Originally Posted by Mike D
I'm not one to throw a lot of pro-Jim stuff out there, usually because I've got my constructive criticism glasses on, but I'm not a fan of seeing Jim focus on the negatives of this thread.
So with that being said, the idea of FOF being a one-man show (essentially) is inspiring in this day and age. So I think we could all use a little bit of expectation management. Not to say the criticism aren't warranted, but most of us, I suspect (myself included), simply have no idea how long it takes to become this proficient at programing and then realize the dream into an actual product.
Once we put it into perspective, Jim has conquered some pretty serious programming ground with regard to pro football (and college football). He's still THE ONLY programmer to deliver a career management simulation of football that somewhat realistically mimics real real football. At least the player develop curves and most stats are pretty spot on. And the GP'ing stuff and logic was getting better with each version...
There is no art team, there is no PR team (sans Ben E Lou), there is no Philharmonic Orchestra doing the opening musical score nor NFL Films doing the opening dialogue (except on RNFL's front page that is), there aren't any PC to MAC conversion teams, there isn't a distribution team, there isn't a game engine design and test team, there isn't a UI design and test team, there isn't boom operator, or an exclusive catering service. It's just.....Jim.
And for Jim to take a life-pause, go through so much real-life drama and then re-appear ready to get back on this beast of a program he's built, is inspiring, to say the least.
I think most of the discussions here are fair, but I wanted to make sure that after all that, we should still say...Jim, your efforts are very much appreciated. Quite simply, your game rocks.
Now, you mentioned that doing annual updates seems like something you don't want to do, but I would be okay with that. I spend my money on all kinds of stupid bullshit, if I could come away with an low-expectations/updated version of FOF each year for my troubles, I'd be better off right now. Even if the updates just fix game engines issues you find, adds rosters, and whatever else comes along that you dream up that you think YOUR game needs...it would be just fine by me.
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