Developer Chat

Welcome to the Dev Chat about the latest update in Gridiron Dynasty. 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.

Hello everyone, welcome to my second ever Dev Chat. Thanks for all of the questions, I'll do my best to get to your question, but given the response so far I'm not going to be able to get to all the questions. Anyway, here we go. ( Moderator - 2:00 PM)

Hi. On 3.0 do I still set my RBs, DL, and LBs. For example, how do I make my better blocker the FB and my faster DL players on the ends? (coneheads - Hall of Famer - 2:01 PM)

The new engine has an advanced setting that will allow you to do this, you can change this at the bottom of the Coaching 101 page in the coaching tab. It creates multiple depth charts for each position. Once you have set your depth chart for your particular position (RB2 could be a FB) you can specify which depth chart to use in your formations.

What is the code word for a free team trial as advertised in Hoop Dynasty? (epersonrh - Hall of Famer - 2:03 PM)

There is no code word for the free trial. Your account was given the needed credits for gridiron dynasty to start a season. You should be able to see those in the lockerroom. You'll have a credits section under your account.

I notice that when I set a defensive player to 'line' and include a blitz % that blitz % doesn't show up in the summary of the formation afterwards. Does that mean the player can't blitz if he's set to 'line' or is there another explanation? (mcbethbr - Hall of Famer - 2:04 PM)

That's correct. If a Linebacker is playing on the line then he will not be blitzing. One thing we can do to make this more obvious is have the box gray out before you can put in the % of blitzing. I'll add a ticket for that. Thanks.

Can you include a RB in the Shotgun formation? I find that it takes away from the RB run option. I don't want my QB having ten snaps in the gun or having to hand off to WR's. (kas1007 - Hall of Famer - 2:05 PM)

Currently you cannot choose a running back to line up in the QB slot in a formation.

Can code be updated to remove the advantage "elites" get in preseason press and coaches polls as the top 14 teams in the nation each year? (martini35504 - Hall of Famer - 2:07 PM)

We have not adjusted the Elites section of the site. We are looking into other aspects of the game for later smaller releases and we will investigate the relevance of elites, but as of now there is no plan to remove elites from the program. To my knowledge the polls do not use the elite status to determine their rankings. Though recruiting does, so indirectly given the rankings of the team are based on recruits they will have a higher ranking.

Have there been any changes to the level of influence formation IQ has on play outcomes? (mcbethbr - Hall of Famer - 2:08 PM)

Yes. Formation IQ has made been made more significant in the newest engine. It's why there was an IQ spike for each player around the 23rd of October. Formation IQ is now used within each of the matchups (line, pass coverage, tackling, sacking) to determine the general consistency of the unit. It's also included in the calculation for interceptions.

What will be the disadvantage that coaches face if they use basic settings? As much as I'd like to use Advanced, it isn't realistic for me to devote that much time to all of my teams. Can I still realistically compete without the advanced settings? (caesari - Hall of Famer - 2:12 PM)

The primary determination of winning is through player attributes. If you have the right players there is a good chance of winning over a team that you are better than. From the tests that I have run it is realistic to compete. If you are asking if you can win the National championship, if you are good enough you have a good chance. Also, advanced options could help you get some advantage over an equally matched team.

Is there a way to determine from the PBP whether my OL is winning or losing its battle on an individual play? By extension, if my running game underperforms is there a way to determine if the problem is my OL, RBs, playcalling, etc? (helgi - Hall of Famer - 2:12 PM)

Currently the PBP doesn't offer the level of detail to determine where the problem is in your game plan. Over the next two weeks there will be some updates to the play by play that will add a little more color to the information, and my goal is to give a little more enlightening feedback on the battles within the play.

Can I have my QB pooch punt out of the shotgun on 4th down and use the punter scholarship somewhere else? (awyborski - Hall of Famer - 2:16 PM)

There is penalty for punting if a punter is not in that position. I recently adjusted those settings because the penalty was too large for non punters. The selection for punter will check for a punter, then a kicker, then a QB. So if you were to leave a punter off of your team, it would use the kicker, but there would be a penalty and you would be sacrificing some field position.

