|
|
How it worksFrom WikiFreekick[edit] How it works?
Any serious match simulation takes the quality of players and tactical options into account in the match. But few try to simulate the essence of football to enable the managers to make intuitive and football like decisions for their squad. Instead simulations are usually restricted to the game genre and lose its football feeling for anyone that knows the sport. While we do simplify parts of the simulation to make it enjoyable as a game, we believe we rise above the flaw of forgetting what we simulate. One important, unique aspect of our match engine is that we describe the opportunity part in detail and that the challenges you read about actually occur in the simulation. As FreeKick is bound to no nonsense reports it limits the possibility to flavour comments within the report as everything written there actually occurs in the simulation. If the detail isn't covered in the simulation it cannot be reported according to the no nonsense policy. Each side gets approximately the same amount of opportunities unless their tactics stipulate otherwise. In this occasion, we disregard the quality of the players and formation of each side as they will get their chance to prove themselves within the opportunities. This practice gives both managers the chance to analyze what went wrong just like an expert would. The opportunity can be simplified as four steps; starting, midfield, penalty box and goal attempt. The opportunity starts with a pass, dribble or counterattack that brings the ball to the offensive part of the midfield. If the attacking side keeps the ball they will likely try to bring the ball into the box to go for goal. If the defence fails to conquer the ball, the attackers will try to score with the goalkeeper as the last obstacle. It's fair to call the description in the last paragraph simplified as every player has orders given by the manager that might alter this four step description somewhat (long shots, high crosses, one touch passes, drops...) and the effect of action might also complicate the opportunity (rebounds, set pieces, counter attacks...). It's not necessary to make advanced choices to win matches, but it is often the best way to utilize specific players. We also take into consideration that football is a team sport. Although stars are important at any place on the pitch, they are influenced by how good help they have from their team mates. Besides the obvious importance of a great pass, we also take into account the abstract part of football that only the experts usually comment. We see this as quite intuitive, but we explain the thoughts behind the zones in a separate chapter for you to indulge in. During the match the conditional orders of the manager can come into effect. These orders are given before the match and come into effect when their condition (leading with 2 goals and/or in a certain minute for example) is true. Once again these settings are not necessary to win, but playing more offensive when behind in the second half can lead to an equalizer or even turn the game around. Substituting tired players are also a common conditional order. Tactical options are described under "Tactics" and we suggest that you read through that section carefully for a good understanding of the tools that are available. FreeKick is a strategic game and it's quite possible to lose while having the best squad if one neglects the match tactics or don't understand the essence of the match simulation. Details:The quality of player actions in the match report are described in denominations based on the players skills. Although the denominations in the match report can deviate a fair amount, the average is still the player skill denomination (modified by form and stamina). Other influences to a player action are not incorporated into the match report denomination (such as the zone or positioning influence on a goalie's saving attempt).
[edit] FoulsPlayers will put extra effort into challenges now and then. They do this when it’s needed to add that little extra to come out on top in a situation or to better the odds; they are more likely to do this if they grasp that the situation will get dangerous defensively if the don’t. The referee is infallible, which means that he sees everything. As the players never foul on purpose, the referee sometimes lets things pass, but he always keep track of the player actions and won’t let them get away with repeated actions. Putting extra effort into a situation can raise the skill effect with up to two denominations if needed to come out on top, but players seldom misjudge their effort that much and the referee is more likely to blow his whistle the rougher the play is. In positioning duels a player can put effort into getting closer or getting away. Note that regardless of positioning duels, ball control versus tackling, Aerial versus Aerial or any other situation – both the defending player and the attacking player can foul (although not at the same time). Certain personalities, abilities and experience affect fouling. Read more about this in their respective manual chapters.
[edit] InjuriesIn every challenge situation in a match the players can be injured. The risk is higher for the player that is challenged, and other factors such as a player having the personality Cautious will alter the risks. When a player gets injured he will continue playing the ongoing match until finished without penalties, but will then be injured for a full week. A player can get injured several times during a match and risk missing several weeks. Although it's unlucky to get injured, the Constitution skill is vital to resist injuries. A player with low Constitution is less likely to get injured the first 30 minutes of his participation.
[edit] SuspensionsWhen a player commits a foul, there is a risk that he will receive a reprimand or a yellow card. Obnoxious players are being booked more often and can even talk themselves into a card without actually fouling anyone. Charming players sometimes talk themselves out of situations. Once a player receives a yellow card he will not foul in that match again as players in FreeKick don’t foul on purpose and never as severe as to receive a red card straight away. Accumulating two yellow cards (in separate matches) will lead to the player being suspended for one match, but both yellow cards and suspensions are reset at end of season.
