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-   -   The Birth of the Treefrogs (the first Desktop Dynasties dynasty) (https://forums.operationsports.com/fofc//showthread.php?t=93582)

jct32 07-13-2018 01:20 PM

That screen is looking good. I was going to ask about what each package meant but then you added it to the right.

Nice job tying us. It was nice to finally see my team in motion. Once again thanks for the update!

GoldenCrest Games 07-13-2018 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jct32 (Post 3211503)
That screen is looking good. I was going to ask about what each package meant but then you added it to the right.

Nice job tying us. It was nice to finally see my team in motion. Once again thanks for the update!


That's something I want to hear from the early-alpha testers, how best to display the style/packages?

Re-watching those highlights, I think that was Faulkner's zone that got burned for both of your passing TDs! :lol:

jct32 07-19-2018 12:19 PM

It's been almost a week. How are things on the homefront?

GoldenCrest Games 07-20-2018 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jct32 (Post 3212119)
It's been almost a week. How are things on the homefront?


Just got back from vacation! :banana: I should be kicking things up again tomorrow morning.

GoldenCrest Games 07-23-2018 06:54 AM

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And we're back! :)

Pretty boring game against the Eggshells. They have a high-end DL, which makes it nearly impossible for us to run on. (grrr....) The coverage was just good enough to bottle up the passing attack, with the exception of these 2 long TD passes.

https://www.facebook.com/GoldenCrest...487885645/?t=0

Those might even be my only completed passes for positive yardage! I attempted a lot of screens and swing passes that got tackled for loss. :(

On the other hand, the new defense is still holding up really well. I'm loving it!

Swarm keep rolling, and the Twisters finally don't end in a tie! :lol:

Also, how about those Maroons! Let's check the standings to see if they've actually made it in...

GoldenCrest Games 07-23-2018 07:03 AM

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Oh crap, the Nemesis could still get in. :(

The Oranges are playing the Eggshells while the Nemesis get the Browns. I shouldn't worry too much, I guess. If they manage to squeak in, it looks like the Swarm will get them first. At least we'll get to avoid the embarrassment of getting knocked out by the Nemesis again.

In the East, it looks like the Maroons are in! They are even making a play for the #2 seed!! Remember, they just had the #1 overall pick! :eek:

That's an impressive turnaround.

I hope the Rainbow Sharks make it in. It would be nice to have at least one run-first team make it into the playoffs.

We'll talk about the leaders after the last regular season game, but I have to note that we have another Urquhart sighting!! :)

GoldenCrest Games 07-24-2018 07:08 AM

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Final week

We handled the Rainbow Sharks pretty easily this week. They have a nice defense, but we found a weakness in the run defense that we exploited bigtime. I found that by calling delayed handoffs, I could neutralize the one star DE they have by letting him run himself upfield, and then Faulkner would dive underneath him and usually find room against the weaker DL/LB. If I ran a standard running play with no delay, the DE would just flatten out and catch Faulkner for a 0-1 yard gain.

Kind of nice see that strategy works sometimes. :)

On defense, we totally dominated the Sharks' running attack. They stuck to it for 90% of the game, but managed to catch us cheating up on a 3rd and short by going over the top for a long TD pass. Heh, they earned that one. Well played. :)

One weird moment in the game. WTF is that guy doing sliding around on his back?? https://www.facebook.com/GoldenCrest...667690527/?t=0 :lol:

The playoffs are set, and it looks like we take on the T-Pain. We beat them earlier this season, but you know how the Treefrogs do in the playoffs.... :(

p.s. The Nemesis didn't make it! :banana:

GoldenCrest Games 07-24-2018 07:23 AM

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Here are the final standings

um.... why do the teams only have 13 games played? :confused:

And why didn't the stats update this week?

let the investigation begin!

GoldenCrest Games 07-24-2018 07:26 AM

ugh, found it.

I was treating week 14 as a playoff week because my variables weren't counting correctly. That means I wasn't adding up wins/losses or season stats.

Dumb mistake. :( I don't plan on replaying week 14, though. I'm ok with just plowing into the playoffs as-is. Now the the bug is fixed, we should be good for the future seasons.

jct32 07-24-2018 10:07 AM

Oh no, math errors like that are aways silly (or are they logic errors, not a programmer)

Looking forward to the playoffs!

GoldenCrest Games 07-25-2018 07:04 AM

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Developer Update:

Still getting everything ready for some play-testing. I finally got around to integrating the depth chart system into the allocation draft!

