FBCB2 discussion: Full version now available

[HeavyReign]

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EDIT:

Fast Break College Basketball Released!
Published By: Tara Clover- Tuesday, April 6 2010
Grey Dog Software, a Phoenix based developer of sports management simulation software for personal computers, today announces the release of Fast Break College Basketball. The full version of FBCB is now available for digital download exclusively through Grey Dog Software for $34.95. You can purchase the game at our web store. (https://www.elicense.com/greydogsoftware/store/index.asp)
You can also download the full install or just try the free demo at one of the locations below:
Full Install:
server 1 (http://72.29.67.246/GDS/FBCB2010SETUP.exe)
server 2 (http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB2010SETUP.exe)
Updated Free Demo:
server 1 (http://72.29.67.246/GDS/FBCB2010DEMOSETUP.exe)
server 2 (http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB2010DEMOSETUP.exe)
Please visit our forums (http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum) for more information.

Latest Patch can almost always be found here:
http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=444748

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So this is my FBCB2 discussion/motivation thread. My approach to FBCB has always been to make a game that I enjoy playing. From reading previous comments it seems like most of the requests were along the lines of making certain parts of the game work better rather than making major changes. This is what I've tried to do based on the old requests thread:

FBCB 1.1.1 questions and FBCB 2.0 Suggestions! - Front Office Football Central (http://operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=47979&highlight=fbcb)

Some highlights of the changes include:

*The default league is stored in .csv files now to make editing easier. It is possible to add/remove teams to keep up with real life changes. You can add teams to active leagues as well.

*Transfers have been added

*Redshirting will be much less frequent

*Early departures are now announced after the season more like real life

*The whole assistant phase has been revamped. Coaches can't make lateral moves for atleast 2 seasons. During the offer phase teams can make multiple offers for each coaching vacancy.

*computer teams do a better job of finding good recruits that aren't receiving interest. High quality foreigners shouldn't be available in the later months.


As a point of discussion I'd like to hear thoughts on transfers and what reasons players should have for transferring. Currently in the game it is purely based on issues with playing time. Should there also be a chance of transferring due to being homesick? Any other reasons why a player might transfer?

For the transfer period itself, players rate each school for things including likely playing time and distance from home. Each player has different factors for how important each item is. Each team can make transfer offers until they have used up any available scholarships. You can offer any player but if they don't have a high interest in your school to start with, they are very unlikely to accept your offer.

[Karlifornia]

Coaching changes are another huge reason for transfers, as we saw with the whole "Calipari to Kentucky" situation.

[Balldog]

A couple of things I would like to see you address if possible.
- Reduce effectiveness of fullcourt/trapping press.
- Reduce technical fouls.
- Ability to turn off the shot clock and/or change to 45 seconds.

I love the .csv file!

Can't wait to play this!

[Eaglesfan27]

A couple of things I would like to see you address if possible.
- Reduce effectiveness of fullcourt/trapping press.
- Reduce technical fouls.
- Ability to turn off the shot clock and/or change to 45 seconds.

I love the .csv file!

Can't wait to play this!

I agree with the first 2 and options are always nice.

As far as transferring, I think the 3 biggest reasons (playing time, coaching changes, and being homesick) have already been mentioned. I do think that players should sometimes leave for being homesick (whether that be a family member who is ill, a pure distance thing, etc.) I just wanted to post saying that I'm looking forward to playing this.

[molson]

I don't have much to add, other than encouragement, I'd love to play this game.

I think maybe at a college sports sim should have a little more roster chaos - a few players here and there just randomly quitting, getting kicked out of school, leaving for personal problems, etc. That could be a part of the risk/reward of recruiting - like a "stability/character" rating. Get too many of these guys together and you might have some problems.

[rjolley]

Looking forward to this as well.

As for recruiting, I think the 3 mentioned reasons are the biggest ones. I can't recall transfers happening for other reasons.

As for the game, I'd like to see hardship years added. When a senior is injured for the season before a certain time, they can then be redshirted and allowed to play the next season. Make it so that it is rejected from time to time.

Also, if you're going to move the announcement of going pro to the end of the season, can you add some emails about rumors of a player thinking about it during the season and change the recruiting to not change everyone's interest to none after all scholarships have been filled?

[RedKingGold]

I think I speak for everyone that we all just want to see whatever you have come up with.

FBCB has stood the test of time extremely well, more than many other text sims since released or patched.

It be nice to get an update which fixes the trapping/fullcourt strategy as well as closes the international recruiting gaps which make easier recruiting (easily solved by house rules I know, but if it can get fixed in an udpate, the more the better).

Also, I love .csv as well.

Just release something new for the text-sim community. Please? Pretty Please?

[PilotMan]

Cheerleaders

[Calis]

FBCB is one of those games I remember so fondly I can't even say offhand what I'd want changed or it was lacking. I absolutely loved it, but haven't fired it up in years which I think I need to remedy now.

Is there a place I can download it still? I've seen some shareware type sites with versions but they look to be older and I have no idea how shady the files are.

I imagine I'll have to try and talk to elicense also as I think my license got used up in a reformat years back which led to my stopping.

Fantastic game though, and I'd buy just about anything you put out next.

[Balldog]

Pretty sure you can still download it from his website.

http://www.fbbgames.com/fbcb/

We've (FBCB) come across an apparent algorithm that gives coaches a lifetime contact for winning the FBIT, that would be cool if you could get that fixed.

Other than that and the other stuff I mentioned I don't think there is much to really address.

[Calis]

Yeah I tried there, I'm getting one of those funky default search engine pages, so I wasn't sure if HR had shut down the site or what was going on.

[Buccaneer]

I obviously echo the sentiments that whatever you come up with, would be great for me (esp. a revamped assistant coaching phase).

Couple of thoughts. I can't comment about transfers. Truthfully, I don't know how they work in real life and wouldn't know how important they would be in FBCB.

If redshirting will be much less frequent (assuming by the AI), what will prevent a human player from taking advantage of redshirting as we do now (i.e., redshirting all freshmen and cranking them up with training, esp. conditioning)?

In looking back at my (and other) suggestions, I think one of the main comments, besides the asst. coaching phase, was the exploits of OOC scheduling (front-loading, cupcaking, etc.) and the lack of travel costs/fatigue. Can anything be done there?

Again, I look forward to playing FBCB again in a few months with my son, even if it's 1.1.1. He keeps asking when we will be playing again. The game is so good that it has become our gaming highlight of the year.

[Ben E Lou]

- Reduce effectiveness of fullcourt/trapping press.
HR, in case you're not aware, this is a huge imbalance in the game. The easiest way to win is:

1. Recruit based on steals above all else.
2. Max train every player on defense/steals.
3. Maximize pressing/trapping on defense.
4. Pwn.

This really needs to be taken care of.

[MrBug708]

A little more balance on where the recruits come from. Top 5 talent from Idaho and Montana isn't very realistic. A little less randomness on it as well. No idea how that would work, but ya...

[Radii]

Single Player

-- I feel that the game is essentially 'solved' with the steals/pressing & trapping strategy. Steals and Blocks seem to be completely independent of any other defensive rating, so you can take a guy with no talent in any area(including PRD) but give him an A in Steals and make him an all-american. FBCB: Learning the System - Front Office Football Central (http://operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=59648) or pretty much any successful team in our online league for examples.

-- Agree w/ Bucc on frontloading schedules. Fatigue carrying over from day to day would be big for this and could add an interesting dynamic to tournament time.

The game isn't perfect outside of that, but I personally don't have any huge preferences on what needs to be changed.

Multi-Player

-- Assistant Hiring is a huge fun-killer in multiplayer.

-- Some sort of stage management with exports to make sure that an export fits the stage its being imported for. If a user exports off of Day 1 of assistant hiring because he didn't download the updated league files, and then I import that file into Day 3 of assistant hiring, the game lets me, and the game attempts to apply hiring instructions that are no longer applicable. Hopefully that makes sense. Similar things can happen with recruiting and scheduling, exporting off an earlier file can mess up the results and goes unchecked.

-- There aren't any HTML pages dealing with preseason tournaments, conference tournaments, or the NCAA/NIT tournament. just tournament brackets would be enough I think :) The fact that there is nothing done for the postseason in the HTML hurts the immersion a bit.

-- Human Scheduling Weirdness/tedium - the biggest problem with multiplayer scheduling is that if UGA tries to schedule Georgia Tech to play a game on Dec 14 and Ga Tech tries to schedule UGA to play on Dec 15 in the same scheduling round, both games get scheduled and the two teams end up playing twice. It would be nice if it were easier for two human teams to schedule each other outside of the request->response over two stages deal.

-- Assistant Hiring needs a "cpu hire" team option. A coach can let the CPU do everything for them from scheduling to recruiting, but there is no way to have the CPU handle assistant hiring. So when a coach disappears for a week during assistant hiring, the only two options are to fire the head coach, or have the commish manually hire for the coach.

-- CPU recruiting needs to work a lot better. If a human coach submits an export for Recruiting Month 1, Recruiting Month two but forgets to export for Recruiting Month 3, turning on CPU Recruiting for that coach is catestrophic. The CPU doesn't build on existing recruiting actions, it deletes the entire call and contact list and starts over.


-- Depth Chart verification - There's a current bug where a team's depth chart may be incomplete/illegal going into a new season.. no starting lineup, or multiple players set to start at Center, some weird things happen. If a team in multiplayer is inactive/doesn't fully correct this on their own, the results from this end up being totally off the wall. Players will end up playing for other teams, stats get very messed up. You'll end up with guys that play 70 games a season because they're playing for two teams, etc.


The fact that so many players care so much about a game that's 6 years old now is a great testament to how good a game it is. I'd love to see what could be done in a new version :)

[Radii]

We've (FBCB) come across an apparent algorithm that gives coaches a lifetime contact for winning the FBIT, that would be cool if you could get that fixed.


Coach Data (http://www.fbcb-fofc.com/league/coaches/coach966.htm)

That's the coach in question. Alabama's goals are to avoid last place in the SEC, but this coach's "performance is the stuff of legend" :D I know its a football school, but someone in the athletic department would have noticed they have a basketball team by now!


HR, in case you're not aware, this is a huge imbalance in the game. The easiest way to win is:

1. Recruit based on steals above all else.
2. Max train every player on defense/steals.
3. Maximize pressing/trapping on defense.
4. Pwn.

This really needs to be taken care of.

I'll go ahead and quote this again to emphasize it. If nothing else changes in a new version of the game, but this one thing gets balanced in some way, it'd be worth $35 to me.

