Player Development in TCY

[AZSpeechCoach]

I'm playing as Arizona State in TCY. I have an academic intensive team, with high study time. I use 20% for practice. I'm following the guidelines as outlined in other threads for weight training/film study as best I can. Still, my players are not developing. Most of my players have potentials in the yellows and reds, but the currents are in the turquoise and blue range, even after starting all games. Last season, I started my QB of the future for 4 games after it was apparant that I was out of the title picture, and he actually lost points on his current ratings. WTF??? Does anyone have any advice for me? My poor Sun Devils need help fast.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Vince]

It depends upon what numbers you are using for your Film/Weight times, but if you are following DevaneyFan's numbers, you should be doing fine and seeing tons of improvement. Perhaps you are setting Study Time too high? I've found that once you get upwards of 30 in any one category, it kind of screws your plan for the rest of the time schedule. For this reason, it pays off to only recruit people with high test scores and GPAs. What numbers are you setting your weight/film to for each position?

EDIT: Oh yeah, coordinator ratings for talent development per position have some impact, but it shouldn't be that much. With good time management even with a terrible coach you should see marked improvement.

[cthomer5000]

Did you change your local scout in the offseason? You may just be seeind the QB through your new scout's eyes, rather than the guy before him.

[AZSpeechCoach]

No to the new scout. My coordinators are okay...not great. I value injury avoidance, play calling, and friendliness over position groups. I do have study time at 25-30 depending on the player's GPA. Using the recommendations that were posted on the web led to a team average GPA of 2.2, so I upped study time all around. I'm following DevanyFan's numbers as best I can. I'll double check and adjust my numbers.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Easy Mac]

I'm going to assume you have things set up as follows, roughly:

Practice: 20
Study: 25-30
Weight:?
Film:?
Relationships: 19-25

The way it is now, you basically have anywhere from 36-25 points left on each player. This really isn't enough to get a successful growth from players.

First, I think some values have changed in later versions of TCY since the site. I set practice at 17, and my players don't commit penalties.

Second, study time has gone up for the dumber players. Most players about 120 or higher (Int+Asp) can get by with less than 15 Study Hall time. anything below 60 needs at least 30.

Third, always err on the side of weights over film. If you don't have a lot of points, also be closer to the recommended weight than the film. But don't go too far over with weights if you have excess points. This can hurt development.

If I am red-shirting a young guy, I bump up film incredibly and leave weight around 5. I find that I can then work on weights more during the seasons when they play, and I think I get better production.

[larrymcg421]

I haven't noticed much change in the academic requirements. The lists I've seen that recommended 19 study for players with 100 are way off. Those players have always performed poorly in academics for me.

With TCY 1.2, I've been successful in getting development using the automatic time allocation as follows:

First two years, set base study at 20 for everyone. Use devaneyfan's suggestions for all position groups. Set practice at 17. Add 5 points of study for players with 60 (ASP or INT) or less. Add 5 points of study for players with 2.5 GPA or less.

Third year, move base study back to 17. Fourth year and beyond, move it to 15.

Recruit smart guys.

I built a powerhouse Sol 8 team with top 10 Academic reputation using this method.

[AZSpeechCoach]

Thanks for the help. You have my values correct Mac. I'll lower practice a bit next year. Under the 1.1 patch, a 17 in practice led to 100 yards of penalties a game.

I'm not recruiting anyone under 3.0/1000. Will 15-20 study time work for these players? My first year was a disaster academically, so I'm a bit gun-shy with study time. What about relaxation? I follow the 19/27 formula, but I'm finding that the auto time management is giving 22/25. Will that be successful? I'd just like to have a nice, smart team that actually develops the players.

Is the auto time management working well for people? I tend to second-guess it.

[Runtheball]

I've had my team set to 21 practice time for each of the last 4 or 5 seasons, and I still get over 10 penalties per game. I initially had it set around 18, and bumped it up a point every few seasons in an attempt to lower penalties...it doesnt work. There must be some other factor influencing the number of penalties. Since I'm listed as head coach, my discipline rating isn't used. Any other ideas on how to reduce penalties?

[damnMikeBrown]

Where can I find Devany's "magic numbers"? I'm looking to start a new career.

[Buzzbee]

Another thing to consider is the rating of the High School for Athlethic Preparation. The higher the number, the quicker and more fully a player will TEND to develop. If you have lots of players with lots of potential who never really seem to develop, check the high school rating and I bet it is below 50.

Also, playing time is a big key in development. In my previous dynasty's (prior to the latest patch) players who didn't play, didn't progress much. Those who played a lot, tended to progress more.

In MY experience the high numbers for Athletic preparation (ability to realize their potential) coupled with playing time (oportunity to develop their potential) led to lots of red bars.

I also believe there is a lot to be said about reaching an ideal weight for a particular position. I usually tried to be heavy on the weights early in thier careers (first two seasons) to help them get to that ideal weight quickly.

Just my $0.02.

[thealmighty]

How do you know what the ideal weight is? Is there a chart? (Or a FrogMan Excel spreadsheet :) ?)

[IMetTrentGreen]

"Another thing to consider is the rating of the High School for Athlethic Preparation. The higher the number, the quicker and more fully a player will TEND to develop. If you have lots of players with lots of potential who never really seem to develop, check the high school rating and I bet it is below 50."

this and playing time are the biggest two factors in player development. also, practice time increases rating during the season, but they will fall off a bit, normally, in the off-season

and make sure you aren't making your team study too much. there is such a thing as too smart

[AZSpeechCoach]

I moved my practice to 18 this season, and I'm setting my study to 20, with bonuses for idiots. I hadn't thought about athletic prep. In that case, I'm in for a few seasons of hurt, as my latest class has almost universal low ratings in ath. prep.

Interestingly, my supposed stud 5th year senior QB, who never really developed despite starting 8 games or so over his career and having almost all green 100s, is now listed as 3rd string behind a redshirt sophomore and redshirt junior. It looks like his red bars are a bit larger than the supposed starter, but his overall is a 36 to Mercury's 39. What determines the starter when I ask for scout recommendation?

[Easy Mac]

overall, normally.

[Buzzbee]

Originally posted by thealmighty
How do you know what the ideal weight is? Is there a chart? (Or a FrogMan Excel spreadsheet :) ?)

Back when TCY was initially released, several FOFC'ers spent a large amount of time tinkering with the player development settings. They were waiting for a patch, so decided to hammer on the system rather than start new careers. I believe devaneyfan determined that there seemed to be big increases in the red bars when there were big increases in weight. So, he would focus on weightlifting in the first year or two, and then back off later on.

I don't think there were ever any concrete numbers, because it seemed to be player dependent. Basically he would keep an eye on the player's weight. If it only increased by a few pounds, the player had reached the upper end of the weight range and it was time to back off the weights.

[thealmighty]

Thanks very much, Buzzbee. :)