Developer Chat

Welcome to the Dev Chat about the latest update in the Gridiron Dynasty legacy. We are proud to introduce a new user interface and a new engine. The update details are covered in the forums. Feel free to ask any questions about the update or anything about the game in general. Thanks.

Are early declarations going to be turned back on in D1A? (mcbethbr - Hall of Famer - 2:04 PM)

There will be no early declarations. The logic that was previously used was too random and led to more confusion. Currently all players will be available for 4 years.

Just to start us out here, this latest update deals with the configuration and the running of the engine. Also the User interface has changed to accommodate those changes in the engine. We didn't change the recruiting, WIS rankings, Practice Plans (except to allow you to update the plans) or any other well known and used system. The Game Planning has been split into more reusable parts. Game Plan, Playbook and Formations. It will give you control over lots of specific types of play calling, or you can use the default playbooks and formations if you are more interested in the other aspects of the game. It will allow you play the parts of the game that you like, but also explore any ideas you might have to have more control over your team. ( Moderator - 2:08 PM)

The new season in Camp rolled over last night and recruiting begins this weekend. Will 3.0 be used when the games start this season or next? (fatherofmany - Hall of Famer - 2:17 PM)

Camp season 95 will be in version 2.0. At the end of season 95 it will rollover to the latest 3.0. You will see Position Roles in the menu, and you will get a new signup page, but the rest of the updates will not happen till the end of season 95.

One of the main focuses of the latest engine is the Game Plan. The Game plan is now made up of playbooks. Playbooks are made up of formations, and formations (and formation sets) are specify how each player is used in that particular formations. For instance, in the I-Formation you can set up the percentage chance that your running back will go out for a pass and you can specify which distance his routes will be. On defense you can specify which LB position you want to be in cover, who to cover, and how often you want that position to blitz. From there you can specify every section of a playbook using any formation that you created or the defaults. You can set up a group of plays from any number of specific playbooks that will choose a play for 3rd and long. Or you can use your power runner to try to gain the first down on any 3rd and short situations. There are default playbooks and formations, so if you are just looking to create a new game plan, you'll be able to use any of the playbooks to run certain situations. Are you winning with time running down, maybe you want to run a conservative play to keep the clock moving. We also know that if you have multiple teams chances are that you are not going to want to set up multiple playbooks or formations. The new system allows you to create a formation in any one of your teams and import it into any other world. In addition, you'll be able to import some of your existing settings from the 2.0 engine into the new 3.0 game plan layout. ( Moderator - 2:31 PM)

Are there any substantive game play difference in the engine when we are using advanced vs basic? Or is it just that advanced gives us more control over personnel ? (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 2:36 PM)

For those that don't know, the new engine also allows you to have even more advanced control over your team by giving you advanced features which utilize the roles of the player. In this case, the use of the players in the right situation is the added benefit of having the advanced mode, but there is no difference in the game engine. For example A rush inside through the tackles depends more on strength while a rush to the outside would require more athleticism and speed, so the idea of being able to use your running backs in these situations will give you a slight advantage.

I know a lot of work has gone into making player attributes the primary factor in determining the result of each play. Will there be some kind of "chart" or explanation of which attributes are used in different situations? (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 2:46 PM)

Attributes have been paramount to the latest edition of the engine. One of my main focuses in the past month has been to make them adjustable so that we can now play with the weights and uses of each of the attributes for each specific play. We are currently finalizing which attributes matter the most, and which should be used in each situations. As soon as these are finalized I'll be working with some people to determine the best way to give you insight into each position and which attributes matter. So, yes. I'm not promising these will come out in the next week or so, but I'm hoping to have these out soon enough that it will help with recruiting. In addition we are modeling our ratings on these latest attributes as well to give the ratings values more credibility.

This is very detailed and time consuming. Will there be detailed explanations on how to use all these new playbooks and formations? It sounds very complicated for the average WIS GD user who enjoys the game but doesn't want to put in hours of game planning (gmckel - Hall of Famer - 2:58 PM)

Good question. There will be multiple tutorials and help sections on each page that will guide you through the latest changes and what each mean. That doesn't mean that you'll have to put in very many hours to get started though. There were two goals on this revision. One was to allow coaches to really specify the game plan that they think will provide them the best opportunity to win. Two, and just as important, was to allow coached to be able to get in and play the game in a competitive fashion with very little start up. We have created five basic playbooks using each of the formations that will allow you to game plan to your opponent without having to get into the specifics until you are ready. If you have the best team, your chances of winning are good. Correct advanced game planning will help in the event that your team is relatively evenly matched.

In the beta we're still seeing oddities in play-by-play, issues with statistics showing up correctly (like YAC) and problems with starters being credited. I'm not doubting your programming skills or willingness to work hard to get those fixed. Do you consider those "cosmetic" issues or "engine" issues? (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 3:05 PM)

Wait, you are challenging my programming skills? how dare you. (read the YAC issue, you might have a point) PBP oddities are cosmetic. There are a few minor engine bugs on certain situations that I'll have to discover, but the majority (Tacklers not showing up, Penalties not displaying the play they are tacked on to) are cosmetic. The engine has this information, the words are looking at the wrong part. YAC was an engine issue. One of the most common mistakes in programming is a less than when you meant greater than. This is what happened with YAC. I have fixed that and that is in the engine now. Starters was also a check problem. I'll need to make sure all cases work correctly (currently it is using the half time stats to determine starters, which is a bit confusing) but for the most part starters are working again too. As far as engine issues go, I'm sure we will see a few, as we have with any other release, but besides some minor bugs, the engine has been working smoothly. I ran a batch test last night of 10000 games with only a few discrepancies. I'm investigating numbers now, and with my latest changes these are just tweaks to my input page. This is a big change over previous versions because it doesn't actually change any underlying engine code, and any changes can be undone or modified easily.

