Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball Screenshots Available

[Gary Gorski]

Last week we released another newsletter that contained the first screen shots of DDS:PB (for those of you that don't know it's the follow up to Total Pro Basketball 2005 under my new company name). The newsletter also has a great article by Bill Harris and some other stuff so take a look.

http://www.wolverinestudios.com/newsletter.html

If you're just interested in the screens themselves or being able to see a full sized shot in your browser window go to

http://www.wolverinestudios.com/ddspb-screens.html

Please post or send me your feedback - we're anxious to hear what people think of the look. Also we will be releasing new info, screens etc about the game each week from now until release so be sure to pop up and see what we're up to.

[Capital]

I am anxietly awaiting the news regarding the draft. I personally like Bill's idea of presenting a range when it comes to the draft. It's a good mix of actuals with potentials. Although, I somewhat disagree with his assessment of free agency. Unless you are the Knicks, a team generally knows what they are buying when they sign a free agent (or at least they should). A team also has a pretty good idea, from scouting a playing against that player, that a more accurate representation should be available.

That being said, I love the draft applet in 2005 version and I am interested in seeing what is next.

[Gary Gorski]

I have spent more time with the draft than any other feature so far in terms of its presentation - the only reason we didn't do a screen of that is because a screenshot wouldn't do it justice - we'll be releasing something special for the draft in the coming weeks though ;)

[Ajaxab]

I just finished reading Bill's piece in the newsletter and absolutely agree with his point about the importance of having the game world feed information to the user rather than forcing the user to go and retrieve this information. IMO, this is one of the many things that makes the FM series so compelling. The news items presented to users after each press of the 'continue' button go a long way in immersing them in the gameworld with minimal effort on the user end. In this respect, the FOF world is somewhat sterile. The more 'world-filling' and relevant information that can be provided the user with as little user effort as possible, the better as far as I'm concerned.

[DaddyTorgo]

*cough*

any better idea of some kind of release "window" even Gary?

[Gary Gorski]

We're still looking 4th Q DT and its going to be the 2nd half of the 4th Q probably.

[Joe Canadian]

Not a huge fan of the glossy interface (or the name :P)... but you always deliver great products Gary! Can't wait for this one...

[jbmagic]

Big fan of TPB 2005. Very Solid game.

Hope the manual for the Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball is a lot better and explains more things than TPB 2005 did.

[dervack]

We're still looking 4th Q DT and its going to be the 2nd half of the 4th Q probably.
So mid november to late December?

[dervack]

*cough*

any better idea of some kind of release "window" even Gary?
I guess it's still better than late 2006, huh?

[jbmagic]

I guess it's still better than late 2006, huh?

http://www.wolverinestudios.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4462&postcount=2

[stevew]

As long as the RTEs are removed from the feature set, I'll probably get it eventually.

[dervack]

http://www.wolverinestudios.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4462&postcount=2
I was referring to Jim's release date for a football game, jb. I have no idea what you're trying to say though.

[jbmagic]

Gary


Will this game have play by play logs? This is important especially for multi player online leagues.

Also good to see if their running the plays you setup in the game.

[Gary Gorski]

Not a huge fan of the glossy interface (or the name :P)... but you always deliver great products Gary! Can't wait for this one...

Really? We usually get a great deal of compliments on the looks of the game. Is there anything in particular that bothers you about it?

[Gary Gorski]

As long as the RTEs are removed from the feature set, I'll probably get it eventually.

Well I don't know if you tried out Total Pro Golf but that was extremely stable out of the gate so I expect this to be the same way

[Gary Gorski]

Gary


Will this game have play by play logs? This is important especially for multi player online leagues.

Also good to see if their running the plays you setup in the game.


There will be a method of reviewing simmed games

[amdaily]

Really? We usually get a great deal of compliments on the looks of the game. Is there anything in particular that bothers you about it?

Yes, it looks great, but it dosen't always have the best functionality (to many clicks, horrible sorting, etc). Won't stop me from buying it though.

