V14 RELEASE!!!!!!!!!!! #TU7 (Patreon)

V14 is here - this is the best yet by some distance! 

If you're new here, I'm working towards creating a realistic footballing experience in EAFC24. 

If you've judged the game up until now - no issues, I hear you on a lot of it. But you haven't played this yet!

What's NEW in V14 specifically?

As we've built up to this version, we've seen improvements in the CPU variety, CPU passing range etc - but now we have a big increase in the user gameplay experience as well. Due to the new additions, there's a far bigger difference in players abilities and athleticism - and the result is massive. 

This isn't heavily swayed towards attacking though. It's balanced and also applies to the defensive side of the game. The biggest improvements I've made to this game have been on the defensive side by far, and now we're at the point where I can bring in some really nice attacking elements also.

Haaland feels like Haaland now for example. Same with M'bappe - but they don't feel the same. 

More on the specifics of V14 here - 

+ Defensive line behaviour is now much better. Teams will hold their line better - but also know how much to drop and when to drop. Importantly, tactics are still respected. 

This, in addition to the big V13 positional adjustment has dramatically improved the midfield game on the pitch.

+ MASSIVE off-ball improvements (also in v13, but combined with the V14 change takes it to a different level). 

Midfielders track now yes - but it's not just midfielders - it's an overall massive improvement to how the off-ball behaviour works. Everyone covers space better, blocks passing lanes more, tracks runners. To be clear, this isn't a one or two value change. 

This is something that has taken me since FIFA 20 to get to and involves dozens of different changes and balances to get it here. The pitch is balanced better - the wings are not the only point of attack anymore - it's balanced.

These changes have ALSO allowed me to make some pretty substantial changes to the athleticism and skill side of the game (more on that below).

In the past I had to make certain decisions around speed, to account for various shortcomings in the gameplay and in order to balance out the field and the interactions. 

Now that the positioning/behaviour off the ball is stable and the best I've had yet, the game can cope with these additions - making the gameplay so much more balanced and varied. It doesn't fall into 'stubborn' patterns anymore and feels much more alive.

This means: 

+ Big improvement in player differentiation - size, speed and skill ALL shine now.

+ Speed matters again - there is now a significant difference between different players' speed. It's not OP don't worry - but if you use it well it can be devastating. Slow defenders won't be catching up to fast attackers anymore - if you create space, you've earned it.

+ Reworking of physicality - the battle is real now and every contact can result in different outcomes. It makes the game much more dynamic and interesting.

+ Good dribblers really stand out now. Again, not OP - but realistically impactful.

Other features of V14 include: 

+ Through ball mechanic improvements. NG FIFA/FC has had issues with the effectiveness of the through ball. I've worked on the mechanics of these so that through balls are now a viable option to attack and can be much more dangerous into space.

+ The most fluid version yet. A re-balancing of some key values makes this the most realistic movement I've achieved yet for FC24. Animations aren't perfect - no arguments, but you will see a significant reduction of skating and crazy limbs etc. The game doesn't feel too sluggish either, it feels realistic and fluid. Again, to those who are new, I have spent a SIGNIFICANT amount of time completely reworking movement. This includes creating a difference in how these movements play out based on skill, size etc. 

+ Freedom of the ball from V13 still remains, meaning a much more natural behaving ball that isn't stuck to the player. However, in this version I've refined the dribbling more to reflect ability. 

You can still make mistakes with elite players though - so that's on you guys to monitor when and where you perform certain actions!

+ Nets fixed! Those who played my previous versions will know about the nets - it's all sorted in this version! 

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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.  

+ Big changes to ball physics. It behaves more naturally, deflecting and bouncing around like it should.

+ The ball is no longer 'stuck' to the players feet and the ball feels like a separate entity. You will see heavier touches, so more care is needed. You will see more natural and realistic deflections, traps, errors and trajectories. 

+ 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!  

+ Big increase in the 'scope for fouls' (more on what this means in the notes section). 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 is recommended.

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

EDIT: Guys, I'm hearing that being connected to the EA servers can make the gameplay much faster and make the mod not work properly. Please make sure you attempt playing OFFLINE to ensure the mod is working right. I use Live Editor so I'm always offline.

Also, some have said that playing on frame rates higher than 60 fps can also make the gameplay feel faster. If you're having this experience, try locking it to 60 and see if that helps.

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NOTES: 

- 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.

- 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!

- 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 much 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!

- For now, I'm just releasing ONE speed version of V14. The gameplay is clearly the best in this version, so I want it out as a stand alone first. There is potential for different speed versions, but I'll wait and see how you guys find it. 

There are some negative consequences of the other versions, so I want everyone to try this out first!

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Again guys - this is a work in progress - and it's not perfect!! I'm locked into this gameplay modding to kepe trying to improve it though - and thanks to you guys I'm able to really dig into a lot more this year!

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 and move forward carefully. Please consider the fact that this is taken into account when making the mod. 

Thanks so much again for the support!!

- Anth