Madden 16 – Settings and Sliders (CFM)

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As promised, here are the official NoobTubeTV settings (version 1.0) and sliders for your CFM.

A few things before you dig into these.  Yes, I have nerfed the CPU run blocking.  This is because I have played against enough players like Jeremy Hill and such that simply run over every tackle attempt that I chose to even it up a bit.  I am considering turning CPU Run Block up to 20 as I keep playing, but so far I have been having great games (especially in my second season).

Also, be sure to set the auto-subs before the season if you want to get the proper stats for starters and backups.

I set the quarter length to 12 minutes because 15 was giving me far too many plays and high scores.  Setting it at 12 minutes is a great sim experience that will give you about 65 plays per game depending on how quickly you snap the ball, etc.

One final tip… When running the ball you should NEVER hit the sprint button until the play has developed and then speed burst through the hole.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!

Settings
Instant Starter – ON
Salary Cap – ON
Skill Level – All Madden
Quarter Length – 12 Minutes
Accelerated Clock – On
Minimum Play Clock – 15 Seconds
Game Speed – Normal
Player Progression – Every 4 Weeks
Coach Firing – On
Gameplay Tuning – Yes
Injury – On
Pre-Existing Injury – OFF
Trade Deadline – On
Trade Type – Enable All
Relocation Settings – Off
League Type – All
Auto Strafe – Off
Heat Seeker – On
Ball Hawk – On
Camera – Standard
On-Field Visual – Off
Def. Tackle Indicator – Off
Kicking Arc – On
Passing Camera – On
CPU Settings (CFM)
All set to OFF besides Game Prep (Game Prep is a complete waste of time)
SLIDERS HUM/CPU
QBA 55/40
Pass Block 50/50
WRC – 50/41
RBK – 53/15
FUM – 45/35
PDR – 75/55
INT – 50/40
PCV – 70/53
TAK – 60/45
Special Teams
FGP – 50
FGA – 50 (If you set this below 50 you will get the terrible accuracy glitch that basically makes your kick arc go crazy)
PPW – 50
PAC – 100 (CPU punters are terrible, EA needs to fix this legacy issue)
KOP – 50
Game Options
Injuries – 55
Fatigue – 60
Min Speed Thresh – 40
Penalties
Offside – 55
False Start – 50
Holding – 40
Def. Hold – 50
Face Mask – 50
Def PI – 50
Off PI – On
Kick Catch – On
Illegal Block – 50
Intentional Ground – On (Doesn’t work either way)
Rough Pass – 50
Rough Kick – On
Running Into – On
Auto-Subs
QB – 50/40
HB – 85/70
WR – 85/70
TE/FB – 80/65
OL – 12/10
DT – 80/65
DE – 80/65
LB – 80/65
CB – 80/70
S – 80/70
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Madden 16 – The Scouting Guide For Your CFM

I thought about which part of Madden 16 I would feature first this year and I believe that the biggest improvement to Franchise Mode this year is in the scouting process.  They are really trying their best to make you focus on the scheme of your coach and the play-style of each player on your team.  While this might still be somewhat wishful thinking in terms of making the game a more ‘true to life experience’ it certainly makes it a bit more challenging and enjoyable to scout players for the upcoming draft.

Madden_NFL_16The one part of scouting and the draft that seems to have been hidden away for some reason is the weekly news keeping you up to date on all the latest college prospect happenings throughout the season.  They are still in the game, but they are nowhere near the main page you look at each week.  You have to go all the way to the far right tab and look up the league news, etc.  It is terribly clunky and I can’t believe they haven’t designed the interface to be a bit more organized.  Why there isn’t a page totally dedicated to the upcoming draft with mock drafts and news on draft picks is beyond me.  So, with that said – here is a quick guide for scouting.

It’s All About Scheme

If you want to draft players that will come into your team with the highest overall rating possible you need to focus on scouting and drafting according to your coaching schemes and player preferences.  You can find all this information under the ‘Coach Section’ in CFM (the same area you find auto-subs, etc.).  Take some time before you start your season and certainly before you start scouting (Which begins in Week 3 each regular season).  If you are running a 3-4 defense chances are good that you won’t want to draft a 4-3 DE to play DE for your team at the same position (now, if you want to move him to OLB after the draft… well, we will talk about that later.

Invest Heavily in Middle and Late Rounders

Yes, your first round pick is crucial and you need to get it right.  However, this is typically one player at a position you know for a fact you want to fill.  In this case you know what you are looking for and shouldn’t have to spend your points on first round prospects as your options will hopefully be limited.  If there isn’t a can’t-miss prospect for your team in the first round of the draft I would highly suggest shopping your pick during the draft (or even near the trade deadline if your team is looking like a playoff team (no sense in keeping a late 1st round pick when you can trade it for a future 1st and a current 2nd or 3rd Rd. pick for this coming draft.

Use your points to find players at positions you are weak in the middle rounds.  There are often some high 70s and low 80s players that fall into the 4th and 5th rounds – you need to uncover their draft stock and be sure to ‘Watch’ them with the Triangle or ‘Y’ button as you scout.

Watching Players (Your Draft Board)

Sure, you still can’t put players into a draftable order for your team, but the new function of ‘Watch’ is a great way to organize the players you uncover as potential goldmines in the draft.  This will also be helpful for you as you get past the 2nd Round and see who is falling or who might get snagged by the CPU.  Keep in mind!!! The CPU becomes a trade nazi during the draft.  You might want to move up a few picks to get a guy you have a feeling might go before you get a chance.  The CPU will not take a trade that might happen in the regular season – so don’t be afraid to pull the trigger on one of those players you are watching maybe a round earlier than it suggests (if you think he merits the risk).