In your last update, you modified scoring in games with large talent discrepancies. How is that going to affect games with smaller talent discrepancies? This change seems to push those games closer to coin flip status unless the change is not linear. (slid64er - Hall of Famer - 2:19 PM)

The current system is set up in slices from great disadvantage to great advantage (7 possible groups depending on attributes). The changes I made to this system only affect the top and bottom (the GREAT advantage and GREAT disadvantage) slices of this group while everything in between is calculated the same way. The results for the units that are more evenly matched have stayed the same.

Do the weights used in the default position roles accurately reflect the relative importance in gameplay for the attributes for each position? Since there are some major changes to current wisdom (i.e. str and tkl for db's now more important than gi and tec) will the FAQ section on primary and secondary attributes be updated? (mcbethbr - Hall of Famer - 2:20 PM)

The weights represent an overall representation of the position in terms of the Gridiron Dynasty and not necessarily just in game play. There are some categories that are included as a way to represent some importance placed on recruiting work ethic and stamina as well as the major roles in the category. For DB's in particular, the Str and Tkl matter slightly more than the Technique in general because of after catch tackles and defending the run. Since this number represents every possible play it is used in a more generic sense. Also, Game Instinct is currently higher then Str and Tkl for the default DB.

What does a defender playing the line do differently than one playing cover? What does a defender playing the line do during a pass play? (alliem605 - Hall of Famer - 2:20 PM)

This goes back to matchups. If you have a linebacker that is dropping into coverage then he will be adding to the coverage units, mostly for middle coverage. If he is playing the line then he will be used in the pass rush unit and his abilities will be used to get the pressure on the QB.

Penalty's. Will all of the Collage Rules and Penalty's be used now? In the 6 years that I have played the game I have not seen them all. An example would be a Face Mask Penalty. (fermor332002 - Hall of Famer - 2:22 PM)

The previous system had facemasks implemented so it would seem that the penalty selector was not functioning correctly. I have redone the penalty system and it will use most of the college penalties.

What is the methodology for changes in the game? How do you plan on testing the changes? How do you judge a change as a success of failure? (slid64er - Hall of Famer - 2:31 PM)

The methodology for the changes in this version are to create a more deterministic result more heavily based on the attributes of the players. For testing, I have set up 2 test suites that allow me to adjust team attributes as well as attributes per position. It also allows me to adjust the game plan between tests and the play calling. I have one suite that will run through numerous 15 game seasons and determine the means and standard deviations of each of the seasons. The second will similarly set up the inputs and run through a single play 1000 times. From there I can determine averages, changes and how different numbers influence the game. For testing success and failure, I relate the outcomes across the different fields to the existing stats from the last completed college football season. Sack percentage in college football in 2012 had a median of around 5 and plus/minus around 4. I determine failure if the numbers that are resulting from the games or the season appear to be grossly out of line with these statistics. One thing that I haven't done is release these numbers/charts in the forums. I'd like to create a thread since these numbers have become more stable to highlight the results of the test, and get feedback from the users.

My question is about fatigue. When calculating fatigue do all actions count evenly? For instance, a quarterback who throws the ball vs one who scrambles. Does the one who scrambles get a larger fatigue hit? If not, he should. (noah23 - Hall of Famer - 2:32 PM)

Yes, fatigue levels are based on the play. A scrambling QB will get a deduction depending on the length of the run. It is more than a small throw. Also, for QB, the deep throw will fatigue him slightly more than a short throw. Having said that, the weights of fatigue that are being used have been questioned on the forums lately in that they are not strong enough. I'll be investigating this in the coming days to determine the increased fatigue values that would give a more realistic feel.

Why are you answering questions from Site Staff? (andyjoemich - Hall of Famer - 2:36 PM)

Thanks for the question. I answered that question for two reasons. 1. Punts recently came up in the forums as having been a problem and the depth chart selection was recently fixed. 2. While we only have 2 developers in house that are currently working on GD, everyone in the office enjoys and plays GD and many are just as curious as you to find out the answers to certain game questions.

