Career Play in Pro Strategy Football 2014

[SegRat]

Was going to wait until career mode was available but went ahead and purchased.

[Pro Strategy Football]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

My first game, I take my Bengals up against Baltimore at their place..

I was playing in casual mode, and I am wondering if this is a byproduct of that, but here are the Baltimore QB's numbers: 18/37 passing for 309 yards, 1 TD.

His top receiver? Well, pretty much his only receiver, Schmid.. Had 18 catches for 304 yards. He caught one of those from the kicker on a fake fg. The only other receiver to catch a pass was HB Paris, who had 1 for 21.

Now I am wondering if this was just an extreme anomaly.. It was certainly a sweet game for Schmid.

The teams managed to combine for 35 points in the 4th quarter after only scoring 15 in the previous 3, it was a wacky one

Hmmm, I'll have to double-check when I get a chance, but the computer is supposed to spread the passing around, not settle on one receiver. If it's doing that, I'll need to fix it!

I've submitted my first patch last night and I'd really like to finish career play. If I have something goofy in career play, hopefully it'll be easy enough to fix along with that update.

Thanks for letting me know!

BTW, guys, if you load a saved season game, you need to load it from the Season screen, not the Home screen. That's one of the things I've fixed. Here's the patch notes for the update I submitted.

. fixed issue with loading saved season games
. fixed issue with being unable to “Sim rest of game” for season games
. fixed issue with not deleting saved season games correctly
. fixed drive summary on missed field goals
. now retains your selected coaches when loading a season game
. sped up simulations
. fixed name on the Game icon on device’s home screen
. updated stadium images for snow and rain
. fixed OT rules for regular season

a few nifty additions
. scoreboard now displays an icon to indicate whether each team is coached by a computer or person
. in career demo, can now view career leaders

[SegRat]

I was the Packers and played at Seattle. Seattle only had148 passing yards, but they had 178 rushing yards. Seems about right.

[Pro Strategy Football]

Originally Posted by SegRat

Was going to wait until career mode was available but went ahead and purchased.

Thanks, SegRat. RL is killing me right now, but I'm spending all available time trying to get this done. Laying out the screens is taking a lot of work, as is designing the actual effects of the decisions. I'm sure it'll need tweaking.

[Julio Riddols]

It wasn't that the QB focused entirely on one receiver as far as I could tell. But he was the only guy who caught anything, so I am not certain. I'll see if it continues in more games, I'll be playing a few tonight.

EDIT: Played my 2nd game against the Falcons in normal mode, and they called plays that spread the ball around. So that mode seems fine.. But then in my 3rd game of the season (back in casual mode), Tennessee threw exclusively to WR Wiggins. Every pass was intended for the flanker. The RB caught a few balls, checkdowns most likely. So yeah, unless I am the only one, casual mode seems to have a problem in the CPU offensive playcalling logic.

For my team, the plays are spread out ok. No receiver is exclusively targeted, the RB isn't the only ball carrier, etc.

-----

One thing that would be nice to see down the road is the ability to set rushing/passing percentages, like I want RB1 to get 80% of carries, RB2 to get 15%, and the rest divided among FB, QB, etc. I think the system would only have to cover the top 2 rushing options and the top 4-5 receiving options, and it would be nice to be able to adjust it prior to starting a game.

For instance, with Cincinnati - I would prefer to give Barnard 70% of the carries, the backup HB 25%, and the other 5% could be spread randomly among FB/QB/WR.

For the receivers, I'd prefer to give Giron 30% of the passes, Garrison 20%, Barnard 15%, James 15%, and Snow 10% ideally, with the remaining 10% spread out again. I don't know if this would be easy to implement, but I think it would give just the right amount of added control to casual mode without adding much in the way of extra stuff for the casual player to do. I find myself preferring casual mode when playing against the CPU though, it is great aside from being less able to control who exactly gets the ball.

Really enjoying the game, it is very much what I remember TLSF to have been, but with a few added features I always wished TLSF had. Career mode is going to be fantastic once it is tweaked and tuned, I think your vision for how to implement it is outstanding. I'll be sure and give as much feedback as possible. Thanks for all the work you're putting in, I look forward to continuing to support the product.

[SegRat]

I just played against the Saints in casual mode. QB was. 11 out of 17. The FL caught 10 passes. The RB 1.

[Julio Riddols]

Ok, so clearly the Flanker is the preferred pass option for the CPU in casual mode. Preferred 100% of the time. The other receivers are probably quite jealous.

