FBCB2 discussion: Full version now available

[OldGiants]

Just sent you a second save which is three games played later and Bernard is now starting at SF. I'm puzzled as to what happened. The game he was inserted was 1/30 so it wasn't the monthly roll over that forced the evaluation, and I cannot see where another player got hurt to force a re-evaluation (but I can't rule that out).

[OldGiants]

Well, I could not send you the files from either Verizon or Gmail due to the size.

I think there are posts about uploading over at FastBreak, so I'll look for that.

[Balldog]

For some reason I can't find the recruit modifiers in my FBCB.ini file.

Isn't that where they are?

[HeavyReign]

It wasn't there by default so just add it manually.

*Added the option to decrease talent of incoming recruits using the FBCB.ini file. Add this to the file in order to make adjustments. The range is 0-2000 with 2000 being 100% better than normal and 0 being 0%.

[Recruits]
InsideScoring=1000
JumpShot=1000
FreeThrow=1000
ThreePoint=1000
Handling=1000
Passing=1000
Stealing=1000
Blocking=1000
PostDefense=1000
PerimeterDefense=1000
ORebounding=1000
DRebounding=1000

[Balldog]

Thanks! There we go, having to reinstall on new laptop has really screwed me up.

[cadmus2166]

Any chance of getting an updated conference/team prestige file? The conference changes I could do myself I suppose, but I have no idea how team prestige is calculated accurately.

[britrock88]

I update the teams and conferences CSVs fairly regularly (ping to get the Catholic league one done... until it changes again ), but I'd have to ask HR about calculating prestige.

[Groundhog]

I've been pondering putting together a list of changes required to take the NCAA from 1939 through to the current day, using the standings information on the basketball-reference site. This would involve creating new schools (that are either no longer DI or don't exist/changed names), scaling recruit talent, etc. I'm just not sure what to do with teams that need to be deleted... anyone have any ideas? Currently I make teams that move out of D1 independants, but I suspect it'll end up with a couple of hundred schools in that category by 2013...

[britrock88]

Not to mention the dozens of schools that actually play as independents for the first few decades...

[Balldog]

I traditionally go with a defensive first mindset but last night started a save with my D2 mod and a pure focus on shooting. If you don't have a B potential for 3PS you don't play for me this time. Also a rotation of 10 guys who all play about 20 minutes per game. I figured I may not be successful but at least it's something different.

After simming from 1957 to 1993. I went with Northwood who was a 41 prestige and quickly rose to a 63 after 6 seasons and 5 NCAA appearances. i quickly bolted to 100 prestige San Francisco State. That is where I stopped for the night. It will be interesting to see if this philosophy works against better competition. In the new conference there are 4 teams >85 prestige, including Sonoma State who has 7 National Championships.

One of the players returning is the reigning National Player of the Year after averaging 26 points per game last season. His sweet jumper will get plenty of shots but he had a realistic chance to be the all-time leading scorer. I'm torn between giving him extra minutes to get the record or sticking with my system.

[Balldog]

After 5 seasons at San Francisco State of 20-win seasons but never making it out of first weekend of the tournament I decided to make a tweak to my strategy and go after bigs that can offensive rebound with the best of them. I went on to have 7 straight 30-win seasons with, 7 straight conference championships, 3 Final Fours and my first ever National Championship.

I just signed my best class by far with the 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, and 18th ranked players in the country. I would have had the 3rd as well but he is not going to qualify.

The year we won the NC I had a senior power forward that won National Player of the Year with 22ppg, 12rpg, and 5.5bpg. He missed the non conference season with academic problems. His best game was 23 pts, 15 blks, and 12 rebounds.

[yeah826]

The one thing Ive notice having a good big on your team can be game changing thats why I always looked for at least one skilled big and if i cant have that than either a defensive rebounding type or just pure offense with hopefully some skill in blocking. If all else fails find a 7 footer.

[Emmett13]

This game is still just so awesome.

Also, I've come to the conclusion that my dream game is a college basketball sim with the depth of Football Manager. Of course, I realize the game couldn't be AS deep as Football Manager, but you get the idea. That's neither here nor there, but whatever.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I've been pondering putting together a list of changes required to take the NCAA from 1939 through to the current day, using the standings information on the basketball-reference site. This would involve creating new schools (that are either no longer DI or don't exist/changed names), scaling recruit talent, etc. I'm just not sure what to do with teams that need to be deleted... anyone have any ideas? Currently I make teams that move out of D1 independants, but I suspect it'll end up with a couple of hundred schools in that category by 2013...

