TEST V13 - RELEASE!!!!! - SIGNIFICANT CHANGES! (Patreon)

#What's significant about V13?

1. BIG positional changes = a massive impact on chance creation for both User and CPU.

It's complicated - but there are some BIG positional changes in this version that have finally let me achieve something I've been trying to do for a number of years in this game.

The wings are no longer the weak area. The pitch is now so much better balanced. This impacts how you and the CPU create chances and build from the midfield.

There are knock on impacts on behaviour - better tracking, better coverage of space and passing lanes. You will also see the CPU performing more of a variety of passes - and into different areas than you've seen before.

This leads to actual football needing to be played and not just spamming to the space on the wing. There are a number of layers to what's been changed here and it changes based on where the ball is to ensure the space and behaviour has much more intelligence behind it.

Whilst 1v1 isn't gone, it's the closest I've ever come to eliminating it.

You might not notice directly what is different, but you will notice a change in how the game is played. (I'm not sure how familiar you guys are with what '1v1' is - but it's a 'feature' brought in by EA in FIFA 20 that has been extremely problematic for offline, simulation players.

You can read about what it is and why it's an issue here - https://evoweb.uk/threads/1v1-an-exploration.94841/).

It's still not perfect, this new change will need refining over time. There's areas that I'm already actively working on improving/fixing for the next version, but I wanted to get this out as soon as possible for you guys!

2.  Freedom of the ball

I've continued my work on the ball. This version is feels much more like a separate entity.

You will see heavier touches in general, but still very much stats based. You will also see more natural and realistic deflections, traps, errors and trajectories.

3.   Further increased the 'scope' for fouls.

What is the 'scope' for fouls? Well it means that there is now a dramatically increased opportunity for the CPU to tackle from a massively increased range of angles and distances.

The CPU is programmed in this game to defend in essentially three ways - contain, stand tackle and slide tackle. I would love to see them perform more 'physical' defending such as shirt pulling and holding, but to date I haven't seen this in any of the existing programming or possible changes.

However, the CPU are now better at containing (not perfect still, but improved from before) and will perform more tackles (as I said, hugely increase scope for this).

This change hasn't come from one or two simple value changes, it's come from dozens of tweaks and adjustments.

It's important that everyone is aware that the mechanics of the game impact how much can be changed. The scope for fouls is hugely increased and I play games where the CPU will foul me 10 times sometimes.

I can also play games where there's significantly less fouls. It depends on many things, including your style of play (as much as people don't like to hear that - it's true).

I don't want to create a situation where the ref calls fouls for the sake of fouls and blows the whistle when players have any kind of collision. What is introduced here is not that!

4.    Many, many more tweaks and balances.

------- V13 is an enhancement from earlier versions of the mod. All of the work previously done about individuality, stats, animations, movement, passing speeds etc - ALL stay.

The changes listed are what are new to this version! Read below (or in the .txt file) for more information on those.

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#NOTES #1

- Personally, I believe you will see the most of these changes when playing on the Fast version of the mod (THE MOD, not in game speed).

The other versions still work and play well no doubt, but some of the behaviours, intensity in the challenge, ball freedom and defensive mentality are linked with the movement to a degree - and the overall best balance in my opinion is achieved on this version.

- One thing to keep in mind with FIFA/FC, is that it's very different from PES. You know how in PES 2021 the CPU will always play long balls to the striker, they will turn and shoot.

That is rigid, one dimensional type of CPU play. The tactical elements work yes, but they are so rigid that the context of the situation is virtually ignored entirely.

FIFA/FC is very different in that sense. It is far more contextual. This means that behaviourally we see things that aren't as rigid.

Certain types of passing for example is based on spacing, distances, who has the ball etc. This applies to fouls, shooting, passing - all of it. It's why certain behaviour comes out sometimes, and not others.

You can't 'force' FIFA into behavioural changes as simply, it has to be analysed and balanced and the correct mix needs to be applied. Just something for people to keep in mind!

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#If you're new to my gameplay mod entirely, this is some of what you can expect in general:

- Player and team individuality. STATS MATTER! You'll know if you're going up against a big team with great players - on both end of the pitch. This goes for strong players, technical players, lethal finishers, players with good balance, great defenders - and much, much more. You will see this reflected in CPU behaviour as well as your own.

- CPU variety has been dramatically increased. You will see crosses, long shots, tackles, through balls, long balls. Don't judge on one game alone, play with a variety of teams with different abilities and personalities and you will see it come through.

