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Creating a High School Football Game: Revisited Stuck

Posted on October 10, 2010 at 01:46 PM.

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A few years ago, I wrote a blog outlining my ideas for a high school football title. Now we've seen advances such as Teambuilder, a deep team creator in Backbreaker, I felt it was time to go back and revisit this idea. Also, update some of the original ideas. I know I'd buy this title, but what about you guys? Read on if you're curious about this idea:

Creating a High School Football Game: Revisited

High School football brings passion. In the state of Texas it is almost a religion of its own. The question is why haven't we seen a high school football title of its own?

Sure, there are several reasons they can come up with as to why they couldn't do it. Reason like, how could we get license to all those schools? What states do we choose? It just isn't practical, it wouldn�t sell, etc.

Those would be some of the reason you'd expect to hear from the game makers of the world. But there are several ways it could work and would make it a top seller.

First off, some might say a regional release so Texas High School football gets its due and those in other states get their fix as well. This idea wouldn't work too well because you still face the problem getting all the schools in every state.

I have better idea. You release High School Football USA and make one of the first things you do is select your state. If you live in Mississippi, Georgia, Florida or even the before mentioned Texas, you'll know you're schools most likely.

After you've selected your state you can choose how many classes your state has in high school football. It would go from 1a to 6a. You then get to choose from randomly generated teams by the computer or given the option to create your schools. This way you ensure your high school isn't left out and at the same time allows you to enjoy creating the teams.

The creation shouldn't be a simple generic logo like we've seen in past NCAA football title's create-a-school feature. It would need to be deep and allow you to be able to create even the logo. I�m thinking Teambuilder for High School teams. Go look at current Teambuilder teams and you�ll see a good number of the teams are high school teams. If you go back to my original blog post, I original said something about being able to upload logos and Teambuilder gives us this. Lets use it to build a High School football game, please! Doing this too also means some of us who enjoy building teams can have the teams built before the title releases and people can download them and start right away.

Using Teambuilder as a base, one thing they need to fix right away is not being able to see logos unless you�re hooked up online. This is something that has always bothered me. For this game that would need to be fixed. For people that don�t have Xbox Live, but borrowed a friend�s internet just to get the teams, they shouldn�t be forced to use generic logos. Also, some type of more defined logo creator, much like the one on Backbreaker, would be a welcome edition for those without internet.

Next up EA locker or something like it, depending on who the developer is of this title needs to be there. That way if someone is crazy about high school football in your state does all the editing and gets the entire player names in there, you can download them from there if you're too lazy. Of course with a web app like Teambuilder, you have this, but of course if they go in-game custom teams, we�d need something like this to share our teams.

OK, we've gotten the teams out of the way so what next? Well, we'd need some sort of mode to keep people playing. No superstar or campus legend mode. We want something that focuses on the team. The best idea is a dynasty mode that features the ups and downs of a high school football coach.

First off you aren't going be recruiting your talent. In high school you are supposed to be playing with the hand you�re dealt. I know some schools don't play by these rules, but in my game you are. Sure you might get lucky and have some stud for another team move to your town in the off-season, but you won't be recruiting him. It�s just dumb luck or a direct result of your success. I'll explain that last part later.

First off, you'll have to deal with your local newspaper. Every town in High School Football USA is going to have a different personality to its team. I say let the user choose what type of town it is, from crazed to tame or middle. If you are in a crazed town, you're always one loss or two away from being run out of town. You're local paper will be the leading voice for or against you. You can think of the movie and TV show Friday Night Lights for an example.

In a crazed town, even if you're in a year where the talent isn't there, they still expect greatness from you, maybe at least a division title. In a tame town you'll be given a lot of rope because they really don't care. Middle is where they care about the football, but will be more understanding of a down year, but you better come through in those years you're suppose to.

Your success as a coach can change a town's reaction to the team. If you start off with a tame town and win a couple of championships, you might make that tame town become a crazed town because they want that success every year.

