BBCF Open BETA 1.46

[Arlie Rahn]

Here is a BETA for the upcoming BBCF update. You simply need to run the update EXE and make sure it writes over your old bb2005.exe. It will work with old saves. This has a lot of new features/fixes, so here goes: 1. Tightening up play by play - this involves adding the missing plays in the game log, updating some grammar/sp issues and cleaning up other aspects of it. 2. Fixed taking a knee, spiking, and AI timeout usage. 3. Adjusted the engine to reward better defensive teams. Now, teams with more talented defenses should allow fewer points on average. 4. Improve the transfer logic - if an effort is made to play the player in the prior season, it now means more. Also, you get an email in the final week of camp giving feedback on potential transfer risks when redshirting players. 5. Improved the polls - Strength of schedule has been made more of a factor. The main emphasis here has been trying to improve the poll logic in the middle weeks since that's where most of the remaining problems still remain. Usually, things work themselves out by the end of the season, but you sometimes see teams ride out some generous slotting in the middle of the season. 6. Improving the recruit pitch process - Now, you will get an email after you scout a recruit that gives some additional insight on his pitch. It's still going to be handled the same (ie, you only get 1 chance to get the bonus - no partial credit). But, now atleast you have more information to work with. It also adds another reason to scout players early. 7. Added inseason player development. Players will now develop during the season and you can check this on the roster (the checkbox for changes). 8. Added inseason recruiting options. You get an email every week with a game from three potential recruits that would like to visit. You can only choose one and if you win, the player’s interest may go up. If you lose, it may go down. Interest levels get updated every 4-5 weeks. Also, when a player visits, you automatically get the full color scale view for that player’s interest. That, combined with players that visit getting shaded yellow, will help you track who has visited. AI will handle this for you if you select AI to handle recruiting. 9. Fixed around 15 different penalty/AI issues in the engine. 10. Fixed the issue with turnover margin not being displayed properly. 11. Adjusted overall recruiting logic to mimic regional/state numbers found on recruiting sites. 12. Tweaked the player pool to better reflect the college game. 13. Fixed some MP issues including instances where recruits might not commit to human teams late in the process. 14. Fixed an instance of incorrect stat tracking (for QB sacks). 15. Added comments to gamelogs on things like bad passes, great catches, missed tackles, dropped passes… 16. Changed MP import notifications. 17. Adjusted award criteria. 18. Fixed Scheduling issues ranging from inproper number of home games to having the same rival scheduled twice. 19. Some Hotkey support. You can now use ‘ and / to move up and down most grids. Also, if you mouse over a button, it may tell you a hotkey you can use instead. The ‘Yes’/’No’ message box has this as do some of the offseason screens. 20. Conference movement. You can set it up in the game options – the choices are None, Low, Average, High. The basic algorithm is that the game goes through at the start of each offseason and checks to see if any teams should be swapped. All conferences are broken up into 4 layers – GDCS (top 8), tier 1, tier 2 and independents. Movement occurs between each grouping and there’s always a “swapping” of teams. For instance, in my testing, I had Utah replace Stanford in the Pac 10 after three seasons. Stanford then went to Utah’s conference and took its place. There’s also some region protection meaning a team in the West can only go to the Midlands and West, Midlands can go West, Midlands and Midwest, Midwest can go Midlands and Midwest, SE can go SE and AE, AE can go AE and SE. I had to setup a couple regions for each team otherwise you could hit situations where movement was deadlocked because of regions. However, you shouldn’t see teams like Fresno State going into the SEC. One final comment for conference movement: The choice levels dictate the chance movement will occur and the qualifications for a movement to occur. The highest level needs atleast 2 positive seasons for the moving up team (at a certain level) and 2 negative for the teams moving down. Those change to 3 and 4 for the average and low levels. There are also prestige restrictions meaning a team like Auburn or USC won’t get demoted if they have a couple bad seasons. Finally, make sure you turn it on in the game options if you want to use it. It defaults to “None” for saves and new games (it does work with old saves). I would recommend backing up any saves you use in the event something happens. This version should be pretty stable, but it is still a beta version so there may still be some issues. If you run into anything, please email me directly at [email]arlie@greydogsoftware.com[/email]. Thanks again to everyone checking this out! You can get it here: [url]http://www.greydogsoftware.com/downloads/BBUpdate146.exe[/url]

[Kelly J Delaney]

Thank you Arlie.

[Kelly J Delaney]

Thank you Arlie.

