Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Rescuing the Beautiful Game(FTG, Interactive)

Brian Swartz · 08-23-2018, 04:01 AM

A wall of exposition text this way comes ... world rankings as well.

Competitive Structure

Domestic league play is always divided into 5 levels:

** Premier League(4.5-star quality) -- 18 teams, 34 matches
** First League(3.5-star) -- 16 teams, 30 matches
** Second League(2.5-star) -- 14 teams, 26 matches
** Third League(1.5-star) -- 12 teams, 22 matches
** Amateur League(0.5-star) -- 8 teams, 14 matches

Top 3 promote, bottom 3 are relegated always, no playoffs for that; except of course that you can't get promoted from Premier or relegated from Amateur level.

Domestic Cups

** National Cup -- Premier and First League teams play here.
** Prestige Cup -- Second League, Third League, and Amateur teams

Continental Cups

Qualifying for these depends on placement in the Premier League(unless you somehow win the National Cup while in the First League), and how highly the nation ranks compared to the others(based on results the last five years in continental competition). Until we get to the Premier League, which will be a long time from now, we needn't concern ourselves with this. The EFA Cup is the second-tier competition here, with the European Cup pitting the top clubs from varying nations against
each other.

Here's how things stand at game start. All 32 nations will send at least four teams to the continental cups this year. It's a pretty safe bet 5-7 German clubs will participate each year. I'll be keeping brief tabs on this annually but won't spend a lot of time with it until it becomes a larger concern.

Here's Germany's Premier League. There's one more team we'd have to scroll down to see, but it's not that important. Interestingly, it was high-parity generation. All 4.5-star teams except for the top two which are full 5-star ones. Usually there's a couple more elites and a few 4-star clubs as well in the mix. That matters because it affects the quality of youth players they'll get.

Here's the roster, or most of it, for FC Bayern Munchen. Presented only for comparative purposes.

This one's 3-star Holstein Keil, top-rated club in the middle tier, Second League.

Schweinfurt, a roughly typical initial Amateur League side. Doesn't take a whole lot of careful observation to determine that they really suck. But they're bloody royalty compared to us.

Here's what our merry band of misfits looks like. We should probably be called the Stuttgarter Trip-and-Fallers though, not Kickers. Collectively, we have a fraction of the athletic ability of Charlie Brown iconically flying through the air as Lucy snatches the ball away at the last instant.

Ah yes, there's our dreck. A couple more players below the screen, but they're not important for now. The other amateur teams, like Schweinfurt are ... well, they're amateurs. It's a recreational league with electricians, plumbers, customer service professionals, etc. all thrown together due to their passion for the sport. But these guys? I think they went down to the local pub and found all the drunks who were too stupid/inebriated to really know what they were signing up for. Which doesn't say much about us, who need to whip them into shape.

This diagram of our starting tactical position would normally show different shapes and maybe some directional arrows to indicate the responsibilities of each player. These green circles indicate that these guys have, at best, the capacity to stand in an area of the pitch and generally try to get in the way of the opposition if they come too close. Reacting to things happen further away? Not gonna happen. Coordinating efforts with the rest of the team? You're having a laugh.

Back to the previous image though ...

Class

All have a ?, meaning zero-class; they have no clue what they are doing out there. They are totally incapable of doing any advanced training for obvious reasons, and the unfortunate tool who is in goal has all of their already-pathetic attributes halved in effectiveness. They can move only the minimum of one space in any direction, with or without the ball. They probably know the difference between a soccer ball and a similarly-sized melon, but even that might be stretching it.

Attributes

** Acc(Accuracy) -- Shooting at the goal.
** Pas(Passing) -- What it sounds like.
** Def(Defense) -- Tackling and intercepting shots/passes in the vicinity.
** Ctr(Control) -- Intercepting crosses(for keepers), fighting for position on corner kicks, maintaining possession when being tackled, etc.

As indicated by the highlighted numbers, Defense is considered the primary attribute of defenders & keepers, Passing for midfielders, Accuracy for forwards. It's a little more complicated than that though -- while it's never going to be real important for a keeper or defender to have high accuracy, most attributes are useful in various places on the pitch.

Level

The technical ability, or overall attribute points, of a player is indicated their level. These range from 1-100, so we're as rubbish as it is possible to get. Three attribute points are granted each level that is gained. This is impacted by something called 'Fate'. Look at Komolong, for example. He's best at Defense, has some Control, Accuracy and Passing are non-existent. He'll tend to gain points in roughly the same proportion, so it's probably never going to be a good idea to play him in a spot where he needs to pass or shot primarily. Others, such as Ortag, have no particularly great natural strengths but are more versatile.

Players need match experience to gain levels here. How much they get depends on the level of competition, success of the team, and how much/how well they personally participated in the flow of the action. Eventually support staff will allow even unused substitutes to benefit, but for now it's play or stagnate.