You can delete teams, can't you? It's been a while since I've poked around in the Zeroed Out file though so I don't know for sure.

[whomario]

@ Balldog: Had one of my greatest runs with San Francisco as well I also went with a "shoot first, ask later" aproach, my own personal shooting star (pun intended) was this kid :



I lost my files from back then but am pretty sure he set some records in his time. Pretty much had everybody cater to him and when he got hot, it was all over for the other team

[LloydLungs]

May have been covered already but want to clarify: is it not possible to create the exact 2012-13 conference alignments? The game can't support the 5-team Great West, right? No big deal, will just get a little creative for that one conference.

[HeavyReign]

The game should allow you to have 5 teams in a conference without too much trouble. Are you running into an issue with it?

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by HeavyReign

The game should allow you to have 5 teams in a conference without too much trouble. Are you running into an issue with it?

Oh good -- no issues, I just thought I had read where fewer than 6 was a problem. I must be mistaken. I just wanted to clarify so I didn't go ahead and implement the significant changes for 2012-13 and get hit with a RTE later. Thanks.

[britrock88]

You might not be able to run a 5-team tourney, is all. Don't remember off the top of my head.

[HeavyReign]

With more recent builds you can do the 5 team tourney as well.

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by HeavyReign

With more recent builds you can do the 5 team tourney as well.

Thanks. This game's flexibility continues to amaze. I was perfectly prepared to settle for a slightly off-realistic Great West, but apparently I don't even have to do that.

[LloydLungs]

I'm doing my conference realignments for 2012-13, and after relocating all the teams to their new conference homes, when editing the Big East Conference I get a RTE 383 ""Text" property is read only." This only happens with the Big East. I wondered if it was having trouble with a 15-team league and so I put a team in to get them back to 16 just to test, but I still got that error.

Also, I don't see a 5-team tourney option for the Great West, just 0 and 2 -- I'm on V 2.3.3, is this the latest?

[HeavyReign]

You want 2.3.13:

http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB2010v2313.exe

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by HeavyReign

You want 2.3.13:

http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB2010v2313.exe

Thanks -- that fixed the Great West, but still getting the Big East RTE. Strange.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Emmett13

This game is still just so awesome.

Also, I've come to the conclusion that my dream game is a college basketball sim with the depth of Football Manager. Of course, I realize the game couldn't be AS deep as Football Manager, but you get the idea. That's neither here nor there, but whatever.

Agree and agree.

[Comey]

I think my dream game is a college hoops with a playable high school basketball model. A high school football game is up there, too.

I'm going to mod this, I hope, to fit a hybrid PIAA model for an ubersports dynasty I'm starting to piece together (going to take months, and multiple people on the project, before it gets introduced to the world)...I like the idea that it will have an Indiana hoops feel to it, with just one "state champion". That shall be fun.

[Groundhog]

Yeah also agree 100%. Basketball translates so well to the sim world IMO because you are dealing with smaller rosters and a game where individual players are so important, so you end up getting attached to particular players fairly easily compared with other sports. With the college game you have the added advantage of also having to continually rebuild your talent, rather than just locking it in long term ala pro sims.

[TwinCitiesFan]

A little help, playing my first season and for some reason I cannot cut a player on scholarship?

I took over for a mid major, previous couple of seasons were full of 1 star players.

Thanks in advance

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Comey

I think my dream game is a college hoops with a playable high school basketball model. A high school football game is up there, too.

I'm going to mod this, I hope, to fit a hybrid PIAA model for an ubersports dynasty I'm starting to piece together (going to take months, and multiple people on the project, before it gets introduced to the world)...I like the idea that it will have an Indiana hoops feel to it, with just one "state champion". That shall be fun.

I like the idea of a high school sim attached to a college sim, too. I think it'd be a really fun way to text sim and basketball (as others have said) fits well with that.

As for a hybrid high school league in FBCB, that's something that's also intriguing. I did with TCY back in the day and it was fun, but it's a lot of work and I never feel like I can get as immersed as I'd like after doing that, but..you've got me thinking.

