Dynamic Player Progression System - No Editor Needed

[Hellisan]

Quote: Originally Posted by kawkeye

I’ve been thinking about your work ethic ratings because I like the idea, I just haven’t found a good way to implement them into my existing system. However, I did have one idea just come to mind: Three levels of “work ethic.” I would probably assign these levels right away for freshman by rolling a bumper 1-3. 1. Low Work Ethic: This player CANNOT roll a five. This means that every given offseason, they have a 50/50 chance of either staying the same or regressing. 2. Average Work Ethic: This player simply goes by the existing rules. 3. High Work Ethic: This player has the opportunity to do ONE re-roll every year. This means they can redo either the dice-roll or the random number between 1-49. This improves their chances of progressing and decreases their chances of regressing. Thoughts?

Absolutely love it. I might include some type of something-or-other where a guy here or there improves his work ethic so they're not utterly hopeless. And another might drop down a peg. That's something that i never mentioned in anything you might have read, but I have been doing. If a player with a low ethic nails the top of the range for improvement (let's say the range is -3 to +5 and he goes +5, I move him up 5 points so he's in the next bracket. And accordingly, if they nail the bottom of the range... Down). But yeah, I like that idea man.

[kawkeye]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hellisan

Absolutely love it. I might include some type of something-or-other where a guy here or there improves his work ethic so they're not utterly hopeless. And another might drop down a peg. That's something that i never mentioned in anything you might have read, but I have been doing. If a player with a low ethic nails the top of the range for improvement (let's say the range is -3 to +5 and he goes +5, I move him up 5 points so he's in the next bracket. And accordingly, if they nail the bottom of the range... Down). But yeah, I like that idea man.

I like it. Another idea I had was to randomly a generate a # 1-70. These numbers would simply correspond to each player when listed on the roster under “all positions” and sorted by overall. (ie. the best player would be #1, the worst player would be #70).

I’m thinking I would roll 10 times, one for each player selected, I would re-roll my #1-3 to potentially assign them a new work ethic rating.

If you can’t tell, I like to leave as much to chance as possible to add unpredictability, so there could be years where you have more players drop in work ethic and years where you have more players increase in work ethic.

[kawkeye]

Since it seems the interest in the game has picked up lately with the pandemic, and the interest in this thread has picked up as well, I thought I would post a couple “add-ons” or “layers” that I have played with as I’ve looked for more ways to improve this or make it more in depth. My goal is always realistic immersion using as much chance and unpredictability as possible.

These are things I do to affect progression for CPU teams in lieu of using my system for every other team, which takes a LONG time. My goal for progressing CPU players is simply to make quick adjustments that are realistic and also noticeable.

1. MEGA PROGRESSION:
*first of all, I usually only do this for QB’s and/or skill position players because I want any extra work I do outside of my user-controlled team to be noticeable and impactful.
What I do for MEGA PROGRESSION is use a random number generator to select a player ranked 25-50 in the NCAA from a certain position to give a mega progression to. (Think Joe Burrow between his junior and senior seasons). I then use the chart that I always use to add attribute points to the players skills, except I double the numbers from “PF 40-49.” This means if “PF 40-49” results in a QB receiving 4 points each for speed, agility, acceleration, awareness, throw power, and throw accuracy, they would now receive 8 total points for each of those skills. This would bump their overall rating by approximately 13 points. It always seems there is an unexpected player who finds their way into the Heisman race, and this is my way of emulating that. You can do this for just QB’s, or you could do it for one QB, one RB, one WR, one defensive player, etc.

2. MEGA REGRESSION
This is essentially the same as the mega progression, but the player loses those points instead of gaining them. Instead of selecting a player from 25-50, I select a player from 1-25. One time I had Justin Fields go from 97 overall to 84 overall, and it was pretty satisfying because I can’t stand OSU (lol). Just as some players improved dramatically, others seem to drop off the face of the earth or have disappointing seasons, and this is my way of emulating that. Again, you can do this just one QB, or you can do it for one QB, one RB, one WR, and one defensive player.

