Draft Day Sports games

[rjolley]

Has anyone played the latest versions of the Draft Day Sports games? I'm looking to pick them up, but haven't seen much about them around here.

Also, any deals currently or on the horizon?

[PilotMan]

Haven't played the newest versions, but he's been doing well with them and they've got some good publicity last year. You just missed the holiday sale, with games 15% off unfortunately.

[miami_fan]

I picked up the 2021 versions of DDS: College Basketball and DDS: Pro Basketball. I really enjoy both games. I link the games to each other so I generally wait for the college game to come out before I purchase the newest version of both.

[Izulde]

I picked up CB21 and CF21 in the sale they had a few weeks ago (might have been the Black Friday sale). Haven't had a chance to dig into either one yet, though.

[SlyBelle1]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Has anyone played the latest versions of the Draft Day Sports games? I'm looking to pick them up, but haven't seen much about them around here.

Also, any deals currently or on the horizon?

Free demos to try them

Wolverine Studios | Free Demo

[lungs]

I’ve put a fair amount of time into the college football game. The football games have come a long way but still have plenty of room for improvement. I’d like to see more feedback/interaction with recruits. More control over substitutes in game. Differentiate between inside and outside linebacker. AI end game logic could be improved too.

I have sunk a decent amount of time into it and will continue to purchase in the future.

[thesloppy]

I bought the pro basketball game last year based on several good reviews from in here. I couldn't get past the draft and/or finish a single game without it crashing or locking up & eventually gave up.

[AlexB]

Based on the Pro Football games, they’re fur coat, no knickers

[rjolley]

Thanks for the info. Will probably try out the pro basketball game and, if all goes well, will grab the college game once the new version is out.

[Mike Lowe]

I have been playing Pro Football 22 and it seems a big improvement compared to even last year's game which I had trouble getting into due to the financial system leaving a lot to be desired. It's much better now in 22's version, but still not fully developed.

The game has a nice base, but there are elements that you can tell are solid ideas that just haven't been fleshed out yet. For instance, you'll get a review of practice for the week and it'll just say something like Goff improved his endurance. I guess that's cool, but it's also just a single fragment of text.

But overall, it's solid and I am glad to be doing what I can to help the game grow.

We are actually starting a new league over at simsportsgaming.com. We are choosing our teams now and I know the plan is to run the College Football 22 league alongside it once it comes out in February (I think).

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

I bought the pro basketball game last year based on several good reviews from in here. I couldn't get past the draft and/or finish a single game without it crashing or locking up & eventually gave up.

Did you send in a support ticket?

[thesloppy]

Nope. I wrestled with the UI the entire time & ran out of effort/attention.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Nope. I wrestled with the UI the entire time & ran out of effort/attention.

Send in a ticket then. Gary's usually responsive about fixing those issues.

[Galaril]

I am looking at the DDS College football 23 game and maybe the DDS college basketball 22 game too. Anyone playing these and are they still pretty good?.I haven’t played any DDS games in like 10 years.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Galaril

I am looking at the DDS College football 23 game and maybe the DDS college basketball 22 game too. Anyone playing these and are they still pretty good?.I haven’t played any DDS games in like 10 years.

I haven't played CBB 22, but I got a lot of play out of 21. I'm keeping an eye on 22 and will probably pick it up soon. I'm interested to see how the portal plays.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

All of the games have demos so I recommend downloading the demo to see if the game fits your personal preference.

As for me, there are a couple of things the college basketball game did that were deal-breakers for me.

1. Scaling and frequency of ratings. 10s abound for inside/outside shooting. There are zero 10s for handling or defense, even with selecting the spread out ratings option in the creation of the league. If I remember correctly, the ratings go as high as a 7 for handling. Therefore a 7 on handling is a stud while a 7 on shooting is a dud. There needs to be more consistency in the rating system.

2. Inability to see ratings for all teams. I dont know if this is fixed in univeral mode, but in regular mode you can only see the ratings for teams you have played. You can go into commissioner mode to see the ratings for everyone, but it is a cumbersome process. If someone in another conference is lighting it up, I want to be able to click on his player card to see his talent, but I cant. For reasons I guess? But that design choice makes it less likely I explore the league.

3. Cookie cutter players. If a player has a high passing rating, you can bet he is going to have a high scoring rating. I would like more variety in player types. Rajon Rondos do not exist in this universe.

4. General slowness. Maybe it is better on newer computers, but there is a delay for each click. I prefer the old UI. It was quicker.

I really want to like this game, but Fast break college basketball is still the king. The selection show is a perfect microcosm of both games. FBCB just lists the teams one by one, in a no frills kind of way but boy it keeps me on the edge of my seat. DDS has this elaborate set up , that seems cool, but the comments by the sportscasters tend to be generic (every once in awhile they drop an interesting nugget) and there is no easy way to hit a key to speed through it . I can't imagine anyone sitting through it and it is magnitudes worse than FBCBs selectoin show even though it feels like it shouldn't be.

Anyway, let the demo be your guide!

