FOF7 and custom draft files
 

Has anyone been able to successfully import a custom draft file into FOF7?

Here is what I did:

• Read the help file about the changed format of draft CSV files.
• Edited a previous save file to make sure it was compatible.
• Used the Player File Creator utility from FOF7 and used the custom CSV file as input.
• The utility successfully created a .fdt file for the draft.
• In FOF7, clicked the "Improt Draft" button in the Pre-Free Agency stage.
• FOF7 was looking for a .faf file. I tried to force it to use the .fdt file

The error message I am getting is "The draft file you've chosen is not compatible with this version of Front Office Football."

I double-checked and I'm running the Player File Creator utility in the "Front Office Football Seven" directory.

What am I doing wrong?

.fdt files are roster files, meant to be used when starting a new game. They cannot be used when importing a draft, which requires a .faf file, as you noticed... they are of a different format

How do I create a .FAF file instead of a .FDT file?

The heck of it is that I did it in 2k7 but darned if I can remember how.

You need to be using the draftfile.exe creator. It came with FOF 2K4.

The FOF2k4 file is available on solecismic.com, under "Product support" and "Front office football 2004". You don't need to buy a license to install it and get the draftfile.exe file.

I found it. After work I'm going to see if draftees exported from that version will import into FOF Seven. I am dubious but we'll see.

Confirmed. FOF files exported from the 2004 draft utility can be loaded into FOF Seven.

Over time I'll be testing the various positions and see if the rookie distribution is similar to FOF 2007.

Here is some quick work I'm doing for QBs. It's not done yet but this is a preview:


So, for example, I wouldn't draft a QB with a Dash of 4.85 or higher.

Anyway, work calls. I'll start a new thread once I finish analysis of all combine values for QBs.

Do you have TCY installed and licensed? If not, importing draft files doesn't give you a fully accurate picture.

I do not have TCY. So, how does importing a draft file that wasn't generated from TCY result in less accurate results?

Because that's how the game is coded? (Not sure what you're trying to ask there...)

Follow-up for clarity:


Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - The College Years?

hmmm, I am thinking I need to buy TCY.

Thank you for the posts, quotes, and information.

I still think there is value in looking at rookie combine values and the ratings they may indicate. I'll start a new thread by the weekend.

In looking at the data from 2007 vs 7, there's no appreciable differences in the combine values produced vs. the rating of the player. One could argue it's because they were both generated using the same draft file generator.

Given what was quoted above, there is no guarantee that these combine values are reflective of what is accurate when the game generates in either a single player or multiplayer league.

The problem is that without TCY installed and licensed, the numbers you get will be incorrect. This was discussed in a thread in which you posted earlier:

Some Combine Benchmarks (and Drafting Thoughts) - Page 3 - Front Office Football Central

(Check the posts near that one as well for context.)

Good stuff Strech.

It's worth the investment in TCY. The import game import LOOKS for files from the licensed TCY implementation.

With the, while directional, the numbers get a does of a bias. Exactly what that bias is, not sure but they come out much more consistent with TCY.

This is good work and does a great job showing the cuts and the outliers. I've done similar looking at mean and stddev but this is a really good example of some of the hard cuts.

True it up with TCY and I think you have a great way of displaying the data.

I'll have to see what I can do about buying TCY then.

Question: from the TCY exports, can you see whether a player is a 625 vs 600 vs. 575, etc?

It will probably be a few weeks before I buy it and start producing new data.

I want to make sure I understand this discussion. I started an FOF 7 game starting in 2002 using Nilodor's roster files and then at the end of the first season, I imported his 2003 draft file. Are you saying that the ratings and combine numbers for the players in that draft file will not be accurate unless TCY is installed on my computer? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something. Wouldn't be the first time. :)

Thanks

It is no longer necessary. FOF 2007 read some of the data from an installed TCY data file. I copied that data over during FOF Seven development.

Whew! Thank you!

It is a little old and you're stuck with 2004-era conferences, but I hope it rates more than a Whew!

Anyway, it still sells OK at the reduced price, despite its age. But space really isn't a concern in executables any more, so there was no reason not to copy that data over when I was working on that area of the FOF7 code.

Oh, don't get me wrong... I purchased TCY a long time ago and got many, many hours of enjoyment with it. I just lost it with a computer crash a couple of computers ago and don't have it on this computer because I don't know my activation code. The only reason I said "Whew!" is because I spent a lot of time setting up my current FOF 7 game, changing some divisional alignments, etc... and I didn't want to have to start over. But TCY is a great game and I still may purchase it again at some point.

Thanks again. :)

God bless you Jim. I'll get back to my black box testing now. :)

Oh and curse you for making such an enjoyable game. I have stuff to do around the house on the weekend, not agonize over a 1st round QB choice in the 2015 draft. :)

Does CapOlogist's custom draft generator in the FOF2K7 reference thread work with FOF7, or do the files have to be tweaked?

Can a single player career from 2K7 be imported into FOF7?