Digital Gaming Arena Forum

Forum => The Locker Room => Topic started by: Jason on September 12, 2017 @ 02:38:52 PM

Title: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on September 12, 2017 @ 02:38:52 PM
Is available right now on PSN. Haven't heard much about any new features this year...curious to check it out.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on September 12, 2017 @ 03:44:01 PM
After playing a half I now know that it supports HDR, looks great and plays even better. I wasn't expecting to be so impressed in such a short amount of time.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on September 16, 2017 @ 05:11:58 PM
I was watching some Chris Smoove videos and I gotta say I'm tempted to make a day 1 purchase of this just for the front office stuff.  I haven't played a soccer game in quite some time.  Gonna spend some time with the demo.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on September 16, 2017 @ 06:35:16 PM
I've been meaning to ask you why you don't play soccer games anymore. You were the one who got me into Winning Eleven back in the PS2 days and you even ran the honor league with WE 6 & 7 for a few seasons.

If I didn't have so many other games to play, FIFA 18 would probably be a day one purchase for me too.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on September 16, 2017 @ 07:14:21 PM
I've never really been into the actual sport.  I think at the time the WE games portrayed their sport better than the football, baseball, and basketball games portrayed their respective sports.  I did like the master league play of WE at the time too so that kind of got me into it as well.  I also remember kind of being into the commentary of those old WE titles and that it felt more natural than the other sports titles of the time.

Then as the other sports caught up in terms of realistic gameplay I switched back to sports I enjoyed more and understood the strategy more.  I'm a sucker for front office gameplay too, so even though I can't stand football in real life I really have enjoyed the last iteration of Madden and the NCAA game back from 2014(?) I think.  Soccer gaming has really taken a back seat to baseball (The Show) and now football.  I find the NHL franchise extremely boring now as the on ice play just hasn't evolved much over the last 5 years, imo.

So, basically, if the on field play is at least somewhat interesting and the commentary doesn't grate on my nerves, and if the off field game is engrossing, I can get into a title even if I'm not interested in the real life sport at all (Madden, FIFA).  If the on field play is boring (NHL), and the commentary annoying (NHL), then I can't get interested at all even if it's a real life sport I enjoy, even if the off ice play is interesting.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on September 17, 2017 @ 12:10:35 PM
The demo really has me in that "just one more game" mode.  I really like the play.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on September 17, 2017 @ 12:56:58 PM
Quote from: Ted on September 17, 2017 @ 12:10:35 PM
The demo really has me in that "just one more game" mode.  I really like the play.
I feel the same way even though I've played a ton of FIFA 16 & 17.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on September 17, 2017 @ 01:46:59 PM
Presentation has really stepped up since I last played (2014?).  I really like the replays on goals now with the swinging camera angles.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on October 07, 2017 @ 12:40:54 AM
How are you enjoying the gameplay so far? I had planned on getting PES 2018 first this year, but after playing both demos a handful of times today, I've now decided to get FIFA first.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on October 09, 2017 @ 01:10:00 PM
Quite a bit I guess as I have pretty much been playing it non stop since release day. 

I'm absolutely a career mode guy and not into just picking up and playing a one-off match to kill time and so far it's hitting on all cylinders for me with its career offerings.

I simmed a lot and played a couple games per calendar month in my first career and then ran into a known and nasty bug that has been in the game for at least two years.  It's the forfeit bug which skyrockets your travel expenses and plunges you deep into the hole.  I had to forfeit a match due to not able to field a full team because 5 players were on international duty.  The forfeit was completely my fault as I sold a bunch of players on the transfer market and refilled from scouted free agents.  I didn't realize at the time, but a lot of those available free agents have international obligations and disappear from the roster several times per season.  I was at -56M loss for the season when I got fired.  Financial goals were a critical part of that first team so that's why the firing happened, but it ended up not mattering because I was done with that team after learning some of the intricacies of career with it.  I actually played on for a couple of calendar months before getting the sack so it wasn't an immediate problem, but I knew the clock was ticking so I kept experimenting with that career.

