Believe it or not, all text simmers are not complete snobs. Some of us enjoy taking a break from staring at statistics and doing a little button mashing. However, text simmers are a picky bunch. No matter how hard certain game designers try to woo us, we will probably never completely come over to the dark side. Simulation-style features may grab our attention for a while, and may even get us to acknowledge that games like Madden occasionally get a few things right.

But the only way text simmers will truly embrace an Madden-style game is if, well, it holds up against other text sims. We need realism, customization, challenges, meaningful evaluation methods and, yes, even graphics.

So I will use Madden 10 as our example. What would it take to turn Madden into a top-flight football text sim while at the same time maintaining its position as the king of football games?

Realistic Stats

I do not claim to know anything about game design, but how hard can it really be to make a football game that produces realistic stats? Madden’s franchise mode is nearly ruined for text simmers when you see four running backs gain over 2,000 yards and two players on the same team finish first and second in sacks with 35 and 32, respectively. Sack numbers seem to be especially inflated if you watch the play-by-play in super-sim mode rather than simming games straight through. Madden 10 is a huge step in the right direction when it comes to realistic stats and results, but it is not good enough to please a text simmer.

More Customization

Text simmers need to be able to play the game how they want to play it. We want the ability to customize our league setup, financial model, postseason format, roster rules and hall-of-fame criteria. We may even want to customize the injury file to include injuries such as falling asleep in a tanning bed or getting shot in the face while duck hunting. Basically, if it is in the game, text simmers want the ability to customize it. After customizing the game, the ability to easily share league templates also needs to be included.

Expansion

Text simmers like a challenge. We like to think we accomplished something by developing a strategy, sticking to it and eventually seeing that strategy pay off. We do not get much of a thrill by connecting on a few long (cheesy) hail-mary plays in the fourth quarter to pull out a win. Expansion teams start at the bottom. By using other team’s scraps, drafting wisely and spending wisely to build a team, those expansion teams eventually go the distance. When you win a title with an expansion team, you feel like you are at the top of the text-sim universe. Being able to watch your expansion team rise to the top in Madden with all the bells and whistles of a current-gen system would be that much sweeter.

Utilize Graphics

The biggest myth about text simmers is that we do not care about graphics. Text simmers do not want fancy graphics to disguise what is otherwise an unrealistic game experience, but that does not mean we are happy to just stare at blocks of black text. Imagine how great Madden would be if it produced realistic results, and you could watch your games play out with current-gen graphics. Head Coach tried this approach but failed miserably -- the gameplay graphics in Head Coach looked more like 10-Yard Fight than Madden 10. I realize you can sit back and watch your games play out in Madden 10, but text simmers need a little more. Various coach modes in Madden have also attempted to mix in a realistic style of play while taking advantage of the current-gen graphics. However, these attempts have been bogged down by players doing strange things, unrealistic results and general weirdness.

Ratings That Matter

Madden took a step in the right direction this year with skill-position ratings. There is a noticeable difference between Peyton Manning and JaMarcus Russell or Adrian Peterson and Ahman Green. But it is tough to see much of a difference in players in the trenches. To see if my hypothesis was correct, I ran a couple of quick sims using the Rams and the Bears. I benched all of my starting offensive linemen and simmed the regular season using all backups. Steven Jackson still finished with 1,498 yards and Matt Forte went for 1,112 yards. Ratings for all players need to matter and factor into each play. In a perfect world, not only would ratings make a difference in the trenches, but you would be able to notice the difference in lineman while watching your games play out.


After writing this, I have come to the following two conclusions:

1. I use the phrase “text simmers” too often. It is a weird phrase. I am going to have to come up with something else.

2. If Madden would incorporate some of these ideas, wouldn’t all Madden players benefit? More realism, focused ratings, expansion and customization are all improvements that traditional Madden players would likely embrace as well. Whether you are a text simmer or a button masher, I would like to hear what you think.