BBCF Poll-time

[Dutch]

If this has been done before, sorry. What's the opinion so far?

[jbmagic]

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...ad.php?t=45186

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...ad.php?t=45186

LOL

[Dutch]

Sorry, I was trying to make a poll and it took longer than expected.

[SirFozzie]

Good now.. excellent when bugs are squashed

[Grammaticus]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Good now.. excellent when bugs are squashed

Same

[BYU 14]

A lot of fun as is......though some of the current bugs can be annoying. The Stat tracking and history features are great as is the recruiting. I think this will be a top game as the bugs get smashed.

I Would like to see more played added, but beyond that it has excellent depth and I have grown to really like the interface once I got used to it.

Overall an excellent first effort with a lot of upside....kind of like that 5 star blue chip Freshman......there will be some rough moments early, but it will develop into a Heisman contender

[kcchief19]

My review is based on the demo, but I'm one notch below some of the above reviews -- average with potential for more based on anticipated bug fixes.

I don't think the first patch will be the true test for the game. I think the second or third patch will be the key. Right now, unfortunately the fourth down inside the 10 is a showstopper. The injury issue didn't bother me while playing the demo. The only things I've heard that I don't like is that I think I'm seeing a lot of gameplay "quirks" blamed on the fourth down bug. I'm with the group who have seen some odd behavior in the playcalling and play outcome results.

If you're a macro player but not a micro player, think I would say that the game is good with chance to be an excellent. I think the micro parts of the game will need some tinkering that can be better evaluated once some of the big bugs are out of the way.

One thing that is hard for me is the interface. I'll admit that I'm a "spreadsheet" guy -- the look and feel of FOF is right up my alley. BBCF looks great, but it's a bit unweidly for me sometimes. That's a personal taste. Aside from that, my only two gripes about the interface are in the gameplanning screens. It's WAY too easy to make the changes you want to make and then switch to another screen without clicking OK and losing all your changes. I did that many times in my demo season. I also feel like I'm clicking my mouse an awful lot on those screens.

[jbmagic]

what the difference between macro player and micro player?

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

what the difference between macro player and micro player?

Macro usually gets through a season pretty fast and definitely doesn't call plays. A micro player calls the plays and can better note the definciencies in a game.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Macro usually gets through a season pretty fast and definitely doesn't call plays. A micro player calls the plays and can better note the definciencies in a game.

Well, the short-term deficiencies, that is. A micro player wouldn't notice (or care that much about), for example, issues such as the Extreme Dead Ball Era that plagued BM99, or the problem that BBCF was apparently having in earlier beta stages with every UCF, Fresno and SMU becoming powerhouses in the 15-20 seasons.

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

Well, the short-term deficiencies, that is. A micro player wouldn't notice (or care that much about), for example, issues such as the Extreme Dead Ball Era that plagued BM99, or the problem that BBCF was apparently having in earlier beta stages with every UCF, Fresno and SMU becoming powerhouses in the 15-20 seasons.

true

[vex]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

what the difference between macro player and micro player?

No economics classes, huh?

[Eaglesfan27]

I said average for now due to the issues which should hopefully be fixed soon. I believe the potential is excellent, and really look forward to playing this game a lot once a few issues are fixed up. However, if I was grading on a curve for a first gen product I would say it is very good already. I also think it will likely be very good on any scale I might use after this next patch is released.

[JeeberD]

I'm really enjoying the game so far...

[ThunderingHERD]

Only average right now. I've pretty much shelved in until some of the problems get worked out.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

Well, the short-term deficiencies, that is. A micro player wouldn't notice (or care that much about), for example, issues such as the Extreme Dead Ball Era that plagued BM99, or the problem that BBCF was apparently having in earlier beta stages with every UCF, Fresno and SMU becoming powerhouses in the 15-20 seasons.

I have to call bullshit on this. I like to call my own plays, but 1st and foremost is realism and the stats. I would be very upset with the game if UCF and such became powerhouses, as that is one of the major reasons I gave up on NCAA football(EA Games) and just play text sims now.

[dubb93]

And if you meant wouldn't get far enough to notice, I tend to get VERY far into the games even when I am calling plays.

[ThunderingHERD]

Originally Posted by dubb93

I have to call bullshit on this. I like to call my own plays, but 1st and foremost is realism and the stats. I would be very upset with the game if UCF and such became powerhouses, as that is one of the major reasons I gave up on NCAA football(EA Games) and just play text sims now.

I think he's saying you'd be less likely to notice, not less likely to care. After all, I doubt you'd have gotten through 20 years of playing out every game during the beta test.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by ThunderingHERD

I think he's saying you'd be less likely to notice, not less likely to care. After all, I doubt you'd have gotten through 20 years of playing out every game during the beta test.