Also, as a coach if you're successful, you might be offered jobs by other schools. If you're in tame town and win it all, expect someone from a crazed town or a middle town to come calling. You might also see some talent players move to your town because their parents want to see you coach them to greatness. But with all this comes more pressure.

Also, if you are fired from a crazed town, you might have to start over with a tame town. Tame town are usually low on talent so you will have to really work hard with what you have to try and climb back up that ladder. Of course, if you were a successful coach who hired by a tame town, that could make expectations rise and turn the town up from tame. Of course, the talent is still the team, but your rep makes them expect more from you.

Also as coach you've got to deal with injuries and other issues. If a kid's grades are suffering you might have to figure out ways to keep him playing. You could make it where you fudge the numbers and risk getting in trouble or you could simply make sure he has all the help he needs to pass. Fudging the number could result in you getting caught and the team being suspended from post season play or it could result in your players� attitudes getting worse. Bad player attitudes result in more off the field issues.

With off the field issues you will also have to manage team character. Team character will define the type of coach you are. Your star player is a true stud, but can't stay out of trouble. You'll have to decide to sit him, cut him or just put up with it so you can win football games. No matter what you decide, the local paper will have an opinion on it.

Also, you have the local booster club breathing down your neck too. They bring money into your program so you better be listening, but sometimes they might ask you to do something you don't feel is right. Do it and you might get a jumbotron. Don't and you might have a tough time getting even basic stadium up-keep approved.

This all can lead to what type of team character you have. If you give in to the boosters, star players, your rep may come as someone that will cheat to win. Of course if you don�t and still win, you�ll be reward with something else. It helps define who you are and what you can become as a coach.

As far as play-by-play of the games, this is where the developers can have some fun. Have yourself two guys who always seem to fight to call the action and put in some fake ads they must mention and you could have just a fun commentary. It needs to sound like just two locals, not professional though or it doesn't work. They should step on what the other one is saying at times like they color guy kind of thinks he should be doing the play-by-play. It could be a fun part of the game that makes the gamer laugh.

The action on the field should feature smaller playbooks than in most football games. And it should be allow you to make plays and practice them too. Also I'd like to see trick plays and gimmick formations as well.

The key to a game like this is to keep the realism and not try and make it an arcade type title like Blitz if you want it to sell. The game on the field needs to be real football. If it isn't those crazed high school fans won't be back for the next edition we are in an age of real football sims. Just look at Madden and NCAA each year. If they feel more like an arcade game, the public revolts. That is why this needs to be a true sim title.

HOW TO MAKE THIS TITLE WORK

One of the one many things you hear people say is, "it wouldn't sell." Well, it most likely would if they did things right on the first try. Being a first year title, it would need to get a lot of things right straight out of the gate.

First off there are two ways to go about it. One would be the more unrealistic regional release. That one wouldn't work, cause while I'm sure those in Texas would line up for it, other states aren't as crazed about High School football. Plus, you�d have to have a large team to go out and research every state, every high school, so it wouldn�t work. So that option I would call extremely unlikely.

But the one that would work would be the edit feature. Sure not everyone would want to take the time to edit every team, but several will. We�ve already seen this with EA�s Teambuilder. It has changed the game and has given me hope this type of game could actually be made.

We have also seen the very deep custom feature on Backbreaker. This could work method could work in the high school title, but only if we had an EA Locker or 2k Share to let other gamers who don�t want to create their state�s schools, find them. Without it, this game wouldn�t have the same appeal so a share feature is a must.

First off, if EA were to do this, they've got a deal with the NCAA, so make sure you're OKed to use all NCAA logos in the game. Why? Cause a lot of high schools use college logos. Make sure they are there. If not EA, make sure whoever it is tries to get several of these logos. I could save us some upload times. Also, make sure we can change existing NCAA logo colors.

We'd also need to be able to choose what state we're going to use. Since high school football is all about that state, make it so. Also, stadium sounds will be a must so we can find the right fight songs, but have some generic and famous college ones already in there.

