Statistics & Sim Engine succees

[kyros_walker]

IMO, if BBPF is to succeed as a pro football text sim it will need two things in order for me to buy. * Stats * Sim Engine As a FOF2K7 player statistics is second to none. BBPF needs just as many (if not, more) stats kept as FOF2K7. Arlie, I guess my best advice is to play FOF2K7 if you haven't already and [B][I]at the very least[/I][/B] keep as many statistics. And then comes the sim engine. As far as game results go and drafting AI and team management, you will need just as much succees here as you would in the statistics area. FOF2K7 has it's small issues but it is clearly the top pro football simulation ever made. While there are people who do not like the interface (which personally, I don't mind it at all) you could do some to "beat out "FOF2K7 here. My solution; Keep the actual in-game experience to a very accessible experience. For example, keep the interface as simple as FOF2K7 is. With as many few clicks as possible to abtain the information (ALL stats, roster screens, team schedules, depth chart, ect) and then make the HTML output the bread-n-butter for eye candy and player/team cards and pages. The HTML output could be much like the old "CATOBASE" for OOTP6 but with much more options for customization features like colors, style sheets, ect. IMO FOF2K7 has it all right in regards to how it is handles in game but the HTML output needs the IHOF (International House of Football) *** [url]http://www.fof-ihof.com/index.php[/url] *** look and feel. If you could create the game with the statistical depth and engine strength of FOF2K7 and then add the look and feel of the website I posted above....you would have a winner. A top-notch winner. The problem with most developers is that they try to cram every inch of info into the game itself. This is where FOF2K7 is at it's greatest. IMO, what the developer of FOF2K7 should have done was create the game as he did with the in-game information since it is very accessible BUT where they failed is in the HTML department. FOF2K7's HTML output is dull and weak - although very detailed in the information department, the overall look and feel of the leagues pages are dull. He should have incorporated the IHOF style (please see link above) in regards to the HTML output. I mean, look at the player card pages and transaction pages over at IHOF (and much more) - just browse around a bit!!! Imagine the possibilities Arlie. Thats all I got. :D Edit: For those of you who do not know what IHOF is - it is a multiplayer league for FOF2K4 & FOF2K7. The HTML pages you see on that site are/were created by 3rd party players who are in the league itself. Why something like this wasn't done in the original release of FOF2K7 is another story but it is a testimony of not only how great the creators are who did this but what can be achieved and it is also a telling story of what can be done with the right goals set in place.

[kyros_walker]

Well, I thought they were good ideas. :) Maybe not everyones "cup of tea" but it (the propsed ideas) sure do lay a foundation for a great platform IMO.

[udlb58]

I agree completely. The more information and stats, the better. It's a sim game for stat nerds like us and for gameplainning protegies that don't want their perfectly excecuted game plan to be messed up by poor simulation (or cheese like in other 3d games)

[Arlie Rahn]

First of all, thanks for the feedback - it's appreciated. But, I do want to make one point - my goal here is not to make FOF+. It's to make an entirely new game with many different options/features and a completely different feel. As to statistics, I'm not a big fan of just throwing a ton of stats at people without any context. I'd rather focus on giving as much visibility into the engine as possible through numerous methods - one could be stats, another could be post-game reports, more detailed game logs and feedback in other ways. So, while a fairly comprehensive set of stats will be very important to BBPF, it's not going to be the only way users get feedback into their decisions/impact.

[jlemmen43]

[QUOTE=Arlie Rahn;195310]First of all, thanks for the feedback - it's appreciated. But, I do want to make one point - my goal here is not to make FOF+. It's to make an entirely new game with many different options/features and a completely different feel. As to statistics, I'm not a big fan of just throwing a ton of stats at people without any context. I'd rather focus on giving as much visibility into the engine as possible through numerous methods - one could be stats, another could be post-game reports, more detailed game logs and feedback in other ways. So, while a fairly comprehensive set of stats will be very important to BBPF, it's not going to be the only way users get feedback into their decisions/impact.[/QUOTE] I think having detailed game logs and post game reports are a great thing to have. It gives the option of looking back at how the stats were created instead of just averages at the end of the season. It also lets you know how valueable some players are.

[RawIsDan]

[QUOTE=Arlie Rahn;195310] But, I do want to make one point - my goal here is not to make FOF+. [/QUOTE] That's good, because IMO, I always felt it was GM sim first, and then a football sim second.