Put me on that beta team , I've only found and reported about 6 or 7 bugs that no one else seemed to notice so far since I got my hands on the game.

[Young Drachma]

I would love to try this out once the kinks get worked out.

[Emiliano]

Right now, it's already 4.0/5.0. And it's just a freshman... It has great potential.

[wheels]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

One thing that is hard for me is the interface. I'll admit that I'm a "spreadsheet" guy -- the look and feel of FOF is right up my alley. BBCF looks great, but it's a bit unweidly for me sometimes. That's a personal taste. Aside from that, my only two gripes about the interface are in the gameplanning screens. It's WAY too easy to make the changes you want to make and then switch to another screen without clicking OK and losing all your changes. I did that many times in my demo season. I also feel like I'm clicking my mouse an awful lot on those screens.

Have you tried tabbing among the fields to enter values?
If you're clicking to enter those, it might save you some time and effort.

[Cuckoo]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Good now.. excellent when bugs are squashed

My thoughts as well. I'm really surprised that anyone could rate this as poor right now. I can see Fair if it doesn't really suit your interests or Average if the bugs have hit you harder than they've hit me.

But right now, for me, this is a solid game with some very good potential.

[I. J. Reilly]

Average at best for me at this point.
Some parts are excellent (recruiting, budgeting); others are poor (play calling, game planning). Unfortunately, the poor parts of the game are affecting the excellent parts for me. It’s pretty hard to get excited about building your roster when what happens on Saturday is such a mystery.
Play calling is a non-starter at this point. It’s like playing solitaire at this point, just click and hope. And because I know how lacking the play calling from the AI is, simply quick siming through it doesn’t remove the frustration.

[Bee]

I'd give it a 2.4 as is. Once it's patched, we'll see how much it improves.

[Gallifrey]

I tried the demo for awhile. The game results were interesting. To me, the sim engine is everything. I will give it another go when a patched version of the demo is released again.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by wheels

Have you tried tabbing among the fields to enter values?
If you're clicking to enter those, it might save you some time and effort.

I'll admit that I'm a bit of a priss on this one. Short answer -- yes. But the having to click save so many times on the depth chart screens got tiring after a while. There are six different gameplan/strategy pages, so you have to click on those to open them, then you have to click save on each item -- and I believe on at least page you have to click save on different items, which can get confusing if you click save on playing time but forget to click save on gameplanning. I don't think you can change your gameplans and strategy in probably any fewer than 25-30 clicks -- and that's a lot of clicking.

Those pages would have been a lot more friendly for me if I were allowed to click save once per page or save changes on exiting/switching to another screen. A cancel button to back out would be really helpful if you mess up in that case. For me, it was way too easy to back out of a screen without saving changes, but YMMV.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

I'll admit that I'm a bit of a priss on this one. Short answer -- yes. But the having to click save so many times on the depth chart screens got tiring after a while. There are six different gameplan/strategy pages, so you have to click on those to open them, then you have to click save on each item -- and I believe on at least page you have to click save on different items, which can get confusing if you click save on playing time but forget to click save on gameplanning. I don't think you can change your gameplans and strategy in probably any fewer than 25-30 clicks -- and that's a lot of clicking.

Those pages would have been a lot more friendly for me if I were allowed to click save once per page or save changes on exiting/switching to another screen. A cancel button to back out would be really helpful if you mess up in that case. For me, it was way too easy to back out of a screen without saving changes, but YMMV.

My feelings exactly.

[Dunleavy]

through 59 votes the avg is 3.5

i was a bit surprised to see the avg so high. i gave it a 2...the interface (all the clicks) knocks it down a point, the game has great depth and includes alot of things but at no point have i been amazed by the game or a feature.

[Easy Mac]

I'd give it a 2-2.5. The fact that there are 0 recruits above poor in South Carolina has absolutely killed the game for me. The sim times are pretty slow as well and I'm not a huge fan of the interface. I definitely think it will be a solid game when the bugs are hammered out, but these are the big things.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

The fact that there are 0 recruits above poor in South Carolina has absolutely killed the game for me.

Smile, Easy. Things are lookin' up.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

Smile, Easy. Things are lookin' up.
[really large image was here]

That's good to see. Unfortunately I've shelved the game for right now, although I hadn't had much time for playing it yet anyway.

