Fast Break College Basketball Full Version Is Out

[JonInMiddleGA]

Fair enough CR, it's just that I've had better than average luck with ME. Or at least it seems that way.

Yeah, the memory leakage is a major PITA at times. I've cursed that enough times that I'd risk being struck by lightning to deny it. But other than that, I've found it to be the best mix of features for my needs of any OS out there.

And as for "screwing programs",I've never seen anything like that at all & have been using Me since about a month after it's release.

[korme]

Lets not get into an OS war and lets just talk about the fun that is FBCB.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally posted by Shorty3281
... and lets just talk about the fun that is FBCB.

If HR has some luck making FBCB compatible with WinMe (or below), I'll be quite happy to do just that.

It's pretty much all that stands between me & a purchase at this point.

[Godzilla Blitz]

I couldn't seem to find an answer to this over at the game's forum's...

Does the game keep team and individual all-time career, season, and single game records?

[RPI-Fan]

Yep.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by RPI-Fan
Yep.

Thanks!

[tucker342]

very impressive game, once I get some money, and I fix my computer(I'm on my moms) I'll probably buy it!

[Bee]

Anyone know when a patch is expected? I haven't seen any reports of major issues, but I noticed in Marmel's dynasty a couple issues come up that seem to need fixing.

[cincyreds]

Would you say that this game is better than TDCB?

Thanks.

[Bee]

Originally posted by cincyreds
Would you say that this game is better than TDCB?

Thanks.

I think it depends on what you like. TDCB is a much more polished game IMO. There's no comparison as far as interface goes - TDCB hands down. But as far as "under the hood", realistic results, things like that - I think FBCB is much better. JMO.

[Samdari]

Originally posted by JonInMiddleGA
Fair enough CR, it's just that I've had better than average luck with ME. Or at least it seems that way.

Yeah, the memory leakage is a major PITA at times. I've cursed that enough times that I'd risk being struck by lightning to deny it. But other than that, I've found it to be the best mix of features for my needs of any OS out there.

And as for "screwing programs",I've never seen anything like that at all & have been using Me since about a month after it's release.

You know I am kind of shocked by this whole discussion.

I understand your concerns about spyware, but when a company which always takes the dimmest view of Microsoft publishes the phrase, "Fully Licensed verified that no personal information is gathered, stored, considered, or transmitted during activation." I don't see what the problem is.

The thing that is truly shocking though, is someone sticking up for ME. From a company that is constantly battered for putting out crappy products, WinME is widely considered the biggest piece of crap they ever produced - a step back from 98SE. The advice most experts would give to all with ME on their drives is to either upgrade or downgrade right away.

And I think those of us at FOFC would echo that sentiment, and I would add the following corollary - every text sim that I have played recently (TDCB, CM4 and FOF4) ran about twice as fast with the same hardware after upgrading from 98SE to XP.

[EagleFan]

I have to disagree about the TDCB interface. Just to set up a coach the way you want you have to jump through hoops of editors, multiplayer consoles and the game. That's not exactly polished interface.

[John Galt]

Originally posted by EagleFan
I have to disagree about the TDCB interface. Just to set up a coach the way you want you have to jump through hoops of editors, multiplayer consoles and the game. That's not exactly polished interface.

I second that. TDCB sure looks pretty, but like all .400 games, it seems hard to get to where you want to go. Just to go through the normal process takes a while. Little things like having the roster screen with no stats or ratings makes a big pain. FOF isn't all that much better. I still prefer the Mogul interface best of all, but the FBB games are much easier to use than TDCB IMO.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally posted by cincyreds
Would you say that this game is better than TDCB?

Thanks.

I played TDCB fairly extensively even with all of the problems around the release. That being said, I'm much happier with FBCB now then TDCB in it's current state. It seems to produce more realistic stats in my opinion. I also agree that the interface is easier in that it is better integrated in the program. I really like the key player option of FBCB. I agree with Arlie that a college coach doesn't tell a team who should get the ball every possession, but I also think a coach tells the team you better get the ball to X for some touches, or you won't play. I enjoy identifying two or three key players who I know are going to get more touches. Clearly, TDCB looks prettier and that flash is nice, but I like the realistic feel of FBCB's stat engine. My only gripe with FBCB is that the recruiting period should be a little more extensive with perhaps bimonthly changes instead of monthly recruiting. However, many people prefer this simplicity, but I would like recruiting to be a little more involved and intricate. Overall, I'm having a blast with FBCB

[RPI-Fan]

The best part about FBB and FBCB is, of course, the support. I have never, ever seen a game so well supported, particularly by a sole proprieter like HR.

