...Total College Basketball

[Greendiver]

Just clicked over to Grey Dog Software and found this...

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/news.php?id=173

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Greendiver

Just clicked over to Grey Dog Software and found this...

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/news.php?id=173

Nice!!

[stevew]

Sounds great. I'll likely pick it up once all the bugs are worked out.

[condors]

i am so glad gary is doing this i loved tpb2005 and can't wait till this is ready for download.

[Swaggs]

It will take a lot to be better than FBCB.

But that doesn't mean I won't check it out.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

It will take a lot to be better than FBCB.

TPB's track record here is a good sign. Although I hope the 2D game presentation is better here (can't tell which player is which on the court, play-by-play is too far away from the court to follow). And I hope I'll be able to watch the 2D view in a multiplayer league after the games are simmed without having to see the game result first.

[markprior22]

Very exciting news. Gary did a great job on TPB and I'm sure the college game will be very good.

[Emiliano]

Very good news!!!

[cody8200]

Awesome to hear! I'm sure Arlie's experience with the previous college bball game wont go to waste either.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

TPB's track record here is a good sign. Although I hope the 2D game presentation is better here (can't tell which player is which on the court, play-by-play is too far away from the court to follow). And I hope I'll be able to watch the 2D view in a multiplayer league after the games are simmed without having to see the game result first.

I can verify that the 2D presentation is definitely upgraded from TPB into a much more fluent display as the player icons will actually move around the screen now as opposed to simply appearing in their spots as happens in TPB. It will definitely be an entertaining in-game experience.

[maximus]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

I can verify that the 2D presentation is definitely upgraded from TPB into a much more fluent display as the player icons will actually move around the screen now as opposed to simply appearing in their spots as happens in TPB. It will definitely be an entertaining in-game experience.

I hope one day we will see a pro-football and college football sim like this.

Gary, although I don't like basketball but I talked a friend into buying TPB and he loves it. I was VERY impressed with it as well. Great job. I can only imagine what TCB will bring.

[Zippo]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

I can verify that the 2D presentation is definitely upgraded from TPB into a much more fluent display as the player icons will actually move around the screen now as opposed to simply appearing in their spots as happens in TPB. It will definitely be an entertaining in-game experience.

sweet!

[Radii]

mmmmm, more college basketball sims. Great news.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Radii

mmmmm, more college basketball sims. Great news.

Who's going to run the TCB league?

[ThunderingHERD]

Excellent. I just got TPB the other day and was hoping for a college version.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

I can verify that the 2D presentation is definitely upgraded from TPB into a much more fluent display as the player icons will actually move around the screen now as opposed to simply appearing in their spots as happens in TPB. It will definitely be an entertaining in-game experience.

Very good news Gary! I'm hoping EHM goes this way next version.

Can't wait to see one of my Mo Tigers get drafted by my St. Louis Clippers.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Who's going to run the TCB league?

Dunno, but I got dibs on UNC! (If TCB blows FBCB out of the water and there is no FBCB2 in the forseeable future then we'll have a hell of a decision+task on our hands, I suppose, but that's way too far away to think about now).

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Very good news Gary! I'm hoping EHM goes this way next version.

Can't wait to see one of my Mo Tigers get drafted by my St. Louis Clippers.

Just for the record because someone asked on the GDS board - there will be a TPB update after TCB to allow TCB draft classes to move into TPB

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Just for the record because someone asked on the GDS board - there will be a TPB update after TCB to allow TCB draft classes to move into TPB

Read what you just wrote out loud.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Just for the record because someone asked on the GDS board - there will be a TPB update after TCB to allow TCB draft classes to move into TPB

Great news... I was hoping wasn't jumping the gun.

[dervack]

A sim game thread not posted by JB. Man he's been slacking lately. Kudos Gary on the College BB game. Now, if I can only get into college BB as much as College Football.

[Neuqua]

Looking forward to it!

