Supposedly, this is true with player ratings and coach perception. One coach may see a certain player at a certain rating range, but another coach will see a different range. Assuming this is true, maybe the coach ratings are similar?

The "real" Raiders averaged about 60 snaps a game. Real Browns would have had about 56 offensive snaps a game.

As we feared, the numbers are low.

I was able to play the demo in windowed mode but not the full version, anyonelse having this problem? Yes. I have changed the setting in the "ini" file and it still won't work and I don't see where it can be changed in game.

again, 8 or 9 minutes would be perfect. hope they can patch it.

I think that'll just lead to the QBs throwing 14 interceptions instead of 7.

I've just finished training camp and I LOVED it. I can see that some people would find it repetitive, but I thought it was great. I was screaming at the screen when McNabb was holding onto the ball too long in some drills. Likewise, Greg Lewis was pissing me off. He has such great speed that he would burn my 3rd or 4th CB, but his hands are SO unreliable. Chad Jackson dropped quite a few balls too, and I had to discipline the rookie a bit. Anyway, I finally had a few good last practices, and I'm about to start my first pre-season game. I'm playing the Browns and Trent Dilfer is rated very poorly while my secondary is rated very good, so it will be interesting to see how many picks we get.

Oh yeah, I'm actually not so critical of the Giants drafting a QB after I had my scout look at all of their QB's closely. Besides Eli, they had horrible QB's on their roster. Lorentzen was their #2 and he is rated very poorly. Jay Cutler gave them a very solid #2 and at #25 he signed a deal for just over 3 million a year. He is probably better than any of the FA QB's that were out there or at least cheaper and a relative better value.

Anyway, off to play my first pre-season game. I'll post stats afterwards. However, I also can't get it to be non-full window and I can't alt-tab out of the game so I'll focus on key stats.

Whats the deal with the screen pass issue? In the IGN review the guy said the play never works. QB always sacked, scrambles etc. Comments from those who have played the game would be appreciated. Thanks

Dola -


The difference in player ratings is really visible in this game. Chad Jackson was getting shut down by Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard and his confidence was plummeting. So, I put my #4 CB on him. He schooled my #4 CB and it helped his confidence some.

Unfortunately, my screen doesn't work either. My QB usually throws it to the WR. I'm hoping that can be patched.

What makes you think they would patch the problem of screen passes? You have not been able to run a successful screen, which is an important fundamental football play that nullifies blitzes, in the last 10 years in Madden.. and they have never fixed it.

ding ding

I think the major problem with the draft classes is our perception of them. I bet this disappears once the fictional players are added in future years.

Some interesting things the modders are finding.

http://football-freaks.com/forums/in...howtopic=14980

oh lord please let quarter length and accelerated clock be moddable. even with the other problems sure to crop up if this was fixed i know i'd get my entertainment $'s worth out of it!

Oh please let interceptions be moddable.. my first preseason game was uhhhmm.. interesting.


It started off with Dilfer throwing a pick on the 1st play. He threw deep and he threw it VERY poorly way over his guys head. Dawkins was there to play centerfielder. Westbrook fumbled his first carry and they got the ball right back. Dilfer proceeded to throw another pick. Dilfer threw a total of 6 picks in the 1st quarter! 3 of them were returned for touchdowns despite being thrown very deep. Dilfer's long accuracy in this game is crap (somewhere in the teens if I remember correctly.) He threw quite well when he kept it short, but when he threw it long it was a pick more often than not.

Anyway, there were some very good things in the game. The running game felt closer to realistic than any madden game I've ever played. The short passing game was quite crisp for both teams. It was fun, but the interceptions definitely puts a damper on the fun. I also hope quarter length is moddable, because I don't know how we can get a decent number of plays with 5 minute quarters. In my game, Cleveland ended up with the ball a lot since they had so many picks returned for TD's. They still only ran 57 plays from scrimmage. We only ran 34 plays from scrimmage and that was with me trying to get plays off ASAP. Here are some game stats:


Eagles:

McNabb 3 of 6 for 34 yards with 0 TD 1 PICK. 0 sacks.

Brett Elliott 2 of 6 for 73 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. 0 sacks.

