TCY 2 wishlist/suggestions

[waltwal]

it has been a long time since i played this game so i can't be too specific about any updates but let me suggest a general plan for the game

this game was absolutely no fun to play. i love college football but i felt like a secretary dealing with this game. my suggestion is too allow the computer to deal with some of the repetitive tasks and let the coach deal with gameplanning and recruiting. also really upgrade the gameplay aspect of the game.

the same is somewhat true for the pro game. i played the earlier editions of fof with real enthusiasm but as the game progressed i found it more and more tedious.
one of the problems with football is that it can be a very tedious game to play. i speak from 28 years of coaching. it takes about 10 hours of work off the field to about 1 hour on the field. in many ways that is the beauty of coaching football but ultimately when you keep adding realism to the game it means more and more work and it is after all a game and not real life.. fof became a game where dealing with the salary cap became a real challenge.

my suggestion is to break down both games into different jobs. let's take the pro game. there should be 4 jobs- owner,gm, salary cap manager and coach. you can decide to take all 4 jobs or any 1 individually. as owner your job is to simply hire the right people and watch the game unfold. since the other jobs could be separated the game can be as realistic and detailed as possible without becoming overly tedious. i would prefer to be the coach and really get into gameplanning for opponents however this means a real upgrade in the area of scouting opponents so that you are gameplanning for a specific opponent based on past games and individual players strengths and weaknesses.

the college game could be broken down even more. ad,coach, o coordinator, d coordinator and recruiting director. the o and d coordinator could also be in the pro game. once again the player would have the option to take all the jobs or decide on just one or a combo. this allows the game to really expand and become extremely intricate but the tedium brought on by the intricacy can be downplayed by simply deciding not to take on all the jobs.

i like football more than baseball but i much prefer sim baseball over sim football. a good and intricate baseball sim is simply more fun to play than a good and intricate football sim. i think that the solution to this problem is as stated. allow for the player to take on individual jobs.

[CraigSca]

Though I'd like an FOF6, TCY2 is long overdue and I'd happily pay more than the suggested retail price for an update.

[cthomer5000]

Once again, I think it would make sense to simply combine the Solecismic 8 and the Independents (only 3 remain) to fill things out and solve scheduling issues. Basically have this "Independents" division be Notre Dame, Army, Navy, and X teams from the state of your choosing (8 team division? 9? 10? 12?). This probably sucks for those Notre Dame fans, but oh well!

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

This probably sucks for those Notre Dame fans, but oh well!

Then I'm all for it!

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by cartman

You go to hell... You go to hell and you die!!!

(sorry, I slipped out of character for a sec... )

Make him bring you back a Juice Box too

[Ben E Lou]

Bump. Un-stick. Can be found via the reference thread...

[nilodor]

I'd like to see new recruits come in at a generic position. For example you would recruit a player who is a lineman and then you can decide what position you would like to have him play, some positions they would have a higher rating then others. So if you recruited a lineman his potential at centre might be 77 but at DT his potential could be 88. Of course you wouldn't know what position would be best for him, maybe this is where coaches could come in. If your scout is good with lineman he could narrow the best positions down for you to 2 or 3, if he's bad then you might not get any help narrowing it down.

Quick think on "groups"

Skill Positions -> RB, WR, TE, CB, LB, S
Lineman -> C,G,T,DE,DT
Quarterbacks -> QB
Specialists ->K,P

There would need to be more stats or ratings available to help you decide which position is best but I think it would be interesting non the less.

[dawgfan]

At this point, my priority suggestion is that TCY2 be the next Solecismic release. I mean, c'mon - the pro fans have had 2 full versions released since TCY and 4 total. Us college fans are due.

[Peregrine]

Amen! I am sure hoping the next game is TCY2, for the exact reasons above, it badly needs an update and since it ties into the existing FOF system a better TCY will make both games better.

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Amen! I am sure hoping the next game is TCY2, for the exact reasons above, it badly needs an update and since it ties into the existing FOF system a better TCY will make both games better.

How would a new TCY make FOF any better?

