New Bloodbowl Game Information

[SirFozzie]

Since many of us are BB fanatics, figure this is a good time to provide an update:

Some of the french members of the Blood Bowl Forums attended the Paris VGS and Cyanide were there with a demo of Blood Bowl, the video game. English members of the BB Forum managed to translate the French, and also provided some extra photos from the demos that were played.

From what I'm reading, there will be two types of leagues.

One is Traditional Blood Bowl. Pretty much LRB5.0, all the standard bits.
the Other is Blitz mode, which is like LRB5.0 on steroids, with areas dealing with Sponsors, upgraded equipment, and player contracts.

Equipment is very fancy looking, one demo player says that the guy controlling the demo upgraded a plain vanilla beastman with star player's star's armor, helmet and boots, and the beastman almost looked like a Minotaur Champion!

But if you don't want the added complexity, don't worry, you don't have to.. in traditional mode, the view of your players will get better as they become a star.. for example, a lineman with 0 SPP will look pretty much vanilla and standard. That same lineman with 150 SPP will have a lot nicer looking model.

Apparently, they're shipping with 6 open-style leagues (third edition/"tournament style") with it, but the game also ships with a league creator, if you wanted to build a NAF (2nd edition style, like the NFL) league, you can (apparently). Cyanide will do the hosting for both public and private leagues.

Apparently, your team can be pretty well customized with colors, logos (which not only show up on the banners of the supporters around the stadium, but on the shoulderpads of the players (nice!), Each player has about 10 different skins, and you can change skin color and small details like how the Minotaur's horns look, or a Black Ork's teeth.

Blood Bowl • View topic - Blood Bowl Demo Feedback on French Forum

Looks like the game will be out in February or March (Hopefully I will no longer work 70 hour weeks by then).

They already have one sale made (Xbox 360 version), and maybe two (DS version for trips maybe, or the PC Version if it doesn't have Starforce).

[SirFozzie]

Here's a couple screenshots from a French fansite:

http://www.cabalvision.com/images/cu...mpionship1.jpg

Creating a custom league/championship tournament

http://www.cabalvision.com/images/cu...mpionship2.jpg

The second step of creating a championship, options..

Video of a Humans vs Elves game (no sound), showing game setup and initial KO setup

YouTube - Elfes sylvains vs Humains

and finally, a bit from a real time game, complete with announcing by the team of Bob Bifford and Jim Johnson (a Vampire and an Ogre)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssstr3ZIa78

(Edit: taking img links out, till I can save them/imageshack them to a lower size at home tonight)

[Groundhog]

God damn, this is setting me up to be dissapointed big time.

Hope I'm wrong.

[Warhammer]

So how is this going to be different than playing say FUMBBL?

[SirFozzie]

No fumbbling around with JAVA (), or having to know IRC. a lot better graphically. Exposing it to a lot wider audience. No messing about with failed game imports..

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

No fumbbling around with JAVA (), or having to know IRC. a lot better graphically. Exposing it to a lot wider audience. No messing about with failed game imports..

Now my question is (I haven't checked the forum for this answer, just hoping one of you may have spotted it)...is turn based like Chaos League, because honestly, I hated it that way.

[SirFozzie]

There are two modes: Real Time is like Chaos League. Turn Based is by the rules. Including the 4:00 turn clock, etcetera. Just like playing FUMBBL. Failed actions lead to turnovers, etcetera

[PineTar]

Fantasy Football: The Blood Bowl Trailer Is Epic

[SirFozzie]

*GLEEGASM*

[JPhillips]

I love how the player customization keeps the aesthetic of miniatures.

[Galaril]

Any clue on when this will be coming out. I have been awaiting for this for over year.

[SirFozzie]

June is the target date, and they look to be pretty good on this (the official word was Q2, but probably June)

[Atocep]

I caught that trailer on kotaku this morning and I'm awfully damn excited now. I've been worried that they'd screw this up somehow, but it looks pretty good so far.

[Marc Vaughan]

I know the chaps who did the first Chaos League game were big SMG fans and wanted to do something more 'indepth' - I've got several apendages crossed that this lives up to the excitement its causing in me ...

[SirFozzie]

So definetly going to do a FOFC league (either on PC or 360).

You all better join

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I know the chaps who did the first Chaos League game were big SMG fans and wanted to do something more 'indepth' - I've got several apendages crossed that this lives up to the excitement its causing in me ...

Same here. What will make or break this game for me will be the quality of a possible career mode.

[SirFozzie]

Here's the other videos for Blood Bowl:

BloodBowl

Skaven v Lizardmen (pre-rendered, but it should give you an idea on what the Skaven models will look like)


Since I'm already, there.. here's the other three

BloodBowl

(Gobbos vs Dwarves.. including a funny moment.. Throw Team Mate or DIN DINS!)