Westbrook 5 carries for 16 yards.

Elliott 2 carries for 11 yards.

Addai 15 carries for 68 yards and a TD (no big runs either, just lots of 3 to 5 yard gains.)

Reggie Brown 1 catch for 66 yards and a TD.

L.J. Smith 1 catch for 17 yards.

Chad Jackson 2 catches for 16 yards.

Runyan 7 pancakes.

Shawn Andrews 6 pancakes.

Every other OL starter 3 pancakes.

Dawkins led the team with 8 tackles.

Trotter 6 tackles and 2 sacks to lead the team.

Dawkins led the team with 4 picks.

Lewis had 3 more.


We had 196 yards of offense from scrimmage.


Cleveland:

Dilfer 17 of 34 for 179 yards 2 TD's and 9 INTS!!! 7 INT's in the first half. Most of his completions came against the 2nd string defense which I put in at halftime as did both of his TD passes.

R. Droughns 13 carries for 39 yards.

Lee Suggs 7 carries for 18 yards.

T. Smith 3 carries for 6 yards.

R. Droughns lead the team with 4 catches for 58 yards. Dilfer did well when he threw it short to his backs or receivers.

A. Bryant 3 catches for 29 yards.

Braylon Edwards 3 catches for 24 yards and a TD.

D. Northcutt 1 catch for 14 yards and a TD.

L.J. Shelton had a whopping 16 pancakes!

R. Tucker had 11 pancakes. The rest of the team had 2 or 3.


B. Russell led the team with 5 tackles.

Gary Baxter had both of their picks.

They had 230 yards of total offense, mostly in the 2nd half against my 2nd string defense (with their 1st team offense still in.)

That brings me to what might be causing the picks. Dilfer is rated in the low 50's. My entire secondary was rated 80 or above and 3 of them were rated 90 or above. Also, my linebackers were all in the 80's and my D'Line got a lot of pressure on him (despite the high pancake numbers.)

Anyway, there is a lot that this game does right, but those interceptions are just too much out of line. Hopefully, that can be modded.

Oh yeah, the final score was 52-14 in favor of my Eagles. :)

Eaglefan27

It looks like, from that viewer I posted above, that Interception can be moddable.

I hope the modders can firgure out how to edit the file now they can open it with that viewer.

The potential certainly seems to be there. Hopefully some smart modders will come up with something soon.

Dola -

Like previewers have said, the game took about 45 minutes to play with 5 minute quarters. I would gladly spend an hour and a half if modders can give us adjustable quarter lengths with accelerated clocks and reasonable interception totals.

I think trading draft picks is broken.

As the Lions, I traded Rogers to the Saints for the #2 pick.

When I got to the draft, the Saints made the pick and Rogers is not on my roster anymore.

:(

I really hope Leinhart isn't put on my team after the draft.

I picked Vince Young with the #9 pick to get my QB.

Hmmm. I traded for a pick (50th) and it worked just fine.

Did you trade during the draft or before the draft?

Okay, this really stinks.

My 3rd round pick was part of the Rogers to Saints deal. I didn't get to make that pick. So, I traded Rogers and a 3rd rounder to NO for a scrub RB.

Guh!

I traded the first opportunity I had, so probably 3-6 weeks before the draft.

Okay, it was Roy Williams I traded, not Carlos Rogers.

Either way, they got the player and all of the draft picks and I got Aaron Stecker out of it.

Wierd. I traded 6 weeks ahead of time for the 50th pick with no problem. I got my pick just fine and Dallas got my picks just fine.

When they ask you if you want to sim ahead to the next section.. you really don't want to do that, do you.

I drafted seven, signed one. Not even Matt Leinert is on my team. 1st round pick. Not on the team.

So I'm starting over.

And I learned what the deal was with the coordinators. You aren't supposed to hire them, you are supposed to promote them. If you have all your position coach spots filled, then the guy you hire next will go to the appropriate coordinator spot. I am not a fan of this way of doing things.

Dola -

There is quite a bit to like about this game (if you don't mind micromanaging) but I'm going to hold off progressing with this career for a few days to see if any more news come from that thread that jb posted and there might be some mods.

