FOF 9.0e Patch Released

[Ben E Lou]

.

Version 9.0e Update

The 9.0e update was released on January 23, 2024.

Issues Addressed

• Several changes made to the AI handling the salary cap to lower the number of players released in order to remain under the cap. Note that these changes will result in a small increase in the number of teams that have trouble remaining under the cap, but it will also increase the number of players teams retain, long-term. Great cap management without all the tools available in the NFL will be beyond the AI, but this should be an improvement in some ways. Also note that cap checks are not made immediately upon entering a new season, so teams can (as they always have in FOF) be significantly over the cap until after the draft without penalty. They just can't sign free agents until they're under the cap.

• When clicking on a team entry in the Standings, advance to the team's Schedule.

• For FB/P/K/LS, a 10 rating in a player file, the designation for players not intended to be of draft quality, is interpreted in binary.

• For LS, average quality of a 0-rated player is too high. This will greatly change the talent distribution for long snappers.

• When Coach is calling plays and the offense is called for a false start, the play-by-play indicates the penalty and the game advances properly, but the play-by-play describes a 0-yard punt with a 0-yard return.

• When player holds out, the AI may renegotiate even if AI is not set to make major roster decisions.

• Some work to beef up AI use of WLB as a pass-rush leader in 34 defenses.

• During the brief window (staff hiring through draft reveal) when you can extend contracts to your players, you should not be able to make offers to free agents.

• In the Transaction Log, clicking on an entry for the hiring of a head coach advanced to a random player card rather than the coach's card.

• More work to try and ensure that a player who is seriously injured cannot continue to play under any circumstances.

• In overtime, try to decline any penalty on the defense if a kick is made and would win the game.

• More work to prevent the end-of-half perception that a FG attempt is necessary when it's just too far or there's time for a couple of plays (the AI can't control the execution of a short pass play, so this won't go as far as many teams will).

• League-Wide Profit/Loss Report year drop-down selector does not change the year for which information is displayed.

• Added tracking list to Roster view. Players are added through player card actions. Players on list are highlighted on free agency ranking screen and find a player.

• Can change player numbers for players on other rosters and player names for any player through the player card.

• Pistol and Shotgun are reversed in tracking shown on Offensive Film screen.

• Reworked inclusion on team-related Free Agency screen to show more players specific to the controlled team's experience.

• Added team-specific News for when a coach retired or is hired away by another team.

• Added logic to provide proper notification and update the staff list when a coach retired or was hired away by another team, preventing mysterious inability to get past hiring stage when you're unaware the coach is no longer with your team.

• Removed some ability to hire away other team's staff under contract at the same level.

• Show birthdate, home town and college attended for retired coaches.

• Trade offer logic - do not let teams show interest if they will not make an offer on the player because they don't value him and do not let teams offer to swap high picks for low-valued players.

• Code written to try and prevent potential crash in standings resolution when multiple teams in different divisions in the same conference have enough common games to use that tie-breaker.

• Ease up on and condense the owner salary limit for a single year when making an offer to a player.

• Include the current bonus in calculation of projected cap room after renegotiation if player is on your team. Improve assessment of remaining salary if in mid-season.

• Some players (almost all of them long-snappers) could be renegotiated by the AI to have negative bonus money.

• Properly assign stadium payments for five years after a move or new construction plan is approved.

• When statistics are accumulated, tackles for loss is not updated correctly.

• On the last day of late free agency, when controlled team signs a free agent who is connected to another team, he is resigned to his current team instead.

• Add a global option for a more generic color scheme for lists.

Data Files and Saved Games

• Saved games can continue.

• For those who are working on customization, please remember to back up all your work.

• This version adds notes to the following instructional files in the installation: schedules.txt, customization_info.txt, league_info.txt, league_years.txt.

• This version updates the game-supplied player files associated with the 2023 season.

• Steam updates should not touch other .csv files, but we can't guarantee that.

The following adjustments were made to the default player files:

• Player 516 (2023_quarterbacks.csv) Derek Carr: all future salaries reduced to 3000 ($30 million).

• Player 539 (2023_quarterbacks.csv) Deshaun Watson: all future salaries reduced to 3400.

• Player 1252 (2023_players.csv) Amari Cooper: current and future salary reduced to 1400.

• Player 1350 (2023_players.csv) Myles Garrett: future salaries reduced to 1400.

