Madden 13: Play Recognition and Awareness Attributes broken down

[rleake15]

The title pretty much says it all. In the next few days I'm going to be researching the effects of raising and lowering Play Recognition (PRC) and Awareness (AWR) in a simulated season. Also, I'm going to adjust these settings to try to make notable inferences about their effect on gameplay. There's an article that breaks down these stats somewhat at this link --> http://maddenmanniac.blogspot.com/2012/02/attribute-spotlight-awareness-and-play.html

If you're reading this, I hope you'll provide some feedback as to methods of implementation. I know I'm going to mostly follow the experiment in the link, but with a few minor changes. He simmed 1 season per test (99, 50, and 0 AWR), and I plan to sim no less than 10 seasons per test. Also, I plan to do much more with the PRC adjustment, simming just as many seasons for PRC changes as AWR.

That's the meat and potatoes of this thing, but I'm willing to break down any attritbute or combination of attributes by request (and within reason, please). I consider myself to be extremely well-educated in Madden sim-style football, so bring your questions, comments, and concerns to the table.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to all the comments (even the negative ones).

 

[Champ]

I think scheme plays a big part in it as well

 

[OnlyOneBeerLeft]

I could save you some time and tell you that PRC rating affects reaction to playaction (High PRC, less likely to bite on PA)... PRC also affects the initial step that a LB/Safety take on a run play, Line two LB's with identical speed accel and agility etc and call a run play, the one with higher PRC will jump towards the designed hole while the other LB may hesitate a split second before finding that hole.

Awareness on defense is ideally used for people who call more zone, high awareness CB's will shadow their zones towards the more open WR, and if they do a flat zone and nobody is sent to the flat they will sometimes roam to the next zone area. Awareness on draw and counter plays is a quality attribute to have. A LB with high awareness tends to plug the designed hole on a draw, and not bite/hesitate on the stutter step with counter plays.

Other than varying tackle totals (And only slightly) the simulation won't let you see these things.

 

[killgod]

how ratings effect the sim engine differs from how ratings effect the gameplay IMO.

it's useful for offline gamers to know what's going to work in a simulation, but for the game being played, I need/want to know how it'll make them perform differently.

 

[rleake15]

Well, I know that PRC is primarily a defensively-dedicated attribute, but I have questions about how these ratings affect sim numbers. I was aware of the effects of PRC on play action, draw plays, counters, etc. That being said, I agree that these ratings are affected by scheme. What I'm looking for is a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of exactly how much these ratings affect such plays, both in sim and in gameplay.

What I didn't know was the affect of AWR rating on zone scheme plays this year. Last year that didn't matter, and I certainly hope that was adjusted.

Your last statement about sim numbers was mostly correct, but inferences can certainly be drawn. PDEF, INT, TCKL, and similiar stats should be determined by a player's PRC in my opinion. These tests would be designed to confirm or refute such an observation. Similiarly a QB with higher AWR should complete a higher percentage of his passing attempts in my opinion (accuracy ratings being equal).

Having said all that, I'm thankful not only for your insight and opinion but also for Madden's devs' apparent attention to these types of issues. I feel the day is coming when ratings are no longer affected by bias or opinion. As these forums become more and more visible, our opportunity to reach the devs becomes greater. We've seen that in the past couple years with NBA 2k's inclusion of Operation Sports popular poster Da Czar and with Madden's inclusion of ZFarls in their R&D. These things point to a future in gaming that includes more of our opinions and less of the cram-it-down-their-throat ideology that was realized when EA purchased the NFLPA rights to undermine 2k Sports' superior 2005 football franchise. It's people like you and me that continue to move the gaming industry in that direction, and it's exciting

 

[rleake15]

killgod, you addressed the issue I am most concerned with. I want to know how sim statistics are affected, but I also want to know how much more effectively a player reacts in-game to various scenarios given a certain rating. Your suggestion that sim stats play out differently than gameplay stats is certainly warranted and credible, but somewhere they've got to marry up...I hope. That's the sweet spot I hope to find and better the playing experience for sim-style players. (Sim here meaning playing realistically and not "nano blitzing", "cheesing", etc.)

 

[killgod]

killgod, you addressed the issue I am most concerned with. I want to know how sim statistics are affected, but I also want to know how much more effectively a player reacts in-game to various scenarios given a certain rating. Your suggestion that sim stats play out differently than gameplay stats is certainly warranted and credible, but somewhere they've got to marry up...I hope. That's the sweet spot I hope to find and better the playing experience for sim-style players. (Sim here meaning playing realistically and not "nano blitzing", "cheesing", etc.)

I don't think there's a connection between what will be generated in a sim and how the player is going to perform. I say that because I don't think their "sim engine" is actually running active plays and tallying up the results. There's no physics involved, no play choices, just numbers. That removes alot of possible variables you'd get in a live game.

Manning with 0 awareness throws 1500 less yards, 20 less TD's and took 30 more sacks vs having 99. But if I'm controlling him at 0, I'd believe he's probably put up (likely better :smug than the numbers when simmed at 99.

