Is there a way to edit player ratings?

[mbarry55]

I know its not meant to be Madden as far as ratings go but even with xfactor off some of the ratings end up totally bonkers and before I start I'd like to adjust a few of them at least for all pro players who should be rated accordingly if possible.

[jaredm]

There seems to be a file located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Front Office Football Nine\default_data\2023_players.csv that has the players and player ratings.

However, it's blank for all player ratings except for OVERALLRATING, which is just a general rating from 0-9. As an example, Tyreek Hill has a rating of 7 (high All-Star level). I started multiple universes; his speed ratings were 88, 74, and 14 (!).

Unless there are hidden ratings somewhere, it might be that the game just generates ratings to make a player within the overall ability category? It'd be good to know - for those starting with an NFL-based universe, it reduces immersion when star players can be so different from their real-life characteristics.

[mbarry55]

There seems to be a file located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Front Office Football Nine\default_data\2023_players.csv that has the players and player ratings.

However, it's blank for all player ratings except for OVERALLRATING, which is just a general rating from 0-9. As an example, Tyreek Hill has a rating of 7 (high All-Star level). I started multiple universes; his speed ratings were 88, 74, and 14 (!).

Unless there are hidden ratings somewhere, it might be that the game just generates ratings to make a player within the overall ability category? It'd be good to know - for those starting with an NFL-based universe, it reduces immersion when star players can be so different from their real-life characteristics.

Right that's where I'm at with this. I wanted to start with the Steelers but Broderick Jones is a 19, Chris Boswell is a 25 and George Pickens is a 33 and neither Jones or Pickens have a potential above 36.

Edit. Just played with that number using Minkah Fitzpatrick as an example and it definitely seems to be just taking that number and making a random version of Minkah based on what that number equates to like you posted. I'm ok with that I just didn't care for how far off some are. And I'm sure every team has that.

Also just tried changing Broderick Jones from a 2 to an 8, and it changed his current to 33 and potential to 81 which appears it also takes age into consideration with that number rather than making him an 81. Which is nice actually.

[mbarry55]

Playing with this csv a bit more, it looks like there's a ton of players who have a number that seems way off. Keenan Allen is a 2, there are a number of Steelers who are off, there are also a number of kickers who are all 1s and 2s, justin Tucker included. In game however tucker is a 68 so not sure if they're on a different scale or something other than this number is going on with their ratings.

I'm not much for excel or anything but in Google sheets it appears I can hide all the rows between player name and the overall rating column and I may go down through and edit ones which look way off.

[mbarry55]

Another quick update regarding the kickers, I changed Chris Boswell from a 1 to a 2, and in 3 different universe creations he was a 67, 71, and then 77 so it looks like kickers are 0, 1 or 2, with 0 being bad, 1 average, 2 elite.

[Cole]

Are you ensuring to de-select X-factor when you start your game ? That could be accounting for some of the wild variances from expectedly reality you are seeing.

[sovereignstar v2]

Another quick update regarding the kickers, I changed Chris Boswell from a 1 to a 2, and in 3 different universe creations he was a 67, 71, and then 77 so it looks like kickers are 0, 1 or 2, with 0 being bad, 1 average, 2 elite.

From the players.txt file:

OVERALLRATING - A value from 0-10, indicating the overall potential ability of this player. The game uses this value to create ratings. The ratings may differ significantly from universe to universe. There is a random element to new player ratings. The "X-Factor" in the new universe wizard determines the range of that random element. This is the most critical value in the player file. If you change how this value is distributed among players, it will considerably change the statistical performances you'll see in games and AI-controlled teams will struggle to manage rosters properly.
0 - The player is of replacement quality for his position. Expect low ratings across the board.
1 - The player is of backup quality. Ratings are generally low.
2 - The player is of starting quality. Ratings can vary. For lower-value positions (FB/P/K/LS), this is the top value that can be assigned.
3 - The player is usually one of the better starters in the league for his position.
4-7 - Increasingly rare - players are often All-Star level.
8 - The player is often the best in the league at his position.
9 - The player is a generational talent at his position.
10 - The player is below replacement quality for his position, and will only be placed on a team at the start of a new universe if he's needed to fill a roster.

[mbarry55]

From the players.txt file:

I just found this myself. Was just about to update my post. It also says to be careful changing ratings as it may throw off the rating distributions but it does kinda kill my immersion when some of them are so far off. I keep mentioning Broderick Jones and he was Pittsburghs 1st rd pick but is rated so low that its like an additional handicap to rebuilding them. So not sure what would happen if I edit the entire team to a more realistic overall.

