Originally Posted by FOF Help File

A Random Start to Each Game

Let's face it. There's not a lot of information about players who don't have extensive professional experience. How should David Carr perform in Houston? How should players with only a couple of games worth of part-time experience perform?

All other games on the market try and make an educated guess. Front Office Football is no different - except for one additional X-factor. Sure, I gave Carr a set of ratings. After two or three years, he will perform in a manner consistent with other quarterbacks selected first in the draft. Most of the time, at least.

That's where the X-factor comes into play. It's based on the number of games the player has started at the professional level and his years of experience. For instance, the average quarterback has started 37 games in a 5.5-year career. So the X-factor for a quarterback with 22 games in two seasons is about 50. Carr's X-factor is 0.

That X-factor determines the random element that changes the core ratings each time you start a new game. When the X-factor is 0, the core ratings can vary by up to 50 percent from the assigned rating. When the X-factor is 100, which it is for about one-third of the players in the league, the core ratings only vary by up to 10 percent.

The net result? Front Office Football generates a new universe every time you start a new game. Most of the time, Carr will be a decent quarterback. A good percentage of the time, he'll be outstanding. And some of the time, he'll be fairly mediocre. The established players will perform pretty much as they did in the past, but there will still be some variety.

You'll have to rely heavily on your scouting staff to determine whether or not a player is worth drafting. You'll have access to your scouts from every screen you can make a personnel decision from. They'll know more than general reputation allows.

This allows for a more challenging game and greater replay value. What's the fun of a game where you know that Carr will be a huge success? Or a game where you know that linebacker Takeo Spikes is always an undervalued superstar, so your first move in guaranteeing a 12-win season is acquiring him in a hugely unbalanced trade?

That's how the X-factor brings additional realism to Front Office Football without sacrificing the integrity of the simulation.