FOFC's Greatest Athlete III (interactive)

[Breeze]

I was asked recently to resurrect this dynasty, so I've pulled out my old work and am in the process of building the tables and implementing some updates I designed after the second go-round.

Just as before with the Greatest Athlete II, there has been a long layoff between runs, and I want to make sure there is enough interest in this before I put forth the effort. If my memory serves, I believe we had 16 the first time and 10 the second time...Let me know if you'd like to participate.

If you are unfamiliar with this dynasty you can catch up. Just click the links...

FOFC's Greatest Athlete

FOFC's Greatest Athlete II

[path12]

Inn.

[PilotMan]

INININININININ! Fuck yeah.

[collegesportsfanms]

Sounds like a blast, I'll give it a go

[JAG]

This was always fun, in.

[DavidCorperial]

I'm in as well.

[cmp]

I'm in.

[Coffee Warlord]

I remember this! In.

[tarcone]

In

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I'll join the fun.

[britrock88]

In, for sure.

[Simbo Klice]

In, to defend the bronze medal I think I got last time

[ntndeacon]

In !
Maybe I'll stay out of the cellar this time!

[thealmighty]

In,

[Breeze]

So I count 13 so far...that's enough to move forward. I'm about half way through building the random tables...so hopefully I can get you instructions on building your skills by next week.

[chesapeake]

In! I'd love the chance to defend my championship!

[Breeze]

Ok, the tables are configured to randomly build the player cards based on your skill choices. There have been a few changes to the way the game is played, which I'll get into in more detail after you've submitted your skills. As with the FGAII there are 10 skills to choose from:

Balance
Speed
Strength
Athletic Ability
Technique
Explosiveness
Focus
Drive
Flexibility
Stamina

You have 800 points to split between these categories (no going over 100). Please PM your settings to me along with you character name and country and we'll get started...

[Breeze]

I had a question asked in a PM that I figured I'd follow up with here, because many of you may be thinking the same thing....

"What's the lowest we can apply to a skill" - the Answer is 0...if you want to avoid one all together that is fine.


OK SO THAT DIDN'T WORK THE WAY I EXPECTED. AFTER PLUGGING IN SOME NUMBERS IT IS HAVING THE OPPOSITE EFFECT. SO LETS SAY THERE IS A 20 POINT MINIMUM PER SKILL

[BYU 14]

I'm in!

[PilotMan]

His body is ripped, his mind is lacking, he's from the USA and he posed for Playgirl, welcome.......Mike Honcho!

[JAG]

Submitted. Babson is back.

[tarcone]

Tarc Jordan is going to show the world what out of this world athleticism is.

[Breeze]

7 people have submitted their skills...so we are about half way there...

[Breeze]

BTW...if any of you would like to provide some background on your character, PM it to me and I'll add it to the pre-event write up...

[path12]

Originally Posted by Breeze

7 people have submitted their skills...so we are about half way there...

I will get mine to you sometime today.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by path12

I will get mine to you sometime today.

that work, thanks.

[britrock88]

snet

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I'll be able to get my athlete profile to you later today/this evening, too. I hope that won't be too late.

[Breeze]

Tomorrow is fine...I probably won't start until next week just to make sure everyone has time to get their character's in.

[ntndeacon]

scent

[Umbrella]

Just curious breeze, is this based on the Avalon Hill decathlon game? It sounds like it based on your dice rolls and injuries, etc., but I haven't played that in probably over 20 years, so my memory is fuzzy.

If so, how do you create the character cards?

[path12]

cented.

[path12]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Just curious breeze, is this based on the Avalon Hill decathlon game? It sounds like it based on your dice rolls and injuries, etc., but I haven't played that in probably over 20 years, so my memory is fuzzy.

If so, how do you create the character cards?

I have this game around somewhere. I don't remember character traits though, just the statis pro charts.

