eFootball (All Platforms)

I love how you're allowed to score a few goals early in the game and then the full-on cheat mode kicks in so your pay-to-win opponent will get his money's worth 👌🏻💩
 
tried it this morning and there was a Liverpool coin thing going on with 8 players, many of them very expensive top players. That was interesting to me as I am only buying Liverpool players for my team. I had some of those yellow coins because I had never used any - My first player was Fabinho, one I already owned. I suppose that means I could have him on the pitch and if he gets tired, sub him with... himself. Maybe I will do that one day for a laugh. Of the 4 players I didn't already own, I got Salah and Alisson with my last two tries. Exactly the two I wished for. So that's neat I guess.

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Although I have stayed pretty grounded in getting players, I might add Liverpool legends to it if there is a similar promotion for those later on. As the game itself goes, I don't hate it. There is some good stuff in there. Scored this neat goal this morning against an admittedly already beaten Bilbao. Still on Professional difficulty, against even teams it is still challenging enough for me.

 
Played a few games last night. Everyone I played had bought some of the new superstars. I screenshotted every team to come on here and say "what's the point when everyone has these teams".

Surprisingly, I won the games - I maintain that I only won because the game decided to gift me all of the deflections and all of the "luck". Then, the last guy sent me some abuse, essentially saying - in French - "isn't it boring playing with a team you've paid so much for"...

He's not wrong. I've not spent a penny (nor would I) and I've got a team of ~90 OVR players, bought with the close-to 1m worth of GP Konami have given away, and the hundreds of "coins", and trained with the 100+ XP training packs they've given away.

...but so has everyone else, and his team was even stronger than mine. And it is boring. What's the fun in playing against the same players every game? Everyone has reached the end-game already. Even if you like the gameplay, where is the longevity?

...cos it's not in the gameplay. Some highlights versus angry French dude:



(Set the video quality to max or it might be hard to see; I have my camera zoomed out to a ridiculous degree.)
Well @Chris Davies i am tempted by your video, to judge on e-Football, while i stategically avoid it all the time.

So, for me (ONLY ME, personal opinion disclaimer) it is still a more sophisticated PES Mobile. Especially the ball looks so strange, especially when landing after floating in the air.

Then what i can;t understang, it looks like there is a lot of ghosting among human bodies in different occasions. I see in many videos, a player knocking the ball ahead, and then gliding-ghosting forward, between two human bodies of defenders? But it does not happen always (at least in videos i watch) and makes me really curious, what is the decisive factor, that will let your player pass through others bodies or not.

Cause in the previous generationgames: PES 2015~2021, EXCEPT FOR PES 2018 , and despite the various-terrible collision detection from game to game, there was one standard from PES 2019 and onwards, that you could not run through someone's bodymass.

Here now it seems to "random" to me, either you hit the brickwall, or you pass like a ghost.

Finally, watching 5 different videos today, from PS4, PS5 and PC, what happened to PES 2019 multi-advertised 3D grass???? The terrain everywhere looks like a mix of PES 2016 terrain and "Five-a-side football" plastic carpet.

TL;DR: It still looks to me, an advanced PES mobile game.
 
Are you training for the mental gymnastics event at the next Olympics or something? :CONFUSE: Graphical changes are things like lighting, textures, player models, stadiums. If it impacts gameplay then it is by definition a gameplay change.

The reason I believe that line is because that should be the default starting assumption given the near infinite examples over the years of people imagining changes that aren't really there, the burden of proof is squarely on those that claim there are improvements because invariably it turns out to be 100% placebo effect.
Surprised that such a simple concept is beyond you. You’re talking about manifestation of graphical changes on gameplay. The real gameplay changes are for instance “for every 0.1 seconds you hold down X, the ball will travel Y% (instead of Z%) of the pass speed stats of the player controlled”. Or things like player runs, defence marking, how the game keeps offside traps etc. The gameplay has certainly been tweaked. I don’t care what Konami says. Their communication has been shabby for decades now. It’s funny how people that crucify Konami for their inaccurate and incomplete communication are readily going by their ‘no gameplay tweaks were made’ update instead simply playing the game and experiencing it.

It’s okay if you don’t see any gameplay differences. Reminded me of the time my young niece said that PES 2021 plays exactly the same as eFootball 2022. Some people don’t see the difference. Well and good.
 
Side by side, definitely v1.1.1 plays differently than v1.0. Smoother and reaction times on the pitch are noticeably reduced in the newest update.
 
I don't know guys. Guess I'm one of the lucky few who's getting some enjoyment out of the game. This is purely from a gameplay point of view. I am having a lot more fun than I ever did with fifa 22 or any of the latest PES and I have played PES 2021 on pc with the best mods available, including gameplay mods. Of course there's a lot more work to do and modes to add but I think it's a good base and I never thought I would enjoy it
 
Has anyone figured out a way to combat the stuttering on the PC? PES 21 plays perfect for me on the highest settings but eFootball 2022 on the lowest settings stutters.