Awareness is a tough one to judge because it's a mental attribute, but it's an easy example to my point.


I want to know how the attribute is going to work when I'm controlling someone in a game, and when I'm not controlling them in a live game.

 

[rleake15]

SPACE RESERVED FOR DATA/ANALYSIS/EVALUATION.

 

[rleake15]

killgod, I see your point, and I can't remember where this was answered. What I do know, however, is that awareness rating is nullified for a user-controlled player. It only affects computer-controlled players, in other words. I'll assume that PRC works similiarly. As far as your statement about sim games, I'm not sure. I've heard it runs plays, and I've also heard it just generates realistic numbers. I'd like to hope it runs plays and the ratings marry up somewhere...I hope...:dunno:

 

[killgod]

killgod, I see your point, and I can't remember where this was answered. What I do know, however, is that awareness rating is nullified for a user-controlled player. It only affects computer-controlled players, in other words. I'll assume that PRC works similiarly. As far as your statement about sim games, I'm not sure. I've heard it runs plays, and I've also heard it just generates realistic numbers. I'd like to hope it runs plays and the ratings marry up somewhere...I hope...:dunno:

Hopefully you find something!

 

[rleake15]

I hope nobody's really pining to see these numbers...I'm running in to all kinds of bugs and problems just recording them. For example when I check the stats the game freezes. My XBox isn't freezing because I can still go to the home screen, but the game gets stuck on an infinite loop "Retrieving Data". I have a couple workarounds and I'll do what I can to get this information up ASAP.

 

[rleake15]

Update: Solved the "Retrieving Data" error with a small workaround. Due to the delay, I'll be posting a sneak peak at the first itteration in this experiment tonight sometime around 11 PM EST (earlier if possible, later if necessary). Thanks for the support, and please leave your comments below!

 

[OnlyOneBeerLeft]

PRC would not enhance int or deflection numbers, those are direct results of awareness, if I switch over to a CB to make an interception I can make a play, with a CB with higher awareness they are in a better position to make a play in my experiences

 

[rleake15]

I would assume that ought to be correct, but I have played with AWR at 0 and PRC at 99 as well as AWR at 99 and PRC at 0. Believe me there are far fewer mistakes with PRC maxed than with AWR maxed. Sim numbers suggest simliar inferences. This is one of the things that was not addressed this year. While contributing largely to the OVR rating for some defensive player/position/type combos, AWR has no affect on sim numbers or gameplay (unless you consider INT returns). Empirical evidence is forthcoming, but this stuff is extremely time-consuming

 

[OnlyOneBeerLeft]

I say that we all just agree that yet again we have a broken game with empty attributes and call it a day, look up some porn, fap the night away and wait until next year and we can have high hopes crushed once again by EA

 

[rleake15]

Yeah, more or less. Some of the attributes don't matter. I won't hang my hat on the notion that there is nothing I can do with a broken game, though. I'd rather see if there's a way to make the working attributes more relevant and functional. It seems more productive than masturbation, which by definition is an exercise in futility from a functional standpoint (which brings us back to your idea that taking action with these ratings is non-productive). Do you see how that whole cycle worked?

 

[rleake15]

So far I have the first ten seasons simmed with the top 5 QB's and RG3 at 99 AWR with no changes on any other ratings and no other affected players. Each of these was simmed in a first year CCM. Tomorrow morning I will put out the numbers from changing the AWR ratings to zero for these 6 players and begin to make inferences about the difference in sim-stats. The most important thing I noticed about playing RG3 as a 99 AWR QB is the number of blitzes the CPU coach dialed up. I'll try to get some numbers on that as well while I work on this project. If there's a noticeable difference between the number of blitzes called against a 0 AWR QB and a 99 AWR QB, then we'll have our first meaningful point of reference. Again, it seems like there is an increased amount of blitzes in the few games I played, but I'm not sure yet. Cross your fingers...

 

[killgod]

http://www.virtualsportsnetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?127806-QB-Passing-Accuracy-breakdown

this might be of help to you.

 

[x0xHumblex0x]

killgod, I see your point, and I can't remember where this was answered. What I do know, however, is that awareness rating is nullified for a user-controlled player. It only affects computer-controlled players, in other words. I'll assume that PRC works similiarly. As far as your statement about sim games, I'm not sure. I've heard it runs plays, and I've also heard it just generates realistic numbers. I'd like to hope it runs plays and the ratings marry up somewhere...I hope...:dunno:

might as well not User Control if you want the Ratings to be effective.....

thanks EA!!!

 

[rleake15]

x0xHumblex0x - My preliminary judgment is that AWR affects passer rating, number of interceptions, and sacks taken in a simulated game/season. AWR during gameplay seems to have no or almost no affect on user-controlled players. Why would you want such an intangible trait as AWR to affect the player you're controlling anyway? That is a positive outcome from EA Sports, in my opinion. I'd be more frustrated if I went to control a player and my input was completely disregarded.