Ideas For FOF6
 

First, let's get this out of the way: I have no idea when this game is coming out.

Now, that being said, we have a thread with ideas for TCY2, and I thought it would be good to consolidate a thread with FOF6. Put 'em here, and I'll link to this (and the TCY2) thread in the reference thread.

--Ben

Honestly I have no idea and have zero interest in playing the game the way it is because you have to much stuff and for me atleast it is hard to connect with the players like I did with FOF2001.

Ok one idea media...

I'll agree with Noop. The two things I'd most like to see are increased media interaction, a la FM series, and some way of getting to know your players besides just the stats. Perhaps adding a bit more to why players become disgruntled, adding a bit to the contract stages where you can "promise them a role," etc. etc. If you add some of these things, it will increase player immersion. and that's never a bad thing.

Why would you?



Anyway, I would like to see the number of teams configurable. Or, maybe a better way to adress multiple requests of mine, a more flexible data structure.

I wouldn't, but that doesn't stop people from IM'ing, PM'ing, and e-mailing me to ask if I know anything. :mad: (Like I'd tell them if I *did* know anything....) Just trying to head that off before it happens any more than it already does.

I think we've covered this topic before. :)

*Franchise Player hold outs (hold outs for non-rookies, in general)

*realistic restricted free agent system (a must with the attention this gets now, IMO)

*Improved contract negotiation screen. Roster Bonuses and yearly incentives.

*A way to make sure your playmakers get the ball more often in the passing game. If I don't want to throw to my FB, then he shouldn't be catching 50 passes each season.

Best idea for FOF6... Skip it, and instead go with TCY2.

1. Customizable league sizes.
2. Expansion.
3. Ability to add your own graphics (team logos, helmets etc) to a degree that you can actually see them in game.
4.A more vibrant interface.
5. Better draft logic, it still irks me that the first 30 rounds of a dispersal draft are all Left Tackles (yes im exagerating, but still).
6. A much more streamlined gameplan editor.
7. Do steps 1-6 without messing with the game engine :)

A ton more commissioner functions

Player history is a MUST. trades, injuries, championships, FA signings, and anything else you can think of should be tracked for each player.

Almost forgot......Head to Head online multiplayer........(drools)

All this plus players/coaches/owner personalities and media news like the old EHM or OOTP (i don't like a lot the CM series ones, i preffer them like a newspaper).

Player history would be a big bonus for me as well. Plus media interaction, even if it's simple like Madden ... the way Madden does it certainly isn't perfect, but it's really helping me get into my dynasty at the moment.

I concur with this, as well as with the need for greater media interaction and player/coach personalities (I prefer the CM model myself).

On the technical side, I'd love to have the ability to open multiple windows and be able to use them all siultaneously.

My wish list (in no particular order)...

Improved Roster Building AI
Someone mentioned that making the game go too slowly is a concern here. Without doing any testing, my guess is that one stage of free agency in OOTP6, for example, may take 5-10 times longer than one stage in FOF2K4, and it doesn't feel like OOTP takes a long time at all. There's definitely room to let the game take more time in processing each stage of free agency.

Right-Click Interface Additions
Allow the user to right-click on a player and have a tab with options like: Release, Place On IR, Activate/Deactivate, Renegotiate.

Make Finances Matter More
Virtually no one pays attention to the year-end score. The focus is (as it should be) on winning the Super Bowl, and therefore financial concerns get lost. The obvious places to let it come into play more would be the ability to offer bonuses, the ability to offer money to coaches/scouts, and the ability to get fired.

Improved Interaction With TCY (or TCY2)
*Make performance come into play more heavily when importing players from TCY.
*Keep TCY Stats & Awards on player card for duration of FOF career.

Bring Back Expansion!
'Nuff said.

Improved Player Histories
Trades, Injuries, New Contracts, Titles Won, Awards, Top Ten In League (and have these divided by category, not all chronologically)

Word.

Skydog you said word.

Mock Drafts

I would also like to add... the ability to make defensive formation personnel changes in the game plan.

Agreed. Also, just much more cleaned up, bug free MP play. Not having to worry about deleting your export if you want to re-do it, the "Arizona" coach not winning the coach of the year every year, and many other things that are not major but would be nice to have fixed (although a patch could do most of it I am sure, instead of a whole new version)

My wish is that FOF and TCY are merged into one program, ala CM.

I would love to see no salary cap/free agency and go to 70's style of football. I think it would increase the chances of seeing real dynasties in the game (besides the human player's). Of course, I say this knowing there is no way in hell this will happen in FOF.

With the 25 to 30 sacks a year guru's out there, I would like to see the option of keeping your Fullback out of passing plays and offer him to "key" on a particular player or help your worst blocker.

A screen that says...

Time FB is used for blocking instead of receiving on passing plays (0-100) 100 being most likely to block, 50 being average and 0 being most likely to go out on a pass route.

If Blocking, key on top rated defensive blitzer or key on lowest rated offensive pass blocker (0-100 for each) totals must add up to 100.