I'm assuming eFootball 2022 is just poorly optimized on the PC but any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Side by side, definitely v1.1.1 plays differently than v1.0. Smoother and reaction times on the pitch are noticeably reduced in the newest update.
Isn't the relevant point of disagreement about whether there's been gameplay changes between 1.1.0 (not 1.0) and 1.1.1? I think all accept there were some changes between 1.0 and later versions.
Surprised that such a simple concept is beyond you. You’re talking about manifestation of graphical changes on gameplay. The real gameplay changes are for instance “for every 0.1 seconds you hold down X, the ball will travel Y% (instead of Z%) of the pass speed stats of the player controlled”. Or things like player runs, defence marking, how the game keeps offside traps etc. The gameplay has certainly been tweaked. I don’t care what Konami says. Their communication has been shabby for decades now. It’s funny how people that crucify Konami for their inaccurate and incomplete communication are readily going by their ‘no gameplay tweaks were made’ update instead simply playing the game and experiencing it.

It’s okay if you don’t see any gameplay differences. Reminded me of the time my young niece said that PES 2021 plays exactly the same as eFootball 2022. Some people don’t see the difference. Well and good.
This debate could do with some actual evidence. How about slowing down footage of 1.1.1 and 1.1.0 in similar gameplay scenarios and comparing the animation cycles?

I accept your point that in a sense changes to animation can come under the heading "graphics", but I think most would also accept that any changes (call them graphical or not) that impact gameplay are still to be understood as gameplay changes. To insist otherwise is really to play word games.

Further evidence that maybe they've not changed gameplay: 1.1.0 was released on 2nd June only. They're not very speedy at gameplay updates at the best of times. If they'd released not one but two gameplay patches in the space of a month (let alone a fortnight), I'd think that was without precedent in recent years.
 
I loved the simplicity of the online modes of PES 5 and PES 6. Pick a lobby, pick your team and away you went.

I'm 32 now and all this dream team stuff is beyond me. This afternoon I used up all my 'free' coins now and have replaced my entire starting 11 and have a few top players, but most are players from mid-table teams across Europe. I can't compete with online players with complete 'dream teams' and it appears the only way I can sign additional players is to either pay for more coins or play 100s of games to accumulate enough points to sign players via the screen where you can search for specific players?

I'd probably quite enjoy the online simple match ups using 'authentic teams' and the master league, but I can't see any of this coming any time soon, simply because they are not money spinners.
 
I don't know guys. Guess I'm one of the lucky few who's getting some enjoyment out of the game. This is purely from a gameplay point of view. I am having a lot more fun than I ever did with fifa 22 or any of the latest PES and I have played PES 2021 on pc with the best mods available, including gameplay mods. Of course there's a lot more work to do and modes to add but I think it's a good base and I never thought I would enjoy it
I am too but I only play vs Ai and full manual and the game is really much more enjoyable than any previous PES . I can see why the complains coming especially online though. That being said, the game as whole even offline (Aside from the game play) really offers nothing at the moment.
 
I am too but I only play vs Ai and full manual and the game is really much more enjoyable than any previous PES . I can see why the complains coming especially online though. That being said, the game as whole even offline (Aside from the game play) really offers nothing at the moment.
FUMA offline (the only way I play it, if I ever do) is still really shit. Target locking issues still there and it's basically broken.
 
It’s okay if you don’t see any gameplay differences. Reminded me of the time my young niece said that PES 2021 plays exactly the same as eFootball 2022. Some people don’t see the difference. Well and good.

This is some next level cope. :CONFUSE: Comparing a minor patch release to an entire yearly cycle? And doubting that or asking for evidence in the face of endless examples of people falling prey to placebo effect over the years is apparently to be as ignorant as your "young niece". :LMAO:Never mind the unbelievable mind-reading ability in order to be sure that Konami wouldn't want to communicate the improvements to gameplay they've made especially when they have done so for every other recent update. I'm almost certain you've tricked yourself into seeing changes that aren't really there as has been the case so many times before.

Ultimately however, whether they've made a few tweaks without bothering to mention it is neither here nor there, no amount of polishing this turd will make it salvageable. It's a tired old heap of spaghetti code slapped into Unreal engine for the sole purpose of milking as many people through microtransactions as possible on as many platforms as they can throw it at. Regrettably there are still enough suckers out there willing to part with their cash which will no doubt prolong its inevitable demise, but those are the times we are living in.
 
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[...]

It’s okay if you don’t see any gameplay differences. Reminded me of the time my young niece said that PES 2021 plays exactly the same as eFootball 2022. Some people don’t see the difference. Well and good.
Well. It is the same. It is the same engine. It is the same scripting and bugs. Maybe only different values is change is like pace (for example) 0.0001 to 0.0002. And in next following update back again to 0.0001.
 