- Realistic Movement - of course the animation system isn't perfect, but players speed of movement is considerably slowed down from the default game and animations behave much better than before. Game tempo is greatly considered in this as well. Trust me guys, this is far more than slowing down some turning circles and speed and acceleration, there's been a huge number of changes and it has been extensively balanced and tested.

- Passing, shooting speeds have been balanced a lot to create a much more natural and realistic experience. The ball no longer shoots out of the foot like a rocket.

- The ball is no longer 'stuck' to the players feet. It behaves more naturally, deflecting and bouncing around like it should.

- First touch has been made more realistic - stats matter in this as well!

- Positional changes to create more realistic patterns and behaviour. The reduction of a reliance on cutback goals for example.

- A more difficult avenue to goal - the midfield battle is much improved due to a number of purposeful tweaks and adjustments. This is not some end to end experience where you end up with 6-5 scorelines anymore. The positioning, behaviour and movement has been massively adjusted for both attacking and defending.

- The CPU actually play football against you. None of this 3 passes to the striker, turn and shoot. There's some really nice buildup play, passing backwards, sideways etc.

- Players physical interactions mean a lot more now. There's no more sliding off each other and bursting beyond anyone you want now. Your approach to goal needs to be far more considered than before. It's not just about speed!

- Grittiness. The CPU will tackle more, fight for the ball and you will generally see a lot more organic clashes between players - often resulting in more fouls.

- Lots of little realistic additions. For example, you can't play laser guided passes behind you anymore. You have to think a lot more about body positioning.

- Crazy boosts removed!

- Plus lots of other little other tweaks and adjustments that are made to account for various gameplay elements.

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#NECESSARY SETTINGS: The following settings are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to get the mod working as intended.

Please also read the separate 'Settings' .txt file in the download for all settings and the installation txt file if you need help installing.

- NORMAL GAME SPEED. The Mod WILL NOT work properly if you play on Slow. NON-NEGOTIABLE

- PLAYER BASED DIFFICULTY ON

- 50/50 Sliders recommended. Powerbar is obviously personal preference.

WORLD CLASS difficulty. The mod is designed for World Class and I have increased the difficulty of World Class and that's what I find provides the best experience and balance overall, but play on whichever difficulty level you prefer.

Legendary may not bring as much variety from the CPU attack.

- CLASSIC ATTRIBUTES (I've nerfed the boosts, but classic is recommended (I think this is only an option in friendly matches anyway).

EDIT: It sounds like you need to stay not connected to EA servers in game for the mod to work properly. This is the feedback I'm getting. I play with Live Editor so I can use reshade so I'm always not connected to the servers, but keep this in mind everyone!

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#NOTES 2:

- There are THREE base versions - SLOW, MEDIUM and FAST. Each has different adjustements based on movement and passing speeds - but they all have the exact same base. Fast is nowhere NEAR as fast as default. The names are relative.

All versions are signficantly slower and more realistic than the default game.

- I don't think I've mentioned this before, but the crazy boosts are taken care of and removed in this mod. You don't need to use any additional mods for this - it's already included.

- There are now THREE base versions - SLOW, MEDIUM and FAST. Each has different adjustements based on movement and passing speeds - but they all have the exact same base.

- When providing feedback guys, please make sure you've installed the mod correctly. Make sure you see the splash screen (or fuzzy screen on FMM), check that you're not using any other mods that could impact the gameplay. Also check that your sliders haven't changed for example(I know this can happen randomly sometimes).

- If the game suddenly is playing crazy fast - that IS NOT the mod!! EA can do this sometimes despite anything you think you've put in place to stop it. In my experience it's relatively uncommon and will usually go away the next time I play.

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Again guys - this is a work in progress. I'm locked into this gameplay modding and thanks to you guys I'm able to really dig into a lot more this year!

it's still not perfect, this new change will need refining over time. There's areas that I'm already actively working on improving/fixing for the next version, but I wanted to get this out as soon as possible for you guys!

Also, as I always say - we need to keep our ideological views of football in check for this. Certain decisions need to be made around the mechanics of the game.

It's always a balance and sometimes fixing one area, breaks 5 others. Once you know this and know what they are, you have to be mindful when making changes. Please consider the fact that this is taken into account when making the mod.

Thanks so much again for the support!!

- Anth

Watch here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVAgxV0NI7Y&t=5s