With the advantages being less sacks by the leagues "super sack meisters" and the disadvantages being one less passing option (maybe putting the total passing yards down a bit).

Or something along those lines.

Oh yea, SD, you should sticky this and the TCY2 thread. I know you hate sticky-ing things but these are good ones to have and they serve a noble cause.

The ability to "export" teams and have them play others in "exhibitions"... for MP, ability limited to commishes.

passwords for multiplayer ala ootp

- Streamlined gameplanning.
- Same detail in the game logs as shows in the in-game play-by-play. A must for multiplayer gameplanning.
- Save/Load your multiplayer turn so you don't have to do it all at once.
- More player history options. See FOFReporter for examples.
- More dump-to-file options. See FOFExtractor for examples.
- Fix reported bugs (of course).
- More roster validation on export. Players should not be submitting turns that cause the scout to update depth charts without a warning.

"Customizable" AI coaches/GM's

Kind of like the old Front Page Sports model where you could choose what the CPU emphasized on each team. For example, some teams prefer the run, other prefer to pass. Some GM's like prospects, others prefer veterans. FPS had several GM "Draft Profiles" which emphasized a particular group of positions in the expansion draft (QB and Receivers, O-Line and TE, D-Line, Skill positions, etc).

Funny you should mention that. I was thinking about doing just that, but temporarily. I'll sticky 'em both for a week or so, so that all regulars and semi-regulars will get to see that they're here.

I would love to be able to see how many players were drafted for different schools for each draft, total from each school overall in drafts and a way to see the totals from each school per team.

To be able to adjust the likeliness of the computer going for a FG over 45 yards. (I hate it when the copm attempts a 57 yd fg five minutes into the game...

Coaching tendencies for the assistant coaches (34, 43, 46 defense, run & shoot, short passing game, etc.)

Assistant coaches should make LESS money than the head coach.

Switch the free agency periods around. The short period should be before the draft. As it is, most of the good FA's are gone by the 10th week.

A mock draft from your scout (how good your scout is should affect the accuracy of the mock draft)

Increased use of email. Players agents can communicate with you by email. Holdouts, signings. Disgruntled players. Players interested in signingwith your team, etc.

A greater chance that a player can fully recover from an injury and return to their former ratings, or something near it. (I hate that it seems every time a guy tears a ligament it seems that his career is pretty much over. In real life, it happens all the time. Most players have those nice zipper scars on their knees...)

More realistic monetary requests by players.

Have loyalty mean something. Like the player is more likely to re-sign with you for slightly less than he might get elsewhere. (I hate that they want the sky and moon from me, then sign elsewhere for the minimum.)

Make the computer more likely to play a young QB when the season is lost.

Have the computer more likely to keep more players rather than turn over half the roster and sign half the team to 1 year minimum contracts. And if they do sign a QB to a 1 year minimum contract and start him, RESIGN HIM!!! QB's simply do not wander from team to team, starting on 1 year minimum deals.

Here were some ideas that were discussed before.....playoff scenarios, expansion, media interaction, HOF voting, In season trades, etc

Next FOF Discussion

- more flexibility in negotiating and renegotiating contracts (in multiplayer, you basically have to give them what they want to renegotiate)

- the ability to promote asst coaches

- the ability to sign other teams assistants as your head coach, regardless of if he is under contract or not

- in the game log, i want to know who each pass was completed against, and what defensive formation the defense was in

- added stats to the offensive line to include penalties. how many holding, false starts, etc (for all players, actually)

- coaching "styles" (west coast, smashmouth, zone blitz)

- the ability to reach an "injury settlement", instead of carrying a guy with an 80-week injury for 2-3 seasons

- the new nfl rule where veterans count for less against the cap if they sign for the vet. minimum

- restricted free agency (tendering players at a level, trading, etc)

- more "incentive" options (playing time, etc)

- not tying injuries to the head coach

- way more holdouts

- proper depth charts on the o-line (not having the ai recommend a guard backs up a center, and a center backing up a guard)

1 - TCY/FOF integration is number one on my wish list.

2 - Full screen support. I would like to see a full screen version of FOF with an emphasis on reducing scroll bars.

3 - Owners. I think adding owners to the game could help with the immersion factor. If we are the GM, wouldn't it be nice if the boss shot us an email once in a while?

4 - Game Summary. After simming a week, I always look at the box score to see the details of how the game went. It would be nice to see a game summary that took the best (most pertinant) elements of the game log and box score and presented them in a more useful and easy to digest screen. If not that, then perhaps hyperlinks could be enabled in the box score screen.

5 - Player Ratings. Want to know how your DE is rated when you want to start him at DT? I think adding tabs at the top of the player ratings section would be a big upgrade. You should have at least a rough idea what to expect from your players when you play them out of position. Tabs with seperate ratings by position would add to the game strategy.

6 - Starting players. Adding a toggle in the scout overview screen to designate and lock in your starters. I like to set my 46 active players and let the coach handle game day decisions. For me, a checkbox or toggle would be most welcome.