[WVUFAN]

The last football sim released though is a College game -- Bowl Bound. Since it's a superior game than TCY was, I would want another FOF version first.

[CraigSca]

Not to start yet another flame war...but I still like TCY more than Bowl Bound.

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Not to start yet another flame war...but I still like TCY more than Bowl Bound.

As outdated as TCY is, it's still a mile ahead of BBCF for me.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

As outdated as TCY is, it's still a mile ahead of BBCF for me.

I tried the BBCF demo, and while there were a lot of cool ideas it just didn't convince me in the same way that TCY did. There's something about the way Jim designs his games that really draws me in. That's not to say there aren't a bunch of things I'd like him to add or change - see my suggestions earlier in this thread - but he's got a better base to build off of IMO.

Also, the release of BBCF to me is further reason for Jim to respond with TCY2 and attempt to re-claim the text-sim college football market. EA Head Coach treads into pro football sim territory, but I don't think it's nearly the same level of overlap of FOF as BBCF is of TCY.

Just like FOF4 used many of the innovations Jim introduced with TCY, I'm sure we'll see many aspects of FOF2004 rolled back into TCY2 and new innovations put into the next FOF. That's the advantage for Jim in focusing on the football market - he can share R&D between the two titles.

Of course, my real wish is that Jim would take a break from football for a year or two and give us Front Office Baseball - just like BBCF didn't quite do it for me, I haven't really been able to get into the OOTP or PureSim series. I have a feeling Jim could nail a baseball sim in a way that others (for me) haven't.

[sovereignstar]

If I wasn't in an online FOF league, I'd want TCY 2. As it is, FOF needs security (and badly) because of the Justin Shipmans out there and a few extra enhancements, along with the typical engine tweaks. If security isn't in the works, it's a no-go. I don't trust people anymore - I've seen too much.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by nilodor

I'd like to see new recruits come in at a generic position. For example you would recruit a player who is a lineman and then you can decide what position you would like to have him play, some positions they would have a higher rating then others. So if you recruited a lineman his potential at centre might be 77 but at DT his potential could be 88. Of course you wouldn't know what position would be best for him, maybe this is where coaches could come in. If your scout is good with lineman he could narrow the best positions down for you to 2 or 3, if he's bad then you might not get any help narrowing it down.

Quick think on "groups"

Skill Positions -> RB, WR, TE, CB, LB, S
Lineman -> C,G,T,DE,DT
Quarterbacks -> QB
Specialists ->K,P

There would need to be more stats or ratings available to help you decide which position is best but I think it would be interesting non the less.

Not a bad idea. One of the interesting things about football recruiting is projecting what positions they'll play in college. A H.S. RB might put up great numbers, but his size and athletic attributes convince a recruiting coordinator that he'd make a bigger impact on the college level at CB. Or a coach looks at a big S (6'1", 210 lbs) with the frame to grow and projects him as an OLB (or an OLB as a DE).

One of the frustrations I had with TCY was that positions seemed to be too rigid, and switching positions felt like a blind guess. I think that there should be a method of previewing a scout's best guess of how well a position-switch would work before doing it. In addition, depending on the nature of the switch, the amount of actual ability lost should vary. A C switched to G shouldn't lose that much actual ability, but a C switched to NT should lose a lot more due to the much different nature of the positions. While much of the techniques learned for playing C will translate to playing G, that's obviously not the case for going from C to NT. Also, it would be cool if the ratings or attributes for players gave clues that a position switch might result in an increased amount of potential.

If position-switching were amended as described above, it would solve some of the recruiting issues of position-grouping described above - you could recruit that extra OT instead of a needed G knowing that there's a good chance that OT could slide over to G without losing much (or perhaps even gaining). Still, it would also be cool to see recruits be graded in multiple possible positions. Maybe your scout sees that 6'0", 215 lb kid as a RB, while another school's scout likes him better at S, and a third likes him best at OLB. Acutal recruiting is fluid like that, and it would give more of an interesting challenge in my opinion of filling up recruiting classes than simply going down the checklist of positions - OK, need a QB, a RB, 2 WR, a T, G & C, etc.

