DDS: Pro Football 2018

[Gary Gorski]

Just wanted to pass along to the community here that on Tuesday we will be releasing the newest version of DDS:PF - here's some links on the game if you're interested.

Trailer - Draft Day Sports: Pro Football 2018 trailer - YouTube

Blog posts :

DDS: Pro Football 2018 - First Look! - Wolverine Studios

DDS: Pro Football 2018 - 2nd Down! - Wolverine Studios

DDS: Pro Football 2018 - Game Day Approaches - Wolverine Studios

[EagleFan]

Home from Disney 8/29...

On vacation from work through 9/4...

Return to work 9/5...


Game released... 9/5...

[Capital]

Screen shots look great - impressive trailer!

[booradley]

Looks great. Are you required to take over a team initially? I like to see how things play out in "commissioner" mode or what have you for a time before stepping in myself.

Also, can you watch games between 2 CPU teams play out, or are those all done in "quick sim" mode?

[Capital]

Can you start as an expansion team?

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by booradley

Looks great. Are you required to take over a team initially? I like to see how things play out in "commissioner" mode or what have you for a time before stepping in myself.

You can play in career mode where you operate one team or you can play in sandbox mode where you can start as no team and then control as many teams as you want whenever

Also, can you watch games between 2 CPU teams play out, or are those all done in "quick sim" mode?

These are done in quick sim mode

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by Capital

Can you start as an expansion team?

You can create a league with several different formats and start as any of those teams. Between seasons you can expand/contract the league by switching to a different league format. At that time you could change teams, or run multiple teams depending on if you are in career mode or sandbox mode.

[SlyBelle1]

Good luck...looking forward to the release.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by SlyBelle1

Good luck...looking forward to the release.

Thank you - the game has come a LONG way since the 2016 version and I hope this board will give at least the demo a shot. We've put in a totally new UI, the 2D is playable now, the game has coaches and many more additions. I think if the community here gives it a shot they'll find an enjoyable game and Brooks has always had a strong focus on MP - would love to see a few more leagues pop up.

[jaygr]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Brooks has always had a strong focus on MP - would love to see a few more leagues pop up.

How strong would you say the single player is at this point in the series?

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by jaygr

How strong would you say the single player is at this point in the series?

I think it has gotten much better since it came to Wolverine - when Brooks first started out on his own years ago he built his game basically just for MP purpose. When he came to Wolverine we immediately began focusing on improving the solo play aspect. I think DDS:CF did a really nice job of that and those improvements carried forward to DDS:PF18 along with some brand new features that really aimed at solo play such as being able to coach out your games in the 2D and having to hire coaches.

[Gary Gorski]

By the way - as always there will be a fully playable demo and we highly encourage you to take advantage of that.

[Gary Gorski]

The game is now available for anyone interested - free demo is available as well and some mods are out too. Thanks to anyone willing to even at least give the demo a shot. We appreciate the support!

[MizzouRah]

C'mon FOFC.. thoughts?

[SlyBelle1]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

C'mon FOFC.. thoughts?

Try the free demo

[EagleFan]

What is a JSON file and where would I get it?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by SlyBelle1

Try the free demo

Working 15 hour days.. don't have the energy.

[EagleFan]

One thing that I don't like on initial attempt.

During the draft; taking the pick until human option doesn't take you to your next pick. It takes you to the start of the next round and then you have to hit it again to get to your pick.

Will add to this:
- The game counts sacks against rushing yards, which is fine for the college game but not for pro.
- Was really hoping the 2D would be better than the college game; you have zero time to see what is about to happen as the play is under way once you hit call play and if it is a stop for no gain you see nothing but the players grouped up around the line of scrimmage.
- After simming a week you seem to have to hit "View Score" for each and every game that week. Hope I am missing a global option as that would seem to be very tedious.
- The draft screens are not very user friendly. Clicking a player takes you to their summary screen and then you have to close that to then select the player. This was a pain when scrolling through players as the last player was the one I wanted but clicking back still had the first player highlighted. Then have to click the one I wanted, close out the summary screen, then press select. While it is a minor thing it can be a pain as you have to scroll through players to really get an idea of how you want to go with the pick.
- The roster should refresh if you cut a player. I cut a player and when it comes back to the roster screen it still shows the same number of players and the cut player is still listed on the team. Then have to click the roster button again to refresh the screen.
- Same issue with the college 2D but can't there be an obvious way to differentiate between an incomplete pass and a pass which is caught and tackled on the spot? Need to wait to see what the down and distance shows when returning from the screen to know what just happened.

