@DD_Elds wrote:
I accidentally closed my original thread. The original advise in the 1st thread helped some but the issue still happens..to recap...
My friend and I are new to NHL and just got NHL24 on PS4. We play each other online with stock teams. I have tried to learn the mechanics and strategies...my friend just plays. He doesn't change strategies, change lineups or even use Icon passing. Mainly he just waits in the neutral zone for his AI to get the puck from me, string passes to his player in the neutral zone, then his team rushes down and he ALWAYS has a player on the opposite side to slam in the cross crease goal.
My AI seem to just do whatever they want on breakout.
I made a video showing how he is able to score most of the time and how my team just doesnt follow the same pattern....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbM83A2iJ2I
this happens with any team i use and Ive reset them all to default so its not like I have some weird strategy that would confuse the AI movement. But since its every team I use and I've and also been getting beat with this play often online by other random players. I figure there's got to be something I'm doing wrong.
Any advice is appreciated.
Just going to provide some more tips for you. Hopefully you can find these suggestions helpful. I may also be wrong about some of them - I'm not a developer or anything - just a loser who has spent too much time playing this game and trying to get better 😛
At 0:05 - you missed a great opportunity to execute a simple shove (flick up on RS or tap B/Circle) which would've knocked the puck loose from the puck carrier:
A good thing to keep in mind is that when you're this close to a puck carrier, a simple shove can work wonders.
From 0:06 to 0:08 - you take Brayden Point and you hustle in an attempt to interrupt the path of the puck carrier, but in doing so - you've left the entire right side of the ice wide open for a long stretch pass. You correctly recognize this but unfortunately because Point is skating full speed; in order to get him to go the other direction - he needs to perform a hockey stop (killing all speed and momentum) and then begin hustling in the opposite direction:
This opens up a TON of wide open ice:
At 0:08, you've captured great video of an A.I. flaw that plagues a lot of users here. I'm glad you caught this because I believe you've also captured exactly why this happens and maybe I can help everyone who suffers from this:
Due to the wide open ice created previously, the RD recognizes a lapse in coverage of 2 potential pass recipients:
Because your RD is an A.I. - it now has to take into account the trajectory of both potential pass recipients. Because the Vegas winger & centre have so much ice, they are generating some serious speed. This is why generating speed through the neutral zone is a KILLER: Now both defenders are reacting to a pass made to a player moving at top speed:
The big question: How do we prevent this?
Take control of your defenders the moment your opponent is about to enter the neutral zone by either holding right trigger and moving RS in the direction of the player you want to control from the perspective of the currently controlled player. So, in this instance you'd hold Right Trigger and move Right Stick to the Bottom-Right quadrant, which would swap player control to the RD:
Or you could do the Last Man Back action (Hold Right Trigger and click R3).
Pro Tip: When you take control of a defender, the other A.I. defender will ALWAYS do their best to remain parallel to your position. So, had you taken control of the RD while your opponent was generating speed through the neutral zone, you would've been in good position to negate their speed and the LD would've maintained parallel position, providing better coverage of the cross crease. Here's a similar example, not exactly the same but close, from one of my games:
A pass is made to the winger with speed and you can see the LD about to make the same mistake:
But I switch to the LD in time and begin skating him backwards while getting my stick active. You'll notice I'm not poke checking here. I'm ensuring RS is angled to the left BEFORE holding R1 - this allows me to enter DSS without a poke check animation that plays out and leaves me flat footed:
The added bonus of mastering the technique of engaging DSS without the poke check animation is that it leaves your player more agile to be positionally sound and also opens up the pickup animation sequence:
The other very important thing to notice here is how my A.I. D partner remains parallel with me. This is what I mean when I'm constantly telling people that HUMAN ACTIONS HAVE AN IMPACT ON AI!
Had I jumped up with Morrisey and attempted to incorrectly engage a speedy puck carrier while I'm still generating backskating speed, Demelo would've tried to compensate for that leaving Matthews wide open. This specific action is what I firmly believe causes MANY of the gripes about cross-crease goals.
The 2nd chance you outlined from 0:16 - 0:25 showcase even more examples of how errant human inputs result in an error-prone A.i.
Although you've noted that you defenders are bunching up, they are all re-adjusting after a sudden possession change (intercept in the D-Zone). Intercepts (human error) at this area of the ice will always cause chaos (A.I. mistakes) , which is why accurate passes are so important.
Despite the mishap, your defenders actually re-position fairly well to battle incoming winger with speed:
Take note of how the A.I. is doing exactly what I demonstrated earlier: entering DSS without a drawn out poke check animation.
Here's where the human error comes into play:
At the precise time you miss the body check, your A.i. adjusts to that mishap, leaving a potential scorer in prime position:
The above is another perfect example of what I've been trying to showcase on these forums for quite a while now: human error causing a.i. mistakes.
0:27 - 0:30
You're taking far too long to take control of a defenceman. It's imperative that you control a defenceman when your opponent enters your zone. Let your ai forwards do their thing while you are in complete control of the zone around the net. Otherwise, the a.i. by the net will continue reacting to human errors.
I don't believe your players are bunching up. They're likely set to a Close Support breakout strategy. Their expecting passes. You make one pass and then skate the puck into the O-Zone. This allows their defenders ample time to get ready, because their A.I. don't need to be reacting to any passes.
The RW is providing middle support due to the center that's behind the play. The RW is anticipating a pass sooner up the middle. When you don't execute that pass, he's expecting you to either dump it or criss-cross with him, forcing defenders to make decisions:
Hopefully this stuff makes sense! Sorry I rushed through the rest of the video - had to get back to work!