[Breeze]

Ubrellla & Path,

Yes I'm using the Avalon Hill Track Meet/Decathlon game as the base mechanics for the dynasty, but the game has evolved a good bit from the one that was released in the early 70s, and I added some touches for the dynasty.

I don't want to bore anyone, so I'm not sure how far into the gory details I should go. But if you are interested read on...if not feel free to ignore the babbling stat junkie in the corner...

To begin, the game mechanics are identical to the Decathlon game released in 1972. You roll the 3 Statis Pro dice resulting in a number between 10 and 39, and each player has a unique card that amounts to a spreadsheet with events in each column and dice roles in each row and results in every cell. To breakdown the columns/results/odds here is was I wrote from the initial FOFC’s Greatest Athlete Dynasty (some of this will change with the new version, but I’ll get to that later)

- There is a 1 in 6 chance of rolling in the 10s, 2 in 6 of rolling in the 20s and 3 in 6 of rolling in the 30s

- The field events (minus pole vault and high jump) are divided into 3 columns, safe, average and aggressive - players announce which column they will use prior to their attempt

- The cards are based on templates where injuries are preset, as are some "NG" (no good) attempts.

Originally, when the game was released there were 7 athlete cards. Back in 2005 when I ran a dynasty called the World’s Greatest Athlete, I used the updated version with 15 athlete cards (that dynasty is what prompted the FOFC’s Greatest Athlete dynasties and the customizations I made in order to create unique user cards and skills). Currently the game has grown to 36 cards, and the cards have been standardized (which made set up this time much easier).

If you’ve read or participated in any of the past dynasties you are probably aware that I broke down each event into different ability levels, A-C in game 1 and A-F in game 2. These ratings were basically a grade level for each athlete card in each event, for instance, Jim Thorpe is an amazing high jumper, so his card would be graded and A in that event, but he’s only ok at pole vault so he’d be graded a C or D in that event. These graded cards combined to create 1 master table for each graded event. Then I created a formula that takes the skill points selected by the dynasty participants and uses a formula for each event to determine each player’s grade. Then a weighted formula randomly picks results from the existing athlete cards of the same grade to create a completely unique card for each of the FOFC players.

With 36 athlete cards currently available as the base, the number of combinations/permutations is significant so no chance any two event columns will be the same, much less any two player cards.

Hope this answers your questions, if you have any more, feel free to ask. There are some differences with the new version of the game, and I’ll get into those details once I’ve given everyone a chance to get their skills in, we are still a few short based on the people that said they’d like in above.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by britrock88

snet

never got yours...not sure why...

[Breeze]

I count 5 that I don't have skills from yet that indicated they wanted to particpate. By my count they are:

umbrella
greyfrairs bobby
britrock88 (never received yours if you PMed it)
BYU14
chesapeake

You still have time, but after not getting britrock's I wanted to get a list out in case there is a problem with my inbox and you've sent it I just haven't received it.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I sent mine not long after your last post...hope it got to you!

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Breeze

never got yours...not sure why...

You're totally right... no trace of the PM on my end! Redoing it...

[Breeze]

Only missing stats at this point are from

umbrella
BYU14

[Breeze]

Decathletes, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be occupied for the next several days at the kids Long Course State Swim Meet. So I'm not sure how much of this I'll get to work on. I hope to kick this off on Monday…and maybe this will allow enough time for Umbrella and BYU14 (and others if any stragglers want to join) to get their stats in.

[Umbrella]

I sent a PM, but I think I will pass. I'm really busy, so I don't want to hold things up.

[BYU 14]

PM sent sorry for the delay guys

[Breeze]

Dynasty Update

The cards for all 15 players have now been created. However, I want to get some feedback from the group.

This new version of the game will require players to determine there level of effort on each event/jump/throw. Thus I will require some guidance from each of you on how you want to proceed. If you've played in the past or if you are new and just wondering, I try to guide you by letting you know basic odds of improving etc. Obviously, your decisions will be impacted by the results of your previous attempts, where you are in the standings, injuries, and more. Given that the interaction will go up a bit, this dynasty will probalby take a bit longer.

