EA Sport "NFL HEAD COACH"

[Darkiller]

I was checking for updates on the game, and saw that the forum is quite active and had this latest info which sounds absolutely amazing...
wanted to share that.

Just got the new issue of gamepro and it has a preview for it. First things first the target release date is April but no specific day. You will be able to use voice activated game play controls using your headset to call plays and communicate with your coordinaters. Says you can call other teams on draft day to set up deals, review scouting reports make key selections while watching draft in real time on espn nfl live. You can interview for jobs build your own team select your staff. To quote the preview " NFL Head Coach sets you into immersive 3d enviroments like the office, practice field, and the stadium, while letting you make all the decisions. From setting practice schedules to scouting players and hiring and firing assistant coaches nothing happens without your say so" It also has four new screen shots of a coach on the practice field, in the office, what looks to be a play calling screen, and a coach info screen. From reading this seems like this could really be good. I havent looked at the website yet so I dont know if its on there yet but its gamepro. com

Portis Moss and Taylor Return Home REDSKINS going to MIAMI for SBXL1!!

Message was edited by:
redskinjss (EA.com)

http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?messageID=454262&sls=2&threadID=52561

[MizzouRah]

I have the Gamepro issue and the game looks kind of corny to me.

[Emiliano]

I'm really curious to see how this game turns out. The last screen I saw was the one with "add a play with Deion as a wide receiver", and that WASN'T very promising...

[Cringer]

I have the Gamepro issue and the game looks kind of corny to me.

In what way? Just the screen shots look dumb or what?

[IwasHere]

I thought the release date was June?

[Cringer]

I thought the release date was June?

Maybe they decided career mode would end after 3 seasons, so they can now cut back on their work load and put it out earlier.

[Deattribution]

Doesn't EA sponsor the NFL Draft pretty heavily? I know there were an insane amount of Madden commecerials last year, so maybe they want to pump it out in time for the draft crowd.

[Icy]

I have no doubt that the GM part will be fun as it is in Total Football Manager (EA's soccer GM game) but i really hope that the match engine won't be as bad and unrealistic as it would kill the game for me as it did for the soccer GM game, where you can see tons of stupid bugs that kill any kind of realism. If it's as bad, be ready for touchdowns being credited for 10 points or 1000 yards ran by your linebacker.

[Cringer]

I have no doubt that the GM part will be fun as it is in Total Football Manager (EA's soccer GM game) but i really hope that the match engine won't be as bad and unrealistic as it would kill the game for me as it did for the soccer GM game, where you can see tons of stupid bugs that kill any kind of realism. If it's as bad, be ready for touchdowns being credited for 10 points or 1000 yards ran by your linebacker.

Well, I noticed yesterday NFL Europe now gives 4 points for FGs over 50 yards, maybe it will be Maximum customizable.

[Icy]

Well, I noticed yesterday NFL Europe now gives 4 points for FGs over 50 yards, maybe it will be Maximum customizable.

Yes but then you will custm set the FG to 4 points and they will be credited a random number from 1 to 100.

[Cringer]

Yes but then you will custm set the FG to 4 points and they will be credited a random number from 1 to 100.

So did a goal from 30 yards get you 3 points in Total Football Manager? I might be game for that. :p

[MizzouRah]

In what way? Just the screen shots look dumb or what?

Yeah actually. Just looks kind of goofy, but since it's EA, it's getting hyped. The kids down the street have my magazine now, but when I saw it, I was like ho-hum about it.

[SegRat]

Steelers | Cowher on the cover for new EA game
Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:41:13 -0800

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher will be on the cover for Electronic Arts' new video game, NFL Head Coach. The game will challenge the hands-on gamer to build and manage every aspect of a football team from the ground up. Cowher said, "With NFL Head Coach there is finally a game that gives true football fans the chance to strategize and become the head coach of their favorite team. Coaching is about leadership and everyone will now see how difficult, but also how rewarding coaching can be." The game is scheduled to arrive in stores June 20.

[IwasHere]

I am guessing with EA's NFL license you will have a bunch of choir boys playing for your team. :(

[stevew]

Oh shit, there better not be a "NFL Head Coach" cover jinx

[TazFTW]

Some new pics.

http://media.sports.ign.com/articles/698/698753/imgs_1.html

[SFL Cat]

Well, I noticed yesterday NFL Europe now gives 4 points for FGs over 50 yards, maybe it will be Maximum customizable.

That has always been the case in NFL Europe. Since soccer was so big over there, it was the NFL's way of "pumping up" the importance of the kicking game.

[SFL Cat]

I thought the release date was June?

I think they moved the release date up to capitalize on all the great hype generated by Daivd's game.

[Young Drachma]

That has always been the case in NFL Europe. Since soccer was so big over there, it was the NFL's way of "pumping up" the importance of the kicking game.

Then hell, why not for a 40+. I mean, how often do you kick a 50+ FG anyway?

[Mustang]

Oh shit, there better not be a "NFL Head Coach" cover jinx

Good god.. Cowher was on the cover of Total Control Football too...

*shudder*

[sooner333]

Do teams ever down by 4 with time running out ever try to kneel behind the 37 to set up for the game tying FG instead of maybe going for a drive that is 3rd down at the 30?

[SackAttack]

That has always been the case in NFL Europe. Since soccer was so big over there, it was the NFL's way of "pumping up" the importance of the kicking game.

There's an idea.

Field goals inside the 10 yard line = illegal.

From 10-19 yard line, 1 point.

20-29 yard line, 2 points.

30-39 yard line, 3 points.

40+ yard line, 4 points.

(At least then I wouldn't get field goals on 4th-and-1 from the 1 yard line anymore in FOF.)

[Groundhog]

There's an idea.

Field goals inside the 10 yard line = illegal.

From 10-19 yard line, 1 point.

20-29 yard line, 2 points.

30-39 yard line, 3 points.

40+ yard line, 4 points.

(At least then I wouldn't get field goals on 4th-and-1 from the 1 yard line anymore in FOF.)

Do you really want to turn the NFL in to a kick fest? If it aint broke...

Banning FGs within the 10 yard line is silly, too. You shouldn't be penalised for making it over the 10 yard line, as opposed to being stopped at the 11.

[ahbrady]

There's an idea.

Field goals inside the 10 yard line = illegal.
They don't have to be. That's what makes Maximum Football so great. You can have a line of scrimmage past the end zone if you want. Maximum Football is king!

[EagleFan]

Do teams ever down by 4 with time running out ever try to kneel behind the 37 to set up for the game tying FG instead of maybe going for a drive that is 3rd down at the 30?


Or have the holder line up about 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage and pray for a good snap.

[Ragone]

There's an idea.

Field goals inside the 10 yard line = illegal.

From 10-19 yard line, 1 point.

20-29 yard line, 2 points.

30-39 yard line, 3 points.

40+ yard line, 4 points.

(At least then I wouldn't get field goals on 4th-and-1 from the 1 yard line anymore in FOF.)

alls this would do is make teams commit penalties to get back into the 30-39 range.. "Hey willie.. false start twice so we can kick the 3 pointer"

[Darkiller]

ok, at least there is a formal release date now (June 20th).
looking forward to it...(always exicted about new football games...often disapointed with them)

in the end, as it is always the case, only FOF will prevail....

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm cautiously optimistic. Maybe this will end up being a fun graphical football management game.

[MizzouRah]

Hmmm... definitly something to keep an eye on. I really wish FOF had a graphical add on like those screen shots... I'd never shower, my wife could put food under the door, and once in awhile I would come out to use the restroom and my kids would say, "Is that daddy or a caveman?"

[Bee]

The June 20 release date seems kind of strange to me. I wonder if it will be delayed to coincide more with the football season.

[ice4277]

I'm cautiously optimistic. Maybe this will end up being a fun graphical football management game.

Ditto. Whenever I get excited about an upcoming EA release, it never fails to disappoint. Hopefully this will be different.

[moriarty]

I'm cautiously optimistic. Maybe this will end up being a fun graphical football management game.

I haven't felt this way since the Movies release date was announced.

[Hurst2112]

is it just me or does the cowher pic look:

A) air brushed...similar to playboy photos
B) rendered, not a real pic
C) like an imposter. Some dude named Bob Schmaltz who just happens to look like bill

[muns]

is it just me or does the cowher pic look:

A) air brushed...similar to playboy photos
B) rendered, not a real pic
C) like an imposter. Some dude named Bob Schmaltz who just happens to look like bill


A. Hell yes
B. No Doubt about it
C. Thanks for the Laugh

[jaygr]

is it just me or does the cowher pic look:

A) air brushed...similar to playboy photos
B) rendered, not a real pic
C) like an imposter. Some dude named Bob Schmaltz who just happens to look like bill


It does seem very off to me for some reason. I am trying to think back to when he had a goatee trimmed like that- espically how stylized it is on the jaw line and all.

[ice4277]

Marketing/promotional materials edited and/or airbrushed? Shocking! :eek:

[MizzouRah]

Marketing/promotional materials edited and/or airbrushed? Shocking! :eek:

Kind of like their screen shots of up and coming games? :)

[Flasch186]

I haven't felt this way since the Movies release date was announced.

lets hope that this is better than that monstrosity

[johneh]

I think they moved the release date up to capitalize on all the great hype generated by Daivd's game.


LMAO!
:)

[WVUFAN]

lets hope that this is better than that monstrosity

You didn't like The Movies? I've heard good things about it and was gonna pick it up. What didn't you like? (I ask not to be sarcastic) I don't wanna buy it if it's not good quality.

[Flasch186]

You didn't like The Movies? I've heard good things about it and was gonna pick it up. What didn't you like? (I ask not to be sarcastic) I don't wanna buy it if it's not good quality.

it just seemed to monotonous, micro-managed some aspects, not enough detail in others...it just wasnt for me, thats all. Ive heard and read that most people fall into the 2 camps of hating it or loving it, im just in the one.

[GrantDawg]

it just seemed to monotonous, micro-managed some aspects, not enough detail in others...it just wasnt for me, thats all. Ive heard and read that most people fall into the 2 camps of hating it or loving it, im just in the one.


Hated it too. Very disappointing.

[moriarty]

You didn't like The Movies? I've heard good things about it and was gonna pick it up. What didn't you like? (I ask not to be sarcastic) I don't wanna buy it if it's not good quality.

Just ask ANYONE on this board or elsewhere if they played it for more than a week. There was a movies thread once upon a time (it quickly died) here if you want to check it out. EDIT - here's the link: http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=43961&highlight=MOVIES
The most telling thing is that the thread died only two weeks after the game's release.

[kcchief19]

I doubt they'll want to push that June 20 date back since I don't think they want to release this and Madden at the same time. I thought the original April date was innovative to tie-in with the draft, but I can see it not being a great idea. Getting it in stores by the end of June will help tie it in with the start of training camps.

My optimism is wanning. It's starting to look more and more to me like a play-calling version of Madden with some limited RPG elements, like do you want to put plays in for Deion at wide receiver or do you want to get into a bar fight with the designer of the game.

[moriarty]

I doubt they'll want to push that June 20 date back since I don't think they want to release this and Madden at the same time. I thought the original April date was innovative to tie-in with the draft, but I can see it not being a great idea. Getting it in stores by the end of June will help tie it in with the start of training camps.

My optimism is wanning. It's starting to look more and more to me like a play-calling version of Madden with some limited RPG elements, like do you want to put plays in for Deion at wide receiver or do you want to get into a bar fight with the designer of the game.

Don't forget the kewl customized crib, where you get to decorate your office.

[Ajaxab]

I'm not purchasing this game until I see a beer tent.

