Matt10's Madden 20 Sliders - Operation Sports Forums (2024)

Matt10

OVR: 23

Join Date: Apr 2006

Location: Overland Park, KS

Posts: 16,362

Matt10's Madden 20 Sliders

Background: I just love sliders, or gameplay customization, in general. It's been a huge part of my digital presence. From editing individual stats in Madden 2004, to creating NCAA sliders with the OS community back when my oldest boy (who's 6 now) had a front row cradle on my computer desk. I'm an old MaddenMania guy, but I'm very proud of how long I've been part of OS. I was big into Dynasty/Franchise reporting, and since I've gone more of a YouTube route, that's been placed a bit in the backburner. I have goals for this "20" season though.

Focus of the Sliders: It's always about animations for me. Animations are the confirmation of whether logic exists or not. They can be triggered and recreated through a proper sequence, but with sliders the source of finding those sequences could be an endless battle. I love it though, and I love seeing different animations play out. From there it's making sure they are contextual to the goal at hand. So, in addition to animations, of course I want there to be realism. The reason I like realism is because that now creates a sense of challenge, which is usually the whole point of all this.

For those that followed my Madden 19 Sliders , you may see some similar theories applied. I took a real big deep dive into default values and tested a lot on finding isolation points. I exited Madden for the first time today, already logging 40 hours since I got it on the PC.

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Slider Update Log - FINAL SLIDERS
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5/1/2020: I believe I've done everything I can do to get the set in a good spot here. This is the last update, the final version. It's a combination of multiple sets that I felt had played quite well. I wanted to get back to the roots of good animations versus just settling for challenging fast action, if that makes sense.

Some notes on the final version (version 48) in that my goal here was to find the balance of All-Madden QB play. It's been noted that lowering their ability has made them a bit too conservative. However, simply raising their QBA isn't enough to keep them from giving up on some plays. That's not to say it won't happen, but it is to say that the attitude of the QBs will be of a bit more fight compared to before. I know some will remark about completion %'s and what not, but I'd much rather have higher completion percentages than facing a team that I'm willing them to into challenging me.

With that said, there was also an interesting find that I've been working on in hopes to be able to lower the injuries value in franchise. Basically, it's an animation based theory, so the way to combat it would be more sample size - which I simply can't keep playing X number of games to reach a conclusion that opposes the findings. I've already played now 30 games with this setting and haven't seen a negative result from it. The finding is turning off KR/

Interference (KRI) in the Main Menu and keeping it On in franchise. I have seen the jogging animation appear after the fair catch is made, whistle blows, and the player jogs forward with it. This animation looks exactly like the jogging animation that appears when a running back gets hit, but breaks a tackle, several times and then starts jogging randomly. It also happens after a couple juke moves from any player on the field. The jukes and broken tackles take a lot of stamina out of player, but the jogging animation only seems to be triggered in that sequence. So it wasn't until seeing it appear in the Punt Return fair catch animation that I felt there was something out of sync overall. I then moved the injuries in Main Menu back to 10 (default) and bumped it to 45 in Franchise - which is usually a good spot for variety of injuries. Played the 30 games, and hadn't seen that type of weird jogging animation at all like I had seen before on the lower MM/Franchise injury values. So, it's in this set, and even if it's a placebo and doesn't pan out - turning it off in MM wouldn't have made a difference anyways - so no harm.

With that finding, I was now able to reintroduce fatigue. This time I was a bit more conservative ending, but I did stretch it to about 55 with no issues. I like fatigue so much because there can be so many random human-like plays from both the user and CPU players. From a QB throwing an accurate ball, but the ball going through the receiver's hands, or the depth of running backs and receivers that can come in at random - adding another layer of managing the game on both sides of the ball.

Another significant difference in this set is the lowering of pass defense reaction and pass coverage for the user. I did this because I wanted to address the QB's perception at a higher QBA that they can try to take more chances like a human player would. At 50, these values seemed to force the QB to get the completion no matter what, no matter how far away their receiver is from the first down line. By lowering them slightly, it lets the coverage lag just slightly behind, but react just in time - from there it's up to the other factors for the QB to make the play.

From there, the penalties such as illegal block in the back and facemask go back to their default 50 value. I raised holding back to 60 instead to compensate for a higher PBL and RBL, both from the CPU.