• Player 1605 (2023_players.csv) Ryan Ramczyk: future salaries reduced to 1000.

• Player 1856 (2023_players.csv) Wyatt Teller: current and future salaries reduced to 700.

• Player 1870 (2023_players.csv) Denzel Ward: future salaries reduced to 700.

Steam Update Process

Your installation of Front Office Football Nine will automatically update on its own. If you go into the Steam app's Library and right-click on the game and examine Properties, you can change the priority for Updates. There's a line at the bottom of this screen that tells you when your game was last updated.
You can also view the Credits screen in the League Menu within the game. This screen shows the game's version. This update is version 9.0e.

[Haiku]

Thanks for the update. I was wondering if there's an improved trading functionality on the horizon? It is too primitive and a deal-breaker for many. It is basically 'take it or leave it' without any option for negotiation with the AI.I treat AI as the GM of the other team. Why should I always ask to receive an offer? I want to be able to make an offer or a counter-offer to them as well. Sorry if I have missed it, but is the AI ever initiating a trade? That has not happened to me so far.

Another improved functionality I would like to see is when shopping out a player, and a list of interested teams appears. Clicking on a team's name in the list should automatically loads negotiation with the said team. That would greatly improve the functionality of trading.

I know this is not the place for such reports, but I can see that Jim is following the forums, hopefully leading to meaningful discussions. It is so helpful when the developer is in touch with the customers. I suggest Jim visits the Football Coach: College Dynasty Steam page. The developer has a roadmap of future improvements and is constantly in touch with the customer base, answering questions and keeping them up to date about what's coming up. It is no wonder why the game has so many overwhelmingly positive reviews. It's mostly because customers feel valued and part of the process. On the contrary, Jim is not even posting the list with updates on the Steam page and is asking customers to refer to the product documentation. This, in particular, is a very poor interaction. Just my two cents.

[SirBlurton]

Originally Posted by Haiku

Thanks for the update. I was wondering if there's an improved trading functionality on the horizon? It is too primitive and a deal-breaker for many. It is basically 'take it or leave it' without any option for negotiation with the AI.I treat AI as the GM of the other team. Why should I always ask to receive an offer? I want to be able to make an offer or a counter-offer to them as well. Sorry if I have missed it, but is the AI ever initiating a trade? That has not happened to me so far.

Another improved functionality I would like to see is when shopping out a player, and a list of interested teams appears. Clicking on a team's name in the list should automatically loads negotiation with the said team. That would greatly improve the functionality of trading.

I know this is not the place for such reports, but I can see that Jim is following the forums, hopefully leading to meaningful discussions. It is so helpful when the developer is in touch with the customers. I suggest Jim visits the Football Coach: College Dynasty Steam page. The developer has a roadmap of future improvements and is constantly in touch with the customer base, answering questions and keeping them up to date about what's coming up. It is no wonder why the game has so many overwhelmingly positive reviews. It's mostly because customers feel valued and part of the process. On the contrary, Jim is not even posting the list with updates on the Steam page and is asking customers to refer to the product documentation. This, in particular, is a very poor interaction. Just my two cents.

"Why don't you behave more like someone else?"
Followed up by "this is very poor interaction".
That's a lot to put on someone.

It's a product. Like any product, it has features and it has limitations.
I don't understand why people feel their critique is so absolutely necessary. Jim has a long history of communicating with his users and trying, as best as possible, to adapt the program to meet them as best he can. His approach has worked for a long, long time, for a lot of people.

The trading functionality is on par with a lot of other games of this nature. Meaningful trades in the NFL are pretty rare....even top 10 blockbuster lists will reach back into the 80's for lack of content. It's usually trades for replacement level players for a bag of scuffed balls. I feel it was pretty hyperbolic to say it's a deal breaker for many. I've played the game for literal decades without trading more than 10 players. If Jim still has effort to spend on this game, I'd prefer it applied almost anywhere else.

I debated replying to this message because I can feel that it got to me and I feel like it's playing a "fan boy" card. When there's criticism, remember there's a person on the other end who has to absorb it. In my opinion, the tone of your note could easily make a person defensive. I felt defensive and I literally had nothing to do with creating it.

I've enjoyed Football Coach: College Dynasty, to an extent - but comparing that with this is like comparing crackers to steak. If I could still get the disc to work, I'd play The College Years over it, no questions asked.