[kentontrace]

I'm looking forward to this game - I just hope they do it right and it gets a bigger base of people to get into sports sims - its always fun to get new competition :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Saw this preview on Gamespot and my cautious optimism grows a bit more. I like the idea of dynamic ratings and of course, I've always wanted a great coach mode for Madden in which I could call plays and get realistic results. Maybe this will deliver. Here is the preview:

NFL Head Coach First Look


We stalk the sidelines in our hands-on look at EA's NFL strategy sim.
All off-field activities in Head Coach are calendar-based; you usually have three or four activities to attend to per calendar day. Your morning might be spent going over e-mails and fielding phone calls, while later in the day you'll head to a staff meeting with your coaches, head back to your desk for a meeting with your scouting coach, and then end the day looking at your salary cap numbers and figuring out just how you're going to find the cash to pay for that upcoming first-round draft pick. As the free-agent signing period begins, you'll want to make sure you have your eye on who's available to sign to fill holes in your roster, and, of course, you'll want to make sure you're always up on the latest scouting reports in preparation for the draft. Weekly meetings with your scouting coach help things here, as do handy search filters that let you search among draft players along criteria such as position and skill level.

The NFL Draft itself gives you a seat in your own personal war room as you watch draft picks fly off the board. You can choose to run the draft in an approximation of real time (each CPU-controlled team has 30 seconds to make a pick, while you have a full five minutes), or you can choose to skip directly to your next pick. ESPN's Mel Kiper is also on hand to run down the top draft picks and provide analysis of each and every pick you make. If he doesn't like your pick, you'll know about it.
As the regular season approaches and your roster begins to settle down, you can run your players through a series of practice drills, which are designed not only to help your players improve, but also to give you a better picture of their abilities. Unlike in Madden, player ratings are dynamic in NFL Head Coach, and any particular player has a range in which he can perform. The overall attribute of a volatile player, such as Michael Vick, for example, might fluctuate from the low 70s on a bad day to the mid-90s on a day when everything is going his way. It's an interesting concept that takes into consideration each player's potential for greatness, as well as failure.

As you can tell, there is a lot to do in Head Coach's off-season, but that's only part of the equation. After all, preparation wins games, but you still have to play things out on the field. When coaching a game in Head Coach, you'll be watching the game as you might a regular game of Madden, with some crucial differences. One of the biggest changes is the available camera angles. We counted six available cameras in the game (though that number may change in the final build)--from traditional behind-the-QB looks, to sideline cameras (complete with your coaching avatar roaming up and down the sidelines), to our personal favorite, a high-vantage-point, top-down look at the field, showing the offensive and defensive formations with perfect clarity.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but in Head Coach, you're responsible for calling the plays (which you can do with either standard controls or via voice commands using a headset) and snapping the ball. Once the play begins, the game is more or less out of your hands. Before the ball is snapped, however, you can do things like call audibles and change protection coverage, but you'll have only a small window of time to make that happen (that is, before the play clock runs down or your opponent snaps the ball). However, your responsibilities in-game go a bit deeper than simply calling the play and watching how things unfold on the grass. At any point in the game, you can choose to talk to the players on the sideline to provide either strategic advice or specific motivation (and by "motivation" we mean a good dressing down). The amount of depth here is impressive--if you choose to talk to your quarterbacks, for example, you can choose to talk to either the entire group or to one particular QB. From there you can choose specific areas of focus to discuss, such as pass height, patience in the pocket, whether to focus on the number one receiver or spread the ball around, and so on--you can even tell your QB to take your advice to heart for the next play, the next drive, or the rest of the game.

This kind of coaching depth is available for every position on the field and will ensure that you will be very busy on the sidelines. Even better, as you hold these impromptu coaching sessions, your assistant coaches will take over play calling and the game will continue progressing. You can then choose to take back the reins at any time. Another factor weighs into the mix here: trust. How much your players trust you will determine how willing they are to follow your orders and how positively (or negatively) they respond to your motivation.

In practice, we found that the amount of time split between calling plays and coaching players on the sideline was about 70/30--depending on the results we were getting on the field. If our team was blowing it, of course, we spent a good deal more time trying to coax good performances out of them; if we had the game well in hand, it was simply a matter of calling smart plays and winding the clock down.

Head Coach will feature only one difficulty level, pitting your strategic football mind against the artificial intelligence or against a buddy online. The game will have some interaction with the next version of Madden, mainly by letting you export your current Head Coach team into Madden; certainly it would be nice to see more synergy between the two games, but perhaps that's an issue best left for future iterations of Head Coach.
By blending the in-depth details of traditional management sims with the familiar look of the Madden game engine, EA Sports is looking to craft NFL Head Coach into a management sim that is quite a bit different from the stat- and text-intensive Championship Managers of the world. The real challenge will be in delivering a game that is approachable enough for folks who have perhaps outgrown the "twitchier" aspects of Madden, while still providing NFL fanatics with an interesting--and, more importantly, authentic--twist to their favorite sport. Head Coach is due for release in June 2006.

[DaddyTorgo]

i'm hoping that it will deliver but i will want to play demos/see tons more reviews from people i trust (ideally on here). i definately have outgrown the joystick-jockiness of madden and am ready for something more in the graphical family. and this is definately an interesting twist.

[Chubby]

what system is this for? pc/360/ps2?

[Eaglesfan27]

what system is this for? pc/360/ps2?


According to Gamespot, it will be on the PC, PS2, and Xbox.

[Antmeister]

Does anyone know if Jim is really working behind the scenes for this game? I would be in tears if this is a graphical overlay to FOF with additional options.

[stevew]

That preview piques my interest. Although I'll probably still wait for impressions here/rent it first maybe.

[stevew]

My prediction is that this is the game that most of us dream about. It'll be nearly perfect but have some flaws, that while not showstoppers will be annoying. We'll anticipate the next version, but the EA fanbase will do a collective yawn to the title and it'll be either one and done, or last 2 versions. And damn, i wish Sega would port the 2K5 football to PC. Maybe fix it up a touch. Then we could have Maximum Customizability!

[AgustusM]

all we are asking for is FOF realism and detail with Madden graphics.

My only concern is EA concentrating on nonsense like "add Deion to the offense" and not getting the core realism correct.

The thing that most encourages me is "one level of play". If the game is realistic the concept of levels of play (rookie, all-star, etc) and sliders simply don't apply.

[dawgfan]

all we are asking for is FOF realism and detail with Madden graphics.
I guess Jim and/or Arlie could jump in here and address this, but I have a feeling this "wish" is harder to acheive than most people realize. I don't know to what level of detail games like FOF and TPF go to in calculating all that happens in a particular play in their sims, but I have my doubts that they are as intricate and granular in detail as what would be necessary to drive a full 3-D graphical representation like you see in Madden or 2K Sports.

Think about it - they have ratings for various categories of player ability and particular ways of calculating what the end result of any play would be, but are they so detailed that they describe a player juking to his left to dodge an OLB pinching in from the outside, then using a particular kind of stiffarm move to knock a CB on his ass before being forced out of bounds at a particular point because of the speed and angle that the FS had on the play? It's possible, but I doubt either sim goes into that much granularity of detail. And yet, that's what you'd need to drive a 3-D graphical representation (of every player on the field no less), and it's why people complain that Madden (and the other 3-D football games) aren't as realistic in their outcomes as the text-sims - it's levels of magnitude more complex to model AI and physical attributes well enough to represent it in a graphical format that has to come close to matching watching a game live on TV than it is to devise formulas to derive realistic results in a text-sim where you don't actually see the play unfolding or extreme detail in exactly what happened on each play.

Maybe I'm off-base here in my assessments of the current text-sims, and if I am I'd welcome Jim or Arlie correcting me, but I have my doubts that their sim engines provide enough information to drive a full 3-D graphical representation.

[Antmeister]

I guess Jim and/or Arlie could jump in here and address this, but I have a feeling this "wish" is harder to acheive than most people realize. I don't know to what level of detail games like FOF and TPF go to in calculating all that happens in a particular play in their sims, but I have my doubts that they are as intricate and granular in detail as what would be necessary to drive a full 3-D graphical representation like you see in Madden or 2K Sports.

Think about it - they have ratings for various categories of player ability and particular ways of calculating what the end result of any play would be, but are they so detailed that they describe a player juking to his left to dodge an OLB pinching in from the outside, then using a particular kind of stiffarm move to knock a CB on his ass before being forced out of bounds at a particular point because of the speed and angle that the FS had on the play? It's possible, but I doubt either sim goes into that much granularity of detail. And yet, that's what you'd need to drive a 3-D graphical representation (of every player on the field no less), and it's why people complain that Madden (and the other 3-D football games) aren't as realistic in their outcomes as the text-sims - it's levels of magnitude more complex to model AI and physical attributes well enough to represent it in a graphical format that has to come close to matching watching a game live on TV than it is to devise formulas to derive realistic results in a text-sim where you don't actually see the play unfolding or extreme detail in exactly what happened on each play.

Maybe I'm off-base here in my assessments of the current text-sims, and if I am I'd welcome Jim or Arlie correcting me, but I have my doubts that their sim engines provide enough information to drive a full 3-D graphical representation.

For Madden, yes that wouldn't be doable, since people are playing with a joystick. In other words, a person's actions determine how a play turns out.

For this game however, the output is coming from the stats. If FOF had a sim engine underneath that, the result would determine how the action is played on the field. In other words, if the sim engine would say that there was a 15 yard rushing gain off the right guard, the graphics would simply be used as showing how to show it and it could have a number of creative ways to show how this person gained 15 yards off the right guard.

FOF would already determine the success/failure of a play before it is shown. The job of the overlay is to come up with creative ways to show that success or failure. So let's say that a running back has above average strength, but poor agility. If the FOF sim engine says he went 15 yards and he was tackled by a slow linebacker, it could show this running back running behind some successful blocks as he bowls over a few people along the way.

I am not saying this will be the easiest task, but it is doable. It is just a whole different way of thinking.

[Deattribution]

This will probably be an egg, If it's anything like this year's superstar/heisman system they implemented into Madden/NCAA iit will be terrible - you wouldn't even know they tested either of those games.

On the positive side, this would be a great year for Jim to release a new FOF so that he could get some of the potential new fan base that comes along with this game.

[dawgfan]

For Madden, yes that wouldn't be doable, since people are playing with a joystick. In other words, a person's actions determine how a play turns out.

For this game however, the output is coming from the stats. If FOF had a sim engine underneath that, the result would determine how the action is played on the field. In other words, if the sim engine would say that there was a 15 yard rushing gain off the right guard, the graphics would simply be used as showing how to show it and it could have a number of creative ways to show how this person gained 15 yards off the right guard.

FOF would already determine the success/failure of a play before it is shown. The job of the overlay is to come up with creative ways to show that success or failure. So let's say that a running back has above average strength, but poor agility. If the FOF sim engine says he went 15 yards and he was tackled by a slow linebacker, it could show this running back running behind some successful blocks as he bowls over a few people along the way.

I am not saying this will be the easiest task, but it is doable. It is just a whole different way of thinking.
My point remains - you're underestimating how difficult this would be to program from an AI perspective. If the sim engine doesn't provide that level of granularity in the play result, then an AI has to be written to interpret it and fill in all the details for all 22 players on the field, and do so in a way that doesn't look completely stupid (consider the grief the animations in Maximum Football have gotten). Writing an AI that can fill in all those blanks isn't at all an easy task - from what I know of that discipline of programming, I think it could be done if you threw enough engineers at the issue, but it would never happen because there's no way such a game could sell nearly enough copies to cover the expense of all those programmers needed to create it.

It is levels of magnitude easier to write a sim engine that calculates the outcome in text and numbers based on various factors vs. describing such an outcome in enough detail to drive a realistic 3-D representation of such (what did each of the blocking interactions look like? How exactly did that RB move? How exactly did those LB's and DB's react in reading the play?)

