Alright Boyz, Here we Go! The DDS: College Basketball First Impressions Thread

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Coder

If you know C#, you'll be home safe with ASP.net as well, using C#, so it's a Win-Win situation. Sure, you'll be getting harassed by all M$-haters, but who cares

I'll back everything being said about C# and more. C# just fits the Windows object model really well, and is their primary target language. Plus it's just a very nice language to work in, and the API is rich. And the tie-in with ASP.NET is very nice and is what I've got much of the guts of the WOOF site working in now (if anyone needs a Membership/Role provider that interacts with vBulletin, let me know: I may do my first submission to CodeProject on it).

Learn C#, you won't regret it.

[Alan T]

Its been a few weeks since the last post, and over a month for many people with this game. I've read this thread and some of the posts on their boards, but I am interested in people's ongoing impressions with this game.

I'm looking for a new timewaster game to play while on business trips or traveling, and thinking about getting this game...It seems like there aren't that many people with crashes or such any longer, so A few questions I have:

- Does the game last for you? After several weeks of playing, is it still fun for you, or does it get old fast?
- Is it going to be a big deal for someone like myself who isn't a huge basketball fan to get into this game? Or will it be alot like my poor experiences with FM that I won't get into it too much?
- Are there any FOFC multiplayer leagues going using this game?

Normally I would just go ahead and buy the game to help support the sim community, but this game is a bit more expensive than most, so I am interested in people's thoughts.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Its been a few weeks since the last post, and over a month for many people with this game. I've read this thread and some of the posts on their boards, but I am interested in people's ongoing impressions with this game.

I'm looking for a new timewaster game to play while on business trips or traveling, and thinking about getting this game...It seems like there aren't that many people with crashes or such any longer, so A few questions I have:

- Does the game last for you? After several weeks of playing, is it still fun for you, or does it get old fast?
- Is it going to be a big deal for someone like myself who isn't a huge basketball fan to get into this game? Or will it be alot like my poor experiences with FM that I won't get into it too much?
- Are there any FOFC multiplayer leagues going using this game?

Normally I would just go ahead and buy the game to help support the sim community, but this game is a bit more expensive than most, so I am interested in people's thoughts.

I can only speak to the first question. I preordered but did not participate in the beta. I got the game the first day. I am on my third season, controlling every facet of the program. I am really have a good time with the game. I keep learning little tidbits. Never mind trying figure out how the fuck to deal with my pain in the ass small forward who I should kick of the team but I need a run in the conference tourney to make the NCAAs and he is my leading scorer and top defender!

[Icy]

1) Yes, this game can last for ages and it's so fun for me.
2) Umm could be a big deal for you if you don't really like basketball or specially college sports, as i would say that at least 50% of the game is about recruiting (like most of college sims). If you don't want to coach the games, you can fast sim them, as they key in college sports games is recruiting the best personal. I have fun both recruiting and then coaching the games, setting strategies etc.
3) Not any that i know.

[Carman Bulldog]

1. Does the game last for you? After several weeks of playing, is it still fun for you, or does it get old fast?

I haven't had the opportunity to play it as much as I would like, but I am now in my seventh season and you can read all about it here. The game definitely does not get old fast and presents a number of different options and challenges. The difficulty level has definitely been increased from its predecessor (TCB) which is nice too. I know that I will continue on for a long time and will probably play until a new sim comes along to occupy my time (and I don't believe there is much in the works currently that would do so) or I just feel like some football.

2. Is it going to be a big deal for someone like myself who isn't a huge basketball fan to get into this game? Or will it be alot like my poor experiences with FM that I won't get into it too much?

I do not follow the NBA at all and only really pay attention to college basketball during March Madness. But for me (all the way back to Arlie's Coaching a Dynasty), college basketball sims have been amongst my favourites. I do not play out any of the games but rather just sim through the seasons at a decent pace. What the college basketball experience allows is the opportunity to do this while still allowing you to develop relationships with your players based on the small roster size. Because it is a college game, there is also plenty of turnover and you are constantly rebuilding, but like I mentioned, you still develop the relationships with players.

[Tim Tellean]

1.1 patch released.
Our beta patches have been stable so we're going to officially call this new update 1.1 - if you haven't downloaded any patches to this point this will get you totally up to speed.