Also, we'd need to make sure we're able to edit everything from the name of the school on the front of the jersey, to nothing but numbers or a just a school logo on the shoulder.

Next, we must be allowed to edit everything from player's names to ratings. It should feel like our game. We create everything from uniforms, stadiums, to players. Let this be our game. Also allow us to create up to six different classes if we want.

Stadiumbuilder could make a debut with a title like this. Stadiumbuilder could be a web app like Teambuilder. Of course the biggest difference is you�re building stadiums. This would give them away to give us the deepest stadium builder we�ve ever seen and not loading down the disk with stadium building stuff. Also, it would give us the best chance at getting our stadiums close. I would love to see this for the NCAA series anyway. I�m sure at some point I�ll post a blog explaining more on this for a later date.

I do like the idea too of having an all USA top 100 too and maybe adding a fictional USA tournament. This would be just something to bring in a few more of the casual gamers. I would make it an optional part of dynasty mode, but you can only get in by winning your state championship and must be invited. Not a feature I'd really want, but could bring in casual gamers.

For High School Football USA to work, you'd need a top developer. 2k needs something to revive their football hopes and with EA having a stranglehold on the NFL and NCAA, this could be the gimmick that gets them back in the game.

Of course, I'd want Midway and the blitz engine as far away from this game as possible. This game wouldn't need to feel like a gimmicky game since it would be mainly geared to true football fans. So I say no to Midway. Sorry, Blitz fan, but High School Football Blitz edition isn't what I want or what most are looking for.

EA of course could keep its football dominance and make this title as well. If they did, like I said earlier, make sure you get those NCAA logos in the game, but there are more important issues. If EA makes this game, allow us to import our players into the NCAA game. That way our high school legends can be recruited along side those other states. Might help sell to the game to those hardcore football fans that must have NCAA if they are to own Madden for draft classes.

Also, the dynasty mode would have to bring something new to the table. That's why I like the idea of the focus on the head coach. As I said before, let us choose how the fan base is in our town.

I just feel the focus on being a high school coach and facing off a local media that loves you one week and thinks you're the dumbest person in the world the next week would bring a challenge. Also, we'd need to be forced to make touch decisions like if we should bench our star player due to trouble off the field and face the wrath of boosters or play him anyway and face loosing control of his team.

And the last thing this game would need to work is a great marketing push. It couldn't just be a game that they put in articles and only talk about in magazines. It can�t just show up in stores and expect to sell. It would need to be on TV spots. Learn from the mistakes of MVP NCAA Baseball and make sure everyone knows it is out there. That could help make this game work.

MVP NCAA Baseball could have been a hit, but they treated it like fringe title and because of that it sold like one. High School Football USA would need to avoid this trap. Treating a sports game like a fringe title ensures it will fail.

Even if we only got it made one year, I'd be happy. I really believe in this idea. Just wish someone would grab that ball and run with it. Or go deep, whichever football metaphor you want to add.

If they could put this in a high school football game I think a lot of us would flock to buy it. I'm not a huge fan of high school football, but I know I'd give this game a try if it was out there.

So to the EAs, 2ks and anyone else who might be listening, here's you another football answer. I just hope someone is listening and maybe we'll see a real High School Football USA.

Comments

# 1 NoDakHusker @ Oct 10

Very well thought out, I'd love to see the game you're describing! I would definitely play that game.

# 2 thescoop @ Oct 10

Thanks. I've only been working on this idea for a few years now. As they come up with more ways to make it possible, I add to my idea.

# 3 Eski33 @ Oct 10

Like the ambition but there is no way this will come about. You can do this in NCAA by creating high school teams. Basically, if a high school game were created the only thing people would be buying is a game with real high schools. I highly doubt EA or 2K would spend the money to develop a high school game with real stadiums, uniforms, etc. That would take way too long to obtain the information and even longer to develop.

Like the idea but no matter how you try and sell it, it will never be bought.