BloodBowl

(Chaos v Hoomies, featuring a certain interested observer with a pointy hat getting involved)

BloodBowl

(The full trailer)

[PurdueBrad]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Same here. What will make or break this game for me will be the quality of a possible career mode.

Agreed, I've never played but this is what has always interested me in the idea of Bloodbowl, the RPG-style development over time. I'm quite intrigued by this.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

So definetly going to do a FOFC league (either on PC or 360).

You all better join

I'm looking forward to an FOFC league with this game.

[KWhit]

Can't wait.

[Galaril]

Shit I hate to do this but ......... a quote from another forum that now makes this a no buy no matter how good it is, since I don't have a XBOX360 I am only looking at the PC version.

" But I won't buy the PC version because it is going to use Starforce and the developer has made comments that only thieves don't like Starforce. They refuse to change their position and began deleting Starforce posts on their official forums. With that kind of attitude I am not even sure if I will get the 360 version."

[Izulde]

I love that they include both turn-based and real-time.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

There are two modes: Real Time is like Chaos League. Turn Based is by the rules. Including the 4:00 turn clock, etcetera. Just like playing FUMBBL. Failed actions lead to turnovers, etcetera

Is turn based only available with the new game? I'm trying to get a league going with some friends, and I don't think we'll all be able to be on at the same time often enough to play against each other in real time. Can you play turn-based on FUMBBL?

I played my first game last night, getting beat up 3-1. The game took two hours to play -- does it usually take that long, or did it take longer because neither of us knew what we were doing?

[Warhammer]

If you know what you are doing and are paying attention, you can get a game knocked out in 1 - 1.5 hrs.

[SirFozzie]

You can't play via email, You both have to be connected to each other. And Turn-Based means like the original Blood Bowl Game, not that you complete a turn and email the result to the other player.

[Passacaglia]

Is it a problem to stay connected for long periods of time? It seemed like the game notified you when your 4-minute time limit expired, but didn't really do anything. Can you stay connected for a couple days or so with no action being taken, and still be okay? Also, the java client kept saving the game -- does that mean if one or both players disconnect, the game is still there waiting to be finished?

[SirFozzie]

Correct. There is a "save file" generated at the end of each turn that you can load if there's a disconnect.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Shit I hate to do this but ......... a quote from another forum that now makes this a no buy no matter how good it is, since I don't have a XBOX360 I am only looking at the PC version.

Some good news: What they use on BB hasn't been decided, and they're taking customer opinions into account. So we can hope.

[Ragone]

Bleh, i'm in the same boat as galaril.. Starforce=no. And while they say they haven't decided what they will use.. its almost assured its starforce.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Ragone

Bleh, i'm in the same boat as galaril.. Starforce=no. And while they say they haven't decided what they will use.. its almost assured its starforce.

Due to the backlash they received, I know they disabled it in Chaos League and Rugby Manager...at least I don't have it installed, I refused to install it and it still works.

[Passacaglia]

Okay, I've read most of the rules now -- still finishing up. I'm thinking of creating a new team -- the humans I played with before were pretty boring. Looking at the different player types each race has, I'm thinking of starting a new Wood Elf team. Anyone have any suggestions, either a better race to play, or ideas for the Wood Elves?

Oh, I also had a specific question -- both Humans and Wood Elves have a player with the Throw Teammate skill, but it looks like you need to have someone on your team with the Right Stuff skill to be thrown? If so, what's the point of those guys having the Throw Teammate skill, if there's no one to throw?

[KWhit]

I might make a new team on FUMMBL too just to get back in the swing of things. Would you (or anyone else) be up for a game one night?

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Okay, I've read most of the rules now -- still finishing up. I'm thinking of creating a new team -- the humans I played with before were pretty boring. Looking at the different player types each race has, I'm thinking of starting a new Wood Elf team. Anyone have any suggestions, either a better race to play, or ideas for the Wood Elves?

Oh, I also had a specific question -- both Humans and Wood Elves have a player with the Throw Teammate skill, but it looks like you need to have someone on your team with the Right Stuff skill to be thrown? If so, what's the point of those guys having the Throw Teammate skill, if there's no one to throw?

Gotta go wih Chaos of some description .... no flower arranging happening in my camp

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by KWhit

I might make a new team on FUMMBL too just to get back in the swing of things. Would you (or anyone else) be up for a game one night?

I'm definitely up for a game. I might create a separate team to play with FOFC people, and one to play in this other league, since playing more games would probably make my team more powerful. I think I read something about how there's ways to balance teams in league play, but I haven't read how they do that yet.

[SirFozzie]

Definite interested in getting the FOFC League back together.

And Ogres and Treemen have the requisite skills because the players in question can play for a team that has the right stuff (Ogres with Goblins or Snotlings, Treemen with Halflings).

