Magnum357]

Ya, my Frame Rate is probably one of the lowest on this board, but I really haven't run into too many problems with it yet (a few bugs that I have already mentioned) and most of the problems I run into are found already by other testers. On the other hand, I have mostly been testing with the US Rules model with hardly any modifications in rules or Database files. I would like too experiment with 8-man play, but I really want to focus on US Rules so they are Rock Solid.

[elmerlee]

Yea,thats REALLY great news but not short term.
Sorry I've been away for awhile and missed all the updates.

[solops]

Pro-Set-Y-Out from a split back set. Works every time with Old Coaches Fun & Gun Playbook.

Edit: The play appears to force an LB to cover a swifter receiver every time, with the expected results. The only team I have tried this with has a QB that is fast enough to roll out and get the pass off before he can be caught.

[Kwacker]

David, thanks for the reply and suggestions. I'll try some other defensive plays as suggested to see if I can find an effective counter.

It's strange that I seem to get such favourable results with this play compared to what others are seeing. Obviously I'm one hell of a coach - but that can't be the only reason [:)]

[Marauders]

I have a few counters to those plays. What I would like to do is set up some defensive playbooks by scheme and post them to the users forum.

There are few issues in the PDS that should be looked at prior to any reworking of it, so we should see what we can do about those issues at least in the short term.

By the way, almost any defensive AI will not be able to handle a human run team for long, and the AI is only as good as the playbook it was given.