[Wolfpack]

Do the recruit e-mails for in-season visits start in any particular week? I haven't seen any yet, but I'm only in week 3. Edit - Never mind, got them in week 5

[Wolfpack]

Do the recruit e-mails for in-season visits start in any particular week? I haven't seen any yet, but I'm only in week 3. Edit - Never mind, got them in week 5

[Arlie Rahn]

[QUOTE=Wolfpack;155642]Do the recruit e-mails for in-season visits start in any particular week? I haven't seen any yet, but I'm only in week 3. Edit - Never mind, got them in week 5[/QUOTE] You will only get one for home games since it's normally not the procedure to have a kid visit while you are playing out of town.

[Arlie Rahn]

[QUOTE=Wolfpack;155642]Do the recruit e-mails for in-season visits start in any particular week? I haven't seen any yet, but I'm only in week 3. Edit - Never mind, got them in week 5[/QUOTE] You will only get one for home games since it's normally not the procedure to have a kid visit while you are playing out of town.

[Dave Hansen]

Arlie- I really like the Potential Transfer Risk Memo during the camp phase. With 1.46 I restarted a season that I had partially completed. With this second "chance", I found my original RS decisions to be consistent with this info now available. But, the report really opened my eyes about the importance of managing playing time as I had quite a few VH and H risk underclassmen that were not starters. This coupled with the enhanced in-season player development factor adds a nice touch of complexity to managing PT!! QUESTION: Without giving away to much about the game...When my team plays a very weak opponent and I START a backup VH/H risk transfer, I assume this guy's morale is favorably impacted. In this case, if the player is on the field for the same number of snaps/time that he would see normally as a backup, is there any difference to him given a starting assignment if his PT is basically the same game to game? Does a starting assignment have any impact or is PT the sole basis for keeping a player content? TXS

[Dave Hansen]

Arlie- I really like the Potential Transfer Risk Memo during the camp phase. With 1.46 I restarted a season that I had partially completed. With this second "chance", I found my original RS decisions to be consistent with this info now available. But, the report really opened my eyes about the importance of managing playing time as I had quite a few VH and H risk underclassmen that were not starters. This coupled with the enhanced in-season player development factor adds a nice touch of complexity to managing PT!! QUESTION: Without giving away to much about the game...When my team plays a very weak opponent and I START a backup VH/H risk transfer, I assume this guy's morale is favorably impacted. In this case, if the player is on the field for the same number of snaps/time that he would see normally as a backup, is there any difference to him given a starting assignment if his PT is basically the same game to game? Does a starting assignment have any impact or is PT the sole basis for keeping a player content? TXS

[Arlie Rahn]

[QUOTE=Dave Hansen;155656]Arlie- QUESTION: Without giving away to much about the game...When my team plays a very weak opponent and I START a backup VH/H risk transfer, I assume this guy's morale is favorably impacted. In this case, if the player is on the field for the same number of snaps/time that he would see normally as a backup, is there any difference to him given a starting assignment if his PT is basically the same game to game? Does a starting assignment have any impact or is PT the sole basis for keeping a player content? TXS[/QUOTE] This is a real good questions. There are two main ways to keep a player happy that you are worried about transfering: 1. game starts with decent playing time 2. Playing him enough to get decent stats (without starting) So, if you start a player, there's less burden on numbers and more on PT. if you don't start the player, you need to get more *stats* for him. By stats, I mean things like yards, TDs, tackles, INTs, run blocks, ... But, if you start a player and he gets in a lot of plays, you will still get credit even if he doesn't have many/good numbers. If he's off the bench, he will want more numbers than just simple plays. I did it this way to reward people that take the plunge and start and play a kid (even though their offense/defense might not get them numbers). This same dynamic also helps inseason development. So, to make a long story short (too late ;) ), it means a lot more to start and play underclassmen in this version when it comes to development and transfer rate.

[Arlie Rahn]

[QUOTE=Dave Hansen;155656]Arlie- QUESTION: Without giving away to much about the game...When my team plays a very weak opponent and I START a backup VH/H risk transfer, I assume this guy's morale is favorably impacted. In this case, if the player is on the field for the same number of snaps/time that he would see normally as a backup, is there any difference to him given a starting assignment if his PT is basically the same game to game? Does a starting assignment have any impact or is PT the sole basis for keeping a player content? TXS[/QUOTE] This is a real good questions. There are two main ways to keep a player happy that you are worried about transfering: 1. game starts with decent playing time 2. Playing him enough to get decent stats (without starting) So, if you start a player, there's less burden on numbers and more on PT. if you don't start the player, you need to get more *stats* for him. By stats, I mean things like yards, TDs, tackles, INTs, run blocks, ... But, if you start a player and he gets in a lot of plays, you will still get credit even if he doesn't have many/good numbers. If he's off the bench, he will want more numbers than just simple plays. I did it this way to reward people that take the plunge and start and play a kid (even though their offense/defense might not get them numbers). This same dynamic also helps inseason development. So, to make a long story short (too late ;) ), it means a lot more to start and play underclassmen in this version when it comes to development and transfer rate.

