Thanks.. I loved the old, simple interface! :D

Yeah, the original FBCB interface is probably the best there has been in any sport sim IMO. As soon as the new version launched and I saw that it had been GDS-ified in the interface department I was concerned as their interfaces (and the numerous RTE's that occur as a result of those interfaces) are the biggest problem with those games - despite how modern and stylish they look.

Thankfully HR has once again nailed it IMO. The menu running down the left side of the screen and the exit buttons on the screens in the main frame both make this version nearly as quick and easy as the original version, while making the game look far more modern. The looks side of things isn't a huge deal for me, but I know it will be with others.

I like the interface, my only issue is finding the "minimize" button as i'm too used to the windows looking ones with just the "_".

yeah, pretty please :) Having the easter weekend with very few plans and shitty weather in front of me ...

As for the changes : Only demo-player, but i can´t go back even anymore. Yes, the UI worked with the old version but when playing the new one it is a pain having to navigate through it. There are options/tables i rarely/never looked at that now with the new version regularly look up, just because it´s much faster to navigate imo.

:confused:

HAHA.. the first thing I thought about when I saw a screenshot was GDS-ified. :D

I was never a fan of any of them, FM/SI a few years back but they have grown into behemoths in my opinion. FOF/TCY makes me feel like I am working a old version of excel or something. game play is good but I need a little semblance of a professional interface or UI more correctly. Functionally it is alright but appearance sake is an eye sore (YMMV)

I don't want to speak for gstelmack, but your two statements seemed to contridict one another.

First you said you don't want face gen, assuming that is because it includes graphics, or it is just eye candy.

In the next statement you said you want a pretty looking UI and graphics.

Perhaps I am assuming too much about why you are against Facegen.

Maybe he doesn't want stuff like that too detailed. The player could be stalked because of his looks in some later version or something like that, why must he deal with that in the game too. Some people just want stats, and pretty graphics. Maybe fireworks going off in the background. This might not be excatly what he was going after.

I was so sick for weeks, I'm just now getting pumped for this game. The two star players developing into great players will make this worth the money alone. I loved the old interface, I'm sure I'll get used to the new one.

That was pretty much it for me. You either want a pretty interface, or you don't. To rail on someone for wanting graphics, then complaining about FOF's sparse interface, seems contradictory.

I'm one who is really more concerned about function and could care less about pretty. I've complained about FOF's interface before, but far more from the "why can't I open more than one window at once?" and "why is gameplanning so difficult?" than from the spreadsheety feel of it. I'm fine with that feel, I just wish it were easier to use, which has nothing to do with prettyfiing it.

Yeah, I missed that they did contradict each other. I guess I was never a fan of face gen. But, I also never a fan of the look and feel of TCY/FOF which I know on here is sacrilege but I said it:). I never really hated GDS or in particular WOLVERINE's games so I am in the minority.

I think facegen is great. What makes it really remarkable in ootp is the way the players change uniforms when they go to a new team and they way they age as they get older.

Just downloaded this today and I must say I'm very impressed. This will be an immediate buy upon release for me.

Please note the following logo name fixes in the final version of the teams file:

swmissouristate.gif > missouristate.gif
swtexasstate.gif > texasstate.gif
troystate.gif > troy.gif
wisconsingreenbay.gif > greenbay.gif
wisconsinmilwaukee.gif > milwaukee.gif

Are we getting any closer to release?

HR posted on the FB board last night that he was putting the final touches on it and hoped to finish it last night. So I have my hopes up for a well-timed Final Four Day release today, but you never know. I'm in "check every few minutes mode" till HR says otherwise.

This will not be good for my productivity levels this weekend.

Thanks!

Checked out the demo (never played the game previous) and really enjoyed it. Seems much less cumbersome and overwhelming than DDSCB. Definitely need to read up on what the ratings mean and in some cases I'm not even sure what the ratings abbreviations stand for? Amazing stuff though, can't believe this is coming out of Spokane!

When you hover over the ratings abbreviations, it doesn't tell you what they stand for?

How the hell does adding a picture to the name destroy a game. I think you've got to be the one fucking kidding.

Because you add graphics to a game doesnt make it FM or OOTP athough I dont see what would be so bad about going that direction. FM is the top selling sports sim out there so Im guessing that would make Brian quite happy.

You always have version one of FBCB if you dislike change so much.

Just checked again, and no it doesn't. Guess I'll just ask right now, what do these stand for:

Hnd (I assume Handle)
Psd (Post D?)
Prd (Perimeter D?)