Skills

Whaddya know, we don't have any. At all. Advanced training in special abilities, both active and passive, shows up here. Rather logically though, a basic competency in playing a defined position on the pitch is required first.

Contracts

We've got essentially 1-2 year deals signed and paid for with everyone, so at least we'll be able to field a team, such as it is, for a little while. The Cost is the amount of euros that we could currently sell the right to each player's services for. It's important to note that this value is changed by the interest in the player around the league, which is based on how much they've played recently. All of our players are current at Low, because nobody's ever heard of them. Medium interest players will generate 4 times the sale price, High 6 times as much. Any player, no matter how rubbish, can be improved to High interest if they play enough. If they play well, interest will increase faster.

It also cannot be overemphasized that other factors impact the price. Skills are more important than attributes in terms of a player's value(and performance); when you learn a skill their sell price will rise sharply. There is also a natural decline each year, on their birthday, based on age. Level and Specialization Level(see below) also increase it to a lesser degree.

You can't extend the contract of a player until it has less than a year left, so we couldn't do that even if we wanted to(or actually had any money to do it with). Additionally, you cannot sell or extend the contract of a player who is 34 or older. The lion's share of income, especially at the lower level, will come from selling players so it is absolutely vital that all coaches pay attention to these details.

This view allows us to choose which attribute to focus a player's improvement on. To begin with, that means one of the three attribute points they get when they level up will be guaranteed to go to whatever aspect we choose. And when I say we, I mean you -- once your probationary period is over and the lot of you take over direction of your players, this will be your responsibility. We'd also see skills here of course ... if there were any.

Specialization is another name for 'figuring out what the heck to do on the pitch other than stand there navel-gazing and inspecting the landscaping'. More advanced concepts will come, but that's what it is for now. The SL, or Specialization Level, is improved when you've gained enough experience in a specific position during matches. Just being out there for an entire match gains 5 points here(less if you only play part of it); taking actions increases this amount. For example, merely moving on the pitch gives you +1, a missed shot at the goal is +2, scoring a goal is +5, etc. Similarly on the defensive side, a failed save attempt gives +3 while a successful one grants +8. A core principle in FTG is that nothing succeeds like success. The better a player plays, and also the more active/important a role they take in a match, the faster they will improve. The first level takes 70 points to achieve; nobody here starts with more than 2, which is why the bars are so short.

We'll see the later options in the future, but the first couple of SLs achieved grant the ability to play a specific position adequately for the first one, and proficiently for the second. After that there are many choices to choose from. Making those choices will be another responsibility for you as coaches.

That's enough of that for the time being; let's get to our first season!