Since this is stickied, I guess FOF 2006 is coming out! Thanks, Skydog!! :p


Todd

id settle for fof2005 :)

Fof2004 leagues are upgradeable to any new versions

TCY players better reflected in FOF

Player cards, with highlights of career

I think my ultimate wet dream is the FOF engine mixed with the old FBPro graphical interface, my god I just messed myself.

But seriously, looking over this thread I almost feel bad for Jim when it comes to the next version, cause I look at alot of the suggestions and I see such a diverse set of wants that it almost makes you lose sight of the fact that the game is so kick ass as is.

Ouch! :)

Hmmm...

1. More graphics ;)
2. Better roster management AI for cpu teams
3. More robust draft module


Todd

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The game is simply not realistic enough for me. I want a more realistic GM game with more options -

Transition Tags
Real Restricted Free Agency
Exclusive Rights Players
Incentive Clauses
Escalators
Compensatory Picks
Playing Time Issues
European Issued Players and NFL-E Exemptions
The Veteran Vested Bonus


Also:

I want expansion, but I can play the game without it. The game with expansion, however, will get my dollars (if any competing game is released with it).

Player Behaviorial Issues (Drugs, Crime, Rookie-itis, etc)
Media Involvement
Finally an intelligent AI


When FOF6 is eventually released, I will not purchase it without significant additions. I've purchased the last three FOFs, and I've been disappointed with the amount of "real" improvements, as opposed to bells and whistles.

I don't care how smooth the next installment's interface is, how multiplayer compatible it may or may not be, how pretty the new graphics are, or any of that. If it is not a better game (and by better I mean more realistic), then I will simply not play it, not purchase it, and will go elsewhere for my text sim playing.

-Anxiety

Dola -

These are certainly not the only ways to make FOF6 more realistic. TPF and even MADDEN for Christsakes treat the draft better than FOF does. So there are a plethora of ways to make the game fun (I wouldn't mind Madden level involvement with parking, advertisment, concessions, entertainment, additional stadium options, lights, naming rights, and so forth. The interaction between the financial side of things and the football side of things is gravy)

My point was just that FOF is still far and away from being an accurate sim of professional football, and each step should take strides to being more realistic.

I'd much rather prefer a game that is more realistic to a game that includes astrological sign and compatibility based on that (find something worthwhile to base cohesiveness around - like MBTI or something).


-Anxiety

I think what it's based on is pretty much irrelevant. What I would like to see is it being less predictable. As it is you can predict with 100% certainty the effect that adding a player will have on a team.

I would like to see the chemistry/player personalities become less predicatable. One thing I wouldn't mind seeing borrowed from the online soccer sim hattrick is the possibility of any player getting off to a bad start with his team. I think FOF could use some sort of measure of team morale and/or confidence. This would also allow for a bigger role for a coaches 'discipline' and 'motivation' ratings. A coach will better discipline would be less likely to have players get into trouble/cause locker-room issues, and a coach with good motivation would do a better job of keeping his team from getting to over-confident or beaten down.

I would love to have Roster Bonus's. If you are under the cap significantly one offseason it would be great to be able to give someone a 10 million dollar bonus and not have to deal with the cap hit on a year to year basis.

My top three:

- customizable league sizes
- promising a role to players and the implications associated with doing so
- injuries, transactions and awards tracked on the player card

it would be crushing to not be able to import fof2k4 leagues

More cowbell.

This is HB #2 here, in case my evil twin should happen to chime in.

FOF6/2005/whatever is far down on the list of desirable games for me. I liked the latest version and don't think that Jim could make enough changes to it to make it a worthwhile purchase for me. He could surprise me, though. Anyway, my list (not in order):

Higher difficulty - Actually, this one IS in order. I've been harping on this since FOF2001 - the game makes it far too easy for the average human player (i.e. me) to walk all over the computer opposition despite house rules designed to prevent this. Better roster management AI would help, but probably the only long-run solution is to have the computer do things the human player can't do.

More player/staff/coach/owner/media interaction - Sometimes the players just feel like a line of numbers. This would help prevent that.

Make it easier to make global changes in the gameplan - When I want to run more across the board, I'd rather hit a slider or change one number than change 160. The option, of course, should still be there for those who really want to manipulate all those numbers.

Expansion - Yeah, I know Jim has said it would be tough to implement, and yeah, I know it's been suggested before. But there's something special about being able to set up a team from scratch, knowing that every player is there because you selected them personally. Not a perfect solution, but an "empty cupboard" toggle for a couple of the bad teams in the league (Arizona? San Diego?) where you'd start with expansion-like options could provide some of the thrills of building a team without unbalancing the game too much.

More financial realism & options - The financial end of the game has barely changed since FOF Classic, and what was adequate in 1998 is feeling a little threadbare now. Finances should matter more than they do and the limits on what the GM can do should be sharper.

More whimsy - A little bit of it was there in FOF2004, but I'd like to see the junk e-mails from FOF Classic make a comeback. One or two out of a pool of a couple of hundred during the season would make a surprising difference in my enjoyment of the game.