Will There Ever Be Another FOF?
 

Well?

Let's hope so!!

Hope i'm wrong, but i see the whole text sims scene slowly dying against console games, besides some hardcore players like FOFCers and of course all the FM horde that is the exception.

Lately I find myself playing more sport games in my PS3 than PC text sims, as my playing time is more limited so i look for a more casual approach, even when it frustrates me a lot to see how simple and half done are most of sport console games franchise modes. Again FM is the exception and the only text sim i play at least once per week.

It has forced most of the text sims developers that we love to take a another job, limiting their free time to code new games (and i'm not talking about Jim here as i know little about his personal life).

On the other hand, i think that text sims could do very well on smartphones and tables.

Hope your wrong....but what you write is true. FOF football for me has been on of the greatest games. I would pay twice the price to have a new one. I guess we can only hope that Jim sees all that is written and the loyalty people have to FOF.

I believe there will be. I seem to remember Jim saying something like he wanted to put out a new version last year, but ran out of time. In light of that, I feel there will be at least 1 more.

He said that back in '09. Even with the new patches, the game is still out of date. Some penalties for example, and end of half logic, as well as overtime logic is still screwy.

this is an intresting idea! if jim is listening an android/ios "bridge" version of the game would do well, where i can set my roster watch solevision and maybe gameplan too. but still be able to do stuff like Grep from home and intergrate the home/mobile. i catch the bus to work so if i could watch solevision on the bus instead of have to wait to i get home it would enrich my experiance.

The other night I had a dream that TCY2 was released...but it was called FOF 8.0.

I expect if another one is going to be released, it won't be until after the current labor dispute is settled. That's going to change a lot of how the league works, and the next FOF will need to account for all of that.

I disagree hugely with this - if you look at the text sim scene its taken some 'hits' on the commercial front and there are less sims in retail now (in Europe) than there were 10 years ago, thats mainly because of the increased cost and risk in game development these days.

However that being said there's a huge market there - not just for FM PC, but FMH on PSP and iOS devices has done very well also .. and its not just FM, if you look at OOTP thats making a nice niche for itself and with the recently released iPhone version of that game its attracting a far more 'casual' customer than ever before and expanding its user base considerably.

I dunno, I played console games and when I found text simulators on PC I thought to myself "Ah! This is what I've been looking for!"

I agree 100% with this statement. I play console football and baseball games, but I never feel the immersion I do with a text sim where I like to develop histories and legacies. I'm glad there are always newer baseball sims available. I just wish the same would apply for football sims.

WANT MORE FOFC + TCY!!!!

Yep i do think there will be. Would be awesome if it was picked up by someone like sports interactive, Jim has said he is open to it and i have tried to do my bit on the FM forums. An NFL+College game would be sweet. The interface realy needs some cleaning up.

...The last time SI took over a franchise, it killed any long-term interest in the series for me. I never went back.

I am having that same dream right now...

The question should read will there ever be ANY viable football game made for the PC again? (Which still boggles my mind why there isn't one)

I dream of TCY2 frequently :)

I don't have my hopes up that there will be another FOF or TCY. I think Jim has moved on to something else, maybe even gone back to corporate America.

I think Pro Football Simulator will eventually grow into the market leader. It's pretty basic right now, but the creator is dedicated to improving the game in the long run. He envisions an OOTP-like development span.

I think the game has become pretty stale and i am hearing that more and more now. But we keep playing it!

Not trying to create any turmoil but was wondering if Jim ever thought about teaming up with any of the current small publishers to use what resources they may have to update/upgrade FOF. Seems that many want to develop some form of football game but have made little progress.

I have lost all hope.

The reason that I have hope for a new version is because Jim has been silent on the matter. I believe (and maybe I'm wrong, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt) that Jim would have the decency to come right out and tell us if he was done with FOF. He knows there's a large community just sitting here and waiting. And waiting. And waiting. I doubt he'd keep us waiting so if he knew FOF had several forks stuck in it.

And if he were truly done with FOF I suspect he'd give some serious thought to releasing the source code. With the bright folks around here, we'd have a new version of the game in no time and the legacy of Gindin would live on.

It's doubtful that Jim would ever have the heart to retire FOF...at least officially. It's his baby afterall.

