Waiting for my build to get completed and dropboxed over to the streaming computer, so there''s some time for a chat....
Let's talk about "potential" and scouting.
There are a lot of things I don't like about nearly every sports sim out there when it comes to potential and scouting. I tried to eliminate potential in DD, but that's didn't work as well as I'd hoped either. While out running through the snow yesterday, I think I landed on a good system!
First, let's go through the thought process in case I change my mind again later.
The potential (POT) rating: Not bad. It's simple, and makes sense. One number to determine how much your player could improve each year. I like it for ease of use and how easy it is to understand. What I don't like about it is there is no room for surprise or specialization. (and I don't like just hoarding the high-POT guys) Does a 99 rated QB mean he will develop into a passing QB or a running QB? If it's based on what he is right now, how can he ever change? Maybe that doesn't matter for a QB, but how about a defender? I think it really matters if a defender can develop into something different than what he is right now. The POT rating just feels too random or limiting. Scouting is problematic because you only get 1 number to determine the future career of a player. What if your scout is wrong on POT? Then you've basically misjudged the entire career arc. Too drastic.
The potential "bars" (Like FOF): Lets you have different career arcs for players, and lets them change over time. Pretty flexible and powerful. I actually really like this system, but it falls apart on scouting. If your game is based on multiplayer like mine is, you can't have the entire potential system based on how well you scout because then you're inviting people to mine the save files for information. If the potential bars are random and not truly representative of the player's potential, well that's worse.
No potential. (Like DD):
Plus - Allows for completely freeform player development.
Minus - Allows for completely freeform player development.
There's no rhyme or reason to it. You can't use potential in any way to create a strategy. You just hoard young players and hope for the best. Also eliminates the need for scouting, which I kind of like.
Scouting: Scouting in multiplayer is a tricky business. Scouting is generally based on the idea of imperfect information. You get a better idea of what players are, based on the quality of your scout. The problem with that is that he actual player ratings exist somewhere in the save files. If you have 100 owners in your NCAA league, they all probably have different scouts who will give different player value reports. BUT, all 100 owners need to have the real ratings in order for scouts/transactions/roster management etc to work. That means the real ratings are somewhere in the save files. You know for 100% certainty that the #1 task for all of the owners is to find the real ratings of players they are looking to invest in. It's an arms race between me to hide ratings, and owners to find them. (besides the fact that hiding ratings makes it hard for 3rd party tools)
That's not how I want the game to be played. However, I also don't want every coach to get the exact same information and value the exact same players. That's kind of boring and will lead to one group of players getting heavily recruited while another group of players gets totally ignored. yuck.
I want owners to have no need to dig for extra information. I just want them thinking about the decisions they have to make, not worrying about the quality of their information. That means rethinking scouting all together. I ended up designing a system that combined scouting with potential to solve several problems at once.
First, some terminology....
rating - The number value a player has for a skill. Saved in the save file.
skill - The actual variables for the player. speed, strength, pass skill, run defense skill, etc.
value - Calculated based on skills/ratings. Used to determine how "valuable" a player is at something general. Things like "receiving", "man defense", "open field blocking", etc. These aren't saved, but calculated when needed. Not used in the game engine to resolve plays. Used to figure out matchups, though. (like "who is the best receiver?")
The Saunders Scouting and Potential System: (v1.0)- First of all, scouts are really just an extension of your coach. They don't have their own ratings or faults.
- All scouting is 100% accurate. What you see is real, so there is no need to worry about imperfect information and player ratings are available for 3rd party tools.
- Scouting is based on your coach's idea of what makes a "good player". Think of your scout as a formula for what you think is valuable. Each function a player can perform is based on a combination of ratings. Based on your coach's idea of the relative value of those ratings, the overall player value changes even though his ratings haven't changed. For example, "receiving value" is based on 45% speed, 50% receiving skill, and 5% running. What if you run a spread offense that relies on speed? Maybe you decide you think a receiver's value is more like 60% speed, 40% receiving skill. Your scout uses your preference to score players on receiving, which will differ from other scouts receiving score for the same player.
In short, scouting gives you a picture of a player through the lens of what you value. This brings us to potential....
- Every player has a potential for each skill. (speed, strength, run defense, pass block, etc)
- Skill potential means the max a player could reach in that skill, as they develop. (a 18 year old player rated 50 in coverage skill has a 90 coverage skill potential. He could possibly reach 90 for his coverage skill if everything works out right)
- As the player ages and develops, the potential "window" changes. Usually it shrinks because the player is developing and his potential is becoming more realized. On rare occasions, it will increase to simulate a player with undiscovered potential. This could also be used to simulate injuries that hurt physical potential, but not mental potential. (that 18 year old player may only have a coverage potential of 85 by the time he's 23 and graduating to the draft, but may have achieved an actual rating of 65)
- Potential can never be negative. At worst, a player's potential is equal to his ratings. That means he's not getting any better and it's only downhill from here.
Potential and scouting come together here. Since each player has potential in each skill, and each scout bases his player value on your coach's idea of what's valuable, you get an individualized scouting report for each player's potential based on what your coach likes. I would see a recruit that has high potential in the skill I value as a potential star. Another coach might not see him as high because they value different things. It ends up being about what you value, rather than who gets better information.
But wait, there's more!
You might think "Well that's cute, but the engine is what the engine is. It doesn't matter what I like because the engine has a specific formula."
Not really. The engine uses skills to determine what happens, not player value calculations. If a receiver is trying to make a catch, he uses receiving skill. If the receiver is trying to outrun a defender, he's using speed. If the receiver is trying to adjust to a thrown ball, it's receiving skill again. You just need to try to put your players in the right positions to use the skills you value,
which you can do by designing plays in the play editor!
BOOM!