Some questions for the pro's here...

[Rasmuth]

Hello everybody...I'm new to Front Office Football 2004 and the community. Now that I've played the game a bit I've decided to set up my own football universe...and some advice I definately need.

First of all...I've decided to create my own player file mixing in players from all generations...and then each subsequent season I'll create my own draft file. I realize it's alot of work but it seems to be the only way to acheive a league like I want.

I don't plan on creating the whole player file...just mostly the glory positions like QB, RB, WR, TE...etc and a mixture of some real off. linemen and defensive players. According to the game...when I import my created CSV file, it will automatically fill in the areas of need with fictional players. I do plan on creating alot of players though. Are there any issues in regards to this I'm unaware of?

Secondly...all my initial players will be 21-23 years old...I figure I'll set the development ratings somewhat higher in the beginning...but I want all these players to have full careers. Any pitfalls here?

In my initial player file...can I leave all players off teams...by putting "99" in the team column field (Column N) and 0 for salaries? I plan of using a draft when starting the new league.

Am I missing anything obvious here...any advice from you FOF veterans to help me avoid problems will be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to being a part of this community...I think I recognize some members here who also use the same name at the OOTP forums.

Thanks from upstate NY!

[Cap Ologist]

Welcome to the board.

A couple of answers for you:

1. When the game generates players to fill in the holes of your file, they will pretty much stink.

2. There is a site with historical files. I'd recommend going to this site

http://www.cflfb.com/FOF/fof.htm

and using their files. It will save you lots of time in the long run.

3. You should probably set the team column to 33 instead of 99. I think 33 corresponds to free agents. You'll probably get an error message if you try to use 99.

4. I personally wouldn't change the salaries. You'll end up with players under contract that are either playing for free or the league minimum. Part of the fun (and the part I like the most) is having to balance the financial side of this game by making the tough decisions on players. You'll end up in a pretty unrealistic situation for awhile if you change the player's salaries.

[Rasmuth]

Thanks for the tips...I tried using the 1970 file from the site you recommended but I had a problem with the most of the kickers actually playing Center...kinda screwed everything up actually....

hmmmm...maybe I'll start my league with fictional players and then each draft class will be a mixture of real players...I want the real players to have full careers....

[Pyser]

it may kind of be cheating, but maybe you can just change the names of some of the players in each draft to the players you want in your league. then you get a full draft, and the players you like playing full careers.