For even more intrigue, you could include in the player attributes his own feelings of what position he'd prefer to play. If you recruit him at his preferred position, you get an advantage over a school that doesn't. But if you bait & switch him and immediately change his position after signing, he'll be unhappy and have a high(er) chance of deciding to transfer to a school where he feels he'll play his preferred position. Of course, if you play him at his preferred position and he sits low in the depth chart for a year or two, he may soften his stance and be less upset if switched to another position.

[33sherman]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

I think that there should be a method of previewing a scout's best guess of how well a position-switch would work before doing it. In addition, depending on the nature of the switch, the amount of actual ability lost should vary.

Cosign. This would be great. The way it works now you end up completely demolishing some players by trying to switch them.

TCY is awesome (I STILL play it more than any other sim) but it really needs an update.

[Dutch]

TCY sure could use an overhaul, that's for sure. And it really doesn't even need multiplayer added.

Just thinking of some of the tweaking that could go into the game has me excited. If the Education Issue is fixed, the conferences updated, some simplified way to do scheduling is worked so conference movement can happen, and continued improvement of the recruiting process, the game could be just what the doctor ordered.

And considering that FOF2k4 is actually pretty good right now, you have to expect the next title to be TCY2.

[nilodor]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

For even more intrigue, you could include in the player attributes his own feelings of what position he'd prefer to play. If you recruit him at his preferred position, you get an advantage over a school that doesn't. But if you bait & switch him and immediately change his position after signing, he'll be unhappy and have a high(er) chance of deciding to transfer to a school where he feels he'll play his preferred position. Of course, if you play him at his preferred position and he sits low in the depth chart for a year or two, he may soften his stance and be less upset if switched to another position.

I really like that idea, I think that would make the decision making process harder. Your scout sees this player as a very good safety, he want to be a running back, your loaded at running back. Do you take a pass, sign him as a running back and switch him over or try to recruit him as a safety and risk losing him?

[st.cronin]

I would like to see a tcy that had solecismic's engine and interface and bbcf's feature list.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by nilodor

I really like that idea, I think that would make the decision making process harder. Your scout sees this player as a very good safety, he want to be a running back, your loaded at running back. Do you take a pass, sign him as a running back and switch him over or try to recruit him as a safety and risk losing him?

Yeah, in general I'd like to see more meaningful interactions with the players and other characters in the game than Jim currently has. I know that this kind of thing adds a whole new level of complexity to the programming, but it would really add to the immersiveness of the game. A lot of what makes college football recruiting intriguing to follow isn't present in Jim's current recruiting model. He's got a good base to build from, but there's a lot of room for additional gameplay decisions that would also make the game more realistic. EA's NCAA Baseball does a nice job IMO of modeling player happiness/unhappiness based on playing time and recruiting promises.

Similarly, I'd like to see more real-world interaction with the AD in the game - I wan't to know as a coach if I'm on the hot-seat with the school administration and/or boosters, rather than get to the off-season and find myself fired and having it feel like it's coming completely out of the blue. Of course, the whole hiring/firing logic needs a major overhaul anyway. This is an area where Jim could borrow heavily from what EA has done with NCAA Football.

[Vegas Vic]

There have been some excellent points made already, so I’ll confine my comments to the two areas I’d like to see addressed.

I would like to see academics de-emphasized to a more realistic level. There should be some top 1000 players who have that as their main priority, but prestige and distance should be the dominant themes. Also, with the current emphasis on academics, it is way too easy to build up a program by just recruiting a bunch of smart guys for a few years, and thus jacking up the school’s academic rating.

For immersion purposes, I would like to see a more realistic model of talent dispersal from the states that are actually football factories. A top 1000 list should be saturated with players from Florida, Texas and California, with Ohio, Pennsylvania and some other states figuring in prominently also. In the current version, I believe that every high school in America is included, whether or not they have a football program. It should be relatively easy to get a fairly accurate representation of athletic preparedness, where we would be much more likely to see a blue chip recruit from Los Angeles (CA) Crenshaw, Shreveport (LA) Evangel or Southlake (TX) Carroll than we would from some obscure high school in Maine that’s never turned out a single recruit. This is a big deal to me, and I believe that SkyDog has alluded to this in the past as well.