[Solecismic]

It's not that black and white, dawgfan.

Some of the finest minds in the programming world are tackling the issue of how we walk. Only in the last few years have robots been developed that walk like we do.

There are collision and reaction algorithms for walking and rolling robots that allow them to maneuver in increasingly large worlds. Some of that is trickling into our domain, like vacuum robots.

Madden is a fine achievement. But it is not intended to do anything more than simulate movement in a very rough manner. It's just a few shades of grey closer to real football, and its algorithms make assumptions about football, just like the most simplistic 3-D programs and text sims which just say "I know my guard took on your linebacker with a block, and he was successful, so my running back gained more yardage."

If you want to go into specific realistic blocking interactions, we are a long, long way from getting that done. Do Madden offensive linemen, much like sumo wrestlers, maintain a successful pass block by being better at keeping a constant low center of gravity than their peers? Or is success of a pass block simply a die roll based on ratings, like what I do?

I couldn't disagree more about the concept that throwing enough engineers at a project ensures its success. That's what managers at corporations do, and it doesn't work in practice. It takes a long time to get up to speed with code, and some projects are best suited for one person or a small group.

[MIJB#19]

That has always been the case in NFL Europe. Since soccer was so big over there, it was the NFL's way of "pumping up" the importance of the kicking game.Possibly, but in the end they did the soccer-football crossover differently. Every team was required to have a former soccer player to do PAT and short field goal duties, while a 'real' kicker would handle 30+ yards field goals.



More on topic, what Antmeister describes is similar to what a couple of the older soccer sims already had about 10 years ago. There were games with preset 'movies' to show as the highlights of a game. 'Movies' presenting the actions preceding a shot wide or saved looked so similar to the goal 'movies', it was almost impossible to tell what the outcome would be while watching the game unfold. It's basically what Ant's asking for, but he wants it in fancy Madden 2006 graphics. But that would mean making two inconsistent chunks of code, instead of creating logic of how a game plays out.


My only concern is EA concentrating on nonsense like "add Deion to the offense" and not getting the core realism correct.I think things like that are so easy to code compared to the football game engine, it can be a welcome change of work for coders and gives the customers some added fun.

[Yossarian]

Every team was required to have a former soccer player to do PAT and short field goal duties

Actually it was a little more subtle.

Each NFLEU team has to have a number of national players (where national != american).

Every other offenseive and every other defensive series needs to have a national on the field at all times.

Similarly, field goals under a certain distance (30yrds?) and pat's are done by national kicker.

For the claymores, they had ex-rugby guy Gavin Hastings kick for a while.

[fantastic flying froggies]

ah good ol' Gavin Hastings, my favorite Scottish rugby player! What a class act he was!

[GrantDawg]

Saw this preview on Gamespot and my cautious optimism grows a bit more. I like the idea of dynamic ratings and of course, I've always wanted a great coach mode for Madden in which I could call plays and get realistic results. Maybe this will deliver. Here is the preview:

NFL Head Coach First Look


We stalk the sidelines in our hands-on look at EA's NFL strategy sim.
All off-field activities in Head Coach are calendar-based; you usually have three or four activities to attend to per calendar day. Your morning might be spent going over e-mails and fielding phone calls, while later in the day you'll head to a staff meeting with your coaches, head back to your desk for a meeting with your scouting coach, and then end the day looking at your salary cap numbers and figuring out just how you're going to find the cash to pay for that upcoming first-round draft pick. As the free-agent signing period begins, you'll want to make sure you have your eye on who's available to sign to fill holes in your roster, and, of course, you'll want to make sure you're always up on the latest scouting reports in preparation for the draft. Weekly meetings with your scouting coach help things here, as do handy search filters that let you search among draft players along criteria such as position and skill level.

The NFL Draft itself gives you a seat in your own personal war room as you watch draft picks fly off the board. You can choose to run the draft in an approximation of real time (each CPU-controlled team has 30 seconds to make a pick, while you have a full five minutes), or you can choose to skip directly to your next pick. ESPN's Mel Kiper is also on hand to run down the top draft picks and provide analysis of each and every pick you make. If he doesn't like your pick, you'll know about it.
As the regular season approaches and your roster begins to settle down, you can run your players through a series of practice drills, which are designed not only to help your players improve, but also to give you a better picture of their abilities. Unlike in Madden, player ratings are dynamic in NFL Head Coach, and any particular player has a range in which he can perform. The overall attribute of a volatile player, such as Michael Vick, for example, might fluctuate from the low 70s on a bad day to the mid-90s on a day when everything is going his way. It's an interesting concept that takes into consideration each player's potential for greatness, as well as failure.

As you can tell, there is a lot to do in Head Coach's off-season, but that's only part of the equation. After all, preparation wins games, but you still have to play things out on the field. When coaching a game in Head Coach, you'll be watching the game as you might a regular game of Madden, with some crucial differences. One of the biggest changes is the available camera angles. We counted six available cameras in the game (though that number may change in the final build)--from traditional behind-the-QB looks, to sideline cameras (complete with your coaching avatar roaming up and down the sidelines), to our personal favorite, a high-vantage-point, top-down look at the field, showing the offensive and defensive formations with perfect clarity.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but in Head Coach, you're responsible for calling the plays (which you can do with either standard controls or via voice commands using a headset) and snapping the ball. Once the play begins, the game is more or less out of your hands. Before the ball is snapped, however, you can do things like call audibles and change protection coverage, but you'll have only a small window of time to make that happen (that is, before the play clock runs down or your opponent snaps the ball). However, your responsibilities in-game go a bit deeper than simply calling the play and watching how things unfold on the grass. At any point in the game, you can choose to talk to the players on the sideline to provide either strategic advice or specific motivation (and by "motivation" we mean a good dressing down). The amount of depth here is impressive--if you choose to talk to your quarterbacks, for example, you can choose to talk to either the entire group or to one particular QB. From there you can choose specific areas of focus to discuss, such as pass height, patience in the pocket, whether to focus on the number one receiver or spread the ball around, and so on--you can even tell your QB to take your advice to heart for the next play, the next drive, or the rest of the game.

This kind of coaching depth is available for every position on the field and will ensure that you will be very busy on the sidelines. Even better, as you hold these impromptu coaching sessions, your assistant coaches will take over play calling and the game will continue progressing. You can then choose to take back the reins at any time. Another factor weighs into the mix here: trust. How much your players trust you will determine how willing they are to follow your orders and how positively (or negatively) they respond to your motivation.

In practice, we found that the amount of time split between calling plays and coaching players on the sideline was about 70/30--depending on the results we were getting on the field. If our team was blowing it, of course, we spent a good deal more time trying to coax good performances out of them; if we had the game well in hand, it was simply a matter of calling smart plays and winding the clock down.

Head Coach will feature only one difficulty level, pitting your strategic football mind against the artificial intelligence or against a buddy online. The game will have some interaction with the next version of Madden, mainly by letting you export your current Head Coach team into Madden; certainly it would be nice to see more synergy between the two games, but perhaps that's an issue best left for future iterations of Head Coach.
By blending the in-depth details of traditional management sims with the familiar look of the Madden game engine, EA Sports is looking to craft NFL Head Coach into a management sim that is quite a bit different from the stat- and text-intensive Championship Managers of the world. The real challenge will be in delivering a game that is approachable enough for folks who have perhaps outgrown the "twitchier" aspects of Madden, while still providing NFL fanatics with an interesting--and, more importantly, authentic--twist to their favorite sport. Head Coach is due for release in June 2006.


That just sounds too good. It has got to suck for it to sound that good.

[Raiders Army]

Another hands-on preview:

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/699/699404p1.html

Mel Kiper recorded info on 40 draft classes. That's insane.

[Bee]

Best line from the preview:

"You got Mel in the game?" Corso said. "How'd you get his hair to fit on the screen?"

:D

[Eaglesfan27]

Did I read that preview correctly? They are going to let you create plays as well? My cautious optimism is growing.

[stevew]

Why exactly isnt this on the 360. I doubt it will be backwards compatable either, which totally sucks.

[ice4277]

I am starting to get a little nervous. I am getting more and more excited for this, which only means the letdown will be that much greater.

[MizzouRah]

Why can't this be on the psp? :(

[Bee]

My cautious optimism is growing.

You should see a doctor about that...

;)

[MalcPow]

I am starting to get a little nervous. I am getting more and more excited for this, which only means the letdown will be that much greater.

This is exactly how I'm feeling, a sort of sick internal interplay between naive excitement and cynical pessimism. I can't wait until we get closer to a release and my boyish optimism and condescending sarcasm grind my life to a halt with an epicly navel-gazing battle in my own mind!

[Raiders Army]

This is exactly how I'm feeling, a sort of sick internal interplay between naive excitement and cynical pessimism. I can't wait until we get closer to a release and my boyish optimism and condescending sarcasm grind my life to a halt with an epicly navel-gazing battle in my own mind!
Why was QOTM taken away?

[John Galt]

Joe Stallings is reading this thread. I feel a chill down my spine.

[Eaglesfan27]

Joe Stallings is reading this thread. I feel a chill down my spine.

I've been wandering for a few minutes if he will post in it.

[Eaglesfan27]

Delayed Dola,

So, work is VERY slow today and the last hour or so at work is dragging. I decided to visit Operation Sports. They mention quite a few things that are definitely increasing my desire to check this out:

- QB's now have accuracy ratings for short, intermediate, and long throws. QB's have a rating for accuracy while throwing on the run. There are other new ratings as well.

- The previewer told Lynch to go for big hits because the Broncos were down late, and he noticed that Lynch played differently and made more mistakes but did make one big hit.

- Similarly, he told Bailey to gamble for picks more and he noticed a change in the manner in which Bailey was covering his guy.

- Many options when talking to the QB including: Throw it to the #1 receiver more, scramble more, stay in the pocket more, focus on throwing it underneath, throw it quickly, etc.

Assistants are fully licensed (each team has their real coaches when you start the game - unless the coach isn't in the union such as Bill Parcells) and include: Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator, Special Teams Coach, QB Coach, RB Coach, WR Coach, TE Coach, Offensive Line Coach, Defensive Line Coach, Linebackers Coach, and DB Coach!

- No Sliders! No difficulty levels. The game is just supposed to be calibrated for realistic stats by the time it is released.

A few negatives:

- "I don't believe they are trying to be in depth as Front Office Football or Championship Manager."

- Stat tracking isn't as deep as most text sims.

[Senator]

This is exactly how I'm feeling, a sort of sick internal interplay between naive excitement and cynical pessimism. I can't wait until we get closer to a release and my boyish optimism and condescending sarcasm grind my life to a halt with an epicly navel-gazing battle in my own mind!

Well said, my friend.

This game is on my "to be determined" radar. Screaming into a headset at my quarterback sounds almost liberating.

[Greyroofoo]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/699/699431p2.html

THE COLTS O-LINE COACH IS HOWARD MUDD NOT HOWARD BUTTER :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[ice4277]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/699/699431p2.html

THE COLTS O-LINE COACH IS HOWARD MUDD NOT HOWARD BUTTER :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Did you not read the part about non-licensed coaches?

[GrantDawg]

Delayed Dola,

So, work is VERY slow today and the last hour or so at work is dragging. I decided to visit Operation Sports. They mention quite a few things that are definitely increasing my desire to check this out:

- QB's now have accuracy ratings for short, intermediate, and long throws. QB's have a rating for accuracy while throwing on the run. There are other new ratings as well.

- The previewer told Lynch to go for big hits because the Broncos were down late, and he noticed that Lynch played differently and made more mistakes but did make one big hit.