[Comey]

I'll be doing it, and doing the same with BBCF, to attach to the aforementioned much bigger project. Those two leagues, along with a baseball league, will be my own personal crusades throughout the course of things. I'm looking really forward to it, outside of the logo formation. That's going to be really tough.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

Thanks -- that fixed the Great West, but still getting the Big East RTE. Strange.

Don't think there's support for a 15-team tourney (14 or 16). That might be hanging you up.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by TwinCitiesFan

A little help, playing my first season and for some reason I cannot cut a player on scholarship?

I took over for a mid major, previous couple of seasons were full of 1 star players.

Thanks in advance

Not supported as-is. You can dive into the player editor, take kids off scholarship, and then cut them, so long as you cut before training camp.

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Don't think there's support for a 15-team tourney (14 or 16). That might be hanging you up.

Well, is anybody playing successfully with this year's Big East alignment? I wouldn't expect support for the weird BE tournament format they're doing this year, as it's a makeshift format (esp with UConn ineligible) and the conference may not completely exist after this year... but I can't even set the tournament to, say, a 12-team format because I get the RTE trying to edit the conference.

Edit: Never mind, it does indeed have the 14-team format too, again I just can't get to it to make the change.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

Well, is anybody playing successfully with this year's Big East alignment? I wouldn't expect support for the weird BE tournament format they're doing this year, as it's a makeshift format (esp with UConn ineligible) and the conference may not completely exist after this year... but I can't even set the tournament to, say, a 12-team format because I get the RTE trying to edit the conference.

Edit: Never mind, it does indeed have the 14-team format too, again I just can't get to it to make the change.

When you make conference changes, you have to manually change the conference tournament size and you can only do it during the conference movement portion of the season, but it should happen without any problems.

The game won't do it automatically. I don't know why you're getting a RTE, though. I'm always making ridiculous adjustments. I find that I need to make all of my conferences moves, before going into the conference tab to edit the conference though, because if there are alterations or weird things, it will causes crashes.

So I'd suggest saving often. But I've played with all sorts of arrangements from 20 teams to 6 without many issues. I do run across occasional RTEs when I'm editing, but like I said, I tend to make changes incrementally, rather than doing them all at once to avoid something weird happening.

[LloydLungs]

Yep, definitely a good idea to make all the team moves first and then save before doing the conference edits. I've done that, in the conference moves stage... just can't get past the Big East RTE. It's reliably reproducible. When I go into my "pre-moves" save, I check the Big East at its former state of 16 teams and I can edit it. Then if I do nothing else but simply remove West Virginia and then try again, I get the RTE 383.

[HeavyReign]

I'll take a look when I get home later. I think I remember running into the 15 team issue helping someone else but not sure if it was the same thing or not.

[HeavyReign]

http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB2010v2314.exe

Version 2.3.14 (01/14/2013)
************************************************************
Fixes:
*Buttons to accept job offers in your inbox should not be visible once you have accepted an offer.
*Added more code to make sure conference tourney settings are legal when starting a new game.
*Default league editor should no longer give error due to invalid conference tourney settings.
*Teams should properly readd players coming off academic suspsensions to the depth chart.

Changes:
*Redshirting players will now be displayed in the same color as players who are unavailable due to injury.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by HeavyReign

http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB2010v2314.exe

Version 2.3.14 (01/14/2013)
************************************************************
Fixes:
*Buttons to accept job offers in your inbox should not be visible once you have accepted an offer.
*Added more code to make sure conference tourney settings are legal when starting a new game.
*Default league editor should no longer give error due to invalid conference tourney settings.
*Teams should properly readd players coming off academic suspsensions to the depth chart.

Changes:
*Redshirting players will now be displayed in the same color as players who are unavailable due to injury.

[LloydLungs]

Thank you! All better.

[cadmus2166]

I have a question, HR? I know you are busy on FBB3, but I'm really interested in updating conferences and team prestige in my FBCB game. Can you give some insight into how you calculate team prestige, and to how the 3+ seasons since the release of the game should affect it? Any insight into this matter will help!

[britrock88]

If I had the time (and the software), I would build up a complicated multiple regression for you to approximate it as well as possible. But I bet HR answering would be a lot more efficient.

