Making dynasty mode feel more organic

[Deegeezy]

Kind of piggy-backing off of this thread: http://www.operationsports.com/forum...r-players.html

What are some of the things you guys do to bring your dynasty to life?

For me, the #1 thing has been dynasty reporting/blogging. It adds so much to your dynasty's life when you can write articles, get audience feedback, go back and read your team's history and look at pictures of big moments, etc.

That said, there are several things I do offline that maybe don't get reported on, at least not directly. I am only able to sit down and play literally about one full game a week (usually on the weekend), but I typically am able to pick up the sticks for 20 minutes or so in the mornings before work during the week. So this leaves me with a ton of "idle" NCAA time. I can "play" often but just can't play games often.

Some of the things I do are:

- Changing some of my players' equipment each week. It really adds to the immersion to see some of your players have different gear on throughout the year. And even better, once it gets to the colder months in my season, I start to put sleeves on a few guys.

- I change player names. Typically, every so often I may change a guy with a "short" name like Mike to something like "Michelangelo." Or a Tom to Tommy. I may even change a Chad to Chaz. Trevor to Trev. Mark to Marco. Mark to Markus with a "k." My current RB was recruited as a Bernard Davis but now I have him as Bernie Davis. I also had a FS named Andrew Harris that I changed to Dre Harris. I once changed a Corey to a JaCorey. I just feel it adds a little "flare" and personality to the player.

- I add "Jr." or "III" to some players' names

- I change player numbers' to be more college football-like. For some reason, this game defaults to having recruits having NFL-numbering rules. I.E. WRs all have 80 numbers, RBs and CBs all have 20-49, LBs are all 50s, etc. I go in and change my players' jerseys to where I have WRs with single digit numbers or even numbers in the 20s. RBs with single digit and teen numbers, D-Lineman with numbers in the teens or 40s, Kickers and punters with numbers in the 40s or 90s, etc. It all really makes it feel more like a college football game.

Furthermore, before each opponent, I change several of their player jerseys in the same fashion. I even may go in and "spice up" some of their top guys' equipment. Nothing looks tackier to me than seeing WRs, RBs, and DBs with no gear on and specifically, no gloves. I also add some visors. The game looks way more beautiful visually when both teams are full of guys with real-looking equipment combos.

- Created a rivalry. In my current dynasty, my Green Wave are in the SEC and face Alabama every year. Each year, it seems the two teams are in the Top 10 and the game has high stakes. This culminated with my forming of "The Tidal Wave Party" rivalry game. And I created a logo for it:

- Practice mode/install plays. Before each game, during the week, I try to get in at least one session of practice mode on offense and defense. Offensively, I tend to just focus on mastering one formation per week and "installing" a new play or two to use in the game. Also, if they have a unique defense, like a 3-3-5 or 3-4 or something, I will practice against that formation.

Defensively, I just do a quick browse of my opponents' playbook just to see what sort of stuff they've "showed on film." And I may practice against a play or formation or two that looks foreign to me. Like this week, I will be seeing the Pistol for the first time versus Alabama, so I spent 5 minutes with them running random plays from that formation versus my base Nickel defense.

What are some of the things you guys do to help bring your dynasties to life to help things not get stale?

[jello1717]

Making dynasty mode feel more organic

What are some of the things you guys do to help bring your dynasties to life to help things not get stale?

For me personally, this game has never even come close to getting stale, even after 900+ dynasty games

- I change player names. Typically, every so often I may change a guy with a "short" name like Mike to something like "Michelangelo." Or a Tom to Tommy. I may even change a Chad to Chaz. Trevor to Trev. Mark to Marco. Mark to Markus with a "k." My current RB was recruited as a Bernard Davis but now I have him as Bernie Davis. I also had a FS named Andrew Harris that I changed to Dre Harris. I once changed a Corey to a JaCorey. I just feel it adds a little "flare" and personality to the player.



- I add "Jr." or "III" to some players' names

I have a couple of suggestions. I strongly suggest changing last names too. The game only has so many last name options and with 2100 new recruits every year, there are a TON of repeats.



I also add the occasional JR, II, or III but I also suggest adding the occasional "double" or hyphenated name (IE. Dorial Green-Beckham, Juju Smith-Schuster, etc)

- I change player numbers' to be more college football-like. For some reason, this game defaults to having recruits having NFL-numbering rules. I.E. WRs all have 80 numbers, RBs and CBs all have 20-49, LBs are all 50s, etc. I go in and change my players' jerseys to where I have WRs with single digit numbers or even numbers in the 20s. RBs with single digit and teen numbers, D-Lineman with numbers in the teens or 40s, Kickers and punters with numbers in the 40s or 90s, etc. It all really makes it feel more like a college football game.