Well. It is the same. It is the same engine. It is the same scripting and bugs. Maybe only different values is change is like pace (for example) 0.0001 to 0.0002. And in next following update back again to 0.0001.
Yeah, plot twist: the young niece is the wise one in this scenario, correctly identifying that this game is too similar to PES, retaining all its faults. Well played, young niece, well played!
 


Yeah, I made another video...

I read on Twitter that if you play the current "Event" that's national teams only (versus the AI) five times, you get a 5-star "nominating contract".

I played ten times on the Legend difficulty, because I know one of the "objectives" is to defeat the Legend AI. I managed three goals in those ten games, and lost every single one - but what shocked me was that it's the perfect test-bed...

... it's the perfect recreation of online play. Whenever I win online, my players simply aren't as delayed as the opponent's. Whenever I lose, my players are very obviously "aiming" for where the ball was a second ago, resulting in them zig-zagging past it one way and then the other.

I knew it before, but playing these games back-to-back it was clear as day that the "poorly coded" moments - e.g. seeing limbs pass through the ball (and other players) - would constantly happen when it was to the opponent's advantage (e.g. a defender unable to knock the ball away because his foot went through it like a ghost), but would barely (if ever) happen when it was to the team-that-must-lose's advantage.

It's made me realise the entire game is just built in bullshit. The whole thing. Every deflection has to go to a player (not run free) and if you're the one with the combined average of ability and "playstyle" ratings, it's your lucky day!

Every goalkeeper "punch" isn't based on physics, but on who's supposed to win. If it's you, you're about to score a tap-in! If it's not, it’s punched so hard it nearly reaches the sideline.

Every defender just can't get to the ball, his running animation interrupted to delay him. My newest player, Mo Salah - the fastest player in almost every match I played - was outrun by the slowest opposition defenders every single time without exaggeration. Again, it's the exact same online, if you're "supposed" to lose.

Every offside trap you try is let down by defenders not pushing up, no matter the ability and "chemistry" of your defenders - if the opposition is "supposed" to win.

The whole game is manipulated from start to finish, rendering your input meaningless.

It's shameful. Truly shameful. I say this as someone who wins most games because through all the "admin apology" GP and eCoins, I have Pep Guardiola as manager, an average player rating of 90+ and a "playstyle" rating of 100, I witness all the bullshit that the game usually puts my opponent through and I can see that I'm winning without being skilful, only because I am selected to win.
 
I don't know guys. Guess I'm one of the lucky few who's getting some enjoyment out of the game. This is purely from a gameplay point of view. I am having a lot more fun than I ever did with fifa 22 or any of the latest PES and I have played PES 2021 on pc with the best mods available, including gameplay mods. Of course there's a lot more work to do and modes to add but I think it's a good base and I never thought I would enjoy it

Erm...same.

I have stuck to my guns and the objectives have served me well for trainers and the GP for players I want to build squads with, plus I signed and released all my free featured players apart from Rice and Malynovsky, whom I haven't used but thought I'd keep a couple.

I play Possession Game and my team of now high 70's/low 80's players (before coach affinity boost) that were mostly low/mid 70's to start and that I have manually applied stat points to are better than any team I put together that included featured players. This was *after* levelling the featured players up to 99 for the playstyle too.

I'd say to anyone who is getting some enjoyment from the game to build a budget squad and focus on stat application that works for your natural style and coach style for each player.

These are the players I have on the go and really enjoying using them:

GK - Ter Stegen
LB - Malacia/Mykolenko
LCB - Gvardiol/Senesi/Szallai/Leo
RCB - Timber/Denayer/Tapsoba/Foyth
RB - Rensch/Dodo/Fosu Mesah
DMF - Sangare/Gravenberch/Rice/Alvarez
LMF - Berkalo/Szoboszlai/Munian/Mitoma/Danjuma
CMF - De Keteleare/Pedri/Camavinga/Tchouameni/Palacios
RMF - Kubo/Tsyangkov/Doan/Lazarri/Jesus Corona
CF - Alvarez/Scamacca/Raspadori/Schick/Hlozek/David

Play a 4-1-4-1 with Ten Hag (P.Boer) and enjoying it. Even having joy against higher rated teams online and think it is due to stat application. I tend to ensure I apply a wee bit more than recommended to defensive stats and passing. Finding applying that wee bit more (not ott, but a touch more) to defensive helps with defensive AI for Possession Game as that style is a pressing game when out of possession.

Finding that even playing against dudes with Haaland or whoever with 90+ finishing aren't getting huge joy if my CB's are defensively solid enough and reasonably mobile. Finding also the Blocker skill is one to look out for as that makes a huge difference to defensive play. Key with blocking skill I'm finding is ensuring the left stick is neutral or as close to while holding face-up. Dunno, just feel like I have been better at slowing both AI and online players of late.

I refuse to enjoy this game on the terms Konami want me to, but I have to admit I am surprised (at the moment) that it is allowing me to do my own thing and get some enjoyment out of it. Won't last with bare-bones content though.
 


