Developer Chat

GD v2.0 has been rolled out and this is the place to discuss the changes, ask questions, and have your suggestions for future changes heard.

Is there something in the works to view the roster so that we can copy and paste the ratings into a spreadsheet like we did in GD v1.0? (hands24 - All-Star - 1:03 PM)

We are going to have a printable view for the team profiles so that you can get all the information in one spot for printing. There are no plans to change the office roster listing.

Player conversion (i.e. DB to RB) has been a fun and rewarding part of the game thus far. Are there any changes to the logic applied to player conversion in the update? (thereids - Hall of Famer - 1:03 PM)

No -- there are no changes here.

any chance we can get some other options in scheduling besides home and away, all i ever see is soandso invites you to play at his home. can 2 ooc teams schedule to play at the same stadium 2 seasons in a row? (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:05 PM)

There are currently no plans to adjust this aspect of the game --- this will be the first season with it afterall. One problem I see with going beyond 1 season is it would make the coach have multiple seasons remaining and increase the chances of schedules being locked in for incoming coaches.

What would be the ideal amount of touched for a RB with 50 stamina? 30? (stevehoggett - Hall of Famer - 1:06 PM)

I don't know --- depends upon how the game plays out. 30 straight touches would be horrible...30 spread throughout the game could work.

Instead of the fullback being determined by depth chart order, could it be determined by distribution? Of all the RBs on the field, whoever has the lowest distribution is the fullback (and whoever has the highest distribution is the RB1), regardless of depth chart order. (statshawn - Hall of Famer - 1:07 PM)

Interesting idea. I've never really thought about that scenario....maybe worth exploring.

i think you misundestood the second part of my question. if i schedule team X this season to play at my home, when next season rolls around can i again schedule team X at my home. for example can Boston College play at USC 10 seasons in a row? (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:08 PM)

Oh...I think you can schedule the same team for a home game 2 seasons in a row.

I know athleticism is a multiplier of the other categories but how much? Does it differ by position? (lancers46 - Hall of Famer - 1:10 PM)

This is unchanged from the previous version and depends upon the position/situation.

In GD 2.0, Do you factor in SOS as a tie breaker if two teams are tied for the lead in the conference? (bentschnride - Hall of Famer - 1:11 PM)

The final tiebeakeer is WIS ranking, which includes a strength of schedule component.

1. Conference Record
2. Overall Record
3. Head to head result
4. WIS ranking

In the previous version, players did not seem to rest during half-time, does the update address this issue - can we expect players to come out of halftime with some recovery from the first half? (thereids - Hall of Famer - 1:12 PM)

Yes, the update addresses this issue and players get much more rest during halftime.

Did you change th Minimum FG settings so that teams can no longer set the yardage at 17 and go for it on 4th down? (stevehoggett - Hall of Famer - 1:12 PM)

Wether or not a team goes for the first down on 4th down is determined by the style of play --- please see my post on this subject in this morning's chat.

if we cant schedule teams 2 seasons in a row in a home/away scenario any chance we can get a random 1 season home/away option? (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:13 PM)

I won't rule it out, but I'd like to give the system currently in place some time first.

from the last chat i got the impression that ol will fatigue at a slower rate than other positions...is that an accurate assumption? (A Dawg - Hall of Famer - 1:14 PM)

I wouldn't necessarily say slower...differently from how the skill positions fatigue.

If 2 teams go 7-1 in conference, and one team used a cupcake non confrence to go 12-1 and a team made a challenging schedule an goes 11-2, Who would win win the division? (bentschnride - Hall of Famer - 1:15 PM)

See the tiebeaker list above.

any chance we can get the effectiveness rating back to where we dont have to do it in intervals of 5%, that seems to generic and i would like to space out my lineman a little but not all by 5%. (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:18 PM)

With the complete reworking of fatigue, your players will fatigue more in line with their stamina ratings -- 2 players used identically (hard to do) and set at the same effective setting will not fall below that setting at the same time unless they have identical stamina ratings. Additionally, the difference between 84% and 85% is essentially nothing and the 5% increments gives you control over the relative level where you want a player to sub out...the same kind of control a real coach would have. I don't think a coach standing on the sidelines can tell the difference between a player who is 84% rested and one who is 85% rested (assuming you put aside the inability to quantify fatigue with a number).

Did you tweek the stamina factor so a QB will actually be able to play a whole game now without killing your game. Always seems to me that an O-lineman's fatigue factor is different than a QB. They can't play 4 qtrs without a break, but you don't see QB's needing a blow in real games. (npse99 - Hall of Famer - 1:19 PM)

The entire fatigue/rest aspect of the game is new.

in the past a team had a close to balanced home/away schedule, now someone can schedule 5 OOC home games, any drawbacks to that? (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:20 PM)

I don't think so, but we'll see how things play out. Remember, winning on the road helps your ranking more than winning at home...so there is a trade off.