[SegRat]

Just played another game. Flanker caught 18 passes for 266.

[Pro Strategy Football]

well, shoot - ok, definitely something for me to look at. Thanks, guys. :-(

I'll find that before the next patch (not the one I've already submitted)

[Pro Strategy Football]

Ok, I've found this and will fix and test it today. Just an update:

This only happens in Casual Mode. Selecting Computer vs Computer Sim is always Hard Core mode *unless* you are playing a game yourself in Casual mode and then tell the computer to finish it. Also, if you're playing vs the computer in Casual mode, the bug happens.

So:
(1) in all Sim games, you're ok
(2) in Casual games, you'll get this problem

I already submitted an update last week that I'm hoping they'll approve this week. I could pull it down and put this fix in, but I'll probably just make this a separate update.

EDIT: yep, easy fix. I'm able to duplicate it, and so I was able to fix it. Thanks for letting me know about this!

[Julio Riddols]

Anything for a good cause, Mr. Batts!

[Young Drachma]

Purchased today. Looking forward to career mode.

[Pro Strategy Football]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

Purchased today. Looking forward to career mode.

Thank you, I sincerely hope you enjoy the game!

I've made some more progress on career play, although I had to help my brother in law last weekend.

[pbot]

How about an option for QB kneel down to avoid the risk of fumbling at the end of a game/half.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

If you click suggest play at the end of the game, it will bring up the kneel down option. But I agree it would be nice to pick it on our own.

[Pro Strategy Football]

Ok, I goofed there. I have that option in Hard Core (Middle Runs -> QB Kneel), but somehow missed it in Casual Mode! I'll add that for the next release.

Good catch! Sorry I missed that!

Edit - done! It won't be in the very next release, because I've already submitted that to Apple; it has some important bug fixes. But it'll be in the very next release right after that. Thanks again for letting me know about this!

While I was at it, I updated the menus.
Now when you select Pass, it'll default to Short Pass rather than Screen.
And on Middle Runs (or just Runs on Casual), I now show QB Kneel at the top, but the default run will be the Line Plunge, same as now.

[Pro Strategy Football]

Maybe for 2015, I'll let people define their own play menus. I have to think about that ....

Either way, I think I could add another option to the menu, "Playbook" but I need to think of the best ways to edit and display the playbook. That's not until next year, though.

[Julio Riddols]

Defining my own play menu would be cool. Playbook also sounds awesome.

[SegRat]

So when will career play be ready?

[Pro Strategy Football]

Originally Posted by SegRat

So when will career play be ready?

I'm hoping very much to submit it by the end of this month. I should know more after next weekend, and I'll let you know. Thanks!

[rangersrobbie31]

Absolutely love this game. Season mode keeps me occupied enough while waiting on Career play.

[SegRat]

Can you adjust this so that the FB doesn't get so many carries? I hate seeing my FB get 10+ carries each week.

[Pro Strategy Football]

Originally Posted by SegRat

Can you adjust this so that the FB doesn't get so many carries? I hate seeing my FB get 10+ carries each week.

I'll look at that right after I finish career play, ok? Eventually (but not this year, I'm sure), I'd like to let you create percentages yourself.

Right now, in Casual Play (or any time the computer is making an offensive call), it'll randomly allocate some runs to the FB, but I'll be happy to look at it when I get a chance!

[SegRat]

Thank you.

[SegRat]

Update?

[Galaril]

Yeah was wondering too as I am waiting till career mode is ready and available .

[Pro Strategy Football]

I'm implementing a draft, which is coming along. However, between work and family visiting for a few weeks, I haven't been able to work on this much. I'll have more time next weekend. I have to work on the draft order logic (which I can find online) and then on the computer AI logic for making choices. Once the draft is done, I'm pretty much down to just testing.

I hope the approach I'm taking on the Draft will be useful, at least as a first pass.

The screen:
- tells you the round (1-7, although I could do 1-5 if that's easier for people)
- has categories (Lines, Offensive Players, Defensive Players, Special Teams)
- for each category, you have a few choices, such as Quarterbacks, Halfbacks, Tight Ends, etc.

Here's an example (and I'll put up some screenshots after dinner if I can):
- you select Offensive Players, and then Quarterbacks
- the middle section is scrollable, showing all the players
- at the top of that section is a section "Your Current Roster" and it shows your current quarterbacks
- the next section below that is the "Available QBs" which lists all the quarterbacks not yet taken
- the bottom section is "Drafted QBs" which displays the QBs which have been taken so far

Since QBs have so many numbers, I show the column headings at the top, and you can toggle between two sets of numbers.