1.1 includes two new fixes as well. A RTE 5 looking at assn leaders is fixed and I continued to tweak the tweak which has caused the most discussion - the "player not visiting" tweak. I made the requirements just a little less stringent for players visiting and also made it so that if he's got anything more than a passing interest in your school he will visit. Hopefully this will make more people happy because I definitely think there is merit in having recruits refuse to visit.

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

Whats the consensus on the personality/relationships portion of the game? Does it add to the immersion or does it get tedious?

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by TheOhioStateUniversity

Whats the consensus on the personality/relationships portion of the game? Does it add to the immersion or does it get tedious?

I personally think that it's mostly flavor. The only time it actually is relevant for me when playing (as far as I can see) is when you aren't able to curb players with a disruptive personality, they basically will transfer out of the team.

Other than that, from a simmer's perspective, the relationships / personality portion of the game is not as fleshed out as other games (FM, notably)

[Neon_Chaos]

dola,

I also think that this being one of the first efforts by Gary to integrate relationships and personality into a game, it is pretty good.

It's got a long ways to go with respect to what gamers might want in that part of a text sim, but it is a good start.

[Gary Gorski]

Going to bump this - tomorrow I will be releasing version 1.1.2 which will fix an issue with the new auto save feature, one or two other small glitches and one community requested change - now when making calls to recruits hitting "end call" will close down the popup so you won't have to end the call and then scroll over to the X to close down the phone window anymore.

[Eaglesfan27]

Gary,

It would be nice if there was a way to view more details about a team's status in the job transfer window. I just found out that a school I went to was on probation after I took the job. That is a detail that I imagine could be easily listed on the job offer screen somewhere.

[Gary Gorski]

ok, this patch is in the books but I will keep that in mind for another update. In the meantime you can check out that ahead of time (I think its on the team roster or team info page) because you can go to the open jobs screen, see what teams are open and then go check out their rosters and stuff and come back.

[Eaglesfan27]

Ahh, that is good to know. I thought once you went to the jobs screen, you couldn't leave it.

[Capital]

Gary,

Enjoying the game quite a bit right now and it's a big upgrade IMO from the previous college game. I do have one more suggestion that could be used for both the pro and college game.

I like to micromanage the depth chart and sub-matrix. So, when a player gets injured, I then make the appropriate changes. It would be very nice if there was an original depth chart/submatrix save (lock a certain players) that I could revert back instead of needing to make all of the changes back to the way they were originally.

My 2 cents

[Gary Gorski]

That's a good idea that I will keep in mind for the next versions of the games

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Capital

Gary,

Enjoying the game quite a bit right now and it's a big upgrade IMO from the previous college game. I do have one more suggestion that could be used for both the pro and college game.

I like to micromanage the depth chart and sub-matrix. So, when a player gets injured, I then make the appropriate changes. It would be very nice if there was an original depth chart/submatrix save (lock a certain players) that I could revert back instead of needing to make all of the changes back to the way they were originally.

My 2 cents

Perhaps something like how FM does it, wherein you can save different kinds of lineups and settings, and just load them as you deem necessary.

[Gary Gorski]

Just a bump to say that beta patch 1.1.2 is now available on our forums. Fixes some issues with the new auto save feature introduced in beta 1.1.1, cuts down the loading times some people were experiencing on box scores and the phone call boxes go away either when you end the call or the recruit/player does without you having to click the X again.

[Radii]

man, I am an idiot sometimes.

Order Date: Saturday, November 03, 2007

Downloading now! I completely forgot I preordered this.

[Racer]

I had a few questions regarding this game.

1. How does the recruiting portion of this game compare to College Basketball 2K8?
2. How does the game compare to College Basketball 2K8 in regards to team management (such developing players for a specific type of offense)?
3. Is the game worth it if I already enjoy playing College Basketball 2K8?

[Passacaglia]

Just got this yesterday -- while I'm reading the thread, can anyone give me some tips on how to allocate my recruiting budget? I went through recruiting twice now, and left a lot of money unspent both times.

[Barkeep49]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Just got this yesterday -- while I'm reading the thread, can anyone give me some tips on how to allocate my recruiting budget? I went through recruiting twice now, and left a lot of money unspent both times.

Are you at a major program? I found at that level that I too would often have lots of unspent money at the end.