Yeah, I made another video...

I read on Twitter that if you play the current "Event" that's national teams only (versus the AI) five times, you get a 5-star "nominating contract".

I played ten times on the Legend difficulty, because I know one of the "objectives" is to defeat the Legend AI. I managed three goals in those ten games, and lost every single one - but what shocked me was that it's the perfect test-bed...

... it's the perfect recreation of online play. Whenever I win online, my players simply aren't as delayed as the opponent's. Whenever I lose, my players are very obviously "aiming" for where the ball was a second ago, resulting in them zig-zagging past it one way and then the other.

I knew it before, but playing these games back-to-back it was clear as day that the "poorly coded" moments - e.g. seeing limbs pass through the ball (and other players) - would constantly happen when it was to the opponent's advantage (e.g. a defender unable to knock the ball away because his foot went through it like a ghost), but would barely (if ever) happen when it was to the team-that-must-lose's advantage.

It's made me realise the entire game is just built in bullshit. The whole thing. Every deflection has to go to a player (not run free) and if you're the one with the combined average of ability and "playstyle" ratings, it's your lucky day!

Every goalkeeper "punch" isn't based on physics, but on who's supposed to win. If it's you, you're about to score a tap-in! If it's not, it’s punched so hard it nearly reaches the sideline.

Every defender just can't get to the ball, his running animation interrupted to delay him. My newest player, Mo Salah - the fastest player in almost every match I played - was outrun by the slowest opposition defenders every single time without exaggeration. Again, it's the exact same online, if you're "supposed" to lose.

Every offside trap you try is let down by defenders not pushing up, no matter the ability and "chemistry" of your defenders - if the opposition is "supposed" to win.

The whole game is manipulated from start to finish, rendering your input meaningless.

It's shameful. Truly shameful. I say this as someone who wins most games because through all the "admin apology" GP and eCoins, I have Pep Guardiola as manager, an average player rating of 90+ and a "playstyle" rating of 100, I witness all the bullshit that the game usually puts my opponent through and I can see that I'm winning without being skilful, only because I am selected to win.
Come on Chris, you're a smart guy! You know very well why the Konami need to manipulate P2W, F2P game. Of course, we should not rule out the possibility that all these situations are the product of poor coding , but they are mainly P2W / F2P manipulations in order to squeeze as much money as possible from people prone to gambling and poor self-control.

Football is a complex matter in which there are thousands of situations that can be resolved in favor of someone based by quick reactions, good timing and football IQ, personal skills and good decisions making, despite the strength of the team. In an open football game, if you own even half of these things, even with a medium or weak team, you can be successful and have fun, but Konami can't allow it.

If this is the only basis on which they build their game ... they will lose a huge part of the people who invest money. Most of them are not good, Konami needs tools to help them, in addition to giving them the BEST players, this is not enough, they need gameplay nampulations. Yes, you play against IA, but the base is one, Konami will not make different games for online and offline mode.

And it's easier that way! Instead of doing good and strong AI to make the game more challenging on high difficulty, just manipulate the gameplay and what's happening on the field.


I've been watching Asmongold and his videos on this topic for a while, mainly because of "Diablo Immportal" and some of the problems and manipulations he shows about are very similar to the things Konami does with eFootball.

I personally try not to play the game. I really hope they get paid DLCs for master league or co-op modes, 11 vs 11, I don't care about anything else.
 
Had my final rounds online last night playing div 6 only against stronger opponents stacked with Neymar, Mbappe, Salah & Co. almost every game. It was all about pace and total pressing for 90 minutes. Is there a stamina drain in this game? I had no chance with my solid defenders to reach balls or even clear a ball from the box having it at the defenders feet. Reminded me a lot of FUT where it's all about pace and ping pong passing too. Was much more fun in the lower divs.
Now I see no reason to further play online and try for higher divisions if it's all about getting the faster players to outrun and dribble your opponents. No football IQ involved. Something like Fifa Online Divisions would be great with real teams and ballanced stats.
Waiting for proper offline modes now and stick with modded PES 2021, which is kind of hard because efootball gameplay is much better IMO, more fluid with better buildup and animations..
 


Yeah, I made another video...
I actually love these videos and hope you keep them coming, they're hilarious, eerie but most importantly - Accurate.

There will always be people that deny scripting and manipulating exists but that's because they're either delusional or terrified of burning bridges.

The truth is, what is the fun in playing a game that you don't really participate in - where skill is errant and cannot be exercised, it turns us into marks at a fun fair. Knowing a game won't be in your favour but we stubbornly try anyway.

Scripting has existed since the PS2 games became the sophisticated sims of choice, but back then it was a mechanism to create drama and to keep the game engaging as a human playing against a COM for hundreds of games would become boring and easy to exploit which is one reason why other football games were so soulless and devoid of replayability until FIFA changed the world.