- Similarly, he told Bailey to gamble for picks more and he noticed a change in the manner in which Bailey was covering his guy.

- Many options when talking to the QB including: Throw it to the #1 receiver more, scramble more, stay in the pocket more, focus on throwing it underneath, throw it quickly, etc.

Assistants are fully licensed (each team has their real coaches when you start the game - unless the coach isn't in the union such as Bill Parcells) and include: Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator, Special Teams Coach, QB Coach, RB Coach, WR Coach, TE Coach, Offensive Line Coach, Defensive Line Coach, Linebackers Coach, and DB Coach!

- No Sliders! No difficulty levels. The game is just supposed to be calibrated for realistic stats by the time it is released.

A few negatives:

- "I don't believe they are trying to be in depth as Front Office Football or Championship Manager."

- Stat tracking isn't as deep as most text sims.


I'm going to be such a fan-boy if they can get this right. The big question is how big will the bugs be? It is EA, so you know there are going to be bugs (both on the computer and console versions), so it is just a matter of if they will be gamestoppers are not. My guess is there will be at least one that will be super annoying and never fixed. Like O-linemen getting a billion pancakes and over-developing, or not getting any and not developing at all.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm going to be such a fan-boy if they can get this right. The big question is how big will the bugs be? It is EA, so you know there are going to be bugs (both on the computer and console versions), so it is just a matter of if they will be gamestoppers are not. My guess is there will be at least one that will be super annoying and never fixed. Like O-linemen getting a billion pancakes and over-developing, or not getting any and not developing at all.


I agree with all points. My optimism is growing and will probably be crushed by one of those super annoying bugs.

[Surtt]

I hope I am wrong, but I really have little hope for this.
I don't think we (the text sim community) are the target market for this, it is the current madden players. The type who just want an ubber team and would scream bloody murder if a #1 pick went bust. Going by the madden franchise mode, it will not be realistic or offer much of a challenge.
After saying that, I'm sure I will buy it anyway

[GrantDawg]

I hope I am wrong, but I really have little hope for this.
I don't think we (the text sim community) are the target market for this, it is the current madden players. The type who just want an ubber team and would scream bloody murder if a #1 pick went bust. Going by the madden franchise mode, it will not be realistic or offer much of a challenge.
After saying that, I'm sure I will buy it anyway

I actually think it's more of a "middle ground" thing. My guess it is made for older Madden players whose button-mashing skills are behind them and need more of an intellectual challenge. It may not be directly marketed to the text-based crowd, as in the "give me spreadsheets or give me death!" kind of person who is more interested in stats than the actual game. But I do think it is for guys like me. I like stats, but the actual games are more important to me. Simming through 10 seasons a night bores me. I want to see the games, and make a real impact on them. I want to see the players on the field, and what I tell them to do to make an impact (positive and negative) on the field. The idea that this might happen excites me to no end.

This game is going to market right to the old FBPro crowd that has been without representation (well, except for the travesty which is Maximum Football) for many, many years. Please Joe, don't let this suck.

[FBPro]

I actually think it's more of a "middle ground" thing. My guess it is made for older Madden players whose button-mashing skills are behind them and need more of an intellectual challenge. It may not be directly marketed to the text-based crowd, as in the "give me spreadsheets or give me death!" kind of person who is more interested in stats than the actual game. But I do think it is for guys like me. I like stats, but the actual games are more important to me. Simming through 10 seasons a night bores me. I want to see the games, and make a real impact on them. I want to see the players on the field, and what I tell them to do to make an impact (positive and negative) on the field. The idea that this might happen excites me to no end.

This game is going to market right to the old FBPro crowd that has been without representation (well, except for the travesty which is Maximum Football) for many, many years. Please Joe, don't let this suck.

This is along the lines of what I am thinking as well.......(again, I sense that my sn is being taken is vain) :) Looking forward to this one and will likely get it on day one(UNLESS I can resist).

[Eaglesfan27]

I actually think it's more of a "middle ground" thing. My guess it is made for older Madden players whose button-mashing skills are behind them and need more of an intellectual challenge. It may not be directly marketed to the text-based crowd, as in the "give me spreadsheets or give me death!" kind of person who is more interested in stats than the actual game. But I do think it is for guys like me. I like stats, but the actual games are more important to me. Simming through 10 seasons a night bores me. I want to see the games, and make a real impact on them. I want to see the players on the field, and what I tell them to do to make an impact (positive and negative) on the field. The idea that this might happen excites me to no end.

This game is going to market right to the old FBPro crowd that has been without representation (well, except for the travesty which is Maximum Football) for many, many years. Please Joe, don't let this suck.

This is what I'm thinking as well.

[RawIsDan]

This game is going to market right to the old FBPro crowd that has been without representation (well, except for the travesty which is Maximum Football) for many, many years. Please Joe, don't let this suck.

Exactly my viewpoint.

[ice4277]

I like stats, but the actual games are more important to me. Simming through 10 seasons a night bores me. I want to see the games, and make a real impact on them. I want to see the players on the field, and what I tell them to do to make an impact (positive and negative) on the field.

Ditto. I like to feel like I am actually a part of the game world, not just some guy reading through stats.

[dawgfan]

It's not that black and white, dawgfan.

Some of the finest minds in the programming world are tackling the issue of how we walk. Only in the last few years have robots been developed that walk like we do.

There are collision and reaction algorithms for walking and rolling robots that allow them to maneuver in increasingly large worlds. Some of that is trickling into our domain, like vacuum robots.

Madden is a fine achievement. But it is not intended to do anything more than simulate movement in a very rough manner. It's just a few shades of grey closer to real football, and its algorithms make assumptions about football, just like the most simplistic 3-D programs and text sims which just say "I know my guard took on your linebacker with a block, and he was successful, so my running back gained more yardage."

If you want to go into specific realistic blocking interactions, we are a long, long way from getting that done. Do Madden offensive linemen, much like sumo wrestlers, maintain a successful pass block by being better at keeping a constant low center of gravity than their peers? Or is success of a pass block simply a die roll based on ratings, like what I do?
Obviously you know your code far better than I do, and I'm making some assumptions here. But also realize that the interactions that happen in Madden are a little more complex than just "dice rolls" - being a 3D game, every interaction caculation is also involving proximity. That LG may be winning his battle with the RDT and driving him backward, but if the ball-carrier comes within range of that interaction the calculations of that blocking interaction change to allow the RDT a chance to break off the block to make the tackle.

Now, I may be wrong on this, but I suspect that your sim doesn't actually calculate exactly where the ball and every player on the field are at all times but is making more generalized predictions of probably outcomes given the input of play type preferences and the ability ratings of the players on the field at that time. Does your sim provide enough information to drive the level of detail you see in action in a 3D football game like Madden (flawed though that action can look at times)?

I couldn't disagree more about the concept that throwing enough engineers at a project ensures its success. That's what managers at corporations do, and it doesn't work in practice. It takes a long time to get up to speed with code, and some projects are best suited for one person or a small group.
I'm not so sure that we're really disagreeing here. I'm not suggesting it's a good idea to throw a bunch of software engineers at the issue of AI coding - as I said, such an attempt would undoubtedly fail miserably financially. I didn't mean to imply that putting enough engineers on the issue would result in truly successful AI modeling, though I'm sure that we'd see a marked improvement over what's currently on the market; an even better bet for success in this area would be giving a few really smart AI programmers a much longer time to work on their algorithms than the current sports game market provides (i.e. new revs every year).

[IwasHere]

Will this game support multi player?

[AgustusM]

Trying to not to get my hopes too high, less I be massively disappointed - but the latest review has me harder then chinese math!

starting before the draft
create you own plays
no slider, or levels - thus the implication of "real" results
madden level graphics

I have honestly never had more anticipation for a video game ever. I might need to take a week off when this is released.

[stevew]

One thing that struck me was that there are supposedly only 40 different draft classes that Kiper does commentary for. If that means that there are only 40 different possibilities, then this game could be very underwhelming. Hopefully they mix the classes up some, and hopefully there is a variance on the players meaning one time a guy is a star, and another time not so much. Still, I'm hesitantly excited, and will probably give this a shot.

[DaddyTorgo]

One thing that struck me was that there are supposedly only 40 different draft classes that Kiper does commentary for. If that means that there are only 40 different possibilities, then this game could be very underwhelming. Hopefully they mix the classes up some, and hopefully there is a variance on the players meaning one time a guy is a star, and another time not so much. Still, I'm hesitantly excited, and will probably give this a shot.

40 draft classes=40 year career cap

which IMO should be plenty, especially with the on-field depth. i rarely get through 10 years of madden careers, and even my longest ever FOF career is only like 56 years.

[MJ4H]

40 draft classes=40 year career cap

which IMO should be plenty, especially with the on-field depth. i rarely get through 10 years of madden careers, and even my longest ever FOF career is only like 56 years.

Yeah the number is plenty, but what I'm worried about is if they are preset. Then you will have potential spoilers from others to avoid, not to mention zero-replay value at all. It would be cool if you could turn that feature off and just have random draft classes without kiper's input or some generic descriptions or something, but I am worried about the scripted draft classes. Lots of other things in this have me excited, I would be disappointed if something like this nearly ruins it.

[DaddyTorgo]

Yeah the number is plenty, but what I'm worried about is if they are preset. Then you will have potential spoilers from others to avoid, not to mention zero-replay value at all. It would be cool if you could turn that feature off and just have random draft classes without kiper's input or some generic descriptions or something, but I am worried about the scripted draft classes. Lots of other things in this have me excited, I would be disappointed if something like this nearly ruins it.

oh i see what you mean, because then anytime you get to a certain year you know the draft class outcome.

i THINK ea is smart enough to avoid that. that's never been a problem for Madden. What I assume that means is that Kiper recorded script for 40 draft classes worth of players, or 40 draft classes worth of generic scripts that can be mixed and matched.

like i said, it's never been a problem in madden so i wouldn't think it'd be a problem here....but who knows

[mrsimperless]

I too am highly anticipating this game after reading the previews. If done even halfway decently this game could be the game of my dreams. I think the graphical side of playing the games will really add to the immersion. Holding my breath...

I do hope they've revamped the contract system a bit. I play madden with a buddy where we each control a franchise during franchise mode and then play 2 divisional games against each other every year. Its waaaay too easy to cheat.

Addressing one of the questions above I did read something about the draft classes being "dynamic" meaning that players won't always progress the same. (Cmon, just call it X-factor EA!)

Has anyone heard anything about multiplayer? (Not on xbox live...)

[Eaglesfan27]

One thing that struck me was that there are supposedly only 40 different draft classes that Kiper does commentary for. If that means that there are only 40 different possibilities, then this game could be very underwhelming. Hopefully they mix the classes up some, and hopefully there is a variance on the players meaning one time a guy is a star, and another time not so much. Still, I'm hesitantly excited, and will probably give this a shot.

It sounds like it is the same class each time from the previews I've read. The 2007 class will always be the same. However, if a game takes 45 minutes to play out (which I'm assuming it will since Madden usually takes at least that long) there is plenty of action packed into a 40 year career.

[SegRat]

Why can't this be on the psp? :(

That would be so wonderful.

[DaddyTorgo]

It sounds like it is the same class each time from the previews I've read. The 2007 class will always be the same. However, if a game takes 45 minutes to play out (which I'm assuming it will since Madden usually takes at least that long) there is plenty of action packed into a 40 year career.

. and if the game is $50 that's still...just over $1 a year. which is quite good value if a year takes you...20 hours of gameplay - conservative estimate (let's just say...45 minutes a game x 16 games + assorted non-game tasks).

[GrantDawg]

. and if the game is $50 that's still...just over $1 a year. which is quite good value if a year takes you...20 hours of gameplay - conservative estimate (let's just say...45 minutes a game x 16 games + assorted non-game tasks).