I do this for all of my incoming recruits. Normal, boring numbers (80 WRs, 90 DL, etc) go to my scrubs (and with my recruiting restrictions I sign plenty of them). For my studs/really good players I give them "cool" numbers.

• I make sure all retired numbers stay retired
  
• I'm @ Michigan so I adhere to their tradition of only allowing a superstar WR to wear #1
  
• 17 is my favorite number (DUH) so a player has to be really special to get to wear it.
  
• Only the best of the best OL (preferably a T) gets to wear 77
  
• Only studly OL get to wear 70s. All others get 50s or 60s
  
• Only studs get to wear double numbers (33, 55, etc)
  
• single digits are reserved for studs
  
• Monstrous LBs (preferably MLBs) can wear 90s
  
• stud WRs get single digits, teens, 20s, 30s, or 40s.
  
• Stud DL get single digits, double numbers, or teens, 30s, 60s or 70s
  
• Only the best of the best QBs get to wear 98
  
  (just kidding. Just seeing if you're paying attention)
  

I have an extremely detailed spreadsheet where I track just about everything. 1 really cool thing to track is my assistant coaches that go on to be head coaches elsewhere. I love to see how my proteges are doing out on their own. Most assistant coaches come from elsewhere, but it's EXTREMELY gratifying when you get a brand new coach as your assistant (so he's only ever been taught by you) who then goes on to become a HC and ultimately wins a power 5 conference championship (yes, this has happened for me). It's a blast to follow their records, check out their recruiting classes, etc.

[Deegeezy]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

Great ideas jello....I really like the hyphenated name thing. I will DEFINITELY be stealing that idea haha

I have also toyed with the idea of having a random guy at some point suddenly become a Muslim and get a name like Ali Shareef.

I normally only mess with the numbers of players on teams I will play against, since those are the only ones I will ever see on the field. But that's awesome the way you do it.

[jello1717]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

Great ideas jello....I really like the hyphenated name thing. I will DEFINITELY be stealing that idea haha

I have also toyed with the idea of having a random guy at some point suddenly become a Muslim and get a name like Ali Shareef.

I normally only mess with the numbers of players on teams I will play against, since those are the only ones I will ever see on the field. But that's awesome the way you do it.

I only change the numbers and names of my own guys.

[Deegeezy]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

I only change the numbers and names of my own guys.

Ah ok...I read that to mean you go and change all the incoming freshman around the entire nation.

I was like "damn, now that's dedication!"

[scdb12]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

Editing Stats of players is huge for me.

I look at the All-American list and if someone has a breakout season and they are rated a 72 ovr I might up them 10-12 points. I also, may take a team who has been struggling and pretend that there Freshman QB Developed a lot over the year and make his stats better than the starter. A team like UMASS or UCONN benefit from this because they don't get good recruits.

[SilverBullet19]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

Basically everything you said D. Interestingly enough, I don't have AS big of issues with computer numbering. Although most WR are 80-89, I get some that are in the 1-19 range at times. One of my starters is #11. I get linebackers in the 30-49 range a lot too.

-I retire numbers VERY rarely. I usually sit on it for one season or more before I do. It gives me something to think about and keeps a bit of "suspense." I have a 4yr starter at QB who has set almost every school record and been a huge factor in my startup program, so will anyone else wear #3 again? Same goes for my heisman winning running back, is #33 off limits? Its fun to make some rules too, like "the jersey cannot be retired unless they complete their degree" etc etc.

-I change names to spice it up too. Sometimes I'll give a backstory like they took the name of their single mom after finishing their recruiting process (happened with some kid IRL a few years ago).

-Change/edit play books. If I get a new coordinator, I will change some stuff. My offense stays pretty much the same since its "my" playbook and my OC is a play calling "assistant" if you will, but I'll change defense a bit. Maybe not go to a 3-4 or anything drastic, but minor changes. I.E. my new coordinator is "blitz happy" in my dynasty...so I'll be running more man to man and less base zone coverage.

-Documenting on here has given me a new life for this game. Its helping me stick to a dynasty.

-Random changes- cutting a player for grades or off field incidents, benching someone for a game for the same reasons, it all adds to the immersion.

