What's an OPU???

[Ronde Barber]

I'm new to the game and i see some of you start the game as an OPU (one player universe)....but what does that means??? :confused:

Thanks a lot.

[Cringer]

I'm new to the game and i see some of you start the game as an OPU (one player universe)....but what does that means??? :confused:

Thanks a lot.

All the players are pretty much rated the same, and rated very low too I believe.

[Peregrine]

Basically it's a way to start the game with a completely new and fictional player file, you create one player in the player file creator and it builds the rest. They tend to be very low talent players though which creates some interesting situations.

[Ben E Lou]

Ronde:

The OPU came into popularity with FOF4, because with that version (and the release version of FOF2004), the game could not generate a full fictional universe with a realistic talent pool as it can now. It was the fastest way at the time to get a fully-fictional set of players. In one of the updates to FOF2004 (I think version 5.1), Jim added the ability for the game to do this, so the OPU starts are now only useful for career starts in seasons other than the game default.

Hope that gives you a little perspective on it.

--Ben

[Ronde Barber]

Thanks a lot!!!
Anyway i prefer to start a game with real players (historical) and go on from there. It could be a different challenge starting with an opu file and then adding historical drafts. I'm beginning to love this game!!!! ;)

Another question (for not making another thread):
i've tried to play and sim some seasons and, even with the x factor off, the players have very different ratings. For exemple Strahan was very bad in my first game, and ony averege in the second (1993 draft file). Even with the default 2006 rosters some players have incredibly different ratings...(Urlacher, Randy Moss). Is there a way to have players have almost the same rating every time i start a game?? I'm new to the game and prefer to have some knowledge of good players before ging with the unpredictable x factor (that gives the game a great replay value).
Thanks again.

[yabanci]

.... Is there a way to have players have almost the same rating every time i start a game?? I'm new to the game and prefer to have some knowledge of good players before ging with the unpredictable x factor (that gives the game a great replay value).
Thanks again.

No, you will get variation whether or not you use the x-factor. Also, the x-factor doesn't make things totally unpredictable. There is a little variation in older players, more so in young players. On the other hand, NOT using the x-factor does not mean there will be no variation -- there always is, that's the way the game generates things.

The x-factor actually will give you a more realistic universe. Just go back to the 2000 draft, for example, and look at the first round. Those were the players who were all supposed to be great. If you started a career using real players in 2000 without the x-factor thinking that would give you "realistic" results and had the first round players be the highest rated players (e.g. Sylvester Morris, Trung Canidate), you'd have a not very realistic universe. Many high drafted players pan out and many do not (while many later round players end up being some of the best). The x-factor simulates reality better, giving you the variation where some of the supposedly hot prospects are not always so hot and some of the sleepers turn out to be great.