Eh, actually, I probably figured it out. Just need to experiment and find out which ratings constitute a particular type of player.

Also, have to say I love how quick the game loads.

@ bigsmooth , this should help :

FBCB Strategy - Front Office Football Central

won´t all hold true with the new version, but should be a good read while getting your feet wet, so to speak :) Can´t wait for the game, although the price posted at FBB forum (34.95) seems a bit steep ...

A release today would be sweeter than sweet.

That's how much most text sims are, aren't they? Seems right in line for me.

just checked and yeah you are right, propably had a bit too good of timing "finding"/buying games when they were on sale in the past (or pre-order cheaper) :)

I never said I don't like change so much that type of personality sure wouldn't be beneficial in my line of work. There is a difference between good change and just change. I just hated the direction SI took OOTP beside facegen the whole let's have a double AA affiliate in Zambia thing did it for me.

I did not agree with the decision to allow double AA affiliates in Zambia or Mars for the matter either. That is quite a bit different than adding a face to a name which numerous sims already have. It may seem like something stupid to you but I like to have a picture next to a name. It helps me remember that player better and I can visualize what kind of a player he is.

Facegen is nice in OOTP. But in DDS games it's the same 80 or so faces over and over and it sucks.

Never even thought about it as being in FBCB. Don't you have to pay for the rights to use it anyways? Imagine that's expensive.

Just had 15 seed San Diego State make an Elite Eight. :eek:

There are a couple ways of doing using Facegen. You can generate a bunch of faces using the software and then randomly assign them to players. This is what Bowl Bound did and I'm pretty sure what DDS does. Like Emmett said everyone looks like brothers. We talked about it and decided that option really isn't worth it. The other option is to include the facegen software within your game. I'm not sure of the cost on that at the moment but I may look into it in the future.

Pretty sure the official release is going to be Monday. I may allow some people to "preorder" as soon as I get this game manual updated though. Being that it is a holiday weekend, I'm the only one around for support.

I'll volunteer to pre-order and take my chances that there won't be support for the weekend. :D

Same here. :D

By the way, I see that under each coach is a drop down and one of the tabs is Mentors. Can't wait to see how that works in a long term career. Thanks for getting that in there!

Also, like to pre-order! :)

I've got tests and junk all week, so I won't be able to play much until Thursday.

You do realize that you'd have to create a AA affiliate in Zambia, right? It doesn't exist in any league setup by default. Furthermore all leagues in OOTP are the same they just use different modifiers relative to MLB (if you are playing a real world game) or to each other and the parent league.

You could take a current setup of MLB and American minor leagues, transfer all of the minor leagues to third world countries and nothing in the game would actually change as long as you didn't change any of the minor league modifiers or settings. I don't know of anyone that would or has done this and don't see any reason why anyone would, but then if someone sitting in the privacy of their own home playing a solo league wants to why would it bother me? OOTP really gets an unfair rap on this with people perpetuating the "Zambia" leagues like this is what the game is about or has a default setting especially when, in truth I believe\hope, they know better.

I suppose one could ask why were any of these obscure countries (in relation to baseball) included? Simple the "world file" already existed at SI for FM. OOTP was looking to include countries like Japan, Korea, Mexico, any real baseball playing countries, along with winter leagues. Adding these countries was easy with the existing "world file". I suppose they could have either created a new file with only the countries they wanted or used the existing "world file" and remove all of the countries they didn't want. Which would entail more work? Including it didn't cost OOTP anything but opened a world for a few people that may, for whatever reason, want to use it.

Time for some to move on from what isn't, and never was, an issue. My 2 cents

I just cannot wait for the final release, Its going so well HR, great job and keep up the great work.

I keep playing this like 5 hours a day, my wife is starting to get angry, but I just keep telling her, I'm helping the game honey. lol

yes yes

Hell! I don't even need the manual! I didn't even know the last game had a manual.

Ditto.

I would "pre order" as well. :)

Ditto

OK, I'll probably regret doing it this way but anyone who wants the link to the file send me a pm. No sharing. I'll handle any issues until the release through pm as well.

pm sent :D

Thanks, Brian -- good luck with the release! You've done great work over the years.

Anybody gives you grief with support over the weekend, let me know. I'll be glad to crack some skulls. :)

Is this the final version? Just be careful - wouldn't want you to lose sales if you're just sending out the executable.

Ah - my bad - you have to purchase it once it's installed. never mind :)

Agreed.. I figured it was a link to purchase?

Also, where do you get dem perty logos?