Don't ever sim ahead even when it tells you it is ok. Always go day by day. Then, you can release any players that you need to, in order to make room for the draft picks.

First Online Game
 

Okay, I just got done playing my first game online (and for the one and only time in my life I am in the top 100 leaderboard...#7)

Anyways...

Final Score:
Raiders (me) 34
Steelers (bigbenXLImvp?) 18

Final stats:
Passing
Pitt: 14/30 passing for 225 yards with 2 INTs
Oak: 9/17 passing for 190 yards with 1 INT

Rushing:
Pitt: 27 for 163 yards
Oak: 21 for 47 yards

Recieving:
Pitt: 7 players
Oak: 5 players

Punting:
Pitt: 2 for 82 yards, long of 43 - He went for it on 4th down frequently
Oak: 5 for 51.7 avg., long of 67 yards

Offense:
Pitt: 381 yards, 15 1st downs
Oak: 222 yds, 8 1st downs

Now the stats are off a bit because he went for it on 4th down inside his end of the field a few times, so I had a couple of short (less than yards) drives.

Notes:
-1st play from scrimmage Brooks completed a 73 yard TD to Moss
-A few possessions later Rothlisberger completes an 82 yard TD pass (Ward?)
-Brooks was intercepted in the end zone (PITT took a knee)
-at the end of the half, the PITT receiver tried to get out of bounds with 2 seconds left. I THINK the OAK defender tackled him in bounds...although it was close...clock ran out.
-17-12 at half - PITT went for 2 point conversions on both TDs
-2nd half - PITT fumbled the ball, about 5 players looked at the ball including 2 or 3 Raiders before PITT recovered ball 5 yards in front of line of scrimmage
-PITT Parker had a nice 62 yard TD run, took the ball outside and was barely touched
-OAK scores TD on QB sneak [QB sneak was run a total of 3 times in the game and it was always successful, including one for about 4 yards....]
-PITT went for it on 4th down, were unsuccessful but the audio said "32 Yard Gain on the Play"...uh, no...although it may have been the 32 were I took over the ball
-OAK scored a TD on an INT return by Fabian Washington - 20-25 yards...no one in front of him
-the 2 Minute warning...as someone previously said, it comes with 40% of the quarter remaining...YUCK
-PITT throws in to triple coverage - I did not notice if anyone was open, but it was a very bad choice to make the throw
-Only one flag in the game...Delay of Game in final moments

Overall:
-It was VERY hard to run with Oakland
-There is NO time to talk to players...I tried to talk to my O-line and I missed 3 plays
-I think there is a lot of potential when the game is played between serious football fans who know football strategy...
-BUT...the game lasts a LONG time...almost an hour, so if your opponent is stupid/yucky, etc. it can be a VERY long game (my opponent kept going for it on 4th down, but his running game kept him in the game).

Oh yeah...when you sign up for your online account [I am sure I have another one, but who knows which email address I used...so I made a new one] you have the option to pay $2 to avoid ads...or let ESPN "pay" the $2...I let ESPN pay, but did not notice any ads...so I don't know

I had trouble connecting with the first person I invited to play...he had 3 green bars which I thought meant he had a good connection...but the second player I tried to connect with had only ONE Red bar and the connection held for the whole hour.

My EA player name is kamphoto22.

I will mess with verifying it tomorrow. I've been at it 5:30 hours with this game tonight and this has disappointed me.

So, for 5:25 hours, I was really enjoying myself.

:D

Despite my wacky pre-season stats, I've had a lot of fun playing it for almost 12 hours today :)

This is not exactly good, but not too bad. My stats show the real life Raiders averaging 62 offensive plays per game and the Browns averaging 58.


57 offensive plays for the Steelers, 38 for the Raiders. This is more troubling.

Similar stats in my game Yabanci as far as only about 90 total plays.

I just downloaded Tdbview because I was curious about the modding potential, but I can't even find the systems folder that the thread talks about to view the settings file.

Well, I won't be getting this game. Way too much time committment. 45 or more minutes for one game. No chance to get into any sort of career. For the same reason, I don't call plays in FOF. Sheesh. I wasn't a fan of 5 minute quarters but go for 8-9 minutes, and I would have to quit my job to play this game.