You might consider making a youtube video of someone setting up a formations and playbooks, talking through the process. That might take out some of the concern over the "complexity" of the new setup. (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 3:08 PM)

Thanks, Good timing on this. We were having a release meeting this morning and discussing this very thing. We will spend the next few days seeing what we can put together for formations and playbooks specifically. the actually information makes sense once you get to know what it stands for, but many would benefit from a video on the process.

Are there any differences in game planning and the look of the set up in 3.0 that will be different from the Beta version that was tested? (bogalicious - Hall of Famer - 3:09 PM)

The user interface is at a stable point now. We are looking to clear up some information boxes and adding help text, but for the most part the latest beta will be the same as the released version.

To what degree(percentage) can we account for formation IQ? (tigerpark135 - Hall of Famer - 3:20 PM)

Incoming freshman will have a starting formation IQ. When recruiting, this and GPA will be important. GPA influences how much Formation IQ will change in a practice session, and how much you practice a particular formation is how that will be increased. So really, you will have a pretty strong influence over formation IQ with recruiting and practice, especially as players progress through the system.

Specific to OL play - in the old engine, the OL acted as a Unit, meaning all 5 players contributed equally to the outcome of the play. Is this the case with the 3.0 engine, or do players designated as Tackles have more influence on outside runs, and G/C have more influence on inside runs ? (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 3:27 PM)

The unit system is still in place. For something like the offensive line this will mean that each player on the line will use the specific value needed for the particular play regardless of the position on the line. The roles will only inform of who is playing on the line, and not which values will be used for the specific positions.

In the Beta, players' formation IQ improve at a much faster rate than in 2.0. Is that going to happen when you go live. (stingray002 - Hall of Famer - 3:28 PM)

yes, formation IQ has been valued more in 3.0, so they improvement has been adjusted to account for the usage. It will operate like the beta.

I have noticed 2nd half throttling for the superior team as of todays update. Is this accurate? (tigerpark135 - Hall of Famer - 3:31 PM)

The 2nd half throttling is an experiment at this point. I have much more testing, and it's much more severe than it's final outcome. I'm not even sure it will be used at all at this point. More on this over the next couple of weeks.

How much influence will formation IQ have on play results? Will it affect actual yards gained/lost, or is it restricted to turnovers and / or penalties ? (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 3:35 PM)

The main point of formation IQ is to influence penalties and turnovers. It will also have some influence in the protection from the line as well as the other unit comparisons (WR vs DBs, etc.)

Would you address 2nd half adjustments in 3.0 vs. 2.0. Specifically playing against SIM's there seemed to be a noticeable adjustment in the 2nd half. Was this more of a function of normal simulation or was there a concerted effort to make SIM's more competitive? (bogalicious - Hall of Famer - 3:36 PM)

SIMs half time adjustments are more of a normal simulation. We haven't altered how they game plan.

Since this will be a new engine, will you be resetting all of the records? (stingray002 - Hall of Famer - 3:38 PM)

We will not be resetting the records.

Wish you would have given a better, more advanced heads up on the developer chat. Probably missing out on some good questions. But adding to tigerparks question-how important will formation IQ be in the sim gameplay. (hazing - Hall of Famer - 3:41 PM)

Sorry for the last minute response. I posted the developer chat time in the main release, but I should have sent out a reminder earlier today. I'll have another developer chat in two weeks to handle any more questions. I'll give an earlier update next time. "The main point of formation IQ is to influence penalties and turnovers. It will also have some influence in the protection from the line as well as the other unit comparisons (WR vs DBs, etc.)"

Its been said that "test game" will go live. Do you still plan to eliminate the ability to see your opponents current gameplan so that it doesn't boil down to whomever can make the final switch right before the game is simmed? (tigerpark135 - Hall of Famer - 3:48 PM)

Test game will not go live. I'm sorry if there is confusion on that. Test game was implemented as a way to debug quickly any new features that were released. We will be getting rid of that page.

Test game is the best feature of 3.0. Anyone will tell you that. It gives us the ability to test our own team, ratings, players, formations etc. It would be a terrible mistake to get rid of it. Is there any chance we can keep it and test against our own team only? (tigerpark135 - Hall of Famer - 3:59 PM)

I understand that, it's a great feature, and there have been talks about allowing you to keep test game against your own team. Our apologies, but unfortunately the feature will have to be modified and tested to allow users only to play themselves without the chance for errors. This is not on the docket for this release, but it will be something that will be investigated for future updates.

Thanks everyone for your time. I hope this chat has been beneficial, and I'll be hosting another one in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned on the forums for updates on the date, and good luck in the new version.