I know, I've been talking about that for almost a year now. At least it's finally done! ;)

Cleanup is done from "new game" initiation all the way through the allocation draft now. Next up is making sure the season resets correctly and you can actually play games. (without having a PhD in my workarounds)

GoldenCrest Games 07-26-2018 06:55 AM

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Just like that, we're out again. :banghead:

Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. We couldn't do ANYTHING against the T-Pain. We held them in check for most of the game, but their kicker could hit from nearly midfield. Mine, on the other hand, needed to get inside the 20 to have any chance. :rant:

Also, the Swarm lose to the Oranges???? :eek:

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!!?!?

At least the Twisters continue to roll, and are protecting the honor of our sponsored teams. :)

On the positive side, this means we get another team logo this season!

p.s. sad to see the Maroons lose, but they put up a good fight this season. Not bad for the worst team in the league last season.

jct32 07-26-2018 07:39 AM

I wouldn’t call 27-17 rolling but I’ll take it.

GoldenCrest Games 07-27-2018 06:27 AM

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They're back! :popcorn:

The Twisters explosive offense finally woke up and took care of the Sharks. I have game video that I still have to go over and pull highlights from. (next post)

Also, the T-Pain make it to the finals and get a logo! I'll have to check in with the sponsor to get a new team name for them. It's probably a 99.9999% chance that the real T-Pain would never notice that he's a team mascot, but you know..... :)

GoldenCrest Games 07-27-2018 06:59 AM

Twisters-Sharks highlights: https://www.facebook.com/GoldenCrest...213724139/?t=0

The most impressive clip is that punt return. Wow! Look at the cuts! :eek: It's a big deal to me because you have no idea how hard it was to get runners to evaluate blocks. :)

I like these highlights more than most, because you get a feel for how different the team styles are from each other. The Rainbow Sharks have impressive blocking, which allows them to have that dominant run game. The Twisters seem to live on creating space with WR patterns.

The longer teams have to develop their rosters away from the initial draft, the more it's showing up in play style. That's kind of cool.

Now it's on to the title game! Twisters vs T-Pain

GoldenCrest Games 07-30-2018 06:26 AM

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Championship time!

No, that's not an error. That's really the score. I watched the whole game, and it was surprisingly a defensive battle. (no video because I played it on the development computer instead of the gaming computer)

Both teams would sustain drives until they got into the redzone, and then they'd either throw an interception or kick a FG. The one TD in the game came on a desperation heave to a downfield WR that the Twisters had beautifully double-covered. The poor throw allowed the faster WR to adjust and make the reception, and then break 2 tackles for the stroll into the endzone. It was crazy.

The Twisters had a great drive after that score, only to throw a pick in the endzone, which the T-Pain returned to the 3. 2 sacks in a row to get the safety cut the score to 7-5.

After that, it was "close your eyes and chuck the ball" time, because there had to be at least 3 more interceptions. I've never see so many in a game before. There was hope near the end of the game when the Twisters picked off a quick-out, and broke the initial tackle. He was streaking down the field for a go-ahead TD, but the T-Pain are a much faster team, and tracked him down for the game saving tackle.

Overall, I think the speed of the T-Pain was the difference. They are a really fast team, and it's hard to get any long TDs on them. They track you down every time and force you to continue to make plays.

The T-Pain sponsor is currently researching for the new team name. Once that comes in, I'll send it off for the new logo.