It's not an indictment of the game per se, just that it doesn't mesh with my lifestyle.

If it's possible to tweak the sliders out-of-game (yet another reason why I wouldn't dream of buying a game like this for console) than I'll shell out cash for this game. If not, no chance.

I don't know how anyone at EA can playtest their own game and not get put off by the interception-a-minute ratio even with the default level in Madden. With it turned down to a 1 out of 100 in Madden, the amount of times a QB still throws it right at a defender is stupid. They may not pick them off as many times, but it just looks terrible having the ball bounce right out of the defenders hands every 3rd passing play.

What are the system rec's for the PC game? I picked up the Xbox game, and I had to go to work this evening before I even got to the combine, but if it turns out the PC game is modable and is a better game, I might try to get that...however, I have a three and a half year old Dell laptop that might not support the graphics well of the games and practices.

I just opened that settings file, and it is very interesting. Jbmagic's screenshot cuts it off, but there are seperate "slider" settings for the CPU and Human among many other things, and there is an option there that sounds like it could turn "player control" to classic which makes me think like Madden. Very interesting file. Hopefully Modders can use Tdbwrite or something else to make some needed changes.

I'm confident some kid in Latvia will be able to save the day.

Sounds very much like they are using the Madden engine after all with all these remnants of Madden options hidden away.

That is what I'm thinking too. There are even options to affect the graphics of cheerleaders, the field, and such. Anyway, if it wasn't obvious, I would say that anyone who wants realistic stats should hold off on buying this until either a patch or a mod comes out for it.

I have found that you can offer the coach a specific job. It's in the negotiation screen. And they won't necessarily take the position coach job either if there's a coordinator's job open.

I have also found that, since you want to match philosophy with your coaches, you really shouldn't fire too many coaches the first year, or you'll wind up with an irate owner (and short a few coaches).

Another thing -- on the right side of the negotiation screen it lists out some of the coach's attributes, I guess the ones you got a feel for in the interview, so that you do know something about him before you hire him (if the interview answers didn't clue you in, but they actually do a good job of that).

Re: moddability, I think if you can see those sliders, then a mod can mod them. I suspect the interceptions and quarter length are going to be ironed out to at least an acceptable level. Madden never becomes perfect no matter what you do with the sliders.

I agree the game is fun, even if starting over again is too exhausting a prospect for me right now (want to hire the coaches right, dang it!).. off to bed.

I threw this up on my GameFly list to see how it plays on the XBox. I would imagine that the interface is identical. With the layout from the demo that I saw, it would probably be easier/faster to use the controller....and that's pretty sad.

The more I play this game, the more it's giving me a headache. It's a pain in the ass to navigate to the player you want and it also can't add.

I have 3 QBs signed and 2 SS. The game insists I only have 2 QB and 1 SS.

This is angering me.

I have found that it is easier to navigate with the keyboard than with the mouse. I haven't found anything that I can't do with the keyboard.

I am definitely glad I got the PC version. I was going to get the PS2 version because the interface is designed for a console. I'm glad I changed my mind. The patching and modding ability of the PC version is well worth it given my draft pick bug.

The offseason portion sounds pretty interesting overall, but it sounds like the in-game portion misses the mark by quite a bit. If modders can dig around and get the in-game part working a little more realistically, it might be worth picking up the game.

spleen1015

Regarding the draft pick bug you mention above.

Did you sign any RFA players. I was reading another forum mentioning that if you sign a RFA player, you lose a draft pick according to nfl rules. Not really clear on the specifics but that might be the reason.

I only got about an hour and a half of gaming in last night, but it was a fun time. The line between an FOF and this is pretty clear from the start, though. You don't have the financial depth with contracts and negotiations, and the game doesn't do a real good job of providing you with information and the impact of decisions like FOF does.

I hate the way the roster screens are done. It's obviously designed for a certain type of console gamer.

I think this could be a fine diversion. I'm not expecting the depth of an FOF, but so far I find it more enjoyable than Madden -- but then again I haven't been a Madden fan for about 10 years.