Restarted a new career with a different team and lessons learned about depleting my roster and keeping sufficient reserve players.  Started simming and playing again trying to figure out a balance between challenge and fun on the field.  I thought I was ready for professional, but it is just a tad too frustrating for me.  I'm an offense guy and I'd rather play a .500 or even a losing season with games ranging from 0-5 goals reliably then a bunch of 1-0 wins a losses even if I take the championship.  Also I just need to get better and I am already noticing different things I can do after watching a couple of let's play careers with a couple youtubers I like.

So I started my third and hopefully permanent career this weekend with EPL2 Crawley Town.  I chose them because they have what appears to be the easiest goals to achieve this season to keep my job.  Very low critical goals on everything except financial which is medium.  I should be ok.   Then the patch came out this weekend and made semi-pro a little too easy, but whatever....I'll take the offense now and move up to professional after this season if it proves to be too easy.

I'll try to give updates a little further on as I experience the different parts of career, but so far I have already gotten $60 worth of value out of the title.  There's a lot going on in career and you have stuff to check and do every few days on the calendar.  That could be it looking at emails about scouted players, negotiating contract extensions or delegating those negotiations, negotiating transfers or delegating same, or  rearranging formations.  You also have to try to keep players in form and also happy and meeting their contract expectations.  And of course just playing 1 or 2 games per calendar week while managing fatigue.  The real difference between this game and other sports games is you really seem to have to plan when to play your starting 11 because you can't really play them every game.  So you need to look at the calendar and figure out which games are the most important and get those players rested and in form for those games.  I really like that part of it.  Add to that the financial limitations of being in EPL2 and there's a lot of thinking about what I want to do between games.

I also think there is a depth here that I don't fully understand yet because I think not all players with the same rating are equal.  There seems to be a lot of detail that you can get into if you want to.  I think if you really know the sport you can find very specific skill sets in players to complement your other players.  So maybe a 60 rated striker is not just a scrub, but would be the exact player to fit in with some others on your team and would be very effective if his skills and traits complement their skills and traits and match your playing style and formation.



Edit:  I forgot to even mention the training that you can play or sim with your players which improves their skills at a faster rate than normal, but (from what I've read) lowers their overall top potential or maybe just their pace rating.  And the youth scouting and signing.  Always looking for that next star player and replenishing the roster for future years.  Or in EPL2 looking for that player that can make an impact for 2 to 4 years and then sell on for a healthy profit when he becomes too expensive to keep.

Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on October 22, 2017 @ 02:46:57 PM
Scored from a free kick for the first time ever in FIFA (as far as I can remember) to win the game in the 89th minute after coming back from down 1-0 late.

Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on October 22, 2017 @ 06:30:03 PM
Nice! I don't think I've ever scored one of those. I either shoot 20 feet over the net or right into the defenders in front of me.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on October 22, 2017 @ 07:23:22 PM
Hey thanks for getting the video to show up!
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on October 22, 2017 @ 07:58:25 PM
Quote from: Ted on October 22, 2017 @ 07:23:22 PM
Hey thanks for getting the video to show up!

I just need to figure out how to get them to show up in Tapatalk again. Apparently the new plugin I just installed is not compatible with it.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on October 23, 2017 @ 05:28:29 PM
Are you using manual passing in that video?
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on October 23, 2017 @ 08:01:48 PM
Whatever the default is....assisted?
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on October 24, 2017 @ 01:39:56 PM
I asked because I like how the passing lines are displayed on the screen. I played the demo and realized that I could enable them in the FIFA Trainer settings. Last year's game was all or nothing with the display, so I turned it off and forgot about it.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on October 24, 2017 @ 06:57:50 PM
Yes, I like the trainer and keep it on always.  It has helped me get better at making sure I'm pushing the stick in the right direction and at the right time, but has also helped me to see that sometimes the cpu passes passes poorly and it isn't my fault because it must be them using the player's passing skill.  It has eased my frustration with errant passes when they happen.  I know clearly whether it was my error or the player not having good skill.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on October 25, 2017 @ 11:29:20 AM
What difficulty level do you play on? Pro?