[FBPro]

Where can I re-download the game?

[samifan24]

Glad to hear HeavyReign is willing to listen to our input for FBCB2. Hope we see this game in time!

[RonCo]

It would be nice if you could add a column to the players csv file to indicate if they are red-shirting for those of use who fiddle with that. :) Why do players transfer? ------------------------ - Playing time - Recruited over - Home-sick - Injuries - Asked to redshirt - Desn't get along with the coach Academic Suspensions: ---------------------- It would be nice if the academic suspensions happened at realistic times, too, rather than at the end of every month. Redshirts: --------- It might be useful to have players make it known that they don't want to red-shirt, and if you do tell them they have to you might wind up losing them to transfer. In addition, they might ask if you intend to redshirt them during the recruiting process--or make you promise them not to. There are some options available there, depending on how complex you want to get.

[RonCo]

Hmm...for whatever reasons I can't get the formatting to work right. Sorry.

[Swaggs]

Not much to add -- I've always enjoyed the way the game plays as a single player. I like the sound of making coaching assistants jump around a little less, but am a little hesitant on how the declaring for the NBA stuff might throw off recruiting. It might make it better if you had an early and late signing period -- it would certainly make things more challenging, as there are often seasons where my recruiting has been wrapped up in the first month of signees.

Anyway -- I love the game, as is. I'm more here for motivation/support than any suggestions.

[sjshaw]

Lots of input (http://fbcb-fofc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=20092) over at FBCB-FOFC. It's interspersed through the thread, starting about halfway down.

[sovereignstar]

RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting (http://rapidshare.com/files/311358924/FbcbFullVersion.zip.html)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/4b125g

[HeavyReign]

Yeah I tried there, I'm getting one of those funky default search engine pages, so I wasn't sure if HR had shut down the site or what was going on.

For now you can access the page here:

Fast Break College Basketball (http://64.22.96.60/~reign78/fbcb/)

The domain expired last week because the emails were going to one of my old email addresses that I never check. It should be working again soon.

[gstelmack]

I'll just chime in here to say that unless I post arguing with him, consider me a +1 on whatever Radii says. The FOFC-FBCB league has discussed this stuff ad nauseum, and he's summarized it pretty well above. The base game is really good, just a few quirks / exploits / usage issues to iron out, and given how long I've played the game I'm more than willing to pony up some dough for a cleanup pass.

[cubboyroy1826]

HR great to see you working on this. I will go with what Radii says. I love this game and am excited about whatever you come up with.

[HeavyReign]

The issue with pressure d will be addressed. I haven't gotten to it yet but it is on my list. If anyone has a save file with a super stealing team already built that will help me out when I start testing it. I'll also go over the thready Radii posted.


A couple of things I would like to see you address if possible.
- Reduce technical fouls.
- Ability to turn off the shot clock and/or change to 45 seconds.
Should be possible

As for the game, I'd like to see hardship years added. When a senior is injured for the season before a certain time, they can then be redshirted and allowed to play the next season. Make it so that it is rejected from time to time.
This is on my list of things to look at.

Also, if you're going to move the announcement of going pro to the end of the season, can you add some emails about rumors of a player thinking about it during the season and change the recruiting to not change everyone's interest to none after all scholarships have been filled?
There is a top prospects for the draft screen. Emails should also be possible.

If redshirting will be much less frequent (assuming by the AI), what will prevent a human player from taking advantage of redshirting as we do now (i.e., redshirting all freshmen and cranking them up with training, esp. conditioning)?

If a player is not willing to redshirt, the option will be disabled for that player.

In looking back at my (and other) suggestions, I think one of the main comments, besides the asst. coaching phase, was the exploits of OOC scheduling (front-loading, cupcaking, etc.) and the lack of travel costs/fatigue. Can anything be done there?
I'm going to work on this as well. I'll probably do a little brainstorming session on this when I get there. I have some ideas for how I'm going to deal with it but I need to write it down and make sure it all makes sense.

A little more balance on where the recruits come from. Top 5 talent from Idaho and Montana isn't very realistic. A little less randomness on it as well. No idea how that would work, but ya...
There may be something that can be done in terms of the states the recruits are generated in. It would be harder get more specific though in terms of focusing on certain cities for instance. I don't know that you could say it never happens to have elite talent in weird places but it should certainly be more rare.

Some sort of stage management with exports to make sure that an export fits the stage its being imported for. If a user exports off of Day 1 of assistant hiring because he didn't download the updated league files, and then I import that file into Day 3 of assistant hiring, the game lets me, and the game attempts to apply hiring instructions that are no longer applicable. Hopefully that makes sense. Similar things can happen with recruiting and scheduling, exporting off an earlier file can mess up the results and goes unchecked.

Shouldn't be too hard to address

There aren't any HTML pages dealing with preseason tournaments, conference tournaments, or the NCAA/NIT tournament. just tournament brackets would be enough I think The fact that there is nothing done for the postseason in the HTML hurts the immersion a bit.
On the list

Human Scheduling Weirdness/tedium - the biggest problem with multiplayer scheduling is that if UGA tries to schedule Georgia Tech to play a game on Dec 14 and Ga Tech tries to schedule UGA to play on Dec 15 in the same scheduling round, both games get scheduled and the two teams end up playing twice. It would be nice if it were easier for two human teams to schedule each other outside of the request->response over two stages deal.
I've redone the scheduling interface but I'll do more testing for scheduling between human teams. My goal is to make it so you can agree on a date and both submit during the same stage.

Assistant Hiring needs a "cpu hire" team option. A coach can let the CPU do everything for them from scheduling to recruiting, but there is no way to have the CPU handle assistant hiring. So when a coach disappears for a week during assistant hiring, the only two options are to fire the head coach, or have the commish manually hire for the coach.
Cpu hiring has already been added.

CPU recruiting needs to work a lot better. If a human coach submits an export for Recruiting Month 1, Recruiting Month two but forgets to export for Recruiting Month 3, turning on CPU Recruiting for that coach is catestrophic. The CPU doesn't build on existing recruiting actions, it deletes the entire call and contact list and starts over.


This is on my list as well.

Depth Chart verification - There's a current bug where a team's depth chart may be incomplete/illegal going into a new season.. no starting lineup, or multiple players set to start at Center, some weird things happen. If a team in multiplayer is inactive/doesn't fully correct this on their own, the results from this end up being totally off the wall. Players will end up playing for other teams, stats get very messed up. You'll end up with guys that play 70 games a season because they're playing for two teams, etc.

I should have this fixed but I'll do some testing to make sure.

That's the coach in question. Alabama's goals are to avoid last place in the SEC, but this coach's "performance is the stuff of legend" I know its a football school, but someone in the athletic department would have noticed they have a basketball team by now!
I have an old league file that I'll use to see what's going on here.

It would be nice if the academic suspensions happened at realistic times, too, rather than at the end of every month.

Maybe something more like 2 possible suspension periods: oct-dec and jan+

[whomario]

I´d like to chime in with sth. that shouldn´t be changed, also in relation to the steal-recruits :

Please leave it that you will have specialists and such great variety of players.

As good as TCB/DDSCB (from over at Wolverine) are, they don´t nearly offer the immersiveness of your game as basically recruits are too similar. 5 star = awesome all arround, 3 star = average all arround
Whereas in FBCB you could get a 3 star guy that´s great for your system (not just steals) and 5 star guys could be high potential guys with little game or great in some but terrible in other areas.

[HeavyReign]

I'd expect the steals adjustments to be within the game engine itself rather than something like having less players who are good at stealing.

[RedKingGold]

I guess the next question that has to be asked: Is there a tentative timetable for the next update?

[Klinglerware]

HR, in case you're not aware, this is a huge imbalance in the game. The easiest way to win is:

1. Recruit based on steals above all else.
2. Max train every player on defense/steals.
3. Maximize pressing/trapping on defense.
4. Pwn.

This really needs to be taken care of.

Hey, is that how Tennessee is dominating our FBCB league?

[Ben E Lou]

I'd expect the steals adjustments to be within the game engine itself rather than something like having less players who are good at stealing.Yes yes. Thumbs up. QFT. +1. IWS. And whatever other "I agree" things I can say here. ;)

A really fun thing in text sims is building a team around a certain strategy. FBCB probably does this better than any other text sim I've played. It's just that this particular strategy is overpowered. If a team is filled with guys who are generally good all-around talents with a strength in defense, then by all means, the press/trap thing should work well. The problem isn't the strategy itself; it's that you can execute it with a bunch of players who are mediocre or even poor otherwise and win the whole shebang, at least in SP.

So, per your request above for a stacked steals team, I would be looking more for a team of 1 to 3-star steals guys that is winning far more than it should than a team that has been running the strategy for 10-15 years and has built itself up to 100ish prestige and therefore has basically nothing but 3 to 5 star guys who are good at steals. The former team should cause some problems for a top-tier team, and maybe pull off an upset to get to the Sweet 16 or even Elite 8 from time to time, but as it stands now, that team is a legit title contender. The latter *should* be a national title contender, but they shouldn't win every game by 40 as they do now. ;)

[Ben E Lou]

Hey, is that how Tennessee is dominating our FBCB league?
I haven't played MP because of the existence of this imbalance, so I don't know for sure. But unless there's some other one out there that hasn't been mentioned, I can't imagine building a team to elite status in MP without using this strat.

[k0ruptr]

My suggestion is a bit different from other peoples, but I'd just suggest to make sure the game has no obvious memory leaks in the new version, and works on all different operating systems, maybe say back to windows 2k? or XP should be fine. I think increasing the compatibility with windows 7, vista, and XP would cover most of the user base. But its always a good idea to cover a couple older ones, just in case someone wants to throw it on an older machine if thats all they have.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

If assuring an additional purchase motivates FBCB2 at all, then count me in.

[Calis]

I feel pretty inadequate in my FBCB skills now because I played this for probably hundreds of hours and didn't know about this steal/trap imbalance, so apparently I never noticed it or attempted it.

Glad I didn't. The strategies I did try seemed to work about as well as I expected them to with the personnel I had, so it never felt gamey to me.

[k0ruptr]

I am also a definite buy as soon as we can order, hell I might even buy 2 copies if it helps.

[tarcone]

Legal issues might cause a player to transfer

[sjshaw]

Please have player development tied at least partially to playing time.

