I was hoping to mold my Season mode (which is what I will be playing most often, I think) to being a bit more challenging. I am aware of the inherent CPU/AI limitations, and I know that it will never be as competitive as human players. But I'd still like to try to make it more difficult nonetheless.

My plan is to do one of two things: either (1) increase the stats of every starter in the league so that the teams are evenly matched, or (2) lower the stats of every starter in the league so that the teams are evenly matched.

1st question: which of the two above options would be best for gameplay and which would be easiest from your experience?

2nd question: I've read that the CPU doesnt add skill points or Super Star points, so I'll have to make all the adjustments myself, right?

3rd question: Should I wait until Season 6+ in order to lower/raise all the stats? I read that season 6 is when it stops handing the points out.

Thanks!

Rabbit, it doesn't matter what you do the only difference in changing anything will be the speed of the game. There is no way you will be able to add skill points to every team unless you play and win over a dozen seasons! Remember each offensive skill player can have 2 super abilities. After season 2 or 3 you can unlock Tecmo Joe and then after that the skill points max out but you can still win the Tecmo Super Bowl and get super ability points.

Your best bet is to play with a slower/weaker team and battle it out against faster/stronger teams. That is all you can do.

Rabbit,

Welcome. I hope that you will find some time for online games.

1. I would increase the stats, especially maxing out speed on some of the skill players and power on an RB than runs between the tackles. Max out power on the offensive line. Max out power on DL and ILB's and then quickness as well. OLB's and DB's you need to play with speed and power.

2. As the seasons progress you will need to change them each time.

3. I think that raising teams on your schedule as the season progresses makes sense. When a team is in either SKIP mode, the strength of the team does not matter when it comes to the result of the game. To get a real season simulation, you need to let the computer play out all the games, which would take forever.

I had a team that I dropped their point level to 2800, which is about as low as it can get. However, this team made the Tecmo Bowl in SKIP mode several times.

For a challenging season, keep the team that you will use at 6500 pts or less, maybe maxing out a QB and LB, and play your teams that 8000 plus pts. Makes it challenging!

Have fun. I hope it is helpful.

If you are online, which teams will you be? What is your point level? And, just a hint, no one likes to play a quitter.

Thank you both for your responses, I appreciate them and will keep them in mind.

1. I do plan on being online once I get a team worthy of being online, and when I do head online I will probably use my Washington Redhawks, the player names are based on the All-Stars of the Washington Redskins (A. Monk, etc).

2. I hate cheaters. I hate quitters. If you're on the field, play the game until its over, regardless of the outcome. I promise that I'll be honorable, and I will be fighting to the finish, despite the fact that I am /certain/ that I am going to get run over by all of you.

3. I'll keep you all posted on this thread about my exploits regarding making season mode more challenging.

Question:

why did you say "seasons progress you will need to change them each time." Does that mean I'd have to reset them every season? Do they reset back to a default?

Rabbit,

Sorry...that was unclear.

I meant that when you win the Tecmo Bowl and player ability limits increase, as well as ability points per player, you will have to manually adjust each team for the new limits and available ability points.

The computer does not automatically do this. If you reset the season, then it will erase your data. You don't want to do that.

Hope all is well.

Things are going great, I did, however reset my season mode because I played through the first season as my Redhawks team, then started the second season as the Seahawks, hoping to lift the worst team to the Bowl, but then I read that "worst teams" on paper and in the standings arent necessarily the worst teams at all, since the simulated games are pretty much "fixed" lol. So I started over the season mode, but this time I am going to stay true to the Redhawks.

Anyway, my biggest concern was that the teams would reset or default out so that I'd have to reset them or set them again every season. That wouldn't be fun. :P So if I set the Baltimore Ravens to have a really great LB, that wont reset or change between seasons, right?

Just making sure if this whole "rigging the teams to be good" thing is possible. I appreciate all the help.