-UP AND DOWN- Now don't get me wrong, powerhouses are real and do happen...they just take time. Dynasties lose their luster for me when I start putting together 3-4 double digit win seasons as a brand new program. I like to progress, regress, and build my way up. Go 12-2 one year, maybe 8-4 the next, then 9-3. Always on the upside, but not the best. Its more realistic. I do this by messing with sliders. If I do too well one year, I up the slider difficulty. If I struggle a couple years in a row, I might loosen it up.

-Recruiting restrictions- self imposed restrictions make the game more realistic and much harder.

[BBallcoach]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

I can't do the dynasty report thing. I love it. But I play like half a season a night. I implement house rules to recruiting and such to make it tougher on myself.

[TheRosterMaster]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

I basically do what Deegeezy and Jello do. I also use the editor.

One reason I use the editor is for the playoff. I don't always run a dynasty with a playoff, sometimes I will from the beginning, or sometimes I bring the playoff in after 20 years through the dynasty.

I also use the editor for Top 25. I will VERY rarely use it for this though depending on how good the lower tier conference team is. One time Ohio was ranked 23rd to begin week 5 and I almost changed them to being unranked. The reason I decided to leave them as #23 is because they were actually an 84 overall. Since then I made a rule that any team in a low tier conference can only be in the top 25 if they are undefeated and must be at least 78 overall.

Another reason for the editor is to change bowl games. NO matter what tie ins I make the game does whatever it wants. I ALWAYS have to make the Rose Bowl Pac 12 vs Big 10. I basically go in now and change up every bowl game to my liking.

The last reason I use the editor is for editing the recruits. for EVERY dynasty I do I edit the names, heights and weights for the top 100 recruits, all the recruits that come to my team and all the recruits that come to teams in my conference. This might seem a BIT over the top, but realistic is key to me. If the game isn't realistic then I'm not gonna play it.

[SilverBullet19]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

I basically do what Deegeezy and Jello do. I also use the editor.

One reason I use the editor is for the playoff. I don't always run a dynasty with a playoff, sometimes I will from the beginning, or sometimes I bring the playoff in after 20 years through the dynasty.

I also use the editor for Top 25. I will VERY rarely use it for this though depending on how good the lower tier conference team is. One time Ohio was ranked 23rd to begin week 5 and I almost changed them to being unranked. The reason I decided to leave them as #23 is because they were actually an 84 overall. Since then I made a rule that any team in a low tier conference can only be in the top 25 if they are undefeated and must be at least 78 overall.

Another reason for the editor is to change bowl games. NO matter what tie ins I make the game does whatever it wants. I ALWAYS have to make the Rose Bowl Pac 12 vs Big 10. I basically go in now and change up every bowl game to my liking.

The last reason I use the editor is for editing the recruits. for EVERY dynasty I do I edit the names, heights and weights for the top 100 recruits, all the recruits that come to my team and all the recruits that come to teams in my conference. This might seem a BIT over the top, but realistic is key to me. If the game isn't realistic then I'm not gonna play it.

The name work is some DEDICATION! I will edit my recruit names sometimes. Sometimes I just DON'T like a guy I bring in, for some reason. Something about their face, just makes me want to punch it...lol. Every once in a while I bench a starter for this reason. Then again, its realistic that a coach will find a guy he truly likes and give him reps even if he's not the best.

So I edit them big time to my liking and it helps me like them.

[TheRosterMaster]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

The name work is some DEDICATION!

Yeah, I usually do my offseasons of the weekends (usually a Saturday) and later that night I'll spend 1-2 hours editing the names. I love how 3-4 years ago I was only doing 4 verticals and now im here today trying to make the game as realistic as possible.

Edit: While I finished typing this I realized I forgot to edit recruits for my running dynasty

[Deegeezy]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

The name work is some DEDICATION! I will edit my recruit names sometimes. Sometimes I just DON'T like a guy I bring in, for some reason. Something about their face, just makes me want to punch it...lol. Every once in a while I bench a starter for this reason. Then again, its realistic that a coach will find a guy he truly likes and give him reps even if he's not the best.

So I edit them big time to my liking and it helps me like them.

Haha...Yeah there are some faces on there I hate too. There is a MLB on my bench that would probably be on kickoff team if he looked more normal.

[Cheese2121]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

What an absolutely fantastic thread. Thank you Deegeezy for starting this discussion. I will be borrowing many of the ideas here.