GoldenCrest Games 07-30-2018 06:34 AM

Retirements:
  • FA: QB/CB/ST Timothy Berry retires at the age of 20 and a value of 102.2($1)
  • Swarm: QB/CB/ST Esteban Pugh retires at the age of 37 and a value of 148.1($5)
  • FA: WR/DL/ST Derek Tobias retires at the age of 21 and a value of 115.7($2)
  • Reds: OL/DL/ST Kristopher Schexnayder retires at the age of 34 and a value of 127.9($3)
  • FA: QB/DL/ST Antony Cozart retires at the age of 29 and a value of 130.0($3)
  • FA: OL/CB/ST William Spears retires at the age of 20 and a value of 96.7($1)
  • FA: OL/LB/ST Warner Oswalt retires at the age of 21 and a value of 107.4($1)
  • FA: RB/S/K Albert Plowman retires at the age of 37 and a value of 159.1($6)
  • FA: QB/LB/KR Elias Breunig retires at the age of 31 and a value of 144.6($4)
  • Twisters: OL/DL/ST Luigi Chung retires at the age of 33 and a value of 137.9($4)
  • Grays: OL/CB/K Wallace Halvorson retires at the age of 31 and a value of 134.7($3)
  • Nemesis: OL/LB/ST Shelby Lorenz retires at the age of 28 and a value of 119.7($2)
  • Oranges: OL/LB/KR Wilford Russell retires at the age of 26 and a value of 117.3($2)
  • T-Pain: OL/S/ST Korey Travis retires at the age of 20 and a value of 132.0($3)
  • Slates: OL/DL/ST Shawn Hanley retires at the age of 32 and a value of 208.5($19)
  • Rainbow Sharks: OL/CB/ST Rayford Gregory retires at the age of 20 and a value of 116.1($2)
  • Grays: WR/CB/ST Marshall Cooley retires at the age of 20 and a value of 145.4($4)
  • Eggshells: RB/CB/KR Trenton Choe retires at the age of 32 and a value of 198.3($15)
  • Reds: RB/DL/ST Ross Serrano retires at the age of 20 and a value of 127.3($3)
  • Eggshells: OL/CB/K Ken Wheeler retires at the age of 20 and a value of 134.0($3)
  • Rainbow Sharks: OL/DL/ST Darrel Pugh retires at the age of 20 and a value of 113.6($2)
  • Blues: OL/CB/ST Timothy Khan retires at the age of 20 and a value of 106.5($1)
  • Nemesis: RB/DL/ST Daren Hanson retires at the age of 20 and a value of 134.3($3)
  • Grays: OL/LB/K Tory Blanton retires at the age of 26 and a value of 148.4($5)
  • Alpacas: OL/S/ST Forrest Richardson retires at the age of 20 and a value of 118.5($2)
  • Swarm: RB/CB/K Olen Hale retires at the age of 20 and a value of 119.4($2)
  • Olives: OL/CB/ST Max Cannon retires at the age of 20 and a value of 124.1($2)
  • Rainbow Sharks: WR/CB/ST Edison Saunders retires at the age of 20 and a value of 132.2($3)
  • Alpacas: QB/DL/ST Marlon Frye retires at the age of 20 and a value of 138.7($4)
  • Cyans: RB/S/ST Foster Cleary retires at the age of 32 and a value of 171.3($9)
  • Cyans: OL/LB/ST Clinton Oneal retires at the age of 23 and a value of 149.2($5)
  • Twisters: WR/CB/ST Oscar Horowitz retires at the age of 32 and a value of 225.6($26)
  • Eggshells: QB/LB/ST Andres Beals retires at the age of 33 and a value of 193.1($14)
  • Slates: OL/DL/ST Wilton Vines retires at the age of 35 and a value of 232.9($29)
  • Swarm: RB/LB/ST Johnnie Mcclellan retires at the age of 35 and a value of 214.6($21)
  • Twisters: WR/DL/ST Donnell Keil retires at the age of 27 and a value of 120.7($2)
  • Blues: OL/DL/K Homer Hinton retires at the age of 37 and a value of 157.9($6)

Twisters and Swarm each lose a critical player to old age. That's going to hurt.

Looks like the Slates lose the best player, Wilton Vines, at a value of 232.9 and $29 salary.

No Treefrogs retirements. Probably because of my team youth obsession. :)

GoldenCrest Games 07-30-2018 06:49 AM

Development Update:

Progress on the early-alpha has been slower than expected. There are some things happening in my real-world job that might be cause for some news later this week, so stay tuned! That being said, I'm still hammering away on the playable build.

Here's what the schedule looks like as of now: (time estimate is how far away, from today)
- Finish early-alpha through the "start new season" phase. (1-2 days)
- Finish Kickstarter page and prepare to launch campaign (2-4 days)
- Finish early-alpha through season and playoffs. (4-5 days)
- Begin Kickster campaign. (about a week from now?)
- League rookie draft
- Finish early-alpha through rookie draft
- League FA
- Finish early-alpha through FA
- Start graphics update season (2-3 weeks)
- Distribute sponsor early-alpha for play testing
- Finish Kickstarter campaign (mid Oct?)
- If successful: Distribute Kickstarter early-alpha for play testing
- If not successful: Figure something else out

jct32 07-30-2018 04:48 PM

Another championship loss. Congrats to the (Insert Name here). Horowitz being gone will hurt. Hopefully we can find a good replacement.

GoldenCrest Games 07-31-2018 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jct32 (Post 3213100)
Another championship loss. Congrats to the (Insert Name here). Horowitz being gone will hurt. Hopefully we can find a good replacement.


Now we're really going to see if Horowitz made Luna a star, or if Luna made Horowitz a star. :popcorn:

GoldenCrest Games 08-01-2018 07:15 AM

Development Update:

- Finish early-alpha through the "start new season" phase. (1-2 days)
- Finish Kickstarter page and prepare to launch campaign (2-4 days)
- Finish early-alpha through season and playoffs. (4-5 days)
- Begin Kickster campaign. (about a week from now?)
- League rookie draft
- Finish early-alpha through rookie draft
- League FA
- Finish early-alpha through FA
- Start graphics update season (2-3 weeks)
- Distribute sponsor early-alpha for play testing
- Finish Kickstarter campaign (mid Oct?)
- If successful: Distribute Kickstarter early-alpha for play testing
- If not successful: Figure something else out

GoldenCrest Games 08-04-2018 12:01 PM

Development Update: Just finished the Kickstarter page! It's my first time ever putting something like this together, so it's going to be a great learning experience. (The video was especially difficult!) I managed to beat down my nitpickyness and just call it done. Right now it's in review, so we're almost there!