[sjshaw]

The issue with pressure d will be addressed. I haven't gotten to it yet but it is on my list. If anyone has a save file with a super stealing team already built that will help me out when I start testing it. I'll also go over the thready Radii posted.

Just look at any team Al has put on the floor in FOFCFBCB. I'm sure he would tell you which year was his best team and radii probably has an archived file from that season.

If a player is not willing to redshirt, the option will be disabled for that player.

If this is going in the game, it would be really helpful to have this information available when recruiting the player.

[sjshaw]

Hey, is that how Tennessee is dominating our FBCB league?

Yes.

[Marmel]

A couple of cosmetic things that would be cool:

1) Some way to keep track of your assistant coaches who have gone on to become head coaches - to see how successful they become. Like a coaching tree.

2) The ability to tag recruits even if you lose them, so you can track their careers easily.

3) The ability to create a new school and start from scratch.

4) An easy way to set all team's prestige to one number and all conference prestige to one number. For example, all conferences prestige 2, all teams prestige 30 and let the best teams/conferences rise to the top.

5) In single player, but even more so in multi-player, the ability for human coaches to actually vote in the Coaches Poll.

[Groundhog]

A minor issue, but in FBCB there are a ton of bigmen who do nothing but rebound, and average 10+ boards a game with only 5 or so points per game. In real life you don't see so many rebounding specialists, and I suspect that the low SHT/INS ratings of the player to go with their position (guards are set to shoot more in the ini file) means that these guys just aren't taking many shots. I would like to see teams penalised for having these one dimensional players on the court a little more, by making them take more shots.

[cartman]

I'd like to see a beer tent added to the game.

[Klinglerware]

Glad to hear that you are working on this again, HR.

My .02--I know that nobody wants to micromanage academics, but with that being said, I think that academics should count for something. As someone who often plays FBCB with Ivy League schools, it is a tad unrealistic that I can recruit someone with a 850 SAT score and see him get through without any academic difficulties.

A relatively simple solution would be to assign a rating to each school based on academic rigor. 3-Ivy/Service Academy type schools that cut their athletes no slack, 2-Schools like Duke and Stanford, which are normally considered elite academically, but can still manage to keep athletes with good (but not necessarily stellar) academics eligible, 1-Everyone else.

So, the school's academic rating could be coupled with the player's academic rating to determine the probability that player will be suspended due to academics at any given point. So, a guy with a 850 will be more likely to run into trouble at a 3 school, but may skate through a 1 school.

Again, this solution does not require micromanagement since it will only affect the chance of suspension. But, if you are coaching a school with higher academic standards, it does force you to do a cost-benefit on whether recruiting a low academic performer is worth the trouble.

[timmynausea]

I just wanted to chime in to say my only real complaints have already been addressed quite a bit - steals and foreign recruits. Can't wait to play the new game.

[RPI-Fan]

Glad to hear that you are working on this again, HR.

My .02--I know that nobody wants to micromanage academics, but with that being said, I think that academics should count for something. As someone who often plays FBCB with Ivy League schools, it is a tad unrealistic that I can recruit someone with a 850 SAT score and see him get through without any academic difficulties.

A relatively simple solution would be to assign a rating to each school based on academic rigor. 3-Ivy/Service Academy type schools that cut their athletes no slack, 2-Schools like Duke and Stanford, which are normally considered elite academically, but can still manage to keep athletes with good (but not necessarily stellar) academics eligible, 1-Everyone else.

So, the school's academic rating could be coupled with the player's academic rating to determine the probability that player will be suspended due to academics at any given point. So, a guy with a 850 will be more likely to run into trouble at a 3 school, but may skate through a 1 school.

Again, this solution does not require micromanagement since it will only affect the chance of suspension. But, if you are coaching a school with higher academic standards, it does force you to do a cost-benefit on whether recruiting a low academic performer is worth the trouble.

I'm for a simple version of this - but if you penalize good academic schools you at least need to reward them by giving them some kind of boost on recruits with strong academics. Maybe to spice it up, maybe get a boost for recruits with a good GPA (SAT would be irrelevant for determining the academic boost a school gets).

[stevew]

Aren't package deals somewhat common. Like you recruit a high level player but you also have to take one of his somewhat inferior friends(or brother)?

Also some sort of "tipping point" where if player X goes pro, teammates Y and Z become highly likely to follow.

[Marmel]

Oooh, I have one more....I love the way the prestige scale works from 1-100, but there are a few programs that transcend this scale. Either have certain teams (UNC, UCLA as 2 examples) set as a legendary program - meaning even if their prestige dips due to some bad seasons, it should be relatively easy to get them back up. Or, if a team achieves some legendary accomplishments, they should also get tagged as a legendary program (Duke since Coack K?).

Also, teams can lose this legendary team tag, but it would take a while (some teams from decades ago who never kept up the commitment, or Indiana if they don't get their shit together).

Anyway, this type of thing is part of the allure of college hoops to me, and would be neat to have it reflected in the game somehow.

[Klinglerware]

I'm for a simple version of this - but if you penalize good academic schools you at least need to reward them by giving them some kind of boost on recruits with strong academics. Maybe to spice it up, maybe get a boost for recruits with a good GPA (SAT would be irrelevant for determining the academic boost a school gets).

Top tier recruits probably won't be lured by an Ivy even if they have strong academics, though they might think about major conference schools like Stanford or Duke. Mid-tier recruits with Ivy academic credentials definitely would look at an Ivy League school much more favorably than other mid-major schools, so a top-tier academic school definitely should get a recruiting boost for those guys.

Perhaps the "Ivy Bonus" would be a sliding scale depending on a recruit's academic and athletic rating? Something like:

- High Athletics, Low Academics - No bonus interest
- Low Athletics, Low Academics - No bonus interest
- High Athletics, High Academics - Some bonus, but not too much (perhaps major conference elites like Stanford & Duke might get more of a bump)
- Low Athletics, High Academics - High bonus interest

Again, this would be a continuum, so someone with average athletics and high academics would still have significant bonus interest, not as low as the guys who are high on both academics and athletics, but not as high as a low athletics, high academics guy.

[Oilers9911]

100 point baskets, 50 point free throws. You know, maximum customization.

Seriously though, good to see you back at work on this.

[bhlloy]

There may be something that can be done in terms of the states the recruits are generated in. It would be harder get more specific though in terms of focusing on certain cities for instance. I don't know that you could say it never happens to have elite talent in weird places but it should certainly be more rare.


HR - would this be something that community involvement help with? i.e. if somebody (I'd be happy to volunteer :D ) went through and figured out a strat figure for where NCAA D1 players actually came from by city (could even go down to HS) would that be enough to factor into the game w/ some randomization or is it more complicated than that? It's been a while since I played FBCB and I can't remember exactly how recruiting distance/regions worked...

Even if it was purely cosmetic, would add a level of immersion to the game IMO to be an SoCal school and be getting a ton of guys from one of the powerhouse LA high schools like Fairfax. And if it could be more than that (distance from home/building up pipelines with certain HS etc...) then that's even more awesome, although it sounds like that might be out of scope for the next version.

[HeavyReign]

I suppose if I actually had the data it could be done. If you had a group of core schools per state then you could force a certain percentage of recruits depending on the state to come from those schools while leaving the rest up to the normal distribution. Even a breakdown of schools by class could possibly be useful here.

I've been doing some testing on the steals issue. With the tweaks I had made previously to the new code, the top stealing FOFC-FBCB team from this year Georgia Tech averaged 12.7 steals per game over the rest of their season after averaging over 18 steals up to the point of the current save. That's a good start. Once I'm sure the overall numbers are in check I'll take a look at making sure the risk/reward of pressing and trapping looks good and that the effects on stamina are also appropriate.

If anyone wants a sort of band-aid fix using the old version, open up the FBCB.ini file and look for this line:

StealRate=102

Change the number to something more like 60-70.

[Balldog]

If anyone wants a sort of band-aid fix using the old version, open up the FBCB.ini file and look for this line:

StealRate=102

Change the number to something more like 60-70.

You da man!

[rowech]

I downloaded the demo to this and enjoyed it. How long are we talking before a new version? I hate to fork over $30 and then three months later see a new version.

[bhlloy]

Also I can't remember exactly how FBCB handles foreign players, but in general IMO they should be much more underdeveloped than US born players, and should more than likely come through one of the big prep schools rather than be recruited out of Africa/Europe. Yes it does happen but these days prep schools are far more common if I'm understanding correctly.

[HeavyReign]

I downloaded the demo to this and enjoyed it. How long are we talking before a new version? I hate to fork over $30 and then three months later see a new version.

I'd suggest waiting then. I've got someone helping me with the images used in the game and I don't know how fast they are going to get stuff to me. I'd start with a timeline of this basketball season and we'll go from there. I'll likely offer the old version at a reduced price as well fairly soon.

[Groundhog]

I'd suggest waiting then. I've got someone helping me with the images used in the game and I don't know how fast they are going to get stuff to me. I'd start with a timeline of this basketball season and we'll go from there. I'll likely offer the old version at a reduced price as well fairly soon.

Great news. :D

[rowech]

I'd suggest waiting then. I've got someone helping me with the images used in the game and I don't know how fast they are going to get stuff to me. I'd start with a timeline of this basketball season and we'll go from there. I'll likely offer the old version at a reduced price as well fairly soon.

Thanks for being honest with me. I'll be watching the development of what's to come.

[HeavyReign]

For recruiting, there have been comments that it is hard to figure out which players are likely to be good defenders as blocks and steals don't really correlate much to PSD and PRD. My thought here was to include a dFG% stat on the recruit stats or some sort of defensive reputation grade. While it wouldn't be super accurate it would give you a hint of whether the player is capable of playing defense or not before scouting. Thoughts?

[Atocep]

For recruiting, there have been comments that it is hard to figure out which players are likely to be good defenders as blocks and steals don't really correlate much to PSD and PRD. My thought here was to include a dFG% stat on the recruit stats or some sort of defensive reputation grade. While it wouldn't be super accurate it would give you a hint of whether the player is capable of playing defense or not before scouting. Thoughts?

I'd like to see a defensive reputation grade or some sort of indicator. Maybe an on the ball defense skill? I love stats, but I'd rather see a rating of some sort for defensive ability than the dFG% stat.

[rjolley]

Yeah, I like the on ball defense skill approach. That would give us an idea of how much pressure the player will put on the ball and work with PSD, PRD, STL, and BLK to give a better idea of how well the player plays defense.

[timmynausea]

I'll throw in another vote for the on the ball defense rating.

