View Full Version : FOF4 average player age over 36
Runtheball
08-26-2003, 12:38 AM
Started a new career in FOF4, and because i wanted to import my draft files from TCY (those saved in "future FOF format"), I started my new career in 2011. Now I see that the average age of players on all teams is about 36 years old!
Does anyone know if/how this will affect the game performance? Will the import of 22 year old players from TCY really screw things up? How exactly does age factor into the game? Am I going to see massive retirements after the end of this first season?
Is there a way to raise the starting date of the new career without having to edit the age of every player in the player file?
Runtheball
08-26-2003, 01:46 PM
Hey! A little help????
Darkiller
08-26-2003, 01:48 PM
LOL can't help on this..but this makes me smile...it's a weird thing.
Still some glitches with FOF4 obviously no ?
The_herd
08-26-2003, 01:49 PM
It wont affect it at all, development and aging is based on years experience, not actual age.
cuervo72
08-26-2003, 01:50 PM
Did you do something weird with the player file?
Runtheball
08-26-2003, 01:54 PM
Originally posted by cuervo72
Did you do something weird with the player file?
I just used the default player file, but in the editor I opened Miscellaneous Data and changed the Year Simulation Begins setting to 2011.
Ben E Lou
08-26-2003, 01:54 PM
I'm guessing that this is operator trouble, and not a bug.
Franklinnoble
08-26-2003, 01:56 PM
Originally posted by The_herd
It wont affect it at all, development and aging is based on years experience, not actual age.
So, basically, I could have a bunch of 84 year old linebackers in the Pro Bowl, huh?
The_herd
08-26-2003, 01:58 PM
Jim posted earlier on this because someone used an old Draft File from TCY and was wondering if it would screw things up.
Originally posted by Franklinnoble
So, basically, I could have a bunch of 84 year old linebackers in the Pro Bowl, huh?
If you edit the player file, yes.
cuervo72
08-26-2003, 02:05 PM
Originally posted by Runtheball
I just used the default player file, but in the editor I opened Miscellaneous Data and changed the Year Simulation Begins setting to 2011.
Which would basically advance the age of all the players 8-9 years, assuming you didn't also edit their individual birth dates.
Franklinnoble
08-26-2003, 02:07 PM
Then it's definately a bug, or at least, a shortcoming in the game. Age AND playing time should both be determining factors in the degredation of a player's skills.
Originally posted by Franklinnoble
Then it's definately a bug, or at least, a shortcoming in the game. Age AND playing time should both be determining factors in the degredation of a player's skills.
That doesn't make it a bug. It just means you disagree with the design decision.
Ben E Lou
08-26-2003, 02:11 PM
Originally posted by Franklinnoble
Then it's definately a bug, or at least, a shortcoming in the game. Age AND playing time should both be determining factors in the degredation of a player's skills. ...or maybe a guy shouldn't be punished for accidentally importing the wrong draft year. If age was a factor, then a long FOF4 career could get messed up by importing the wrong class just one time.
Runtheball
08-26-2003, 02:12 PM
Originally posted by cuervo72
Which would basically advance the age of all the players 8-9 years, assuming you didn't also edit their individual birth dates.
Right. That's exactly what happened. What I want to know is what are the consequences at the end of this season? I don't want to waste all my time this season and then have mass retirements. Is it necessary to go to the player editor and change birthdates for all 2400 players?
Herd: Your first post stated that age wont affect anything, that years of experience is the critical factor in determining development and aging. I've looked for the post you're referring to but havent found it...can you provide a URL please?
I'm getting the impression that I might be the first one to encounter this situation. Can that be???
The_herd
08-26-2003, 02:14 PM
I dont think its that bad, if you wanted to start your career in 2010 it doesn't screw up the whole game.
Without this, if I'm using the original rosters and start in 2010 my career is screwed up because 2/3 of the league is going to retire at the end of the season.
Originally posted by Runtheball
I'm getting the impression that I might be the first one to encounter this situation. Can that be???
It's come up before when FOF4 first came out and people were playing around with the editor, but I don't remember what the outcome was. Sorry.
