Gridiron Solitaire Football - Coming Soon

[BanzaiCat]

Thanks for the answers, Grim. I think I'll pick it up on the next payday. :)

[spelk]

It said something about having 16 teams, but I'm not really clear on if you're just selecting one for you to run or if you're playing multiple teams.

There seems to be 16 teams, but you choose one of them, customise it, Name, jersey colours and stadium and then play with that. My first game was an exhibition match which serves as a tutorial. Then I played another game, against one of the other teams. That's all I've played so far sadly.

Also, spelk, what's the off-season like? It said something about training your team, getting draft picks, that sort of thing.

I've not come across the training or draft picks yet, sorry.

[spelk]

Bill has just posted up a Guide for new players

http://dubiousquality.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/gridiron-solitaire-guide-for-new.html

Gridiron Solitaire: Guide for New Players (the first hour)

I want you guys to have the best experience possible, so here are a few things to keep in mind during your first hour of play.

First, pay introduction to the tutorial. It only lasts about 10 minutes, but it explains everything you need to know in terms of the rules. The rules aren't complicated, but you do need to understand them.

Actually, what am I saying? Nobody pays attention to the tutorial. Okay, let's start from scratch here.

There are two major areas of gameplay in GS: strategic decisions related to football, and strategic decisions related to the tableau (the cards in front of you). The football decisions are the same that a football coach would make during a game: run/pass playcall, down and distance decisions, when to kick, time management, etc. That's basic football, so no discussion needed (I'll put up a separate guide for those of you who are unfamiliar with American football).

So let's talk about the tableau.

The basics:
--playing cards either increases your gain on offense, or reduces the opponent's gain on defense.
--valid "matches" are cards within 1 rank and opposite color (so red 2 and black 3 would be a valid match, for example).
--1 and 13 are NOT a valid match. This is important to the card gameplay and will be discussed shortly.
--on offense, if you run out of valid card matches, you can press the "Big Play" button. When you press the Big Play button, you will either get another card or trigger a text event, which could have a positive or negative outcome. In gameplay terms, this represents risk.
--on defense, you receive an allocation of Big Play presses per half. They're much less risky in outcome terms (a negative event when you press the Big Play button on defense is very rare), but the risk lies in their limited supply. So you need to decide when getting an extra card (which will possibly result in more matches to reduce the opponent's gain on the play) is important.

The card play may seem simplistic at first, and you can certainly play it that way, but because 1-13 is not a match, certain cards are better to have on the tableau than others (with three specific levels of quality). I'm not going to spell that out for you, because I want you to discover it for yourselves, but good card play is a continual process of replacing "bad" cards on the tableau with "good" cards as soon as possible. This affects what order you'll play your matches, if you have more than one showing, and what you want to match the wild card with (wild cards show up occasionally and can be matched with any card).

On Rookie difficulty, you will quickly be able to win. Rookie is really only for people who have no understanding of American football and my Mom (love you, Mom!). The AI is very, very simple on Rookie.

As soon as you move up to Veteran level, though, the AI is very strong. The decisions you have to make on every play are much more consequential, and the game becomes very challenging.  So as soon as you feel comfortable on Rookie, move up to Veteran. You can change the difficulty level during a season in the Options menu, so you can move back and forth at will.

Also, don't worry about losing. That's part of every season (some more than others). No matter how strong your team is, you're going to lose games during a season. The game is not about being perfect, it's about adapting to changing game situations and making sound decisions.

That's enough for now. I am happy to answer any questions you have via e-mail or in the Steam forums, and I'll compile a list of the most frequently asked questions and post it in a few days.

Oh, one more note: if you use a pen tablet for your input device, GS should work fine with it (that's what I use), and you can select cards very, very quickly that way. Also, if you have Windows 8 and a touchscreen-enabled device, GS works fine with those, too. You'll just need to use a regular keyboard for editing teams, but other than that, you're good to go with touch. I test on Eli's ultrabook all the time.

[BanzaiCat]

Thanks for the feedback, spelk. I believe I will buy this once I can.

[Arctic Blast]

It is a fun little game. The off-season gives you the chance to spend money on new players. Your money is based entirely on how well you played the previous year. Now, the more you spend, the better potential player you're landing...and the lower the chance is that said player becomes a bust.

[Nefaro]

Speaking of..

I recently got an email about a new Kickstarter for an actual football-themed card game from the guy that does Baseball & Football Mogul.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/221843945/masters-of-the-gridiron-pro-football-card-game


The concept for the card game looks & sounds a bit interesting, as far as light & quick fare goes, but I've not delved into the details.

[BanzaiCat]

Speaking of..

I recently got an email about a new Kickstarter for an actual football-themed card game from the guy that does Baseball & Football Mogul.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/221843945/masters-of-the-gridiron-pro-football-card-game


The concept for the card game looks & sounds a bit interesting, as far as light & quick fare goes, but I've not delved into the details.