[dunkem]

While I think the defense fg% stat would be great in determining a recruit's defensive ability, I'm not sure if it's realistic since it's not really a readily available player stat out there. Team stat, yeah, but individual stat, I don't know. I think it's actually part of the "feeling out" process to not have the stat available until actually scouting the recruit out to get a sense of defensive ability. With this stats available, the scouting coach is really going to be useless.

One other thing that could be improved is the coaching exodus after success. While there is always a chance that assistants will leave for bigger, better opportunities, I think having everyone leave after success is kind of too much. I think once all the coaching movement is limited, multiplayer assistant rounds won't be as terrible.

[GobBluth]

First off, it's GREAT to see this thread. I've probably put in over 200 seasons with this game and always get pulled back in every March.

As far as suggestions for FBCB2, the biggies (steals exploit, assistant coach movement, etc.) have all been mentioned. Other things I would like to see are more to improve immersion than the actual game play. Things like:

- I'd like to get an email that lets me know when any player is about to break an NCAA record or when one of my players is about to break a school record (or move into the top 5 or whatever).

- Similarly for coaches and schools, it would be cool if, at the end of the year, it's noted that I set a new win record for my school, or that we won our 3rd straight conference championship, or that I just had my 8th player picked in the 1st round of the NBA draft, etc.

- More stats and record keeping in general. For instance - pace independent stats for teams, expand the record books beyond the top ten, etc.

That's all I have off the top of my head. Really looking forward to seeing how FBCB2 turns out.

[endemicFOF]

HR,

Glad to see you are considering making a new version of the FBCB game(although the first one was as close to perfect as a text-sim has ever been, it's tough to follow greatness...no pressure man! I hope you're considering an update to FBB as well, as I purchased a new CPU and can't find my old liscense for the game). As others have stated, advanced notice on potential record breakers around the league, updated pre-season/in-season/post-season tournaments(3 of them now, right?) and a tad bit more detail/in-depth ratings will make an already great game, pretty damn close to perfect. Take all the time you need, I'll buy the game regardless of when it comes out.

[Glengoyne]

This thread got me to go out and try to reactivate my old license. I'm still trying to make headway with elicense. To think that a new version might not be all that far off has got me excited about this product again.

[HeavyReign]

For any issues with finding your license with FBB and FBCB you can send me a pm. Just let me know what name it was purchased under and I should be able to get it sorted out.

[Thomkal]

This thread got me to go out and try to reactivate my old license. I'm still trying to make headway with elicense. To think that a new version might not be all that far off has got me excited about this product again.

I just installed FBCB this week on a new computer and had no problem getting the license from Elicense. Just give them as much info as you can-email address you might have used at the time, your name, etc. Check out their FAQ for the types of info that will be helpful.

[RealDeal]

Steals are a big issue. Basically, the right solution would be to balance steals with greater stamina loss and good handlers breaking the press for layups more frequently (as opposed to simply dialing down total steals, which is less elegant).

To the extent other "systems" such as a three point team or a slow-pace Princeton style were viable, this would also be a nice way of balancing steals.

Player development should be based at least somewhat on playing time. I have won championships with fourth and fifth year seniors who barely played a minute in their previous career.

Transfers do not excite me much. Please don't over-do this or have an off switch.

The different types of defense seem to make no material difference.

Scheduling gets painful over time, but as you are aware, coach hiring is soulcrushing in both single and multi player.

There is a bug in the current game where if you run out of players, a minned out guy named Stephen Jones will suddenly join your roster. After the game if you click on Stephen Jones in the boxscore, it crashes the game.

[RealDeal]

Just look at any team Al has put on the floor in FOFCFBCB. I'm sure he would tell you which year was his best team and radii probably has an archived file from that season.

I don't know if it was quite my best stealing team, but it was a extremely good stealing team that was my best overall team, but a good team to look at was the year that we had Craig Williams at PG as a 5th year senior and Hellmer as a 3rd year Soph at SG.

Williams is a great example of some of the engine problems as he happened to have pathetic PRD, but I didn't appear to suffer for it.

A recent team to look at was just two years ago, with Lowell Rucker at PG, Chris Owens at SG and McKinley Spriggs at SF. That may have been my best pure steals team.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

[QUOTE=RealDeal;2178732]
Williams is a great example of some of the engine problems as he happened to have pathetic PRD, but I didn't appear to suffer for it.

QUOTE]

Absolutely love this game and have used the steals strategy as well. However, when given the choice of say a 10 PRD 3 STL and a 3 PRD 10 STL, I would always choose the guy with the higher perimeter defense, but what you are saying is always go steals no matter what?

[RealDeal]

[QUOTE=RealDeal;2178732]

Absolutely love this game and have used the steals strategy as well. However, when given the choice of say a 10 PRD 3 STL and a 3 PRD 10 STL, I would always choose the guy with the higher perimeter defense, but what you are saying is always go steals no matter what?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: one good perimeter defender is practically useless in this game. One good steals guy is moderately useful. Three good perimeter defenders at PG/SG/SF is good in this game, but three steals guys at those positions is much better.

[sjshaw]

I would like to see Team Prestige be lessened as a factor in recruiting.

Currently, if a higher-prestige team "takes the lead" in recruiting a player, they get the player 100% of the time. I'd love to see factors such as distance from home and early playing time opportunity be more of a factor. No need to go crazy with it, but some variation and fine-tuning would be nice.

[Emmett13]

I'd just like to say that the original FBCB is the greatest text sim I've ever played.

I do know one fix: low-major teams (mainly teams under 10 prestige) would often just have 3 or 4 scholarships taken which always bothered me.

[Emmett13]

Also a name file with more...ethnic names. More Laquavious and things like that. Also there weren't any African players but there would be some from China and places like that.

[whomario]

I'd just like to say that the original FBCB is the greatest text sim I've ever played.

I do know one fix: low-major teams (mainly teams under 10 prestige) would often just have 3 or 4 scholarships taken which always bothered me.

what do you mean by that ? Not enough scholarship players on those schools ? Not an expert, but isn´t like that IRL ? I distinctly remember that when Bucknell made their "run" a couple years back (05 or 06 ?) they had only 5 players on scholarship.

[Klinglerware]

what do you mean by that ? Not enough scholarship players on those schools ? Not an expert, but isn´t like that IRL ? I distinctly remember that when Bucknell made their "run" a couple years back (05 or 06 ?) they had only 5 players on scholarship.

The Patriot League only allowed basketball scholarships until recently, and not all of the schools adopted the practice at the same time. I believe that Bucknell was transitioning to a full scholarship program at that time.

So, Bucknell's case was certainly not the norm.

[HeavyReign]

I've done a bunch of work on the cpu recruiting code and I'm going to do more. The scholarship issue was already addressed. I'm going to make it so there is more of a variety of approaches that cpu coaches take to recruiting. For instance, there will be some that focus on steals using the strategy the Radii detailed. Does anyone else have any team building strategies they would like to share?

[Emmett13]

I've done a bunch of work on the cpu recruiting code and I'm going to do more. The scholarship issue was already addressed. I'm going to make it so there is more of a variety of approaches that cpu coaches take to recruiting. For instance, there will be some that focus on steals using the strategy the Radii detailed. Does anyone else have any team building strategies they would like to share?

I guess some simple ones would be:

When I'm playing a smaller school and other teams in my conference don't have many good post players I often play a 4 guard lineup with the guard who has the best PSD playing the Power Forward position. But I'm never sure if that means my shooting guard playing power forward is forced to "play" power forward on offense. i.e. back to the basket, etc...

I guess what I mean is I'd like to see the addition of a 4 out, 1 in offensive system.

Then there are: 40 minutes of hell, pressing all game. Coaches would go after shooters and athletes, I suppose.

Teams like Pittsburgh: Heavy on defense and strength.

A few teams that run the Princeton type offense: So passing and shooting.

I may be generalizing on some of these attributes, but just throwing some stuff out there.

[Emmett13]

Bump because I'm so goldurn excited.

[HeavyReign]

I'm still motivated so I'd say things are going well.

[Cringer]

How about a Linux version? Yeah I know, not happening. I will cross my fingers it works through Wine.

[Groundhog]

I'm still motivated so I'd say things are going well.

Good to hear, seriously can't wait for this!

BTW, what are the odds of being able to transfer our FBCB1 saves to FBCB2? I'm guessing the odds are roughly "zero", but a boy can dream... :D

[k0ruptr]

let us know when we can do beta testing, omg I would do anything you asked HR. anything ;) no but seriously if there are any beta testing needed I have an open schedule and I also highly highly suggest groundhog. some of the stuff he did and came up with for the first one was awesome. He needs to be a beta tester.

[HeavyReign]

BTW, what are the odds of being able to transfer our FBCB1 saves to FBCB2? I'm guessing the odds are roughly "zero", but a boy can dream... :D

100%

[Eaglesfan27]

That is great news.

[Groundhog]

let us know when we can do beta testing, omg I would do anything you asked HR. anything ;) no but seriously if there are any beta testing needed I have an open schedule and I also highly highly suggest groundhog. some of the stuff he did and came up with for the first one was awesome. He needs to be a beta tester.

k0ruptr is wise beyond his years. :D

[Groundhog]

100%

Wow, that's unexpected yet completely outstanding. A few times I've tried to start a new game, yet I keep going back to the same save I've been playing since 2003 because I want to see how my recruits progress! 6 years, jeez, I haven't even been a relationship with another human that long, let alone a text sim. :D

[Groundhog]

Also a name file with more...ethnic names. More Laquavious and things like that. Also there weren't any African players but there would be some from China and places like that.

HR, I can help with this if you'd like. Because I'm a sad loser with nothing better to do I actually generate my own foreign recruits through a spreadsheet I created with lists of countries, cities, names, etc, weighted towards countries that have the most players playing Division 1 NCAA basketball in real life, and then manually edit every foreign recruit each season.

I know, I have serious issues.

[Buccaneer]

100%

That is fantastic news. I have a very long career that I've been on since 2003/4 and I am quite fond of it (and its history).

[markprior22]

Really, really anticipating this game. So glad you're back into it Brian.

[21C]

Why do I get the most excited when I see a new post in this thread?

[HeavyReign]

HR, I can help with this if you'd like. Because I'm a sad loser with nothing better to do I actually generate my own foreign recruits through a spreadsheet I created with lists of countries, cities, names, etc, weighted towards countries that have the most players playing Division 1 NCAA basketball in real life, and then manually edit every foreign recruit each season.

I know, I have serious issues.