But as you mentioned, In a world where the main vision of these developers is to figure out ways to keep the paying customer engaged and to eventually dip into their wallet - there has to be stressful psychological concept. Teaching the player that they can get close and they know they can win and evening throwing them a bone by giving them a goal and win from time to time to teach them it's not all hopeless but in the long run all that's missing is higher quality players, spirit and OVR...

They spend money, win a few, then they start sucking again and it makes them repeat the cycle.

It's exactly like gambling addiction. You win money, get an overwhelming rush of dopamine, excitement and even think you can keep this up and attain financial freedom, then you chase more wins, lose more and more but then you win something - You think your gambling is justified so you repeat the cycle.

Question is are you doing it for a means to an end or just because you're hooked and you don't why you keep coming back to something that is harmful for you?
 
Come on Chris, you're a smart guy! You know very well why the Konami need to manipulate P2W, F2P game. Of course, we should not rule out the possibility that all these situations are the product of poor coding , but they are mainly P2W / F2P manipulations in order to squeeze as much money as possible from people prone to gambling and poor self-control.

Football is a complex matter in which there are thousands of situations that can be resolved in favor of someone based by quick reactions, good timing and football IQ, personal skills and good decisions making, despite the strength of the team. In an open football game, if you own even half of these things, even with a medium or weak team, you can be successful and have fun, but Konami can't allow it.

If this is the only basis on which they build their game ... they will lose a huge part of the people who invest money. Most of them are not good, Konami needs tools to help them, in addition to giving them the BEST players, this is not enough, they need gameplay nampulations. Yes, you play against IA, but the base is one, Konami will not make different games for online and offline mode.

And it's easier that way! Instead of doing good and strong AI to make the game more challenging on high difficulty, just manipulate the gameplay and what's happening on the field.


I've been watching Asmongold and his videos on this topic for a while, mainly because of "Diablo Immportal" and some of the problems and manipulations he shows about are very similar to the things Konami does with eFootball.

I personally try not to play the game. I really hope they get paid DLCs for master league or co-op modes, 11 vs 11, I don't care about anything else.
What I'm most shocked about is how far this gameplay manipulation goes. I would understand a subtle manipulation, but this is getting ridiculous. Sometimes I feel it is getting worse and worse if I manage to fight it for a while.

Out of all manipulations talked about, like deflections, slow player reactions, "fake shot"/match-up combo, through balls are the one I hate the most. I play on PA3 and expect that trough balls are as free as possible. But it is totally opposite. I have no control of it, and they are manipulated with this script. I'll try to explain with a picture.

trough ball.png

When I press triangle, always the same for 25 years, there are two types of games and two scenarios. First, shown with green arrow, in games when script in on my side, ball travels fast and reaches its target, and second scenario, in games when script is against me, slow pass, not going where I intended. It is not a random thing because in one game it is always one scenario and vice versa.

And that is just one element where this script kicks in, it happens in every aspect of gameplay.
 
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There will always be people that deny scripting and manipulating exists but that's because they're either delusional or terrified of burning bridges.
Not particularly charitable interpretation. I deny that scripting exists, and I've argued at length in this thread (and in older PES threads) about it in detail – not the sort of arguments one would take as simply the product of delusion. Likewise, I burn bridges with PES people all the time (if you've seen me on Twitter lol). (On the other hand, many of the arguments for scripting – even if you believe in it – are demonstrably delusional, such as when people post screenshots of their shots taken and 0 goals vs opponent's 1 shot 1 goal = PROOF!!)

The video that Chris made is great for showing how badly coded this game is. That sort of shit happens all the time on this game. I simply don't think it's true that it only happens to a team that's losing, or that the game "wants" you to lose. The game is not, and has never been, sophisticated enough to pull off such deliberate evil machinations.

The motivations people cite as to why are also rather flimsy. The idea that it's some great revenue-generating mechanism to make someone tear their hair out and feel like shit because of a succession of crap things happening on the pitch is, frankly, bizarre. I don't think a response to buggy shit (or what you interpret as deliberate manipulation to favour the opponent) is something which would encourage many people to keep playing the game, let alone to spend more. And I don't think those who spend and get better players fail to encounter further issues; in fact, going by complaints you tend to see on YouTube, Twitter, Reddit – people that spend continue to complain about scripting. A lot.

I think that's also what you concede here, no?
They spend money, win a few, then they start sucking again and it makes them repeat the cycle.
So the idea – if I get you right – is that people spend and get some script-relief (do they?), then it kicks in again (why? haven't they just spent to avoid it? are they coming up against successively better players or something, and is there an end-point to that?), so they spend more. All seems like such a terribly designed means of manipulating people in light of what actually happens. Not to mention: people played starred level matches on the last PES games, limiting team strength to 2,3,4 stars etc. So there was a limit in terms of "better players" and you wouldn't be able to buy away the script, but it was clearly still operative (on the assumption it exists – it doesn't), since people still complained about it there. Likewise, people complain about it in non-card-building modes like Divisions. How is that then a mechanism to induce spending?

