Jim's Next Game... Just 10 Days Away?
 

So I'm reading solecismic.com after being computer-deprived for the last week, to see if there are any clues about the new game. I noticed that the release date for FOF4 was Oct. 23, 2002. What are the odds that Jim is waiting for the one-year anniversary to release his next product, or at least toss us a bone about what it might be...

Very small, since he implied he'll be releasing info on what the game is very near the end of the month.

I'm thinking it could be one of the following:

- TCY2: The first was very well received. The College season is in full swing, and if he's made improvements that people want to see, it'd probably sell pretty well. Plus, keeping a lid on the title makes sense if this is the next project, as he wouldn't want to totally kill any sales of TCY between now and whenever he releases the game.

- Front Office Hockey: I don't know if Jim is a big hockey fan, but this could be a really cool game... only drawback is that it seems like EHM has cornered the market on this right now.

- Front Office Basketball: Probably a pro league version, but could go college... my guess is this is a long shot.

- Front Office Baseball: Lots of competition here, but with a statistically driven game like baseball, there's always room for improvement, and this sort of thing would fit well with Jim's fondness for statistical analysis. There's still time to cash in on World Series hype, but then it's a long off-season, and the demand for a new baseball game would be diminished, so I don't think this would be the best time to release this sort of game.

- Front Office Soccer: Highly unlikely, but you never know. There are enough Hattrick nuts around here that would buy it, and if it's multiplayer, all bets are off. The sour taste of the CM4 bugs also leave a window of opportunity open.

- Front Office Golf: Nah, I don't really think so, either... just thought I'd see how that sounded.

- Front Office NASCAR: Again, so unlikely I can't even imagine it, but I don't know jack about NASCAR, so I could be wrong.

- Front Office Horse Racing: Dear God, I can only hope. I would give Jim money for this now if he said this is what he's working on. I'd buy ten copies and give them to my friends. Nothing this good ever happens to me, though, so that makes this option a statistical impossibility.


These are the only sports I can think of that have the sort of deep statistical resources for the kind of games that Jim makes. Am I missing anything?

Dola...

I am missing another longshot possibility...

- Front Office Boxing: It'd be cool to train boxers, but I don't know if you could make an in-depth strategy game out of it...

It's not NASCAR, Jim already made that announcement.

Or a woman's soccer league.

Or a stripper simulation...


:(

it's also not curling or a political sim. (as per Jim).

My money is on Baseball, with TCY 2 being the 2nd most likely option.

I am partial to TCY2.

Now, I would like to see all of these suggestions, but I have to imagine which ones would be entertaining in the Jim Gindin format.

I think College Basketball would be a strong title that Jim would have fun writing. Baseballl, which just seems like a logical step away from football, is probably the ideal statistical geek programmers wet dream.

I'm not sure Hockey has enough stats to make it anything but a Solecismic Lite game. Unless it was the scope of the game that was epic - College/Semi-Pro/Pro/International...

Autoracing would only work with Jim if it included F1/NASCAR/IRL/CART and their minor leagues...that's the only way I could see player development mean anything.

Horsracing is something I am ignorant about, but I would imagine that the genre is so small that it wouldn't merit a serious attempt...unless it's like my thoughts on Hockey and encompass a much larger region besides the USA. But who cares about horse racing in Dubai that would buy that game??? But maybe I'm completely wrong.

The only other possibility that I see right now is FOF5.

So here is my betting lines...

TCY2 - 50%
FOF-Baseball - 20%
FOF-College Basketball - 15%
FOF-Hockey - 5%
FOF5 - 5%
Something else - 5%

I'll wager 5 dollars on TCY2!

Jim recently said that TCY is the game that saved his company...he says he owes everything to that game...think he still think about that money gold mine?

The reason I don't think TCY2 is next:

From solecismic.com

My desire to break into new sports continues to grow, however. In early 2003, I began work on a new simulation. In this field new challenges always beckon. It's been a tremendously rewarding experience.

After Mizzou's victory over Nebraska I was getting the inkling to start another shot at glory with the Tigers. I wonder if I should wait until his new game comes out? Does the latest patch update to the Tiger 2003-4 season? (This is what I keep calling this season to my non-Tiger friends to piss them off) I guess I could check the site, but that seems like a lot of work.

Y'know, I could have written those exact words.

Only difference is that's how I feel about a deep NASCAR sim.

