FOF 9 Q & A thread

[Haiku]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Do heights show up weird on the roster screen for anyone else? I get things like 6040, 6010, and 6032 instead of 6'4", 6'1", 6'3 2/8" as they show up on the player cards.

On the roster screen it says height measurements are in 1/8 of an inch, whatever that means. I'm from Europe and have no clue. I guess the table could not sort height in inches properly so Jim left it that way. IDK.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Has anyone checked when the last time you can extend contracts? Both saved careers I have aren't in-season, but I'm thinking you might not have to do it before Week 1 now. Can anyoone verify?

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

I just simmed forward to test. You can now extend players all the way up to the bowl. Woot!

I'm trying this now -- it's right before the bowl, and I'm seeing who I can extend contracts for. I'm already over the cap, but I thought there may be guys I can extend who will ask for less in current year that's about to end, and I can keep them under contract for next year. A couple things:

1. The game seems to be letting me extend players who are asking for MORE of a cap hit in the current year. It feels like I shouldn't be allowed to do that. In previous versions I'm sure you couldn't.

2. The game never seems to care that I'm over the cap. I have the staff set to make minor decisions, and I'm usually just under the cap when the season starts, then as players get put on IR, the staff signs players who put me over the cap. I keep checking the event logs to see if I ever get a penalty, but it never happens. Does anyone know if it's okay to be over the cap at this point, if IR is involved (maybe this is some way to simulate a practice squad)? I think previous versions only calculated the cap hit of your top 53 players. Is that what should be happening here, and if so, should the roster screen not indicate that I'm over the cap?

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Haiku

On the roster screen it says height measurements are in 1/8 of an inch, whatever that means. I'm from Europe and have no clue. I guess the table could not sort height in inches properly so Jim left it that way. IDK.

Yeah, I'm cool with 1/8 of an inch (which if you're curious is about 3 millimeters). It just looks wonky to see "6036" instead of 6' 3 6/8" -- I don't particularly care, since I've never concerned myself with the height of a player in all the FOF I've played, but it just doesn't seem like that's how this is intended to be displayed.

[OldGiants]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I'm trying this now -- it's right before the bowl, and I'm seeing who I can extend contracts for. I'm already over the cap, but I thought there may be guys I can extend who will ask for less in current year that's about to end, and I can keep them under contract for next year. A couple things:

1. The game seems to be letting me extend players who are asking for MORE of a cap hit in the current year. It feels like I shouldn't be allowed to do that. In previous versions I'm sure you couldn't.

2. The game never seems to care that I'm over the cap. I have the staff set to make minor decisions, and I'm usually just under the cap when the season starts, then as players get put on IR, the staff signs players who put me over the cap. I keep checking the event logs to see if I ever get a penalty, but it never happens. Does anyone know if it's okay to be over the cap at this point, if IR is involved (maybe this is some way to simulate a practice squad)? I think previous versions only calculated the cap hit of your top 53 players. Is that what should be happening here, and if so, should the roster screen not indicate that I'm over the cap?

If you are over the cap, you lose a draft pick, usually third. Although I've seen other rounds for AI teams.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by OldGiants

If you are over the cap, you lose a draft pick, usually third. Although I've seen other rounds for AI teams.

I remember losing 3rd round picks in previous versions, and seeing that happen to the AI. But not here. Is that something that shows up in the transaction log? I don't see it there, and I don't seem to have lost any picks, despite being over the cap every season. I'm really surprised you've seen it happen to the AI, since I've never seen them go over the cap, and are often well under it.

[OldGiants]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I remember losing 3rd round picks in previous versions, and seeing that happen to the AI. But not here. Is that something that shows up in the transaction log? I don't see it there, and I don't seem to have lost any picks, despite being over the cap every season. I'm really surprised you've seen it happen to the AI, since I've never seen them go over the cap, and are often well under it.

there was no notification. I did not see it the third round came up and it said something like "forfeited pick". It didn't appear in the trade screen either.