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on October 25, 2017 @ 12:31:53 PM
I'm on world class now that my career team has earned promotion to EFL Championship.  The recent videos on my channel are on pro.

I played my first season in EFL2 on semi and played almost every game.  By the end of the season it was too easy, but I kept it there for consistency.  I got promoted to EFL1 and moved up to pro.  I finally found a system I like.  I sim every game except for the last match of the month and play that one.  I'm happy with the statistical consistency, the difficulty, and getting through a season before getting bored.  I spent two seasons in EFL1 before getting promotion to EFL Championship.  I played the playoff final, which was against a team that was one higher in the table than me, on pro and won 3-0 pretty handily.  With Champ I have moved up to world class difficulty with the same sim/play system.  I'll see how it goes this season.  Basically if I get promoted I move the difficulty up and demotion I'll move it down.  So far I'm lower-mid table in Champ after about 1/4 season played.  The 3 games I've played myself have all resulted in draws so it's been a significant jump.

I play FUT using different difficulty depending on what I'm facing and how many points I'm trying to get.  I even play that on amateur sometimes, but have played up to legendary as well.  I mostly move back and forth between amateur and semi in FUT because I can earn more points toward packs at the lower difficulty and that game mode is all about points to earn better free packs at the end of the week.  The really interesting part is that their system is similar to the old Honor League system we used to play.  You can play any difficulty you want and it adjusts your rewards and ranking based on what you accomplish during the game and at what difficulty you play on.  I'm never going to break into the top 100 playing on semi, but I did get to Gold 1 which is like top 30%(?) and got 3 nice packs and 10k coins as a reward. 
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on October 26, 2017 @ 12:16:18 AM
Another free kick goal.  This time with Goretzka in FUT.  I love these.



Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on October 28, 2017 @ 12:52:35 AM
FIFA 18 is currently on sale for $47.99 on PSN, but I'm still holding out for my $39.99 price point. I remember buying PES 2015 for $47.99 only to see the price drop to $39.99 the following week. Sony was nice enough to credit me the difference after I called them, but I'd rather not deal with the hassle. I'm also waiting on my free $50 PSN card for signing up for the PlayStation Visa credit card.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on October 28, 2017 @ 02:22:40 PM
Nothing wrong with waiting.  It will still be as good a game when it's cheaper.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on November 11, 2017 @ 12:43:30 AM
Here's another game that has made big strides since last year with greatly improves graphics, tons of new animations and HDR. It's like night and day comparing this game to FIFA 17, which I loved too. The new animations have impressed the most. Even something as simple as the players sprinting looks so much better than last years hyper-active sprinting animations.

They must have done some work on the defensive AI too because I'm having very competitive games on Pro while I had no problem beating every team on Pro in FIFA 17 as recently as a few weeks ago.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Ted on November 11, 2017 @ 12:58:01 PM
I see a lot of comments about the defense and most people online saying it's harder this year.  Of course they changed the defense buttons and what they do, but the option to select legacy defense controls is there and I've done that.  It was just too hard to tackle otherwise.

I am disappointed in that some of the camera angle replays I saw in the demo have just not appeared at all in the full release and I really can't understand that.  Maybe it's only available in certain league's presentations.  Who knows.
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Brad Company on April 30, 2018 @ 03:17:35 PM
Now I won't need another footy game for 4 years..https://blog.us.playstation.com/2018/04/30/fifa-18-free-world-cup-update-available-may-29/ (https://blog.us.playstation.com/2018/04/30/fifa-18-free-world-cup-update-available-may-29/)
Title: Re: FIFA 18 Beta...
Post by: Jason on April 30, 2018 @ 04:38:38 PM
I'm shocked that EA is releasing this for free. Good job by them!!!