Check The News Wire

During the season and just after the Super Bowl it is crucial for you to see which players are featured on the news feed as they are often going to be ‘storyline’ players as well as decent picks to take when you get the chance.  There are some other players that will be tremendous busts as well – don’t fall into that trap.

Keep checking back for more tips and suggestions for your Madden 16 CFM.  The NoobTubeTV Sliders and Setting will also be uploaded to PS4 servers and shared here shortly!

Madden 16 – Info Release Coming In May

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Starting on May 8 – it will be time for Madden news.

Some of it has already started as EA Announced the August 25th release date.

For many sports fans it is either the first month of baseball or playoff season for basketball and hockey.

For the rest of us it will always be football season.  This might be why as soon as the Super Bowl is over people are already in full ‘NFL Draft Mode’.  For people like myself (Browns fans) we are already prepping for the next draft before this draft is even over.  It seems that Madden is following the guidelines of those kinds of teams when it comes to improving the game.  Sure, they might have a decent season that surprises us (Madden 10 and Madden 25), but largely they are expected to finish with a losing record (Madden 06-09 and 11-13).

Madden seems to to take one step forward and two steps back annually.  While they implemented much needed changes to Connected Franchise Mode last year, it was still sorely lacking once you got into the guts of the mode.  Many of the contract negotiations were too easy and some of the retirements and signings were just flat out strange.

My biggest pet peeve as a staunch CFM player was the player progression.  By the time you get to your 5th or 6th season you will have on average 4-5 players on every team rated 90+ OVR.  It is frustrating for me to so easily build the Browns into a contender and 4-time Super Bowl winners by the 2019 season.

Second biggest pet peeve…?  Easy – The in-game NFL Draft.  It seems that every year that goes by they throw little changes into this and it is still disappointing.  The presentation is lacking as Schefter seems to say the same stuff about players every 2-3 seasons.  Then there are the teams that take a QB after already having two that are 80+ on the roster.  The list goes on and on, but what makes it hilarious at this moment is the fact that EA released their own Mock Draft (which doesn’t even exist on any Madden game).  There seemed to be logic in some of those picks – of course they took Crab Legs Winston #1 Overall.  He sounds like a generated rookie from Madden after all.

Stay tuned for the Madden 16 info as it is released!

Madden Ratings System Unveiled

A recent article on FiveThirtyEight.com has helped us understand a bit more about what goes into Madden player ratings.  I wish I could say I am impressed.  Madden is one of the most stale and non-simulation sports games in existence, yet it gets touted as being true to the game.

It has always bothered me that Donny Moore seems to have full power to subjectively up someone’s rating because of one big catch, run or block.  I truly miss 2K Football more and more as I read about Madden and the NFL in general.

Here is the breakdown from FiveThirtyEight –

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Madden 15 – How To Keep CFM Fresh Until The Next Release

As much as I find it easy to troll EA and Tiburon for their annual cloneware – Madden 15 was the best Madden to date.  That said, it still gets to me that they don’t update rosters after the Super Bowl.  This has left many users to create roster updates and even add newly drafted players to teams in order to replicate what is happening in the league as far as rosters go.

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If you have followed NoobTubeTV over the last few years you will know that I almost exclusively play Offline Connected Franchise Mode.  Moreover, you will know that I almost always use my Cleveland Browns.  Even after finding the perfect sliders and gameplay tweaks CFM will get rather boring after a few seasons.

It is incredibly easy to build up a team into a juggernaut.  You simply need to invest in players that are between 20-26 years old that fit your play-style and keep them to minimum contracts until they are 30.  It is a widely known fact that EA has told Madden gamers that players will start to decline once they hit that age threshold.  Knowing how easy it is to relatively deal with the age issues of players and dominate with your team after a season or two of development it won’t be much of a shock to hear about people trading Madden in while they can still get some decent credit for it or simply leave it on the shelf to collect dust.  Here are a few tips on how to keep your CFM fresh.

  1. Max Contacts – Figure out your favorite players on Offense and Defense and make them fixtures on your team for the rest of their career.  In my case I had to choose between Josh Gordon and Johnny Manziel.  Both players were 99 OVR by the time I got to the 2016 season and I decided to sign Johnny for the biggest amount of money and years (I believe it was 7 years, $140 million).  This will help make your salary cap management a bit tougher as you choose who to build your team around.
  2. Don’t Scout Draft Prospects – It really is this simple.  Don’t scout a single prospect during the season and you will quickly realize that what was once an incredibly easy draft process is more like real-life.  It will become more of a lottery system for your team and you won’t be able to find those ‘not so hidden’ gems in later rounds.
  3. Give The CPU More In Trades – It seems that trade logic in sports games has decided to take a nose-dive in realism.  NBA 2K actually has a trade difficulty slider (Madden needs this in the worst way!).  Do not shirk the CPU for their Draft Picks or certain players you know are franchise quality.
  4. One Draft Pick Per Round (At most) – It is far too easy (as stated in #3) to load up on 10-15 draft picks every season.  Make it a personal rule that you will not have more than one pick per round for every draft.  This will prevent you from pwning the draft year-in, year-out.  Madden has some of the dumbest draft logic in all of sports gaming, so don’t act like you really have to worry about the CPU.
  5. Coach Mode – This is something I have yet to do myself.  Simply call the plays for your team, snap the ball and let the AI take care of the rest.  This will make you look at your players in a different light and might even change the way you build your team.