I'm still a little disappointed, but it won't be too bad if there is some randomness to how the players develop.

[ice4277]

I don't think I would come close to hitting a dozen seasons, much less forty.

[DaddyTorgo]

I don't think I would come close to hitting a dozen seasons, much less forty.

bingo. i think the only way i'll get over 20 is if the game absolutely blows me away and is PERFECT.

consider that even in FM I rarely get past 10 years into the game and I play that ALL THE TIME.

and i don't expect this to be that deep, but if it's even 1/2 as deep i'll get 20 years in, 1/3 as deep i'll get 30...1/4 as deep I MIGHT get 40, if it can pull me away from FM.

basically, this doesn't worry me at all

[Eaglesfan27]

10 new screen shots released on Operation Sports today. Very good looking shot of the draft, and I'm encouraged by the options that the screen shot suggests in organizing rosters and depth charts. However, one shot showed a TE that was about to be drafted being rated between 85-98. I hope there is a chance that the TE doesn't meet that potential.


Edit: The shot showing the QB strategies was very interesting.

[MizzouRah]

10 new screen shots released on Operation Sports today. Very good looking shot of the draft, and I'm encouraged by the options that the screen shot suggests in organizing rosters and depth charts. However, one shot showed a TE that was about to be drafted being rated between 85-98. I hope there is a chance that the TE doesn't meet that potential.


Edit: The shot showing the QB strategies was very interesting.

Thanks, going to check on that now.

[Eaglesfan27]

Been doing some searching about the game. Here are all of the new player "attributes":

New QB attributes: Accuracy short, accuracy medium, accuracy long, playaction pass, throw on run (accuracy.)


New HB attributes: None


New FB attributes: None


New WR attributes: Route accuracy, route cuts, press avoidance.


New TE attributes: Route accuracy, route cuts, press avoidance.


New OL attributes: None


New DL attributes: Play recognition


New LB attributes: Play recognition, coverage zone, coverage man


New DB attributes: Coverage man, coverage zone, play recognition, press.


New K/P attributes: None



There is quite a bit of talk that these attributes will be added to Madden as well.

[astrosfan64]

I'm going to be such a fan-boy if they can get this right. The big question is how big will the bugs be? It is EA, so you know there are going to be bugs (both on the computer and console versions), so it is just a matter of if they will be gamestoppers are not. My guess is there will be at least one that will be super annoying and never fixed. Like O-linemen getting a billion pancakes and over-developing, or not getting any and not developing at all.

Agreed, If they get this right. But, I'm thinking they are going to have one annoying bug that will ruin it for me.

[GrantDawg]

Agreed, If they get this right. But, I'm thinking they are going to have one annoying bug that will ruin it for me.


And they'll patch it three times and it will still be there. Yeah, me too.

[astrosfan64]

Man, I just read the IGN interview with Strauser again. I can't help but get excited for this damn game. It sounds like everything I ever wanted.

I wish they would make the thing on the XBOX 360. No multiplayer which totally sucks ass. :(

[Eaglesfan27]

Man, I just read the IGN interview with Strauser again. I can't help but get excited for this damn game. It sounds like everything I ever wanted.

I wish they would make the thing on the XBOX 360. No multiplayer which totally sucks ass. :(

I just re-read it today. Despite the fact that I might end up kicking myself, I'll be buying this on release date. I'm going to go with the PC version as it should be the best looking, and hopefully there might be some patch or mod potential there if needed.

[stevew]

Yeah, I'm thinking that this is an almost "must buy" for me now. Although I'll probably wait at least a day or two till someone like pumpy or ef27 give it a run through. I also have a very bad feeling that there will be one minor thing that ends up killing it for me, as well.

[SegRat]

Why all the worry that something will be wrong with the game?


EA did a great job with FOF after Jim went back to solo work.:rolleyes:

But I think I will still pick this up.

[IwasHere]

EA did a great job with FOF after Jim went back to solo work.

What are you talking about?

I bought FOF2002 from EA and could never build a New stadium in Denver or Pittsburgh beacause all EA did was update the rosters for the 2002 version. Since both these Stadiums were to be completed in 2002 they never get built, and the owner of the teams can never do any kind of Stadium Renovations. I emailed EA about this problem and was sent a reply that they would not be releasing a patch to correct it. I bet it would of taken 5 minutes to fix this problem on their end.

[SegRat]

EA did a great job with FOF after Jim went back to solo work.:rolleyes:
Better? I was being sarcastic about EA. It was a shame they released 2002. I feel bad for the people that bought it.

[IwasHere]

Much Better. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah, I'm thinking that this is an almost "must buy" for me now. Although I'll probably wait at least a day or two till someone like pumpy or ef27 give it a run through. I also have a very bad feeling that there will be one minor thing that ends up killing it for me, as well.

Nothing to do with the game, but I'm taking vacation the last two weeks of June. Due to our impending house purchase, I won't be going anywhere for the vacation. So, I'm sure I'll be putting this game under the microscope very soon after it comes out.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Yeah, I'm thinking that this is an almost "must buy" for me now. Although I'll probably wait at least a day or two till someone like pumpy or ef27 give it a run through. I also have a very bad feeling that there will be one minor thing that ends up killing it for me, as well.
This might sound strange, but I hadn't even really considered buying this thing on release day until I saw my name in this post.

[Senator]

This might sound strange, but I hadn't even really considered buying this thing on release day until I saw my name in this post.


/Note to self. Use power of Pumpy persuasion to use him as a beta tester for all games. End transmission.

[Pumpy Tudors]

/Note to self. Use power of Pumpy persuasion to use him as a beta tester for all games. End transmission.
Power of Pumpy Persuasion
Power of Pumpy Persuasion
Power of Pumpy Persuasion

Oh, my goodness, I think it might actually work. :eek:

[dawgfan]

The power of Pumpy compels you...
The power of Pumpy compels you...
The power of Pumpy compels you...

[BigDPW]

Secret Transmission only to be heard by Pumpy's Unconscious...NFL Head Coach is a must buy... You must buy NFL Head Coach... You must give impressions within minutes after your purchase... You must purchase a copy and send it to BigDPW for free...

[Emiliano]

I think I found out some new info on EA's boards. This guy from Madden Nation has a blog (http://maddentalk.blogspot.com/) going on, apparently he is a beta-tester or something... He wrote some impressions about the career mode, interesting stuff. Sorry if this was already posted.

[ice4277]

I think I found out some new info on EA's boards. This guy from Madden Nation has a blog (http://maddentalk.blogspot.com/) going on, apparently he is a beta-tester or something... He wrote some impressions about the career mode, interesting stuff. Sorry if this was already posted.

Interesting stuff. Thanks!

[IwasHere]

I think I found out some new info on EA's boards.

WOW, this game has now moved into the Pre-Order stage for me.

The only bad thing is simming a year is going to take forever.

[Emiliano]

WOW, this game has now moved into the Pre-Order stage for me.
For me too, as soon as it will available on the store from which I usually order. EA is really the devil, I guess :D.

[stevew]

This might sound strange, but I hadn't even really considered buying this thing on release day until I saw my name in this post.


Dude, you seemingly buy every sports game on release day. Or at least it seems like it anyways.

[Eaglesfan27]

WOW, this game has now moved into the Pre-Order stage for me.

The only bad thing is simming a year is going to take forever.


I'm pre-ordering as well. In an interview, the producer said it will take 20-30 hours to play through a season if you take care of all of your head coach responsibities manually. I don't mind that at all.

[GrantDawg]

The Draft

...You do the draft in real time and are on the clock to make your picks. Rather than skipping through the other teams' picks like some people do in Madden, here you need to use that time to monitor the draft and get on the phone and make trades. I tried this out myself. It was a little stressful because I was trying to work out a trade with a team and their pick was about to come up. There is a definite sense of urgency during this part of the game. I did notice that with regard to trading draft picks, you could only trade picks from the current season, same as Madden. This is something I'd like to see expanded on.



I now have an unsightly bulge.

[GrantDawg]

dola: except that last line. Only trade same seasons picks? That's not good.

[Eaglesfan27]

dola: except that last line. Only trade same seasons picks? That's not good.

I agree, but if the trade AI is reasonably good with only same season trades, I can see that as an acceptable compromise for this version.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

I can't wait to start drawing up my own plays and see if I can move up in the draft a bit to get an impact player.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Dude, you seemingly buy every sports game on release day. Or at least it seems like it anyways.
Minor detail.

[Eaglesfan27]

A new interview today on Operation Sports with the Assistant Producer of the game. Here are the highlights to me:

- Every coach will have his own specific playbook.

- We can develop our own formations, plays, play groups, and game plans.

- Owners will have different personalities and will demand different things and have different goals that they expect their head coach to meet.

- Assistant Coaches can be hired away by other teams, particularly if your team does well.

- You don't see any player ratings by default. You need to scout players repeatedly to narrow down their range in a variety of ratings. Your scouting director will give you a more detailed report on guys that were scouted once the combine ends.

- (I know we've heard a bit of this before): Vastly improved AI in regards to drafting, trading, and signing FA's. Each GM will have his own philosophy about players and this will affect each team's FA moves, drafting, and trading and provide variation in what each team pursues!

- No green bar in FA signings. Now you have to talk to agents and make them an offer and they will give you feedback once the deal is made. Lowball a guy, and he might stop negotiating with your club!

- Simulated stats are being "tuned" right now to be as realistic as possible.

- Record keeping for both players and coaches in a season and career.


A bad point - No Printing, not even on the PC version. :(

[Bee]

Vastly improved AI? Improved over what? Isn't this a first version?

I'm confused...

[Eaglesfan27]

Vastly improved AI? Improved over what? Isn't this a first version?

I'm confused...


In comparision to Madden. At least I assumed that is what the question was referring to.


Edit: Actually, re-reading that part of the interview, the question and response don't say improved. They say "strong." I added improved (in my own mind) over Madden when reading it quickly. Sorry for the confusion.

[GrantDawg]

Vastly improved AI? Improved over what? Isn't this a first version?

I'm confused...

My guess is over Madden.

[Bee]

So...you could say Maximum Football has "vastly improved graphics!" because you are comparing it to ..ummm...WordPerfect? :D

[Gallifrey]

Improved AI over Madden...now that will not be to hard to do.

I hope EA has guys working on this who understand American football.
I am sure, well kind of maybe sure, that they have a few programmers who understand football like the type the NFL plays.

OK, I am dancing around an issue...but I am sure you can read into all that ramble.

[GrantDawg]

So...you could say Maximum Football has "vastly improved graphics!" because you are comparing it to ..ummm...WordPerfect? :D


They are made by the same company in the same building using much of the same code. Is it really that big a leap to say it will be improved over the other in a certain area?

[Yossarian]

I hope EA has guys working on this who understand American football.

The issue with these things is often not that the devs / designers don't KNOW what is realistic - it's that for various reasons they can't do what they want.

Ie.. If any of us were REALLY coaching an NFL team, we'd probably fall flat on our arse. But that's no fun in a game. So even if they have hard hard hardcore nfl fans / knowledge in house -they'll have to neuter it somewhat to provide a reasonable play experience for the masses.

[Bee]

They are made by the same company in the same building using much of the same code. Is it really that big a leap to say it will be improved over the other in a certain area?

I was making a joke by taking it to an extreme.

Are they actually using some of the same code? As someone not very impressed by Madden's management AI, that would be a big negative to me.

I'll definitely be waiting to see reviews. I'm not nearly as optomistic this game will be good, although I like what they are trying to do and if it's not horrible I might pick it up just to support the concept.