Based on your posts (I have not finished reading the thread) I do not think the problem is with the INTs themselves; if a QB throws a flyball to CF the ball should be caught. I'd much rather see that then drop after drop after drop in regards to an INT. The problem is in the play-calling, knowing Dilfer sucks a D for throwing deep, or in the player himself being too confident in his abilities (EA isn't that smart...just a glitch).

Interesting reads so far...I'll finish in a bit. I had one question though:
I did not see the point in using office hours because I was simply using them to set my depth charts and I could only move 2 players at a time (wtf is that?) and they didn't save anyway. So I just started skipping my office hours since I was told I could handle this stuff later (pregame etc). Am I screwed? I could care less about creating plays for now and had just planned on using a playbook that was already made. I don't want to have to start over!

Don't forget that punts and FG attempts still count as offensive plays. Maybe you already counted these?

I used just about every office hour session to add 2 plays to my offensive and defensive playbooks.

I don't think I did. Even if I did, they weren't good enough for me to lose a 1st round pick.

Also, would I lose a pick a acquired via trade?

I did the same. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of plays to call on game day. There aren't enough plays in the default gameplans for me.

screen passes work exactly the way the do in Madden coach mode, which is to say - the don't. The QB either throws to the WR on the clear (hey sometimes it is a big play) or he gets sacked - I have NEVER seen him throw it to the RB.

Most encouraging news in this thread!! As I am reading impressions from a library on vacation, I'm still hoping the pc version can be salvaged by the pc modding crowd. I think we'll see a patch or two from EA to fix some bugs, but it does look like they've left a cookie out there for the modding community.

As always EF, thanks for the impressions!!

Here is my quick review with something more detailed later.

I got the game yesterday at 11am and player pretty much non-stop till 11pm, 12 hours – and I didn’t even make it to the first pre-season game!!!! In fact it too me something like 7 hours to make it to the draft.

Now, some of that was do to learning the interface, and the timing of everything. But much of that has to do with how poorly the interface is designed. I can understand the thinking behind the fact that during office hours you would only have time to insert 2 plays into the playbook (with the reasoning that behind the scenes, you would have to meet with the players, draw it up on the chalkboard, talk about it and then walk through it on the field – so OK I can buy that) But to switch 2 players on the depth chart and have that take the entire office hours up is simply silly to me. If you want to make 7 or 8 changes to your depth chart and make some formation substitutions – well that is going to take you about a weeks worth of office hours.

Having said all that for the most part I had a LOT of fun, but I don’t know how much fun this is going to be the next time I have to go through it.

A quick note on the 5 minute quarter thing – I haven’t even played a game yet, I and many others have voiced my concerns but one thing is abundantly clear – The primary defenders of the 5 minute quarters rallying cry is that the “average” gamer isn’t going to want to spend that much time playing a game whose quarters are longer then 5 minutes. After playing the game for 12 hours and not even making it to a game, that statement has gone from off-base to downright laughable. The “average” gamer who doesn’t have time for qtrs beyond 5 minutes will have returned this game after playing for 3 hours and not even coming close to playing a game.

On to the draft – still not perfect – but better then any previous NFL game – this was pretty good and came as close to the feel of the real draft as much as any game I have played. The first 3 rounds I actually sat and watched every pick and didn’t “fast-forward” at all. I do think they need to add a “pick-now” button. Right now your choices are to wait the entire 30 seconds per team or fast forward to your pick. 30 seconds doesn’t sound long until there are 40 picks between your picks and then it takes a long time. If they added a “pick-now” feature you could still see every pick, but make it though in a reasonable time. Again I am wondering what the 5 minute “average” gamer is doing here?

So on the drat, I think the AI here still need a lot of work.