I see this happen often to AI teams. there is simply a note on the draft screen that they forfeited the pick. Buffalo has to deal with Allen's big contract and they don't do that well every time. I remember looking to see what his current contract calls for, and the game has it exactly right. Lots of speculative writing in sports land about how they will renegotiate him this year--for real.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by AlexB

As players seemingly don’t get subbed in/out when tired, instead being forced onto the field play after play just because they are in that formation in the depth charts, do you think it is better:

1. To have your best players in as much as possible, regardless of whether they are listed in red on the depth charts
   
2. To work your depth charts so players are not highlighted in red to ensure you always have fresh players on the field, even if it means your best players aren’t always in every formation?

I really can't get my head around the depth charts: it seems like the AI just sticks the best players in all formations on offense, tiredness be damned, and the AI coaches never seem to think to pull a player for a couple of plays to catch their breath like they do IRL: they just push the tired player out play after play

If the AI doesn't care about putting players in every formation, what's the point of the whole tiredness system? FOF7's backups and playing time percentages made so much more sense to me

I really want to like FOF9, and the scouting of draftees is so much better, compensatory picks are great. But with this, not being able to see the draft board updating in real time, zero flexibility in trading, and a near-complete lack of feeling like there is a football league happening around you, I'm struggling TBH

[james17]

I have a player who is holding out in camp. I’d like to trade him but it appears FOF9 won’t allow that like FOF8 would. Am I understanding that correctly?

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I remember losing 3rd round picks in previous versions, and seeing that happen to the AI. But not here. Is that something that shows up in the transaction log? I don't see it there, and I don't seem to have lost any picks, despite being over the cap every season. I'm really surprised you've seen it happen to the AI, since I've never seen them go over the cap, and are often well under it.

Originally Posted by OldGiants

there was no notification. I did not see it the third round came up and it said something like "forfeited pick". It didn't appear in the trade screen either.

I see this happen often to AI teams. there is simply a note on the draft screen that they forfeited the pick. Buffalo has to deal with Allen's big contract and they don't do that well every time. I remember looking to see what his current contract calls for, and the game has it exactly right. Lots of speculative writing in sports land about how they will renegotiate him this year--for real.

I can confirm now that I have seen this happen, and there's a record of it in the transaction log. It looks like if you're over the cap right before the draft, you lose a 3rd round pick in that draft. And if you're over the cap a couple weeks after the draft (probably right before summer vacation?) you lose a 3rd round pick in the next draft.

[OldGiants]

SCHEME ACQUISITION

I can read the tool tip--but what does it do? In games terms what things change? If I acqure an OL, do some of his ratings turn green? I'm at a loss to make sense of this.

If I'm right about the green, looking for FA's with high SA would seem to be indicated as a good strategy.

[james17]

I can't figure out why the sim won't let me trade a guy who is holding out that I can't afford. Anybody have an idea?

[garion333]

Originally Posted by OldGiants

SCHEME ACQUISITION

I can read the tool tip--but what does it do? In games terms what things change? If I acqure an OL, do some of his ratings turn green? I'm at a loss to make sense of this.

If I'm right about the green, looking for FA's with high SA would seem to be indicated as a good strategy.

We don't exactly know how its working, but I can tell you I've seen a lot of low Scheme Acquisition players be horribly slow at developing as players. After four seasons they'll be 13/50.

If I had to guess about how it works in-game, when an OL joins a new squad they have a negative effect on OL dice rolls. This could be contained in the Cohesion of the line or some other variable in the algorithm. Regardless, over time the effect is lessened until the player reaches full experience with the scheme.

[canuxrok]

Is there any way to pause the draft when it isn't your pick? I want to be able to stop and try to trade before my guy is gone but I want to wait a few picks first.


Nvm I am dumb. lol. There is a big button right there to pause it. I just somehow was missing it and panicking.

[canuxrok]

Okay, I do have an actual question though. I like how some screens (depth chart, draft, top free agents, etc.) show you the player's "Fit" which is basically which position is actually ideal for him (this is mainly for defensive front positions) but some screens don't have this and I was wondering if there was any other way to see that, like is there somewhere in the player profile that I'm not noticing? It's kind of a difference if a guy is a 34 DE and more of an interior lineman type compared to if he's a 43 DE who is more of an edge rusher but I can't see that, for instance when I'm signing free agents that are in the top 250. It would be cool if the game eventually was able to group defensive front players the way they usually are categorized now (IDL, EDGE, LB) but for now I just want to know if there's any way to see their fit if you aren't in a screen that already shows it.