Offhand, that reminds me of Statis Pro Football. I know it's not, but it's the first thing I thought of. I miss me some SPF. I still have the boxed game with the 1987 NFL players.

[Grim.Reaper]

It is a fun little game. The off-season gives you the chance to spend money on new players. Your money is based entirely on how well you played the previous year. Now, the more you spend, the better potential player you're landing...and the lower the chance is that said player becomes a bust.

Agreed.  I think it is fun for what it is attempting to be, fast paced American themed card football game.  If anybody is looking for a simulator of football, this is not that game, even if has a football theme to it.  Its one of those games that when you have some available time, good to play in a quick session.  Having a season as part of the game will help it have some longevity so you can try and beat your score each year.  There are a number of things I would like to see added some day, such as:

- Kick Offs (sounds like coming in free expansion)
- Coin Tosses
- Ability to go for 2pt conversions, versus just auto getting the 1 pt.  This has burned me a number of times when I could have tied things with a 2pt conversion.
- Like to see option to sim a part of the season
- Like the ability to sim in a game to finish it if I have to quit
- Ability to see ratings within a game, versus having to memorize them beforehand
- Drive/scoring summaries
- Ability to add your own logos/graphics
- Ability to play a quick game versus only season games
- Ability to edit ratings within the game (not in text file)
- Ability to start the season with random ratings versus always being the same
- Like to see penalties added
- Like to be able to see in-game stats at any time
- Like to see timeouts added, couple times CPU can just sit on clock giving you no time to come back
- etc.

Again, its a good game and pretty solid from a release standpoint, where I haven't witnessed any crashes or error messages, pretty impressive for his first game developed....

[Grim.Reaper]

Speaking of..

I recently got an email about a new Kickstarter for an actual football-themed card game from the guy that does Baseball & Football Mogul.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/221843945/masters-of-the-gridiron-pro-football-card-game


The concept for the card game looks & sounds a bit interesting, as far as light & quick fare goes, but I've not delved into the details.

Got the email too....its too bad they didn't attempt to make a computer version, but I guess for people that like to play card games in person, might be some fun...personally, I would like to see them spend more time with their football mogul game and make that better versus worrying about a card game.

[Steelgrave]

It is a fun little game. The off-season gives you the chance to spend money on new players. Your money is based entirely on how well you played the previous year. Now, the more you spend, the better potential player you're landing...and the lower the chance is that said player becomes a bust.

Agreed.  I think it is fun for what it is attempting to be, fast paced American themed card football game.  If anybody is looking for a simulator of football, this is not that game, even if has a football theme to it.  Its one of those games that when you have some available time, good to play in a quick session.  Having a season as part of the game will help it have some longevity so you can try and beat your score each year.  There are a number of things I would like to see added some day, such as:

- Kick Offs (sounds like coming in free expansion)
- Coin Tosses
- Ability to go for 2pt conversions, versus just auto getting the 1 pt.  This has burned me a number of times when I could have tied things with a 2pt conversion.
- Like to see option to sim a part of the season
- Like the ability to sim in a game to finish it if I have to quit
- Ability to see ratings within a game, versus having to memorize them beforehand
- Drive/scoring summaries
- Ability to add your own logos/graphics
- Ability to play a quick game versus only season games
- Ability to edit ratings within the game (not in text file)
- Ability to start the season with random ratings versus always being the same
- Like to see penalties added
- Like to be able to see in-game stats at any time
- Like to see timeouts added, couple times CPU can just sit on clock giving you no time to come back
- etc.

Again, its a good game and pretty solid from a release standpoint, where I haven't witnessed any crashes or error messages, pretty impressive for his first game developed....

I notched half a dozen games today. You can definitely get into a rhythm and once you figure out what's going on, everything moves smoothly. It's a fun little game. Not a simulator by any means, but it does "feel" like football enough to be enjoyable. I completely agree on every suggestion you have made here, btw. Good suggestions.

[bbmike]

There are a number of things I would like to see added some day, such as:

- Kick Offs (sounds like coming in free expansion)
- Coin Tosses
- Ability to go for 2pt conversions, versus just auto getting the 1 pt.  This has burned me a number of times when I could have tied things with a 2pt conversion.
- Like to see option to sim a part of the season
- Like the ability to sim in a game to finish it if I have to quit
- Ability to see ratings within a game, versus having to memorize them beforehand
- Drive/scoring summaries
- Ability to add your own logos/graphics
- Ability to play a quick game versus only season games
- Ability to edit ratings within the game (not in text file)
- Ability to start the season with random ratings versus always being the same
- Like to see penalties added
- Like to be able to see in-game stats at any time
- Like to see timeouts added, couple times CPU can just sit on clock giving you no time to come back
- etc.