"My desire to break into new sports continues to grow, however. In early 2003, I began work on a new simulation. In this field new challenges always beckon. It's been a tremendously rewarding experience."

Don't forget that Jim recently said that because of certain publishing problems he had to switch games. That problem was with ViaTech. That tells me he will release the next game by CD. He has stated that a huge problem with FOF4 was that there were copies left over. He has stated that TCY has sold a lot of copies....

My conclusion, TCY2.

Yeah, but didn't we read somewhere that he had to change his plans at some point since that time? Maybe that would give some weight to the TCY2 possibility (starting work on a new sport, rnu into problem, fall back on something a bit more proven), but it's all pure speculation now, isn't it?

FM

well, sab beat me to it...

Ok, this is something I've wondered about, and perhaps people here can shed some light. Why would an issue with publishing cause Jim to change games? He sold FOF and FOF2 without a publisher, right? And did the same with TCY initially. Why would a publisher deal falling through cause him to shelf a game to start working on another?

I can picture the PBP commentary now:

"Rudd turns to the left...
Rudd continues turning to the left...
Rudd makes a turn to the left...
Rudd follows his turn to the left by angling to the left..."

folks never get tired of this

"Why would an issue with publishing cause Jim to change games? He sold FOF and FOF2 without a publisher, right? And did the same with TCY initially. Why would a publisher deal falling through cause him to shelf a game to start working on another?"

Because if he's going to self-publish a game (which he did with FOF4 as well), he wants to make sure he'll actually sell enough copies to make it profitable. He knows that will happen with a sequal to TCY. He does not know that will happen with a baseball, hockey, basketball, etc. game. FOF4 did not sell as well as Jim had hoped. (He still has CD copies available and it's been almost a year) Chances are, he'd sell less (initially) with an entirely new sport. I think his best bet to make money is to go with TCY2. Remember, the new policy of ViaTech is to not pay people for at least 4 months. If Jim is counting on revenue from his next product, that money has to come in when the game is released. And if he's going to self-publish again, he has to go to the well where he knows he'll find water. (Good analogy? ;) )

But of course, this i sjust guess work using logic, and we all know how much people hate logic. :D

It's also possible that Jim was working on a non-top 4 sports (Football, Baseball, Hockey, Basketball) and because of what happened, he switched to a major sport. But I'm betting on TCY2.

What about a college basketball sim? It would be a different sport and a different direction, but at the same time, it could almost be a TCY2. Same type of recruiting and game play with the only differences made because of differences in sport. And plus, he wouldnt have to put together a full game control engine, just in game strategies and timeouts and such.

Based on the good point from Tigercat, my line is
TCY2 67%
College Hoops 33%

Maybe 50/50. Good call.

sabotai,


Nice analysis but that would mean that Jims entire future is just going to be TCY updates. This is his full time gig and he's always going to need money coming in as soon as he can get it. If he is only going to take the safe route then it's TCY clones forever.

Some would certainly be ok with that but TCY is actually my least favorite solecismic game. :(

Lord please let it be hockey or baseball.... or even basketball. .... or multiplayer FOF.

I hope it's TCY 2.... That would be my top choice..

I think it will be TCY2, but I wonder if the reason that TCY sold so many more copies than FOF4 was that because after 4 previous versions people just didn't want another pro version... a new game should sell more when you consider that he's essentially hitting the same market over and over.

Baseball, OOTP/Puresim is enough competition. Nahh... no way.

Basketball is covered as well.

Dammit Jim, just make TCY2.

TCY-College Basketball would work nicely

TCY-MrBug's Social Life is the game I would want to play. :)

Would the basis be about a guy who has a baseball team in a fictional league who can never get over the hump?

Whatever sport the next game is, here's hoping it is not a college sim. Recruiting and keeping players for 5 seasons maximum...blech.

First of all, he wouldn't need to keep putting out annual TCYs to mine a gold field as long as he did what he currently does - update the game and patch it like he does. Let's face it, it's time for TCY2, we're ready and the market is ready. If he releases a game with realignment options in the future when conferences go amok, then this could be a great simulation. It's his money bear, so why wouldn't he do it.

Also note that other football options are available - not just college and pros. Front Office High School, Front Office Other Leagues (AFL, CFL, etc), Front Office Football Agent, Front Office Sports Media, etc.