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Just for the record because someone asked on the GDS board - there will be a TPB update after TCB to allow TCB draft classes to move into TPB

Awesome news on your Total College Basketball.

i love TPB 2005.


will this update for TPB 2005 include bugs fixes that you wanted to do all at one time that you mention before?

still going to be a free update for TPB 2005?

thanks

[mhass]

Finally! A new sim game. Just the wrong sport.

Kidding of course. Nice job, Gary.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

...the player icons will actually move around the screen now as opposed to simply appearing in their spots as happens in TPB. It will definitely be an entertaining in-game experience.

A-la XOR Basketball?

I really used to enjoy that game.

[JeffR]

Customizable coach ratings allow you to choose where you start your coaching career at one of 331 schools.

Bah, still no love for Division II. I'll have to edit Rollins College in over Stetson again.

The recruiting improvements look interesting.

[Emiliano]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Just for the record because someone asked on the GDS board - there will be a TPB update after TCB to allow TCB draft classes to move into TPB

Coooool!!! Can't wait for the release. I loved TPB 2005.

[Icy]

Awesome news! Seems GDS is on the right track to be at the front of the text sims publishers with SI.

[Comey]

It's about time you announced it. I was getting sick trying to keep it a secret.

Gary has the right approach with this, and he's got some great ideas. I'm hoping a couple of my ideas make it in, but I'll keep working on him.

-John

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Just for the record because someone asked on the GDS board - there will be a TPB update after TCB to allow TCB draft classes to move into TPB

Make sure the TPB update also exports Draft results to HTML. That'll be crucial for the TPB league I'll be running alongside our TCB league...

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Recruit the players all year long from their performances at summer camp until they sign on the dotted line with you (or your biggest rival)

Music to a brutha's ears.

[stevew]

Does anyone here run a TPB league? A fofc basketball league would be cool, i'd definately help run one, whether it be fictional or real.

[jbmagic]

Total College Basketball

Trailer Preview release today

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/media.php?id=1



First two screenshots release today.

[Wolfpack]

I believe that block-M is close enough to bring out the copyright lawyers from the U.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

I believe that block-M is close enough to bring out the copyright lawyers from the U.

That would be their style.

Fucking dirty lawyer school. I hate them SOOOOO much.

[Schmidty]

Dola

Don't get me wrong, I don't wish them Hell, I just want them to get to Heaven ASAP.

[TazFTW]

Chat scheduled.

Grey Dog Software is pleased to announce our Developer's chat with Gary Gorski, the creator of Total College Basketball. The Chat will be held on September 15th at 9:00PM CST in #GDS on the Stratics IRC servers. This is your chance to ask questions directly to the developer of TCB!

You will need to download an IRC client (mIRC, pirch, or another IRC client) and then connect to irc.stratics.com or, alternatively, to one of the following servers:

stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Texas
irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA – Colorado

Once you are connected, you can join the #GDS channel by typing /join #GDS

For more information on how to get connected using mIRC, please visit http://chat.stratics.com.
You will find a Quick connect guide at http://chat.stratics.com/content/co...uickconnect.php.

We look forward to seeing you there!

[Izulde]

I'm really, really looking forward to this one myself. It means I'll be able to continue my Gabriel Arcadia dynasty even after La Tulipe's roster files run out.

[Capital]

Looking forward to this game. Enjoyed TBP 2005 very much (except maybe the AI valuing young players a bit more). The presentation style was extremely top notch. Not to mention, thanks for letting everyone know what game is on the horizon.

[jbmagic]

the chat is starting tonight soon.

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/foru...2&postcount=37

[Zippo]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

the chat is starting tonight soon.

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/foru...2&postcount=37

cool, I'm there.

[Danny]

Here is the log of tonight's chat for anyone interested http://www.greydogsoftware.com/news.php?id=190

[kingnebwsu]

Wonder if teams will change conferences...

