Questions for Tonights Chat Session with Jim

[primelord]

If you didn't already know I am sure the nice new Announce feature of the board has told you there will be a chat with Jim on irc tonight at 8:00 EST. It will be held on irc.debian.org in #Solecismic.

If you are unable to attend this evening feel free to post your questions here and I will ask them in the chat tonight. A transcript of the session will be posted on the board possibly later tonight and definately sometime this weekend.

Here are the questions that were asked on the old board.

couriers: There has been some talk about a combined TCY/FOF sim and just how great it would be. Considering that the intertwining of the colligate & professional levels in a given sport has never been accomplished is this a challenge that you would be interested in looking into and if so would it be something that someone could look forward to in the near future or a more distant project?

cthomer: Do you plan on creating a "C" patch for FOF4? Is that patch something that is currently in the works? Is it possible to add a 3rd option to the hiring/firing to make all teams amenable to hiring you every season? How difficult would this be to implement into FOF 4? I think this would be a tremendous help to those wanting to create a league "history" before taking over control of a team. (i.e. simming a bunch of seasons before actually getting invovled in the league).


cthomer: Since we can choose the starting year for the game, is there any possibility of an editor for stadiums? Currently, you can start in 1950, but the stadiums still can't be replaced until 2000+. Do you plan on creating an editor? If not, would you provide specific insight for those who might want to?

Alf: When will the FOF4 download version be available ? At what price ?

More information on the session can be found in this thread.

[jamesUMD]

• Do you have any plans to implement Offensive/Defensive coordinators into FOF4, since they are already used in The College Years?
• Can you provide us with an Editor for the Coaches/Scouts file so that we edit them in the same manner we can the player file?
• Is there a way you could provide us an option upon starting a career, that eliminates the random creation and designation of Coaches/Scouts?

[jamesUMD]

In past FOF versions, when viewing the Season Awards, the winners were linked to their player cards (click on their name and their card came up). It always helped me measure how my players stacked up to the All-Pro's at their position. Why does FOF4 not follow this format anymore? Is there any chance of this changing to allow for this?

[jamesUMD]

• Have you thought about adding any sort of coaching styles for each coach? When the coach is hired, the gameplan settings change according to this style, whether it is Run n' Shoot, Don Coryell, West Coast, etc., etc.
• Another thought has been the idea of Macro buttons that have general gameplan settings associated with each that could be selected for general gameplan maintnance. Any thoughts on this?

[MylesKnight]

Can someone please explain how to get to the chat site for this evening's Jim Fest? Would you be able to use Microsoft Chat to access it?

Thanks!!

[Maple Leafs]

A bit more specific than most, but:

The play-by-play contains extra information in some cases (e.g. who made a block, who defended a pass, who pressured the QB). In others, though, we miss out on helpful information (e.g. which player committed a penalty, how deep a dropped or incomplete pass was thrown, whether a QB left the pocket on a pass). Were things like this left out to reduce clutter, or does the game engine not actually generate this sort of information?

It would also be nice if he could verify whether holding on a kickoff is being marked off correctly, since there didn't seem to be a consensus about that on the old board.

[MylesKnight]

DOLA!!


I'd like to ask Jim about TCY... Is there to be a TCY2? Also, what about any possible future updates to the current TCY?

One thing I'd like to see if possible is a complete break from having any Non-Conference opponents set in stone. Would it be possible to be able to schedule all of your Non-Conference Games yourself and in the process, increase one's strength of schedule. Some teams really do get the short end of the stick when it comes to predetermined Out of Conference matchups..

[primelord]

Originally posted by MylesKnight
Can someone please explain how to get to the chat site for this evening's Jim Fest? Would you be able to use Microsoft Chat to access it?

Thanks!!

No you need to use an irc client to access the chat server.

There used to be a thread with a tutorial on the old board, but it got deleted. The most popular irc chat client is mIRC. It can be found at www.mirc.com.

Essentially all you need to do is install the program and click connect. Then where it lists server type irc.debian.org. Once it is connected just type /join #Solecismic in the window and that should do it.

During the chat if you want to submit a question just double click my name and it will open a private chat window with me. Just submit your question and I will get in.

[Hands to the Face]

There seems to be somewhat of a consensus that one of FOF's weaknesses is that AI general managers don't manage their rosters sensibly. Of particular concern are AI GMs that fail to recognize better, cheaper free agent replacements for players on their rosters and AI GMs that fail to develop or recognize young, talented players on their rosters. Do you agree with this assessment and other, similar criticisms of the AI roster management? If so, do you think it's possible that future versions of FOF will work to narrow the gap between AI teams and the human-managed team? Thanks in advance for your reply.

[Honolulu Blue]

QUESTIONS I'D LIKE TO ASK, BUT WON'T:

* How many copies of FOF4 have you sold so far?
* What's your next game going to be?
* Can I be a beta tester?
* Why are all your games so dang easy for elite players?
* Will this ever change?
* How are things at home?

QUESTIONS I WILL ASK:

* Is the fact that players get fired from bad teams within 1-3 years of taking them over (despite success on the playing field) a bug? If so, will it be fixed?
* Is the lack of quality players in the OPU (as compared with the NFL) intentional? If not, will it be fixed?
* Have you thought about affiliating yourself with EA Sports again? How about .400 Studios? SIGames? Have any of them asked you to join them?
* Have any VIP's (players, coaches, GMs, owners, etc.) bought any version of FOF? (no need to name names - a yes or no is fine)

How many people plan on attending this Live Chat?

[Darkiller]

I plan to stay upnight (it'll be 2am in Paris then).
I'll try to stay as long as I possibly can (finished work very late for a friday night ...)

[Darkiller]

I have a question for Jim in regard to the Pro Bowl thread that I started yesterday :

- Why are Pro Bowl rosters never included in the FOF series ?

- Could you think of it being potentially a feature in a next FOF game ? if not, why ?

[yacovfb]

Bump... it has begun.

-yacovfb