[GrantDawg]

Are they actually using some of the same code? As someone not very impressed by Madden's management AI, that would be a big negative to me.



Hence, the "improved AI."

[Darkiller]

A bad point - No Printing, not even on the PC version. :(

no worries for me, I'm not sure I ever printed a single page out of FOF since I first played back in 1998-99.

[Hurst2112]

anybody know the PC req. for this game? Don't know if they are out yet. I hope the graphics aren't pickey as I only have a laptop with (ugh) shared video.

[Bee]

Hence, the "improved AI."

and hence, my comparison to a graphic improvement over WordPerfect. :D

[GrantDawg]

and hence, my comparison to a graphic improvement over WordPerfect. :D


But that isn't funny. A better line would be "that is like saying Football Mogul has better AI than Maximum Football."

[Eaglesfan27]

I was making a joke by taking it to an extreme.

Are they actually using some of the same code? As someone not very impressed by Madden's management AI, that would be a big negative to me.

I'll definitely be waiting to see reviews. I'm not nearly as optomistic this game will be good, although I like what they are trying to do and if it's not horrible I might pick it up just to support the concept.

One of the interviews I read said that 75% of the code is new, and that only some of the graphics code was remaining. Now, I'm not sure if I necessarily believe that, but if it is true it is encouraging.

[SegRat]

I will now be preordering the PC version as I no longer own a PS2 and no release THIS year for the PSP.

[DaddyTorgo]

oooh this game just looks better and better.

so i'm sure it'll end up dissapointing me

[GrantDawg]

Can I ask....if you have a PC that can play this game, why in the world would you get it for a console?

[Eaglesfan27]

Can I ask....if you have a PC that can play this game, why in the world would you get it for a console?


I can't think of any reason. I'll be preordering for the PC.

[SegRat]

Can I ask....if you have a PC that can play this game, why in the world would you get it for a console?
Good Point!

[Bee]

One of the interviews I read said that 75% of the code is new, and that only some of the graphics code was remaining. Now, I'm not sure if I necessarily believe that, but if it is true it is encouraging.

Yep, that sounds better.

[DaddyTorgo]

from the blog

This is the area I know a lot of people are looking forward to checking out. By now most of you have read that Mel Kiper has commentary for this year's 2006 draft class as well as 39 other classes that are randomly spread throughout your career.

sounds to me like this means there is no cap on career mode, and that the 39 draft classes are randomly distributed throughout however many years you end up playing. so you could get one the first year and then not one for 3 years and then 3 in a row. cool

and from the MN forums

Online you can play with 2 in a single "coach now" game.

sweet...H2H


+1 for this game

[GrantDawg]

from the blog

This is the area I know a lot of people are looking forward to checking out. By now most of you have read that Mel Kiper has commentary for this year's 2006 draft class as well as 39 other classes that are randomly spread throughout your career.

sounds to me like this means there is no cap on career mode, and that the 39 draft classes are randomly distributed throughout however many years you end up playing. so you could get one the first year and then not one for 3 years and then 3 in a row. cool

and from the MN forums

Online you can play with 2 in a single "coach now" game.

sweet...H2H


+1 for this game


H2H......it is official. I am a fan boy.

[astrosfan64]

Can I ask....if you have a PC that can play this game, why in the world would you get it for a console?

If it was being made for the XBOX 360, I would probably debate it.

PC Specs AMD 64 XP 3200, 1GB of RAM and GEFORCE 6800 GT Card. 21 Inch Flat Screen.

XBOX 360 with a 42 in. Plasma TV.

Playing an XBOX 360 game on a 42 in. Plasma TV in 1080I. is simply incredible. I've been a diehard computer gamer, but this system has made me change my mind on certain games.

I actually purchased Oblivion for 360 instead of my Computer. If my computer specs were higher, I would of probably purchased it for the PC. I'm still wishing I purchased it for the PC. Some games, RPG's i like the personal feel of the computer. Though my graphics are better on the 360.

[Logan]

from the blog

This is the area I know a lot of people are looking forward to checking out. By now most of you have read that Mel Kiper has commentary for this year's 2006 draft class as well as 39 other classes that are randomly spread throughout your career.

sounds to me like this means there is no cap on career mode, and that the 39 draft classes are randomly distributed throughout however many years you end up playing. so you could get one the first year and then not one for 3 years and then 3 in a row. cool


I don't think that's what it means. I think the 39 other classes will just show up in a random order over the next 39 years. It would be pretty weird to have a draft (or two or three straight) with zero commentary, no?

[DaddyTorgo]

I don't think that's what it means. I think the 39 other classes will just show up in a random order over the next 39 years. It would be pretty weird to have a draft (or two or three straight) with zero commentary, no?

i think randomly SPREAD is the key term, although with god-knows-who writing the article we don't really know what that means. either way...if it takes 20-30 hours to play a seson...20 hours x 40 seasons=way more time then i would ever play i'm sure

[sabotai]

I don't think that's what it means. I think the 39 other classes will just show up in a random order over the next 39 years. It would be pretty weird to have a draft (or two or three straight) with zero commentary, no?

That's pretty much how it reads to me.

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't think that's what it means. I think the 39 other classes will just show up in a random order over the next 39 years. It would be pretty weird to have a draft (or two or three straight) with zero commentary, no?

That was my interpertation as well. I think there is still a 40 year cap, but that after the 1st year (which will have the real draft from this upcoming year) each year afterwards will have a randomly ordered but pre-recorded draft class.

As far as H2H, I can't wait to play some of you guys online.

[GrantDawg]

If it was being made for the XBOX 360, I would probably debate it.

PC Specs AMD 64 XP 3200, 1GB of RAM and GEFORCE 6800 GT Card. 21 Inch Flat Screen.

XBOX 360 with a 42 in. Plasma TV.

Playing an XBOX 360 game on a 42 in. Plasma TV in 1080I. is simply incredible. I've been a diehard computer gamer, but this system has made me change my mind on certain games.

I actually purchased Oblivion for 360 instead of my Computer. If my computer specs were higher, I would of probably purchased it for the PC. I'm still wishing I purchased it for the PC. Some games, RPG's i like the personal feel of the computer. Though my graphics are better on the 360.

I can sort of see that, but you still have the problem of 1) no patches, and 2) no possibility of mods.

[Eaglesfan27]

Clinic is VERY slow today (probably due to most kids being out of town for Easter already.) So, I'm scouring the web and found a link to a VGsports newsletter about the game.

A few more things that I like which it mentions:

- Not only will you develop relationships with players, but also coaches, agents, and GM's. It seems if you somehow screw GM's over, they will be less likely to deal with you in the future.

- The range of player's "attributes" is never an absolute. They can go up as players develop and gain confidence. They can also drop if a player loses confidence, is injured, or is too fatigued.

- You set up and run practices including both team drills and 1-1 drills: Offense vs Defese, inside drill, pass skeleton, special teams, 1-1 WR vs CB, 1-1 OL vs DL, 1-1 RB vs LB.

- There is both RFA and unrestricted FA.

- You can only set strategies for guys when they are on the sideline (except the QB), but can be given for the next drive, quarter, or the game.

QB strategies: Focus on the deep pass or focus on short passing, focus on working the outside of the field vs across the middle, step up in the pocket vs take a deep drop, stay in the pocket vs scramble as needed, Use the pump fake to freeze the safeties vs don't use the pump fake, Avoid interceptions vs force the ball into tight situations, throw the ball quickly to avoid a sack vs Let the play develop, Throw it harder vs use more touch, Throw it high vs throw it low, focus on your #1 receiver vs spread it around, only throw it past the 1st down marker vs use the whole field. Wow, that is a lot of options for the QB.


OL Strategies: Force the defender inside vs Force the defender outside, Engage the defender vs let the defender come to the OL, Cut Block - yes or no.

WR options: Keep the DB on your inside arm vs cut inside and keep them outside of you, Use your agility to get open vs focus on using speed to get open, cut your routes short and try to jump for the ball vs don't break the routes off.

I'm not as excited about those last two options. However, you can just let them play with no specific instructions.


RB Strategies: Run into the designated hole vs bounce it outside, Stay low and use power vs use moves to try to break a long run, be patient and wait for the O-line to open a hole vs run hard to where the hole should be.

LB Strategies: Try for a big hit vs don't get beat deep, go for the pick vs just make sure you knock the ball down, focus on stopping the run vs focus on stopping the pass.

DB Strategies: Big hit vs don't get beat deep, stay to the inside of the WR vs stay to the outside, try to force the receiver to the outside of the field vs try to force them to the inside, go for interceptions or just make sure you knock the ball down, press vs give a cushion, focus on stopping the run vs focus on stopping the pass.

DL Strategies: Go for the big hit vs don't let anyone by you, rush to the inside of your defender or rush to the outside, focus on stopping the run or the pass.


Pre-Snap Options: You can dictate to the QB on any play what order he should make his reads while running the play. Also, you can order any of the QB Strategies that were already mentioned. You can also order Formation shifts or motion. Quite a few other options as well.

Anyway, my excitement for this game continues to grow which means I'll probably be very disappointed. Of course, I'm hoping that isn't the case.

[gstelmack]

I can sort of see that, but you still have the problem of 1) no patches, and 2) no possibility of mods.

Why does everyone continue to assume you can't have patches on a 360? You're correct on user-created mods, but I've seen this misinformation about no patches on a 360 several times in here...

[Eaglesfan27]

Why does everyone continue to assume you can't have patches on a 360? You're correct on user-created mods, but I've seen this misinformation about no patches on a 360 several times in here...

I've already gotten at least one patch for College Hoops on the 360.

[GrantDawg]

How are you getting patches? Not everyone has a hard-drive for the 360, but even when they did for the Xbox, patches hardly ever happened.

[Eaglesfan27]

How are you getting patches? Not everyone has a hard-drive for the 360, but even when they did for the Xbox, patches hardly ever happened.

With College Hoops, a message popped up saying there was an update available and asked me if I wanted to download it (which was necessary for online play.) I do have a hard drive, but I imagine it might have fit on a memory card.

However, I'm still getting this game for the PC as I think the mod potential is tremendous..

[Passacaglia]

This does seem cool -- no ratings, and having to find out a player's ability during practices seems really cool.

[Eaglesfan27]

This does seem cool -- no ratings, and having to find out a player's ability during practices seems really cool.

It does have ratings, it is just a potentially wide range that it gives you :)

[Emiliano]

Clinic is VERY slow today (probably due to most kids being out of town for Easter already.) So, I'm scouring the web and found a link to a VGsports newsletter about the game.

A few more things that I like which it mentions:

- Not only will you develop relationships with players, but also coaches, agents, and GM's. It seems if you somehow screw GM's over, they will be less likely to deal with you in the future.

- The range of player's "attributes" is never an absolute. They can go up as players develop and gain confidence. They can also drop if a player loses confidence, is injured, or is too fatigued.

- You set up and run practices including both team drills and 1-1 drills: Offense vs Defese, inside drill, pass skeleton, special teams, 1-1 WR vs CB, 1-1 OL vs DL, 1-1 RB vs LB.

- There is both RFA and unrestricted FA.

- You can only set strategies for guys when they are on the sideline (except the QB), but can be given for the next drive, quarter, or the game.

QB strategies: Focus on the deep pass or focus on short passing, focus on working the outside of the field vs across the middle, step up in the pocket vs take a deep drop, stay in the pocket vs scramble as needed, Use the pump fake to freeze the safeties vs don't use the pump fake, Avoid interceptions vs force the ball into tight situations, throw the ball quickly to avoid a sack vs Let the play develop, Throw it harder vs use more touch, Throw it high vs throw it low, focus on your #1 receiver vs spread it around, only throw it past the 1st down marker vs use the whole field. Wow, that is a lot of options for the QB.