And in good conscience, I can't recommend any team with AV7 to a newer coach. The reason being as follows: You will have a LOT of turnover. It just takes a slightly above average roll to break armor (and if you face a player with Mighty Blow, an average roll will break your armor).

[Warhammer]

As an avowed Woodie coach, the best early strategy is to go with an all Line-elf squad with one Wardancer to start. The key is to score as much as you can with your line-elves early. If you can get blodge on a few of them before you flesh your team out, you are gold.

Depending upon your league, I would suggest thinking about a treeman early. He keeps more bashy teams from focusing too much on your line-elves, plus he is much more durable than the other players on your team.

The last thing you need is a WE catcher, once you get one of them, they tend to suck all your points for TDs and catches. Wardancers are great and will always get their share of points, but they are numero uno on everyone's hit list.

The great thing about Wood Elves is that if they stay healthy, they can beat any team (the one that will give you the most trouble is the Dwarves). I've come back and won games where I had a whopping 5 elves still playing at game end. But this also illustrates the biggest problem with the team, keeping them healthy.

[Warhammer]

If you want to take a step in the WE direction without going too far, you might want to play High Elves or Dark Elves. They are faster than most other teams, but are not as fragile as Woodies. But, I have found that HE or DE are just as hard to play as WE teams, or even more so.

The big thing to remember with Elves, is that WE are the ultimate elves. They maximize their strengths, but also their weaknesses as well.

[SirFozzie]

I created a FOFC group. Create teams, and I will send invites:

Create a team in the (L) League Division, and let me know the team name (and your coach name). I will send you an invite.

Question: Do we want our first FUMBBL tournament to be a single knockout tournament, a round Robin league (scheduled), an open round robin league (play whoever you want whenever you want, but you can only play each team once), or a Swiss Tournament (scheduled, but you will be matched up against the teams with the same record as you)

[KWhit]

I'd say either open round robin or Swiss type league.

[SirFozzie]

I'm cool with that, probably open Round Robin to provide a fun area to play, and then a knockout tournament at the end amongst the "best teams"

For the fun league, I think each coach should have up to three teams

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Definite interested in getting the FOFC League back together.

And Ogres and Treemen have the requisite skills because the players in question can play for a team that has the right stuff (Ogres with Goblins or Snotlings, Treemen with Halflings).

And in good conscience, I can't recommend any team with AV7 to a newer coach. The reason being as follows: You will have a LOT of turnover. It just takes a slightly above average roll to break armor (and if you face a player with Mighty Blow, an average roll will break your armor).

Thanks for this recommendation, for for the tips from Warhammer. I don't think I got to the part of the rules that deal with armour yet -- I'm using this document, http://www.bloodbowlonline.com/LivingRulebook5.pdf, which seems more about the board game than the computer version -- is that sufficient, or is there somewhere else I should be looking? Anyway, I just thought Wood Elves would be good because they have players with high agility, and high strength -- although since you can only have one treeman, it's not like I'll have a ton of strength. This is probably some short-sighted thinking, though.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

I created a FOFC group. Create teams, and I will send invites:

Create a team in the (L) League Division, and let me know the team name (and your coach name). I will send you an invite.

Question: Do we want our first FUMBBL tournament to be a single knockout tournament, a round Robin league (scheduled), an open round robin league (play whoever you want whenever you want, but you can only play each team once), or a Swiss Tournament (scheduled, but you will be matched up against the teams with the same record as you)

Round Robin or Swiss and I am going to make a team, but understand when I am on the road, I won't have a lot of time for play and if I do, it's a horrible connection at night.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Thanks for this recommendation, for for the tips from Warhammer. I don't think I got to the part of the rules that deal with armour yet -- I'm using this document, http://www.bloodbowlonline.com/LivingRulebook5.pdf, which seems more about the board game than the computer version -- is that sufficient, or is there somewhere else I should be looking? Anyway, I just thought Wood Elves would be good because they have players with high agility, and high strength -- although since you can only have one treeman, it's not like I'll have a ton of strength. This is probably some short-sighted thinking, though.

These are the exact decisions that you need to make. I think Wood Elves are great, and everytime I have fielded a team in a league, it has always been Woodies. However, you need to be ready for frustration due to the high turnover of players. That is the primary reason why you need to focus on line-elves first. Line-elves are better than many other teams players. They are the best line-men in the game, once they have leveled.

The key though is to get them blodge. With block and dodge, there is only one die result that will force them down (unless the other player has tackle, which is why Dwarves give Woodies so much trouble). If you have a bunch of line-elves with different skills, your team becomes much more resilient to injury. What I used to do was to play with 10 line-elves and one wardancer to start. I would focus on the line-elves scoring. Completions, catches, whatever, just get them that first SPP, so if they got a MVP, they were going to get a skill. If I had one that scored a TD, I would try to get him a second one, to get that first skill. Getting the WD a skill would be nice, but they always are a threat to score, or cause an injury, so they always got their SPPs.

