How to increase the difficulty???!!

[ozzy]

I'm looking for a way to revitalize my rugby 2006 experience by using Woosah's editor to make it more of a challenge for myself. I only use the All Blacks and NZ teams so I have gone ahead and edited all the players in the Wallabies, Springboks and French teams as well as the Lions. All I did was set stats (attack, defense, temperaent, creativity, bravery etc.) to 100 EXCEPT for those that made a player play like they belonged in that position, i.e. I don't touch their agility speed, passing, scrum or lineout abilities as well as a few others. So a prop is still a prop and a wing is still a wing. In addition to this I also gave the defensive organisation ability to every player in the team who had an available slot left.

These changes seem to have made some difference and every now and then I have an ok game but I can still win by about 30 to 15 in a 10 min a half game. A few games are closer but still it's just not enough of a challenge.
So does anyone have any suggestions about how I can make the game more challenging (keeping in mind I play ABs and NZ s14 teams) without making up rules that I have to force myself to follow i.e. no changing defender when on defense and also not compromising the "way" a player is supposed to behave i.e. Os Du Randt out-pacing Habana. Also please no suggestions like "go play against a human opponent" cos I've got the game on PC and nobody wants to play with me
(dammit I can't wait for a version that has online multiplayer)

On a side note does anyone know whether the builds or height, weight have any effect at all, i.e. if I gave all 100 stats and the same special abilities say to Carl Hayman and Byron Kelleher would they then play EXACTLY i.e same rate of acceleration, speed, handling etc. or is there some hidden code for certain players (not including star players) which makes them just a little better than the rest.......e.g. Muliaina and Ma'a Nonu????

Thanks in advance for any comments and suggestions you might have, I just want to squeeze a bit more life out of the game!!

 

[InsaneAsylum]

you could always adopt namibia or uraguay as your favourite team

 

[C A Iversen]

Have to say I agree. If you like NZ thats all well and good, but you are taking the best international team.

The challenge would soon fade on any sports ***le with that standard.

How about finding a favourite minor nation and giving them a bit of a following for a while. Fiji, Scotland, Italy or even Canada?

 

[CeeJay]

I hav woosahs editor and hav made some adjustments like yours. I play as the canes in S14, and i also made them a bit worse. This works for a while, but the ai is just too bad. There are two simple things you need to do to make it a good challenge permanently.

1. 5 minute halves, short intense matches. Some times **** goes wrong and you only hav a small time to come back, it means the oppostion can win close ones, and you can get through seasons quicker, its a must, 10 minute halves youve got too long to come back.

2. Self enforced defensive player lock. This is also a must. The defensive ai is so bad that the opposition never really has a chance. So you make it even by pushing the player select button, (on defense) you must stick with the player the computer gives you(even if its a prop) and you must stick with them until the next ruck, e.g. if you make a tackle and theres an offload or you get beat, you hav to watch the rest of the play unfold . This allows the ai to score good tries against it self, with you as a sweeper. This is a must for sp challenge and it is easy to obey. I consistantly scrape through tri nations, havent won a world cup, or s14 ***le yet.

These rules and woosahs editor hav made R2006 like a new game for me, forget about squeezing more life out of it, it will be reborn!! Some people hav trouble obeying the player lock , but it is a must, once you get used to it you will do it without thinking, trust me its worth it.

Ozzy, I know you dont want any rules you hav to force yourself to follow, but if you dont do it then SP is over, trust me, ive tried everything.

 

[Ickon]

Hey Ozzy, you've got the Starmoan flag posted with your username, why don't you use them & Western Force for S14s ?

 

[InsaneAsylum]

i always play 5 minute halfs on elite, it's pretty hard to make big scores. my scores are always less than 20 when playing good teams

 

[gallopaway]

try playing with "Classic 3" camera angle, it makes it a bit harder to defend if youre use to "classic 2" angle.

 

[ozzy]

Sweet thanks for all the suggestions, yeah I sometimes like to take the old Manu out for a spin, but everytime I watch them play on tv they irritate me so much I can't play 'em even on the game. The next team with the most Samoans in it is, you guessed it the All Blacks and they are a much more satisfying team to watch (and to play too ).
Cheers for those tips Ceejay, you're right about the 5 min halfs and I know about the self enforced player lock but can never bring myself to use it long enough for it to become second nature, particularly when a game gets close, I try everything to win it and the self imposed rules go out the window
I'll try that classic 3 camera angle I must say though I always found it easier to defend rather than harder, the only thing that seemed to be more difficult was running accross field and judging the distance between you and a chasing defender when on attack. Side view just makes it "feel" cooler to play, but at this point I'm willing to experiment.
btw as no one has mentioned it yet is there some stat in particular you can change in Woosah's editor that will make the comp more effective on attack apart from what I already mentioned in my first post, i.e. is tackle break more effective than crash and what about setting player type to crasher or runner, has anyone experimented with these stats or have any insight as to how they effect the gameplay??
Thanks again everyone for the advice!!

 

[CeeJay]

Breaking the rules of defensive player lock is ok if you are trailing, as long as you go back to obeying them once youve tied or taken the lead, you will still hav close games. If its late in the game and your under pressure you can break them too, youll still get beat.

The key thing for editing is to make your squad worse. Speed is the best to edit, make thier centres and loose forwards fast and yours a bit slower, this keeps it realistc.

 

[gallopaway]

also try not to use dive tackles ............ makes the game a bit harder too