Stay tuned for the campaign launch!

- Finish early-alpha through the "start new season" phase. (1-2 days)
- Finish Kickstarter page and prepare to launch campaign (2-4 days)
- Finish early-alpha through season and playoffs. (4-5 days)
- Begin Kickster campaign. (about a week from now?)
- League rookie draft
- Finish early-alpha through rookie draft
- League FA
- Finish early-alpha through FA
- Start graphics update season (2-3 weeks)
- Distribute sponsor early-alpha for play testing
- Finish Kickstarter campaign (early Sep)
- If successful: Distribute Kickstarter early-alpha for play testing
- If not successful: Figure something else out
- Big news! (stay tuned)

jct32 08-04-2018 12:14 PM

Awesome! Looking forward to it when it gets approved!

GoldenCrest Games 08-05-2018 07:53 AM

It's approved!

Going live this afternoon. Stay tuned!

GoldenCrest Games 08-05-2018 05:23 PM

We did it! Another big step completed as we launch our first Kickstarter.

http://kck.st/2M5AkSH

Tell your friends! :banana:

GoldenCrest Games 08-06-2018 12:46 PM

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We got our first backer!

WOOHOO!! :banana:

GoldenCrest Games 08-07-2018 07:24 AM

Quick development update:

The biggest hurdle is complete. Fast-sim is completely integrated with slow-sim, and it's all controlled from the schedule screen with all the variables getting set/reset correctly.

In short, the entire sim/play system is complete. The only things standing in the way of the playable early-alpha are user interface updates, small updates to save/load file management, and some minor play balance.

THIS IS HAPPENING!!

:banana:

GoldenCrest Games 08-08-2018 07:07 AM

Lesson of the day: Be smart when you lay out all your screens and panels. Don't do what I did, and end up with a depth chart panel that fits the draft but doesn't fit the roster screen. :(

Also, I'm embarrassed that it took me an hour to fix it. All I needed to do was make a quick little system that resized and moved the depth chart depending on which screen was open. For some reason, my brain couldn't solve this simple problem and I had to ask google. Ugh!!

:banghead:

jct32 08-08-2018 08:01 AM

Don't get frustrated by that. It's a process. You are doing great!

GoldenCrest Games 08-08-2018 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jct32 (Post 3214030)
Don't get frustrated by that. It's a process. You are doing great!


It was frustrating, but I was really happy with how it turned out. It's nice to steadily cross things off the list, and that was one that's been on the list for a while.

:)

Also, it was a good lesson about screens. I'll definitely manage my screens a lot better in the next game.

GoldenCrest Games 08-13-2018 06:08 AM

Dev Update:

Kickstarter still going pretty slow. (at $102 now) However, I still believe!! :D

On the development front, one last thing I want to update before going into the league rookie draft. I just want to update the save/load system, and then we can get rolling again. Right now it saves all the files to my desktop, and you can't have multiple leagues saved. I think I can do better than that. :)

- Finish early-alpha through the "start new season" phase. (1-2 days)
- Finish Kickstarter page and prepare to launch campaign (2-4 days)
- Finish early-alpha through season and playoffs. (4-5 days)
- Begin Kickster campaign. (about a week from now?)

- League rookie draft
- Finish early-alpha through rookie draft
- League FA
- Finish early-alpha through FA
- Start graphics update season (2-3 weeks)
- Distribute sponsor early-alpha for play testing
- Finish Kickstarter campaign (early Sep)
- If successful: Distribute Kickstarter early-alpha for play testing
- If not successful: Figure it out then

GoldenCrest Games 08-13-2018 06:51 AM

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The cool part about grinding through all the non-fun parts of learning to make games is when something like this used to take me more than a day to figure out. Now, 20 mins.

Before: "I want to show the save file name....um....hmmmm..... (googles for 2 hours) ok, I think I know how to show a filename, but how do I show it without the extension? .... (googles and tests for another hour)..... "

Now: I'm all "Let's see, I want each save game to contain all this information, I'll just grab it from an index file I'll create in the save file structure...I want it to highlight when you mouse over, but I also want it to stay highlighted so you know what you're loading/deleting....and I want the logos. tap-tap-tap-tap DONE!"

GoldenCrest Games 08-15-2018 07:40 AM

Big news coming..... 1 month away.

:)

GoldenCrest Games 08-16-2018 08:21 AM

You know, it always amazes me where you get hit with bolts of inspiration.