Thanks for your patience, and I hope this'll be worth the wait!

[Flasch186]

The number of rounds has to mimic the NFL.

[JimboJ]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

The number of rounds has to mimic the NFL.

In this game, you would draft the offensive and defensive lines as a unit, rather than individual players. Therefore the number of rounds should be reduced. it seems like 5 rounds would be a good number IMO

[Julio Riddols]

Wanted to chime in and say I am not sure the casual mode CPU passing game is fixed yet. I believe I am fully updated, but teams are still targeting the Flanker almost exclusively.

Can anyone confirm this? If not, maybe it is something on my end.

[Julio Riddols]

I like the sound of the draft though, does this mean we will actually be selecting players ourselves?

[SegRat]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Wanted to chime in and say I am not sure the casual mode CPU passing game is fixed yet. I believe I am fully updated, but teams are still targeting the Flanker almost exclusively.

Can anyone confirm this? If not, maybe it is something on my end.

I have not seen this issue since the last update

[Pro Strategy Football]

Julio, yes, I decided to let you select the players yourself. I wanted to make it simple, but after struggling with the design on the other, I decided this would be simpler and more in keeping with what people would want.

Do you like the idea of being able to easily see your current roster on the screen while looking at candidates?

This is what I have working:
- players age and their attributes change at the end of the season
- the UI indicates which players have had at least one attribute change, and any such attribute will have an up or down arrow and appropriate color (red or green)
- the preseason screen shows your expanded roster and lets you rearrange players, so you might choose a different starting quarterback and even retire a player; at the end of that screen, all surplus players are cut

So now I'm working on the draft, as described above. My family has been in town a few weeks, so it'll be next weekend before I can get back on it as much as I want, but it's close.

[Pro Strategy Football]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Wanted to chime in and say I am not sure the casual mode CPU passing game is fixed yet. I believe I am fully updated, but teams are still targeting the Flanker almost exclusively.

Can anyone confirm this? If not, maybe it is something on my end.

I haven't seen that, but I do need to point out something else. I had turned off a section of code related to strong left (because it was causing some issues on defense), and as a result, when you choose Strong Left, your second string SE comes in. I'll fix that after the career mode.

[Julio Riddols]

Originally Posted by Pro Strategy Football

Julio, yes, I decided to let you select the players yourself. I wanted to make it simple, but after struggling with the design on the other, I decided this would be simpler and more in keeping with what people would want.

Do you like the idea of being able to easily see your current roster on the screen while looking at candidates?

This is what I have working:
- players age and their attributes change at the end of the season
- the UI indicates which players have had at least one attribute change, and any such attribute will have an up or down arrow and appropriate color (red or green)
- the preseason screen shows your expanded roster and lets you rearrange players, so you might choose a different starting quarterback and even retire a player; at the end of that screen, all surplus players are cut

So now I'm working on the draft, as described above. My family has been in town a few weeks, so it'll be next weekend before I can get back on it as much as I want, but it's close.

I really like this, it's more robust in a good way.

[SegRat]

So now that I have a lot of time to kill while my kidney is dying, is the update coming soon?

[Pro Strategy Football]

SegRat, I hope you're being facetious! If not, I really, really hate to hear that! My brother-in-law's kidneys are failing him, and I know he's incredibly depressed.

I apologize to everyone for this taking so long. My family has had a lot of unexpected events, and now I'm spending more time with family here at Christmas.

That said, I have the draft order working now (I'm using the official rules for determining draft order), and I'm able to draft players at each position and shuffle my players at the end of preseason.

However, I haven't completed the AI work for computer teams, working on that now. I'm adding a grading system so that each AI team can prioritize their needs and also identify what's best in the draft for them, but that's taking a while.

I hope I'm not being too generous with the draft - I'm having some players with 7s and 8s (and rare 9s), but I figure I can always tweak the draft in an update if people think it's now too easy to build a team.

Unfortunately, the upshot is, I don't see me having the AI and all testing done in time for Christmas. Sadly, it looks like I missed this football season and can only hope that next year will be better; PSF 2014 has been a bust.

BUT I will have this dang career mode out asap. Apple closes down submissions between Dec 23rd and 29th, and I should be ready for the 29th or 30th, barring any catastrophes.