Buzzbee
08-26-2003, 02:24 PM
Runtheball - One thing you might do is load up the game, sim the season and see if there are mass retirements, and then don't save the game. Shouldn't take very long and should give you a definitive answer.
Runtheball
08-26-2003, 02:27 PM
Originally posted by The_herd
I dont think its that bad, if you wanted to start your career in 2010 it doesn't screw up the whole game.
Without this, if I'm using the original rosters and start in 2010 my career is screwed up because 2/3 of the league is going to retire at the end of the season.
Again, very reassuring, but have you actually tried this? I invest too much time with my team to have them all retire after the end of this first season.
Has anyone tried to start a career with an advanced date? What were the results after the first season ended?
Originally posted by Buzzbee
Runtheball - One thing you might do is load up the game, sim the season and see if there are mass retirements, and then don't save the game. Shouldn't take very long and should give you a definitive answer.
Sounds like an easy solution. Shouldn't take much time to sim quickly through a season and see what happens.
Runtheball
08-26-2003, 02:40 PM
OK. I simmed the entire season (won the championship!!!!) and looking at the transaction report I see alot of retirements, but not as many as I would expect. My team had 9 guys retire (which looks to be about the average among all teams on the list). Looking over existing rosters, I see very few players with greater than 10 years of EXPERIENCE.
Looks like Herd got it right!
More in a minute as I look for more noteworthy items to relate.
Samdari
08-26-2003, 02:56 PM
Originally posted by Buzzbee
Runtheball - One thing you might do is load up the game, sim the season and see if there are mass retirements, and then don't save the game. Shouldn't take very long and should give you a definitive answer.
Another thing you might want to do is change your signature.
Its "three yards AND a cloud of dust."
Runtheball
08-26-2003, 03:02 PM
Originally posted by Samdari
Another thing you might want to do is change your signature.
Its "three yards AND a cloud of dust."
D'oh!!!
Runtheball
08-26-2003, 04:13 PM
Follow-up:
Of the 9 players that retired, 7 were among the top 10 most "experienced" players on my roster, and all of those that retired had experience of at least 6. This still leaves me with several 40-year-old players on my roster, and the comments by Herd (above) seem to have proved very accurate.
The_herd
08-26-2003, 06:15 PM
Sorry I went to work before I could reply back.
I can't remember what thread it was in or even how long ago it was (was probably on the old board), I just remember someone stating that they were pretty advanced in the game and wanted to use a draft file from 2002 or something like that. Jim said he would just have some old rookies on his team and that the game goes off years experience and not age.
Runtheball
08-26-2003, 07:38 PM
This is the response I got from Solecismic support:
"Players will retire much earlier if they are significantly older. The
algorithm mainly uses the number of years of experience, or "wear and tear." But that's modified by player age to prevent the Fluties from lasting until they're 50. So, within a couple of seasons, you'll likely see mass retirement.
There's no way to modify players ages from within the game. The only customization comes from editing the player file you use when beginning a new career."
Bummer!
Looks like if I want to use those TCY draft files from 2011 through 2020, I'm going to have to edit the starting player file to change the birthdates of roughly the top 1000 players so that they aren't nearing retirement after the 2011 season. OR, I can just start with the 2002 season and resign myself to probably never using most of those TCY draft files (it takes me a long time to play a full season).
Seems like this wouldn't be too tough for Jim to fix. It seems to me that he could create another algorithm that updates player birthdates within the player file if the initial season of the career is set to anything other than the default. If the initial season is changed from default of 2003 to 2013, the algorithm automatically updates birthdates by 10 years for every player.
sabotai
08-26-2003, 08:34 PM
Runtheball,
Why don't you just start a new game at the default game and just sim all the way to 2011? I know you said it takes you a long time to play a season, but just let the AI handle everything, and just sim season after season until you get to 2011. I shouldn't take that long.
MIJB#19
08-27-2003, 04:39 AM
This makes me wonder, did anyone ever on purpose importa draft of little kids (1 to 5 year olds)? What happens then?
sabotai
08-27-2003, 01:01 PM
That's an interesting thought. It'd be neat to see what kind of effect it has.
A 6'2" 210 pound, 4 year old QB. :)
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