Developer Chat

Want to know what's coming down the road in the world of Hoops Dynasty? Now's your chance to find out. Have suggestions you'd like to see added? Now's the time to let us know about it! !

If you have questions about something other than game strategy, we'll be doing a series of chats to discuss different areas of HD. Please check the schedule.

When will we actually see players having troubles off the court? (cyrisnyte - Hall of Famer - 7:01 PM)

It's in testing now. Depending on how that goes, it could be as soon as within the next month.

What will be the biggest new feature (UtahCubs - Hall of Famer - 7:01 PM)

Each coach will probably have a different take on this. I think dilemmas will be the biggest as it will change recruiting by having coaches focus more on a kid's character than they currently do.

What type of conditions would get a D-I coach fired? ... would it be something that builds over multiple seasons (failures in recruiting, overall record, conference play, post season, etc) or can it be something in one season like a sudden drop in reputation or a WCAA investigation? (infinitebob - Hall of Famer - 7:01 PM)

It's a combination of the two - coaches can get fired for simply not winning. Each school has different levels of expectations of what they can live with, e.g. 14-13 may be great at American, but would cause your job status to change if you were at Duke. You could also get fired if you bring if something "major" happens (e.g. covering up a murder).

Could you please give an example of a dilemma and the options a coach will have to deal with that dilemma? (utahjazz88 - Hall of Famer - 7:03 PM)

Sure, your starting PG was late for practice. How do you want to handle it? _ Do nothing, _ Yell at him in front of the team, _ Make him run laps, _ Talk to him in private about responsibility, _ suspend 1 game, _ suspend 2 games, _ kick off the team.

Will we have more input in letters from recruits as to what type of people they are? Are their grades any indictaion of how they will behave? Will PT effect their off-court behavior? (lavidalarson - Hall of Famer - 7:06 PM)

Will we have more input in letters from recruits as to what type of people they are? Yes - recruiting will provide much more insight to their character than it does today. Are their grades any indictaion of how they will behave? No - some good people are dumb (Forrest Gump) and some smart people are bad (Lex Luther). Will PT effect their off-court behavior? You certainly could see egotistical upperclassmen complaining about lack of playing time - so yes.

There has been significant debate about getting more detailed filters on the recruit screens-similar to how thesimleague searches are currently. Personally, Im against it. What are your plans, if any to modify the search process? (dmurphy104 - Hall of Famer - 7:08 PM)

Currently there are no plans to improve recruiting search - that's not to say it won't happen, it's just not a high priority at this time.

When will next update/switch be made. anything more specific than mid-May? (odjman - Hall of Famer - 7:09 PM)

Currently no - we're trying to find the least invasive date. It's looking more like end of May now. We're also working on a way that you can 'scrimmage' or play exhibition games when we make the switch so can test new settings before they count.

how are the new player rating's cap going to work? (kelby_03 - Hall of Famer - 7:11 PM)

It won't be in the next release, but probably the release after that. Players will have potential that you'll be getting clues on from the recruiting process and as the season progresses from your asst. coach. You may see something like "this kid would be a really great free throw shooter if he just followed through after the shot" or "he's not in good shape and looking at his parents, I think we can run him to death and he's never going to be Carl Lewis"

When coaching dilemas are added will they only apply to players added/recruited after the addition or will ALL players be effected? (lavidalarson - Hall of Famer - 7:12 PM)

It will be phased in so you're not going to see a kid that you recruitied 3 seasons ago be charged with rape. We'll start with the easy ones - late for practice, threw a punch in practice, etc.

has it gotten harder to get promoted from DII to DI recently? (kcsundevil - Hall of Famer - 7:14 PM)

Yes and no - the requirements have not changed but since there are coaches in DI already, the number of jobs you qualify for is decreasing.

Can you elaborate more on the non conference scheduling, where humans will control some of it? (ka49s - All-Star - 7:16 PM)

It's not finalized yet, but it will either be a model where you can 'request' a difficulty level or one that you can schedule certain slots (like exhibition game scheduling). Any open dates will be assigned for you.

College Basketball is very dependant on its assistant coaches for recruiting. Is there any plans on being able to pick or hire your assistant coaches? (rawdawg05 - Hall of Famer - 7:17 PM)

Yes, that's on the drawing board as well. You'll be able to hire your assistant coach and they'll have different characteristics (great recruiter, great teacher, etc.) - they'll also be able to be hired away by opposing coaches.

Are there any changes planned for booster gifts? (rawdawg05 - Hall of Famer - 7:17 PM)

No, not at this time.