[edit] Penalty kicksThe first chance to score for the penalty taker is if the keeper fails to go in the right direction. Modification for the keeper: * Master of set pieces * Reliable * Confident * Quick * Nervous (negative) * Attacker is Master of Set Pieces (negative) The second issue is whether the penalty taker actually hits goal. This is something that the taker should be able to do, but sometimes doesn't. Modification for the penalty taker: * Confident * High Experience * Reliable * Nervous (negative) * Keeper is going in the right direction (negative) * Low Experience (negative) * Artistic (negative) The keeper gets a chance to save the ball if he goes in the right direction. The penalty taker uses the two best out of Experience, Passing, Scoring and Ball Control to take the shot. There is some balancing going on between these skills to (for example) simulate that you need technique to be able to use full Scoring or Passing. The keeper uses an average of (half of his) Experience, Reflexes and Interception. Modification for the penalty taker: * Master of Set Pieces * Artistic * Confident * Nervous (negative) Modification for the keeper: * Master of Set Pieces * Reliable * Confident * Quick * Nervous (negative) The keeper or posts may cause rebounds that are relevant if it's a penalty within the match, but not during a shoot out after extra time.
[edit] Who starts the opportunity by passing/dribble where?Opportunities can be started by passes or dribbles. Regardless of which, it's mostly midfielders who starts them. The probability that defensive midfielders and flank defenders start the opportunity increases if it starts with a pass. Attackers are more likely active in starting opportunities with dribbles. Unless there is a preferred side setting, half of the attacks continue in the centre and half on any of the flanks. Unless there is a preferred high passes setting active, 80% of the passes in midfield are low, and 70% of the passes into the box. Receivers of passes in midfield are usually midfields, but sometimes attackers or wing backs.
[edit] High passes and crossesWhen making a high pass into the box, the defenders receives +15 bonus to Defensive Positioning for the sake of being close enough to challenge the attacker. This bonus to positioning does not influence the zone calculation. Winning the Aerial duel with the defender with a decent margin will make it more difficult for the keeper to be in the right position. What’s the difference between a high pass and a cross? A cross is the same as a high short pass from the centre, save the name and that it’s coming from the flank. Details: If the attacker wins the reception versus challenge duel with a large margin and the effective Scoring with the header is very low for that division, the attacker gets a scoring bonus based on the reception victory. This bonus can only take the attacker up to a reasonable level based on what division he plays in, so there is no gain for the great Aerial attackers. The purpose of this is to make reasonable aerial attackers dangerous if the defence is really bad.
[edit] Unfavourable passesWhen a player looks up to pass to another player he might discover that the high or low pass that is available is a bad choice and look for an alternative pass. This only happens if a pass with a different altitude or/and to another player would improve things, and it's not definite that the passer manage to make this evaluation.
[edit] BlockingAlthough the risk of a pass, dribble or shot being blocked is higher if the active defender is there or close, any player in the zone can block the action. The risk of being blocked is not based at all on the quality of the action, and the risk is doubled when firing long shots. Details: Note that when calculating the zone for block purposes, the reception of the active attacker replaces the relevance of the pass into that zone.
[edit] Defender cooperation in the boxThe best defender in each situation is more likely to be the active defender in the penalty box. If (for example) high passes gets hurled into the box, the best aerial defender is more likely to be the active defender if he has the positioning for it. And if the defenders face a player with high offensive positioning, the defender with highest Defensive Positioning is most likely to be the active defender. This is both for game play reasons and realistic reasons.
[edit] Extreme difference in the positioning duelWhen an attacker faces a defender with more than double the positioning skill than he has, he is in trouble. For every point of Defensive Positioning skill above double the Offensive Positioning the defender has, he will get +1 in effective Tackling/Aerial. This is especially important in the midfield flanks, where the defensive Positioning only needs to be 50% higher to start getting bonus. This is marked as the defender being "prepared" in the match report.
[edit] Fooling the keeper when having low Offensive PositioningIf the attacker loses the positioning dual versus the defenders he will have to make it up by winning the control challenge with an equal amount. If he doesn't, his effective Ball Control that he can use to compare with the keepers position will be reduced by that amount and a 50% added. Note that this does not affect whether he gets to finish or not, only how hard or easy it is for the keeper to predict the shot. Example: Assume that your player loses the position duel with 30 versus the defenders and win the control challenge with the defenders with 20. The difference is 10 and it is increased by 50% which makes the sum 15. This is the amount that the finishing player gets subtracted to his Ball Control when trying to fool the keeper. If he had 80 in Ball Control, his effective Ball Control would be (80-15) 65.
[edit] Keeper making mistakes and attackers losing focusIf the keeper is pummelled by shots he will sooner or later make a mistake. He tends to tighten his act after conceding a goal though. Likewise the finishers tend to lose focus if their side is ahead by several goals, making the goal attempts less lethal.
[edit] Attackers stealing the ball from the defenders (not implemented yet)Centre defenders and Defensive midfielders are vulnerable to losing the ball to hungry attackers or offensive midfielders. If the defenders has much lower Passing skill and, (to lesser extent) Ball Control than the attackers, then there is a risk that this creates an additional opportunity for the opponents. These chances are often quite dangerous for the defence.
|