# 4 BigplayDA10 @ Oct 10

Wow, I thought I was the only one that had the idea of a high school football game. A few years ago I tried to think how it would be done. I like your ideas for it. Some of the things I though of were that for teams, I know it would be difficult, but if they can get either the top 50 or so schools in the nation or even top 5-10 schools from each state and then the have the create a team feature like you said it would be cool. Also, I think they could put in spring practices and summer conditioning/practice. Then you add some passing/7-on-7 tournaments for your team to go to during the off season, as well as some camps you could send your star player(s) to to help them get better and noticed. I think they would also need to get the army and under armour all american games in there for the end of the season. Those are just some things I've thought would be good.

# 5 Cryolemon @ Oct 10

Very well put together post. I think that unless you could have every school in the country (not likely, at least not on this gen of consoles) then the idea of a customizable state would be the best. I personally would suggest a customization model based on Out Of The Park Baseball (I know, I always do, but there's a reason for that, it's brilliant lol).

# 6 khaliib @ Oct 10

I even threw out a Semi-Pro football game to get around paying for to use some entities (NFL, NCAA) name. In the end, football forums all come back to gamer's like/dislike of gameplay vs the games need to be carried by NFL or NCAA. If gameplay is locked down to mimmick that level (Pro, college, semi-pro, high school), the game would sell.

The good thing about a high school or semi-pro football game, is that there are "NO" limitations put on the dev's. Just do total cusomization and the gamer's would do the rest.

# 7 GamerzIgnite @ Oct 10

Sounds cool but controlling players with high-school level skills just doesnt sound fun to me. Well thought out concept, though.

# 8 JMU_Devil_Dawg @ Oct 10

I like the idea. I think in order to be successful it would require a wide variety of customization so that users are able to create the same structures that mirror the HS football landscape in their state as far as divisions, districts and playoff qualification.

I'd also look into USA Football and the Junior National teams that they put together for international competition as an ultimate goal for players and coaches. (Not a priority, but just a thought.)

# 9 thescoop @ Oct 11

I'm pretty pumped with the feedback, even those that say no way it can happen. I say it can because with new ways to custom our games, gamers would take care of making the game be what we want it to be.

I would like to hear more about the out of the park editor that was mentioned above.

# 10 BIG17EASY @ Oct 11

EA can't get NCAA and Madden to satisfy consumers. Why would anyone want to create a game that would appeal to a tiny niche market like this? If NCAA baseball tanked a few years ago, a high school football game is going nowhere fast.

# 11 WGmatthias76 @ Oct 11

I think this game is an awesome idea. It would be fun and i like how it would focus on coaching more. I hope 2k picks it up. Would there be teams from missouri on it?

# 12 thescoop @ Oct 11

First off, to WG: It would have whatever teams you created on it. Whatever classes you made. My idea, real teams would only be made buy us or they would be using fictional teams for people not interested in creating or downloading created teams.

Clutch: We'd edit the players too and ratings. Everything else would be random. I can't think any dev would spend the money to research every high school team. That is why deep customization would be key here.

And last to Big Easy: Devs make games for niche markets all the time. If you don't like the idea than say that. And NCAA Baseball wasn't exactly a failure. It just didn't meet the expections that were based on MLB MVP game. Maybe EA won't be the one to do, but any dev could take the ball and run with it. I just used them as an example and pointed out something they could do that would help it sell to the NCAA and Madden crowds.

# 13 alyaaa @ Oct 11

# 14 Cryolemon @ Oct 11

This is the manual page for the OOTP league creation screen: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/docu...ctional_wizard

# 15 nflnutt @ Oct 12

I spoke to Jeff Thomas Two years ago, Tim Brown (oakland raiders) and I came up with a great Idea for a High School football game and 2k had already looked into this as a possibility to replace its nfl 2k franchise but Jeff Thomas in so many words told me it was too much of a headache to produce it, Tim and I currently live in texas and we both know how high school football is revered around these parts, but I dont think 2k caught the vision, Im planning to approach EA with the same Idea soon. Good thing I have an NFL legend co signing my Idea.

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