OL Strategies: Force the defender inside vs Force the defender outside, Engage the defender vs let the defender come to the OL, Cut Block - yes or no.

WR options: Keep the DB on your inside arm vs cut inside and keep them outside of you, Use your agility to get open vs focus on using speed to get open, cut your routes short and try to jump for the ball vs don't break the routes off.

I'm not as excited about those last two options. However, you can just let them play with no specific instructions.


RB Strategies: Run into the designated hole vs bounce it outside, Stay low and use power vs use moves to try to break a long run, be patient and wait for the O-line to open a hole vs run hard to where the hole should be.

LB Strategies: Try for a big hit vs don't get beat deep, go for the pick vs just make sure you knock the ball down, focus on stopping the run vs focus on stopping the pass.

DB Strategies: Big hit vs don't get beat deep, stay to the inside of the WR vs stay to the outside, try to force the receiver to the outside of the field vs try to force them to the inside, go for interceptions or just make sure you knock the ball down, press vs give a cushion, focus on stopping the run vs focus on stopping the pass.

DL Strategies: Go for the big hit vs don't let anyone by you, rush to the inside of your defender or rush to the outside, focus on stopping the run or the pass.


Pre-Snap Options: You can dictate to the QB on any play what order he should make his reads while running the play. Also, you can order any of the QB Strategies that were already mentioned. You can also order Formation shifts or motion. Quite a few other options as well.

Anyway, my excitement for this game continues to grow which means I'll probably be very disappointed. Of course, I'm hoping that isn't the case.
:eek:

Wow! If only 50% of this stuff works properly, I'm gonna be very happy this summer.

[AlexB]

...Anyway, my excitement for this game continues to grow which means I'll probably be very disappointed. Of course, I'm hoping that isn't the case.

EA Sports games remind me so much of the Malibu Stacy/Lisa Lionheart episode of The Simpsons - 'But she's got a new hat!'

Having said that, my interest is defintely piqued.

[SegRat]

Well I traded in some PSP games that will no longer get any play time. So my copy is reserved and paid in full. Yea Me!

If this game is half as good as it sounds, I dont think I will ever play madden again.

[Senator]

I want to wear the headset and yell "lightning bolt" at LaDainian Tomlinson to see if it helps him run better.

[RoastDuck]

Does anyone know anybody on the development team? Was Joe Stallings mentioned somewhere? I would have a lot more confidence if Mr. G were involved.

Whilst I'll be stunned if EA pulls this off, I hope they do. The potential to develop a new generation of strategic sports sims from their existing stock of waggle-stick crap is huge.

[astrosfan64]

Does anyone know anybody on the development team? Was Joe Stallings mentioned somewhere? I would have a lot more confidence if Mr. G were involved.

Whilst I'll be stunned if EA pulls this off, I hope they do. The potential to develop a new generation of strategic sports sims from their existing stock of waggle-stick crap is huge.

Madden is the best football game ever made. I don't understand why people feel the need to hammer on that game so badly. If you play madden in coach mode you can have one heck of a football simmulation.

[GrantDawg]

I want to wear the headset and yell "lightning bolt" at LaDainian Tomlinson to see if it helps him run better.


You're killing me. :D

[GrantDawg]

Does anyone know anybody on the development team? Was Joe Stallings mentioned somewhere? I would have a lot more confidence if Mr. G were involved.

Whilst I'll be stunned if EA pulls this off, I hope they do. The potential to develop a new generation of strategic sports sims from their existing stock of waggle-stick crap is huge.


Stallings is on the development team, and I think Jim pretty much confirmed they offered a job to him, but he didn't want to move to Florida.

[Senator]

You're killing me. :D


A swing and a miss.

[Passacaglia]

It does have ratings, it is just a potentially wide range that it gives you :)

Ah, I re-read your post on Page 3, and I see where I misunderstood. So you have a wide range where the player's rating lies, and the more you scout him, the narrower the range gets? Interesting. So what happens when the player is on your team?

[Eaglesfan27]

Ah, I re-read your post on Page 3, and I see where I misunderstood. So you have a wide range where the player's rating lies, and the more you scout him, the narrower the range gets? Interesting. So what happens when the player is on your team?


From reading the previews, I think even then it is a range. I don't think there is ever a single number for overall rating. I think it is meant to simulate the uncertainty in evaluating players even if they are on your team.

[dawgfan]

Stallings is on the development team, and I think Jim pretty much confirmed they offered a job to him, but he didn't want to move to Florida.
Stallings had some involvement, but my understanding is that he wasn't the main guy.

I'll be curious to check out the credits - a couple of guys I worked with at MS on Fever were on this project, and I believe they were both integral parts (Art Director and Game Designer/Producer I think)...

[Adamski47]

About the 39 draft classes:

The only thing that bothers me is that eventually, if all of us are using the same draft classes, regardless of which order they fall in for each of us, we are going to see the same studs and duds. Eventually, a reputation will build, especially for some of us (like me) who are notorious for starting over. This could really make things stale as you'll be able to read right through Kiper and see who are the real studs and so on. That, and the "Joe Smith is an amazing RB DRAFT HIM!" threads here at FOFC. Hopefully the 'randomness' of the game will put some twists on to all of this for us.

Anyone understand what I'm saying? I love the idea; I think it's brilliant. However, this could create problems eventually. Definitely a huge step in the direction of progress when it comes to game interaction etc.

[GrantDawg]

Stallings had some involvement, but my understanding is that he wasn't the main guy.

I'll be curious to check out the credits - a couple of guys I worked with at MS on Fever were on this project, and I believe they were both integral parts (Art Director and Game Designer/Producer I think)...


Which is why I said "on the development team." I think he was doing interface, wasn't he?

[stevew]

About the 39 draft classes:

The only thing that bothers me is that eventually, if all of us are using the same draft classes, regardless of which order they fall in for each of us, we are going to see the same studs and duds. Eventually, a reputation will build, especially for some of us (like me) who are notorious for starting over. This could really make things stale as you'll be able to read right through Kiper and see who are the real studs and so on. That, and the "Joe Smith is an amazing RB DRAFT HIM!" threads here at FOFC. Hopefully the 'randomness' of the game will put some twists on to all of this for us.

Anyone understand what I'm saying? I love the idea; I think it's brilliant. However, this could create problems eventually. Definitely a huge step in the direction of progress when it comes to game interaction etc.

I hope its something like this.

Kiper says, "RB Smith has good field vision, and great breakaway speed. I think he has a chance to be a starter in this league. He needs to improve on blah blah blah, etc. I really like this kid."

RB Smith could be graded from say the first to 4th round, and have a slightly different set of abilities each time you run it through, and never will be the same player. But the Kiper commentary could still work for him under a variety of circumstances.

[dawgfan]

Which is why I said "on the development team." I think he was doing interface, wasn't he?
I had been told he was in a producer role (note that there are a variety of such roles on EA projects - not all producers are equal), but I don't know the specifics. And it may be that he had started out in an interface role.

[Logan]

I hope its something like this.

Kiper says, "RB Smith has good field vision, and great breakaway speed. I think he has a chance to be a starter in this league. He needs to improve on blah blah blah, etc. I really like this kid."

RB Smith could be graded from say the first to 4th round, and have a slightly different set of abilities each time you run it through, and never will be the same player. But the Kiper commentary could still work for him under a variety of circumstances.

I think this is exactly how it's going to play out. There would have to be some volatility involved.

[DaddyTorgo]

Stallings is on the development team, and I think Jim pretty much confirmed they offered a job to him, but he didn't want to move to Florida.

hmmm interesting...source?

bummer. if we could have gotten FOF statistical/engine realism out of this game it would be the only game i'd need

[rexallllsc]

EA Sports games remind me so much of the Malibu Stacy/Lisa Lionheart episode of The Simpsons - 'But she's got a new hat!'

Having said that, my interest is defintely piqued.

I lol'd

and I agree.

[GrantDawg]

hmmm interesting...source?

bummer. if we could have gotten FOF statistical/engine realism out of this game it would be the only game i'd need


http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=1035727&postcount=50

Knowing how hard Marc and his team work on creating what's really the essence of a text sim, I'm really honored to have my work mentioned alongside his (even if this is FOF Central).

Seeing the direction EA is headed, I'm somewhat glad I didn't take the offer to move to Florida. I'm not naive enough to think I could have changed their direction. I'm much more interested in adding the types of features FM has.

While I can't put together a large art budget or create an entirely custom interface, I like the direction I'm headed, with larger screens and abandoning the use of 7-pt fonts.

If anyone can give me examples of where I'm using double-clicks where I should be using single-clicks, or places where there are too many screens opened back and forth, I'd be interested in hearing about them.

[DaddyTorgo]

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=1035727&postcount=50

right. i remember that. but i never thought it was referring to this game...i had assumed it was in the past. aaah

[GrantDawg]

right. i remember that. but i never thought it was referring to this game...i had assumed it was in the past. aaah


I seem to remember another conversation shortly before or after that which gave a strong indication that it was in the timeframe of the begining of this production.

[IwasHere]

Flame me now if this question has been asked and answered, but does anyone know who will be doing the Play by Play?

[GMO]

NFL HC available in June.

http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?messageID=544451&sls=2&threadID=63015

[Pumpy Tudors]

NFL HC available in June.

http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?messageID=544451&sls=2&threadID=63015
Unless I missed something, this thread you linked just looks like your run-of-the-mill message board numbskulls who make up news or post what some EB manager told them. Not to shit on your post, but is there anything a little more, um, official?

[Deattribution]

Unless I missed something, this thread you linked just looks like your run-of-the-mill message board numbskulls who make up news or post what some EB manager told them. Not to shit on your post, but is there anything a little more, um, official?


It will be released in June

;)

Though seriously, EBgames does have it listed as 6/20/06, and *usually* they're fairly accurate in their time frames.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've read in multiple previews and multiple other places that the game will be released June 20th. Of course, that could be subject to change.

[AgustusM]

6/20 has been the confirmed release date for some time now

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm packing today, and therefore listening to ESPN Radio in the background. Listening to several hours of draft analysis has me jonesing for this game so much...

[GMO]

Unless I missed something, this thread you linked just looks like your run-of-the-mill message board numbskulls who make up news or post what some EB manager told them. Not to shit on your post, but is there anything a little more, um, official?

Here:

http://www.easports.com/nflheadcoach/index.jsp

[Pumpy Tudors]

Here:

http://www.easports.com/nflheadcoach/index.jsp
Ah, that must be the link you meant to post last time, right? :D

[MacroGuru]

Just to get my 2 cents in, that I will be purchasing this game the day it is released

[Pumpy Tudors]

Well, it looks like I'm not needed to purchase this on release day. :)

(I probably will anyway)

[Greyroofoo]

im definitely waiting for reviews. I don't trust EA

[Antmeister]

im definitely waiting for reviews. I don't trust EA

Agreed. While I am more optimistic about this game, I keep thinking I am being set up or something. I will still wait for reviews.

[Eaglesfan27]

I just found the gamespot nearest to my new house, and I'll be preordering in a few weeks once we move.

[stevew]

If you can get on that EA mailing list, they'll send you a 15 dollar off code about every month. I'll probably use mine on this game, end up with a net savings of at least 9 bucks after shipping, and I won't have to leave the house.

[stevew]

Dunno if it's new news, but it's to be 39.95 for any of the 3 systems. According to the the EAStore. I guess 39.95 for the PC version isn't a suprise. http://eastore.ea.com/shopping/browse/directorymain.jsp?AS=1&keyword=head+coach

[Pumpy Tudors]

If you can get on that EA mailing list, they'll send you a 15 dollar off code about every month. I'll probably use mine on this game, end up with a net savings of at least 9 bucks after shipping, and I won't have to leave the house.
Given where you live, why wouldn't you want to leave the house?