[Gary Gorski]

Yes, I am working on adding the option to be able to change conferences although its going to be a somewhat rare occurance with the way the prestige works

[jbmagic]

...

Total College Basketball Chat Result

Published By: Grey Dog Software- Friday, September 16 2005

Q: What differences will there be in the 2D display?
Gary Gorski- A couple of things have changed - the biggest difference is in how the players move. In TPB the players sort of dissapear and reappear - in TCB they will move from spot to spot so you can watch the game in motion. Also some things with the on screen layout have changed to make everything more accessable. The location of things like the PBP box have changed and all of your strategy and sub changes will be handled on the game screen instead of switching to a completely new screen like in TPB.

Q: Will the PbP be more detailed?
Gary Gorski- No, in fact it will be less detailed actually. Once you learn the numbers of the players you really dont need the PBP for much else then checking to see what happens when the play stops.

Q: I understand that the main game engine is based on TPB. What changes will you make to more specifically mirror the college game?
Gary Gorski- Actually only the very basics of the TPB engine could be used. TCB is focused MUCH more on offensive and defensive plays. You will have ten offensive and ten defensive sets you can run plus momentum will play a slight role in games with bigger advantages going to schools who have great facilities/home arenas. And of course choosing the right or wrong sets will be a factor - like if you are trying to run the flex offense against a zone you're not going to be getting the benefits of the flex cuts.

Q: How is the individual and team record keeping for each school and on a national level?
Gary Gorski- The record system hasn't been finalized yet but it will be very similar to TPB in that it will keep the top X all time leaders in each school. For teams it will track all time W/L and things like how many championships, how many conf titles, how many times you made the tourney...stuff like that.

Q: Will you be able to see all the stats for the whole college universe or by teams only?
Gary Gorski- You will be able to see individual stats for each team the same way you can in TPB. I'm also trying to work on some type of massive search option where you can view all the stats in one place.

Q: Will there be a section in the help on the strengths/weaknesses of each offensive/defensive set? Do you have printed or online references you're using as your guide to those we can also read?
Gary Gorski- Yes, in the team roster section there will be a strategy section to set your coaching preferences - there you will get descriptions of each play and what its basic strengths and weakness are. Also the plays are real play names not like the Grey Dog Offense or something so you could research them a bit online as well. They perform very true to real life - as a basketball coach myself I wouldn't have it any other way. Its important to make sure you know what you want to run though because you have to build up player proficiency in each set through practice over the years. You can't just switch from set to set every week and expect to run it like a team that knows what they are doing so it will be important to devise a strategy and recruit players who fit that style.

Q: Is there a rivalry system of some sort in the game?
Gary Gorski- Danny, there is no set rivalry system but the conference scheduling will be done to make sure that the rival matchups happen as they should.

Q: How will the end of game decisions by the AI compare to TPB?
Gary Gorski- The end game decisions will be given attention - the engine is still in a fairly early mode. It's complete but it needs tweaking and that will be one area I look at heavily and if I find anything that I can apply to the TPB code I will do so.

Q: Will this game make it so that some teams just won't be able to win it all because it's a minor, small school? I.E. The chance of winning with a University of Alabama Birmingham is next to nil?
Gary Gorski- Yes, basically if you take a minor school your championship is going to be making the big dance. The prestige system in place is heavily weighted to historical performance so taking a small school and making the big dance just means you'll be a popular school in your region for players who aren't wanted by the real big dogs. I suppose anything *could* happen but I wouldn't hold my breath to turn a small school into a powerhouse.

Q: Gary what is the feature that you (personally) are most excited about?
Gary Gorski- I'm really excited about the recruiting - it's going to be very unique in the fact that not only will you recruit all year round but that there are more realistic methods of scouting players like attending summer camps and tournaments (if your budget allows).

Q: As you perform better you'll become a popular coach for bigger dogs to hire, correct?
Gary Gorski- Yes, if you do well at a small school you will get offers to move up to a bigger school.