This game doesn't need a road map - it arrived, largely, at its destination.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by SirBlurton

The trading functionality is on par with a lot of other games of this nature. Meaningful trades in the NFL are pretty rare....even top 10 blockbuster lists will reach back into the 80's for lack of content. It's usually trades for replacement level players for a bag of scuffed balls. I feel it was pretty hyperbolic to say it's a deal breaker for many. I've played the game for literal decades without trading more than 10 players. If Jim still has effort to spend on this game, I'd prefer it applied almost anywhere else.

I agree with nearly everything you just said except for this. I personally do not mind the trading system, however Jim in the last patch thread was very open about the negative reviews hurting the product on Steam and costing him opportunities within the Steam ecosystem to showcase the game.

I went through and read all the reviews and really the only two things that kept popping up on the negatives ones were either the new UI or the new trading system. While I personally don't think it's any kind a deal break, several people do and their reviews mentioning it are hurting the product in some way so I do think it's valid to bring up.

[SirBlurton]

Originally Posted by dubb93

I agree with nearly everything you just said except for this. I personally do not mind the trading system, however Jim in the last patch thread was very open about the negative reviews hurting the product on Steam and costing him opportunities within the Steam ecosystem to showcase the game.

I went through and read all the reviews and really the only two things that kept popping up on the negatives ones were either the new UI or the new trading system. While I personally don't think it's any kind a deal break, several people do and their reviews mentioning it are hurting the product in some way so I do think it's valid to bring up.

Fair enough, I appreciate that context.
I'm so used to being disappointed by trading in games, I mostly look past it. OOTP and both hockey games can be brutal....I play Football Manager so I can buy human effort for money instead.

[Haiku]

You missed the point in the other thread where I supported Jim. My comments today are in regard to his disappointment with the negative reviews and his consideration of giving up on future versions. I'm trying to highlight the things that are within his control, which could improve the reviews and subsequently increase sales, ensuring FOF has a future.

As for Football Coach: College Dynasty, I don't even play this game. It has a somewhat basic core with cool features, which is quite the opposite of FOF. I was only pointing out as a positive example how the developer is handling things in regards to interaction with users to keep them involved and to grow interest and support for his product.

The trading system is indeed a turn-off for many. I was again pointing out the obvious. The inability to create an offer and negotiate with the AI is mentioned by many, as you can see in the attached screenshots:









This is a comment from a YouTuber who used to make videos playing FOF8. I essentially quoted him.

[loligag]

Jim if you see this, thank you for all the hard work you do.

[AlexB]

Looking forward to downloading and giving this a whirl!

[cupofjoe]

This update is everything I needed. Thanks Jim! I’ve started my first save and spent a few hours on already today.

[SgtTomorrow]

Thanks for the update. I'll restart my Bills anew. I like the new game. I can appreciate MP players missing out on that aspect but as someone who could never figure out the innards of MP, I dont miss it. The time I spent in MP compared to playing my own leagues wouldn't have me giving a negative review of no MP. I only have 35 hours so far on the game and will get more in with the new update so I can leave an honest steam review. I am having fun with it for sure.

[maddog7800]

Thanks for the update and continued support!

[james17]

The mark of a good developer is one who responds quickly to bugs and Jim certainly hits the mark on that and a lot of other improvements.


Thanks, Jim. I'm so glad to be playing FOF9.

[IlliniCub]

Have completion percentages dropped any? I was getting 3 or 4 players breaking the real life NFL record every season it seemed. Also, Jim I think I was 12 when fof 1 came out, had to beg my parents to order it. It would probably be scary to know how much of my life has been spent playing fof over the years. great job and thanks!

[Colly]

I owned FOF8 but just could not get on with the small font sizes and had to abandon my gameplay.

I'm really enjoying FOF9, the new UI, and the ability to adjust the font ad size.

Jim, thanks for the recent update and I hope you continue to support and develop your product in the future.

I also hope you'll consider expanding the trading system in the future.

[Haiku]

Is there a way to predict the partnership between a quarterback and a wide receiver when evaluating potential trade targets? I am calling plays myself and have acquired a top WR, but it seems that the chemistry between him and my QB is poor. Consequently, I feel like the QB is intentionally avoiding targeting him and is instead passing to secondary targets. Is there a way to predict their compatibility by examining their personalities or other traits before signing the player?