I appreciate everyone for giving each version a go. I think the amount of versions rose up in this thread because of all the Madden updates, but honestly, I was a lot more transparent - leaving this thread for my "raw" data than I usually do with a gsheet/doc that could go a couple pages or so. As a result, I shared a lot and you all tested along with me - which I surely appreciate that approach coming from the NCAA community sliders and current FIFA community sliders point of view.

Anyway! That's it, I am done. Enjoy what is left of Madden 20 with these sliders if you'd like. Any questions, just ask, I'll make suggestions, but a lot of the guys on here have great ideas as well. The set is posted as new, so some mentions of previous values are still present, but is hopefully clean enough to understand. I've also included the cut-out of the sliders overall. Video explanation to follow sometime this week. Take care!

If you provide feedback, please advise of any modifications you have done from this OP set.

Final Version - Game Settings

Skill Level: All-Madden | All-Pro

Rosters: EA Default (Active or Preseason)

Auto-subs: Default

Game Style: Simulation

Quarter Length: 13 minutes
• This value remains the same. I believe it gives a good amount of plays, and paired up with the accelerated clock, it doesn't feel like long games at all.

Accelerated Clock: On, 15 secs
• I've always had an accelerated clock set to Off, but this year I tried it for the first time, and actually really enjoy the clock speeding down to force me to make some split decisions.

Superstar Abilities: On
• As much as it pains me that this feature has been quite arcade-like, it's still an important feature of Madden 20. It may be a last minute choice to actually have it on in a "real" franchise (if I ever get one).

Gameplay Helpers

Defensive Auto Strafe: Off

Defensive Ball Hawk: On (this is on by default, so I've left it on, can say it doesn't make a difference in terms of attempting to isolate the poor coverage animations).

Defensive Heat Seeker Assist: Off

Defensive Switch Assist: Off

Game Options

Injuries: 10 in Main Menu and in 45 Franchise Menu
• With the new finding regarding KR/

PR Interference (KRI), the injuries can go back to a normal level without worrying about the intensity or random jogging. It's not to say they won't occur, or that the animation is completely removed - but it will be lessened to a degree.

Fatigue: 51
• Again, with the findings of KRI, the value can be revisited. I've mentioned before, but I love this feature as a modifier because it allows the humanizing of the players to come to the forefront.

Speed Disparity Scale: 45
• Still a good sweet spot between the positive thresholds of sets that used 40 and 48.

Player/CPU Skill Settings
*Community PC file: "Matt10_FINAL" (pending, tbd)
*Community PS4 file: "Matt10_FINAL" (pending, tbd)

QB Accuracy: 50/49 | 48/50
• All Madden: Even though the QBA value had been set lower for the CPU, it started to hinder their ability to put up a fight. The QB will still throw bombs, and they'll still throw dump offs - it just depends. As I've mentioned, I just want them to fight to convert downs and be a challenge, relative to their ratings/record/etc.

• All Pro: Still no Change to QBA. All-Pro QBs need all the help they can get, and completing more passes to convert their 3rd downs is key to momentum. The CPU QB also plays with a bit more aggression compared to AM, so the values of RTP and Fumbles should help.

Pass Blocking: 48/28 | 30/40
• All Madden: Just a slight bump for the CPU because they were reacting a bit too prematurely at 25, and choosing to dump off or stay hooked on first reads. Just a little bit of perceived extra time can make a difference though - and sometimes that's not always in favor of them as the defensive coverage can recover as well.

• All Pro: Lowering PBL seems questionable, but if there's anything I've learned this patch update is that the PBL controls how the CPU QB plays. It makes sense because when addressing the value relative to the All-Madden set, each time I lowered the PBL value, the CPU QB would release the ball quicker - increasing their completions. However, on AP, the CPU QB holds onto the ball too long and is usually waiting on receivers to come back out of their routes to make completions. With the PBL at 40, the CPU QB is forced to be decisive and makes all types of throws that are relative to their ratings and capabilities. It is also rewarding though for when you have a stout defensive line that can break through the OL to put pressure on the QB in the right fashion.

WR Catch: 49/45 | 45/55
• All Madden: No changes. The change here was for the CPU WRC because simply put they were catching everything, and everything in traffic. I did not feel bad lowering this value at all. This will reduce those one handed catches as well.