Scripting has existed since the PS2 games became the sophisticated sims of choice, but back then it was a mechanism to create drama and to keep the game engaging as a human playing against a COM for hundreds of games would become boring and easy to exploit which is one reason why other football games were so soulless and devoid of replayability until FIFA changed the world.
And this seems a bit revisionist to me. What's your evidence for this? My recollection is that people started to complain about scripting as the competitive stakes got upped by having online play vs strangers. For a plethora of both gaming reasons and psychological reasons, it was the easy explanation for why something didn't go in their favour. It's only stuck around as a meme ever since; who would have thought conspiratorial thinking would catch on?

I know this is a fault line between me and many others who play PES. But it is practically an article of faith now, if you want to talk about football games. And there's never been a scintilla of good evidence for it. (And don't even get me started on the DDA/FIFA stuff – something which actually counts against the existence of scripting if people thought about it for a moment.)

One thing I don't think is a coincidence: seeing an uptick of posts talking about scripting in relation to eFootball vs PES. That's because, in my view, eFootball is so much more poorly coded than even PES, and given a string of bugs can and will go against you in a match, people need a means of making them intelligible.
 
@janguv, I don't like the word "scripted" either because it's the code representing attributes in the most basic way possible - i.e. "goalkeeper is better than striker, therefore shot must be saved, even if the keeper has to fly like superman to get there" (a PES classic).

However, I implore you (though it is masochistic) to play against the Legend AI for a few games, because it really, really clicked in terms of what's happening. Every instance where my player's limb would go through the ball, for example, was to allow it to run through for the striker, or create a situation of benefit to the opponent at least. It just did not happen the other way around.

(Which is still "representing attributes" in one way or another, but rendering your input meaningless in the process - e.g. successfully predicting where a pass will go, but the ball ghosting through your legs, when it doesn't happen the other way around, which I've shown in a previous video where my online opponent was powerless to stop me.)

In the video, something I didn't notice is that the defender whose foot ghosts through the ball (his kick ignored)... The ball then bounces backwards off his heel so that the ball stays in the right area to shoot. Now you would say "that's just shit coding, sometimes your limbs ghost through, sometimes they don't". But throughout every game, limbs would fly through the ball to keep it rolling to where it needed to be for the team that won the game (and believe me, I was looking for instances to my benefit).

It just did not happen the other way around. Nor did my players zig-zagging all around the ball because they're running to where it used to be. That's absolutely shit programming - yet put the AI down a few pegs and it just doesn't happen.

I'm not saying it's strictly "scripting" but your input is so mashed up when you're supposed to lose (because of a "playstyle" rating deficit or whatever), it's blatant for me now. Crystal clear.
 
@janguv, I don't like the word "scripted" either because it's the code representing attributes in the most basic way possible - i.e. "goalkeeper is better than striker, therefore shot must be saved, even if the keeper has to fly like superman to get there" (a PES classic).

However, I implore you (though it is masochistic) to play against the Legend AI for a few games, because it really, really clicked in terms of what's happening. Every instance where my player's limb would go through the ball, for example, was to allow it to run through for the striker, or create a situation of benefit to the opponent at least. It just did not happen the other way around.

In the video, something I didn't notice is that the defender whose foot ghosts through the ball (his kick ignored)... The ball then bounces backwards off his heel so that the ball stays in the right area to shoot. Now you would say "that's just shit coding, sometimes your limbs ghost through, sometimes they don't". But throughout every game, limbs would fly through the ball to keep it rolling to where it needed to be for the team that won the game (and believe me, I was looking for instances to my benefit).

I've tried my best (over many videos) to show it - like when my online opponent's defenders were perfectly placed, but BOTH legs ghosted through the ball so I'd get the passes. On more than one occasion. He was powerless to stop me.

It just did not happen the other way around. Nor did my players zig-zagging all around the ball because they're running to where it used to be. That's absolutely shit programming - yet put the AI down a few pegs and it just doesn't happen.

I'm not saying it's strictly "scripting" but your input is so mashed up when you're supposed to lose (because of a "playstyle" rating deficit or whatever), it's blatant for me now. Crystal clear.
So that's the only way I actually do play this game now: Legend AI, normally the events, on FUMA. (For my sins.) I see clipping happen routinely, on both teams. I don't have a sense that I am at much of a disadvantage in the weighing up of dodgy shit on the pitch – other than fouls not given (Legend is very aggressive and the refs don't care).

Your definition of scripting here is definitely one more palatable to me than the definition a lot of people implicitly work with. I'm just not convinced the buggy/weird outcome is simply the representation of a stats-based advantage, and therefore as the sum output of a series of favour/disfavour decisions which amount to: you're meant to win/lose.