I want womb to tomb FOF. Wouldn't it be something to have a baby and introduce the kid in FOF: Pop Warner. Then its FOF: High School. Follow local media stories, recruiters, and so forth. Then it's on to FOF:TCY where the college years begin. After that, enter the draft and it's FOF, the original and see how your player does. And after retirement, it's on to FOF: SPorts Commentary where your player has to compete with networks, bad sporting events, and other commentators to come out on top!

Now that would be something.

-Anxiety

"Nice analysis but that would mean that Jims entire future is just going to be TCY updates."

Not neseccarily. It would mean he'd make a TCY sequal every other game, only if his previous did not generate enough. I think he's going to TCY because FOF4 did not sell out like he had hoped. Had FOF4 sold out, I think he'd be moving on to other things. After TCY2, he'll probably continue with what he was doing before, and if that doesn't meet sales expectations, he'll go for TCY3, but if it does, maybe he'll move on to something else again.

IOW< you go to money well when you have to. I think, just from the sound of things, that Jim needs to. "TCY saved my company." I think he's trying to use TCY to go from "being saved" to "being comfortable". And then try to move on again.

"What about a college basketball sim? It would be a different sport and a different direction, but at the same time, it could almost be a TCY2."

I think Jim had said (a long time ago), that basketball was his least favorite sport, so I don't know if college hoops would be up on his list of "want-to-do"s. And I don't know how willing Jim would be to doing a college game without a pro counterpart.

Again, all speculation on my part...but that is why it's fun. :)

TCY 2 Football would be awesome.

TCY Basketball would be sweet money.

FOF Baseball would be fine.

Anything else, I probably won't buy :(

I'm hoping for High School Football

The more comments from Jim that I read, the more certain I become of him next game. TCY 2 will be be released next, and baseball is what was ditched/put on hold. The reasoning being that baseball is the game he has always wanted to make, then TCY 2 replaced it because of reasons that we have already mentioned.

i could care less what the game is based on but i really want to play something "fun" again

I wouldn't mind TCY with about 80-90% LESS recruting.

As long as it isn't college sports, I'll be happy...

My thoughts on this are that TCY2 is very likely. However, I'm not totally sold on the idea that TCY2 is it. The argument is pretty strong. He was working on a new game in a new sport. I believe Jim admitted to that. A publishing deal fell through, so he shelved that project an moved to a different game. Logic would suggest that rather than switching to an entirely new sport again he would go back to something familiar so that he could get something out the door. It wouldn't be FOF5 since he just released FOF4. My gut says that he simply accelerated his plans to work on TCY2 next year, and moved it up to this year.

The only thing that bugs me is the timing. It would seem a little odd or awkward to release TCY2 near the end of the season. Yes, people will be interested, but during the peak of the recruiting season would make more sense. However, it might actually be good because he would get the pop from the initial buzz, and then another pop when next season starts up and he updates the game with a patch (updated rosters and conferences).

Just my $0.02.

It depends on what stage the game is at. Usually, Jim will not release any info until the game is about ready. Given that he gave up/shelved a new game a few months back and is about ready to make an announcement on the replacement, my guess is that it has to be something that was already a functioning game that he has updated, just based on the timing. Knowing the way he researches games, there's just no way he was able to research AND code a game in this short a time frame.

Of course, this might all be wrong if his announcement is that he's just starting to code a new game. But that's not his style, so I doubt it. My guess is TCY2.

A good NBA sim would be nice....

but if that isn't it, than there is Total Pro Basketball to look forward too.

I'd be interested to see Jim's reaction as he read this thread. :D

I agree with most of this, and I too think it will be TCY2. TCY was one of Jim's big moneymakers, saving his company. Let's not forget that Jim needs money to keep going. FOF4 was a year ago, and didn't sell quite as well as he might have hoped (though not bad). If he was going to have a major delay with a publisher, that would push back profits from his game which branches off into a new sport. So while that gets settled, he has to bring in revenue somehow, right? Well, TCY serves as a basis for TCY2 (I also think it is too early for FOF5 when TCY2 hasn't been offered), and we've given a lot of suggestions for TCY2, so write TCY2 to have some cash flow, they go back to the other game when things clear up.

As for the timing....yeah, I guess the timing might not be the best. But if it comes on the heels of the bowls, when we start to miss football, that could be a plus too.

For someone (like me) who thinks TCY is 90% recruiting, that would be a devastating thought.

I don't mind the "amount" of recruiting, but I think it needs "spicing up". More interaction, more information, etc.

