From what I read, it is gameplay from 93 but it has current rosters.

I'm not thrilled that I am out of town pretty much all next week.

Josh from EA is saying they will have a roster update on release day and I believe they were putting Farve on those rosters as well.

From Bill Harris's site (Dubiousquality.blogspot.com, this is from a NFL Head Coach Designer on the game's FA/Draft engine work

1. Essentially, the CPU will assign a value to all available players and compare them against one another. "Player value" is a third type of rating we use in addition to the raw Madden player abilities and system-dependent player grades.

Player value takes everything into account you could possibly imagine.

First, it scales each player's grade based on his position. For example, a 99 overall QB is much more valuable than a 99 overall kicker.

Second, it scales players with the same position relative to each other in a non-linear way. For example, a 60 overall QB is not 60% as valuable as a 99 QB (in fact, a 60 QB is basically worthless). So the value mapping is actually a curve, and when you look at your Team Roadmap you'll see a huge dropoff in value from the top-tier players to the lower-tier guys.

After that, a ton of other things are factored in to tweak the value such as projected cap hit, playbook knowledge, etc.

Once the team has evaluated every single player, they need to decide who will add the most value to their team. "Added value" is the secret sauce that drives almost all of the logic in this game.As an example, let's say you're the Colts and Tom Brady is on the FA auction block. Do you acquire him? No, because although Brady has a high value, he has essentially zero *added value* to your team. Your money is much better spent somewhere else.

The trick is that added value encapsulates both value *and* need, so teams will always go after the guy who is the best available relative to their current needs.

During the draft, the player who fits this description might not be expected to go for several picks, and this is when the CPU will trade down.

2. The CPU will go after a player in proportion to how much value he adds to their team. As per above, teams with more need will be willing to pay more.

Also, each team has a philosophy as to how it spends its money. Some teams will go all out for their top need, while other teams will try to distribute their money among all of their needs.

NFL Head Coach 09 Q&A | pastapadre.com

Q/A with HC's game designer..

CANNOT WAIT UNTIL NEXT TUESDAY!!!

I'm all but sold on this one now.

With all of the good games that exist, is it sad that this game might push me to buy a 360?

What challenge are folks going to take first? I am going to take over the Falcons in the offseason and redo the draft. Bye bye Matt Ryan. Time to focus on the area this team has sucked for eons - in the trenches.

Dammit we will see back to back winning seasons! :banghead:

Takeover the Bengals and attempt to keep them out of jail.

If that happens, I'm calling it in as a bug. :lol:

I traded in NCAA (got $45 for that) and 2 other old games tonight and put it toward the Madden CE so I could get Head Coach. I figure I can sell Madden even if it's the disc only.

Lions, I'm undecided on redoing the draft or keeping everything where its at.

From reading Bill Abner's blog and how in depth the gameplay is, I doubt you'd get anywhere near there. The gameplay seems to be more micro vs. macro.

I d/l a podcast on ITunes last night for Head Coach 09- it's under EA Fantasy Football.

Wolverine Studios is coming out with a Football Sim Game.

http://www.wolverinestudios.com/news.php?id=55

Well take the example of the post above where the guy wants to rebuild the Falcons in the trenches. do you know how many seasons it can take for a team to do that then put in the specialty players around it for a 3-4 year shot? Its a shame (maybe not a big negative but a negative nonetheless) that the season cap is there and then it's so low.

I'm starting before the draft, creating myself as the head coach of the Rams. I'll probably take DT Glenn Dorsey instead of Chris Long.. but you never know.

Check out this screen.. kind of like a CIV technology tree when creating your coach:




LOVE this stuff as well:

This would be a great game to write a dynasty for.. I might give that a go.

Is the game for the PC or just the consoles?

EA Sports is not producing any PC games this year.

Figures...Well, I guess no head coach or Tiger Woods for me. Solecismic, Wolverine, or Grey Dog to the rescue.

And it's only being made for the Next Gen consoles, so no Wii.




















:p

What's the word on online play? I really haven't read anything about brining this on XBOX llive..

Online play will only have supersim games, which is a disappointment.

With Leagues or dynasty?