[cupofjoe]

Has anybody else run into the issue of the game automatically re-signing holdouts? It has happened to me a couple of times. Thankfully both times they sign with extremely low guarantees. I’ve also found it to be a bit annoying we can’t trade people holding out.

*I don’t have minor decisions box checked

[Passacaglia]

Pretty sure that happened to me, too.

[wonkkk]

I feel monstrously stupid... how do I actually get to see the game live / call the plays?

[KingZal]

Originally Posted by wonkkk

I feel monstrously stupid... how do I actually get to see the game live / call the plays?

There's a checkbox on the Schedule screen labeled Show/Control Your Team's Games, once that's checked off you can simulate to/past the day the game is actually played.

[tald]

I must be very stupid, I have played FOF from the very start, but somehow cant get this game. I am just about ready to go back to FOF 8. Just wondering am I the only one?

[garion333]

Originally Posted by tald

I must be very stupid, I have played FOF from the very start, but somehow cant get this game. I am just about ready to go back to FOF 8. Just wondering am I the only one?

Hardly.

Something something multiplayer something something.

[garion333]

Actually, let me make my comment clearer.

Without a Multiplayer community engaging with FOF on a daily or weekly basis, the discussions surrounding FOF will likely completely die down. There's simply not large enough community for this (fantastic) series at this stage to support healthy discussions on the game. You can see it here, a number of recently made accounts ask questions that don't get answered. They likely move on to other games.

When there were active mp leagues, it helped keep things alive, even if discussions were happening on league forums or in Slack/Discord/etc. Those discussions would find there way back to these threads, the knowledge base expands and people stay engaged.

Now, with a sp focused title, and a large portion of the mp community seemingly writing FOF9 off, there's no discussion at all. I feel for Jim because I thought the mp community would still embrace FOF9 despite the sp nature. His comments on why it's sp only didn't seem to move the needle, and then he somewhat doubled down with a bit of shade by indicating a lot of his post-release support over the years were at the behest of the mp community. I think they need to hug it out...

The way I see it, this version was doomed from the start. The UI change brings some nice touches, but looks like an OOTP UI without the ability to modify the layout or utilize filters. FOF9 is simply too stiff.

And then to effectively give the mp community the middle finger. Yikes. There's a reason companies hire pr folks.

[NawlinsFan]

I still hold out hope, maybe stubbornly, that Jim will add support for MP. I understand he feels that portion fo the market may not show the numbers that he feels would be worth his effort and time but I personally see how a robust MP community can also feed larger SP interest. I mean hell even now there remain some robust FOF MP communities, and to be fair a few that are struggling, and many of those players (yes, getting fewer and fewer as time goes by) have been around here for decades now. With that there is a level of game play that you get in MP that anyone just cannot recreate in SP.

[KingZal]

That's really a shame, FOF9 really improves on 8 in a lot of ways. A lot of improvements under the hood along with more customization, better playcalling, and much quicker simulating.

The biggest improvement? Player files. Having all present and future players in two consolidated files makes historical play a breeze, and imported quarterbacks are no longer broken (my biggest issue with FOF8, which I otherwise loved).

I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about this game or even a discord server (as far as I know). The amount of depth and customization is absurd. But I wouldn't be surprised if MP helped create an arms race of sorts for previous entries, which FOF9 now lacks.

[garion333]

Originally Posted by KingZal

But I wouldn't be surprised if MP helped create an arms race of sorts for previous entries, which FOF9 now lacks.

Boom, nailed it, well put.

[Lann]

Originally Posted by BKL

Is there any way to have the play by play text stop after a play when you are calling the plays? This is how FOF8 worked, so you had time to read what happened before it disappears. Otherwise it seems like you have to toggle the pause button after each play. Am I missing something!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you know if Jim has said anything about this or is at least knowledgeable about the subject? I think this is essential in the game.

[QuikSand]

Several times, I have had trouble with a screen where what I want to do is "highlight" a certain player (or right now, a coach) and take an action for that player without clicking his page to open. I feel like a right click is the intended way for this to work, but it seems... inconsistent.