[Dave Hansen]

Arlie- Thanks for the insights...that really helps. Those two scenerios really make a lot of real world sense on how a player views his career and future with the team as a FR/SO. I would suspect this offers a bigger challenge to an elite program that is able to consistently recruit 5 and 4 star players. A lot of schools with prestige 45-65 afford a realistic option to say a 4 star recruit that "rides the pines" early in his career at an elite program. If he is willing to sit out a year, he can become a big fish in a smaller pond. This factor and the likelyhood of an elite program losing a greater number of top players early to the pros every year make running even an elite program a challenge. Oh, and of course playing with the coach fire option... that what have you done for me lately mentality ...always adds a little tension to the big boy programs.

[Dave Hansen]

Arlie- Thanks for the insights...that really helps. Those two scenerios really make a lot of real world sense on how a player views his career and future with the team as a FR/SO. I would suspect this offers a bigger challenge to an elite program that is able to consistently recruit 5 and 4 star players. A lot of schools with prestige 45-65 afford a realistic option to say a 4 star recruit that "rides the pines" early in his career at an elite program. If he is willing to sit out a year, he can become a big fish in a smaller pond. This factor and the likelyhood of an elite program losing a greater number of top players early to the pros every year make running even an elite program a challenge. Oh, and of course playing with the coach fire option... that what have you done for me lately mentality ...always adds a little tension to the big boy programs.

[udlb58]

I noticed something with the emails about players interested in coming for gameday visits. I noticed that the emails say a player is ranked X in the nation and he has the same ranking in his region. I'm pretty sure they should be different and this has happened in every email of this type. Here is the email I received... We just learned that QB Jeffrey Jolly is interested in visiting our game this weekend against Idaho. He is a 1-star rated player ranked [B]No. 1640 in the nation[/B]. He rates as the 132nd best QB and [B]No. 1640 in the West region[/B].

[udlb58]

I noticed something with the emails about players interested in coming for gameday visits. I noticed that the emails say a player is ranked X in the nation and he has the same ranking in his region. I'm pretty sure they should be different and this has happened in every email of this type. Here is the email I received... We just learned that QB Jeffrey Jolly is interested in visiting our game this weekend against Idaho. He is a 1-star rated player ranked [B]No. 1640 in the nation[/B]. He rates as the 132nd best QB and [B]No. 1640 in the West region[/B].

[Wolfpack]

One thing I've noticed is that the late game AI still needs work. Too many times I've seen teams down by two scores with five minutes or less to go in the game on the opponents side of the field punt it away. That shouldn't happen. Heck, down two scores, they should be going for it from pretty much anywhere on the field. Especially in the championship game. It's not like you have another chance later on...this is it, go for it.

[Wolfpack]

One thing I've noticed is that the late game AI still needs work. Too many times I've seen teams down by two scores with five minutes or less to go in the game on the opponents side of the field punt it away. That shouldn't happen. Heck, down two scores, they should be going for it from pretty much anywhere on the field. Especially in the championship game. It's not like you have another chance later on...this is it, go for it.

[Guest Nukester]

Found a typo. No, its not patch related I'm sure, but its a typo none the less, and typos in commercial products bug me :) Anyway, when reading the email that is sent during training camp, with the subject "Set offensive and defensive philosophies", in the blurb about the 5-2 defense it says "Because [U][I]if[/I][/U] its style, users will face a penalty when going with the 3-4, 4-4, and 3-3-5 formations." The "if" should be "of" Also, in the new "Potential Transfer Risks" email, it says "Below you will a list of underclassmen with the chance they will transfer next season if everything is equal" I should say "Below you will [U][I]see[/I][/U] a list of underclassmen with the chance they will transfer next season if everything is equal"

[Guest Nukester]

Found a typo. No, its not patch related I'm sure, but its a typo none the less, and typos in commercial products bug me :) Anyway, when reading the email that is sent during training camp, with the subject "Set offensive and defensive philosophies", in the blurb about the 5-2 defense it says "Because [U][I]if[/I][/U] its style, users will face a penalty when going with the 3-4, 4-4, and 3-3-5 formations." The "if" should be "of" Also, in the new "Potential Transfer Risks" email, it says "Below you will a list of underclassmen with the chance they will transfer next season if everything is equal" I should say "Below you will [U][I]see[/I][/U] a list of underclassmen with the chance they will transfer next season if everything is equal"

[joskai]

Totally "Beta" Experience So far this patch has been a totally "beta" experience for me. First of all, I had a few problems saving a game started in v1.1 and kept on getting the error messages along the line of "check to see if there is another instance of BBCF running......" (which there wasn't). When I attempted to start a new game, the creation could not be completed at all. It would stop at the team creation stage with run time error 9 (subscript out of range). I do have the Icy's self-installing real name mod installed.