I think online play is only for a single "play now" type game. I think the clear focus of this game is a single player experience. I don't think there is any online franchise/dynasty mode, but I might be mistaken.

To bad... maybe future HC will have an online dynasty

Is there any word as to when there will be a demo?

I was wondering that myself.. on the Q and A they said it would be a totally different type of demo, but there was no release date given. Oh well, only 5 days until it's out.

Five loooong days

First time a strategy guide is a must for me: http://www.easports.com/downloads/ea...C09_SAMPLE.pdf

Can't wait to pick that up and read through it.

I'm telling you, this game will be the only game in my 360 for quite some time... it feels like those good ol FPS Football release days. :)

FOUR!

So they STILL haven't realized that if they're going to use a 0-100 scale, they should use all of it?

Ugh....why do I get this bad feeling that people are gonna find some horrible bugs in the game after a week of play (like last year). Call me pessimistic, but this sounds too good to be true. For a first iteration of a game, since it was built from the ground up, I feel that things are gonna be a bit buggy, especially when people take a stab at online play. Not to say I am happy they are taking this on, I just hope a majority of issues deal with balance problems which users can at least tweak.

This one should be an interesting release... I am buying into some of the hype but luckily would never buy this packaged with Madden so I will wait for impressions and the real release...

Gamestops have the strat guide in if you guys are interested in getting one!!

Because it's EA :devil:

I'm hoping we wont find a gamekiller bug but I guess we always take that chance buying an EA sports title.

The stand alone game doesn't come out for a couple of weeks. Just wait for that and you should have plenty of time to find out if any hidden bugs surface. The late release would seem to be doing us all a favor unless you're one of those impulse people that will spend $90 on the Madden package.

It should also be mentioned that there may be a lot of Madden fans who buy the $90 package and then sell back the Head Coach disc. It could result in a pretty nice supply of used HC games.

Since the game is going to reportedly come with Madden, HC plus the extra content all in the same jewel case, there probably won't be that many copies out there, since the big chains usually require the jewel case, or some form of original packaging.

I think you might see copies on Ebay the day of release or shortly after.

I have the strategy guide, if you want to know something.. especially about your team.. just let me know.

St. Louis Rams

Overall rating: 74
Offense rating: 84
Defense rating: 70

Salary cap room: $42.5

Head Coach: 28 (that's why it's going to be me)
Off Coordinator: 83
Def Coordinator: 33

Best off player: Torry Holt (94)
Best def player: Chris Long (88)

how does seattle look?

I need to get that strategy guide! How do the Lions look?

How do the Vikings look? Also the the Rams already have Long, so you don't start as coach before the draft?

You can start either before or after the draft and with the current coach or creat yourself.

I was going to start before the draft with myself as the HC, but after seeing how good Long looks, I think I'll start after the draft. Plus, with Farve now in the game, I'm anxious to play out the real season.

Seattle

Overall: 90
Offense: 91
Defense: 87

Cap room: $39.4

Head Coach: 92
Off coor: 60
Def: 51
Special T: 99

Best off player: Matt Hasselbeck (91)
Best def player: Marcus Trufant (89) Lofa Tatupu (89)

Season Outlook: The Seahawks won the NFC West in 2007 and is the favorite in a still-weak division in '08. This team needs to find a long-term prospect at RB and upgrade the coaching staff. Overall Player Grade: A

Detroit

Overall: 73
Off: 77
Def: 67

Sal cap: $53.3

Season Outlook: The team has weapons on offense, notably at WR, but their defense is the team's Achilles heel. The playbook probably needs a tune-up as well. Overall player grade: C+

Head Coach: 32
Off coach: 29
Def coach: 31
ST Coach: 28

Best off player: Roy Williams (90)
Best def player: Ernie Sims (84)

What about the Falcons coaching staff? Thanks in advance.

Minnesota

Overall: 81
Off: 76
Def: 85

Cap room: $19.9

Season Outlook: The Vikings boast a solid defense and a breakout superstar in running back Adrain Peterson. Build your team and playbook around those two things, and you'll be in good shape for the future. Overall Player Grade: B

Head Coach: 34
Off coach: 20
Def coach: 38
ST coach: 20

Best off player: Steve Hutchinson (91)
Best def player: Jared Allen (95)