Is "Deep" considered the same distance for all receivers (RB, TE, WR)? (andyjoemich - Hall of Famer - 2:37 PM)

Deep is between 21-100 yards regardless of the position.

Is there a pass progression now? Can a receiver not blocking with a 0 distribution catch a pass? (alliem605 - Hall of Famer - 2:39 PM)

There is a pass progression, the QB will determine if he can make a throw based on the coverage unit and how many players. However, if the distribution of a receiver is set to 0 he will not be eligible to catch a pass. In this case the QB will check other options if available, and depending on his ratings he will determine if he should tuck and run or force a throw to a covered receiver. In this case, that receiver is not a target though if specified as such in the formation.

Would it be possible to add the cross conference message boards, as they have in HD? That seems to be an easy update that could help in the long run, as far as discussion and community building (which is essential to keep people interested in the game). (caesari - Hall of Famer - 2:39 PM)

I believe this would add to the excitement of the community and help keep the discussions lively. I'll look into adding this for the 3.1 upgrade, thanks for the suggestion.

What was / is the rationale behind shutting down the beta worlds when there is still substantive code changes being made to the game? Using the production worlds only seriously restricts the sample set of results done by "external" testers. (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 2:45 PM)

Sorry this is not available right now, my current focus is to fix any outstanding bugs and get the worlds rolled over. The real issue is that there was some significant code changes that had to be made to move the game to live. Because of this, the code that we used for the beta is not functional and putting changes out right now is not realistic. I appreciate all of the testers, and after the rollover of the last world I'll be working hard to create a new way to allow some users to do tests, it really is invaluable to the game. I'll be exploring creating a test game within the new version that allows you to play your own team. It might be interesting to see if I can leave one beta world open and update the code to be able to run the test games too.

In the pass progression, I notice sometimes the QB will look off a medium pass and progress to long, short etc. What determines this? (ronm605 - Hall of Famer - 2:48 PM)

Pass attempts are determined based on the QB rating and the coverage unit. A QB will determine if the pass coverage is too strong based on his rating at reading the play and will determine if he should make the attempt. If it is determined that he will not attempt the pass, the play will move to the next step, the pressure from the line will be determined, and the QB will then see if he can find another target, throw the ball away, or scramble depending on the state of the play.

In the most recent developer chat the comment was made by oriole_fan, "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." that "who to cover" comment is the one that Im asking about? Is there now man-to-man? or at least a man-to-man type component where we can specify a defensive player to factor into the calculation when the ball is thrown to a specific offensive player. (chalvorson - Hall of Famer - 2:49 PM)

Sorry for the confusion, this was a poorly written response. Really "Who to cover" was redundant. I just meant from which of the Linebackers would cover on the play.

As anyone who follows HS recruiting knows, players changing positions as they enter college is a fairly common occurrence. Many years ago, a GD coach could recruit players with great stats, and change their position so that, even with penalties to some attributes, the player remained a serviceable player at their new position. That was changed two years ago, and now there is seldom, if ever, a reason to use the "change position" functionality. Are there plans to re-visit this? (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 2:52 PM)

Recently there was a post in the forums that suggested just such a thing. I didn't know the first version didn't penalize people for changing position. I've added this to possible changes in the upcoming release. I hope to investigate more for that release.

What will my QB do if the formation sends all receivers Deep, but the playbook says to throw very short? (andyjoemich - Hall of Famer - 2:55 PM)

good question. The playbook target number will determine where to target and the decision on which player to select for location is based on the formation number. In this case, since there will be nobody running the short route, all of the players have an equal percent chance to run that route, and it will choose one of the players slotted for the deep pass. Logically this is what appears to be happening. I'll have to run this test in my test games to know for certain.

Is it possible to add to the PBP a description for why a FG was missed? ("plenty of distance but wide right" or "comes up short" etc) (helgi - Hall of Famer - 2:56 PM)

yes. This is a great suggestion. I'm hoping to add more to the play by play. Currently they are set up to use a string, I just have to find the cases that need to be updated and add the text. I'll be sure to include this in one of those strings.

