Ok as promised here are my full complete sliders. I finally did figure out the aggression one. The agression only affects the CPU and determines how aggresive they are in attacking the puck carrier and taking chances as opposed to sitting back. On 0, they were way too laid back as they would never hit and never make any mistakes defensively. The settings are 0-6, the # of notches from the left....and the ones that I leave out are personal preference. Again this is on Superstar but can be done on All Star according to a friend of mine (pro no as the game is too easy). I also play 10 min periods, and all my games are close - usually one or two goal decisions and I average about 2-3 goals a game, the most ive scored was 5 (once and rare). And shots are close, 60% of the time I get outshot. And I average about 4-6 PPs a a game, penalties are evenly spread out between me and the CPU.
Game settings menu
Rules
- penalties @ 6
Gameplay settings
- game speed @ 1
- puck control @ 0
- fatigue effect @ 5
- AI learning @ 6
Skating (hit RB/LB)
- fatigue recovery @ 3
- player acceleration @ 0
Checking (hit LB/RB)
- hitting power @ 0
- aggression @ 4
- Poke effectiveness @ 4
Passing (hit RB/LB)
- pass speed @ 2
-saucer pass @ 2
- pass intercept \@ 6
- goalie passing @ 0
Shooting (hit LB/RB)
- shot accuracy @ 1
- shot power @ 1
Defense (hit LB/RB)
- shot blocking @ 6
- hook effect @ 4
- pen. shot freq @ 4
- goalie cover puck freq @ 6
Volume (MY CROWDS ARE SO LOUD NOW and feel like a real game!)
- commentator @ 5
- sound fx @ 6
- crowd @ 6
- arena music @ 4
- announcer @ 4
Another thing is I wish there was an injury slider as there isnt nearly enough injuries.
Now another thing you can do to take things a bit further is edit every player on your roster so that their attributes and flaws stand out more. Thats one thing I hated about EA NHLs, is that no matter if you are running your top line or your 4th line...you cant feel it control wise. By default, your 4th line guys can wheel and deal like your top line guys, and that to me just isnt realistic at all.
Well go into your main menu roster--->edit players and adjust each one. For ex, I made Iggy a bit faster and better along the boards and defensively, and turned down the puck handling and offensive awareness on guys like Warrener, Regehr, grinders etc. Now when I play, I can actually feel the difference when say Warrener is rushing the puck up the ice as opposed to Phaneuf. Just makes things more realistic. And with my speed settings, like I said the faster guys stand out more - so if Iggy is chasing down a loose puck for a chance on a breakaway, he will accelerate like he does in real life noticable faster than the 3rd and 4th lines chasing down the puck.
Now with these sliders, I significantly toned down the end to end arcade like play and it plays as close to a real NHL game as it gets - the pacing, neutral zone play, zone faceoffs, etc. You cant deke around defenders as easily on default, and turnovers/puck strips actually occur in the neutral zone now (just like in real life), and you actually have to be smart with your passes now and setting up plays. Also you should create a play since the AI is very good in adapting now to your breakouts....the only bad thing is, I dont think you can save more than one create a play at a time
Also the offensive and defensive strategies I use are - def: Normal with the PK at large box. Off: Normal with the PP at Shooting. And then obviously as the game goes on, depending on how the score is...adjust your off. and def. strategies accordingly.
and im now 4 games above .500. Lombo is such a good skater in this game...especially on the PK he is one of my best Pkers with primeau on the 2nd PK unit, and Conroy and Nolan have some real good chemistry on that 3rd line.