How will you personally use the new 3pt settings? Obviously you can't say what you'd do in every example, but give us a baseline. (jakurus - Hall of Famer - 7:21 PM)

I think it will be similar to how I use it today. If I'm facing a zone I'll set my perimeter players to a +1 or +2 with my SFs set to a 0 and my PFs and Cs to a -2. If I'm facing man, I'll check the defenses of the perimeter players looking for weaknesses - if I find some, I'll increase my offense and 3s for that player. If I'm facing a press, I'll normally lower my 3s and hope that I'll be getting layups as I break the press.

When the new defenses hit, say the press into zone, will a practice option for that particular defense be available, or will a coach have to practice each component separately? (dogget - Hall of Famer - 7:27 PM)

One of the other changes related to your question is that players will improve their knowledge of a particular offense/defense much quicker than they do today so you'll see your freshman quickly become proficient in an offense or defense - it may take them 3 more seasons to then go from a C to an A+, but they'll pick it up much quicker. Given that, teams will be able to EFFECTIVELY switch defenses (e.g. play a zone if we're losing to take away their inside game, otherwise play man). Each component will be practiced separately.

When you make a decision about how to discipline (or not) a player, how will you know of the effect on the player and your team? (skeeziks - Hall of Famer - 7:30 PM)

If, for example, you yell at a player in front of the team for being late for practice - that may be the end of it and he'll be less likely to be late in the future. If he reacts poorly to be yelled at you may login in the next day and see "Timmy is now considering the team. How do you want to handle it?" or "Timmy went Latrell on you and began choking you. He was pulled off by some teammates. How do you want to handle it?"

Is there going to be any chance that schools will be given more money to recruit so coaches can feel out more prospects than we can at the current time? (raiderzman33 - Hall of Famer - 7:31 PM)

No, currently there are no plans to increase recruiting budgets.

A player who was upset over promises made to him as a freshman quit the team between his Soph and Junior year. Why weren't we told in advance about this significant change? Does this mean that any player is liable to just up and leave without warning? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:35 PM)

This is not a change - this has always been possible since the beginning. Each player is different and can respond differently to being 'lied' to. Some will quit at the end of their freshman year. Some won't quit at all. Some won't quit until later. If you make a promise about starting and then start him his freshman year, you do NOT have to start him his sophomore year. If you make a promise about starting him and don't - he could quit any time. Some players will let you know how they feel - some will keep it bottled up and just quit.

Will knowledge of one defense help my players learn another? For example, a player who has mastered the 2-3 zone should have at least a fair understanding of the 3-2 zone. Or are they totally separate? (gary32 - All-Star - 7:35 PM)

Practicing zone will remain the same - you'll be able to play 2-3 or 3-2 interchangeably.

What kinds of impending changes haven't we asked about yet? (fobermeyer - Hall of Famer - 7:39 PM)

We have so many changes/enhancements in the works I'd need at least an hour to cover them all and some kind of chat feature to cover them all.

Seriously - another major one will be scouting services. You'll be able to hire a scouting service that will let you know where you stand with a recruit relative to the other schools he's considering. Of course the accuracy of the information they give you will depend on which scouting service you hire.

Will there ever be transfers in HD? Will I ever be able to sign a player who had previously quit another school? (gary32 - All-Star - 7:40 PM)

Yes, kids will be able to transfer and you'll be able to recruit them. In fact, some transfers will contact you since you're close to their hometown and ask to play there - e.g. disgruntled DI player going to play at a DII school in his hometown.

With DII and DIII filling up in the earlier worlds, is there any chance that the firing of a DII (or both DII and DIII) coach may become possible in the future? (kbjone - Hall of Famer - 7:41 PM)

Currently no - but it could be possible that down the road you are fired from a DII school and have to go back down to DIII. More likely, we'll open another world.

Can you expound on SAT scores and explain the difference between a qualifier and a non-qualifier? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:44 PM)

Yes, when recruiting you'll see whether the recruit has passed the minimum SAT requirements or not. If yes, you're fine - recruit as normal. If no, you can still sign him, but he may or may not be able to pass the SAT. If he does not pass, he'll either play JUCO ball or stay on the team and lose a year of eligibility and practice time. One more thing to consider when recruiting :)

Based upon decisions that you make, will coaches develope a "coaching demeanor"? (For example, laid back, disciplinarion, players coach, x's and o's, administration stooge). Could your demeanor effect the recruiting of players? (preule - Hall of Famer - 7:45 PM)

Yes - you'll build a reputation. Nothing wrong with being tough as long as your consistent with all of your players and vice versa.