So I'm out on the running trail yesterday, wrestling with various programming problems I have right now. Gameplay and playcalling pops up again, because this is one area I've had the most trouble with. It love the game engine and how the players run around, but I hate the playcalling part.

Frankly, it's boring. :(

In it's current state, playcalling doesn't make you feel like part of the game. I've almost scrapped it a few times and gone all auto-playcall mode because it feels like a chore instead of a meaningful part of the game. I don't fast-sim my games because watching the players is so much fun!! If only I could connect you (the player) to the little guys running around the field....

Then, about mile 5 (when I got a good runner's high :) ) it hit me! I'm thinking about this all wrong. I'm still thinking about playcalling as if this were Madden. It's not, so I have the freedom to do something different. This is a lot more "backyard football" than NFL/Madden, so playcalling should be a lot more backyard too.

Wait, why even call plays? Why not call routes instead of plays? That's how we all did it back when we played in the street! That worked just fine, and it would work really well in DD:F!!

Here's the idea:
  1. Your playbook is really a book for formations. You pick a "play" that is really just a formation, based on the roster style your team runs, and the players line up accordingly.
  2. After the players lined up, they would be assigned a random* route. (*not truly random, but based on some AI + randomness)
  3. Then you'd have the opportunity to hot-route everyone to something new.
  4. Snap ball and off we go!

The key to all of this is the hot-route step. I really believe that individually assigning routes to your favorite players, based on the game situation and matchups, will pull you into the game a lot more than just calling predetermined plays. As I play, I'm always wishing I could change the play I called, just a little bit. I want to feature Faulkner a lot more, and get in in the best positions, but I'm too limited by what's in my playbook. Having the ability to change the play on the fly would open up unlimited options for using my team talent!

So that's the new direction. Luckily, this should work nicely with most of the systems I've already developed. It's good that I held off on finalizing the playcall system for so long. Now I don't feel like I've wasted a lot of time by changing it!

As always, I'm open to any ideas or thoughts.

jct32 08-16-2018 07:17 PM

That seems like it could get tedious quickly. Having to change the route for every receiver every play or to just leave certain receivers as is and hope that combination works.. I don't see the issue if you allow for a create a play system then people will be able to tailor their playbooks so they can make their own plays instead of a randomly generated route. Also how do running plays work?

I'm not against the idea because I would need to see it fleshed out but those are some things to think of.

GoldenCrest Games 08-16-2018 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jct32 (Post 3214812)
That seems like it could get tedious quickly. Having to change the route for every receiver every play or to just leave certain receivers as is and hope that combination works.. I don't see the issue if you allow for a create a play system then people will be able to tailor their playbooks so they can make their own plays instead of a randomly generated route. Also how do running plays work?

I'm not against the idea because I would need to see it fleshed out but those are some things to think of.


Those are some good points. It might become a pain. Maybe the happy medium is to keep playbooks and just allow hot-routing? You're probably right that random routes is too far.

jct32 08-17-2018 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenCrest Games (Post 3214817)
Those are some good points. It might become a pain. Maybe the happy medium is to keep playbooks and just allow hot-routing? You're probably right that random routes is too far.


I see nothing wrong with that. It seems to be a pretty standard thing in football games, same with flipping the play.

GoldenCrest Games 08-18-2018 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jct32 (Post 3214868)
I see nothing wrong with that. It seems to be a pretty standard thing in football games, same with flipping the play.


Seems like a good place to start, without going crazy with it. If it still doesn't feel right, I can always push a little farther.

GoldenCrest Games 08-20-2018 07:14 AM

We might be at the end of the development dynasty. We're hitting a point where the game is starting to get developed beyond the league save. The workarounds to make our league files compatible with the new features are getting longer and longer. (not to mention that the coaches aren't up to the current game standards)

It's a sad day, but also a big opportunity! When the "big news" day gets here (about 4 more weeks) we'll kick off a new and improved dynasty with more features and more options to interact!

I'll keep this topic going with my development updates until the official launch of the new dynasty. The next 4 weeks will be the final push to get the early-alpha ready for you guys. Here we go!!

GoldenCrest Games 08-20-2018 08:44 PM

I just cancelled the Kickstarter. In the end, I'm looking to build more of a community than a one-time blast. Long term I'll probably still need a little funding help, so I'm turning to Patreon instead of Kickstarter. Patreon seems to be a much better fit for what I'm looking for.

Feel free to check out and share the page! Patreon Page

There are a few cool thing I'm planning over there. I'm specifically going to start experimenting with live-streaming some of my playtesting and development.

Don'y worry, jct and SirBlurton, you both automatically get the alpha and beta testing builds. :)

GoldenCrest Games 08-21-2018 07:03 AM

First twitch livestream test is a success!