[HeavyReign]

Not sure if knowing pretty much how it works will make it that much easier to set new prestige but here we go. The original prestiges were set using a spreadsheet made by one of the beta testers. I have the spreadsheet he used but I'm not 100% sure what it takes to update it. As far as the in game calculations, prestige is a 10 year calculation weighted towards the most recent season. So the most recent season counts 100%, the previous season counts 90%, then 80% and so on. The total of these prestiges is then divided by 5.5.

Each season the team is assigned a prestige level based on how they did in the regular season in conference as well as how they did in the postseason. Points for the regular season depend on the prestige of your conference.

1: -5 to 35
2: 10 to 50
3: 20 to 60
4: 30 to 75
5: 45 to 85

While it isn't exact, first place in the conference gets you max points and last place gets you the minimum points in the range. If you win your conference tourney, the game will consider your team as no worse than the 3rd place finisher.

You then get bonus points depending on the round you advance to the post season. Championship tourney gives the following points by last round played:

1: 10 points and minimum of 55 total points.
2: 13 points and minimum of 70 total points.
3: 16 points and minimum of 80 total points.
4: 20 points and minimum of 85 total points.
5: 25 points and minimum of 90 total points.
6: 30 points and minimum of 100 total points.
7: 50 points and minimum of 125 total points.

Other tourneys give a much smaller bonus ranging from 1 to 15 points.

[cadmus2166]

Originally Posted by HeavyReign

Not sure if knowing pretty much how it works will make it that much easier to set new prestige but here we go. The original prestiges were set using a spreadsheet made by one of the beta testers. I have the spreadsheet he used but I'm not 100% sure what it takes to update it. As far as the in game calculations, prestige is a 10 year calculation weighted towards the most recent season. So the most recent season counts 100%, the previous season counts 90%, then 80% and so on. The total of these prestiges is then divided by 5.5.

Each season the team is assigned a prestige level based on how they did in the regular season in conference as well as how they did in the postseason. Points for the regular season depend on the prestige of your conference.

1: -5 to 35
2: 10 to 50
3: 20 to 60
4: 30 to 75
5: 45 to 85

While it isn't exact, first place in the conference gets you max points and last place gets you the minimum points in the range. If you win your conference tourney, the game will consider your team as no worse than the 3rd place finisher.

You then get bonus points depending on the round you advance to the post season. Championship tourney gives the following points by last round played:

1: 10 points and minimum of 55 total points.
2: 13 points and minimum of 70 total points.
3: 16 points and minimum of 80 total points.
4: 20 points and minimum of 85 total points.
5: 25 points and minimum of 90 total points.
6: 30 points and minimum of 100 total points.
7: 50 points and minimum of 125 total points.

Other tourneys give a much smaller bonus ranging from 1 to 15 points.

Thanks!! I'm gonna play around with this a little bit in my spare time and see what I come up with.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by HeavyReign

Not sure if knowing pretty much how it works will make it that much easier to set new prestige but here we go. The original prestiges were set using a spreadsheet made by one of the beta testers. I have the spreadsheet he used but I'm not 100% sure what it takes to update it. As far as the in game calculations, prestige is a 10 year calculation weighted towards the most recent season. So the most recent season counts 100%, the previous season counts 90%, then 80% and so on. The total of these prestiges is then divided by 5.5.

Each season the team is assigned a prestige level based on how they did in the regular season in conference as well as how they did in the postseason. Points for the regular season depend on the prestige of your conference.

1: -5 to 35
2: 10 to 50
3: 20 to 60
4: 30 to 75
5: 45 to 85

While it isn't exact, first place in the conference gets you max points and last place gets you the minimum points in the range. If you win your conference tourney, the game will consider your team as no worse than the 3rd place finisher.

You then get bonus points depending on the round you advance to the post season. Championship tourney gives the following points by last round played:

1: 10 points and minimum of 55 total points.
2: 13 points and minimum of 70 total points.
3: 16 points and minimum of 80 total points.
4: 20 points and minimum of 85 total points.
5: 25 points and minimum of 90 total points.
6: 30 points and minimum of 100 total points.
7: 50 points and minimum of 125 total points.

Other tourneys give a much smaller bonus ranging from 1 to 15 points.

I feel like a kid in a candy store.

[LloydLungs]

Wow. My Louisville team just dropped a game at the Maui Invitational in FIVE OVERTIMES. 120-118. Had three walk-ons on the court by the end of the game. Insane.