3. FRESHMAN PHENOM
Freshman do not become starters or stars nearly enough in this game. One thing I do to mitigate this issue is to select 3 freshman from each position group to assign a mega-progression. To select the freshman to edit, I use the random team generator to select a random team, then I choose the highest rated freshman from the team within the position group I am dealing with. To save time, I usually break down position groups as follows: QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, LB, DB, P/K. I’ve never had a freshman win the Heisman as a result of this, but I have had a few Heisman finalists and an occasional freshman become all-American using this method, which I think is realistic.

4. BLUE-CHIP BUST
This requires you to think ahead a little bit. On signing day, take a picture of the top recruits and the teams they signed with. Then when I am progressing/regressing players, I roll a number between 1 and 10 to select a top-10 recruit to receive a mega-regression. Note: since the game does already do a decent job of having busts, I only do this a maximum of once per year. However, in real life there does always seem to be one or two blue chip recruits from every recruiting class that never pan out or makes any sort of meaningful impact, and this is my way of emulating that.

5. BLUE CHIP BOOM
I do the exact same thing I did for “blue-chip bust,” except I assign one of the top 10 recruits in the country a mega-progression. The reason I do this in addition to “freshman phenom” is that occasionally, none of the recruits who get the “freshman phenom” boost are highly enough rated enough to begin with. If a 63 overall recruit gets the freshman phenom boost, they still may not end up contributing if they are on a decent team. With the BLUE CHIP BOOM, this ensures that there will be one freshman with an overall of 90+, which I think is realistic. This player is almost certainly a 4-year starter, and multi-year awards finalist. Think Trevor Lawrence, Tua, Adrian Peterson, etc.

6. NORMALIZE FRESHMAN QB AWARENESS RATINGS
For some reason, the game gives the vast majority of freshman QB’s very low awareness ratings. Freshman VERY rarely start. In real life, there are always a dozen or so college teams that start freshman, and even more that start true freshman. To mitigate this, I add15 points to every freshman QB’s awareness rating. This increases every freshman QB’s overall rating by 5 points, which may make you think this will cause the game to be “unbalanced” but I have actually found the opposite. 1. It results in a handful of freshman starting QB’s each year (realistic). 2. After a few seasons, it results in the Heisman Trophy race to be very QB- heavy (realistic). 3. It results in better QB stats overall (realistic because let’s face it, the game has changed to favor offenses and QB’s since this game was made in 2013). 4. It results in better in-game QB play. This one is specific to the slide set I use (j-kitts), but it seems to make QBs play smarter in-game, and makes the in-game experience more “sim” for me.

7. TRANSFER PORTAL
More transfers are happening in real-life than in-game. Though unrealistic to simulate this in the game unless you use the editor, I do like to have 5 or so “meaningful” transfers each season. To do this, select the top 3 non-starting QB’s I can find in the game, and transfer them using the random team generator. When a player transfers, I remake them from the lowest rated QB in the same class on the new team, and make remake the original player from the initial team into a walk-on caliber player. You do not have to limit this to QB’s either. Often times I will find a couple highly rated players burrows begins other highly rated players on top teams and have them transfer as well. This is not random like pretty much everything else I do, but if I believe a player would realistically transfer In real life, I will do it in the game. This one is extremely time consuming and you usually don’t get a huge return on your time spent, but it is still fun to do sometimes.

There are a few more that I will write up some other time. These are simply ideas for people to play with or tweak to their own system. They are intended to be “layers” they you can add to you dynasty when you have time, or skip when you don’t feel like devoting the time.

Hopefully these ideas can make dynasty more immersive for you. Enjoy, and let me know if you try it or have any suggestions!

[Darianj22]