I'd certainly accept any information you've got to make this more realistic.

[Balldog]

A couple things I've thought of recently, that only I probably would like anyway....

1) When you import a player in FBCB the player in that file are imported significantly better than the rest of the universe. Resulting in inflated stats and usually if you have a team that you imported versus a team that was game created you will almost always win. Also, free throw shooting for imported teams is way to good.

For example, I just imported this year's Ohio State team with last year's stats.

Dallas Lauderdale shot 47% from the free throw line last year, he imported at a 53 for FT.

We received all 72 first place votes in the preseason poll.

They went 40-0 and it wasn't close.

Ohio State Buckeyes 2009 Season Info

Current Performance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team Prestige: 90 Record Vs 1-50: 15-0
Season Record: 40-0 Record Vs 51-100: 8-0
Conference Record: 18-0 Record Vs 101-200: 11-0
Home Record: 15-0 Record Vs 200+: 6-0
Current Poll Rank: 1 Current RPI Rank: 1

Stat Rankings:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Points: 81.6 National Rank: 1 Conference Rank: 1
Points Allowed: 57.2 National Rank: 110 Conference Rank: 2
Rebounds: 36.5 National Rank: 9 Conference Rank: 1
Assists: 18.8 National Rank: 1 Conference Rank: 1
Steals: 4.8 National Rank: 70 Conference Rank: 7
Blocks: 3.5 National Rank: 7 Conference Rank: 1
Turnovers: 10.4 National Rank: 1 Conference Rank: 1
Fouls: 18.4 National Rank: 71 Conference Rank: 4
FG%: .469 National Rank: 1 Conference Rank: 1
FT%: .865 National Rank: 1 Conference Rank: 1
3P%: .381 National Rank: 3 Conference Rank: 1


I'm not sure what can be done here, anyway its small in regards to the big picture. I just remember spending a weekend creating some players then importing them and being disappointed how it turned out.

2) If possible, I think it would great if we could have some control over the parameters in which recruits are created. A modifier or something would be nice, ie - if I wanted to shrink the height delta overall. I'd really like to create a D2 or D3 mod and not get the D1 size.

This is a wishlist I suppose :)

[Balldog]

I edited my post with some more details about the importing problem.

[SunDevil]

I have never played the first game, but just from the way the developer interacts with the community I will be purchasing the upcoming game.

[HeavyReign]

I made a note to take a look at that and see if I can't make some tweaks. Player importing is tough just because of the wide range of competition levels and its very tough to come up with any reliable way of telling if a player is a good defender or not. Other things like FTs should be easy to check though. Was Ohio State the only imported team with everyone else being a randomly generated team in the first year of the league?

[Balldog]

I made a note to take a look at that and see if I can't make some tweaks. Player importing is tough just because of the wide range of competition levels and its very tough to come up with any reliable way of telling if a player is a good defender or not. Other things like FTs should be easy to check though. Was Ohio State the only imported team with everyone else being a randomly generated team in the first year of the league?


Yes, they were the only team that was imported. I did notice that the game did not appear to take into account team's prestige when players are generated for the remaining teams. There were a bunch of low prestige teams in the Top 25, including #2 was Delaware. I have them at a 25 prestige in my default file.

If you can make some tweaks that would be great. If not, its not a big deal. I'm probably one of the only ones who used the feature. I agree, its impossible to get a super accurate import based on stats.

I think it would be cool to be able to export a roster file into CSV too, then you can manually adjust heights, ratings, etc. and import the CSV.

[Bigsmooth]

I have never played the first game, but just from the way the developer interacts with the community I will be purchasing the upcoming game.

Same here. Plus, you are in my hometown so you can definitely count on a purchase from this guy.

[HeavyReign]

Strangest Final Four I've seen in a while:

West: #3 seed Purdue (34-6) 98 prestige
South: #13 seed Massachusets (24-14) 60 prestige
Midwest: #10 American (27-7) 28 prestige
East: #10 Penn State (32-7) 76 prestige

Purdue is an elite team and no shock to make the Final Four. They got a 3 seed mainly because their record was inflated by going 20-0 in games outside the top 100. They beat #14, #6, #2, and #9 to get here.

Massachusets was an NIT level team that won their conference tourney to make the big dance. They are #2 in the country in FG% allowed and #6 in blocks. With two 90+ shotblockers in the middle they play a 3-2 zone They beat #4, #12, #8, #3 to get here.

American won the Patriot League but was upset in the first round of their tourney. They had the fewest turnovers in the country and are #26 in 3P%. 3 point shooting was huge in getting here as they made 10/18, 10/21, 8/22, 13/25. They beat #7, #2, #3, #8 to get here. This region also featured the very rare #16 win as Detroit took down Cincinnati.

Penn State entered the tournament 26-7 with 22 wins outside the top 100 to earn a 10 seed. They feature 5 senior starters with 3 of them also having redshirted. They are just a solid all around team.

They beat #7, #2, #6, #1.

[Groundhog]

Lowest rated TV audience ever for an NCAA championship game? :D

[HeavyReign]

Final did end up being Purdue vs Penn State with Penn State winning. Taking a look at the teams did reveal something that needed to be addressed with the recruiting strategy for teams like in the upper middle area of prestige like Penn State.

[Emmett13]

STILL PUMPED

[whomario]

I made a note to take a look at that and see if I can't make some tweaks. Player importing is tough just because of the wide range of competition levels and its very tough to come up with any reliable way of telling if a player is a good defender or not.

For the level of competition maybe some sort of adjustment tied to the RPI or strength of schedule ? Like, say, we import a player and there´s a column were we have to fill in either of those (or another suitable) number and then the import makes the adjustment based on that ?

Just thinking out loud with non-existing programming knowledge :confused:

definitely am pumped that you are working on a revamped version, have spend so many hours with the game it´s not even funny :)

[HeavyReign]

Still working...will start doing some beta work reasonably soon I hope. I'll put up a post when I'm ready for some volunteers.

[HeavyReign]

Wouldn't hurt to get a few volunteers at the moment to try things out.

[Ben E Lou]

Wouldn't hurt to get a few volunteers at the moment to try things out.{raises hand}

[cartman]

ayup

{waving hand frantically}

/been in the FOFC-FBCB league since inception
//also been on the BBCF beta team since it was a twinkle in Arlie's eye
///participated in numerous other alpha/beta situations

[Easy Mac]

{raises baby's hand}

[HeavyReign]

You guys are fast. I'll take these 3 for now. Details coming shortly.

[MJ4H]

oh wtf

(im in if you need a 4th)

[HeavyReign]

To start make an account over on the old fbb forums or tell me your old one. I'll get you access to the beta forum and a code for the game.

Fast Break Basketball Forum :: Index (http://www.fbbgames.com/forum/index.php)

[cartman]

same account as here

[HeavyReign]

Sent you a pm cartman. You should be all set.

[cubboyroy1826]

Oh pick me pick me.

[Ben E Lou]

Account created. User name = Ben E Lou

[cartman]

thanks, Brian. I am getting the program setup now. Looking forward to helping out!

[gstelmack]

If any multiplayer league testing gets rolling, I'll be more than happy to join. I don't have free time to hammer on single player, but I'm more than willing to be a multiplayer guinea pig.

[cubboyroy1826]

Oh pick me pick me.

[Glengoyne]

You the man HeavyReign. I'll be there after the BETA. I just don't have the time on my hands to offer it up, although actively supporting such a great franchise sounds very appealing.

Test well guys.

[cubboyroy1826]

Oh pick me pick me.

Not sure why that showed up a 2nd time.

[Ragone]

i'm in for any beta testing needs you may have.. defintely one of my three game purchases this year(wow expansion being one other.. third tbd) :)

[rjolley]

If you need more, I'm game.

[cubboyroy1826]

My account is gocubsgo.

[Tasan]

I'm in if you need more. I'm basically unemployed right now, so lots of free time.

Name over there on the fbb boards is tasan, like here.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

I can't wait to see the feature list!

[Young Drachma]

Same here, I'd love to help out. My name is Dark Cloud over there, too.

[k0ruptr]

Oh man, I really really really want in, if you need more people ever...

[k0ruptr]

dola, my account was and still is k0ruptr on the forums, i registered a while a go.

[Balldog]

Sent you a PM over on your forum, I'd love to help anyway I can.

[Emmett13]

Mine is BadluckinFBCB

Would be thrilled.

[Radii]

Its really great to see the progress here. I'm not the best beta tester in the world so I'm not gonna volunteer for too much of that, but I would be more than happy to help out in any way I can with any sort of multiplayer testing.

[Emmett13]

I was thinking another possible transfer reason would be a player at small school wanting to try their luck at a big time program.

i.e. Seth Curry going to Duke from Liberty or Matt Pilgrim going to Kentucky/Oklahoma State from Hampton.

[Groundhog]

I was thinking another possible transfer reason would be a player at small school wanting to try their luck at a big time program.

i.e. Seth Curry going to Duke from Liberty or Matt Pilgrim going to Kentucky/Oklahoma State from Hampton.

Good call. Doesn't happen all that often IRL, and would kinda suck if you grabbed a 300-overall-rated guy who blossomed into a star at your Nowhereville University only to have him leave for the SEC, but yeah, it would be pretty cool all the same.

[Emmett13]

Are heights nothing more than cosmetic?

The reason I ask is that it always bugged me as far as an immersion factor when my stud 5'9" point guard goes pro, or a 6'6" PF goes to the NBA early.

There's a lot of college players that are great college players but don't have the size to play in the NBA (or at least go pro early).

But, it would be purely cosmetic for me and way down on the priority list.

[HeavyReign]

Height isn't cosmetic. I've actually had to redo the height distribution within the game as there were far too many players in the range of 6-8 to 6-10. I've also made recent changes to make undersized players less wanted by the pros.

[Emmett13]

Height isn't cosmetic. I've actually had to redo the height distribution within the game as there were far too many players in the range of 6-8 to 6-10. I've also made recent changes to make undersized players less wanted by the pros.

Are you some kind of text sim angel?!

[HeavyReign]

just fixing stuff that was broken the first time...

[samifan24]

just fixing stuff that was broken the first time...

If only other text sim developers did this. Thanks, HeavyReign.

[Emmett13]

If only other text sim developers did this. Thanks, HeavyReign.

And that makes him a text sim angel!

[sjshaw]

I'd be happy to beta test, but the guy you really need to "recruit" is RonCo at FOCB.