:D

[Flasch186]

will there be advantages to the PC version or are these titles from EA usually Ports?

[stevew]

Given where you live, why wouldn't you want to leave the house?

:D


Price of gas for starters, and the 15 minute trek to civilization. Plus it's annoying having to try to pass the amish on 2 lane roads with so many blind turns.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Price of gas for starters, and the 15 minute trek to civilization. Plus it's annoying having to try to pass the amish on 2 lane roads with so many blind turns.
I have got to make my way up there one day.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Dola

western pennsylvania represent 4 lyfe word up

[Hurst2112]

Agreed. While I am more optimistic about this game, I keep thinking I am being set up or something. I will still wait for reviews.

Hmmm...you sound like me when I was told that FOF was going to be packaged with Madden back in 2001. ;)

[GrantDawg]

Price of gas for starters, and the 15 minute trek to civilization. Plus it's annoying having to try to pass the amish on 2 lane roads with so many blind turns.


Aren't you sensitive to the Amish people that might be reading this? Oh, wait...

[Antmeister]

Hmmm...you sound like me when I was told that FOF was going to be packaged with Madden back in 2001. ;)

Oh man....I remember that. That was the worst version of FOF in regards to the interface. I hated that microscopic scroll bar.

[Yossarian]

There's a lot of animosity towards EA's handling of FOF - but it was from those very rumours of bundling that I first heard of FOF.

When it finally wasn't included with madden, I bought it (I think it was the roster-updated FOF 2002) standalone and have subsequently purchased every version.

[Antmeister]

I always wanted to mention this, but kept forgetting. Isn't is weird that most of us are getting excited about a game that Joe Stallings is rumored to be involved with? This just proves that no matter how one feels about the people who create the game, if the game is solid, people will purchase it.

[Eaglesfan27]

I always wanted to mention this, but kept forgetting. Isn't is weird that most of us are getting excited about a game that Joe Stallings is rumored to be involved with? This just proves that no matter how one feels about the people who create the game, if the game is solid, people will purchase it.

Very interesting point. I never thought I would purchase another game that he was involved with again. I guess I can rationalize it by saying that his role was probably fairly minor. However, your point is well taken.

[RoastDuck]

I always wanted to mention this, but kept forgetting. Isn't is weird that most of us are getting excited about a game that Joe Stallings is rumored to be involved with? This just proves that no matter how one feels about the people who create the game, if the game is solid, people will purchase it.

This crossed my mind also. I wonder if alleged past misdemeanours would preclude any FOFers from buying this product even if it proves solid.

[Eaglesfan27]

This crossed my mind also. I wonder if alleged past misdemeanours would preclude any FOFers from buying this product even if it proves solid.

I can think of at least a few who probably wouldn't buy it due to his involvement no matter how good it is.

[GrantDawg]

Very interesting point. I never thought I would purchase another game that he was involved with again. I guess I can rationalize it by saying that his role was probably fairly minor. However, your point is well taken.


Ditto.

[Antmeister]

This crossed my mind also. I wonder if alleged past misdemeanours would preclude any FOFers from buying this product even if it proves solid.

To be honest, I don't know if too many people knew he was even involved with the game. Either way, if the game is anywhere close to how it is advertised, I think people won't really care. However, I am definitely waiting for those reviews, because you never know.

[AgustusM]

If this game is half as good as it looks to be, I wouldn't care if Osama Bin Laden worked on it.

[Antmeister]

If this game is half as good as it looks to be, I wouldn't care if Osama Bin Laden worked on it.

I think he is the lead quality assurance guy (You know, the head beta tester).

[Eaglesfan27]

I think he is the lead quality assurance guy (You know, the head beta tester).

Osama or Joe?

[Antmeister]

Osama or Joe?

Good question. It was meant as a joke for Osama, but I have no idea if that is Joe's title.

[AgustusM]

http://www.easports.com/nflheadcoach/home.jsp

new intro video on site

not a big deal, but it is something

[Greyroofoo]

Refresh my memory, what did Joe Stallings do to be considered evil?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Refresh my memory, what did Joe Stallings do to be considered evil?
Well, for one, he set my uncle on fire.

Twice.

[Blade6119]

Joe Stallings started WW2, as well as created cancer

[SirFozzie]

Refresh my memory, what did Joe Stallings do to be considered evil?

Accused of borrowing copyrighted images for a test version of a baseball game, and then accused that he had paid off/convinced a reviewer to slam another game in relation to his product.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Accused of borrowing copyrighted images for a test version of a baseball game, and then accused that he had paid off/convinced a reviewer to slam another game in relation to his product.
Thanks for ruining it.

[SirFozzie]

Thanks for ruining it.

any time. :)

[dawgfan]

Accused of borrowing copyrighted images for a test version of a baseball game, and then accused that he had paid off/convinced a reviewer to slam another game in relation to his product.
I'm pretty sure things go deeper than this, but the principles involved are reluctant to publicly disclose all of their issues with him. Suffice to say, he's not trusted by most of those who've worked with him in the past.

[Greyroofoo]

sounds like we need a "Joe Stallings Facts" web page/thread

[ice4277]

sounds like we need a "Joe Stallings Facts" web page/thread

...which is screaming for a Flere diagram.

[SegRat]

http://www.vgsinet.com/newsletter/Madden-Vol3.pdf

[Antmeister]

http://www.vgsinet.com/newsletter/Madden-Vol3.pdf

SegRat, thanks for that link. I have been waiting for a game like this for quite some time. I hope it delivers and not end up being a buggy piece of crap.

[SegRat]

SegRat, thanks for that link. I have been waiting for a game like this for quite some time. I hope it delivers and not end up being a buggy piece of crap.
You and me both.

[astrosfan64]

You and me both.

That Suicane quote is probably the funniest thing I've ever read.

[Eaglesfan27]

You and me both.

Me too.

[ice4277]

Me too.

Me three!



Sorry :(

[Eaglesfan27]

Another preview is up, this one is on teamxbox's site:

http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox/1324/NFL-Head-Coach/p2/


It's a 3 page preview with mostly repetitive information, but a few new tidbits I got out of it:

- Steve Sabol chronicles key moments throughout your career. Having grown up watching old NFL films, this is a nice touch.

- The HC is only going to have good attributes on one side of the ball most of the time, making one of your Coordinators very important to the team's success.

- Related to that, coaches (both coordinators and position) will make suggestions on who should start, injuries, and who they think you should draft and sign in FA. Ignore them enough and you will erode their trust and they will seek to leave your team!

- Not entirely new, but a bit more info on this one. If you lowball a player multiple times, the agent representing him will remember. If you upset an agent enough, he might not negotiate with you in the future, or he might take a harder stance with you. This could potentially eliminate all of the players he represents. (I hope players will fire agents as well.)

- When you want to hire an assistant, you can interview them, asking them a variety of questions and seeing how they respond.

- Not completely new, but reportedly all assistant coaches currently under contract are in the game. Only Bill Parcells and Belicheck aren't in the game. GM's and owners are fictional.

- The coordinators and staff will make suggestions for trades and who you should take in the war room on draft day.

- Clarification of the draft scouting: You can scout at various times throughout the year. More scouting means that you will have a narrower range of "overall rating" but it will still be a range. If you don't scout a guy, the range could be very wide.

- The Off Coordinator and Def Coordinators will also be suggesting plays when you are on the sideline.

- "The Coaches Corner lists every statistic imaginable for every coach in the game." (Hopefully, that is actually a deep list of stats.) Also, stats for the 25 best coaches of all time are in the game to see how you compare.


The preview ends by saying it probably won't appeal to most mainstream gamers, but football strategists should love it.

[Antmeister]

Another preview is up, this one is on teamxbox's site:

http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox/1324/NFL-Head-Coach/p2/


It's a 3 page preview with mostly repetitive information, but a few new tidbits I got out of it:

- Steve Sabol chronicles key moments throughout your career. Having grown up watching old NFL films, this is a nice touch.

- The HC is only going to have good attributes on one side of the ball most of the time, making one of your Coordinators very important to the team's success.

- Related to that, coaches (both coordinators and position) will make suggestions on who should start, injuries, and who they think you should draft and sign in FA. Ignore them enough and you will erode their trust and they will seek to leave your team!

- Not entirely new, but a bit more info on this one. If you lowball a player multiple times, the agent representing him will remember. If you upset an agent enough, he might not negotiate with you in the future, or he might take a harder stance with you. This could potentially eliminate all of the players he represents. (I hope players will fire agents as well.)

- When you want to hire an assistant, you can interview them, asking them a variety of questions and seeing how they respond.

- Not completely new, but reportedly all assistant coaches currently under contract are in the game. Only Bill Parcells and Belicheck aren't in the game. GM's and owners are fictional.

- The coordinators and staff will make suggestions for trades and who you should take in the war room on draft day.

- Clarification of the draft scouting: You can scout at various times throughout the year. More scouting means that you will have a narrower range of "overall rating" but it will still be a range. If you don't scout a guy, the range could be very wide.

- The Off Coordinator and Def Coordinators will also be suggesting plays when you are on the sideline.

- "The Coaches Corner lists every statistic imaginable for every coach in the game." (Hopefully, that is actually a deep list of stats.) Also, stats for the 25 best coaches of all time are in the game to see how you compare.


The preview ends by saying it probably won't appeal to most mainstream gamers, but football strategists should love it.

I swear. This game sounds too good to be true. They are added a number of features I would have never expected. My pessimism tells me that it is going to be lacking in some areas. It just has to. There are so many things that you can do in this game that I can't imagine everything working smoothly in it first incarnation. I really hope they have been working on this for about a couple of years before anyone knew about it. Otherwise this will be the game I have been waiting for in almost a decade.

[gstelmack]

- Related to that, coaches (both coordinators and position) will make suggestions on who should start, injuries, and who they think you should draft and sign in FA. Ignore them enough and you will erode their trust and they will seek to leave your team!

So what do I get to do again if I have to listen to my assistants all the time about who to sign, draft, and start?

[Yossarian]

You get to ignore them

[Bee]

You get to ignore them

and then hire new ones who know their place...

[Eaglesfan27]

Or ignore them sometimes and listen to them when they make good suggestions. Seems like something a real coach might have to deal with.

[scooper]

I was thinking of throwing this game on my Christmas list and waiting patiently. That's not going to happen now.

[Bee]

I'll be out of the country when it's released, so I figure by the time I get back all of you will have the game and I'll know if it's worth buying or not. :D

[ice4277]

I swear. This game sounds too good to be true. They are added a number of features I would have never expected. My pessimism tells me that it is going to be lacking in some areas. It just has to. There are so many things that you can do in this game that I can't imagine everything working smoothly in it first incarnation. I really hope they have been working on this for about a couple of years before anyone knew about it. Otherwise this will be the game I have been waiting for in almost a decade.

Agreed totally. I picture it as some of these options being very limited. Like, when interviewing a coach, you can ask three questions out of maybe a dozen options, every time. I have a feeling things like that may get repetitive.

[redfox000]

I swear. This game sounds too good to be true. They are added a number of features I would have never expected. My pessimism tells me that it is going to be lacking in some areas. It just has to. There are so many things that you can do in this game that I can't imagine everything working smoothly in it first incarnation. I really hope they have been working on this for about a couple of years before anyone knew about it. Otherwise this will be the game I have been waiting for in almost a decade.

Let's hope it is everything they are saying it is. If so, then I agree this is the game I have wanted ever since Sierra went belly up.

[A-Husker-4-Life]

This game, done right would be my FPS 99. I've only been waiting for a game like that, every since I loaded that shitty program on my computer.