Is there any time frame on fixing the issues with the "Tackler" and plays that dont have a tackle at the end, but dont go for a score? (loudawg10 - Hall of Famer - 2:58 PM)

There are a few outstanding issues with the Play by Play that I'll be fixing within the next couple of weeks. Just this morning I fixed the issue with the box score showing a phantom score because there was a penalty on the play.

Do you plan to update the players guide-specifically on core and secondary attributes? Should we assume that the values in position roles correspond to core and secondary attributes? And how much more tinkering do you expect to make to the core and secondary attributes (I read that you were looking to adjust for DB, maybe more)? (hazing - Hall of Famer - 3:02 PM)

All of the major adjustments to the positions are in a stable place right now. The DBs became more relevant in the update last week. Barring a statistic that seems way out of line, I don't plan on updating anything significant in the coming weeks with the exception of maybe making fatigue a little more relevant. As for the guides we currently have a couple of tickets to deal with over the next couple of weeks dealing with updating the knowledge base and the guides on the page.

Regarding passing: does the engine restrict the potential play outcomes for the TE and slot receiver? These positions in 2.0 seemed to have a lower yards per catch than WR1 and WR2 regardless of talent. (andyjoemich - Hall of Famer - 3:04 PM)

The position of the player no longer has an effect on yards per catch. The attributes of the particular player are used to determine the Yards after catch and the ability of the receiver to break a tackle.

What is the real functional difference between line/cover regarding defensive players? (harriswb3 - Hall of Famer - 3:05 PM)

Unit matchups. If a player is covering the line his attributes will be used in getting pressure on the QB, if the player is in cover, he will be added to the Cover unit and will contribute to the decision on pass targeting and pass reception.

Is the Basic PBP going to updated with the correct length of pass to match the Extended PBP? (stingray002 - Hall of Famer - 3:06 PM)

I was just notified of this last week. I'll be investigating and fixing this in one of the upcoming releases.

Not quit understanding the whole WR thing. Especially where to line up the WR that I want to play as the SLOT receiver. Would you explain what the Possession , WR deep, WR user 1, and WR user 2 are and what the difference is between them? (fermor332002 - Hall of Famer - 3:08 PM)

In the advanced settings you are able to set up different roles for a position. That's what these are. Once you set up the attributes that you think matter in your system, you'll be able to specify which depth chart you use in the formation.

Running backs are catching 15+ passes per game. Do you think that is an engine issue or a person's gameplan issue? (stingray002 - Hall of Famer - 3:11 PM)

Without looking at the particular game results I would surmise that this is a combination of higher pass completion percentages for shorter targets and game planning.

What are the yardages for the pass routes from Very Short to Deep? (andyjoemich - Hall of Famer - 3:12 PM)

Pass Very Short 0 - yards (Behind LOS) ; Pass Short 1-6 yards ; Medium 7-12 yards ; Long 13-20 yards ; Deep 21+ yards ;

Recognizing that all pass defenses are zone-based, how does the engine determine which receivers are in which DB's zone? Ultimately, is there a way for me to target or create a match up with individual defensive backs? (helgi - Hall of Famer - 3:14 PM)

Currently there is no way to put a DB on a specific receiver. The coverage is based on the zone and the defenders are chosen randomly if they are in the coverage zone.

Aside from the personnel on the field, does the engine recognize any inherent differences between each of the defensive sets? (In other words, is the only difference between a 4-3 and 3-4 the personnel?) (andyjoemich - Hall of Famer - 3:21 PM)

Depending on the settings the units will also change based on the formation. If you set up a 3-4 with 2 LB in coverage the players will be added to those numbers and there values will be adjusted according to the personnel. So yes, there is more to it than just the personnel.

in 2.0 there was an issue of hands not accually impacting reciever performance, particularly drops. Can you confirm that this has changed for 3.0 and give a short description of how hands is used in the decision tree on a passing play? (mcbethbr - Hall of Famer - 3:23 PM)

Hands for receivers is certainly used in the engine. The newest engine uses hands as a factor in the influence of completion percentage on the play. For instance, when a QB has a chance to throw a pass the completion percentage is based on distance, QB rating, WR rating (which is influenced by hands), DB rating, pressure, and some other various influences on that particular play. The hands of the WR will contribute to his rating and be compared to the DB. In addition, the possible result of the play, drop, will also be determined based on the WR hands/rating.