[Gary Gorski]

Well now that you've been through it twice you should have a feel for about what it takes you during the actual recruiting process. I would spend more on the reports and travel if you have alot left over. You can recruit without those things but they give you a little bit more accurate picture.

For example if you setup your watch list and then visit the summer camps you will get extra notes on the players on your list if they're attending that camp. You'll also find out an overall impression of how he looked at the camp.

I'm running a dynasty with Oakland University (small school from the Summit League) - because my assistants aren't great and neither are my ratings yet I don't get a very clear picture on guys. I only have enough in the budget to go to one camp so I always go to the local one (since I can only recruit locally with them) and one of the guys appeared to have very low ratings both from my coaches and even the overall ones yet my notes told me he was one of the better players at the camp. We ended up landing him and sure enough he turned out pretty decent but I wouldn't have pursued him the way I did had it not been for that info.

There also comes a point where there's just so much money available for the top programs that you can't possibly spend it all (unless you're going to go the illegal bribe route) but for anyone else there's ways of spending it all.

[Capital]

Gary,

I may be missing it, but is there a way to see the records by school. I can find the records by conference but can't seem to find it by school. I'm in my 6th season so records beginning to have some significance.

Message from a happy customer - either way I'm enjoying the game. Especially starting with a rookie coach at a rookie school. My coach is finally starting to have some average (or slightly below) stats.
Thanks

[Passacaglia]

I went through it once as St. Joseph's, and once as Michigan State, just to get the flavor of what it's like on different ends. I kinda sped through the process both time, so I'm not sure if I really learned much from it. How many weeks are there in the process? That might help me figure out how much I should be spending each week.

[Passacaglia]

Also, has anyone had any good experience with the play editor?

[Gary Gorski]

Yeah if you look in the navigation bar at the far right end there is a book icon. Click on that and you will get a page that shows you the following about each individual team

- record recap of every season
- school records held
- historical w/l record vs every school
- player history of every season of every player to ever play at the school

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I went through it once as St. Joseph's, and once as Michigan State, just to get the flavor of what it's like on different ends. I kinda sped through the process both time, so I'm not sure if I really learned much from it. How many weeks are there in the process? That might help me figure out how much I should be spending each week.

Well the recruiting lasts all year long but the bulk (and sometimes all of it) is done during the summer. Once you hit mid september in the game the verbals start coming in by the bunch and often times you'll be able to wrap everything up by then. Sometimes though you might lose out on a recruit and have to start recruiting then for some of the leftovers to fill a spot on your team so you may want to hold back a little bit of money just in case. Again though it depends on your team. If you're Michigan State you're going to have a huge budget and can afford to go to all the events and buy the gold versions of the reports and go and visit kids all over the country and still have money left over. If you play as a mid-level or small school you can't do anywhere near that much and its more than possible to use the whole budget.

Like I said, I play with Oakland right now and I easily can spend my entire budget by buying the gold report for my region, going to the regional summer camp and recruiting a handful of players from Michigan and occassionaly a bordering state.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Like I said, I play with Oakland right now and I easily can spend my entire budget by buying the gold report for my region, going to the regional summer camp and recruiting a handful of players from Michigan and occassionaly a bordering state.

Regarding the Gold reports......

If you buy the national gold report, will that cover all of the regional gold reports as well or do you have to buy those separately in addition to the national report?

[BigDPW]

I have played with the demo a few weeks ago and enjoyed the experience of recruiting.

Couple of Questions:

Is there a way to start unemployed and take a job after some history has been created for the schools?

What strategies can you use to not get too bogged down in the recruiting process if you want to move faster through seasons but still be on top of the recruiting process?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

Is there a way to start unemployed and take a job after some history has been created for the schools?

Might want to check this thread in regards to creating a history.

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...ad.php?t=63290

Make the starting year sometime in the past and then allow it to simulate up to a given year. That should give you a history.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Regarding the Gold reports......

If you buy the national gold report, will that cover all of the regional gold reports as well or do you have to buy those separately in addition to the national report?

No its different - the national will not cover all the players the regional one does but it will overlap the top recruits in the region.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

No its different - the national will not cover all the players the regional one does but it will overlap the top recruits in the region.

I thought that was the case. Thanks for the confirmation.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

I have played with the demo a few weeks ago and enjoyed the experience of recruiting.