• All Pro: No changes. Pretty straightforward approach in getting the CPU receivers to catch and hold onto the ball a bit better. Even at 55 the ball can get jarred loose, but there will always be the chance of solid catches in traffic, etc. It's not as arcade-like as I expected though, and the variety of catches are a breath of fresh air all things considered. The lowering for the User value is simply to even out the interactions. The receivers can still catch plenty, and are threats to the CPU's coverage no matter what.

Run Blocking: 30/40 | 20/50
• All Madden: No changes. Just a very slight bump to help the receiver screens and the first initial block at the LOS for the running block to find a lane.

• All Pro: No changes. Often times before they had hit the hole, but been left hung out dry due to the shedding of blocks by the USER DL. This adjustment will ensure the CPU RB hits the hole, and has some added layers of support both at the LOS and second level where necessary.

Fumbles: 51/51 | 52/52
• All Madden: Dropped this down for both as the RBs were taking too many cuts/jukes at times when the value was at 55. Lowering this value to 51 allows for the animations to be more relative and inline with what is happening in front of them.

• All Pro: Same concept as All-Madden, but just at another value to keep in mind less of a boost on AP.

Pass Defensive Reaction: 48/50 | 50/50
• All Madden: Lowering this value has helped the reaction animations to be mixed between tackles, INT attempts and deflections versus just using one single animation of deflections. Through combination of a lower PCV, the perception of the AM QB is then to challenge coverages a lot more.

• All Pro: No changes since the AP CPU QB looks at the WRC at 55 versus observing the user's coverage and reaction.

Interceptions: 35/30 | 35/50
• All Madden: Simply allowing the user to catch more picks compared to the All-Madden CPU. I'd like to say it helps the pass coverage, but it's not really that effective.

• All Pro: A more significant bump for the CPU as it brings in the sense of risk/reward when throwing the ball. That split decision of heaving a pass into the heavens or dumping it off could be a real key to the game scenario for the user. Nothing outrageous either as a result, and no warping interception animations that I had feared initially when moving this value up so high. Users also got a bump to help with some of the very obvious picks that should be made by elite players. I started to see too many obvious drops that didn't punish the CPU. I want a challenge, sure, but not by making my players worse.

Pass Coverage: 49/50 | 48/50
• All Madden: Lowered this for the USER should technically make it easier for the CPU QB to exploit, however when this value is raised above 50 it makes the over-aggressive animation appear more often. Again, it's about the perception of the CPU QB and what they see as space being covered. Lowering this also helps the user defense to recover with a PDR based animation.

• All Pro: No change for the AP set because we want the CPU QB to take matters into their own hands more often, so that bit of loose coverage should help balance things out.

Tackling: 48/48 | 42/58
• All Madden: No change for the All-Madden set as the benefits to low tackle value and RTP still produce the smooth tackling animations.

• All Pro: Reverting this back to where it was because there's been an increase in the CPU RBL and the injuries value will make a bigger impact on the All-Pro RB who will place a bigger effort to go north-south, relative to their ratings and their OL of course.

Special Teams

FG Power: 50/50
• They've got the power of the field goals on point, but it's another year of Madden devs misunderstanding how us kickers need HEIGHT on most of our kicks. 99% of NFL kickers can kick the ball well above or in-line with the highest point of the goal posts from 35-45 yards out. Yet, in Madden, they reach mid-height instead. /rant

FG Accuracy: 48/48
• With great power comes great responsibility, and the kicker should feel that pressure no matter how far the kick is.

Punt Power: 44/44
• Dropped down just a couple notches to allow the punt returner some chance to actually return the ball.

Punt Accuracy: 50/50
• Slight bump here just to get a better handle on the punts more true to the players value. Oftentimes I've seen some of the worst punters still be able to bounce the ball back. In addition, the CPU would kick the ball through the endzone too often, thus skewing what they are really capable of.

Kickoff Power: 50/50
• No changes here. It's just about right, with plenty of variety when the wind blows.

Penalties

• Penalties affect gameplay. There is no way around that. That is what I have found. The concept of penalties affecting gameplay is simply for behavioral elements. It has layers to it though:

- Penalties raised = chance of value being called and animation increased
- Penalties raised = chance of player not wanting to be called on
- Penalties lowered = chance of value not being called and animation increased
- Penalties lowered = chance of player not caring because chances are it will not be called

What you have now is the concept of the reactions from those values being raised or lowered. For every action, there is a reaction, right? That is how the penalty sliders play a role in gameplay, and I've explained the ones I'm adjusting to make for a better experience.