[nilodor]

Originally Posted by IlliniCub

Have completion percentages dropped any? I was getting 3 or 4 players breaking the real life NFL record every season it seemed. Also, Jim I think I was 12 when fof 1 came out, had to beg my parents to order it. It would probably be scary to know how much of my life has been spent playing fof over the years. great job and thanks!

That's wild, I can't figure out gameplanning at all. I can't get my star RB to get the majority of the carries, and my QB is at 52% completion. I really don't get how the playbook stuff is set out.

[Colly]

Originally Posted by Haiku

when evaluating potential trade targets? ...Is there a way to predict their compatibility by examining their personalities or other traits before signing the player?

Are you trading for players or just signing free agents?

If you are trading for specific players I'd like to know how the process works because I've not figured out how or even if you can do that.

[Haiku]

Originally Posted by Colly

Are you trading for players or just signing free agents?

If you are trading for specific players I'd like to know how the process works because I've not figured out how or even if you can do that.

Just as you offer your player to a specific team and ask to receive an offer. Only this time, drag and drop a player from the opposing team and click on 'receive offer.' Obviously, you have to try with multiple players since teams are not always willing to trade. Still, I was able to acquire RB and WR with 70+ ability. You have to give up picks though.

[Colly]

Originally Posted by Haiku

Just as you offer your player to a specific team and ask to receive an offer. Only this time, drag and drop a player from the opposing team and click on 'receive offer.' Obviously, you have to try with multiple players since teams are not always willing to trade. Still, I was able to acquire RB and WR with 70+ ability. You have to give up picks though.

I'd tried that a few times and it never took so I presumed it was not possible.

Now I'll persist in the future.

Thanks!

[Cole]

Originally Posted by SirBlurton

"
I've enjoyed Football Coach: College Dynasty, to an extent - but comparing that with this is like comparing crackers to steak. If I could still get the disc to work, I'd play The College Years over it, no questions asked.

This game doesn't need a road map - it arrived, largely, at its destination.

Your entire post was criticizing someone else for lobbing criticisms at a game/developer and then you manage to finish off your post by criticizing another game - which, is literally one of the best rated sports simulation games on Steam. Crackers A bit hypocritical, no ?

[SirBlurton]

You don't enjoy the occasional cracker?

[Colly]

Originally Posted by SirBlurton

You don't enjoy the occasional cracker?

I'm not familiar with any of the titles before FOF8 so I was intrigued by your reference to The College Years.

A quick Google led me to a page on downloads from an old Soecismic page that has download links. I'm currently on my Mac so I never downloaded the file but I believe there is an e-version1.3 of the .exe for The College Years. Not sure if it is a workable file or not.


The main page link is here: http://www.solecismic.com/downloads.php

[Cole]

Originally Posted by SirBlurton

You don't enjoy the occasional cracker?

I do, in fact. I booted up “steak” for the first time in a couple months last night (as I’d been waiting for the AI mass release patch) and I found it tough to get immersed into the flow of the game.

I closed it up and loaded “crackers” and got heavily invested in the game for a couple hours.

Football Coach: College Coach is an extremely streamlined, deep, fun and immersive game and it had been a couple months since I had played that too and the amount of QoL and immersive features that have been added since I last played are staggering.

Back on topic …. How are people finding this patch ? Is the AI mass release issue under control ? I did limited testing but it seemed better for sure, but I still had some teams entering free agency with only 20ish players on the low end at times, which seems unusual … but I know pre patch at times teams would release all but like 12 players at some points so definitely an improvement.

[MizzouRah]

Been waiting on this patch, time to re-purchase and dive in, thanks Jim!

btw, Calibri Regular 16 looks fantastic on my 24" monitor. Finally got all the NFL stuff setup with all the great graphic and faces mods and I'm ready to take the Bills to the Super Bowl.

[loligag]

Originally Posted by nilodor

That's wild, I can't figure out gameplanning at all. I can't get my star RB to get the majority of the carries, and my QB is at 52% completion. I really don't get how the playbook stuff is set out.

The key to a star RB is high endurance. If I'm ever in the market for a lead back, this is a non negotiable stat. If you have that, go into the gameplan and look over your run plays. If they are mostly in 122 or 113 formation, go to the depth chart, assign him to those formations and out of the lesser used formations.