I dont see how new game could have been made the past couple years because of the nfl labor situation. Thats been up in the air for awhile and would you want to put a lot of time into making a game only to have the league come to an agreement with changes that make your game out of date

We all know Jim says nothing until a new game or update comes out but if he is working on FOF7 I would think he would at least be raising the profile of Solesismic again somehow to help the initial sales. I'd also think the best time to release a new Football Game is around the start of a new season or before Christmas. If that is the case and FOF7 is on the way you would think Jim would be starting to pop his head up again. So my view for what it's worth (which is not alot) is there is no new game on the way.

i kinda have to agree with sid on this one... but for different reasons...

given how things are up in the air with the NFL (or not, it weird...), this would be an opportunity for jim to take advantage of us football starved to make some sales, get betatesters, etc.

most of us want ANYTHING football we can get our hands on, and even if it means alot of patches, he'd be wise to release/announce something asap to placate the loyal and entice the new.

the new folks brought in are wouldn't mind alot of patches (too much), and us oldies have been patient for so long already.... I think those of us that are/were gonna leave have/would have already.

Baseball and Pro Football are the only two text sims I play on the pc and I love both of them.. I really hope all this silence from Jim means he's been hard at work on a new FOF.

Once the full details of the new CBA are out, what are the chances of a patch for those changes. Looks like QB3 is more usefull now, and rookie salaries will be more set in stone making holdouts less common.

Considering how complex the financial changes are (such as the salary floor), I'd highly doubt this could be covered in something as minor as a patch.

When you don't hear from Jim that's a good thing, this means he's creating some magic in his workshop.

Patience.......grasshoppers.

Do you know anything we don't? (yeah like if you were going to say yes if you do :) )

spent about 10 minutes with the demo today and I liked what I saw, but I would need to spend a lot more time with it to be sure. But at least it is another potential option.

I agree that that's a nice potential option, but for now PFS is oriented mainly toward online leagues rather than solo play. Plus, there's no in-game play calling. Those two things are deal-breakers for me--I have no interest in online leagues.

I played around with the demo too, a few months back.

bleh, bad news both - I don't have time or interest in online leagues, and no play calling is a deal breaker.

back to FOF, Madden 11 and Head Coach 09 for now enjoying parts of each but wishing for a great mash up of all 3

All the best to people who enjoy PFS, but when a football game thinks it can simulate the game with what, five shared attributes? I really dont even want to give it a shot.

huh?

Well yeah, there's about 10. But when they are stuff like "hands" which tells a players skill in catching and blocking, it's pretty strange.

Been a while since i gave the game a shot, but i remember the dev saying hes happy with the system he has for ratings. I just dont see how.

I just don't see PFS beating FOF in depth, interesting-ness and enjoyability.

I do hear good stuff about the developer's dedication, but that honestly only goes so far. And it won't last forever.

The weirdest thing is, PFS doesn't even beat FOF in user interface, which is just mind-blowing to me, because FOF's interface is butt ugly.

dreaming of the day...

i too can't believe there is not much competition. you would think that ootp would jump on it. anyone try "bowl bound college football"?

We have a BBCF league over at SGN where the OSFL (FOF) is hosted.

It is a cool game, neat interface, and fun to play - but not as complex as FOF, especially with player development, which is disappointing.

lacks player dev huh? too bad, thats a huge part in any sports sim, from the screen shots i've seen the interface blows fof away. but maybe its all style and no substance???

I think the first clue, that he doesn't have a full time job is:
Go read the guys posts...He posts at 1:44am then during a week day the guy posts at 3:45am. These post-times certainly suggest he's still living the dream.
I certainly wish I could stay up late play me some FOF and post at FOFC about the Big East...
He also said, "My dad told me never fight a guy with big forearms."
Maybe we should just drive over to his house and beg for a autograph and perhaps a small peek at his many notebooks he keeps by the tv while watching NFL...Lets all do it today.

You first.

There has always been a lot of talks at the OOTP forums about making an American football game (note, not from the developers) but aside from market considerations, I really don't think the development team has either the understanding of the sport or the desire it would take to program the game. In the end, I don't think the potential income they would get from the game (which would be a mere fraction of those from baseball, which has a much more dedicated stathead base) is enough to offseat the tremendous amount of work involved.

Your life is too busy for fof.

I was kind of hoping for a minor 2011 roster update. It seems that the previous one came out in early October, so hopefully one is planned this year. Although free updates are, of course, generous and not expected.

I know, that's why I want you to lead us.

I thought the one last year came out at the end of October, like the 27th or so?