Offside: 70
• Gives both the CPU QB and RB more perceived time to make decisions. There’s no change in closedown rate or block shedding here, but it does bring some preparation to the frame.

False Start: 70
• This value is used to prepare the OL to be dynamic versus the oncoming pass rush. This, along with an increase in the holding value, creates the effect of holding the block longer despite a low PBL value.

Offensive Holding: 60
• This value gets a bump back up to help with the decision making by both RB and QB, which can force each to get out of their comfort zone and have an opportunity to rise up to the occasion. Holding of course will still get called.

Defensive Pass Interference: 55
• Simply raising this value to get more DPI called as I did not see many on the last couple of sets.

Ineligible Receiver Downfield: Off in Main Menu (Previous: On in Main Menu)
• This is the find that has made the QB play an absolutely joy for me. I'm seeing much better pocket presence. Yes, they will still run into a sack on playaction or they may spin around at times - but overall, compared to before, it's so much better. It seems that this value completely synced up the CPU QB with their playcalling. (Note: this value remains off in the franchise gameplay sliders section, there is no need to change it).

Intentional Grounding: On
• I held off testing this for the longest time because it's definitely one of those in which the animations are hard to figure out. When I can't find a trigger, it's definitely hard to validate changing the value. With IG on, I see a benefit in the CPU QB not dropping unecessary yards though because instead of taking the sack, they will calmly throw the ball away when out of the pocket. This keeps them in the game because it could mean the difference between a punt or a field goal. In terms of how the CPU QB plays, I think the Ineligible Receiver value is a bit more impactful.

Roughing the Passer: 45
• Something that was missed with the value at 25 was the gameplay element of read-and-react. When lowering this value, it was immediately visible that the aggression of the defense was there, but as time went on, it was at the mercy of the defensive reading of the plays. With it low, the defense would be over-aggressive in the run, such as blitzing to where the running back had the hand-off, instead of anticipating the anticipated lane they were going to reach. In addition to the run game, the aggressive defense vs the CPU's pass game was accelerating safe play because the perception of a 25 Pass Block was turning into the equivalent of a 5 or a 10. At this point, it's just safer to raise the value back up, but still leave just a slight amount of aggression to get a good balance.

Kick Return/Punt Return Interference (KRI): Off in Main Menu, On in Franchise
• I have seen the jogging animation appear after the fair catch is made, whistle blows, and the player jogs forward with it. This animation looks exactly like the jogging animation that appears when a running back gets hit, but breaks a tackle, several times and then starts jogging randomly. It also happens after a couple juke moves from any player on the field. The jukes and broken tackles take a lot of stamina out of player, but the jogging animation only seems to be triggered in that sequence. So it wasn't until seeing it appear in the Punt Return fair catch animation that I felt there was something out of sync overall. I then moved the injuries in Main Menu back to 10 (default) and bumped it to 45 in Franchise - which is usually a good spot for variety of injuries. Played the 30 games, and hadn't seen that type of weird jogging animation at all like I had seen before on the lower MM/Franchise injury values.

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Defensive Tips
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl23 I’ll add a few things that I’ve seen in my experience: Zone coverage is better for forcing the QBs to make short passes underneath the coverage, but is more likely to give up a completion. If the offense is in a tight formation zone coverage is better since tight formations typically have short slant plays. The idea behind playing zone is to give up yards but prevent a first down. Man coverage is better for letting your players make plays on the ball to get an interception, but is more likely to give up big gains down field. Consider Man coverage when wideouts are lined up wide on both sides and there are still a lot of yards ahead of the offense. If receivers are all on one side then man may or may not be a good idea, but that can be determine based on the situation. The idea of man coverage is to allow your dbs a chance to out play the wrs and hopefully get a pick. Expect to give up chunk plays in man coverage. Pressing makes coverage better on wideouts(not TE or HB) in the short term, this is only helpful if you believe you can pressure the QB quickly. It’s good to press in the red zone especially in zone coverage because there isn’t a lot of room. Also it’s safer to press against tight formations since all your defenders are all relatively closer to who ever might receive the ball. Lastly pressure on the QB is what makes this all work. Typically once one of your D line sheds a block the cpu QB is going to try and dump off a pass, this also happens when there is a defender running freely unblocked towards them. Your going to want to generate this on every pass play as quickly as possible, otherwise you’d be lucky to not give up a first down. If you can do this with only 3 DL men your going to have a lot more success in pass coverage, so it really helps to have DL men that have great block shed, also a speedy defensive end can go completely around the oline if controlled by the user. If your having trouble getting pressure you might call some blitz plays. Zone blitz plays are safer, but will likely still give up short to medium passes, man blitz plays are a big gamble that can result in a turnover or a td if it fails.