I would like recruiting to be more indepth.

yep. Deeper is probably a better word than spicy. :D

One other thought. Jim has said that TCY is still selling. He mentioned that the Downloads of TCY have recently surpassed the number of CD's he sold. Since TCY still seems to have "some" legs, would Jim announce TCY2? It'd be like coming out with the DVD of Lord of the Rings while it is still in theaters.

Alas, I think the preponderance of evidence is that it is TCY2. Even if there are a few TCY sales tricking down the pipeline, it won't compare to the rush for TCY2, thus justifying the release.

Not that one man's opinion matters, but I hope that it is not TCY2. I just never got into TCY. The large rosters combined with the large number of teams and the 5 year time frame on the players made it hard for me to make a connection to my team.

I could do college BB--smaller rosters. And I could do pro basketball or baseball. But I think that I would pass on TCY2--unless reviews from this board acknowledged it as the best thing since sliced bread.

However, based on this thread, it seems like I am in the minority in hoping that it is not TCY2.

Easy there!

What about TCY Baseball?

College Baseball and College Hockey are probably not popular enough to make. At least not yet, maybe when Solecismic Software employs about 20 programmers, Jim may set one off on that task.

And the only reason I thought FOF5 might be an option was because of the FOF4 dissapointment. The sooner Jim can remove that blemish from his record, the happier he will probably be. Not saying FOF4 was bad, just that it wasn't a good or great game. It was just okay.

That's actually a good point Dutch about FOF5. I think it's still an outside chance, but that could be his thinking.

But if FOF4 was viewed as a "disappointment", wouldn't less bother with FOF5, thinking it would just be another disappointment? Better to build off of the success TCY, have a hit and ride the buzz about TCY2 to bring more entheusiasm to FOF5 and other endeavors.

My guess:

FOF5 - a merging of FOF4 +TCY to bring pro and college football into one package. Choose whether to play as a pro-coach or college, or try a career where after years of excelling in the college game you can move on to be successful in the pro-game like Steve Spurrier (only with success in the pro-game).

And it'll have multi-player too.

I think if Jim were to release FOF5 that significantly improves over FOF4, then it will sell very well. I think the problem with FOF4 was he rewrote the entire code which took a lot of time and there just wasn't that many improvements over previous versions. I think it's an outside shot, but still a possibility.

TCY2 of course is what I am expecting.

I am hoping it is TCY 2 myself.

FOF 4 is a good game and its a solid engine but it still had that spreadsheet feel to it. If it is TCY 2 I hope its a next-gen TCY and not just a makeover. I also hope that he expands his beta testing pool and let some of the guys here help fix whatever problems arise.

It'll never happen, but, hey, it's nice to fantasize about nice things... After all, you wouldn't think of Roseanne Barr in a latex thong while you were trying to milk the lizard, would you?

FOF+TCY would take too much processing power for today's computers, given the memory issues Jim has said prior (all stats and processes in memory at the same time). Its my dream to some day have 1 game where I can simulate an entire sports universe at once, but I think its still a long way off.

???
 

"Good NBA sim"...

You haven't played FBB, I assume. Go get the demo, and then buy it. You won't regret it.

Yea', surprised there hasn't been more clamoring about multiplayer.

I know he's said it's not his thing, but with the need for a moneymaker, multiplayer would sure do the trick. The more I think about it, the more I'd rate it as the 2nd-most likely (behind TCY2).

Also, at first I was not looking forward to the possibility to TCY2. But now as I reflect on my experiences with TCY, a good solid improvement (ala FOF to FOF2) could be in order. What kind of changes would you guys look for in a TCY2?

Not to mention, why would he sell two games for the price of one? Presumably, people wouldn't want to pay even as little as $50-$60 for a combo game of FOF5/TCY2. And the way it is now, he gets $35 for each game separately. That just makes no sense from an economic standpoint.

I dont think the popularity of a TCY:Baseball in the real would would have much affect on the game, but I could be well off. I myself am not a fan of College Baseball in the slighest, but the fact that it's a sports game with a little to no market in a big 3 sport could very well make it fairly popular.

Wishful thinking on my part however

Oh how I wish FOHockey was name of his new title. TCY had too much micro-management in it for me to really get into it, so TCY 2 isn't appealing to me. Although that could change quickly depending on the features of the game.

FOF5 would be a shocker, imo. With all the football games out or that have come out this year, I think it's too late of a start - not to mention competeting with TPF.


