Developer Chat

Chat for post release questions/suggestions for the new user interface of 3.1

Hello everyone and welcome to a new Dev chat. We are talking about the user interface and discussing ideas and feedback from playing in the new system. Also, there has been some thoughts on the Playbooks edit that I thought I run by you guys as a possible update. As for this dev chat, I'm going to answer any questions that come in, but given that it's the day after the holiday and I did a poor job of advertising this, I might end this early and have another chat later this week sometime. ( Moderator - 4:02 PM)

Let me start by introducing an idea here. When I released the 3.1 there was some concerns with the restrictions of playbooks and the use of situational decisions. Meaning, 3rd and short is a way different play call then 3rd and long. When designing the playbooks, it was considered but was eliminated to keep the level of complications way down. As it turns out, I think there is a way to keep it simple, but add more control to the situations. I think instead of having 3 options for each down, we could have one option per situation(long, med, short) per down. This would use the same slider structure, but instead of controlling options, you could control the situations and only have one option. This would allow more control over the situations. I'll begin a thread on this category to see what everyone thinks. ( Moderator - 4:09 PM)

Ok, now to the questions: ( Moderator - 4:10 PM)

A few things I HATE. 1) Recruits who write like a 2nd grader. 2) Cocky or asking about honeys/party scene. Rather not have to waste $ on guys like this. Maybe background info in profile espec if AC has off field concerns? 3) Recruit says he's not ready to sign after signing with somebody. 4) I'm the only one after a SIM/ undecided. Would like to see more accept sooner (not just lowest rated either). Newer coaches need more chance to keep a LITTLE $ & not spend all budget EVERY year. (eman_on - Pro - 4:10 PM)

I've been creating a list of things to update as we get into updates on recruiting. Right now this stuff is not scheduled to happen in the near term. 1. As per your take, we should definitely upgrade the content of the written recruiting letters. 2. I'll have to do some research to determine if the party scene emails to see if they would relate to the off the field concerns, but if they do, this would be a great thing to add to a recruiting profile. 3. This is a faulty line that probably gets triggered on the wrong check. I'll add this to the list of fixes for recruiting. 4. This would definitely be a helpful addition for new players.

The changes just happened for my teams in the last couple days. I think PREVIOUS GAME & NEXT GAME boxes are too big. I'd rather see them the size they were & WORLD OVERVIEW back on the left. Between PREVIOUS & NEXT GAME I'd like to see the comparison for the next game, without having to open a new box. I'd also like to see the current GAME PLAN in use (including a break down of formations). I think the more info on the first page we can have, the better. (4102emanon - Rookie - 4:10 PM)

These are great ideas. It would be very helpful to have that information on the front page. The hard part here is that this page is meant for directing the user instead of creating the game planning page again directly on this page. This page is certainly open to new layouts, and a few have been floated around already. I'll float your ideas on what information is valuable the next time we discuss the front page. Thanks for the ideas.

When clicking on a player to view them. A whole new tab comes up instead of the window that we have always had. Would you please consider switching back to the window. It would make thing a whole lot simpler than a new tab. (fermor332002 - Hall of Famer - 4:10 PM)

Certainly. We have been experimenting with new methodologies in technology, and new windows are not used much any more. For some of our pages though, such as player view, the new page is way more useful and comfortable than a new tab. I'll add that change on the next update. Thanks for the update.

Can you pleas put the chat back into the conferences? Also to talk to an other conference, just go to that conference instead of getting out of each conference and going to chat. Kinda messed chatting up. (fermor332002 - Hall of Famer - 4:12 PM)

I'll investigate this a little further to see if there is a way to have this on both pages. I like having the separate chat page, but I might be able to have it for both pages.

May be some time in the future you guys might consider changing the player practice. A way to customize practice for each player. An example would be if I have 2 or more TEs and I would like to train 1 TE for receiving and the other 2 for blocking. This would be great for the NB formation. Or OL. I could train some for run blocking and some for pass blocking. I know that we have OL1 and OL2 but that is for game set up and is not training. (fermor332002 - Hall of Famer - 4:14 PM)

I love this idea. I think custom personalization for each player would make this game even better. This idea is reminiscent of many of the first sports games that allowed you to increase players abilities by investing in them (in this case time). I have a list of tickets to work on that I think will really improve this game, and I'll be moving this close to the top.

Besides a break down of formations in each playbook, could you please break it down further to show percentages for run & pass out of each formation. This would be very helpful when looking at the playbook break down. I know we can set specifics for each formation and each position but there are no stats to show tendency for both these combined. . I also think it would be great to see the actual break down of carries and targets for each player, not just general perecentages. (4102emanon - Rookie - 4:18 PM)

These would be interesting stats to have at your fingertips as you are gameplanning. There is a fine line here on this how much of this data is good to show. I think having this information would make for some pretty intriguing game planning though, on both sides. I can play around with this a little and see how much of this I can show without giving everything away.

I'll be here for a while if anyone has any questions, but also feel free to ask any questions on the upcoming chat as well. ( Moderator - 4:28 PM)

You still have games started in the player settings. Is this a meaningless statistic? (moreron - Hall of Famer - 5:01 PM)

Game started is still relevant to any players that are currently on your roster that have been promised starts. So it is still relevant for the time being.

Is there any sort of plan for implementing injuries back into the game? Or missed XPs? I feel like the engine still needs to be the focus until we have it where it needs to be. (caesari - Hall of Famer - 5:07 PM)

Yes, fatigue has just been introduced and injuries will be soon to follow. I wanted to give everyone a chance to understand how there players would be fatigued before I went and injured any of them.

Explain fatigue, in simple terms please (stalagna - Hall of Famer - 5:09 PM)

Still focusing on the UI in these chats, but just a quick answer. As a player plays they get fatigued, as he rests he recovers. Fatigue will effect the overall attributes of a player. If a player is at 84% his attributes will be at 84%.

Due to the D3 overhaul, I am dropping 3 of my 4 teams. I don't understand how this is going to help new players, but what is the plan to actually get new players? Are you planning on increased advertizing? Anything along those lines? (caesari - Hall of Famer - 5:18 PM)

We will be looking to push advertising over the next few months and into the college football season.

The last game played used to be on the home page. Now I see an "Invite Your Friends" ad. What gives? (pantagruel - Hall of Famer - 5:21 PM)

During the season the invite your friends ad is replaced with previously played games.

Could you confirm if injuries and fatigue are now a part of 3.1 update, and if so how will fatigue impact a player's attributes? Also for 1A schools, will 5th year Seniors continue to remain at school or will they possibly leave early? (pantagruel - Hall of Famer - 5:22 PM)

There is no change in this update with players leaving early. Fatigue is in 3.1 and injuries will be slowly introduced back into the game to avoid any shocking injuries based on previous game plans that were created.

Thanks for all of the questions and if anyone has anymore there is another dev chat on thursday, feel free to ask now and I'll answer them then.