It is my understanding that there is a visual tool in the new version that indicates a player's current status on each play. Is that status relative to the effectiveness setting on the advanced depth chart? (thereids - Hall of Famer - 1:22 PM)

There is within the play by play. The progression of colors shows you how your player is progressing from fresh to fatigued. They are NOT relative to your settings, but general game settings (defaults).

90% + == Green
80% - 90% == Green/Yellow
70% - 80% == Yellow
60% - 70% == Yellow/Red
60% - == Red

any chance we can get something in the PBP that shows which players are playing out of position? even a link for the players would be nice. i dont know about others but i know my qbs/rbs/wrs but i dont have the lineman and defensive players memorized, especially for the young players. (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:24 PM)

I don't know if there is an easy way to indicate this....it needs to be looked further, so I can't say right now.

If we could go back to tiebreakers for a sec, is there any chance of moving head-to-head up the list? I'm not sure that making OOC games 'matter' is as much of a problem with the new schedule. (mjsmjs - Hall of Famer - 1:26 PM)

Having the overall record second maintains the importance of the out of conference schedule and I'm not sure we want to lose it.

Is there a maximum amount of home or away games you can have in a season? (bentschnride - Hall of Famer - 1:28 PM)

I guess you could theoretically schedule 5 home non-conference games and then get 2 home games against the other division in your conference and 3 home games against the same division of the conference...so 10. Wow...a lot.

Let's talk injuries. Was anything adjusted here or are injuries based in the same theory as in GD v1? (bkrasner - All-Star - 1:30 PM)

No adjustments here directly to injuries, but injuries do have a fatigue component and an out of position component, which were both affected by the reworking of the fatigue/substitutions.

Another question about the tiebreakers...if SOS is a factor in the WIS rankings (4th tiebreaker), and overall is the 2nd tiebreaker, why are those two inconsistent? A tougher SOS is good in the 4th tiebreaker but bad for the 2nd tiebreaker. (swooft01 - Hall of Famer - 1:31 PM)

I don't see how that makes the 2nd tiebreaker bad --- this just looks at record...a win is good, a loss is bad.

any other ideas on the table that you are considering for possible future changes? if yes any hints you can give us? (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:33 PM)

We always have ideas...practice squad....senior bowl...NFL draft...team records...scouting service... We even have more things that are coming in the near future to fill the lovely black/grey column on the right side of every page.

I'm somewhat disappointed that the roster size did not increase to something more than 50. However, I'm wondering if the new fatigue system helps address that issue by (potentially) needing fewer players to participate in a game with a more accurate level of fatigue? (bkrasner - All-Star - 1:33 PM)

We think it will.

On the "color coded" fatigue. Is there a way for those who may be color blind to be able to know the players fatigue state? (leftovers - Hall of Famer - 1:34 PM)

I saw a comment to this effect someplace yesterday, don't remember where or by whom, and so I'm going to look into adding a tooltip/mouseover to the icons that will simply state the color.

to add to mjsmjs. one negative with a OOC as the 2nd tie breaker is it rewards the coach who schedules a creampuff schedule and penalizes the coach who schedules hard teams. (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:36 PM)

I don't see it as hurting a team --- if both teams win 4 or 5 games, the team with the higher SOS will be ranked higher in the polls. A team with a more difficult OOC schedule can more afford a loss in the conference without hurting his post-season chances.

In the forum post announcing version 2.0 and some of it's new features, there is mention of new hiring logic that makes it easier to get to DI. As a current DIAA coach who has yet to coach at DI, is there some sort of baseline of success I should be aiming for to move to a non-BCS DI school? Also, has there been any change to firing logic to balance this possible new influx of DI coaches? (pttsbrghkid - Hall of Famer - 1:39 PM)

It is hard to answer a question like this because all coaches have their success measured relative to all other coaches in the world --- the best way to see where you stand is compare yourself to other coaches. There has not been a change to the firing logic, but I don't think it is needed at this time. Of course, we'll monitor this and make sure things stay balanced.

in beta i noticed a game where on 1 play i had 4 Tight ends playing Offensive Line and 2 Offensive Lineman playing Tight End. that did not make sense to me, i would think the OL would play OL and the TE would play TE. can you explain that? (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:41 PM)

This is hard for me to explain without seeing settings and how the game played out. I can tell what is supposed to happen though. The sim should look first at the advanced depth chart for the set and if no players are available at a position move on to the basic depth chart for that position. If no additional players are available there, then it will move on to players not on any depth chart (bench). I highly recommend completeing filling out the basic depth chart and if you choose to use the advanced depth charts, to completely fill those as well...I would not only set the top guys.

as a virtual newbie, can you explain how fatigue effects each position? (bigtexhawk - Hall of Famer - 1:45 PM)

This is a very general question and I can only give a general answer. Fatigue effects all players on the field and with each play, a player fatigues. If a player gets tired enough, he subs out and the backup comes in. While the player is out of the game he rests and when he is fresh again, he returns to the game. Hope that helps and welcome to GD!