Check here for future livestreams: https://www.twitch.tv/goldencrestgames/

jct32 08-21-2018 09:03 AM

Sounds great! I'm looking forward to the upcoming livestreams.

I don't know if you just did a test game livestream but there is also a community for people who livestream their coding. That also might help build your community as well.

GoldenCrest Games 08-21-2018 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jct32 (Post 3215217)
Sounds great! I'm looking forward to the upcoming livestreams.

I don't know if you just did a test game livestream but there is also a community for people who livestream their coding. That also might help build your community as well.


A coding/development livestream was one of the things I was going to try. Who knows what's going to stick, but I'll try a bunch of stuff out.

One other cool thing I'm looking forward to is livestreaming some of the experimental game prototypes I do once in a while. It would be fun to get a chat going as I'm trying out some ideas. Maybe the instant feedback will ignite one of them into the next big thing! :)

SirBlurton 08-21-2018 12:44 PM

Sorry about the kickstarter - but sounds like you're on a good track with your thinking re: building a passionate fan base. I'm excited to test. It's really impressive to see the progress you've made on this project in a really short time!

I've built a mostly mangled board game adaptation in the time you've built a pretty fully featured sim with a tonne of features, really cool.

GoldenCrest Games 08-21-2018 06:53 PM

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Here are our current team setups. Any changes you guys want to make to the play style?

My team is going to the Spider. I prefer to have a spread style offense, but I also like knowing I can run a quick dive play when I need to. On defense, I've always liked highly aggressive play at the line with my CBs out on islands.

SirBlurton 08-24-2018 11:46 AM

The Swarm will stay the course!

GoldenCrest Games 08-24-2018 04:01 PM

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In the spirit of finally getting around to overhauling the graphics, I had to tackle one thing I've been putting off forever, cameras.

My old camera angle was ok, but it's wasn't really centering the action very well. Too much of the screen was being used for area behind the ball carrier. Not a showstopper, but annoying.

I finally broke down and spent half the day experimenting with different camera packages, and ended up using the one I started with. :) I did, however, learn a lot about camera targeting systems and was able to modify my old system to easily adjust position based on the action. (without stuttering!) It was surprisingly difficult to get rid of the stuttering. Unlike AI and logic, you can't fake the funk with cameras. They need to be right or you'll notice every little issue.

Aside from all that, I settled in on a nicer perspective view. It just looks a little better, and the 3d jumps out of the screen a little more. It also doesn't freak out when the ball gets too high in the air, like the previous camera did. (you'll probably notice in the livestream)

I still have some works to code in all the adjustments for all the special teams stuff, but it's looking pretty good so far. I'm also thinking about adding a "sideline" style camera, to watch the game from the high sideline perspective. So far it hasn't worked, but I think I'm figuring this out.

GoldenCrest Games 08-24-2018 04:18 PM

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I definitely think there's potential here...

I tried a ton of views that I thought would work, but most of them were more annoying than fun. This one, on the other hand, had a nice feel to it.

GoldenCrest Games 08-25-2018 12:48 PM

Finally finished the gameplay cameras!

https://youtu.be/5UtI1A8kmrg

I'm really happy with how it turned out. Not only can I play in either camera mode, but the cameras do a much better job with orienting themselves to better capture the action on the field. (mostly with kickoffs and punts)

I think I'm going to start working on something so you can see which players are which, in game. Sometimes I forget where my guys are lining up.

It would also be nice to be able to see the skill level of the players, to assess matchups.

GoldenCrest Games 08-27-2018 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenCrest Games (Post 3208717)
On a related note, I almost made this first version a Blood Bowl or Mutant League Football type game, just to force the idea that it's different than the NFL. :)


Quote:

Originally Posted by SirBlurton (Post 3208769)
Glad you didn't because that's one of the ideas on my "someday I'll make" list! :)


I'm not sure you'll be happy with the upcoming announcement of my next game..... ;)

GoldenCrest Games 08-27-2018 12:04 PM

Big things are happening over here at the GoldenCrest offices! :)

GoldenCrest Games 08-27-2018 12:53 PM

ok, that last one looks a little out of place without the previous post next to it. :)

GoldenCrest Games 08-28-2018 08:44 AM

Lots of work on the passing game lately. I fixed an issue where the QB was leading the WR out of bounds far too often. (usually at the back of the end zone) That got really annoying for passing teams that get in the red zone.

I also reintroduced blitz pickup AI! Blitzing LBs were getting way too overpowered, so I pulled the RB blitz pickup AI out of the dustbin and spruced it up. Frankly, it's a pretty devastating weapon right now. A decent RB will completely obliterate a blitzing LB. I'll probably have to tone that down a bit, but I need to think about how to go about it. For now, it's a good counter to the uber-sack LB.

