Here is Version 8 of our Operation Sports sliders. Enjoy!
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Changelog & Updates:
Timestamp: 11/22/22 | 11:06PM CST --
As always, thanks for everyone's patience here. We have explored a lot over the last couple days. A lot of the time spent was reviewing values and trying to verify what we have had from previous versions still worked. I can say that we spent an incredible amount of time with the HLW values the most, along with marking. This patch update brought in a more direct CPU, one that constantly challenged the backline with through balls and constantly looking for the forward pass regardless of tactics.
I can say that we reviewed every detailed post and feedback from the thread, especially those who liked the very low line length. We tried our best to make it work, but the loss of space through the midfield made the gameplay incredibly boring and without team ID - not to mention quite easy. We tried to push this further with various discrepancies in length and width, but doing so made the gameplay completely out of sync. We had made so many attempts at the HLW, that I honestly could not believe we found ourselves practically back to the Version 7 HLW values, with the exception of Height lowered in this version to help the defensive line recover a bit more.
Along with some on-the-ball values, we really wanted to get the shooting and keeper animations to a point that it felt rewarding to score goals again. The GK ability value is incredibly sensitive, under 55 and you get more dumb GK animations, above 55 and they are incredible, so just dropping their value and maintaining a shot speed of 50 would not allow long distance shots serve as a threat unless the power-shot feature was used, but even then goals were rare. As a result, the shot speed value was raised quite a bit to 53, but paired up with the high shot error, the variety and unpredictability is still significant enough. Here are some great goals that have been scored:
(Played on World Class, slow)
One of the last values we looked at was the FB Positioning. We dropped this back down because it had become route one for the FB to immediately overlap, regardless of tactics, making it a bit of a mismatch for FIFA's defending system of 1v1 (thanks, EA producers and FUT) on the flanks. The defending FB wouldn't stand a chance as the width value couldn't be stretched any further without impacting the center-back spacing.
Overall, this has been one of those sets that does not tell the whole story of testing. However, it is probably the most rewarding as we basically confirmed that a lot of values from Version 7 was in still good working order - we just needed to find our way back to them. The changes that are made in response to this patch update are significant enough that each game should have enough variety and unpredictability that we all look for in FIFA. We hope you enjoy and are able to continue, or start, your Career modes.
Also, enjoy the World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Spend less time complaining and giving into social media pressures. This is the beautiful game on the pitch - embrace it and look at the incredible moments from a youthful or nostalgic perspective.
Thanks!
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