Quote: Originally Posted by kawkeye

Since it seems the interest in the game has picked up lately with the pandemic, and the interest in this thread has picked up as well, I thought I would post a couple “add-ons” or “layers” that I have played with as I’ve looked for more ways to improve this or make it more in depth. My goal is always realistic immersion using as much chance and unpredictability as possible. These are things I do to affect progression for CPU teams in lieu of using my system for every other team, which takes a LONG time. My goal for progressing CPU players is simply to make quick adjustments that are realistic and also noticeable. 1. MEGA PROGRESSION: *first of all, I usually only do this for QB’s and/or skill position players because I want any extra work I do outside of my user-controlled team to be noticeable and impactful. What I do for MEGA PROGRESSION is use a random number generator to select a player ranked 25-50 in the NCAA from a certain position to give a mega progression to. (Think Joe Burrow between his junior and senior seasons). I then use the chart that I always use to add attribute points to the players skills, except I double the numbers from “PF 40-49.” This means if “PF 40-49” results in a QB receiving 4 points each for speed, agility, acceleration, awareness, throw power, and throw accuracy, they would now receive 8 total points for each of those skills. This would bump their overall rating by approximately 13 points. It always seems there is an unexpected player who finds their way into the Heisman race, and this is my way of emulating that. You can do this for just QB’s, or you could do it for one QB, one RB, one WR, one defensive player, etc. 2. MEGA REGRESSION This is essentially the same as the mega progression, but the player loses those points instead of gaining them. Instead of selecting a player from 25-50, I select a player from 1-25. One time I had Justin Fields go from 97 overall to 84 overall, and it was pretty satisfying because I can’t stand OSU (lol). Just as some players improved dramatically, others seem to drop off the face of the earth or have disappointing seasons, and this is my way of emulating that. Again, you can do this just one QB, or you can do it for one QB, one RB, one WR, and one defensive player. 3. FRESHMAN PHENOM Freshman do not become starters or stars nearly enough in this game. One thing I do to mitigate this issue is to select 3 freshman from each position group to assign a mega-progression. To select the freshman to edit, I use the random team generator to select a random team, then I choose the highest rated freshman from the team within the position group I am dealing with. To save time, I usually break down position groups as follows: QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, LB, DB, P/K. I’ve never had a freshman win the Heisman as a result of this, but I have had a few Heisman finalists and an occasional freshman become all-American using this method, which I think is realistic. 4. BLUE-CHIP BUST This requires you to think ahead a little bit. On signing day, take a picture of the top recruits and the teams they signed with. Then when I am progressing/regressing players, I roll a number between 1 and 10 to select a top-10 recruit to receive a mega-regression. Note: since the game does already do a decent job of having busts, I only do this a maximum of once per year. However, in real life there does always seem to be one or two blue chip recruits from every recruiting class that never pan out or makes any sort of meaningful impact, and this is my way of emulating that. 5. BLUE CHIP BOOM I do the exact same thing I did for “blue-chip bust,” except I assign one of the top 10 recruits in the country a mega-progression. The reason I do this in addition to “freshman phenom” is that occasionally, none of the recruits who get the “freshman phenom” boost are highly enough rated enough to begin with. If a 63 overall recruit gets the freshman phenom boost, they still may not end up contributing if they are on a decent team. With the BLUE CHIP BOOM, this ensures that there will be one freshman with an overall of 90+, which I think is realistic. This player is almost certainly a 4-year starter, and multi-year awards finalist. Think Trevor Lawrence, Tua, Adrian Peterson, etc. 6. NORMALIZE FRESHMAN QB AWARENESS RATINGS For some reason, the game gives the vast majority of freshman QB’s very low awareness ratings. Freshman VERY rarely start. In real life, there are always a dozen or so college teams that start freshman, and even more that start true freshman. To mitigate this, I add15 points to every freshman QB’s awareness rating. This increases every freshman QB’s overall rating by 5 points, which may make you think this will cause the game to be “unbalanced” but I have actually found the opposite. 1. It results in a handful of freshman starting QB’s each year (realistic). 2. After a few seasons, it results in the Heisman Trophy race to be very QB- heavy (realistic). 3. It results in better QB stats overall (realistic because let’s face it, the game has changed to favor offenses and QB’s since this game was made in 2013). 4. It results in better in-game QB play. This one is specific to the slide set I use (j-kitts), but it seems to make QBs play smarter in-game, and makes the in-game experience more “sim” for me. 7. TRANSFER PORTAL More transfers are happening in real-life than in-game. Though unrealistic to simulate this in the game unless you use the editor, I do like to have 5 or so “meaningful” transfers each season. To do this, select the top 3 non-starting QB’s I can find in the game, and transfer them using the random team generator. When a player transfers, I remake them from the lowest rated QB in the same class on the new team, and make remake the original player from the initial team into a walk-on caliber player. You do not have to limit this to QB’s either. Often times I will find a couple highly rated players burrows begins other highly rated players on top teams and have them transfer as well. This is not random like pretty much everything else I do, but if I believe a player would realistically transfer In real life, I will do it in the game. This one is extremely time consuming and you usually don’t get a huge return on your time spent, but it is still fun to do sometimes. There are a few more that I will write up some other time. These are simply ideas for people to play with or tweak to their own system. They are intended to be “layers” they you can add to you dynasty when you have time, or skip when you don’t feel like devoting the time. Hopefully these ideas can make dynasty more immersive for you. Enjoy, and let me know if you try it or have any suggestions!

