PES Post on scipting

Okay I haven't posted for a while now, I DO feel some players grief, BUT...here's where I play devil's advocate.

AI and scripting.

You only have to watch the EPL this year to see that football is one crazy game. My evidence for the defence (so to speak) - Liverpool v Villa. Liverpool dominate first 15 minutes of game. Could literally have been 5 up in that time, go on to get hammered. Arsenal v Newcastle...crazy, crazy, crazy game. United coming back from behind, ALL THE TIME. United scoring late goals again. The amount of deflected goals that go in off free kicks wrong footing the keeper.

The Year of the Defence!

The defending this year, in general in leagues around the world, has been preposterous. Call it defenders no longer defenders, or attackers and mid fielders reaching a new level of excellence, but defences all over the globe are having a torrid time. I'm talking balls going through legs, deflections into strikers paths, collisions, falling over, bad decision making, bad marking.

Remember that United goal where didn't they concede three goals from corners one after another? I watched Roma v Inter a few days ago, Inter all over the place at the back.

I could go on and on and on.

So scripting...

The trouble is, is that it's necessary I believe. What do people want? Full control? If by full control you mean that every phase of play you feel in control of the game and your inputs AND the logical outputs then the game will become dull and repetitive. I'm afraid football isn't like that. Players do swing in crosses unexpectedly. Defenders do hesitate/all out of position/just mess up.

The problem the game has IMO is not reflecting what we perceive as 'cheating' in a realistic way. For example, when my CB decides to go walkies to leave that much more room for the striker in which he can head home a cross or something, the game needs show the occurrence much more effectively and be more subtle, rather than just physically move my defender one way and then another for the space to be created.

What the game has probably calculated in this instance is A) the CPU player in control of the ball on the wing, his skill and crossing stats compared with B) my defender on the wing, tackling, positioning etc etc, this leads to the cross being effective or not. Then C) the strikers positioning stats, mentality, and general attacker quality compared to D) my defenders defensive stats, heading etc etc.

What should happen is a lot more subtlety in terms of the cross and the headed goal, but the computer just calculates that my defender needs to go walkies in completely the other direction because in that theoretical instance the attacker is better than the defender and thus creates his space/has more instinct for the goal opportunity.

If the game had the same logical outcomes every time then the game could be perfected in a week.

Take a real life example. Fulham v Real Madrid. Fulham obviously do not intent to ship goals, and they may do everything in their power move for move to stop Real. But Madrid will score. Even if they feel that they've done all they can to prevent goals, goals will be shipped. The quality of the opposition player, the things they do 'outside the box' it all adds up to goals being conceded. In PES how can this be reflected if teams like Real aren't depicted in a slightly super-human light, with some strange occurrences in the game, things that are seemingly out of your control.

The other thing that I take issue with is that 'teams like QPR suddenly become like Barce'....well, you know, fair enough. Sometimes 'god mode' for the CPU is a little OTT, but teams take points off each other all the time. QPR beat Chelsea...at Chelsea the other day.

I could list a million and one examples of scripting in real life. Think Liverpool v Milan Euro Cup. Think Liverpool v Newcastle games. Think Man Utd always scoring late. Think Man United v Bayern Cup Final in which Bayern could have won that 23-0. Think Chelsea beating Barce. I could go on.

The more I play PES the more I think I'm beginning to understand the complexity of creating situations and calculating what should/could happen.

I have other massive problems with the game personally, I can handle scripting as I think it's needed.

My main problems are that the game needs to go back to it's simulation roots. Acceleration needs to be more noticeable, top speed needs to be inextricably linked to ball control and technique when sprint whoring. STAMINA SYSTEM both for you, the CPU and online play for you and your opponent. You run sprinting the entire first half with Ronaldo and he actually has a heart attack and dies or something.

The game is also too fluid both in terms of creating moves both for human and CPU and player movements in general. We need something between 2011 and 2013 in terms of players having weight and twisting and turning needs to be more realistic. Either shooting needs to be toned right down in its accuracy or keepers made much better. The goals to shots ratio is too high.

In relation to my last point, they either need to keep the pitch size and alter players fluidity or keep the fluidity and make the pitch smaller or something to stop this end to end counter fest.

CPU AI, if the CPU are playing a counter game, they simply don't counter forward all the time IRL, it's not possible, the lone striker has to hold up play, pass it back where some moves lose the momentum and they are forced to pass it around.

My modded PES 6 does most of these things superbly.

And freedom. If I want to blem the ball into the stands I should be able to do so. If I want to over hit a pass from one end of the pitch to another I should be able to do so. It's not free, it's still too locked on and still too restrictive.

To end, I do understand the pain of many players where unfathomable scripting events have occurred to cost you games etc. But ask yourselves if you're doing everything in your power to stop/reduce the scripting by changing tactics, personnel etc. The game can only compute through the variables it has. Simply by shifting to an ultra defensive formation, making a few subs and playing a different type of game, may see the oppositions scripting curtailed if you say went one-nil up in a Champions League final.

Here's hoping for 2014.