[WSUCougar]

Top o' the Wishlist: Release date in the (very) near future

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Top o' the Wishlist: Release date in the (very) near future

Couldn't agree more...

[CraigSca]

TCY2 needs "player runs into own coach and fractures the coaches' leg" code. If this code is not included, it wouldn't be very realistic.

[MizzouRah]

Solevision needs an appearance in TCY!

[Adgnash]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

As outdated as TCY is, it's still a mile ahead of BBCF for me.

I am just getting into BBCF and enjoying it (although losing, but I took a small school).

Could you elaborate on some specific reasons why you like TCY better as a comparison for me (I havent tried TCY yet)? I do realize this is just your personal opinion, but I value it from people who have played both games.

Thanks

[st.cronin]

I am enjoying BBCF a lot. To my surprise, it's pretty much what I wanted TCY2 to be.

[33sherman]

While watching KSU-Texas saturday I kept thinking to myself that it was just like a TCY game--underdog builds a huge lead on some unlikely plays, then tries to hold the powerhouse off as it scores quickly to try and overtake them. You get that same feeling of powerlessness in TCY when you're trying to pull off an upset (and all you can do is count on your gameplan and watch).

[timmynausea]

There should be a greater emphasis on athletic quarterbacks and rushing the quarterback, I think. From Michael Vick to Vince Young to Troy Smith, it is here to stay.

The spread offense and zone blocking would be cool additions, too. Or just some general updates to the offensive and defensive schemes that are available.

I also really like the ideas of making the high school talent dispersal a little more accurate and making position switches more common/work better.

[CraigSca]

ping: this thread


Just a reminder for Jim as to how much a TCY update would be appreciated

[MizzouRah]

Now that FOF 6.1 has been released, besides having exhibition stats being kept for those 5 weeks, I think the game is almost perfect as far as I'm concerned.. or at least to the point I'm extremely satisfied.

With that being said, there is only 1 text sim that has made me feel like a boy amoung men, that game is TCY.

I couldn't win a championship to save my life. In fact it's so frustrating and fun, that I have to take breaks away from the game or I'll get really stressed out. (and I love that)

Please Jim, it's time for TCY 2. My biggest addition would be to have my staff handle time allotments for my players - a "recommend" button if you will. Other than that.. I'm so ready for TCY 2.

[dime]

Originally Posted by waltwal

this game was absolutely no fun to play. i love college football but i felt like a secretary dealing with this game. my suggestion is too allow the computer to deal with some of the repetitive tasks and let the coach deal with gameplanning and recruiting. also really upgrade the gameplay aspect of the game.

it means more and more work and it is after all a game and not real life.. fof became a game where dealing with the salary cap became a real challenge.

to really expand and become extremely intricate but the tedium brought on by the intricacy can be downplayed by simply deciding not to take on all the jobs.

amen. a modern head coach in college football is more of a CEO than anything else...I want to be able to establish a culture, a brand and pursue players and coaches who fit my philosophies well. should be able to emulate the star wars offense and speed miami had in the 80s, or nebraska's option offense and strength (their weight room was in its own class for many years) and so on. if I want to run a renegade program like dennis erickson and just throw talent on the field and go 9-2, I should be able to do that. if I want to try and build a program up by stressing defense and special teams like frank beamer did, I should be able to do that.

I don't want to worry about how many hours some guy should spend with his girlfriend and so on...I'd rather have sliders. If I'm recruiting stupid players, I'll have to move a slider to address that, sacrificing time they spend studying plays or whatever. maybe I need to spend more money on things like tutoring programs instead of new weights or something. If I'm a renegade program, maybe we play fast and loose with the faculty instead. Once my team slips to going to non-new year's bowls however, the enemies I've created will start sqawking about my dirty program. (unless I'm in the SEC, then the boosters string me up instead)

at no time in TCY did I feel like it actually mattered what formation I was trying to stock, or what kind of players I was recruiting. that made it real old real fast because my program seemed so generic.