IMO FOF has an ideal interface, but I know that can turn off alot of my customers.

[Capital]

Gary,

A note about statistics. The previous pro basketball game only sorted the top 10 career and team statistics in each category. Will this game expand on that to include many more?

Also, another question about career statistics. Let's say I play a winning franchise like the Atlanta Hawks ;) and wish to view individual career statistics, will the game only show stats accumulated for that player while he was on the Hawks franchise. As I progress many years down the road, it's nice to be able to see the most games played, pts, assts, etc as a Hawk.

FOF almanac accomplished this and it was the most viewed stat page for me.

[Brian Swartz]

amdaily,

Perhaps you'd be kind enough to mention what specifically you mean by the 'horrible sorting and extra clicks' that you see in the screens, at the very least we can keep in mind whatever suggestions you have in the future? Thanks in advance.

[Tim Tellean]

jb what did the manual not explain about the gameplay?

[John Galt]

amdaily,

Perhaps you'd be kind enough to mention what specifically you mean by the 'horrible sorting and extra clicks' that you see in the screens, at the very least we can keep in mind whatever suggestions you have in the future? Thanks in advance.

I think some easy examples are:

1) During free agency, there are no stickies to the sorts or even the view for a given day. I have to go and find the same players over and over and over and over again through selecting different stat views or position selections. The problem is compounded by the lack of feedback on which players rejected offers.

2) The pre-draft screens (which may have been completely revamped) were kind of annoying. Having the general scouting page separate from the team scouting page was pretty unnecessary. All of the team scouting information could have appeared on the top of one screen when you highlight the player. Another annoying aspect is that during the draft, it doesn't highlight which of the players are still available on the scouting pages.

3) The "rumors" and "injuries" type screens are all poorly spaced and designed. You have to scroll down a LOT to view each team. This problem is worsened by the fact that the teams are sorted by division and not the alphabet generally.

I'm sure there are other issues, but those are the ones that pop into mind for me.

[stevew]

I think some easy examples are:

1) During free agency, there are no stickies to the sorts or even the view for a given day. I have to go and find the same players over and over and over and over again through selecting different stat views or position selections. The problem is compounded by the lack of feedback on which players rejected offers.

2) The pre-draft screens (which may have been completely revamped) were kind of annoying. Having the general scouting page separate from the team scouting page was pretty unnecessary. All of the team scouting information could have appeared on the top of one screen when you highlight the player. Another annoying aspect is that during the draft, it doesn't highlight which of the players are still available on the scouting pages.

3) The "rumors" and "injuries" type screens are all poorly spaced and designed. You have to scroll down a LOT to view each team. This problem is worsened by the fact that the teams are sorted by division and not the alphabet generally.

I'm sure there are other issues, but those are the ones that pop into mind for me.

""

[Gary Gorski]

I think some easy examples are:

1) During free agency, there are no stickies to the sorts or even the view for a given day. I have to go and find the same players over and over and over and over again through selecting different stat views or position selections. The problem is compounded by the lack of feedback on which players rejected offers.

What I did this time was set up a check box filter for each rating or stat (as well as position) so that you can see exactly what ratings you want to see for each player. For example if you only want to see SGs and their scoring and steal ratings you can turn off display of every other category you don't care about and when you sim the day it will not reset your view.

2) The pre-draft screens (which may have been completely revamped) were kind of annoying. Having the general scouting page separate from the team scouting page was pretty unnecessary. All of the team scouting information could have appeared on the top of one screen when you highlight the player. Another annoying aspect is that during the draft, it doesn't highlight which of the players are still available on the scouting pages.

Yeah I was not happy with how this was working out so the draft information is going to not only be more detailed but laid out in a more useful manner

3) The "rumors" and "injuries" type screens are all poorly spaced and designed. You have to scroll down a LOT to view each team. This problem is worsened by the fact that the teams are sorted by division and not the alphabet generally.