The hit detection in this game (vs any of the last PES games) is shocking. There's a shit ton of clipping, there's weird animation cycles, etc. I think it's best to think about this game (and others) as bifurcated into what's going on and what you see. Many complaints about these games stem from a misalignment between these things. You execute a pass and see an animation, pass starts, travels, seems like it's about to hit an opponent's boot. That's all (bar the button press) at the level of perception. Underneath, the player who is to receive the pass is *there*, the opposition player whose foot seems to be in the way is *not actually there*, so it just passes through him. They've failed to align what happens in perception with how the underlying code of the situation reads. All gaming is some such misalignment, and developers hope to minimise it as much as possible so it's not obvious – think of the very idea of a hitbox to get across this idea.

So one way of giving expression to just how poorly this game is coded is that this misalignment is frequently severe, and sometimes it's accumulative so that you have 4 or 5 instances of it in quick succession. Yes, as a result, you'll see that a pass is "meant" to be received by X player and so will be received by him come what may – despite your best efforts to intercept – because your player's outstretched leg, so far as the code is concerned, is *not really there*.

There's no two ways to cut it – it's bad. Really, really bad.

I wondered whether they were playing the same build at this tournament yesterday. I couldn't watch more than a couple minutes of it. There were comical moments, such as this one my mate captured. I'm sure, though, if you were masochistic enough to sit and watch the whole thing, you'd find tonnes of examples of exactly the dodgy shit you've been highlighting. But they're all playing with souped up Dream Team versions of players; I'm not sure how easy it would be to chalk the stuff down to better/worse attribute/playstyle stats. I'm certain you'll find laughable stuff though.
 
Like @Isslander, i run a full Arsenal squad and did the mistake of spending 10 euros thinking i'd get juiced up Arsenal squad with nice card design. Turns out, i did a massive mistake that now thinking back, makes me sick to my absolute core.

My old normal Arsenal squad were leveled up according the way i wanted them to play and only now i realized how engaging and rewarding the leveling system are. The new cards come up with higher level stats but only goes up to level seven, leaving out few stats to upgrade according to your preference. Heck, some of them level up max to their normal card counterparts.

This was a massive scam and the first time i fell for micro-transaction and i realized i paid only for the card design. They dont even performer better than some of the normal cards and on several instances, i got the thought to ditch the fancy card for the older normal ones. Never again :MAD::MAD:
 
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Like @Isslander, i run a full Arsenal squad and did the mistake of spending 10 euros thinking i'd get juiced up Arsenal squad with nice card design. Turns out, i did a massive mistake that now thinking back, makes sick to my absolute core.

My old normal Arsenal squad were leveled up according the way i wanted them to play and only now i realized how engaging and rewarding the leveling system are. The new cards come up with higher level stats but only goes up to level seven, leaving few stats to upgrade according to your preference. Heck, some of them level up max to their normal card counterparts.

This was a massive scam and the first time i fell for micro-transaction and i realized i paid only for the card design. They dont even performer better than some of the normal cards and several instances, i got the thought to ditch the fancy card for the older normal ones. Never again :MAD::MAD:
I'm sorry you got caught out. But doesn't this show how predatory this stuff is? You're generally critical and sceptical of this stuff but got caught out and plumped up some cash. There's people far less critical/sceptical who will be easy targets for these kinds of pack sales. It's so dodgy.

Also, it's funny, but what you discovered is actually what some defenders of Konami use to defend the MTX approach. They say "Oh, the players you buy aren't even as good as the ones you train up, so you don't even need to spend!" The implication is that it's all fine and dandy to be selling these glossy special edition players. Or the worse argument (heard on the recent PES Universe pod) is that it's about giving you freedom to play how you want to! Would you like to grind GP and training points, upgrading a squad over time? Then go ahead! Would you like to buy a great squad to use straight away? Then go ahead!

Everyone's a winner, apparently.
 
I don't think it is good they are selling these packs and are clearly a lure for fans of these clubs and MTX whales.

I do think that there is something to be said for manually applying stats to players and 'creating' a version of a player to your liking, which these stupid featured players deny you and are a quick fix as well as rather predatory. Oh, and of course they do a damn fine job of undermining the games one excellent feature in the development of players, be it simply using the suggested or manually applying them.

The only decent featured players that I look at and think 'okay' are the Europa League ones, which are free via objectives. And yeah, quite frankly if they are going to do these featured players you're damn right I want them to have barely enough levels to level up a playstyle proficiency. That said, I can empathize with folks who pay for these packs only to realise the limitations and lack of flexibility. It's sort of scummy however limited my sympathy is given what these packs are.

Ultimately I can enjoy this game at the moment with a frankly ENORMOUS list of caveats. It is crying out for more tailored spaces, be that private/community leagues, team strength restriction competitions, and for cloud based v. AI content. Such additions alone wouldn't make it great or anything, simply some specialized content, and I haven't touched on the on-field issues, of which some I personally maybe less sensitive to compared to others.
 