08-23-2018, 04:01 AM	#11
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	A wall of exposition text this way comes ... world rankings as well. Competitive Structure Domestic league play is always divided into 5 levels: Premier League(4.5-star quality) -- 18 teams, 34 matches First League(3.5-star) -- 16 teams, 30 matches Second League(2.5-star) -- 14 teams, 26 matches Third League(1.5-star) -- 12 teams, 22 matches Amateur League(0.5-star) -- 8 teams, 14 matches Top 3 promote, bottom 3 are relegated always, no playoffs for that; except of course that you can't get promoted from Premier or relegated from Amateur level. Domestic Cups National Cup -- Premier and First League teams play here. Prestige Cup -- Second League, Third League, and Amateur teams Continental Cups Qualifying for these depends on placement in the Premier League(unless you somehow win the National Cup while in the First League), and how highly the nation ranks compared to the others(based on results the last five years in continental competition). Until we get to the Premier League, which will be a long time from now, we needn't concern ourselves with this. The EFA Cup is the second-tier competition here, with the European Cup pitting the top clubs from varying nations against each other. Here's how things stand at game start. All 32 nations will send at least four teams to the continental cups this year. It's a pretty safe bet 5-7 German clubs will participate each year. I'll be keeping brief tabs on this annually but won't spend a lot of time with it until it becomes a larger concern. Here's Germany's Premier League. There's one more team we'd have to scroll down to see, but it's not that important. Interestingly, it was high-parity generation. All 4.5-star teams except for the top two which are full 5-star ones. Usually there's a couple more elites and a few 4-star clubs as well in the mix. That matters because it affects the quality of youth players they'll get. Here's the roster, or most of it, for FC Bayern Munchen. Presented only for comparative purposes. This one's 3-star Holstein Keil, top-rated club in the middle tier, Second League. Schweinfurt, a roughly typical initial Amateur League side. Doesn't take a whole lot of careful observation to determine that they really suck. But they're bloody royalty compared to us. Here's what our merry band of misfits looks like. We should probably be called the Stuttgarter Trip-and-Fallers though, not Kickers. Collectively, we have a fraction of the athletic ability of Charlie Brown iconically flying through the air as Lucy snatches the ball away at the last instant. Ah yes, there's our dreck. A couple more players below the screen, but they're not important for now. The other amateur teams, like Schweinfurt are ... well, they're amateurs. It's a recreational league with electricians, plumbers, customer service professionals, etc. all thrown together due to their passion for the sport. But these guys? I think they went down to the local pub and found all the drunks who were too stupid/inebriated to really know what they were signing up for. Which doesn't say much about us, who need to whip them into shape. This diagram of our starting tactical position would normally show different shapes and maybe some directional arrows to indicate the responsibilities of each player. These green circles indicate that these guys have, at best, the capacity to stand in an area of the pitch and generally try to get in the way of the opposition if they come too close. Reacting to things happen further away? Not gonna happen. Coordinating efforts with the rest of the team? You're having a laugh. Back to the previous image though ... Class All have a ?, meaning zero-class; they have no clue what they are doing out there. They are totally incapable of doing any advanced training for obvious reasons, and the unfortunate tool who is in goal has all of their already-pathetic attributes halved in effectiveness. They can move only the minimum of one space in any direction, with or without the ball. They probably know the difference between a soccer ball and a similarly-sized melon, but even that might be stretching it. Attributes Acc(Accuracy) -- Shooting at the goal. Pas(Passing) -- What it sounds like. Def(Defense) -- Tackling and intercepting shots/passes in the vicinity. Ctr(Control) -- Intercepting crosses(for keepers), fighting for position on corner kicks, maintaining possession when being tackled, etc. As indicated by the highlighted numbers, Defense is considered the primary attribute of defenders & keepers, Passing for midfielders, Accuracy for forwards. It's a little more complicated than that though -- while it's never going to be real important for a keeper or defender to have high accuracy, most attributes are useful in various places on the pitch. Level The technical ability, or overall attribute points, of a player is indicated their level. These range from 1-100, so we're as rubbish as it is possible to get. Three attribute points are granted each level that is gained. This is impacted by something called 'Fate'. Look at Komolong, for example. He's best at Defense, has some Control, Accuracy and Passing are non-existent. He'll tend to gain points in roughly the same proportion, so it's probably never going to be a good idea to play him in a spot where he needs to pass or shot primarily. Others, such as Ortag, have no particularly great natural strengths but are more versatile. Players need match experience to gain levels here. How much they get depends on the level of competition, success of the team, and how much/how well they personally participated in the flow of the action. Eventually support staff will allow even unused substitutes to benefit, but for now it's play or stagnate. Skills Whaddya know, we don't have any. At all. Advanced training in special abilities, both active and passive, shows up here. Rather logically though, a basic competency in playing a defined position on the pitch is required first. Contracts We've got essentially 1-2 year deals signed and paid for with everyone, so at least we'll be able to field a team, such as it is, for a little while. The Cost is the amount of euros that we could currently sell the right to each player's services for. It's important to note that this value is changed by the interest in the player around the league, which is based on how much they've played recently. All of our players are current at Low, because nobody's ever heard of them. Medium interest players will generate 4 times the sale price, High 6 times as much. Any player, no matter how rubbish, can be improved to High interest if they play enough. If they play well, interest will increase faster. It also cannot be overemphasized that other factors impact the price. Skills are more important than attributes in terms of a player's value(and performance); when you learn a skill their sell price will rise sharply. There is also a natural decline each year, on their birthday, based on age. Level and Specialization Level(see below) also increase it to a lesser degree. You can't extend the contract of a player until it has less than a year left, so we couldn't do that even if we wanted to(or actually had any money to do it with). Additionally, you cannot sell or extend the contract of a player who is 34 or older. The lion's share of income, especially at the lower level, will come from selling players so it is absolutely vital that all coaches pay attention to these details. This view allows us to choose which attribute to focus a player's improvement on. To begin with, that means one of the three attribute points they get when they level up will be guaranteed to go to whatever aspect we choose. And when I say we, I mean you -- once your probationary period is over and the lot of you take over direction of your players, this will be your responsibility. We'd also see skills here of course ... if there were any. Specialization is another name for 'figuring out what the heck to do on the pitch other than stand there navel-gazing and inspecting the landscaping'. More advanced concepts will come, but that's what it is for now. The SL, or Specialization Level, is improved when you've gained enough experience in a specific position during matches. Just being out there for an entire match gains 5 points here(less if you only play part of it); taking actions increases this amount. For example, merely moving on the pitch gives you +1, a missed shot at the goal is +2, scoring a goal is +5, etc. Similarly on the defensive side, a failed save attempt gives +3 while a successful one grants +8. A core principle in FTG is that nothing succeeds like success**. The better a player plays, and also the more active/important a role they take in a match, the faster they will improve. The first level takes 70 points to achieve; nobody here starts with more than 2, which is why the bars are so short. We'll see the later options in the future, but the first couple of SLs achieved grant the ability to play a specific position adequately for the first one, and proficiently for the second. After that there are many choices to choose from. Making those choices will be another responsibility for you as coaches. That's enough of that for the time being; let's get to our first season!