Thanks, SegRat, and if you truly are sick, man, you're in my prayers!!



p.s. I display players by position to make it easier for you to find players at any position you need, but I'll also try to add in a master list (view only, as it would be too many buttons) showing all draftees ordered by the grading system I'm creating. Basically, though, if you want to check out the QBs ordered best remaining down, you can; same for LBs, etc.

[SegRat]

Today is the 29th, are we close?

[Pro Strategy Football]

Originally Posted by SegRat

Today is the 29th, are we close?

Yes, very close! I took the holidays off to enjoy family, but I've been able to focus on the app the last 4-5 days and have completed all the Career work, so it's in the hands of a few testers. The computer is doing a much better job in selecting its draft choices now, and will make your draft choice for you if you want (useful in later rounds). It also shuffles its roster very well now.

I still need to add a few things, mainly
(a) determine whether you still have the demo career (old, invalid format now) and delete it when you hit the career screen;
(b) provide some emergency way of recovering a career in case it gets corrupted. I'll eventually provide "back up to and load from iCloud" but right now I'll probably just back up your career each season and keep the latest 2, and then put a "recover" button on your main career screen.

I have not have a career mess up on me at all, but you never know, and I'd hate for someone in their 20th season to have to start over. This recovery would help with that.

I'll let you guys know more asap. Right now, I'm heading to finish watching the Orange Bowl!

[Julio Riddols]

Getting pretty excited over here.

[SegRat]

28 days before I return to work and I'm getting bored. Need this ASAP!

[SegRat]

Wondering where you are at with this?

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

This was just posted on his facebook page :

The last known bug has been fixed, lots more features and improvements completed, and will be submitting the app tomorrow after I finish some cosmetic changes. I know it may be too late for 2014, but I think PSF Career will be great fun for you guys. I've had a few hard core testers helping me and giving me great feedback.
Core features:
- you can simulate any level you want: sim the week, the regular season, the whole season, or even the whole year, including the draft and roster management
- players age each year and you'll have to replace even those you love
- at the end of preseason, you finalize your rosters
You can view all seasons at a glance - the seasons list displays the year, the championship results, the leading passer, leading rusher, and leading receiver. Drill down into any season and sort the leaders by any category. Which passer had the fewest interceptions, which rusher had the longest run, etc.
Of course, you can also view career stats for teams and players! Tap a team and see its full history, including all players who ever played on that team.
After I submit the app to Apple, I'm going to create a series of short videos to show off the various features, so stay tuned!

[Julio Riddols]

Awesome. Time to dust off the ol' iPad coach clipboard.

[Flasch186]

Nice

[SegRat]

Sweet

[Galaril]

Anybody know when this is going to be available? I just checked and last app updated was two months ago for the app.

[Julio Riddols]

I think it usually takes a few days to a week for the process from giving the update to iTunes and the update becoming available.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

I think it usually takes a few days to a week for the process from giving the update to iTunes and the update becoming available.

Yes good point.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Another update from his facebook page. Hopefully, he stops by and visits this thread soon! The bundle thing sounds a bit confusing to me, but whatever it is I will pay it since it will be cheap regardless.

Hey, busy week, but let me answer your questions real quick.
First off, yes, the app has been submitted, and reviews can take 7-10 days (or longer, but let’s cross our fingers), so I'm really hoping it'll be available before the big game!
Second, pricing – I’m reading up on Apple’s “Bundle” support to see how I can discount it for owners of PSF. If I can, I’m going to bundle “PSF 2014” and “PSF Career” (which means you get a discount if you buy both). From what I’ve read, that means that current owners of “PSF 2014” will get the career game at a discount. I’m putting “PSF Career” up for $5, but the bundle will be $8, which means that current owners should be able to get the app for $3. If I’m not able to get the bundling to work, then I’ll just lower the price for the first week and let you all know.
Third, Android. I have to take a mental break here, but then I’m going to research Android again. I had two approaches last year that I thought were going to work, and in fact, I put in over a month of work converting the app to one library just to try this, to no avail. Android is very, very high on my list of priorities - very high, trust me!
Finally, the game itself. I've taken tons of feedback from people and worked closely with a couple of die-hard career fans who tested my app and gave me constant suggestions, and I think that, if you're the kind of fan who enjoys lots and lots of stats and history, then you are going to love PSF Career!
In the next few nights and this coming weekend, I'll work on screen shots and some videos so you can see what I'm talking about. I'll also post some short details here. Thanks for your patience and support, and it'll be worth it!