A couple of notes:

• OK we get it, somebody on the development team went to Ohio St. Hawk went first in my draft as well as every draft I have seen posted. It is not that I have a problem with him going first, especially if he was a “real-life” consensus #1 along the lines say of a John Elway – but he isn’t that IRL so I would have liked to see more variety here with any number of players going #1 overall. Also I think it is funny that the official game guide lists 5 players that would be the Texans “top draft prospects” and Hawk isn’t one of them.
• So I am playing the Niners and when we get to pick #6 – Bush is still there – I half wonder if the development team made a decision that people “want” to draft Bush because he is exciting and made sure he would be available in the first part of the draft. Either way I considering going another direction, but my 8 year old son was looking over my shoulder and saying “Daddy, you HAVE to draft Bush!!!” so I took him. I must say he looks pretty good in practice.
• This part actually made me laugh out loud – with the #9 overall pick the Detroit Lions take… yep, you guessed it a WR!!! Santonio Holmes.
• Vince Young – So in my off-season much like the real world Niners I traded for a second – 1st round pick - #17 overall. So as I am watching the draft and watching Young fall – it is pick 15 the falcons, with the dolphins at #16 and then I am at #17. I am considering trying to trade up past the Dolphins. I don’t think the Falcons will draft a QB because they have Vick – but I am worried about the Dolphins (remember they don’t have Culpepper) But before I can put a deal together the Falcons draft Vince Young!!! WYF? All-right that is one scary QB combo, but now what do I do. At this point I no longer care about the Dolphins and my dream-team combo of Bush & Young isn’t going to happen. But just for kicks I call up the Falcons and see if they will send me Vick for the #17 pick. After all they don’t need both QB’s so why not – and they go for it – GREAT. I don’t get Vince Young but now I do have Vick and Bush. For a team as desperate for playmakers as the 49ers this is turning out quite nicely. Now here is where it gets kind of bad in the AI department. The Falcons having already taken Young at #15 and with their newly acquired #17 pick take…. QB Jay Cutler – WTF?!?!? Maybe Mora has some new dual QB offense I don’t know about it.

Well that is it for now, time to dive back in and hopefully actually play a game or two.

:( :mad: :mad:

Ok, modding or not... jeez talk about taking me back down.

Wow. That AI logic is horrible.

Zip. The credit card just went back into the ole wallet.

ESPN's season predictions makes mention of how if Vick struggles ATL will be calling for Schuab. Perhaps it's not such a stretch with VY since he would sort of be a plug in player for Vick. An expensive plug in but whatever...

Also, to be honest, if I ran a team with a specialty player such as Vick I would want a backup that was very similar to Vick. I'm not sure exactly how Schuab can move but I'm willing to bet that VY, or a cheaper version (Mike McMahon or whoever) would be a nice player to have on the roster.

I don't think everyone is necessarily flipping out over the Vince Young pick. Maybe the Falcons just flat out gave up on him in the game. So you draft Vince Young and see what you can get for Vick. We can argue if this is right/wrong, but I could justify it.

The bizzareness comes in with the Falcons trading Vick for the 17th pick and selecting Jay Cutler.

No way in hell an NFL team drafts TWO QB's in the first round to compete for their QB job. That's pure insanity. That's an AI gone mad.

edit: when I say it's an AI gone mad, the way I judge it is by fictional rosters. Lets say I don't know how good each of these players all. Could I justify the moves? Up to the point of drafting Cutler, maybe. But the second they take another QB in round 1, is the second I can't even suspend reality for. You just can't justify that sort of thing.

Yeah, totally agree. Devil's advocate, I could see Matt Millen doing something like taking 2 first round QBs and letting the strongest survive. To be honest...no it's a horrible idea lol.

And what the hell is Atlanta going to do with Vick's signing bonus? Even before the Cutler pick, the AI was assinine.

The fact that they traded Vick and ate his huge bonus and then picked Cutler just makes it worse, but even the first move was awfully bad.

I don't have much problem with the drafting of Vince Young at 15. A mid 1st round draft pick on a QB with tons of potential who will need a few years to develop behind a similarly unique style of QB makes at least some sense, especially considering the potential for an injury to Vick. The only way I can see the Cutler pick making sense is if it were for a trade or something though.

5 minute quarters? Not really a problem for me. But drafting 2 qb's in the first round? That's the kind of thing that will keep me from buying a game. This has gone from a 'must-buy' to a 'maybe' in a short amount of time. Ugh.