Again, its a good game and pretty solid from a release standpoint, where I haven't witnessed any crashes or error messages, pretty impressive for his first game developed....

Good list! You do need to be able to mod this game. And the constant crowd noise is already grating my nerves. Also, there need to be a way to skip the 'blah blah' news guy.

[BanzaiCat]

I thought I read somewhere that the crowd would leave if the game was a blowout. Does the crowd noise not change with that?

Would be pretty cool if the crowd got loud when their team was on defense, then shut up when you make a big play on them.  8)

[Steelgrave]

I thought I read somewhere that the crowd would leave if the game was a blowout. Does the crowd noise not change with that?

Would be pretty cool if the crowd got loud when their team was on defense, then shut up when you make a big play on them.  8)

The crowd DOES leave in a blowout. Pretty darn funny when that happens...well, as long as you are the winning team. And it could be my imagination, but I would almost swear that when playing at home, making a long drive and getting close to the end zone...the cheer of the crowds gets louder.

Probably my imagination  8)

[Grim.Reaper]

It is a fun little game. The off-season gives you the chance to spend money on new players. Your money is based entirely on how well you played the previous year. Now, the more you spend, the better potential player you're landing...and the lower the chance is that said player becomes a bust.

Agreed.  I think it is fun for what it is attempting to be, fast paced American themed card football game.  If anybody is looking for a simulator of football, this is not that game, even if has a football theme to it.  Its one of those games that when you have some available time, good to play in a quick session.  Having a season as part of the game will help it have some longevity so you can try and beat your score each year.  There are a number of things I would like to see added some day, such as:

- Kick Offs (sounds like coming in free expansion)
- Coin Tosses
- Ability to go for 2pt conversions, versus just auto getting the 1 pt.  This has burned me a number of times when I could have tied things with a 2pt conversion.
- Like to see option to sim a part of the season
- Like the ability to sim in a game to finish it if I have to quit
- Ability to see ratings within a game, versus having to memorize them beforehand
- Drive/scoring summaries
- Ability to add your own logos/graphics
- Ability to play a quick game versus only season games
- Ability to edit ratings within the game (not in text file)
- Ability to start the season with random ratings versus always being the same
- Like to see penalties added
- Like to be able to see in-game stats at any time
- Like to see timeouts added, couple times CPU can just sit on clock giving you no time to come back
- etc.

Again, its a good game and pretty solid from a release standpoint, where I haven't witnessed any crashes or error messages, pretty impressive for his first game developed....

I notched half a dozen games today. You can definitely get into a rhythm and once you figure out what's going on, everything moves smoothly. It's a fun little game. Not a simulator by any means, but it does "feel" like football enough to be enjoyable. I completely agree on every suggestion you have made here, btw. Good suggestions.

Agreed, once you wrap your head around this is not exactly football (i.e. 1st and 40 versus 1st and 10), it still is very enjoyable as a card game.  It can be addictive as you try to beat the computer.  I would also like to see overall game scores (some kind of score that represents how well you did, not just the game score) so you could try and beat that and maybe even have a high games section..this would only make sense if Bill ever added a quick game option.

I believe it is a difficult balance when trying to add features...Bill really wants to keep the game in something that can be played in 15-20 minutes so have to be careful that additions don't make the game take an hour, otherwise you might as well play one of the hardcore sims out there:)

[Grim.Reaper]

There are a number of things I would like to see added some day, such as:

- Kick Offs (sounds like coming in free expansion)
- Coin Tosses
- Ability to go for 2pt conversions, versus just auto getting the 1 pt.  This has burned me a number of times when I could have tied things with a 2pt conversion.
- Like to see option to sim a part of the season
- Like the ability to sim in a game to finish it if I have to quit
- Ability to see ratings within a game, versus having to memorize them beforehand
- Drive/scoring summaries
- Ability to add your own logos/graphics
- Ability to play a quick game versus only season games
- Ability to edit ratings within the game (not in text file)
- Ability to start the season with random ratings versus always being the same
- Like to see penalties added
- Like to be able to see in-game stats at any time
- Like to see timeouts added, couple times CPU can just sit on clock giving you no time to come back
- etc.

Again, its a good game and pretty solid from a release standpoint, where I haven't witnessed any crashes or error messages, pretty impressive for his first game developed....

Good list! You do need to be able to mod this game. And the constant crowd noise is already grating my nerves. Also, there need to be a way to skip the 'blah blah' news guy.

yeah, I kind of agree about the news guy...however, the reason Bill has it in there is it does give you clues on the game such as weather and how the teams match up.  However, I would prefer just to have a screen that says that all versus going through the broadcast, but I can see he was trying to jazz it up a bit.