One thing that helps, I believe, is that HR has a pretty good plan for programming his games. This enables him to make changes along the way, and even after release. They seem to be pretty sound under the hood (as everybody has been saying).

Something I'd like to say to all these people making suggestions, is to go over the FBCB boards and just post what you'd like changed. Usually HR can accomodate, or at the very least will offer an explanation why he won't do something/why it isn't possible. But he seems to have programmed the game to be very edit-able on his end, which is good in terms of responding to user feedback, which he seems to be constantly doing.

~kyle

[Bee]

Originally posted by Eaglesfan27
I played TDCB fairly extensively even with all of the problems around the release. That being said, I'm much happier with FBCB now then TDCB in it's current state. It seems to produce more realistic stats in my opinion. I also agree that the interface is easier in that it is better integrated in the program.

I agree about the sections of the game being integrated more into the game in FBCB, but I think the interface for TDCB looks more polished. I think the overall game in TDCB looks more professional, but I think FBCB has the better engine.

[Bee]

Originally posted by RPI-Fan
They seem to be pretty sound under the hood (as everybody has been saying).

And when they do have issues, they are resolved very quickly.

[Philliesfan980]

Sounds like this game is definately a must get. Ah, payday tommorow.

[kcchief19]

Originally posted by Samdari
And I think those of us at FOFC would echo that sentiment, and I would add the following corollary - every text sim that I have played recently (TDCB, CM4 and FOF4) ran about twice as fast with the same hardware after upgrading from 98SE to XP.

That's great. Now will you write me a check for $100 so I can go out and buy an OEM copy of XP so I can play the one game I have ever encountered that won't work on ME? Or are you suggesting I pirate it?

I'm far from being a Microsoft fan, but there is nothing really WRONG with ME. There were bugs that have been fixed, but I have just as many problems with ME as I have with Win2000 in my office, if not actually less. And if you're talking about speed, maybe FOF would simulate games a bit faster. Maybe it would take me 10 seconds to simulate a week instead of 15 seconds on ME. That's not significant.

But the FBCB, we're talking about the game simply slowing down to the point of not working. I have a stack of CDs and downloaded programs, all of which work perfectly fine on ME as they are designed to do.

If Brian wanted to design a game that requires 2000 or higher, that's his prerogative. On a personal level, I wish he hadn't because I've been waiting for this game since he announced it. I really want to buy it. But it won't work on my system. It would be ridiculous to expect me to upgrade my OS to play one game.

On a business decision level, I think it was silly to design a text sim that won't run on a computer with a 2 to 3 year-old operating system. Of course, I think .400/OOTP is silly to design text sims that require a minimum of 1024x768, meaning you're going to go blind on anything less than a 17-inch monitor. But that's me.

If and when Brian gets a fix for ME, I'll gladly buy the game.

[RPI-Fan]

Just keep in mind, Brian didn't design the game saying, "Alright, I want to completely alienate those luddites using ME." From what I understand, he built the game, then only after people tested the demo did he realize it was having serious issues on ME.

Perhaps he could have been a little more cautious along the way, testing during the coding stages not only on XP, but also ME and other OS's.

Regardless, though, he's now doing his best to fix the problem. It's people's choice as to what OS they want to use, and if they don't want to/can't upgrade, everyone loses out. Brian doesn't have anything to gain by purposely singling out ME users, which is why I think it was just sort of an oversight. (albeit a pretty damned big one)

[HeavyReign]

Originally posted by Bee
Anyone know when a patch is expected? I haven't seen any reports of major issues, but I noticed in Marmel's dynasty a couple issues come up that seem to need fixing.

I should have something up in the next couple days. The issues that Marmel reported have been addressed.

[Bee]

Hey HR,

I've had time now to download and buy the full version. Something I'm noticing is the "recommend" depth chart is REALLY bad. As in having my best player (by far) as the 6th or 7th man. Is this on purpose, or based on the asst coach I hired or something along those lines?

[HeavyReign]

There isn't anything coded in that makes the recommend option choose a bad lineup. If you could post or send a pm with the printouts of your roster's offensive and defensive attributes along with some indication of the recommended depth chart I'll take a look at it. I wouldn't be shocked if it could use some tweaking.

[RPI-Fan]

This may be in the manual, but I'm not sure...

Does our own scouting attribute affect players on our own team, already (not recruits)? Does the scouting director's ratings affect how well you view your own team? Recruits?

Thanks!

[Swaggs]

Can someone elaborate on the conference switching within the game? Is it done automatically or does the player have to make the move?