When learning the game (this version and previous ones) I'd often set thing up and quick sim the season without saving a few times and look at how various things played out to get a feel for if something was working. It's a little cheaty, but it's a game that you can play however you want and it allowed me to see holes in gameplanning, depthcharts, etc... Now I'm confident in building my own playbooks and gameplans, but I still quick sim to make sure I didn't break anything and to continue learning and then reload to play it out normally.

[jim_nihilist]

I registered here, because I saw that the developer of this game was frustrated over mediocre Steam reviews - which I totally get.

If players of the previous versions have problems to adapt - that is one thing. But to to not recommend this game.because a feature is different from what you are used to is not a fair assessment and not very helpful for newer players.

This game is brilliant in and of itself, no matter if a FOF #8 or #7 exists. Reviews about 9 should asses FOF 9 and not be a comparison.

I don't know the previous versions and I can't relate to these opinions. It does not help anybody either way. If you want to complain write the developer directly.

[garion333]

Originally Posted by jim_nihilist

I registered here, because I saw that the developer of this game was frustrated over mediocre Steam reviews - which I totally get.

If players of the previous versions have problems to adapt - that is one thing. But to to not recommend this game.because a feature is different from what you are used to is not a fair assessment and not very helpful for newer players.

This game is brilliant in and of itself, no matter if a FOF #8 or #7 exists. Reviews about 9 should asses FOF 9 and not be a comparison.

I don't know the previous versions and I can't relate to these opinions. It does not help anybody either way. If you want to complain write the developer directly.

Fair enough, except I think a lot of comparisons to earlier versions can simply be re-written as critiques of the new version. To wit:

"I am unable to find an easy way to print out rosters. Other games in this genre allow you to print things."

or

"Rosters and stats are huge, it'd be nice to print them out to analyze."

But that removes all context, like how this very game series used to have that function. Every game relates to every other game and can be compared to each other, including prior games.

Folks, like the dev, who ask reviewers to consider changing their possibly hasty, knee jerk negative review to a positive are not saying you have to review the game in isolation. They simply want reviews to reflect the game after they give it a good shake, not as an initial impression response.

The question then becomes how much time is appropriate? And then answer appears to be the modern gaming goldilocks question: Play too "much" of the game and give a thumbs down? Get the question of "why did you play so much of a game you didn't like?" Play too "little" and give a thumbs down? Then you hear "you didn't play enough, idiot".

Point is, there's a middle ground where you don't base all discussions around constantly comparing the current version to the old version and instead focus on the game on its own. That discussion typically dies down pretty quick, in a matter of months, but it's an important discussion to be had for folks who have spent years playing these games. Skip past it, ignore if it isn't relevant to you as a new player. Eventually more will be geared to you and less of "which screen is the AP awards on now? I can't find it anymore."

[AlexB]

Based on a very quick test, it looks like the AI is now renegotiating with players to address cap issues rather than just cutting them.

Some older players or those whose overall drops below their contract worth are still being released rather than renewed, but that’s OK - the better and younger players seem to be retained more.

Will start a proper career now, and try and get a little more into it

[Sweed]

First thanks Jim for the patch, you continue to support your game in the same way you always have and I appreciate it.

Some can argue about how Jim runs his operation, but you sure can't say he doesn't push out the patches to fix reported issues and improve the game.

Happy to see the release player issue addressed in 9.0e. Looking forward to getting back into my suspended game.

[Chriswin4]

Just wondering if any of you guys can help me? Last couple of days my FOF9 has gotten really slow. Loading each save takes a while, flitting between pages in the game loads gradually and isn't smooth, and when I try and load a game from within the program the game just crashes. Is this normal? I figured it was because I'm in the sixth season, but it even happens when I start a new universe.

[garion333]

Originally Posted by Chriswin4

Just wondering if any of you guys can help me? Last couple of days my FOF9 has gotten really slow. Loading each save takes a while, flitting between pages in the game loads gradually and isn't smooth, and when I try and load a game from within the program the game just crashes. Is this normal? I figured it was because I'm in the sixth season, but it even happens when I start a new universe.

Are you running out of hard drive space?

[Chriswin4]

Originally Posted by garion333

Are you running out of hard drive space?

No, I've got over 200gb left

[Haiku]

It's worth noting that FOF9 currently has as good feedback on Steam as OOTP24. Jim must be delighted. It's well deserved.