Now, if you blitz 2 LBs like the Treefrogs do.... :)

I also fixed up the completion percentage calculation to match fast-sim. It's weighted more fairly between the WR skill and the QB skill now. Previously, it was nearly all WR skill so a great WR would cover up average QB play. (the Horowitz effect) Great WRs will still compensate for average QBs, but not nearly as much. Now, the system also allows for an elite QB to elevate average WRs.

My list is getting pretty short now! There are just a few things to wrap up before kicking off the next development league.
  • Make kick return formations adjust to bad kickers. (right now they always line up deep, no matter how weak the kicker's leg is)
  • Do some playbook updates to clean up formations and play style in preparation for hot-routing.
  • Fix the defensive plays so safeties actually matter

I think that's about it! It's way easier to update the roster management AI with a live league, so those updates will be held off until we're rolling. Also, the graphical updates are going to be completed and integrated as we go. A lot of the graphics are being done by a local designer I just found, so they will get put in as the work comes in.

jct32 08-28-2018 07:27 PM

Horowitz, may he rest in peace.

The updates sound great. Looking forward to seeing how the impact the game.

GoldenCrest Games 08-30-2018 06:12 AM

As it turns out, the "big news day" might be today.... or tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

GoldenCrest Games 08-31-2018 04:50 PM

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We're finally here. It's about to start for real.

Today I resigned from my day job so can start making games full time! It's a little scary, but also pretty exciting. I've been thinking about doing it for a while, but it was the weirdest thing that finally made me take the leap. I did the math.

Let me explain. 2 years ago I decided to learn C# and Unity. I kicked off "The Regen3 Project" to have something to work on as I taught myself. Over the 2 years, that slowly turned into Desktop Dynasties, which is now looking pretty good. I started figuring out how long it would take for me to release the early-alpha, then the early access, then the final release. Working my current 3-5 hours a week made the timeline stretch out a lot farther than I wanted. Then, I started thinking about how much I've put into the game so far. I started adding up all the time, and I compared it to a nearly full-time job. Without pro-rating the time for my learning curve over the first 6 months, and assuming a 30 hour work week, I ended up with 3.5 months.

Yes, I've only been working on this game for 3.5 months, which includes learning C# and Unity.

That was a little depressing. In 2 years, I only got 3.5 months of work done. However, on the other hand..... now that I'm getting kind of good at this, what could I accomplish in a year of full-time development?

The possibilities are exciting! I really think there's a good chance that I could complete 2 more games in a year. That would mean I'd have 3 complete games by this time next year! At a minimum, I bet that would buy me another year of development. I think I can pull this off.

So here we go! It's opening kickoff on my real game development career!

jct32 09-01-2018 01:43 PM

Big moves! I'm looking forward to what you can do with all this time now.

GoldenCrest Games 09-02-2018 09:52 AM

If we're being technical, I still have between 2 and 4 weeks of transition period left, but then it's on! :)

GoldenCrest Games 09-04-2018 07:04 PM

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New logo in from the latest sponsored team!

I'm really digging this new artist. :)

jct32 09-05-2018 07:49 AM

Great logo!

GoldenCrest Games 09-05-2018 08:17 AM

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Today was an interesting development day. I got to dive back into the on-field real-time AI (which is my favorite!) and had another one of those fun moments where you realize it's working EXACTLY as it's supposed to, I'm just to dense to realize it.

Here's the situation, I'm refining the safety AI to make them more meaningful on the field. Safeties don't do a whole lot right now. After playing a few seasons in the development leagues, the role of the safety in this game is becoming a lot more clear. Safeties need to be the guys who stop those long TDs, run and pass. The game is so explosive on offense, there needs to be a counter to that. I imagine that a defense built around elite safeties would almost never give up a long TD, and that could be pretty meaningful.

So I'm updating the deep coverage AI to have safeties focus more on taking away the deep ball. If you look at the preSnap image (attached) you'll see I'm running a 2-deep coverage against a Hornet spread play. The numbers below each player represent Speed-Strength-Skill.

Now check out the postSnap image. This happened over and over again. WR Moody is always wide open, but S keep shading over to double Jefferson on the streak. The AI says that safeties should always try to cover the deepest WR unless someone is uncovered. I couldn't figure out why Moody was running uncovered, and no safety was coming over to help.

Oh yeah, look at Newman's speed and skill. :banghead:

Duh. Moody isn't uncovered, he's just covered by the worst CB in the history of CBs. So the AI was working all along, I just can't draft a decent defense. :)

When I switched to a 4-deep zone against the spread, I could get the safety to cover Moody. Also, when I ran a 3-deep zone with the safety in the middle, I could cover Moody. In the end, it comes down to play design and selection, which is where I want it to be.