Will the conferneces in DI realign in the future to match real life? (preule - Hall of Famer - 7:46 PM)

No, we're planning keeping 12 teams per conference for equity.

Will you have access to a history of all of the problems your players have had and the action(s) you took? (skeeziks - Hall of Famer - 7:47 PM)

Yes.

How will we be able to view next season's recruits this season? Will there be some way that we can highlight or track specific players without using pencil and paper? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:47 PM)

They'll be added to your recruiting center. You won't be able to contact them, but you'll get reports from your assistant coach.

Will D1 schools have a preference for a coach of a certain "coaching demeanor?" (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:48 PM)

No, currently schools don't look at a coach's demeanor when making hiring decisions.

How do you win a first round tournament game? Signed lost in Bakersfield? (andone - All-Star - 7:49 PM)

Very funny. Considering my last 3 tournament trips have been flops, you're asking the wrong person. Watch out for Bakersfield this year though!

Do unsigned players ratings grow over the off-season as they go to JUCO. (aircartman - Veteran - 7:50 PM)

Yes, that happens now.

With all of these additions to Hoops Dynasty will the price raise at all or will it stay the way it is now? (jwbball60444 - Pro - 7:53 PM)

No changes are planned.

This is regarding the health meter. Since you will be implementing this, will the number of injuries increase in general? (utahjazz88 - Hall of Famer - 7:53 PM)

There may be a slight increase - but not much. You'll now be able to decide when to return a player to action, even if he's less than 100%.

what's the point of introducing rape and murder into the game, and how often will they occur? (kcsundevil - Hall of Famer - 7:55 PM)

Because it happens in real life and just like real life, it will be very infrequent but it will make you think about how you want to handle it. If it was my star SG and we're heading into the conference tournament with a 58 RPI - do I try to cover it up?

Why aren't player positions listed next to their names in the Box Score? I'm not asking about the positions they actually played in the game, but the ones listed on the player ratings page. I constantly have to flip back and forth between the pages so I can see whether the other teams guards dropped 40 points on me, or their bigmen. (i_r_teh_best - Hall of Famer - 7:56 PM)

Submit a ticket and I'm sure it will get some attention.

any chance of adding more exhibition games? (pirateswin2 - Hall of Famer - 7:57 PM)

No plans for adding any more exhibition games.

In emails you have mentioned more tournaments. What do you have planned as far as this is concerned? (cyoung187 - Hall of Famer - 7:57 PM)

Preseason NIT type of tournaments, Maui Classic, etc.

Will player's mood be added to the game with the all of these decisions that we are making? Angry, sad, happy? (preule - Hall of Famer - 7:58 PM)

Currently no, but that may be added after we roll out dilemmas.

Will the added tournaments be D1 only? (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:59 PM)

Yes.

Did you sleep with tracyr? (kelby_03 - Hall of Famer - 7:59 PM)

Not in over a week.

Will preseason games in far away places help your recuriting in this areas? (barecats - Hall of Famer - 8:00 PM)

No.

how can you have a maui classic when chaminade hosts it against DI schools??? (kcsundevil - Hall of Famer - 8:01 PM)

It won't be the Maui classic, it will be something similar. Just like the Great Alaska Shootout won't be that exact tournament, but something similar.

What type of coaching awards will be given? (kdforester - Hall of Famer - 8:02 PM)

Coach of the year in each conference, coach of the year nationally and Rising Star for the best first year coach at that level.

Will a low-major school ever be able to build up enough success for recruits to start looking at them as mid-major? (fobermeyer - Hall of Famer - 8:04 PM)

Yes - a very successful coach who stays at a very successful program will be able to raise the status of the program.

Will there be "specialty stats" (i.e. points in the paint, points off turnovers, 2nd chance points, fast break etc...) like we see on a lot of statcrew-generated NCAA box scores? (ajaxkh - Hall of Famer - 8:05 PM)

Yes, additional in-game statistics will be added.

For those of us trying to get hired by major colleges within DI... Is it better to have success at a lower tier DI school or mid-major school or does it not matter? (kdforester - Hall of Famer - 8:07 PM)

It matters - success at a mid-major program (e.g. 25-5) is not the same as 25-5 in a low-level program, but you'll take a loyalty hit if you try to jump every season or every other season.

How will gambling work? Can you only pull from your recruiting budget? Can you build your recruiting budget? (preule - Hall of Famer - 8:08 PM)

It will basically be a separate 'game' for coaches in that world. You won't be able to use your winnings to add to your recruiting budget, but you will be able to earn reward points.

If we were unable to get to your question, we apologize. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us and thanks for supporting WhatIfSports!