[SlyBelle1]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

What is a JSON file and where would I get it?

JSON is not a file to get, it is file format used to exchange data between applications, pretty popular because it is lightweight and readable compared to other file formats. It also allows for some pretty complex data storage beyond what other file formats like CSV can handle. Typically you edit/create this file type using standard text editors like notepad++, etc.

If I understand correctly, this is the new file format used to import data within the game. If your looking to import data into the game, you would have to use someone's created file or create your own. In the mod forum at the official site, you can get a JSON version of the historical rosters if you want real names for a lot of the seasons.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by SlyBelle1

JSON is not a file to get, it is file format used to exchange data between applications, pretty popular because it is lightweight and readable compared to other file formats. It also allows for some pretty complex data storage beyond what other file formats like CSV can handle. Typically you edit/create this file type using standard text editors like notepad++, etc.

If I understand correctly, this is the new file format used to import data within the game. If your looking to import data into the game, you would have to use someone's created file or create your own. In the mod forum at the official site, you can get a JSON version of the historical rosters if you want real names for a lot of the seasons.

It's the historical file that I was hoping for. When taking that option for starting a game it says that it doesn't have the JSON file.

[EagleFan]

I don't want to, or mean to, sound negative in the above post but these are things that I think should be addressed at some point to take this game to the next level.

Edit: Not the directly above post, but the Edited one a couple above that.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

It's the historical file that I was hoping for. When taking that option for starting a game it says that it doesn't have the JSON file.

There is one in the forums for use or for editing - we tried to make it as clear as we could in the league setup with the ? icon bringing up the menu on how to find and use the file. If there's something we could have done to be more clear please let me know.

As for some of the other things feel free to suggest them to Brooks - anything that needs to be corrected will be and anything that can improve the game will certainly be taken under consideration. That's why its so important that a community like this one will at least give the game a shot. I mean FOF improved over time because people tried it, gave feedback and stuck with it. The same can and will happen with DDS:PF given the same amount of attention because we have a devoted and talented development team and you know I'm always looking to do whatever I can to bring our games and company to the next level.

[TheRivals40]

good game...it gets better every time! Some very nice improvements this year.

I don't know about the developer position on this but here is where I'd recommend getting historical/active players: • View topic - Historical Roster Mod

I'd expect people will add real names/logos soon.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by TheRivals40

good game...it gets better every time! Some very nice improvements this year.

I don't know about the developer position on this but here is where I'd recommend getting historical/active players: • View topic - Historical Roster Mod

I'd expect people will add real names/logos soon.

considering it is on their forum in a designated mod section, i think they are cool with it

I was kinda disapointed from the Demo, not nearly as deep as FOF or Wolverine's Bball games ... There is just so little information to judge a player (very few ratings, seems like it's basically maybe 2 skill ratings plus athleticism most positions), no real financial model. Would not care about "real", but having basically a gradual decrease with the most expensive players only marginally more expensive than a plethora of others is just weird ... (contracts ranging to like 7 mio)

Also small things like not being able to sort on many screens (like draft screen) and having no information displayed on screens like Draft/Free Agency. Filters are neat, but you have to allow people to then see and sort ratings and other information, notz have them click on every single player card. It's something that the Basketball games do very well for instance, so i am a little weirded out nothing of the sort is here. I get that it's a different team behind, but again: You can't have a sports sim/"text" sim where you can't sort on a lot of crucial screens ...

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by whomario

I was kinda disapointed from the Demo, not nearly as deep as FOF or Wolverine's Bball games ... There is just so little information to judge a player (very few ratings, seems like it's basically maybe 2 skill ratings plus athleticism most positions), no real financial model. Would not care about "real", but having basically a gradual decrease with the most expensive players only marginally more expensive than a plethora of others is just weird ... (contracts ranging to like 7 mio)

Also small things like not being able to sort on many screens (like draft screen) and having no information displayed on screens like Draft/Free Agency. Filters are neat, but you have to allow people to then see and sort ratings and other information, notz have them click on every single player card. It's something that the Basketball games do very well for instance, so i am a little weirded out nothing of the sort is here. I get that it's a different team behind, but again: You can't have a sports sim/"text" sim where you can't sort on a lot of crucial screens ...

