FOF 2004 - Two-way players?

[QuikSand]

Back some time ago, when playing TCY seriously, I had a team that had a dramatic dearth of playable guys at RB. I ended up looking on my roster for guys who might be able to switch to that position, and it turned out that one of the more effective switches was a linebacker, who became a passable runner. With my team in a dire emergency, I ended up using the same player on both sides of the ball -- I slotted him at LB (he was a mediocre starter) and then switched him over to become a RB, where he became part of my rushing rotation. He remained listed and used on both sides.

For what it's worth, I let this stand for maybe a season or so, and found that the player seemed to trigger some sort of overuse mechanism in the game -- he ended up being listed as probable for every week, after getting something like 100 snaps in total per game. It probably wasn't very productive, but it was sort of interesting.

Anyway - I thought I'd offer this up for people who might be interested. This might be even more workable in FOF 2004, now that we have the "lock" feature in the game. For instance - you might have a defensive player who is well-sized to log a little time at FB or TE (like some teams do with their jumbo package). I don't know how well this would work, but in theory you could switch the guy to FB temporarily, insert him into your depth chart, click to "lock" him in place, and switch him back to his original defensive position. The result would probably be that he'd get a handful of carries or receptions -- perhaps along the lines of what you might see from this kind of substitution in real life. You might even be able to fiddle with the game plan, and come up with very specific uses for him -- like only at the goal line.

Eventually, the player would probably get angered over the multiple position switches - so this may only be a short-term option... but I think it's there in the game, at least as a back door.

[Leonidas]

How the heck did you get a guy playing two-ways simultaneously in TCY? I've been wanting to do that for sometime and never could figure a way for a player listed with a position on one side of the ball show up as available for the other side.

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by QuikSand
I slotted him at LB (he was a mediocre starter) and then switched him over to become a RB, where he became part of my rushing rotation. He remained listed and used on both sides.

[OldGiants]

This is a great idea for the 1950's and early 1960's .csv I'm considering making. I was going to go with similar names at two slots:

Center Charles Bednarik
MLB Chuck Bednarik

but this might work even better. the problem with two names is two roster slots and conflicting injury status, plus the AI teams could trade half the guy.

[QuikSand]

I doubt this is the solution for what you are looking for, OG. This is very sketchy at best... you cannot make further adjustments to the player in the depth chart (once you move that LB to RB, you cannot re-spot him anywhere on defense, of course) and it only works for one year. I suspect your redundant names system is the best way to go, overall.

[cuervo72]

Originally posted by OldGiants
Center Charles Bednarik
MLB Chuck Bednarik


Reminds me of the MNF football game this year where Michaels and Madden were trying to think of who the best player to come out of the Ivy League was, and didn't even mention Bednarik :mad:

[HornedFrog Purple]

That is one thing I would love to see more incorporated in the next TCY (if it ever appears). More general athletes that do not take such a huge hit when they play on the other side of the ball.

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by HornedFrog Purple
That is one thing I would love to see more incorporated in the next TCY (if it ever appears). More general athletes that do not take such a huge hit when they play on the other side of the ball.

Maybe someone, someday will do a sports sim where everyone shares the same ratings, ratings based on athletic abilities across the board. For example, you could have say 20 ratings across the board. They might include arm strength, throwing accuracy, speed, elusiveness, upper body strength, leg strength, run blocking, pass blocking, tackling, hands, intelligence, etc.

This would be really good for TCY where recruits don't have to be set on a certain position. For example, Deion Sanders and Marcus Allen were QBs in high school, Chris Gamble never played CB until he got to Ohio State, etc. As coach you could take into account what their position and stats were in HS, but you could look at their abilities and maybe match them to a better position or where you need their talents more. The talent ratings would then grow according to what skills they use by the position they play, but you could easily change positions and allow them to exercise other skills.

Then you could have players go two ways (stamina would have to be a very important rating) and have gimmick plays like HB option passes or allow QBs to do quick kicks. Then if your team really got hammered by injuries you would have more options than to possibly ruin a good player by changing position, only to lose certain skills from their previous position forever.

I could see that QB still would need specialized ratings. Just too many variables into what makes a QB, but the QB could still have all the other ratings as well so if need be you could play an option QB as a punt returner or in a slash role as a multi-purpose guy out of the backfield.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Yes I agree completely. For a lot of colleges, if you have speed and athletic ability, which cant be taught, they will find somewhere to put you and teach the rest. Fullbacks have become safeties, running back into corners, tightends into defensive linemen, option quarterbacks become running backs, the list goes on.

In TCY that choice is very limited. As just a suggestion perhaps a hidden rating that allows a recruit to become a lot more varied in what position they end up being in college without penalizing you so harshly for picking the "wrong" one.