But with the amount of bonus money that the Falcons owe Vick, I don't think it makes sense at all. The Atlanta media has been crucifying the Falcons for the past 2 years because they haven't traded Matt Schaub. To use a mid-first rounder and pay that kind of bonus on yet another QB would cause a riot on Flowery Branch. Oh yeah, and then as if that's not enough, they trade Vick and draft yet another 1st round QB?

Okay...when does the UFA period start...I know it says trading begins with UFA, but also the game says that the UFA period starts after the RFA offering period. However, you can trade before the offering period for RFA's end. Plus, as a test I could sign a 3rd string UFA QB in this period. I don't want to be getting a leg up on the AI, but I also don't want to miss out on some FA signings as I'm the 49ers and my team essentially sucks.

exactly

It's not as extreme, but I had a similar reaction to Eaglesfan's draft above with the Bengals taking Deangelo Williams in the first. What? Are Rudi Johnson and Chris Perry off to the pen with Chris Henry and Frostee Rucker or something?

I wish I could give you a more concrete answer, but I am afraid it got lost in my 12 hour day and I don't remember.

what I did do was keep clicking on FA - the first maybe 5-6 times I tried it said, nope you can't sign this guy (ar any guy) then one day it said sure, how much you gonna give me.

as a fellow niners fan a couple things I thought were interesting. I think the real life niners had one hell of an off-season - I tried to "re-do" about 4-5 of the moves and everytime the CPU said "no way, I'm not going to get ripped off."

However I do think I made quite a few good changes to the 49ers, especially the offense

Vick - certainly not a franchise QB, but an upgrade over Smith
Bush - looked great in first pre-season game - 100 yard KO return
J.Smith and D.Branch - upgraded the WR core with a veteran and a young player - this team just went from 0 playmakers to 4.

I am certainly never going to tell anyone what to do with their money AND this game has quite a few flaws AND I was hoping for FOF with Madden graphics, which clearly this isn't.

However, I am having a BLAST playing - and at least for me it is worth every penny.

I would love to see a mod on the quarters (which looks promising from what I have read) and clearly the AI needs to be tightened up (but I can't think of a sports title including FOF that doesn't)

There are also a hundred other little tiny things I would like to see cleaned up - but still it is FUN playing this game, more the FOF, more the Madden and more then NCAA for me.

In some ways it reminds me of FB Pro in the sense that FB Pro was fun but had its owns quirks and stupid things. The good thing about FB Pro was we got 8 patches and some great 3rd party stuff - I am just not sure we are going to get that with and EA product.

How do you set this game to play in a window? I know it's not a standard switch but I thought I read somewhere that it is possible to have it in a window like the demo.

Thanks.

In the game, it starts in early April according to the game calendar. However, the game will let you sign players in early March or so. I signed one, realized the AI wasn't signing anyone yet, and waited to April to make my other FA bids when it said that UFA actually started. At that point, the AI appeared to compete with me for players.

I doubt the game takes into account media reaction. ;)

It's not necessarily what I'd do, but that Young pick doesn't make me shake my head like the Cutler pick. Mid-first rounders don't make tons of money, so bringing in a similar QB to your starter who can potentially develop into a superstar isn't a bad move IMO.

I agree completely - the Young pick makes you go, wow didn't see that one coming - the Cutler pick makes you go WTF!?!?!

Eagles,

Bill Abner is reporting that the guys in his training camp took ridiculous leaps in ratings. (with even Dilfer moving up to an 85) Are you noticing that with your guys?

I managed to max most of my starters within their range by working them smartly in training camp with a few exceptions. However, the range isn't current/potential. It is "are they playing at the top of their game or not?" At least, that is how I've seen it explained in a few interviews. I'm assuming (perhaps wrongly) that the upper limit of the range can increase for rookies with time.

Dola -

However, after McNabb threw his pick in the pre-season game he dropped about 5 or 6 points in his range.

Double Dola -

In that thread on football freaks, the modders are finding that EA made it so the .ini file and the settings file reset themselves after exiting the game each time. That is going to make it more difficult for modders, but guys are still working on it.

In your My documents folder there is a NFL Head coach folder in there you have to edit the coach.ini file. There is a fullscreen yes/no option.

If there are people in the world that can make Patrick Swayze sing, there are people who can make this a great game.