[mbarry55]

Are you ensuring to de-select X-factor when you start your game ? That could be accounting for some of the wild variances from expectedly reality you are seeing.

Yes this has all been with XFactor off.

[jaredm]

In my tests, it's with X-factor off.

In FOF8, there were .fdt files for each year that likely had more detailed ratings for each player. (They are not .csv files, and I don't know how to access/edit them.) In FOF9, it doesn't seem like there are any .fdt files like this - so I'm guessing it just generates ratings based on the overall rating.

After creating a universe, it looks like player data may be in .dat files (i.e. C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Solecismic Software\Front Office Football Nine\saved_games\Universe X\players.dat), but those also aren't easily editable.

[mbarry55]

So have you attempted at all to fix the overall for an entire team? Might go through and do just the Steelers, run a test season or two and see if any stats look odd. Just not sure what the text file means when it says AI teams won't be able to manage rosters.

[sovereignstar v2]

There seems to be a file located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Front Office Football Nine\default_data\2023_players.csv that has the players and player ratings.

However, it's blank for all player ratings except for OVERALLRATING, which is just a general rating from 0-9. As an example, Tyreek Hill has a rating of 7 (high All-Star level). I started multiple universes; his speed ratings were 88, 74, and 14 (!).

Unless there are hidden ratings somewhere, it might be that the game just generates ratings to make a player within the overall ability category? It'd be good to know - for those starting with an NFL-based universe, it reduces immersion when star players can be so different from their real-life characteristics.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but all the individual player ratings can be tweaked in that csv file. They are -1 by default which means they are randomly generated based off their overall rating.

OVERALLRATING - A value from 0-10, indicating the overall potential ability of this player. The game uses this value to create ratings. The ratings may differ significantly from universe to universe. There is a random element to new player ratings. The "X-Factor" in the new universe wizard determines the range of that random element. This is the most critical value in the player file. If you change how this value is distributed among players, it will considerably change the statistical performances you'll see in games and AI-controlled teams will struggle to manage rosters properly.
0 - The player is of replacement quality for his position. Expect low ratings across the board.
1 - The player is of backup quality. Ratings are generally low.
2 - The player is of starting quality. Ratings can vary. For lower-value positions (FB/P/K/LS), this is the top value that can be assigned.
3 - The player is usually one of the better starters in the league for his position.
4-7 - Increasingly rare - players are often All-Star level.
8 - The player is often the best in the league at his position.
9 - The player is a generational talent at his position.
10 - The player is below replacement quality for his position, and will only be placed on a team at the start of a new universe if he's needed to fill a roster.

Player Attributes

The remaining fields offer the ability to give each player in a new universe specific ratings. Use -1 if you want a player to have his ability in that category determined by using the overall rating. The default player file in Front Office Football Nine has all -1s here. If not -1, this field should range from 0-250. Be careful, as the distribution of player ratings can change how the game plays, considerably. The highest values should be reserved only for the very best players in the league. Most players should range from 0-100 in most categories.


Here I modified Nwangwu's kickoff return rating to 250.

https://i.imgur.com/MQJnqyR.png

[jaredm]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but all the individual player ratings can be tweaked in that csv file. They are -1 by default which means they are randomly generated based off their overall rating.


Thanks - I'm aware that they can be tweaked there. I was wondering if there was an .fdt file hidden somewhere in the depths of the game where the "real" ratings were (which might be how it was in FOF8 - e.g., players_2020.fdt).

Does anyone know how to access the generated ratings in a particular universe (what I'm guessing is in the players.dat file in each universe folder)? It would be good to see what the ratings distributions are for game generated universes to see how best to edit the player ratings.

[Ben E Lou]

It would be good to see what the ratings distributions are for game generated universes to see how best to edit the player ratings.The ratings distributions have barely changed since like FOF2K4. Give the same 0-9 setup, I'm assuming it's the same as in FOF7 and FOF8.

[mbarry55]

The ratings distributions have barely changed since like FOF2K4. Give the same 0-9 setup, I'm assuming it's the same as in FOF7 and FOF8.

So what happens when I only change one teams 0-9 ratings? I just went through the Steelers and adjusted them to what I felt they should be in real life. How will this change the universe itself?

[Ben E Lou]

So what happens when I only change one teams 0-9 ratings? I just went through the Steelers and adjusted them to what I felt they should be in real life. How will this change the universe itself?That's barely a blip in the big picture. It may make the Steelers a little better or worse than they should be, thereby impacting overall league stats, but once the career actually gets interesting (when the original pool is gone,) it won't matter. That said, if specific ratings for the team you are managing matter that much to you, I'd just edit the -1s and not the 0-9s.