[Buccaneer]

Just want to say thank you again. My son and I have been playing this the past 2 weeks (about 3 seasons per week), continuing our career that we started in 2004 (just got done with our 81st season). We took over low prestige Western Carolina with conference movements since we hadn't done that in a while. Fairly tough going with the recruiting paradox.

[TCY Junkie]

I don't have a son, so this won't be as good as the last post. FBCB is one of two games were I feel like I got way more than I paid for.

[Emmett13]

Yeah, I've easily played FBCB more than any other game in my life, but ever since I heard about the new version I haven't been able to play it as much. :(

[LloydLungs]

I'm still playing, a LOT, this game from freakin 2003. Every time I see that this thread got bumped I go straight to it, wherever it is on the page. My real life team (UNO) is going to cease to exist soon, but I still can't wait for a new version.

[markprior22]

I didn't purchase either the pro or college game previously. From all the feedback I've read, this will be a day 1 purchase for me.

[whomario]

The pro game was comfortably supassed by Greydog/Wolverine games Total Pro Basketball and Draft Day Sports Pro Basketball, no doubt about it. But FBCB i still like way better than Total College Basketball which just feels too generic.
I just love how every team in FBCB feels different and even without many interactive elements you get attached to the players because the skill sets are unique for everyone and you can win so many different ways.

In TCB you´d pick up either good or bad SGs, in FBCB you can get a slasher, a shooter, a defender, a rebounding guard or any combination of those things in a 1 star recruit just as much as in a 5 star recruit. Of course th 5 star guy on average is tons better, but if you are controlling a small school you could still get all those type of specialists and at a big school not every recruit is perfect in every aspect you need.

Even with a preseason No1 you don´t have 12 well rounded players but really have to think about your lineup and lineup changes actually make a difference as you can play so many different ways.

[Sweed]

The pro game was comfortably supassed by Greydog/Wolverine games Total Pro Basketball and Draft Day Sports Pro Basketball, no doubt about it. But FBCB i still like way better than Total College Basketball which just feels too generic.
I just love how every team in FBCB feels different and even without many interactive elements you get attached to the players because the skill sets are unique for everyone and you can win so many different ways.

In TCB you´d pick up either good or bad SGs, in FBCB you can get a slasher, a shooter, a defender, a rebounding guard or any combination of those things in a 1 star recruit just as much as in a 5 star recruit. Of course th 5 star guy on average is tons better, but if you are controlling a small school you could still get all those type of specialists and at a big school not every recruit is perfect in every aspect you need.

Even with a preseason No1 you don´t have 12 well rounded players but really have to think about your lineup and lineup changes actually make a difference as you can play so many different ways.

Never played TCB but your analysis of FBCB is spot on. I love that the system is so simple yet works. Players skill sets matter. I've had guys that could create their own shot and also guys that needed a good offense to create space for them to get off their shots. Both types of players can be studs in FBCB. It's a great game that I really need to make time to play again.

[Groundhog]

You know you're a text-sim geek when: You create NBA 2K10 draft files from your FBCB career. There is no hope for me. Seriously, created 2 draft files, each one took like 3-4 hours.

[whomario]

You know you're a text-sim geek when: You create NBA 2K10 draft files from your FBCB career. There is no hope for me. Seriously, created 2 draft files, each one took like 3-4 hours.

:D

I didn´t do it for a whole class but a few "legends" from my various save games allways get created a couple at a time :)

[kingnebwsu]

I know I'm a bit late to the party, but I'd be glad to beta-test/do anything else to help out the process. FBCB was amazing & I can't wait for the next one.

I just re-read the whole thread and it was very interesting. Another issue that wasn't addressed was the amount of turnovers. I just re-installed the game on a new PC so I don't have any stats in front of me. I recall the amount of turnovers being consistently high for most teams. Perhaps I'm mis-remembering, but I remember many games where both teams had 20+ turnovers.

My favorite thing about FBCB was when I suggested that HR add a "conference RPI" screen and he did. I still get all giddy every time I click on that screen :)

Can't wait for the new game!

[Buccaneer]

I just realized that FBCB has tied the record with Civ2 for the longest I have played a single version of a game (7 years). That is saying a lot.

[Emmett13]

Whenever I see this thread get bumped, I get all giggly.

[sovereignstar]

:popcorn:

Fast Break Basketball Forum :: View topic - Timeline for release? (http://www.fbbgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8343)

I'm doing everything in my power to get it done this month.

[path12]

Uh-oh. Emmett's gonna get all giggly again.

[Emmett13]

Uh-oh. Emmett's gonna get all giggly again.

Sadly that was me asking the question. However.

*GIGGLE*

[Buccaneer]

I am in my 13th season of playing Western Carolina and have took them from a prestige 18 to prestige 76. I can't stop playing, it's the best "one more turn" game (after Civ) there is.

[Emmett13]

I am in my 13th season of playing Western Carolina and have took them from a prestige 18 to prestige 76. I can't stop playing, it's the best "one more turn" game (after Civ) there is.

Quit with playing with my heart (and my giggle muscle) like that!

[muns]

I am in my 13th season of playing Western Carolina and have took them from a prestige 18 to prestige 76. I can't stop playing, it's the best "one more turn" game (after Civ) there is.

I think youll be happy that the "one more turn" feeling hasnt changed a bit in the new version.

[pbot]

Sorry if it is posted somewhere and I missed it, but I assume that draft classes in FBCB2 will still export into FBB. Is this correct?

[HeavyReign]

I haven't changed the code that is used for the exports so they will work the same as in FBCB.

[Emmett13]

If this game could just come out tonight or something, so I have something to hold me over until thursday's games. That would be...giggly.

[HeavyReign]

There will be a 1 season demo posted first to try and catch any remaining issues.

[Emmett13]

There will be a 1 season demo posted first to try and catch any remaining issues.

Sounds like a smart plan.

[Lathum]

I am very frustrated with my game right now. I am playing as Cornell, have all 3 star players and a prestige of around 40. I go about 12-2 every non conference schedule playing teams with similar prestige ratings with a few tune ups and a few elite road games mixed in. Once I get into conference play I lose to teams with sub .500 records and end up going 5-9 in conference play. It just feels wrong to win easily OOC then get smoked by 20 a game in conference.

[Lathum]

FWIW I am with Bucc, this is the only game I play pretty much constantly. Can't wait for version 2.

[Galaril]

great to see this coming very soon:)

[Lathum]

So playing in the Ivy League with no conference tourny. How do I have the identical conference record and regular season record as Penn, but beat them head to head twice and they get in the NCAA?

[whomario]

propably too late, but game logs (and maybe monthly splits) for players would be real nice :)

[TargetPractice6]

I am very frustrated with my game right now. I am playing as Cornell, have all 3 star players and a prestige of around 40. I go about 12-2 every non conference schedule playing teams with similar prestige ratings with a few tune ups and a few elite road games mixed in. Once I get into conference play I lose to teams with sub .500 records and end up going 5-9 in conference play. It just feels wrong to win easily OOC then get smoked by 20 a game in conference.I've having similar issues playing as Radford right now. I think the hardest part of the game is getting out of the 40-50 prestige area.

[whomario]

oh, and has anybody got any idea on this one :

When listing the season stat leaders it lists guys starting at 0.1 for everything but minutes, points, boards (double digit leaders) and then also after starting at the leaders just sorts them kind of wrong, same with Points, rebounds, minutes (12,0 / 11,5 / 11,8 / 11,0 / 11,3 f.e.)
Allready tried putting my system into US scheme for dates/time/numbers (which did the trick with other games), no difference.

shooting percentage don´t work either.

I´m on vista.

[Swaggs]

So playing in the Ivy League with no conference tourny. How do I have the identical conference record and regular season record as Penn, but beat them head to head twice and they get in the NCAA?

I think the game traditionally uses the team with the highest number of overall victories as the tiebreaker, regardless of head to head or other conference specific tiebreakers.

I remember that I had the same thing happen in FOFC FBCB -- I thought I had finally gotten over the hump by having beaten the Syracuse juggernaut head to head and tying them for the Big East crown, but they had more overall wins and got the title. It would suck worse with a tourney bid on the line, I imagine.

[Lathum]

Same number of wins

[Buccaneer]

My favorite thing about FBCB was when I suggested that HR add a "conference RPI" screen and he did. I still get all giddy every time I click on that screen :)



That's the same feeling I get when Brian created version 1.1.2a based on my request to have a Reset Teams button (I think that's what it's called). After playing with Conference Movements for a team, it's so great to reset the conferences back to default (keeping the updated team prestiges). Doing that manually in earlier versions never worked for me.

[henry296]

So playing in the Ivy League with no conference tourny. How do I have the identical conference record and regular season record as Penn, but beat them head to head twice and they get in the NCAA?

Officially, there should be a 1 game playoff to determine NCAA rep. Maybe Brian can add them for this version.

[TargetPractice6]

That's the same feeling I get when Brian created version 1.1.2a based on my request to have a Reset Teams button (I think that's what it's called). After playing with Conference Movements for a team, it's so great to reset the conferences back to default (keeping the updated team prestiges). Doing that manually in earlier versions never worked for me.Where is this button located? I've never seen it before.

[Buccaneer]

Tools->Edit Current League->Edit: Teams->Reset Defaults (below Conference Alignment on the left)

[Emmett13]

Now that Ok. State's season is over, I don't even want this anymore.

[Emmett13]

Just kidding (Lol haha and all that), still super pumped. This is a 12 month a year game.

[Atocep]

Might be a little late for this, but it'd be nice to have team efficiency stats such as points per possession, points allowed per possession, along with an average of possessions per game.

Really looking forward to this. It's a guaranteed first day purchase.

[TargetPractice6]

My two long running dynasties somehow got bugs that keep me from progressing. So I started a new file in anticipation of FBCB2 earlier this week and I'm already 10 seasons in. :eek: This game is too addicting.

[whomario]

oh, and has anybody got any idea on this one :

When listing the season stat leaders it lists guys starting at 0.1 for everything but minutes, points, boards (double digit leaders) and then also after starting at the leaders just sorts them kind of wrong, same with Points, rebounds, minutes (12,0 / 11,5 / 11,8 / 11,0 / 11,3 f.e.)
Allready tried putting my system into US scheme for dates/time/numbers (which did the trick with other games), no difference.

shooting percentage don´t work either.

I´m on vista.


Worked it out :) Had to change the date settings to american in the administrator account as well .

[Klinglerware]

Officially, there should be a 1 game playoff to determine NCAA rep. Maybe Brian can add them for this version.