Todd

Talking about micro-management, the latest patch for TCY added a new screen which let you specify time management for players based on their position. This greatly reduced the micro-management for be because I could set the time management for QB's, RB's, CB's, etc. as a group. Then I could tweak individual ratings as needed. Therefore the tedium of setting each individual player was gone. I only had to tweak a few individual players. I did make a suggestion to Jim that in TCY2 he should allow us to further define the group settings by year of experience. In other words, incoming freshman WR's could be set with different settings than 5th year senior WR's.

The fact that he added this screen further bolsters the idea that TCY2 will be the next release from Solecismic, at least in my mind.

"Since TCY still seems to have "some" legs, would Jim announce TCY2? It'd be like coming out with the DVD of Lord of the Rings while it is still in theaters."

They actually do release DVDs when it's still in theaters, but not that many theaters. :)

The Matrix: Reloaded just came out on DVD, and that's still playing in 49 theaters. The Itialian Job is still playing in 103 theaters. 28 Days Later is still playing in 28 theaters.

Not that this info is useful... :)

One thing I would love to see in TCY2 would be 'athlete' recruits. Guys who could be an option QB, LB, S, CB, RB, WR, or TE. Also, I would like to see the ability to switch positions easier. If you switch a WR to CB, it shouldn't make him worthless.

How in the world did you come up with that information!? You're right, it's not useful, but I admit, I'm impressed! For some reason...

Maybe it's been brought up before, but upon going to Solecismic.com to see if maybe I could find some 'early' news on the new game, this sentence tells you that it's either FOF5 or TCY2.



Todd

Or FOF: The High School Years ;)

Mizzou, that's been there for quite awhile. Likely that Jim is just waiting to finish a non-football sim to change that.

Exactly. He probably doesn't update his site all that often. I'm pretty sure it still mentions the "up-coming FOF On-line" that has been dead for about two years now...

Aha, here's the exact quote...

It's a puzzle game. He is going to announce he has left the 'work hard for a really long time on a simulation game to be ripped up on the messageboards' business, and make fun, but comparitively simpler, puzzle games to keep the average person happy and distracted from their regular lives.

That genre is actually a growing and thriving area of game sales, that independent developers have really been able to do well at.

I like you man, but you are crazy man.

Methinks it will be TCY2, but I have to agree with Franklin, I would like to see a good Horse Race sim game. However, whoever developed this Horse Race sim would have a hard time selling it to anybody but perhaps me and FranklinNoble.

How about FOF: Colossal Squid Hunting?

You know, I used to think this would be great but it's one of those things that sounds good until you think about it. In your example, what do you play?

Are you the athlete or a coach or a scout or an agent or what? To track the guy you have to be something and the only thing that makes sense in that regard is being the player. Nobody else associates with an athlete over such a long career. This wouldn't be a Front Office kind of product.

If you mean playing the game as a coach in Pop Warner. Stop. Export to high school. Stop. etc, etc then there's no continuity at all. By the time you have finished one athlete, and lets face it, when I play a coaching sim I follow more than one athlete per team I coach, and get back to Pop Warner, you'd have been simming 30 years or so "in the sims future" with FO Sports commentary.

Or, do you sim one year Pop warner, then the same year high school, same year college, same year pro, same year commentary? Yikes, there'd be even less continuity there and I don't think too many people can even keep up with most people on the various team members in one league much less this many. I know I sure couldn't.

So, while it sounds good, and I'd certainly be interested in seeing if it could be done, I'd say it's an unrealistic pipe dream that would never play as well as it sounds.

We can dream though. :)

I'm going to put all my money on TCY2. It's not going to be baseball, and thank god for that. 2 reasons why, it doesn't make much sense to release a baseball game at the end of the season. And second, Jim has already said that baseball stats tell you too much about the players abilities. I forgot where he said this, but I know he has, so it can't be baseball. It won't be hockey, because there aren't enough hardcore hockey fans to buy enough games. And quite honestly, who gives a sh*t about hockey? Basketball, I don't know why but I can't see it happening.

I said this? Whoa. Don't you think that a career-play baseball game might be better modeled with raw abilities than how I do things with FOF? My approach to baseball would be very different from my approach to football.


And of course, with each new game, I can reinvent myself as a programmer. I learn whenever I work on a new version. Things that appear to you as rigid beliefs may be just old, limiting design decisions or huge time-savers (like the rigid league size - who wants to spend months working on a dynamic scheduler or force people to type in their own schedules?)