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanstephans I’m going to be very direct here. If you don’t want to hear an “I told you so,” stop reading now... This game requires several pre-snap user inputs on nearly every defensive play. I’m reading about how some posters are continuing to see specific types of plays from the CPU offense that are easy enough to contain. 1. Adjust your DL/LB coverage pre-snap by shifting to the strong side if the CPU lines up any two of the following to one side: RB, TE, 2 WR tight. Take away their strong side game. 2. Adjust into a pre-snap press coverage on plays where you need time to rush the QB and you want to press their receivers -OR- if you expect them to move into a dump passing game where you will need lots of defenders to be right there for the tackle. 3. Use spy coverage or middle zone coverage if the QB has been beating you with short dump or drags over the middle. 4. If you are playing against a QB who likes to scramble or option, you MUST pre-snap your DL to QB contain almost every single play. This is what a real DC would have his team do. You give up a bit of the pass rush from your DE position but won’t get beat by a running QB. 5. Tighten or soften your zone based on down-and-distance. If it’s 3rd and 14+, I loosen the zone to ensure I’m not getting beat deep. I can typically get the tackle before the line to gain. 6. Call for pre-snap pass guess on obvious passing downs. This will help line your coverage up to avoid the play fake or double moves. 7. Only when the CPU has 3rd or 4th and short AND you feel like gambling, pinch your DL/LB pre-snap to take away the middle run. You may still get beat here but you’ll stop as many as you get beat on. 8. Don’t blitz every play. This one is a big one as I see the CPU being able to throw or run to the spot vacated by your blitzer more often than not. I blitz about every 6 - 8 plays on defense. I rely on my DL to create a pass rush or if I’m using a 3-man DL, I may send one LB. 9. Let them dink-and-dunk between the 20s. Your D can play faster and more aggressive in your red zone because they’re not going to get burned over the top. 10. Don’t go for big hits. Just tackle. I genuinely hope this helps those of you who are struggling on defense. You should also keep in mind that in the modern game, QBs routinely make a very high percentage of their short and dump-off throws. This is what the CPU does to me to get their high completion percentage, but it rarely translates into them going for 300+ with 3 passing TDs. I’m happy to let Carr pass for 270 and 1 TD with his 17 of 20 completion percentage because I smoked his team to the tune of 38 - 14.

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Question and Answers!
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**I'll have more of these as the thread goes along**

Question: How can I tone down the CPU play overall?

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Question: The CPU QB is torching me. How can I lessen their completion %?

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Question: How can I lessen the human run game?

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Question: My receivers are dropping passes, what can I do?

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Slider Log Update - Archive

Version 47

Version 46

Version 45

Version 44

VERSION HISTORY POSTED HERE

Version 43

Version 42 (post-All Pro version updated)

Version 42 (pre-All Pro version update from 4/3)

Version 41

Version 40

Version 39

Version 38

Version 37

Version 36

Version 35

Version 34

Version 33

Version 32

Version 31

Version 30

Version 29

Version 28

Version 27

Version 26

Version 25

Version 24

Version 23

Version 22

Version 21

Version 20

Version 19 (post-patch 9/3/2019)

Version 18 (post-patch 9/3/2019) - Discontinued)

Version 17 (post-patch 9/3/2019)

"Final Version" (pre-patch 9/3/2019)

VERSION 16

VERSION 15

VERSION 14

VERSION 13

VERSION 12

VERSION 11

VERSION 10

VERSION 9

VERSION 8

VERSION 5 (improved)

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VERSION 7

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VERSION 6

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VERSION 5

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VERSION 4 (compiled Versions 1 thru 3)

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Last edited by Matt10; 05-01-2020 at 01:49 AM.