[joskai]

Totally "Beta" Experience So far this patch has been a totally "beta" experience for me. First of all, I had a few problems saving a game started in v1.1 and kept on getting the error messages along the line of "check to see if there is another instance of BBCF running......" (which there wasn't). When I attempted to start a new game, the creation could not be completed at all. It would stop at the team creation stage with run time error 9 (subscript out of range). I do have the Icy's self-installing real name mod installed.

[tc66tc]

I got the same cannot save error, but it was beacuse i has stats.dat opened in access. But it did lock up the game when that error occured. overall the updated poll logic is nice, but it is harded for a mid-major team to get into the top-15. one thing i have tryed to do and still cannot get it to happen automaticly is I want the two "highest ranked" mid majors to be in the playoff. I set it where the Top 16 teams go to the playoffs. No automatic bids, just the top teams. I used to do this and I would have a midmajor in the playoffs atleast once every two years. But with the update poll logic I have #17 Frenso State (10-1), #19 Boise State (10-1), and #23 Colorado State (10-1). All of the teams had SOS between 65-89. But #8 Lousiville (10-1) had a SOS of 108. Right now the only way to get the top two teams in is to give them an automatic bid, but with the above results I recieved #19 Boise and #23 CSU would get in but #17 Frenso would be left out since there only loss was to Boise. I wish there was an option we could use to be able to do this. I am really enjoying the better defensive logic stat wise. Before I could have a very good defense with Texas, but still give up 450 yards to Baylor, now the results match the players alot better.

[tc66tc]

I got the same cannot save error, but it was beacuse i has stats.dat opened in access. But it did lock up the game when that error occured. overall the updated poll logic is nice, but it is harded for a mid-major team to get into the top-15. one thing i have tryed to do and still cannot get it to happen automaticly is I want the two "highest ranked" mid majors to be in the playoff. I set it where the Top 16 teams go to the playoffs. No automatic bids, just the top teams. I used to do this and I would have a midmajor in the playoffs atleast once every two years. But with the update poll logic I have #17 Frenso State (10-1), #19 Boise State (10-1), and #23 Colorado State (10-1). All of the teams had SOS between 65-89. But #8 Lousiville (10-1) had a SOS of 108. Right now the only way to get the top two teams in is to give them an automatic bid, but with the above results I recieved #19 Boise and #23 CSU would get in but #17 Frenso would be left out since there only loss was to Boise. I wish there was an option we could use to be able to do this. I am really enjoying the better defensive logic stat wise. Before I could have a very good defense with Texas, but still give up 450 yards to Baylor, now the results match the players alot better.

[Arlie Rahn]

[QUOTE=joskai;155724]So far this patch has been a totally "beta" experience for me. First of all, I had a few problems saving a game started in v1.1 and kept on getting the error messages along the line of "check to see if there is another instance of BBCF running......" (which there wasn't). When I attempted to start a new game, the creation could not be completed at all. It would stop at the team creation stage with run time error 9 (subscript out of range). I do have the Icy's self-installing real name mod installed.[/QUOTE] Could your try creating a game with just the stock pstats.dat and psetup.dat and see if that works OK? Then I could know if the problem is related to a system config or the mods. Also, would you mind zipping up and sending me your pstats.dat and psetup.dat you are currently using? I can then start some leagues on my end and see if I get the same problem.

[Arlie Rahn]

[QUOTE=joskai;155724]So far this patch has been a totally "beta" experience for me. First of all, I had a few problems saving a game started in v1.1 and kept on getting the error messages along the line of "check to see if there is another instance of BBCF running......" (which there wasn't). When I attempted to start a new game, the creation could not be completed at all. It would stop at the team creation stage with run time error 9 (subscript out of range). I do have the Icy's self-installing real name mod installed.[/QUOTE] Could your try creating a game with just the stock pstats.dat and psetup.dat and see if that works OK? Then I could know if the problem is related to a system config or the mods. Also, would you mind zipping up and sending me your pstats.dat and psetup.dat you are currently using? I can then start some leagues on my end and see if I get the same problem.