On the fatigue and out of position component to injuries, just to confirm, we should assume that the more fatigued a player is, the more likely they are to suffer an injury? And also they would be more likely to suffer an injury when playing out of position? (bkrasner - All-Star - 1:46 PM)

Yes, fatigued players are more likely to be injured. Yes, players that are playing out of position are more likely to be injured as well.

Follow up, Yes I see the aggressiveness settings to determine whether a team goes for it or not, but in GD 1.0. A team could set their minimum FG yardage to 17, and the team would go for it on 4th down after they passed a reasonable punt yardage. Usually it was around the 35 yard line. When I try to set my minimum FG yardage, I get an error if it is below 18. (stevehoggett - Hall of Famer - 1:47 PM)

Yes, you should -- 18 is the lowest because you would be on the 1. At 17 yards, you would be in the endzone.

Will we get the stats view back for recruits? (vendigo - Hall of Famer - 1:48 PM)

Between the first chat session and this one we evaluated the recruiting situation and have decided on some changes that we are currently working on implementing -- I think everyone will love what we are going to put out in the next couple of days.

If the tiebreaker rule was changed to make head to head the second tie breaker, then people would schedule good ooc teams to bump up their SOS and ratings. Currently, you'ld rather take care of wining your conference and therefore schedule creampuffs for ooc schedule. (npse99 - Hall of Famer - 1:49 PM)

Unless a team wants to improve their ranking for post-season seeding and bowl games. Having schedule full of pushovers is not the way to win a NC.

Jconte i also want to give you props for doing this. hoiw many hours a day di you have to work to make gd 2.0? (bentschnride - Hall of Famer - 1:51 PM)

Thanks, but there are many people involved with the project and they all worked very hard to make this happen. I think the team did a great job and we appreciate the kind words.

Love the game, even though I am horrible at it... What hints/strategies would you give to all to help them to winning records with that advent of this new update? (bigtexhawk - Hall of Famer - 1:53 PM)

Like real college football games, players win games and coaches lose them. Look at the players you have on your team and develop game plans that take advantage of their strengths and minimize their weaknesses....then recruit to your system and try to improve a couple players each season. Before long, you'll have a very competitive team.

Are starts credited the same way as v.1 -- the players in the basic depth chart for the sets in the base offense/defense get the start? (pds65 - Hall of Famer - 1:54 PM)

Yes -- main game plan base offense/defense combined with the basic depth chart. This is the only way to give coaches complete control over who their starters are for each game.

With Self Scheduling now in place. Is there any plan to add an incentive (financial) for teams to schedule a difficult OOC schedule. And when determing rankings, can you give a break down of what plays more of a roll in your strength of schedule- Your oppoenents record, or your opponents strength of schedule? (stevehoggett - Hall of Famer - 1:55 PM)

No, there are currently no plans to add financial incentive for OCC games. Your opponents' record means more than your opponents' opponents' records.

followup to steve. if the minimum you set is 18 yards, that means you will kick the field goal when at the 1 yard line. how would you set it to never kick a field goal? (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:56 PM)

A team that running a game plan with a very aggressive style will rarely kick the FG --- please see my post in the earlier chat.

Any changes to the prestige settings or the recruit views? (tkechub - Hall of Famer - 1:56 PM)

No, this aspect of the game is unchanged.

In game planning, there's a top limit of 11 yards in long distance situations. Can this be increased to at least 15? (pds65 - Hall of Famer - 1:58 PM)

I'm not sure why this is necessary...11 allows you to have different plays if you have penalty/lose yards as compared to a normal 10 to go situation.

Not trying to steamroll, but to followup on your answers: overall record as the 2nd tiebreaker for playoffs/bowl game is much different than for the Conf Championship game. Also, in DI-A a pansy schedule won't get you in the National Championship game but in the other divisions it will get you in the Conf Championship game, which, if you win, gets you in the playoffs and a shot at the National Championship. (swooft01 - Hall of Famer - 2:00 PM)

Yes, but in the examples brought up, the team left out of the CC game will likely have a high enough ranking to make the playoffs as well and with a better seed. Also, if the other team wins the CC game, then aren't they showing that they deserve the opportunity? ...and a loss here likely eliminates them from the playoffs.

Follow up to plague..When you say a team running a VERY AGGRESSIVE game plan..do you mean on the General game plan settings, or do you mean on the situational settings IE- 4th and short? (stevehoggett - Hall of Famer - 2:02 PM)

Base Offense style for the game plan that is active when the game situation is encountered.

Thanks for all the questions, comments, and feedback. We appreciate them all and hope you enjoy the new version of GD! Good luck to everyone this season. ( Moderator - 2:03 PM)

As always, thanks for taking the time to post your questions, comments and suggestions!