Yes, the original FBCB appears to choose the team with the better overall record if there is a tie for the conference lead.

IRL, I believe that there are contingencies for everything up to an eight-way tie, and I think the solution is single-elimination play in every case. In 2002, there was a three-way tie between Penn, Princeton and Yale. Princeton and Yale met in a playoff game for the chance to face Penn in a second playoff game for the title (Penn got a "bye" due to head to head record). Penn then smoked Yale in the second game...

[desmond108]

I just bought FBCB after seeing the endorsements in this thread, especially Buc's comparison to Civ2. So far, the only thing I would recommend is that the new version require you to choose an offer from a limited number of lower ranked teams when starting a new game (similar to closed legacy in CH2K8). Unless I missed the option, it appears that you can step right into any job into the country when first starting the game, which seems a bit unrealistic.

[TargetPractice6]

After you create a new coach head to the Job Offers screen and that's exactly what you'll find there.

[muns]

After you create a new coach head to the Job Offers screen and that's exactly what you'll find there.

You can also create yourself, fast sim a year, and youll have offers then as well.

[sovereignstar]

where's that demo? ;)

[Emmett13]

where's that demo? ;)

"!

No winky face here, though. I'm serious.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

To me the original game is so perfect, I don't even need a new version, but will buy it anyway just to support Brian. It is the only game that felt completely fair when I won and felt completely fair when I lost. Just the right amount of challenge and that one more turn feel that others have talked about.

[Emmett13]

To me the original game is so perfect, I don't even need a new version, but will buy it anyway just to support Brian. It is the only game that felt completely fair when I won and felt completely fair when I lost. Just the right amount of challenge and that one more turn feel that others have talked about.

Ditto on that. I'd buy it just for the support as well. Playing the game for so long sort of exposed (the very, very few) flaws in it. Such as recruiting foreign players and pressing and trapping for steals. So, if he gets those fixed and adds in a few bells and whistles, I could see myself playing FBCB2 for 10 years.

[Lathum]

One thing I would like to see is AD expectations change depending on certain situations.

For example, I am playing as Cornell, went to the NCAA last season but 4 of my 5 starters were seniors. I have talent behind them but lack experience, I don't think the expectation should still be compete for conference title after losing so much talent. That just isn't a reasonable expectation in any league.

[Emmett13]

One thing I would like to see is AD expectations change depending on certain situations.

For example, I am playing as Cornell, went to the NCAA last season but 4 of my 5 starters were seniors. I have talent behind them but lack experience, I don't think the expectation should still be compete for conference title after losing so much talent. That just isn't a reasonable expectation in any league.

Yeah, that's true too. I'd also like 'contracts', so you can kind of see how many years you have to get the thing back on track.

[TargetPractice6]

Negotiations with assistants could use an overhaul as well. The blind auction method is probably my least favorite part of the game.

[SunDevil]

HeavyReign,

I am someone who has not played/purchased your first game. I do not watch college basketball and do not watch NBA basketball except for maybe a championship game or two. I am not interested in March madness and have not watched one second of any of the games the past couple of days. I have not filled out any brackets, and besides reading ESPN.com and seeing the headlines, would not know the outcomes.

But I will be purchasing your new game coming out. I will most likely wait a week or two to see how the initial response is to the game, but based on the all the feedback on this thread, I will buy your game and most likely be interested in college basketball because of your game.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm still looking forward to this game, more than anything else due out in the near future.

[sovereignstar]

Negotiations with assistants could use an overhaul as well. The blind auction method is probably my least favorite part of the game.

Never read the first post, eh?

[sovereignstar]

One thing I would like to see is AD expectations change depending on certain situations.

For example, I am playing as Cornell, went to the NCAA last season but 4 of my 5 starters were seniors. I have talent behind them but lack experience, I don't think the expectation should still be compete for conference title after losing so much talent. That just isn't a reasonable expectation in any league.

There are lots of teams where the expectations are to compete for a conference title or greater every single year.

[whomario]

again propably well too late, but all-defense teams would be neat to have and more than 1 all freshman team wouldn´t be a bad thing either.

[Emmett13]

PAGE 5! I'M OBSESSED, I KNOW.

[Emmett13]

PAGE 5! I'M OBSESSED, I KNOW.

AH SHIT! PAGE 5. STILL OBSESSED.

[TargetPractice6]

Never read the first post, eh?I did, but that was four months ago. Nevertheless, good to see that area has been/will be addressed.

[Terps]

Never played the first iteration of this game, or a college basketball text sim since TCB, but I'll be picking this up for sure. I know everyone here loves the first one.

[Emmett13]

:cool:

[HeavyReign]

I've posted a one-season beta demo for anyone who wants to try out the new game and help catch any remaining issues before release.

<!-- m -->http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB2010DemoSetup.exe<!-- m -->

Notes:

*Fast sim is disabled in this demo. You will be able to sim until after the championship game.

*FBCB 2003 saves can be used but make sure to check the league options screen after you load to make sure your settings haven't changed.

*The game uses the public common documents folder to store saved game and the default league files. If you want to use an old saved game you can locate the save folder by going to the load screen and using the open folder button.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Atocep]

Nice!

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Beat you Emmett13;)

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

I am just starting, but I love the new look!

[Atocep]

The new look is fantastic. The colored boxes that allow you to quickly get an idea of a player's talent/potential are amazing.

One tiny thing I've noticed is I set ratings to 1-20 and on the roster page academics do show up 1-20, but on the player cards they're 1-100.

[Emmett13]

Beat you Emmett13;)

What a rip! :D

Great news though!

[Emmett13]

Didn't even realize you were working with Grey Dog.

Unless I'm missing it, you can no longer sort recruits by scholarship offer. I liked that in the old one, makes it quicker to find your main targets.

Looks awesome this far.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

I got two of my three recruits! Starting as Northwestern, focusing on the midwest area.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

I have one good player. A sg. I have set up the whole offense around him. scores 45 the first game.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Also the new season info screen is DYNAMITE!!!!!! Everyone should check it out. Simply amazing work.

[whomario]

so, you collaborating with Grey Dog afterall ? Hope they had to pay up for the privilege ;) Game looks awesome :) The opening screen might be the most kick-ass opening screen ever :eek: You should make t-shirts with that logo and sell them :D

Little tidbit : The "admission requirement" , does that mean what i think it means ? :)

They are all on "average" as of now and i have no clue how to set them, but maybe someone else will fill them out if they indeed have an effect ? How about an aditional one, "low" ?

the menu is great, all of it. Quick and responsive, lean, easy to navigate and it also looks great.
I 2nd the liking of the coloured display/summary of a players ability and potential.

There´s no "save as" option to create a backup every once in a while from the main menu, is there ?

small thing and might be a random thing : It seems as if regional aspects are less of a factor now in recruiting ? Seems like if you are a great program basically every 5 star player has you on "very high". Just wondering if that´s by design ?

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

The team stat leader and individual stat leader pages are now easily sortable, very cool!

[Emmett13]

Removing a recruit that commits to another school from your call list is freaking genius.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Didn't even realize you were working with Grey Dog.

Unless I'm missing it, you can no longer sort recruits by scholarship offer. I liked that in the old one, makes it quicker to find your main targets.

Looks awesome this far.

I couldnt find that either.

[Ben E Lou]

File with correct team nicknames attached. Drop it in the Program Files folder to replace the one that's there.

[whomario]

so, who else has immediately send at least a couple emails and/or posted in other places about the fact that there´s a demo out ? :)

The recruits stats have gotten a significant boost (a ton of 30+ scorers, 14+ rebounders or 9+ assist guys), although i can´t comment if those are now more or less realistic.

Little thing i´m missing : When the starting lineups are displayed, it doesn´t show the height/weight of the starters anymore which i though was a nice touch. Could we have that back if that´s easy to do maybe ? :)

taunting and technicals still seem to be too much. Oh, and a question : Would it be in any way possible to link the likelihood of those things to the academics rating ? I realize that´s not really accurate it would work well in the game setting.

Players seem to tire a lot faster.

[HeavyReign]

Little tidbit : The "admission requirement" , does that mean what i think it means ? :)

Its a placeholder for the moment but the option is there.

There´s no "save as" option to create a backup every once in a while from the main menu, is there ?

Not at the moment. If people feel its necessary then it can obviously come back.

small thing and might be a random thing : It seems as if regional aspects are less of a factor now in recruiting ? Seems like if you are a great program basically every 5 star player has you on "very high". Just wondering if that´s by design ?

I'm working on tweaking the importance of distance to recruits as there definitely are issues with this in the current build that was used for the demo.

[Emmett13]

Curious about how transfers stats will shape up. As far as separating the stats on the player card.

I don't see anywhere on a player's card saying what school he's on, short of the team logo. However, it is hard to distinguish what team that guy's on when the logo is just a W. So maybe putting what school that player plays for on the player card in print.

Credit Card is ready to go.

[HeavyReign]

Little thing i´m missing : When the starting lineups are displayed, it doesn´t show the height/weight of the starters anymore which i though was a nice touch. Could we have that back if that´s easy to do maybe ? :)

Do you mean on the pbp when coaching/watching a game?

taunting and technicals still seem to be too much. Oh, and a question : Would it be in any way possible to link the likelihood of those things to the academics rating ?

This has actually always been based on the academics rating. I haven't tweaked it yet though so it is still happening with the same frequency as before.

[whomario]

Do you mean on the pbp when coaching/watching a game?



This has actually always been based on the academics rating. I haven't tweaked it yet though so it is still happening with the same frequency as before.

1) Yes, exactly there. Was just kind of neat to see.

2) Damn, i assumed so but thought it was me imagining it more than anything else :D

Just want to make sure to state that nothing i´ll say here will be meant as criticizing, i just long figured that i´d rather say sth about what i find missing and then just shrug it off if it doesn´t make it in than not saying anything at all and being pissed at myself for not mentioning it :)

[HeavyReign]

Took under 2 hours for the website to be not responding. Shouldn't everyone be in bed still? :) Guess I'll check that out after I get some sleep.

[Emmett13]

FT % seems really high. I got 69 guys shooting 90%+ from the line.

Some of that might be just from the generated player file. It seemed like in the last FBCB, the default player file from a new league always had some super players. But after a few years of getting new recruits in it would even out nicely.

[Icy]

Run time error '9' Subscript out of range.

I start a new game, all default, create my coach, take a job at any team, go to COACHES, click on HIRE STAFF and get that error and crash to desktop.