For me the first thing is dynasty reporting for sure. It has completely changed sports games for me dating back to Madden '10 when I first started reporting my own after reading and lurking for several years before. The history, the user feedback, all of it just makes it so much fun. I truly love it. That being said, I always tell people make sure you are doing the dynasty report for you and not just the 'replies.' I would write the same number of updates and in depth even if it was just me documenting in a thread for only me to read.

The second thing for me is the record and history keeping. I love tracking all the stats and storylines with my team and across the league. I am playing NCAA '12 with coaching carousel so i track every coach and every coordinator and it amazes me to see the storylines that develop. For example in my first year, Western Michigan fired Bill Cubit and hired his son Ryan Cubit. As one of my followers said, that had to have been a quiet night at the dinner table. It amazes me how many storylines develop naturally (coaches, teams, etc.). I track A LOT more than even what I report. I have a giant excel spreadsheet where I track year to year things like team records, recruiting class ranks, desitnation of the top ten prospects, all coach and coordinator movement, etc. etc. etc.

On a sidenote about followers, I like being able to offer people following, the opportunity to ask about their favorite teams and having all that history at the tip of my fingers. So, in summary tracking everything is very big for me.

The storylines in general for me really make the dynasty, with new recruits I formulate backstories in my mind, and even when I don't report on them they are still in the back of my mind and reflect how I write about that player.

Like many have already said, I certainly adjust numbers of my team and those who I am playing to more reflect college numbering. I haven't touched equipment as much as I have seen a decent variety but I may start looking into it more. If my coordinators change, then I would also adjust playbooks accordingly as well.

I have house rules for recruiting which were influenced heavily from PocketScout and conference change rules from SilverBullet19.

That is a short summary off the top of my head, but I am sure I will think of more. Thank you every for sharing, so many great ideas here.

[TheShizNo1]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

One reason I use the editor is for the playoff.

How long does this process take?

[SilverBullet19]

Re: Making dynasty mode feel more organic

What an absolutely fantastic thread. Thank you Deegeezy for starting this discussion. I will be borrowing many of the ideas here.

For me the first thing is dynasty reporting for sure. It has completely changed sports games for me dating back to Madden '10 when I first started reporting my own after reading and lurking for several years before. The history, the user feedback, all of it just makes it so much fun. I truly love it. That being said, I always tell people make sure you are doing the dynasty report for you and not just the 'replies.' I would write the same number of updates and in depth even if it was just me documenting in a thread for only me to read.

The second thing for me is the record and history keeping. I love tracking all the stats and storylines with my team and across the league. I am playing NCAA '12 with coaching carousel so i track every coach and every coordinator and it amazes me to see the storylines that develop. For example in my first year, Western Michigan fired Bill Cubit and hired his son Ryan Cubit. As one of my followers said, that had to have been a quiet night at the dinner table. It amazes me how many storylines develop naturally (coaches, teams, etc.). I track A LOT more than even what I report. I have a giant excel spreadsheet where I track year to year things like team records, recruiting class ranks, desitnation of the top ten prospects, all coach and coordinator movement, etc. etc. etc.

On a sidenote about followers, I like being able to offer people following, the opportunity to ask about their favorite teams and having all that history at the tip of my fingers. So, in summary tracking everything is very big for me.

The storylines in general for me really make the dynasty, with new recruits I formulate backstories in my mind, and even when I don't report on them they are still in the back of my mind and reflect how I write about that player.

Like many have already said, I certainly adjust numbers of my team and those who I am playing to more reflect college numbering. I haven't touched equipment as much as I have seen a decent variety but I may start looking into it more. If my coordinators change, then I would also adjust playbooks accordingly as well.

I have house rules for recruiting which were influenced heavily from PocketScout and conference change rules from SilverBullet19.

That is a short summary off the top of my head, but I am sure I will think of more. Thank you every for sharing, so many great ideas here.

glad I had an influence! lol

I agree with the reporting. Its great to have people chime in, mainly because its nice to see people following your work and appreciating a good report. The best part, however, is to remember the history in the dynasty. Its too easy to forget who you have played against, and what the storylines were the season before. Especially because I tend to play less during the offseason, so I'll start again in August and not remember anything I had done so far! I.E. what bowl games I had played, who I beat for championships, etc.

On another note with changing names, I may change some for other teams now too. I played Rice and Joe Anderson was completing passes to Joe Anderson...both 6'1" juniors