You know, I really don't like how scouting works in this game. It's ok enough for rookies, but I shouldn't have to be individually scouting every player in the NFL to get a decent idea of their ratings.

I think the issue may be that the AI doesn't take earlier draft picks into account when it decides what the biggest need is on the board. In my first draft, it was suggested I take D'Brickashaw in my first round. Despite the presence of a solid pair of starters, I agreed, figuring I could shift someone inside (I had earlier traded a starting guard to pick up Michael Vick...the game apparently isn't impressed with him). When the second round came up, imagine my surprise when my scouting director recommended...an LT. Same for the third round. Luckily, in the fourth round, he relented and recommended a center.

Meanwhile, the single halfback left on my roster felt really lonely...

How much bonus money does the NFL HEAD COACH Falcons owe Vick?

it would be a pain, but a fairly easy batch file that copied a "good" settings file from a separate location would seem to be a work around that would work.

now, if the game reset every time is STARTED instead of exited, we would have real trouble.

anyone have any luck in editing the settings file?

I actually really like this idea. Once you've "scouted well" a player, you know his abilities along a spectrum, as well as where he is along that spectrum. The same player may play at a 75 or a 95 level depending on his confidence, form, and endurance. To me, this gives a much better feel for the idea of "position battles" and streaks. In most sim games, unless you're actively trying to develop a particular player, you just plug in the guys with the best ratings. Practice in this game seems to mean something.

There are nasty 500-pound errors in this game's implementation, but at the same time, there are concepts and strategies that the rest of the sim community would be well served to study.

The Patch is out, the patch is out.... It's a new record for EA, hmmm maybe they are trying....

http://www.worthdownloading.com/game.php?gid=1618

I had to buy it...just had to....I am getting ready to lose myself into the game for about 5 hours tonight....

What does the patch cover?

does it concern anyone else that it is up on this site - but from the EA "update game" button it still says no patch available?

The game was waiting for me in the mail when I got home from work today. I've played for about two hours and I am having a blast so far. I am not too far at all so I haven't personally encountered any bugs, but I think so far that I am willing to over look a bit just because it seems pretty fun. It is kind of what I always wanted from a football sim, as far as how in depth all the interactions are, and call me eye candy dork but I really love sitting in the office, in the meetings with coaches, actually seeing the coaches and owner, all that jazz. Hopefully they keep putting it out every year or two as I think with some tweaks and additions they could really have an amazing game. Too bad it is EA Sports we are talking about.

Then again, if people can mod this game to fix some issues, I really think it can be great. It is still a very early impression, but I have to say again I am having a blast.

Oh by the way, the behind the scenes stuff really reminds me of the other sim with Cowher on the cover- Total Control Football. I loved that game so damn much when I was a kid, and its serious flaws pained me. So this game kind of brings back memories of that. Hopefully it won't also bring back the memories of its flaws...

Heck yeah! I played that game a lot when I was younger too.

damnit! damnit! damnit!

I am having issues installing on my DELL laptop....It has been hanging, and yes, my laptop matches the system specs.

I am going to cry....:(

EA has a tendency to release things on their ftp server first, and update any web pages later (sometimes much later). If you want to get the patch from an EA server the link is...

ftp://ftp.ea.com/pub/easports/patche.../patch_1_1.exe

The only patch fix listed in the new readme file is...


Patch Version Number: 1

Fixed in the patch: Fixed an incompatibility that could cause a disconnection between the PC CD version and the Digital Download versions of the game.

My Dell hung up on the installation too. I had to go back to an ancient laptop with a p4. It runs fine, but this old thing gets right hot..

Has anyone else noticed a problem with the Roster Needs page, where it's not accounting for all the players you've got signed at a couple positions?

I will wait....and wait....until it works......or freaking stop all processes that I can, until this works...

Would you announce the secret if you discover it please? I'd rather play it on my Dell. Better monitor and no burns..

Dola

Just had my first BSD.. might be because of the older computer, but I doubt that. It really might be because I had unplugged the laptop and the battery notched down while it was doing some figuring..

Too bad because I had just done a lot of coaching with Leinert. But it was fun! I really like the practice part.