Funny how I'll freak out when it looks like the AI is broken, and it always ends up being my inability to draft. :lol:

GoldenCrest Games 09-06-2018 09:46 AM

Today I made some pretty hefty upgrades to the man defense matchup AI. This section of AI applies to human teams as well, so it was pretty important to spruce up. Basically what it does is take the play the defender called, and lines up the CB/LB/S on the right offensive receiver.

Previously, it always put your best defender on the best receiver, and then worked on down the list. That was really effective, but it caused a lot of weird matchups when the rankings didn’t go as expected. (like if you had a great cover LB, he’d often line up on a WR leaving a CB to cover the RB out of the backfield.) Also, you didn’t really have to worry about position balance. Just grab the best cover players, regardless of position, and they would always match up against the best receivers.

That’s not how it’s supposed to be!

Now, the coverage AI respects traditional matchups. Here’s how it works:
  1. CBs line up against the WRs, based on quality. (best on best, 2nd on 2nd..etc)
  2. LBs line up on any RBs in the pattern (again, best to worst)
  3. Remaining receivers and defenders go back in the pool.
  4. Safeties added to the pool
  5. Now everyone left is ranked from best to worst, and the rest of the matchups are set. (This usually means any safeties in man coverage take the best remaining receivers)
  6. If there are more man defenders than receivers, the QB gets shadowed by the first defender who doesn’t have a coverage responsibility. This ends up being really useful when the QB breaks the pocket and runs.
  7. If there are still any man defenders with no responsibilities, they start double-covering receivers. (unlikely, but it happens sometimes)
The result is that you need to make sure you have CBs with cover skills if you play teams with WR talent. If you play a power-passing team (RB focused passing) you need to have cover LBs. You can get around this if you’re clever with your safeties and playcalling, but that’s basically how it will work. In early testing, I’m loving how it feels.

Granted, I can never draft a very effective defense, but at least I can’t use any cheap tricks to make up for it. :)

GoldenCrest Games 09-07-2018 06:49 AM

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The Storm logo is in!

GoldenCrest Games 09-08-2018 04:49 PM

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Guess who got a logo...... :)

GoldenCrest Games 09-10-2018 07:24 AM

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New team alert!

The Pink Panthers have officially joined the league. You can thank my youngest daughter for this one. :D

(and yes, the panther is smiling. :lol: )

GoldenCrest Games 09-10-2018 12:57 PM

Quick side note: anyone that wants to get added to the next league's allocation pool, let me know by the end of the day Thursday 9/13. (midnight) Either post here or PM me with the official name (first and last) to be added to the pool. I won't advertise it, I'll just quietly add it in so you can secretly follow yourself in the league. :)

I'm going to kick off the official Developer's League to be played on Twitch, sometime in the following week. I'll also do a lot of explaining the game during the play-throughs, so it will be a good chance to get a feel for the game before I release the early-alpha. (Coming early Oct)

SirBlurton 09-12-2018 04:58 PM

RJ Blurton reporting for duty!

jct32 09-12-2018 09:52 PM

James Taylor!

GoldenCrest Games 09-13-2018 06:50 AM

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Not the official draft pool, but..... it works!

So far I have 8 people that get randomly added to the top 20 of the league allocation pool. I never know what they will be, or how high on the list they will end up, but the 8 always show up somewhere.

p.s. That would have been one hell of a passing league!

GoldenCrest Games 09-13-2018 11:52 AM

Met with the leadership at my soon-to-be-former day job, and it looks like my final day in the corporate world is Sept 28!

2 weeks to start ramping up development time, and ramping down office politics!

jct32 09-13-2018 04:12 PM

Good luck! That draft looks good for the Twisters.

GoldenCrest Games 09-15-2018 11:14 AM

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Now that I have an artist I love, I did a quick redo of the Nemesis.

This is MUCH closer to my original vision!

GoldenCrest Games 09-15-2018 11:16 AM

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I also had a redo of the Twisters completed. Again, much closer to the vision!

GoldenCrest Games 09-17-2018 10:53 AM

I have 4 logos left to finish, and then we're kicking off the new league!

Almost there!! You have no idea how badly I want to start playing games again. :)

GoldenCrest Games 09-17-2018 12:56 PM

3 to go!

jct32 09-17-2018 06:35 PM

Did you actually stream today? I logged on and saw it but your channel was offline as soon as I pulled it up on my phone.

GoldenCrest Games 09-17-2018 07:03 PM

I was doing a tech test. It only lasted about 3 minute, just enough for me to check sound and see if I could record at the same time.

Everything worked!

GoldenCrest Games 09-18-2018 09:50 AM

Only 1 logo and uniform left!

GoldenCrest Games 09-18-2018 01:13 PM

Last logo just came in! I'll finish the uniform tonight, and then the allocation draft pool will be released!


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