I must admit, this one feature, if implemented well, would be enough for me to buy the game. One of the greatest, most underated, game features I have seen was Jim's implementation of franchise movment and expansion in FOF2. I think the lack of expansion in FOF4 (even though I understand the reasons behind not adding it) is one of the things that makes it less enjoyable that past versions. Conference shifting would be a similar step, in my opinion.

[Bee]

Originally posted by Swaggs
Can someone elaborate on the conference switching within the game? Is it done automatically or does the player have to make the move?

I must admit, this one feature, if implemented well, would be enough for me to buy the game. One of the greatest, most underated, game features I have seen was Jim's implementation of franchise movment and expansion in FOF2. I think the lack of expansion in FOF4 (even though I understand the reasons behind not adding it) is one of the things that makes it less enjoyable that past versions. Conference shifting would be a similar step, in my opinion.

It's automatic...most similar to CM4 promotion/relegation. There seems to be a significant amount of movement, not just one or two teams. It's optional which is nice. While not realistic, it adds a lot to a fictional type game IMO.

[HeavyReign]

Originally posted by RPI-Fan
This may be in the manual, but I'm not sure...

Does our own scouting attribute affect players on our own team, already (not recruits)? Does the scouting director's ratings affect how well you view your own team? Recruits?

Thanks!

For player's already on rosters, the game lists the actual current ratings. While not the most realistic, storing the scouted ratings for each player for each team wouldn't have been good for the overall performance. The game is already pushing the limits on memory usage.

For recruits, the ratings you see are a reflection of the combined abilities of the head coach and the scouting director. They have an equal contribution in determining the ratings.

[HeavyReign]

Originally posted by Bee
It's automatic...most similar to CM4 promotion/relegation. There seems to be a significant amount of movement, not just one or two teams. It's optional which is nice. While not realistic, it adds a lot to a fictional type game IMO.

Right. It is modeled after the european style promotion/relegation system. First place teams can go up and last place teams can go down. Finishing first or last doesn't guarantee that you will move though. The number of conferences per tier isn't perfectly balanced between all of the levels. When there are more teams that could promote than spots available, the most deserving teams will move up.

[HeavyReign]

Originally posted by Bee
Hey HR,

I've had time now to download and buy the full version. Something I'm noticing is the "recommend" depth chart is REALLY bad. As in having my best player (by far) as the 6th or 7th man. Is this on purpose, or based on the asst coach I hired or something along those lines?

Another note on the recommended depth chart:

It seems to me that when the depth chart seems off of what I might choose, it is usually because the game chose to play a better defensive player at the expense of someone with far superior offensive skills. Is this what you are seeing?

[HeavyReign]

Originally posted by kcchief19
That's great. Now will you write me a check for $100 so I can go out and buy an OEM copy of XP so I can play the one game I have ever encountered that won't work on ME? Or are you suggesting I pirate it?

I'm far from being a Microsoft fan, but there is nothing really WRONG with ME. There were bugs that have been fixed, but I have just as many problems with ME as I have with Win2000 in my office, if not actually less. And if you're talking about speed, maybe FOF would simulate games a bit faster. Maybe it would take me 10 seconds to simulate a week instead of 15 seconds on ME. That's not significant.

But the FBCB, we're talking about the game simply slowing down to the point of not working. I have a stack of CDs and downloaded programs, all of which work perfectly fine on ME as they are designed to do.

If Brian wanted to design a game that requires 2000 or higher, that's his prerogative. On a personal level, I wish he hadn't because I've been waiting for this game since he announced it. I really want to buy it. But it won't work on my system. It would be ridiculous to expect me to upgrade my OS to play one game.

On a business decision level, I think it was silly to design a text sim that won't run on a computer with a 2 to 3 year-old operating system. Of course, I think .400/OOTP is silly to design text sims that require a minimum of 1024x768, meaning you're going to go blind on anything less than a 17-inch monitor. But that's me.

If and when Brian gets a fix for ME, I'll gladly buy the game.

It obviously wasn't a conscious decision to prevent the game from working on ME or earlier systems right now. It wouldn't make sense financially to cut off that part of the market. If it is possible to make it work, I'll figure it out.

[Bee]

Originally posted by HeavyReign
Another note on the recommended depth chart:

It seems to me that when the depth chart seems off of what I might choose, it is usually because the game chose to play a better defensive player at the expense of someone with far superior offensive skills. Is this what you are seeing?