Ultimately I can enjoy this game at the moment with a frankly ENORMOUS list of caveats. It is crying out for more tailored spaces, be that private/community leagues, team strength restriction competitions, and for cloud based v. AI content. Such additions alone wouldn't make it great or anything, simply some specialized content, and I haven't touched on the on-field issues, of which some I personally maybe less sensitive to compared to others.
You know what, I don't even need Konami to build in features explicitly designed for customised leagues – all I (and many others) needed was that they leave in the game the ability to make them ourselves. This is part of the tragedy of eFootball for me personally.

Yes, they gutted the franchise, but more importantly in one fell swoop they axed several communities with hundreds (together thousands) of players, people who came together to make something out of the game on their own terms, all entirely without monetisation or (for the most part) toxicity.

For those that don't know, I'm referencing 1v1 and 11v11 leagues. And the reason these are now dead is that they relied on our ability to make custom players (11s) or custom teams (1v1), save the data, and then upload it for use either in teamplay or friendly lobbies. So without ML, BAL, and edit mode, there's no ability to do this now.

Thing is, we wouldn't even need those modes; it was always clumsy doing it this way. It would be easier for everyone if they just introduced edit mode (the most scandalous exclusion), lobbies, and a direct facility to upload instead of using BAL or ML to create players and teams for this use.

Do Konami even know about these leagues? I know some representatives of the past knew about them, and some fan accounts are dimly aware. I suspect if they do know, they don't care. Because we are actually communities (EvoWeb is also a community), and for all the talk about "the PES community" (that homogeneous lump) from the likes of PES Universe or occasionally Konami themselves, what is really their concern is people as consumers and what demographic they can analyse them as. Nothing this company does is for "the community" – it's for people considered as likely to pay X amount over Y time or have their attention retained for Z time. That's it.

(It's also the case, in my view, that so many people on Twitter/Facebook/Reddit complaining about the game or sharing packs etc. – these are also not communities; they're consumers with a shared interest. The only grey area I would say are the fans of particular streamers and the little world they create among themselves, even if their shared identity largely revolves around being the consumers that Konami has made them and having a parasocial relationship with a streamer.)

eFootball as it stands represents the decay of actual communities.
 


Yeah, I made another video...

I read on Twitter that if you play the current "Event" that's national teams only (versus the AI) five times, you get a 5-star "nominating contract".

I played ten times on the Legend difficulty, because I know one of the "objectives" is to defeat the Legend AI. I managed three goals in those ten games, and lost every single one - but what shocked me was that it's the perfect test-bed...

... it's the perfect recreation of online play. Whenever I win online, my players simply aren't as delayed as the opponent's. Whenever I lose, my players are very obviously "aiming" for where the ball was a second ago, resulting in them zig-zagging past it one way and then the other.

I knew it before, but playing these games back-to-back it was clear as day that the "poorly coded" moments - e.g. seeing limbs pass through the ball (and other players) - would constantly happen when it was to the opponent's advantage (e.g. a defender unable to knock the ball away because his foot went through it like a ghost), but would barely (if ever) happen when it was to the team-that-must-lose's advantage.

It's made me realise the entire game is just built in bullshit. The whole thing. Every deflection has to go to a player (not run free) and if you're the one with the combined average of ability and "playstyle" ratings, it's your lucky day!

Every goalkeeper "punch" isn't based on physics, but on who's supposed to win. If it's you, you're about to score a tap-in! If it's not, it’s punched so hard it nearly reaches the sideline.

Every defender just can't get to the ball, his running animation interrupted to delay him. My newest player, Mo Salah - the fastest player in almost every match I played - was outrun by the slowest opposition defenders every single time without exaggeration. Again, it's the exact same online, if you're "supposed" to lose.

Every offside trap you try is let down by defenders not pushing up, no matter the ability and "chemistry" of your defenders - if the opposition is "supposed" to win.

The whole game is manipulated from start to finish, rendering your input meaningless.

It's shameful. Truly shameful. I say this as someone who wins most games because through all the "admin apology" GP and eCoins, I have Pep Guardiola as manager, an average player rating of 90+ and a "playstyle" rating of 100, I witness all the bullshit that the game usually puts my opponent through and I can see that I'm winning without being skilful, only because I am selected to win.

What you're describing is the momentum script, which has been in the game for years. I first really noticed it in PES2019, when in certain periods of matches, or entire matches, not only did the cpu get an obvious boost (that's been in the game since PES1) but your players were clearly being hampered and the "physics" became heavily biased in favour of the cpu. Of course, sometimes it'll be biased in favour of you.

But I did some tests in PES19 and the penny dropped as to what was happening, how the game was clearly manipulating outcomes. Once you've seen it, you cannot unsee it. It's very heavily present in PES20 and PES21 and even going back to PES18, I can now see it there, too. It's probably in earlier games, too.

As eFootball is essentially the same game engine but with Unreal gfx tacked on, it's inevitable that the same momentum scripting is at its heart. I think it's always possible to still win, you just have to battle against everything and find a tactic to overcome it - not a football tactic, a computer game tactic.
 
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