Multiple times I have found myself just clicking left and right all over the place to try to get this to work, and sometimes it does. In my current case I have coaches I want to extend, and... nothing happens with a right click, and a left click just opens the coach's page, no help.

Anyone familiar with this? (I have not pored through all 7 pages of this thread, i confess) I will send it in to Solecismic assuming it's not a solved issue. Rather annoying.

[QuikSand]

...funny, in the time it took me to write up that post, the issue of the moment resolved, and my coaches are highlighted with the right click.

Possibly a dual monitor issue? (I left the monitor that FOF9 was on to type this in the other screen, then went back and it was resolved...hmmm...)

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Several times, I have had trouble with a screen where what I want to do is "highlight" a certain player (or right now, a coach) and take an action for that player without clicking his page to open. I feel like a right click is the intended way for this to work, but it seems... inconsistent.

Multiple times I have found myself just clicking left and right all over the place to try to get this to work, and sometimes it does. In my current case I have coaches I want to extend, and... nothing happens with a right click, and a left click just opens the coach's page, no help.

Anyone familiar with this? (I have not pored through all 7 pages of this thread, i confess) I will send it in to Solecismic assuming it's not a solved issue. Rather annoying.

I've had the same inconsistency, and pretty much just keep at it until something works. I agree, rather annoying.

[Mike7273]

I am unable to drag and drop on my depth chart for anything other than QB and O-Line. Can anyone help?

[Haiku]

Originally Posted by Mike7273

I am unable to drag and drop on my depth chart for anything other than QB and O-Line. Can anyone help?

It seems there's something on your end. Try reinstalling the game and checking your drivers, etc. I don't know what could cause this, since other people haven't complained about the same issue. It must be something on your machine. Checking drivers and reinstalling the game is what comes to mind. Good luck!

[redfox0000]

Originally Posted by Lann

Do you know if Jim has said anything about this or is at least knowledgeable about the subject? I think this is essential in the game.

Agree 100%

[Unimaginative]

Hey all, couple questions:

1.) Has anyone else noticed that the "College Reports" only seem to track players that are active? I have to think that is unintentional, given that there is a column for HoF on there, but I want to see if anyone else has noticed that.

2.) Is there a way to see the highest paid players by position, or can you only see the highest paid players overall? I want to be able to compare contracts more easily.

[korme]

Is there a suggestion thread? File this under a Q if someone has an A, otherwise I have a mini quality of life suggestion: flip the season order on the league history index so the newest season is at the top.

[rricha8]

In FOF9, I'm in my 6th season and have had a major problem with free agent signings. I try to only sign FA if they're around age 27 or younger. But even after 1 season, their ratings just absolutely tank. Sometimes by 20 points OVR. I've searched all kinds of threads and looked in the guide and have not been able to find a reason for this. Why would players that are supposed to be in their prime completely fall off a cliff like this? It doesn't make any sense and it's happened with seemingly every FA signing that I get. It's almost game breaking because you sign these guys to 3 yrs at least, and you have to cut them before they play out their contract because they become so bad. Just one example, DE Aiden Hutchinson down to a ovr43 after just one season at only age 29 when he was ovr56 when I signed him. Thanks for any help!

[garion333]

Bad Scouting from your coaches?

[KingZal]

Could also be high volatility.

[rricha8]

Originally Posted by rricha8

In FOF9, I'm in my 6th season and have had a major problem with free agent signings. I try to only sign FA if they're around age 27 or younger. But even after 1 season, their ratings just absolutely tank. Sometimes by 20 points OVR. I've searched all kinds of threads and looked in the guide and have not been able to find a reason for this. Why would players that are supposed to be in their prime completely fall off a cliff like this? It doesn't make any sense and it's happened with seemingly every FA signing that I get. It's almost game breaking because you sign these guys to 3 yrs at least, and you have to cut them before they play out their contract because they become so bad. Just one example, DE Aiden Hutchinson down to a ovr43 after just one season at only age 29 when he was ovr56 when I signed him. Thanks for any help!

Here's my coach scouting ratings:
HC - 40 OC - 70
DC - 70 AC - 90

Are they not high enough to get a good read on FA's?

[rricha8]

Originally Posted by KingZal

Could also be high volatility.