Couple of Questions:

Is there a way to start unemployed and take a job after some history has been created for the schools?

What strategies can you use to not get too bogged down in the recruiting process if you want to move faster through seasons but still be on top of the recruiting process?

Well you do have the option of turning on the AI recruiting but that means the AI will handle it for you. There's really no way of doing "some" recruiting - especially since its such a huge part of the game. That's not to say the AI will do a bad job for you - it's solid but it will replace you as responsible for recruiting so you won't experience that part of the game which may be a plus for someone who is just interested in the season part.

[darkenigma510]

So what are the major differences between TCB and this new game? is it worth upgrading?

[Tim Tellean]

I'm too lazy to not cut and paste but here are the major differences from TCB.

• NEW Totally revamped recruiting interface. Information on recruits is now streamlined for easy access and visibility
• NEW Deeper interaction with recruits. As head coach you'll have the ability not only to do the previous recruiting abilities but also the ability to phone recruits yourself to find out specific information you'll need to know in recruiting them. This feature gives you the ability to spark some interest in a recruit that may not show interest in your school and even gives you the chance to engage in some illegal recruiting techniques - of course with the risk that your dealings will be discovered and punished.
• NEW Get to know your players! New scouting report options, player relationship displays and player interactions through in-game email bring the players to life like never before
• NEW Optional game features to customize your game world even more. Want to force all players to stay in college for four years? Do it! Want to up the challenge by not seeing player ratings in the game? The choice is yours!
• NEW Expanded almanac to track even more historical information about the schools and their players.
• NEW Enhanced ability to interact with Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball making the moving of players from the college ranks to the pro ranks easier than before.
• NEW Draw up your own plays and see how your players execute them in the big game
• NEW Increased control in scheduling. Make a phone call to your athletic director to let him know what kind of schedule you want for the season.
• NEW Non-conference rivals allow you to schedule a specific school to a rivalry game each season
• NEW Coach philosophies allow you to tailor the type of game your team plays even more in addition to the twenty different offensive and defensive sets your team can run.
• Enhanced 2D game play allows you to watch every second of the game unfold or even take some time out to rewatch one of the games of the season.
• Customize your coach to give you the challenge YOU want for your career and choose from 341 schools to coach at
• Realistic recruiting schedule allows you to recruit players all season long
• Customize it all! Customize school names, logos, player and coach photos, home courts, team specific chants and fight songs - make it however you like it!
• Full HTML and Multiplayer league support with added functionality and HTML options

[lungs]

I pulled this one out again for the first time in months. I can't remember why I never really got into it, but I patched it up and it seemed a lot more fun but I'm not sure why. I haven't paid attention to what's been fixed or changed since then but whatever it's been has worked.

[darkenigma510]

Originally Posted by Tim Tellean

I'm too lazy to not cut and paste but here are the major differences from TCB.

• NEW Totally revamped recruiting interface. Information on recruits is now streamlined for easy access and visibility
• NEW Deeper interaction with recruits. As head coach you'll have the ability not only to do the previous recruiting abilities but also the ability to phone recruits yourself to find out specific information you'll need to know in recruiting them. This feature gives you the ability to spark some interest in a recruit that may not show interest in your school and even gives you the chance to engage in some illegal recruiting techniques - of course with the risk that your dealings will be discovered and punished.
• NEW Get to know your players! New scouting report options, player relationship displays and player interactions through in-game email bring the players to life like never before
• NEW Optional game features to customize your game world even more. Want to force all players to stay in college for four years? Do it! Want to up the challenge by not seeing player ratings in the game? The choice is yours!
• NEW Expanded almanac to track even more historical information about the schools and their players.
• NEW Enhanced ability to interact with Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball making the moving of players from the college ranks to the pro ranks easier than before.
• NEW Draw up your own plays and see how your players execute them in the big game
• NEW Increased control in scheduling. Make a phone call to your athletic director to let him know what kind of schedule you want for the season.
• NEW Non-conference rivals allow you to schedule a specific school to a rivalry game each season
• NEW Coach philosophies allow you to tailor the type of game your team plays even more in addition to the twenty different offensive and defensive sets your team can run.
• Enhanced 2D game play allows you to watch every second of the game unfold or even take some time out to rewatch one of the games of the season.
• Customize your coach to give you the challenge YOU want for your career and choose from 341 schools to coach at
• Realistic recruiting schedule allows you to recruit players all season long
• Customize it all! Customize school names, logos, player and coach photos, home courts, team specific chants and fight songs - make it however you like it!
• Full HTML and Multiplayer league support with added functionality and HTML options

Thanks, I was too lazy to go to your website

[lungs]

Is it necessary to do anything in recruiting after your scholarships are filled with guys that have LOI's?