Now with that said, I'll be going on vacation for a week starting 7/28 and won't return until 8/3 or 8/4...so I wanted to find out if you'd prefer we start, see how far we get, pause and finish after vacation, or just wait to start until after I get back?

[ntndeacon]

either way is fine with me

[path12]

My feeling is whatever is best for the guy doing the work.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I'm fine with whatever you decide, too.

[Breeze]

FOFC's GREATEST ATHLETE III - Game Mechanics

Regardless if you are a returning athlete or new to this franchise it will probably be wise to read through the game mechanics below as there are numerous changes in the way the game is played and the way the dynasty will play out.

Card Construction
To begin, this year the tables are divided into 4 levels of performance (previously the A-C grade in vI and A-F in vII). This time one of the performance levels was dropped due to the increased number of results (more base data to randomly draw from) and the new version already categorized the cards based on an Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor scale, thus making it easier to incorporate the new data set by using the 4 level scale. Your skills were combined in a formula for each event to determine where in that 4 level scale you fall and your card was randomly created from the matching data set.

Game Play / Interactive Decisions
In the new version of the game, the player must announce their level of effort (safe, average, or all out) for each event (not just the field events this time).

- safe - highest probability recording a results but the odds of that result approaching a personal best or even an average result is lower.

- average - the number of injury, scratch, false start results is in the middle, results are typically better than safe but don't have potential for huge results

- all out - risk reward column. Injury, scratch, false start, etc. much higher, but results can be big. However, they can also be poor on occasion, think of it like trying too hard and ending up with a bad attempt


Another new twist with this version is - You'll only get to use All Out a set numnber of times for the each day. That set number is also based off of the skills you chose. I'll be PMing each of you the totals you can use. These new effort points are applied with each dice roll. What that means is - if you want to use All Out, you will asign 1 effort point each time you make an attempt. Each day will have numerous attempts, so you won't be able to use all out all the time. To give some guidelines, let's assume you take all 3 attempts on your field events, and you take your 7 jumps in pole vault and high jump that are allowed without creating fatigue penalties...you will end up with 18 rolls (1 in the 100 meters, 3 in long jump, 3 in shot put, 7 in high jump, 4 in the 400) on day 1 and 19 rolls (1 in hurdles, 3 in discus, 7 in pole vault, 3 in javelin, and 5 in 1500) on day 2. Each all out will cost 1 effort point, except in the 1500, and all out in any of the 5 segments of that race will cost 3 points - so choose wisely...

Injuries
Not all injuries are created equal, so the game has been modified to reflect that. When an injury occurs it can be mild, moderate, or severe, and each will have corresponding penalties that will impact future results. Multiple injuries can compound penalties.

Fatigue
Fatigue impacts options/results like injuries do. As long as each player stays at or under the 18 first day rolls and the 19 second day rolls there are no fatigue penalties. Anything over and penalties will start to be factored in

False Starts
This is a new feature...and it occurs in the 100 meters, hurdles, and 400 meters. Here is how these results work. The first false start causes no penalty at all. In the event there is a second false start there is no penalty, unless the person false starting is the same one that caused the first false start...in that case that player will receive no score for that event. If there are 2 false starts from different players, and a 3 false start occurs, the person false starting on the 3 time will receive no score in the event. Obviously, a false start by one or more people may change strategy for an event, so in the dynasty after a false start is reported, I'll need each player to once again annouce the effort they plan to use in the event. (no a false start does not cost you an all out effort point)


I think that covers it...if you have questions, fire away.

[britrock88]

Looks fun! And operate it on whatever time frame works well for you.

[JAG]

Now with that said, I'll be going on vacation for a week starting 7/28 and won't return until 8/3 or 8/4...so I wanted to find out if you'd prefer we start, see how far we get, pause and finish after vacation, or just wait to start until after I get back?

Whatever works best for you.

[Simbo Klice]

I'd like to get it rolling, but I can see the pros/cons of either way