As I said in the latest post before this, JoshC takes a more hands-off/DIY approach to sliders than someone like Matt10 or Armor & Sword. Again, no philosophy is superior to the other, but I just want to cover the bases for folks out there so they can dig in and get comfortable with whatever avenue they want to take to try and squeeze every last bit of fun from Madden 22. With this particular set of Madden 22 sliders, there’s a basic setup and explanation, and from there it’s up to you to agree or disagree with the philosophy. Here, it’s less about tuning individual sliders, and instead it’s more about globally tweaking something about the game itself.
JoshC’s Madden 22 Sliders
Explanation And Thought Process
A couple of quick notes:
1. This is a well tested setup. I’m not tinkering, and I’m not testing. If you like them, great. If you hate them, please move on.
2. I’m not going to be answering questions about individual values. I did not test individual sliders and have no intention of going through the inane task of doing so for no good reason (same deal for individual animations).
3. Penalties are not an area I am going to tune for specifically.
Madden 22 (NG) is a very solid game. All-Pro is a challenging, balanced experience that is a lot of fun. The problem is that most of my games were high-scoring affairs. Many folks would point to threshold or defense as culprits, and while there is an element of truth to both, neither is the root of the problem to me.
The issue with Madden 22 (NG) is that it is a positive-outcome driven game. Outcomes occur during games based on one player being successful over another. But there are very few outcomes driven from failure. Where are the misfires, the dropped passes, the missed blocks, the whiffed tackles? In essence, Madden feels very robotic and I honestly was getting very bored.
The root of the gameplay issues is very simple: player ratings. They are just too high and allow for a wide number of players to meet the high thresholds for best outcomes on default settings. We need to make it harder for that to occur without roster editing.
The solution was simple: we globally lower all of the user/CPU sliders. All of a sudden, all of the failure-driven outcomes popped-up. The gameplay is fluid, dynamic, challenging, and most importantly it’s unpredictable. Improvements we have seen:
- More missed throws
- CPU targets top players far more frequently (even when covered)
- A wider array of broken tackles (get comfy using that strafe button)
- More dropped passes
- A slight increase in holding calls (on default penalties)
- Better array of DB reactions
- Way more diverse pass rush and blocking. You better get the ball out fast or learn how to move in the pocket.
Basically, everything in the game is still balanced, but there is a much wider array of outcomes.
House Rules
1. You’re expected to play full switch on offense and defense. It’s more realistic to fail, and putting the players under your control gives you the ability to screw up. Take ownership for everything that happens.
2. You have to call your own plays. The same logic being you have to take ownership for what happens.
3. No cheesing by “turbo scrambling” with QBs out of the pocket on every play. It makes sense when flushed (and you will get flushed), but don’t abuse it.
4. Have fun! Enjoy the wins and losses, enjoy the storylines. Embrace the game and have fun with it.
Game Sliders
Set these in CFM:
- All-Pro
- 10-min quarters with no accelerated clock
- All assists off
- All User/CPU Sliders – 40 (yes, ALL of them)
- Threshold/ST sliders/Injury/Fatigue/Penalties = Default (that is 50 for everything except injuries, which should be at 25)
Miscellaneous Notes
- I do have progressive fatigue off for now.
- I play with SS/XF turned on.
- I still prefer the default 75-man roster for reasons I have discussed in past years.
- I use every tool in the toolbox within CFM.
- I have not tested different clock settings, All-Madden, variations on auto subs/penalties/injury/fatigue relative to this setup. I highly recommend you roll with the exact setup for a few games untouched, and if you want to make personal tweaks, do so one setting at a time. I will not do this for you.
Bottom Line
I wanted to showcase these Madden 22 sliders because it’s a very different approach from most out there, but it’s also to show sliders come in all shapes and sizes. The great thing about our sliders forums with all the games is this convergence of ideas. You can really find tons of different ways to play the game. I always warn people that sliders can sometimes make you crazy if you keep trying to chase the “perfect” result, but they remain invaluable if you’re looking for a fresh coat of paint for your game.
Thanks goes out to JoshC for sharing these sliders, and on a more personal level, it’s always great to chat about Diamond Dynasty with the fella over in that neck of the woods as well.