[OldGiants]

Originally Posted by HeavyReign

http://www.fbbgames.com/FBCB2010v2314.exe

Version 2.3.14 (01/14/2013)
************************************************************
Fixes:
*Buttons to accept job offers in your inbox should not be visible once you have accepted an offer.
*Added more code to make sure conference tourney settings are legal when starting a new game.
*Default league editor should no longer give error due to invalid conference tourney settings.
*Teams should properly readd players coming off academic suspsensions to the depth chart.

Changes:
*Redshirting players will now be displayed in the same color as players who are unavailable due to injury.

Many thanks, as always.

[Comey]

One thing I love about the long-term simming of this game is watching the ebb and flow of the universe. I am 82 years into one run, and there have been plenty of excellent runs teams have had...right now, Mississippi State, Iowa and Cal reign supreme. Mississippi State has always been good (won titles in 1956, 1973, 1981, 1985-87) and have always been around. Iowa and Cal are the more recent cream of the crop.

I write about this tournament in particular, though, as I just watched the selection show...and the littles have it over the big conference teams. Just a few matchups:

West:
8 Denver vs 9 Idaho
7 Kent State vs 10 San Diego
6 UConn vs 11 IUPUI (won '07 NCAA title)

South:
8 GW vs 9 SMU
4 Arkansas State vs 13 San Jose State
6 Tennessee vs 11 MS Valley State

East:
8 Cal vs 9 Towsown
7 Rider vs 10 Drexel
3 Evansville vs 14 Monmouth

I love how wide open things are right now. I may restart my Best Ever dynasty, where I try and find the best player, team, game, and coach, just so I can watch this stuff more.

[Comey]

dola--

As soon as I posted that, Mississippi State lost in the second round...kind of their MO lately. They lost to GW, who fell to #2 Rutgers in the Elite Eight.

Denver, for the record, got to the Elite Eight:

d 9 Idaho 77-48
d 1 Oklahoma State 73-64
d 13 Green Bay 70-61
l 2 Michigan State 72-42

Whoops.

Amazingly, the Midwest, the only bracket with any semblance of what we'd call normalcy, was also the one that played closest to chalk, with #1 Iowa beating #2 Arizona.

The Final was an all-Big Ten affair, where Michigan State denied Iowa a chance at a repeat, 86-78. The SEC was a fraud once again, as Iowa ripped through Mississippi, 79-53. The state of Mississippi is the kingpin of college hoops in this dynasty, though it never seems to translate to postseason success.

[cadmus2166]

Originally Posted by HeavyReign

Not sure if knowing pretty much how it works will make it that much easier to set new prestige but here we go. The original prestiges were set using a spreadsheet made by one of the beta testers. I have the spreadsheet he used but I'm not 100% sure what it takes to update it. As far as the in game calculations, prestige is a 10 year calculation weighted towards the most recent season. So the most recent season counts 100%, the previous season counts 90%, then 80% and so on. The total of these prestiges is then divided by 5.5.

Each season the team is assigned a prestige level based on how they did in the regular season in conference as well as how they did in the postseason. Points for the regular season depend on the prestige of your conference.

1: -5 to 35
2: 10 to 50
3: 20 to 60
4: 30 to 75
5: 45 to 85

While it isn't exact, first place in the conference gets you max points and last place gets you the minimum points in the range. If you win your conference tourney, the game will consider your team as no worse than the 3rd place finisher.

You then get bonus points depending on the round you advance to the post season. Championship tourney gives the following points by last round played:

1: 10 points and minimum of 55 total points.
2: 13 points and minimum of 70 total points.
3: 16 points and minimum of 80 total points.
4: 20 points and minimum of 85 total points.
5: 25 points and minimum of 90 total points.
6: 30 points and minimum of 100 total points.
7: 50 points and minimum of 125 total points.

Other tourneys give a much smaller bonus ranging from 1 to 15 points.

HR, do you know if the tournament bonus is for every season, or just the most recent? And if it apples to all seasons, should that be added in before the weighted season percentage is calculated or after? Thanks in advance for all your help on this!

[LloydLungs]

FYI, the 14-team conference tourney format being used by the Big East and SEC differs from the 14-team format in the game. In the game it's a 6-game first day with only the top two getting byes. In this year's SEC and Big East, it's a five-day event with 11 v 14 and 12 v 13 on the first day, then proceeding like a 12-team tourney from then on.