Q: Any chance for the 2d to show the last name of the player next to the moving icon, beside the player jersey number?
Gary Gorski- That is something I can look at. One concern is that things may be too cluttered if I did that though

Q: The camps/tournaments is a tremendously cool option... what other tools will we have?
Gary Gorski- There's a recruiting calendar - you can only do certain things at certain times of the year so you really need to plan out a strategy for going after a recruit. Also the recruits are going to have hidden wants that you can only find out by talking to them. If you go on a visit and you are not the right school for him you would not have any chance to get him and would have wasted a lot of time and money. Also each recruit has parent factors - you will have to determine how influential the parents are (if at all) and if they are very influential you will have to be able to meet their wants too. Any contact with a recruit could get you info about the recruit, his parents or both.

Q: Any chance to multiple sim so many years like to build up history.
Gary Gorski- There is no sim multiple season option

Q: How will "talking to a recruit" occur?
Gary Gorski- When you call a recruit or have an opportunity to make contact with him you might learn a piece of info about that recruit which is stored in a database and will automaticall be called up any time you look at his player card. Any contact with a recruit could get you info about the recruit, his parents or both.

Q: Can you pick the size of the multiplayer league you want?
Gary Gorski- League size is static right now at 331 (although you dont need all human coaches).

Q: How will multiplayer exports be handled?
Gary Gorski- MP is still going to be handled by the file exchange method although I'm looking for ways to improve and streamline that process.

Q: So the player card is an expanding item, not static like usual?
Gary Gorski- The player cards for recruits will change based on your actions. At first you know basically nothing about a recruit. After you scout him or see him at a camp you will get some letter grades on his skills which can change and become more accurate the more times you recruit him - that's in addition to the notes you will automatically compile about a recruit.

Q: For the fictional universe...will it be random everytime you start a new game?
Gary Gorski- When starting a new league you will get a completely different player set each time unless you are importing a created roster set.

Q: Will the accuracy of that scouting info vary with the skill of your scouting service and/or assistant coaches?
Gary Gorski- Absolutely - the scouting services will not give you any skill grades - they just rank players and give an overall star rating. The skill grades are based entirely on you and your staff's scouting abilities.

Q: How easy will it be to edit recruit attributes?
Gary Gorski- All the player ratings will be editable in database form like TPB.

Q: In what ways will we be able to customize our personal "coach personality"?... what attributes can we set and/or choose?
Gary Gorski- You will be able to set some personality characterstics like how important academics and discipline are to you and you will also be able to customize your coaching ability in offense, defense, recruiting, scouting and player development. For your coach skill set you will be able to totally customize it to any level you want for both your starting and potential ratings so you can start yourself off as good or as bad as you like and set a ceiling of how good of a coach you can become if you really want to make a challenge.

Q: Can we hire our own coaches and assistant coaches before we start the season? will the game start in the offseason?
Gary Gorski- The game starts in the offseason but after the period where coaches would be hired so you begin with a staff. You could fire the staff and pick other guys if you wanted to though.

Q: Will the head coach have a variety in the style that they like to run on offense and defense?
Gary Gorski- Each coach has different styles he likes to run so you will see different teams focusing on different sets and will have to prepare accordingly.

Q: Can you talk about coming into a school at the beginning of a new saved game?
Gary Gorski- You're a new coach coming into a school - the players have a certain way they've been accustomed to playing and if its not your style you will probably struggle while getting them to learn your style and getting in recruits who you can start off teaching your style - just like in real life.

Q: So the odds of winning right off the bat will be slim if your style doesn't match that of the coach before you?
Gary Gorski- Depends - if you want to be a non stop full court press team and you're guys never did anything but play HC man to man then you'll give up a lot of easy points trying to press. Although you can teach the press in practice and refrain from using it in games until you feel your team has learned it well enough.

Q: Will there be a puregm mode like TPB?
Gary Gorski- No, there is no pure gm mode as the only job in TCB is coach - you cant be AD or anything like that.