Also, I doubt its a bug, but I have a running back who had over 1400 yards in 6 games so far while at South Carolina... but my team was 2-4. I noticed that in a couple games we were down by double digits in the second half. In the first half, he ran for maybe 80 yards, but my team started pounding the ball in the second half. Not a bug really, but my team should start airing it out eventually, but we were still running late into the 4th quarter.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Also, I doubt its a bug, but I have a running back who had over 1400 yards in 6 games so far while at South Carolina... but my team was 2-4. I noticed that in a couple games we were down by double digits in the second half. In the first half, he ran for maybe 80 yards, but my team started pounding the ball in the second half. Not a bug really, but my team should start airing it out eventually, but we were still running late into the 4th quarter.

Yeah. It appears that, for better or for worse, BBCF follows your exact game plan percentages at all times, and there's no "way behind" setting like FOF has in game planning. You must gameplan the same whether you're behind by 4 or by 21. The "Normal" Gameplan (used heavily by "Balanced" teams I think) defaults to running 50% of the time on 1st and 10 even when "Losing By 4 or More." Now, if I'm running a balanced attacked and there's 10 minutes to go in the game and I'm down 4, then running 50% of the time on 1st down is perfectly reasonable to me. However, if I'm down by 17 at halftime in the Conference Championship game, I want to come out slingin'. I've written up a suggestion to Arlie for the update to add a few more game plan options. Currently the situations are:

1. "Winning"
2. "Tied"
3. "Losing by 3 or less"
4. "Losing by 4 or more"

They probably need to be something like:

1. "Winning by 17 or more"
2. "Winning by 9-16"
3. "Winning by 4-8"
4. "Winning by 3 or less"
5. "Tied"
6. "Losing by 3 or less"
7. "Losing by 4-8"
8. "Losing by 9-16"
9. "Losing by 17 or more"

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm going with "average" right now. I bought the game on release day, played it for an hour, and have set it aside. Another game is taking up all of my gaming time right now, so by the time I get back to BBCF, a patch or two should be out, and I'm sure I'll be happier.

[Bee]

Good to see South Carolina recruits have been fixed, but what about West Virginia ones...that's what's important!

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

... or the problem that BBCF was apparently having in earlier beta stages with every UCF, Fresno and SMU becoming powerhouses in the 15-20 seasons.

Has this been fixed?

[wheels]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

I'll admit that I'm a bit of a priss on this one. Short answer -- yes. But the having to click save so many times on the depth chart screens got tiring after a while. There are six different gameplan/strategy pages, so you have to click on those to open them, then you have to click save on each item -- and I believe on at least page you have to click save on different items, which can get confusing if you click save on playing time but forget to click save on gameplanning. I don't think you can change your gameplans and strategy in probably any fewer than 25-30 clicks -- and that's a lot of clicking.

Those pages would have been a lot more friendly for me if I were allowed to click save once per page or save changes on exiting/switching to another screen. A cancel button to back out would be really helpful if you mess up in that case. For me, it was way too easy to back out of a screen without saving changes, but YMMV.

Point well made--and noted.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

They probably need to be something like:

1. "Winning by 17 or more"
2. "Winning by 9-16"
3. "Winning by 4-8"
4. "Winning by 3 or less"
5. "Tied"
6. "Losing by 3 or less"
7. "Losing by 4-8"
8. "Losing by 9-16"
9. "Losing by 17 or more"

Personally, I agree. I think that accomodates both users, the ones who want that kind of depth and the ones who don't, assuming you still have a suggest button -- no real reason not to.

I could live with the existing settings as they are if there were logic that allowed the AI to deviate from the game plan in extreme circumstances. But the above settings would be ideal.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by KWhit

Has this been fixed?

Well yeah. I said "in early beta stages." It had been fixed by the time I got ahold of my first build.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by wheels

Point well made--and noted.

While we're talking interface, the biggest problem for me is that in long lists, I have to clik on the little up and down arrows rather than using the arrow keys or other keyboard shortcut. When recruiting especially, it would be much, much easier to scroll down the list with the keyboard.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

While we're talking interface, the biggest problem for me is that in long lists, I have to clik on the little up and down arrows rather than using the arrow keys or other keyboard shortcut. When recruiting especially, it would be much, much easier to scroll down the list with the keyboard.

There is a shortage of keyboard shortcuts in the text sim world. It's been an issue for me in every game I've ever played. They can't be that hard to program, can they?

[Raiders Army]

Haven't really played it enough to give an opinion

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

While we're talking interface, the biggest problem for me is that in long lists, I have to clik on the little up and down arrows rather than using the arrow keys or other keyboard shortcut. When recruiting especially, it would be much, much easier to scroll down the list with the keyboard.

Or using the scroll wheel on your mouse...

[wheels]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

While we're talking interface, the biggest problem for me is that in long lists, I have to clik on the little up and down arrows rather than using the arrow keys or other keyboard shortcut. When recruiting especially, it would be much, much easier to scroll down the list with the keyboard.

I know what you mean. I'll talk with Arlie about this.