I realize this was before your time, but one of the things that was trumpeted about the 2.0 engine was the ease in introducing new formations. No new formations were ever released, however. What are the chances of, and potential time line for, seeing formations like Spread (1 RB, 4 WR, no TE) or Wildcat ? (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 3:35 PM)

I have not been part of any conversations about newer formations, but I'll add this to the docket of things to discuss for upcoming updates.

I understand your answer to my question for the WRs but specifically where do I place the WR that will be the SLOT receiver? When I set the WRs I do not know who in going to be the SLOT receiver. (fermor332002 - Hall of Famer - 3:40 PM)

The position of slot receiver no longer exists. You can control the target range that you would like to receiver to be in but there is no way to select the route.

A more general question - would you prefer coaches submit tickets for every issue or question they have, or is posting questions in the forum sufficient for "smaller" items? I know you read and respond to forum posts (highly appreciated, btw) but do tickets get a higher urgency ? (bhazlewood - Hall of Famer - 3:41 PM)

I've been moving the major issues on the forums over to tickets to be completed. If you think there is a matter that is more urgent that hasn't been addressed you are more than welcome to create a ticket for it. It will still be put on our list and prioritized by us, but it is a way to add more attention to the issue if it was missed on the forum.

If WR1 and WR2 have the same ratios of short, medium and long routes, will the QB target them in equal numbers? (helgi - Hall of Famer - 3:42 PM)

Yes and no. The goal of the plan is to set up what would happen on the ideal solution, but sometime the QB will be pressured differently and that could influence which area is targeted.

Can you add the option to make the detailed PBP a user's default view? It stinks to have to select that view for every quarter. (andyjoemich - Hall of Famer - 3:48 PM)

Thanks for the suggestion. Redhawk has been clamoring for this one too. He currently has some of the set up in there. We'll be working to make this possible.

Are safeties automatically responsible for the deep zones of a pass defense? What about LBs and underneath zones? (helgi - Hall of Famer - 3:51 PM)

Safeties have a higher priority in the long and deep zones, and the LB are more likely in the medium and short zones. The units are calculated for each step of the play, so the DBs will adjust and be more influential where the receivers are.

This is in regards to a previous answer to one of my questions where you state there are 7 possible groups. Are teams fluid within these groups or is every team in a group treated the same? Why or why not? (slid64er - Hall of Famer - 3:55 PM)

7 possible groups of advantage. This advantage is determined by unit. They are fluid in between plays because the units change per formation. The are fluid in a play because the location of the play changes. Also, these advantages can be based on the length of the play. For example, if the play goes on for an extended period of time the matchup between the OLine and the DLine will move towards a defensive line advantage.

How about a slide-show style play-by-play viewer? I hate opening the screen for a quarter and immediately seeing the first 6-7 plays. I love the suspense. (andyjoemich - Hall of Famer - 3:56 PM)

Interesting. That would be pretty cool. It's not in the plans right now, but might be a fun addition later on. Thanks.

Since there are still plenty of changes being made to game, will coaches current job status be held for the first season of version 3.0? (jhard70 - Hall of Famer - 3:58 PM)

Most of the major changes to the game are complete, so the games that are played will be pretty indicative of future performance. I will not be freezing job status. My apologies for any this might effect. My hopes are that you will be able to maintain your level of excellence in the new engine.

I keep asking around it but I will try to be direct. If my opponent has 1 very strong corner and a weak 2nd corner. Is there no way to reliably maneuver my top WR within my offensive sets in order to specifically attack the weaker corner? (helgi - Hall of Famer - 4:00 PM)

Ha, direct is the best approach. Sorry, there is no way to target the weaker of the 2 corners. In the end, the average of the two DBs will likely be the impact of the results, so you might be in good shape.

Thanks everyone for all of the questions. I feel like most of the pressing issues have been addressed but if you feel like you had a question of utmost importance and didn't get an answer please feel free to start a forum thread or submit the question for the next dev chat which I'll be scheduling next week sometime.