[mbarry55]

So what happens when I only change one teams 0-9 ratings? I just went through the Steelers and adjusted them to what I felt they should be in real life. How will this change the universe itself?

I'm wondering if the XFactor box is working. After editing the 0-9s, there are still guys who are 2s being generated into the 60s and 70s, with XFactor being ticked OFF.

[mbarry55]

That's barely a blip in the big picture. It may make the Steelers a little better or worse than they should be, thereby impacting overall league stats, but once the career actually gets interesting (when the original pool is gone,) it won't matter. That said, if specific ratings for the team you are managing matter that much to you, I'd just edit the -1s and not the 0-9s.

My thing is the star players and the young players which is what I will be building off of to begin with. Allen Robinsons rating doesn't matter so much to me but I'd like the young core of Jones, Pickens, Porter Jr etc to be there for me to build with, along with somewhat realistic ratings for Watt, Fitzpatrick, Heyward etc.

[Ben E Lou]

That can easily be the case. Keep in mind that you're also looking through your staff's views of the players. A specific bar that says 70 could in reality be significantly lower (or higher) than that if the player is young and the relevant staff member isn't particularly good at scouting.

[mbarry55]

That can easily be the case. Keep in mind that you're also looking through your staff's views of the players. A specific bar that says 70 could in reality be significantly lower (or higher) than that if the player is young and the relevant staff member isn't particularly good at scouting.

Good point on the staff eval. One more thing I'm going to blame Matt Canada for.

[BucDawg40]

I'm wondering if the XFactor box is working. After editing the 0-9s, there are still guys who are 2s being generated into the 60s and 70s, with XFactor being ticked OFF.

IMO the x-factor box has never worked right. I would like to see there be no variance at all if the x-factor is turned off.

[jaredm]

The ratings distributions have barely changed since like FOF2K4. Give the same 0-9 setup, I'm assuming it's the same as in FOF7 and FOF8.

Thanks. I have two questions. In the old game, the attribute ratings were from 375-625; now they seem to be 0-250. Is the general idea is that the middle of this distribution (125) corresponds to an average league starter? Or an average league player? It seems like the former, but it's hard to tell?

Second, are these attribute ratings based on position? For example, if a TE has a run blocking rating of 125 (out of 250), does that mean it's a 125 relative to all other tight ends? Or a 125 relative to all blockers (OL + TE + FB)?

[mbarry55]

Ran a few individual season 1s and one thing I noticed is there were very very few OLBs getting sacks. I wish we had an EDGE position with a focus on pass rush. Watt and Highsmith never combined for more than 10 sacks total in any of the seasons i ran. Doesn't appear that either were even on the field during passing situations according to my end of season depth charts.

[Ben E Lou]

IMO the x-factor box has never worked right. I would like to see there be no variance at all if the x-factor is turned off.As long as I can remember this one has been clearly documented. The X-Factor can't be turned off. The options are to use the full x-factor or a partial one: Use full X-Factor when creating ratings from player file. When this is selected and you're using a player file, the game will use a larger range when determining each player's ratings. There's always some X-Factor in determining ratings, but they'll be closer to the guidelines in the player file without this option.You can choose not to use FULL X-Factor, but it's always there. Partial X-Factor = "some potential variance in ratings." Full X-Factor = more potential variance in ratings. (There's a much longer explanation of this in the documentation in FOF8 that may go all the way back to FOF1.)

Thanks. I have two questions. In the old game, the attribute ratings were from 375-625; now they seem to be 0-250. Is the general idea is that the middle of this distribution (125) corresponds to an average league starter? Or an average league player? It seems like the former, but it's hard to tell?125 is going to be roughly average league starter (a "2" in the 0-9 system.)

Second, are these attribute ratings based on position? For example, if a TE has a run blocking rating of 125 (out of 250), does that mean it's a 125 relative to all other tight ends? Or a 125 relative to all blockers (OL + TE + FB)?Assuming that FOF9's play resolution engine isn't radically different from previous versions (and I know of no reason to believe that it is,) that's not really the most relevant way to frame that SPECIFIC example, because different positions contribute differently to the overall effectiveness of the team's run blocking. In other words, even if a TE's 125 run blocking is equal to a Center's 125, the Center's 125 is more impactful on more plays. To what degree? Pretty much impossible to tease that out, but know that you'll get more bang for your buck in the running game with run blocking in the middle of the line than your TE, but that probably has more to do with the location of the TE than it being a relative vs. absolute rating.

That said, the answer to the specific question probably lies in the Roster-->Skill Positions screen. Scrolling the teams and FAs there--at least in my league--TEs are maxing out in the mid 50s for speed, a strong indicator that ratings are absolute across positions.