The "news" section is getting a complete overhaul and this will definitely be addressed. Thanks for your feedback

[Gary Gorski]

Gary,

A note about statistics. The previous pro basketball game only sorted the top 10 career and team statistics in each category. Will this game expand on that to include many more?

Also, another question about career statistics. Let's say I play a winning franchise like the Atlanta Hawks ;) and wish to view individual career statistics, will the game only show stats accumulated for that player while he was on the Hawks franchise. As I progress many years down the road, it's nice to be able to see the most games played, pts, assts, etc as a Hawk.

FOF almanac accomplished this and it was the most viewed stat page for me.

Right now I'm sticking to the top 10 for that particular listing but it will track their efforts strictly as a member of one team as opposed to scoring thousands of points for one team and then joining the Hawks to become their all-time leading scorer. I'm also working on being able to display a full history of every player that played for the team and their stats for individual seasons. The reason this would be separate is because it will take time, especially on slower computers, to read in all that data as it will be stored outside of the game's league file - but yes, I'm expanding the historical data side of the game to provide as much info as I possibly can.

[jbmagic]

On Stats for TPb 2005, You can view stats per team only.

I hope you also add "all teams" too.

This we can view all players stats at one time and have players that plays for you bolded or color from the rest of the players.

Keep every stat categories sortable too.

[Brian Swartz]

League leaders shows stats for all players in the league, whether they are on a team or not.

[jbmagic]

jb what did the manual not explain about the gameplay?

A lot of the player ratings categories and was not explain at all in the manual.

Salary cap, negotiation, rookie extensions, bird years, etc was not explain in the manual.

[jbmagic]

League leaders shows stats for all players in the league, whether they are on a team or not.

But not the roster page screen.

That screen has many more stats that it showed. But you can pull it up for one team at a time. Would like to see "all teams" too.

[Alan T]

The problem with really nice/pretty games is they are alot harder to play at work without getting caught than games like the old EHM or FoF or even the old baseball mogul. :)

[John Galt]

What I did this time was set up a check box filter for each rating or stat (as well as position) so that you can see exactly what ratings you want to see for each player. For example if you only want to see SGs and their scoring and steal ratings you can turn off display of every other category you don't care about and when you sim the day it will not reset your view.



Yeah I was not happy with how this was working out so the draft information is going to not only be more detailed but laid out in a more useful manner



The "news" section is getting a complete overhaul and this will definitely be addressed. Thanks for your feedback

Sounds good. One other random thing I thought of was that in lots of places, the "exit" or "close" option is located in a different place on the screen. Although I eventually got to used to where they were located, it may help if the "close" was in the same place on a consistent basis.

[Gary Gorski]

Sounds good. One other random thing I thought of was that in lots of places, the "exit" or "close" option is located in a different place on the screen. Although I eventually got to used to where they were located, it may help if the "close" was in the same place on a consistent basis.

I've tried to help alleviate this issue by making sure that the navigational bar is almost always visible so you can always leave the screen that way or that a screen automatically disappears when you are done with it

[Tim Tellean]

We have posted more screenies. Roster views and Opening Screen.
Come see how the sub-matrix and depth chart have been moved to make roster management easier.

[jbmagic]

But not the roster page screen.

That screen has many more stats that it showed. But you can pull it up for one team at a time. Would like to see "all teams" too.

This is the screen shot of that page I was talking about. I hope you will have " all teams" to view stats too and not just one team at a time like in TPB 2005

http://www.wolverinestudios.com/images/ddspb/screens/depthchart.jpg

[Gary Gorski]

Well there is the league leaders page that shows stats one stat at a time for players or teams. You will have the option to view all the players or the top 50 like in TCB so if you want to see all the players and how they rank in PPG or something at once you will be able to get a complete list.

[jbmagic]

Well there is the league leaders page that shows stats one stat at a time for players or teams. You will have the option to view all the players or the top 50 like in TCB so if you want to see all the players and how they rank in PPG or something at once you will be able to get a complete list.

cool

Will we be able to see the same kind of stats like stats 1,stats 2,stats 3 thats is on that roster page for league leader page too?