Here's the player's I'm having a problem with:

Savannah State  Player Offense Attributes


 Name                  Pos    Ht  Wt  Ins Jps 3ps Hnd Pas Reb Qkn Str Jmp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Joel Cloud            C   7' 1" 267   87  22  14  21  24  36  11  77  22
 Dallas Yoder          PF  6' 9" 260   47  25  25  41  15  33  34  66  39
  
Savannah State  Player Defense Attributes


 Name                  Pos    Ht  Wt  PsD PrD Stl Blk Reb Fls Qkn Str Jmp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joel Cloud            C   7' 1" 267   54   6   6  24  44  38  11  77  22

Dallas Yoder          PF  6' 9" 260   48  11  11  55  26  44  34  66  39

The game wants to bench C Joel Cloud (my only offensive threat inside) and start the PF Yoder at center. Cloud is much better Inside offensively, a slightly better rebounder and post defender. Yoder is a better shot blocker, but that shouldn't be enough to start him over Cloud.

[HeavyReign]

I'm with you on that. I would go with Cloud as well. I suspect that the issue here is the difference in quickness. The game is giving Yoder too much credit for that. I'll make the necessary adjustment.

[Bee]

Originally posted by HeavyReign
I'm with you on that. I would go with Cloud as well. I suspect that the issue here is the difference in quickness. The game is giving Yoder too much credit for that. I'll make the necessary adjustment.

Thanks HR.

Now that I know you're checking this thread...

I have a suggestion for the interface:

Can you set up the interface so you can have multiple dialog boxes open. For example, after simming a game you have to close that box and then to check standings you open another box, then to check messages you have to close the standings box and open the team box and check message, etc. It seems like it would be better if I could access everything without having to continually opening and closing boxes. (Yes, I'm lazy)

I'm sure that's too much work for a patch, but I think it might be worth looking at for a future version.

[Radii]

I have a couple of questions (and no, I haven't looked at the FBCB boards yet, I trust you guys more)...

Is anyone actually coaching their games? How is that working out? Or is everyone going with more of a quick sim?

How much can you do manually in the game? I think I read somewhere that you can turn off conference movement but do it manaully whenever you want? I don't think I like the idea of the large amounts of movement between conferences that people are talking about, but, I do like the idea of being able to switch conferences around a bit every few years if one team is just totally dominating at a lower level.

And my last question is probably totally off the wall, but I keep reading about everything being so customizable... can you manually seed/adjust the seeding in the NCAA/NIT tournament? Certainly not a requirement but I can see the offshoot excitement of being able to have your own little NCAA Committee and doing it yourself.

Seriously thinking about buying this game over the weekend now

[HeavyReign]

I'll leave the opinion questions to others and answer what I can.

I think I read somewhere that you can turn off conference movement but do it manaully whenever you want? I don't think I like the idea of the large amounts of movement between conferences that people are talking about, but, I do like the idea of being able to switch conferences around a bit every few years if one team is just totally dominating at a lower level.

This is correct. At any point during the season you can go into the current league editor and schedule a conference change. To do this you edit the team and select a team to swap conferences with. The change will take place at the end of the season.

And my last question is probably totally off the wall, but I keep reading about everything being so customizable... can you manually seed/adjust the seeding in the NCAA/NIT tournament? Certainly not a requirement but I can see the offshoot excitement of being able to have your own little NCAA Committee and doing it yourself.

This isn't an option right now but it may be possible to add it in the future. It would be a good addition for the exact reason you mentioned.

Seriously thinking about buying this game over the weekend now

The elicense servers seem to be down right now so nobody can buy the game at the moment. Hopefully they'll have it resolved by tomorrow.

[RPI-Fan]

I'm doing a quick-sim, but that's only because I was fired after two dismal years at Albany, and now am in my second year at UNC-Asheville. Because of the quick turnaround (which I deserved for my poor performance), I haven't gotten attached to my players, since I didn't recruit them.

As I add my own guys to the roster, I might choose to coach/watch more games.

~kyle

[Bee]

I quick sim most games, but occasionally I'll watch a game that looks like an interesting matchup. I haven't coached a game since that really doesn't interest me.

Does anyone know if there's a way to make simming pause when you get a message? I know you can pause when there's an injury, but I'd like to also know when I have a suspension or someone heals up, etc.

[HeavyReign]

With the first patch, the game will stop for suspensions as well. I'll also take a look at notifying you when a player is healthy again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

HR, since you're here ... any good news or {gulp} bad news to report on the WinMe edition?

[HeavyReign]

I'm still exploring ways of making it work.

[Daimyo]

One good reason to upgrade from ME: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lif...s/default.mspx

On December 31st of this year it goes into the "extended support phase" which means hotfixes and support will only be available on a fee basis. (of course this could get pushed back if there are overwelming complaints like there was with NT4, but since almost everyone would prefer to pretend ME never existed I can't see that happening).