yea you definitely been in the lab bro. the point you made about there not being enough freshman stars or even starters in general has irked me in all my dynasties, especially with high impact positions like QB, CB, etc. i’ve always experimented with adjusting awareness with every incoming QB class but never found a good number to increase it by. i play in a 12 team teambuilder conference in the American conference and when i finish this season out i plan to adjust awareness/bump a few other attributes to every top 150 player that a team in my conference signs, not just QBs. this is basically a gift for me cause i was already enjoying the original system and now you’re incorporating everyone else’s ideas in the thread to make a 2.0 version. i fw it


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[kawkeye]

Quote: Originally Posted by Darianj22

yea you definitely been in the lab bro. the point you made about there not being enough freshman stars or even starters in general has irked me in all my dynasties, especially with high impact positions like QB, CB, etc. i’ve always experimented with adjusting awareness with every incoming QB class but never found a good number to increase it by. i play in a 12 team teambuilder conference in the American conference and when i finish this season out i plan to adjust awareness/bump a few other attributes to every top 150 player that a team in my conference signs, not just QBs. this is basically a gift for me cause i was already enjoying the original system and now you’re incorporating everyone else’s ideas in the thread to make a 2.0 version. i fw it Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Good to know you are enjoying it man! I’ve thought about doing the same (increasing awareness) for all freshman regardless of position, but it seems Like a daunting task to do every year lol.

I’ve found +15 to be the sweet spot. Much more, and you end up with dozens of true freshman starting QB’s. Any less, and there isn’t much of an impact.

The biggest thing it does for my dynasty is that after a few years, it results in about 80% of Heisman finalists being QB’s. I can’t stand when there are 4 RB’s as Heisman finalists because that would never happen in real life with how the real life game is currently being played.

If there is interest, I can add the “layers” from my last post to my original post. I just figured the 7 pages in the original pdf were too long the way it is, and I didn’t want to make it even longer.

Really, each “layer” adds just a little bit of realism. It’s up to each person if the added realism and unpredictability is a good return on the time invested in editing the players.

[kawkeye]

Question for those of you with knowledge about the editor:

I’ve been itching to get into modding and using the editor. I really want the four team playoff. If I learn to use the editor, would it be feasible to implement my progression system using that? Would it speed things up or slow things down?

I also want to try the tool that someone (can’t remember who) made to fix player names (no more white Darius Jenkin’s with 99 speed lol).

Any tips from people who know how to use it would be greatly appreciated.

[tdawg3782]

Quote: Originally Posted by kawkeye

Question for those of you with knowledge about the editor: I’ve been itching to get into modding and using the editor. I really want the four team playoff. If I learn to use the editor, would it be feasible to implement my progression system using that? Would it speed things up or slow things down? I also want to try the tool that someone (can’t remember who) made to fix player names (no more white Darius Jenkin’s with 99 speed lol). Any tips from people who know how to use it would be greatly appreciated.

I could fully automate your system using the editor and excel with macros. I've been looking into doing a full progression system for NCAA since all the modding has come about this last week. I've already done a complete overhaul of progression for Madden 20 on PC.


Doing it just with the editor would be hard. But if you pulled it into excel you could do it pretty easily. I've been having a hell of a time coming up with an original system.

[moose141]

I really like your idea about normalization of the QB awareness ratings. I already do similar stuff with the transfers, and I may do the random super progression/regression things as well! My one question about the awareness boost though... do you find that this gives you an inordinate amount of 99 rated QBs because they all have high awareness to go along with their physical skills? Or do you still not have a ton of high rated QBs?