I only had one scholarship open and filled it quickly. Is there anything I'm missing? I just kind of ignored recruiting after that.

[INDalltheway]

Originally Posted by lungs

Is it necessary to do anything in recruiting after your scholarships are filled with guys that have LOI's?

I only had one scholarship open and filled it quickly. Is there anything I'm missing? I just kind of ignored recruiting after that.

If you have a guy you think might transfer or enter the draft early it would probably be smart to keep recruiting a few players. Those are the reasons I would continue recruiting.

[Gary Gorski]

Yeah, once you have the guy locked up with a LOI (not just a verbal but a LOI) there's really not anything you have to do. You could continue to watch game tape of the guy you signed or whatever to learn more about him but really that's about it.

[Passacaglia]

How big of a deal is it to revoke a guy's scholarship? If you want to offer one again, will he be pissed at you? What if he's already made a verbal?

[Gary Gorski]

If he's not committed to you it just means that he's going to lose interest with you (which is probably not a big deal since if you're taking it away you probably don't care). If he has committed to you already and then you pull it then you've got a big deal - your rep will take a hit and it will hurt you in recruiting.

[BigDPW]

Okay I am goofing with the demo trying to figure out if I am going to purchase and I am am running into a problem...

I am playing as NC State (my alma mater). The budget is 91,500 points. I am in a state that is sandwiched as a border school in the "atlantic region". I would like to be able to recruit as NC State really does across the atlantic, south, and midwest. Unfortunately I cannot afford to get the gold reports for all of these areas. I am not sure if getting the gold national report is wise either since I am not sure I can compete for all of those guys and would lack the local backups from NC, SC, TN, VA...

Any advice on how to go about picking reports as a "border school" from one of the regions without having an unlimited recruiting budget?

I tried out a game as Duke and their budget is ungodly - which is realistic - but it makes their decisions a little easier for what to buy...

[Passacaglia]

I'm wondering what you need to do to get momentum. My Harvard side is up over Cal State Fullerton 47-22 at the half, and we've barely had momentum at all -- I'd guess that they've had it more, actually. Just weird.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Is the demo equal to the latest version, or is the demo an earlier build?

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

Okay I am goofing with the demo trying to figure out if I am going to purchase and I am am running into a problem...

I am playing as NC State (my alma mater). The budget is 91,500 points. I am in a state that is sandwiched as a border school in the "atlantic region". I would like to be able to recruit as NC State really does across the atlantic, south, and midwest. Unfortunately I cannot afford to get the gold reports for all of these areas. I am not sure if getting the gold national report is wise either since I am not sure I can compete for all of those guys and would lack the local backups from NC, SC, TN, VA...

Any advice on how to go about picking reports as a "border school" from one of the regions without having an unlimited recruiting budget?

I tried out a game as Duke and their budget is ungodly - which is realistic - but it makes their decisions a little easier for what to buy...

I would say maybe ignore the midwest - the better prospects in the game come from places like Florida and New York on average.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I'm wondering what you need to do to get momentum. My Harvard side is up over Cal State Fullerton 47-22 at the half, and we've barely had momentum at all -- I'd guess that they've had it more, actually. Just weird.

It's based on a number of things - your facilities, the events that happen in the game (steals, blocks, threes, dunks count for more than just a jumper), timeouts (especially the media ones) drag it down (and Im working on tweaking that).

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Is the demo equal to the latest version, or is the demo an earlier build?

No the demo is probably still at version 1.0 so that was many builds ago

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

It's based on a number of things - your facilities, the events that happen in the game (steals, blocks, threes, dunks count for more than just a jumper), timeouts (especially the media ones) drag it down (and Im working on tweaking that).

Interesting. So the fact that I'm on the road would also have an effect?

[Brian Swartz]

Yes it would, a considerable one(there is a large home-court advantadge effect). Exactly how large depends on the team you are playing -- CSF's is not as big as, say, Duke's.