[Brian Swartz]

It might help, or not, to answer why on a couple of those points:

2. The idea is you only see ratings of who your staff scouts, and you don't have a reason to scout them until you are about to play them. Even on your own players you are never seeing their *exact* ratings, but what your staff thinks of them. So if you look up the actual ratings in the database, you're basically doing something the game never intends you to. It's sort of like asking the coach of a top program what they think of the star of a team on a mid-major team. They're not going to have spent much time watching them if they haven't played that team. It's a 'realistic information limitation' feature.

4. The old UI was more responsive but also couldn't adapt to the wide range of resolutions that modern PCs use. So from the devs perspective it had to go regardless and was no longer a viable option. They chose to go in a direction that has some plusses and minuses, resolution independence and ease of development being among the positives.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

It might help, or not, to answer why on a couple of those points:

2. The idea is you only see ratings of who your staff scouts, and you don't have a reason to scout them until you are about to play them. Even on your own players you are never seeing their *exact* ratings, but what your staff thinks of them. So if you look up the actual ratings in the database, you're basically doing something the game never intends you to. It's sort of like asking the coach of a top program what they think of the star of a team on a mid-major team. They're not going to have spent much time watching them if they haven't played that team. It's a 'realistic information limitation' feature.

4. The old UI was more responsive but also couldn't adapt to the wide range of resolutions that modern PCs use. So from the devs perspective it had to go regardless and was no longer a viable option. They chose to go in a direction that has some plusses and minuses, resolution independence and ease of development being among the positives.

Accepting your premise that it is more realistic, is it more fun? Is it more immersive? For me , it isn't. Hiding ratings actively discourages me from exploring the game universe. Maybe it is a good realism decision, I think it is a bad game decision.

[Brian Swartz]

In my opinion it is. There are many things I don't like about DDSCB, and you hit on one of them with the selection show. Ease-of-use in general was my top recommendation to WS for the new version.

In terms of the feature though, I think most sports games give you way, way too much information. I think more realism in that sense is almost always more fun. I don't see it as discouraging exploring the game universe, I see it as being more immersive in putting you closer to your role in the game.

Maybe that's part of the answer to the question. Do you see yourself in these kinds of games as playing as the head coach, or as someone completely above the events just tinkering with everything in the game universe as you see fit, i.e. while I absolutely detest the term, in more of a 'god-game' fashion?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

In my opinion it is. There are many things I don't like about DDSCB, and you hit on one of them with the selection show. Ease-of-use in general was my top recommendation to WS for the new version.

In terms of the feature though, I think most sports games give you way, way too much information. I think more realism in that sense is almost always more fun. I don't see it as discouraging exploring the game universe, I see it as being more immersive in putting you closer to your role in the game.

Maybe that's part of the answer to the question. Do you see yourself in these kinds of games as playing as the head coach, or as someone completely above the events just tinkering with everything in the game universe as you see fit, i.e. while I absolutely detest the term, in more of a 'god-game' fashion?

As a commish mode perpetual, I just can't play those games because every year I get a demo and it's just too slow for me. I want speed, customization and the ability to generate history quickly and the opportunity to experience the universe rather than play out games and be a coach of a team.

So I think it was great for people who want to do that, I just always found myself heading back to FBCB which despite the UI does so much of what I want without a lot of headaches.

[lcjjdnh]

Thoughts on the college football sim? Is it best on market (at least until Jim makes TCY…)?

I kind of like recruiting aspect of the college hoops sim—even if a bit tedious—but still prefer FBCB (which I still break out from time to time) overall.

[SlyBelle1]

Originally Posted by lcjjdnh

Thoughts on the college football sim? Is it best on market (at least until Jim makes TCY…)?

I kind of like recruiting aspect of the college hoops sim—even if a bit tedious—but still prefer FBCB (which I still break out from time to time) overall.

If you haven't, recommend trying the FREE demo. Not a lot of options out there for College career sim, probably the other to look at is Football Coach: College Dynasty on Steam.

Demo
Wolverine Studios | Free Demo

[weegeebored]

Originally Posted by lcjjdnh

Thoughts on the college football sim? Is it best on market (at least until Jim makes TCY…)?

As an alternative you could take a look at Football Coach: College Dynasty. It's on Steam for less than 10 bucks during the sale. It's early access, but it's being updated on a regular basis. There might be a thread here about it.

[Stanley92]

Sadly it looks like another game in progress have taken a pause.
CT Football Manager.
Nothing since late August but it's an indie game and one never know.
It looked very good at start I think covering not only top level of college football, but also FCS. Not on steam but you can find it via General Manager Games.

Always hard for smaller few person games to fully develop. Not many can have the journey the German bloke Markus had with OOTP.

[lcjjdnh]

Originally Posted by SlyBelle1

If you haven't, recommend trying the FREE demo. Not a lot of options out there for College career sim, probably the other to look at is Football Coach: College Dynasty on Steam.

Demo
Wolverine Studios | Free Demo

Thanks! How do they compare?