My OS is Windows 7 64 bit, maybe related?

[whomario]

the sorting option for academics is reversed, "show all" shows only the qualified ones and vice versa.

i have to say again that the new menu is highly appreciated, was one of the few gripes i had with the olde one.

the depth chart is kind of a pain to navigate through.

[SunDevil]

There´s no "save as" option to create a backup every once in a while from the main menu, is there ?

Not at the moment. If people feel its necessary then it can obviously come back.

I think the save as option is very necessary.

[Lathum]

Is there any way to resize the window in Windows 7?

The bottom menu of the game where you access mail, team summary, etc... falls below the taskbar and I can't access the buttons. When I try to move the window above it the window automatically drops below the taskbar again.

[Lathum]

Is there going to be an email sent each stage telling you what to do for that stage. I know because I played FBCB, but I can see where someone new to the game would be confused

[Lathum]

Some other thoughts, apologies if some of these are mentioned, I am typing in this window as I play

Is there an email following scheduling that tells you if your schedule is full or not?

Is there an option to sort recruiting by scholarship offered?

When simming a game but watching- Coach game, sim game- I tried to click on a players name to open their player card and it opens for a second but goes right back to the game sim instead of keeping the player card open and running the game in the background.

When simming a game there are no asterisks next to a starters name, not sure if this was intentional or not.

And the game just crashed on me, run time error 91 right after I finished simming the game and looked at the player card that was still open.

Overall the game looks and feels great, can't wait until it comes out.

[John Galt]

Is there any way to resize the window in Windows 7?

The bottom menu of the game where you access mail, team summary, etc... falls below the taskbar and I can't access the buttons. When I try to move the window above it the window automatically drops below the taskbar again.

+1

[whomario]

maybe i´m blind or it just isn´t in yet, but where is that "watch list" you can put recruits (and also other players) on ? Would be neat to have for recruiting as well as to keep tabs on players around the NCAA (i like to keep tabs on recruits i just missed out, self-punishment ftw)



Is there an email following scheduling that tells you if your schedule is full or not?

Is there an option to sort recruiting by scholarship offered?

When simming a game there are no asterisks next to a starters name, not sure if this was intentional or not.




1) I don´t think so, but on the "hot seat" menu there´s a checkbox, pretty certain it only gets checked when you have scheduled all available games.

2) Not 100% sure if that´s what you mean, but under "display" there is an option for recruiting actions and there you can also sort by scholarship offered.

3) Yeah, wanted to mention that as well.

I think the stamina really goes down pretty fast, with my basically-unchanged team from the old version (only 1 rotation player graduated) i have the minutes of the starters down a ton and i was allready running a deep rotation. A player with a 13 or 14 stamina rating can barely play 5 minutes before being tired.
Not running anything extreme either, both trapping and pressing at 4-5 and game tempo at 7.


I´m also getting a run-time error (91) when trying to sim games from the league schedule screen.

[Radii]

I see a CPU Assistant Hiring Option. <3

[Radii]

Assistant Hiring Question:

I offered 3 coaches jobs, I did the assistant first, then a recruiter, then a scout. In the original game I would select assistant for the first guy, then the other two would default to recruiter and scout. I would only be allowed to make these 3 offers.

Here I noticed that when I didn't change the job I was offering for, I ended up with 3 offers for assistant coach. Is this a bug or a new mechanic for assistant hiring where you can make multiple offers? If its a new mechanic, how's it work?




Savedata appears to be going to:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\GDS\Fast Break College Basketball 2010\leaguedata\LeagueName

I can't find a way to change that. I would *really* prefer the old save structure under program files. Can this location be made customizable?

[gstelmack]

Savedata appears to be going to:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\GDS\Fast Break College Basketball 2010\leaguedata\LeagueName

I can't find a way to change that. I would *really* prefer the old save structure under program files. Can this location be made customizable?

What is it with everyone around here wanting to punch holes in their system's security? I'm all for this stuff being customizable, but I'd also recommend folks get used to the idea of putting their data separate from their programs. Heck, that even makes things easier to back up.

[Radii]

suggestion:

filter by conference option on pro prospects page.




FTP Exporting and importing! God Bless You! (I tried the ftp export, that worked, haven't tried an import yet).

[Radii]

What is it with everyone around here wanting to punch holes in their system's security? I'm all for this stuff being customizable, but I'd also recommend folks get used to the idea of putting their data separate from their programs. Heck, that even makes things easier to back up.

If I am going to customize it, I'm putting it on my D drive.

I don't know a lot about system security, why is a game save going under the program's install folder as opposed to documents and settings insecure?

[Galaril]

Looks good I got all the way through scheduling games, staff hiring and first mon th of recruiting in July and when I tried to exit the recruiting window to get to the menu it crashed with the "error 738 property value "something. I did not save so that two hours of work was lost. I guess i will wait till the pay version comes out or the demo gets past the beta.

[cartman]

If I am going to customize it, I'm putting it on my D drive.

I don't know a lot about system security, why is a game save going under the program's install folder as opposed to documents and settings insecure?

That location is the place where Microsoft is moving all developers to put their save files. If you have UAC turned on in Vista or Win 7, it will error out if you try to save to the install directory under Program Files. FOF moved as well to the new save location with the 6.3 patch.

[gstelmack]

I don't know a lot about system security, why is a game save going under the program's install folder as opposed to documents and settings insecure?

Because then you have to make that folder writable to non-admins, which means it is easier for the virus writers to overwrite your executables with malicious code. Microsoft wants Program Files reserved for stuff critical for the app to run, and you should only write to it when installing / uninstalling / patching, in which case you are explicitly giving permission (via UAC) for the writing to occur.

[Radii]

Ah ok, I gotcha, that makes sense.

[whomario]

Another thing that i find to be missing is the "strength of schedule" when showing the RPI.

and when you want to sim a month it goes to the game screen on every matchday, kind of defeats the prpose here .

[HeavyReign]

Run time error '9' Subscript out of range.

I start a new game, all default, create my coach, take a job at any team, go to COACHES, click on HIRE STAFF and get that error and crash to desktop.

My OS is Windows 7 64 bit, maybe related?

Possibly. I've run tests on Windows 7 64 with no trouble before but I'll have to grab a copy and run some more.

the sorting option for academics is reversed, "show all" shows only the qualified ones and vice versa.

Fixed.

the depth chart is kind of a pain to navigate through.

This is probably the hardest screen to come up with something that works well. Definitely open to suggestions.

Is there any way to resize the window in Windows 7?

There isn't a way to resize at the moment. Bumping your screen resolution up one notch higher would work but let me look around and see if I can find a setting that will allow you to move the game up a touch. Another option would be to temporarily drag your task bar to the side of the window if that still works in windows 7.

Is there going to be an email sent each stage telling you what to do for that stage.

I've been working on adding emails. Hopefully the to do list on the hot seat screen is a decent guide as well.

Is there an email following scheduling that tells you if your schedule is full or not?

The hot seat screen will tell you the schedule is full.

When simming a game but watching- Coach game, sim game- I tried to click on a players name to open their player card and it opens for a second but goes right back to the game sim instead of keeping the player card open and running the game in the background.

That should actually be disabled while the game is actively simming.

maybe i´m blind or it just isn´t in yet, but where is that "watch list" you can put recruits (and also other players) on ? Would be neat to have for recruiting as well as to keep tabs on players around the NCAA (i like to keep tabs on recruits i just missed out, self-punishment ftw)

You can add players to the list either from the player profile or the recruit profile screens. You can view the list from the coach profile screen. Its in the drop down list.

I think the stamina really goes down pretty fast, with my basically-unchanged team from the old version (only 1 rotation player graduated) i have the minutes of the starters down a ton and i was allready running a deep rotation. A player with a 13 or 14 stamina rating can barely play 5 minutes before being tired.
Not running anything extreme either, both trapping and pressing at 4-5 and game tempo at 7.

The overall playing time tends to work out better than before but this is something I may need to spend more time on.

I´m also getting a run-time error (91) when trying to sim games from the league schedule screen.

Just found this one over the weekend. I must've missed one of the options.

I see a CPU Assistant Hiring Option. <3

You've dealt with enough cruel and unusual punishment.

I offered 3 coaches jobs, I did the assistant first, then a recruiter, then a scout. In the original game I would select assistant for the first guy, then the other two would default to recruiter and scout. I would only be allowed to make these 3 offers. Here I noticed that when I didn't change the job I was offering for, I ended up with 3 offers for assistant coach. Is this a bug or a new mechanic for assistant hiring where you can make multiple offers? If its a new mechanic, how's it work?

You can make unlimited offers for each position.

I can't find a way to change that. I would *really* prefer the old save structure under program files. Can this location be made customizable?

If you copy everything in the:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\GDS\Fast Break College Basketball 2010\

folder back to the actual application directory and then delete or rename this folder it will run from there. The default setup has to be this way so it will work for the average user that doesn't know how to enable write access to the application folder.

FTP Exporting and importing!

Don't worry too much about testing this yet other than the upload and download. I still need to redo the exports themselves later today so they will include the new information.

when I tried to exit the recruiting window to get to the menu it crashed with the "error 738 property value "something.

I know this is a long shot but any idea what screen you were on prior to recruiting? I'll do some experimenting and see if I can't find it. I'll try and post new versions of the demo as things get fixed as well.

Another thing that i find to be missing is the "strength of schedule" when showing the RPI.

I'll get that added.

[muns]

Didn't even realize you were working with Grey Dog.

Unless I'm missing it, you can no longer sort recruits by scholarship offer. I liked that in the old one, makes it quicker to find your main targets.

Looks awesome this far.

Go to Recruiting

Then on the top drop down menu box "display" change it to recruiting actions.

Then far right hand side at the top it says "offer" click on that and you should be good to go

[HeavyReign]

I also should really just add an offered filter to the players section on recruiting since multiple people have asked and the other way isn't obvious.

[muns]

FT % seems really high. I got 69 guys shooting 90%+ from the line.

Some of that might be just from the generated player file. It seemed like in the last FBCB, the default player file from a new league always had some super players. But after a few years of getting new recruits in it would even out nicely.

Once your able to play out a a few seasons the engine is pretty accurate stat wise to the college basketball stats today.

[LloydLungs]

Actually, HR, one thing I've always thought would be a good addition to the standings screen is current RPI. I see there's another space available. I've had to do a lot of extra clicking over the years when going through conference standings to see who's in a decent position for an at-large and who's not. No biggie, but it would be a nice add.