Also, if you ever roll doubles on a skill roll for Wood Elves, get the guy guard. That is gold for a Wood Elf linemen. Although he will become a huge target.

Also, as you level up your line-elves, give half dodge and half block. On offense, you want your blockers on the LoS, on defense put the dodgers up there.

[MacroGuru]

Shieldmaidens of Hel....Female Norse Team ----macroguru is the coach name.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

These are the exact decisions that you need to make. I think Wood Elves are great, and everytime I have fielded a team in a league, it has always been Woodies. However, you need to be ready for frustration due to the high turnover of players. That is the primary reason why you need to focus on line-elves first. Line-elves are better than many other teams players. They are the best line-men in the game, once they have leveled.

The key though is to get them blodge. With block and dodge, there is only one die result that will force them down (unless the other player has tackle, which is why Dwarves give Woodies so much trouble). If you have a bunch of line-elves with different skills, your team becomes much more resilient to injury. What I used to do was to play with 10 line-elves and one wardancer to start. I would focus on the line-elves scoring. Completions, catches, whatever, just get them that first SPP, so if they got a MVP, they were going to get a skill. If I had one that scored a TD, I would try to get him a second one, to get that first skill. Getting the WD a skill would be nice, but they always are a threat to score, or cause an injury, so they always got their SPPs.

Also, if you ever roll doubles on a skill roll for Wood Elves, get the guy guard. That is gold for a Wood Elf linemen. Although he will become a huge target.

Also, as you level up your line-elves, give half dodge and half block. On offense, you want your blockers on the LoS, on defense put the dodgers up there.

A lot of that is way over my head, but I'm still only on page 24 or so of the rules.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Thanks for this recommendation, for for the tips from Warhammer. I don't think I got to the part of the rules that deal with armour yet -- I'm using this document, http://www.bloodbowlonline.com/LivingRulebook5.pdf, which seems more about the board game than the computer version -- is that sufficient, or is there somewhere else I should be looking? Anyway, I just thought Wood Elves would be good because they have players with high agility, and high strength -- although since you can only have one treeman, it's not like I'll have a ton of strength. This is probably some short-sighted thinking, though.

There's some slight changes between version 5 and version 4 with how different skills work. But FUMBBL uses version 4, while the upcoming computer game will use LRB5. Basically, in FUMBBL and the turn based version of Cyanide, it's a true to the board game feel, as how the game goes.

How armor works, as a very basic reference (this is LRB4, which FUMBBL uses).

When a player is knocked over (for example, by a block or by a failed dodge/go for it) you roll two dice and compare them to the player's armor value. If you beat the armor value of the opponent on 2d6, the player is injured (so, for a Wood Elf with AV7, you need to roll a 8+ on 2d6 to injure them).

If you break the opponent's armor value, you roll 2d6 again:

2-7: Stunned: Basically means your player will not be able to do anything next turn, as he "rolls over". On the 2nd turn after being knocked down he will be able to get up.

8-9: Knocked Out: The player is removed from the field, and placed in the Knocked Out section of the pitch. They'll have a chance to come back in the game (4+ roll on 1d6), after each TD or end of half.

10-12 Casualty. The player is removed from the game. Roll one more d6

1-3: Badly Hurt: Player will miss the rest of this game, but will be ready for the next game.
4-5: Seriously Injured: At a mininum, player will miss the rest of this game and next game, and may pick up a niggling injury or stat loss (you roll on another table)
6: DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!: Needless to say, the player's Blood Bowl career has come to a messy end. (well, he might be able to continue playing for an undead team!)

That's why the Apocathery is so important. He can heal any injury once per game (on a roll of 2+ on 1d6). It adds strategy to the game. Do you heal the player who picks up a Serious Injury early in the game, and risk not having the apocathery for the star player who might be killed later?)

So you can see how Wood Elves will have a lot of turnover?

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Shieldmaidens of Hel....Female Norse Team ----macroguru is the coach name.

Invite sent, Macro

[Passacaglia]

I added MacroGuru and SirFozzie to my buddy list -- I am there as Passacaglia

[Passacaglia]

Okay, my human team is getting kicked around like mad -- I've lost all three of my games so far by 2 TDs. It seems like the other races are stronger and faster than me, and all I have to counter that is that I can pass better, but even that is pretty hard. Any other tips?

[Katon]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

I'm cool with that, probably open Round Robin to provide a fun area to play, and then a knockout tournament at the end amongst the "best teams"

For the fun league, I think each coach should have up to three teams

So basically the same setup as last time?

More Blood bowl is always welcome, in any case. Coach name is Katon, team is the Ephlings (High Elves).