I guess this could be it. Hutch's volatility is "very high". I obviously missed that because I really try to stay away from those guys to avoid this specific situation. I can't remember, but when I signed him I guess I ignored it because I wanted him so bad. But to see a guy in his late 20's regress so fast is very surprising and should be unexpected. And I think I've seen it happen too many times with different players. I think I have a pretty good coaching staff too, so I wouldn't expect that to be a problem either. I'll try to keep better track of it and see if it's actually happening as much as I think it is. Thanks for the replies!

[Haiku]

Why does the AI in FOF9 pick the highest rated defensive end and place him on the left side, while assigning the second best to the right side regardless of their ratings and size?

[Mike Lowe]

Is it possible to update draft picks to reflect the 2024 season/environment?

Thanks for any info!

[Mike Lowe]

Also, any idea why Panthers DT TJ Smith is listed as a rookie even though he joined the NFL in 2020?

[Mike Lowe]

Hoping someone still checks this thread to see my two questions above. Thank you!

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Mike Lowe

Hoping someone still checks this thread to see my two questions above. Thank you!

I check it.

I think I've seen 2024 rosters bring used by some people on here, but I'm not sure where they got it. Maybe it came with the update. EDIT: Sorry you said draft picks. No, I don't think you can change those -- when you start a game, everyone owns all their draft picks.

For TJ Smith, probably a typo? You should be able to edit it, though.

[Mike Lowe]

Thank you!

[OmniActual]

I'm brand new to the FoF series and I have a few questions about some mechanics in the game which are under explained in the help file and/or tooltip UI. For reference I'm only playing FoF 9.

In the "blitzing" tab does AI reassign all of those blitzing roles if I have checked the box which allows AI to handle game plan? I seem to have a degree of control over it but it seems to change randomly after I select the roles and I'm not sure what causes that. It really doesn't seem like it happens every game, but I could be wrong.

Does anyone have information or testing on just how much a player's abilities are affected by pacing based on workload and/or fatigue? There doesn't seem to be any indication of just how much this impacts the player anywhere in the UI other than giving ambiguous terms like "a little tired" or "pacing himself a small amount".

Does anyone know if mentor players have to be active on the roster to have an affect or can they be on the roster and inactive and still provide the mentor benefit?

Any/all help appreciated!

[OmniActual]

I also thought of a different question as well. On my scouting of defensive players during the draft the variance bar which masks the attributes is visibly smaller than it is with offensive players. Is this due to scouting level of my DC/AC etc? I'm puzzled because my scouting numbers are identical for the DC and OC and I don't have the same thing happening on offensive draft players.

[OmniActual]

I was looking for anything that lists where to send game feedback and/or bug reports since I've found a few oddities but I can't find anything other than the customer service email for Solecemic and that seems a little too direct. Does anyone know where I can send information on the off chance that development continues on FoF9?

There are some very gameable aspects of the sim that I wanted to point out now that I have a dozen or so seasons of data.

[KingZal]

Originally Posted by OmniActual

I was looking for anything that lists where to send game feedback and/or bug reports since I've found a few oddities but I can't find anything other than the customer service email for Solecemic and that seems a little too direct. Does anyone know where I can send information on the off chance that development continues on FoF9?

There are some very gameable aspects of the sim that I wanted to point out now that I have a dozen or so seasons of data.

The support email is your best bet. Updates for the game have slowed down but emails sent to support are still being read.

[garion333]

Originally Posted by OmniActual

I also thought of a different question as well. On my scouting of defensive players during the draft the variance bar which masks the attributes is visibly smaller than it is with offensive players. Is this due to scouting level of my DC/AC etc? I'm puzzled because my scouting numbers are identical for the DC and OC and I don't have the same thing happening on offensive draft players.

Interview bar for coaches provides the width of the "variance bar which masks the attributes".

Scouting determines whether or not the bars you are seeing are real. Low Scouting = more likely to see false bars, both good or bad.

[garion333]

Originally Posted by OmniActual

Does anyone know if mentor players have to be active on the roster to have an affect or can they be on the roster and inactive and still provide the mentor benefit?

This one has been tested in the past and the general feel was that active mentors help, but isn't a huge impact over having them inactive.

It's better to have a Mentor ride the bench than it is to not have one at all.