Names can be edited in FOF4, but not in TCY. It's a major change in how player records are stored, and could not be done without ruining old saved games. It's not a very complex change, just a design choice that I changed when it became apparent that many of you really wanted it.

I'm enjoying all this speculation. Maybe I should wait another week to make an announcement (just kidding).

A couple of points....

I think I may have overdid the negativity about FOF4 sales. As far as this year alone is concerned, FOF4 has slightly outsold TCY. Neither is selling well enough right now to support us. Of course, I've been so busy with the new game and the baby that I haven't done one shred of PR this year. So that's probably my fault.

TCY has done quite well for a text sim and helped pick up the FOF4 slack. I also advertised it, something I didn't do for FOF4. As far at TCY's being a golden anything in terms of revenue, no. I'd still be better off financially if I had remained doing what I was doing before this. But this is a lot more fun.

People have asked a lot about multi-player. With the dramatic surge in forum participation the last three years, I think multi-player functionality is becoming much more important. I'm probably later than most to join that bandwagon, but I certainly wouldn't rule it out. I don't want to host the servers for 1,000 leagues, as EA imagined multi-player. But I think we've reached a point where it's feasible for one person to run his own multi-player league, emailing files back and forth. Those file sizes were a barrier three years ago. Today, that's not the case.

Now, I know I left more clues around here about the new game in the past. I think you're forgetting some of them. I should get QuikSand to help me create a puzzle with the release announcement.

"who wants to spend months working on a dynamic scheduler"

Me. :D

"Now, I know I left more clues around here about the new game in the past. I think you're forgetting some of them."

That's it. After dinner, I'm going to comb the old messages again and I will figure it out!!

2/3: The College Years

Well at least you're not making any blanket statements here.

....to hell with it. I don't care that much to spend my night reading old posts...

Well, we know that he had planned a WUSA sim and had to scrap it when the league folded, and then an NBA sim, but had to scrap it when he realized that the NBA sucks and no one cares about it anymore. So it will have to be something that he could program and distribute in a couple of weeks.

Front Office Pong?

Front Office Child-Rearing: The Infant Year

followed by...

Front Office Child-Rearing: The Toddler Years

And then they'll be no more Solecisimic, because Jim will have burst into flames and vanished into thin air.

;)

Ok, I got bored....I found this gem. Jim lays a smackdown on rexalllsc.

"Oh, and rexall, you threw me a bit with a comment that led me to believe you were someone I had a phone argument with (who I then mistakenly called Gabe before reviewing old records). Can we keep guessing? What do I win if I guess correctly? An end to the jihad? Your hattrick team? A fine merlot (my favorite whine)? I promise I won't even ban you from purchasing FOF4. I could really use all the sales I can get."

Maybe Jim is working on FOF: The Destroy rexalllsc Years

Jim knows Hattrick? Interesting.

I always figured Jim reads the boards far more than some people think ;)

5-16-2003 : "My dad was a professor at Sheffield University when I was born, so I'm a huge Blades fan.

Or at least as huge a one as you can find among those who don't know a thing about footie."

Does not know a thing about soccer. Let's rule that out.

But he does know Hattrick.

Well, he and I were in the same SimSports College Basketball league way back in the day. So hopefully we can't discount college hoops...

From just a few days ago:


Seems late in the game to be asking this question for FOF5, but who knows?

Another clue?

More clues...

Somebody page Kickstand... he's good at this stuff...

I've got it! Front Office Publishing!

If it's not TCY, I am guess Baseball. Jim seems to post ina lot of baseball threads, what Franklin just gave would imply that Jim reads Baseball Encyclopedias. The only sports encyclopedias or almanacs I have are for sports that I am working on a sim for (guess which 3...Oh, that's right. This is Jim's guessing thread. Sorry.) But of course, that doesn't mean much. I'm sure lots of people buy these encyclopedias and are not sim developers. STILL, it suggests Jim loves baseball.

And what he said before in this thread.

"Don't you think that a career-play baseball game might be better modeled with raw abilities than how I do things with FOF? My approach to baseball would be very different from my approach to football."

He's thought about it enough to conclude that he would use raw abilities over statistical outcome-like attributes. That's a lot of thinking.

My guesses at this point: TCY2 or Baseball. The only thing forcing me to not conclude baseball is because the season is almost over, and Jim's record shows him releasing at the beginning or middle of the sports season.