Q: Do your assistant coaches give you in game suggestions?
Gary Gorski- No, the assistants do not give in game suggestions.

Q: How will the skills of the computer teams' coaches vary? That is, will there be kind of randomly good and bad coaches around, or big schools tend to have good ones, etc. And do those coaches get better, get fired, etc?
Gary Gorski- Big schools will have better coaches and coaches do improve, move on to new jobs at other schools and get fired.

Q: When picking offensive and defense plays, will it be a percentage we set? And can we do it on the fly for pbp?
Gary Gorski- Yes, you will set a % of each set you generally want to run but if you actually coach the game you can change it to whatever you like whenever you like. The % only come into play if you sim.

Q: Gary, talk a bit about scouting an opponent. How is that done, and is this where we learn not only about their players, but also their preferred style of play?
Gary Gorski- Yes, prior to scouting an opponent you do not get to see the player ratings (in solo play) for the other team. Each week you will get to scout your upcoming opponents. You'll then be able to see what your coaches believe to be your opponents abilities as well as get an email about what to expect from them strategy wise. Of course the accuracy of any of that is based on your assistant coach who is scouting the opponents.

Q: Does coach rating affect player performance?
Gary Gorski- Your coach rating doesn't affect how often a guy will make a shot but it certainly affects how well your team learns the plays which in turn affects how well they perform.

Q: Can we choose which asst. we want to use for opponent scouting? Or is it always a particular coach, so that we can look for those skills in that guy?
Gary Gorski- You will be able to set responsibilites for your assistants each week - one will affect scouting, one will affect recruiting and one will affect practice and you can change those each week.

Q: Have you played around with the in-game sim speed control because TPB seems like a hair trigger
Gary Gorski- The in game speed will be somewhat different this time because of the fluent motion of the players as opposed to how it's done in TPB.

Q: Is there anything that right now you know is limited by the way you've programmed the game that will make game play harder than you would like it to be?
Gary Gorski- I dont think gameplay will be harder than I want because I've sort of allowed for you to determine how hard it is by the type of coach you create.

Q: Will this game have a boxscore we can look at in the game folder?
Gary Gorski- The boxscores are stored in the league file itself so you can view them in the game.

Q: What's the recommended specs for running the game? How much hard drive space will it take?
Gary Gorski- Specs will be the same as TPB and I assume most everything else here at GDS - in terms of hard drive space the save files will be very large as they store a LOT of info (although they zip down very well for MP leagues).

Q: You mentioned in the forum the "bracket buster" concept in scheduling... in general, how will that work?
Gary Gorski- The idea of the bracket buster is that late in the season a game is added to the schedule for some of the mid majors pitting the best against each other which usually propels one to the big dance and knocks the other out of the running (for an at large bid at least). Then the next season the same two teams play in a rematch early in the year on the other team's home court.

Q: How does a coach improve, specifically? What things can I do to make my coaching better?
Gary Gorski- You will improve no higher than the level you set though for your potential so if you don't want to allow yourself to turn into the next Coach K then he won't no matter how well your teams do. You improve as a coach from a number of things - winning (duh) but also slight improvements for the time you spent running practices and recruiting guys.

Q: Will school prestige go up and down?
Gary Gorski- School prestige can go up and down (although you can only jump so high or low immediately - the rest takes many seasons to make a real change).

[mhass]

I have very little interest in a basketball sim but that actually sounds pretty fun. I'll be paying attention to the early returns.

[TazFTW]

bump

Just noticed that they put up 3 new screenshots on the home page.

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/

[ThunderingHERD]

Is anyone here planning on starting a TCB league?

[kingnebwsu]

That's gotta be one of the smartest bigtime basketball teams ever Otherwise, it continues to look cool.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by ThunderingHERD

Is anyone here planning on starting a TCB league?

I guess that if the game is as good as it looks, our FOFC FBCB one will switch to it.