As for software compatibility, I've never seen a (non-driver) issue that wasn't resolved by using "compatibility" mode available in XP where the OS essentially emulates DOS, 98, or 2000 to the application.

[HeavyReign]

A new patch is available for FBCB. You can get it here:

http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB101.exe

---------------------------
Version 1.0.1
---------------------------
CHANGES:
*Adjusted the polls to more closely match the criteria used for tournament seeding.
*decreased the odds of major upsets in the championship tourney.
*reduced the odds that a team will use a timeout near the start of the half.
*Added a screen to display which players have declared for the draft.
*Increased the effect of defensive intensity on stamina during games.
*It is now possible to redshirt a player anytime up until they appear in a game.
*Adjusted the selection process for the recommended lineups.
*Reduced the number of steals and turnovers.
*Increased the number of players leaving for the draft to better match the number from the NCAA that have declared in recent seasons.
*The computer will no longer recommend academic training when you have academic suspensions turned off.
*Added media timeouts and reduced the total timeouts given to each team to 5 to match what is used in real life.
*Increased the affects of fatigue.
*Added the option to view the conference standings from the season info section of the team roster screen.
*Decreased the odds of a player taunting the opponent.
*Each team's seed is now shown on the schedule screen for conference and postseason tourneys.
*Decreased the number of injuries and academic suspensions.
*Added more freedom to set the rate of injuries and suspensions in the league options area.
*Added a print option to the player screen.
*Added a print option to the recruit screen.
*Elimated the possibility of a tip-in on blocked shots.

FIXES:
*Fixed a bug that caused the team records player sections to show players from other teams.
*The team foul update in the pbp will now occur after the results of the shot on a shooting foul.
*Fixed a bug that caused the last game on the list to not be shown on the daily schedule screen.
*Fixed a bug that caused teams to not consider whether they are willing to play you on the road in the schedule response if you suggested a home-and-home series starting at their home.
*The shotclock is now reset on non-shooting fouls.
*Fixed a bug that displayed the wrong tourney name on the championship tourney brackets when you first loaded the screen.
*Fixed a bug that caused the text for a steal to not be displayed in some cases. The other team would suddenly have the ball after a pass with no indication of what happened.
*Fixed a bug that caused the last team on the list on the polls screen to not be displayed when you double-clicked it.
*Fixed a bug that caused two turnovers to be added to a player's stats in some cases when the player had the ball stolen.
*Fixed a bug that could cause the roster screen to come up with a blank display.
*Fixed a bug that allowed players to stay in the game after fouling out when you were simming the entire game in coach mode.
*Added code which should prevent teams from starting the second half in autofoul. The bug caused teams to pick up several fouls on the first possession of the second half.

[VPI97]

Originally posted by HeavyReign
A new patch is available for FBCB. You can get it here:

http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB101.exe

HeavyReign, I'm getting a 502 error from ViaTech when I try to order the game...any suggestions?

Error message read:
No products were found in the license database which match the Vendor Identifier and Product SKU. Please contact the software publisher or the vendor from whom you obtained the software.

[Dutch]

Oh brother, is ViaTech down AGAIN???? E-License sucks.


But in any event, I did manage to get the game during one of ViaTech's up times and am having a blast! FBCB is a well coded game. The only thing I don't like are the somewhat unfriendly front-end interface, but you get used to it, and it's really not that bad. The one thing I really enjoy is the fact that the patch that just came out includes quite a bit of user suggestions rather than a lot of fixes to just get the game to work (TDCB).

So I'm impressed and keep up the good work!

[EagleFan]

dam, don;t see anything in there about ME

[HeavyReign]

Anyone who downloaded the patch before now should redownload it. It was missing a couple new image files so there was an error when you tried to view a player.

I'll be working on the ME situation again now that the first patch is out.

[EagleFan]

You da man HR. Everyone should promptly send you their first born, or the financial equivalent. Hmm, I hope that doesn't sound too fanboyish.

[Bee]

Originally posted by EagleFan
You da man HR. Everyone should promptly send you their first born, or the financial equivalent. Hmm, I hope that doesn't sound too fanboyish.

I don't have a firstborn, so can I send my neighbor's?


I'll need an address too.

[Philliesfan980]

Based on this thread, is it safe to make the following assumptions?

FBCB is the best college basketball sim ever.

FBCB is worth the 34.99 (or is it 29.99) pricetag.

[Bee]

Originally posted by Philliesfan980
Based on this thread, is it safe to make the following assumptions?

FBCB is the best college basketball sim ever.

FBCB is worth the 34.99 (or is it 29.99) pricetag.

I think so.

Definitely.