Well first I thank you for taking a look and providing feedback - I'm willing to bet that with especially some of the smaller issues that if you put them up for Brooks in our forums he can make the changes that would make it more user friendly.

I will say that you're right - its not as deep as FOF or DDS:PB/CB but those games have been in development for much longer. If you look at the jump from PFS to DDS:PF16 to DDS:PF18 I think the progression has been significant especially with PF18. IMO the game has taken a big leap with this version but there's still plenty of room for growth and constructive comments like yours will help it get there so I appreciate your honest and fair feedback and appreciate the time you gave to the demo.

p.s. if you like the draft in DDS:PB wait until you see what I've done to it for PB18

[TheRivals40]

I'd like to add, DDSPF is actually deep but in different ways. There are all kinds of trends and strategies that emerge in online leagues that you have to follow. There might not be a ton of features but it takes a while to learn how to be good in MP.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Well first I thank you for taking a look and providing feedback - I'm willing to bet that with especially some of the smaller issues that if you put them up for Brooks in our forums he can make the changes that would make it more user friendly.

I will say that you're right - its not as deep as FOF or DDS:PB/CB but those games have been in development for much longer. If you look at the jump from PFS to DDS:PF16 to DDS:PF18 I think the progression has been significant especially with PF18. IMO the game has taken a big leap with this version but there's still plenty of room for growth and constructive comments like yours will help it get there so I appreciate your honest and fair feedback and appreciate the time you gave to the demo.

p.s. if you like the draft in DDS:PB wait until you see what I've done to it for PB18

I realize that this is the reason and am perfectly willing to believe this can be a really good game in the future, but at some point i personally just don't have the money or free time to spare for a "promise" nor to be an inofficial beta-tester of sorts and need to see what a game can do now, as harsh as that may sound. Heck, in the past i contributed quite a lot on the wolverine forum and others relating to similar games and the response has always been really positive, so i do believe in small, independent publishers and user input making for terrific games. I just don't have the time to do so right now

It is definitely stacking up against pretty damn good competition though, so being disapointed personally doesn't even mean that much nowadays. If you compare things to 5 or 6 years ago, we as consumers have a really wider variety of really good sports/sim games out there. (I mean, even the big console franchises have at least somewhat gotten their act together i think)

I will definitely try to spend a bit of time on the demo during the weekend and collect my thoughts to post them in a coherent form over on the Wolverine forum.

[LloydLungs]

Is there just a basic NFL logo type mod for this game? I have looked on their mod forum and I don't think I see anything.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

Is there just a basic NFL logo type mod for this game? I have looked on their mod forum and I don't think I see anything.

There was one made for DDSPF16 and the logos etc are the same size still. You can find it here

• View topic - Logos, Helmets, End Zone Art

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

There was one made for DDSPF16 and the logos etc are the same size still. You can find it here

• View topic - Logos, Helmets, End Zone Art

Ah good. Took advantage of the Black Friday deal and on a mod hunt for both football games. Found college stuff easily, but this was harder to come by. Thanks!

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

Ah good. Took advantage of the Black Friday deal and on a mod hunt for both football games. Found college stuff easily, but this was harder to come by. Thanks!

Thanks for giving the games a shot - I think they're really strong games and certainly worthy of a spot in the rotation for members of this community especially.

[jaygr]

Gary, any chance of extending that Black Friday deal? I wasn't aware there was anything until I saw Lloyd's post. Ah well.

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Thanks for giving the games a shot - I think they're really strong games and certainly worthy of a spot in the rotation for members of this community especially.

They look like they'll be fun regardless, but a suggestion for the future is definitely the ability to export draft classes from the college game for use in the pro game. I don't see a way to do that now unless I'm missing it.

EDIT: Never mind, you can do this! I was just looking for it in the Options area but you have to wait until the season's over to export.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by jaygr

Gary, any chance of extending that Black Friday deal? I wasn't aware there was anything until I saw Lloyd's post. Ah well.

Maybe we can do something for Cyber Monday

[LloydLungs]

Okay... so I see a little bit of talk up above about JSON files. The college game exports the draft file as a CSV, but the pro game needs a JSON to import. How would I deal with this? Sorry if this is covered elsewhere.

[Gary Gorski]

Bump on the thread for anyone getting the itch with the draft tonight. We're running a draft special 30% off - use code FIRSTPICK in the webstore

https://store5.esellerate.net/store/...ageCatalog.htm