Beyond the Sideline Football: American Football Career Game (OOTP)

[BanzaiCat]

I just bought Gridiron Solitaire. It's very frustrating to come up bust more than anything. Played two games, scored exactly one TD in both games, missed a field goal, and thoroughly had my ass kicked each time the CPU took offense. I'd almost never have cards to match anything so I'd have to rely on Big Plays, which is pretty messy. :(

I'll keep trying, but until this "real" football game comes along, I don't see any other way to get a fix other than a board game.

[Grim.Reaper]

I just bought Gridiron Solitaire. It's very frustrating to come up bust more than anything. Played two games, scored exactly one TD in both games, missed a field goal, and thoroughly had my ass kicked each time the CPU took offense. I'd almost never have cards to match anything so I'd have to rely on Big Plays, which is pretty messy. :(

I'll keep trying, but until this "real" football game comes along, I don't see any other way to get a fix other than a board game.

Gridiron certainly is not a replacement for career football sims, although still light fun.  Do you play Front Office Football?  That is likely the best your going to get before this game comes out.

[BanzaiCat]

I've tried FOF, but I never got into it. I did try the demo of this latest version and it failed to impress me.

[Arctic Blast]

I just bought Gridiron Solitaire. It's very frustrating to come up bust more than anything. Played two games, scored exactly one TD in both games, missed a field goal, and thoroughly had my ass kicked each time the CPU took offense. I'd almost never have cards to match anything so I'd have to rely on Big Plays, which is pretty messy. :(

I'll keep trying, but until this "real" football game comes along, I don't see any other way to get a fix other than a board game.

Sometimes, you just have to accept a lack of matches and punt. You aren't going to get traction every single possession, and hammering the Big Play button just makes things worse thanks to turnovers. On D, if the opposition scores on a few possessions, it isn't the end of the world. You get the ball back and get the chance to get some points for you.

And some games, the cards just aren't going to come up for you. Move on to the next game.  ;D

[KyzBP]

I've tried FOF, but I never got into it. I did try the demo of this latest version and it failed to impress me.

I was a HUGE fan of the FOFTCY (The College Years) but I could never get into the Pro version.  I bought the FOF7 but again it didn't really grip me as I had hoped.  I haven't applied all the new content yet, maybe that'll help, but there's just something missing in the Pro version and I can't put my finger on it.

[BanzaiCat]

Finally played through two full games (admittedly the other two I tried to play I had to give up because of things to do around the house) of Gridiron Solitaire. I won one and lost one.

I was thinking that this game DOES cheat, because in my first game (which I lost), I missed 2 of 3 field goals and the computer gave itself not one, not two, but three 'Big Gains.' Despite that I only lost by a touchdown, so I wasn't totally pissed. (I've not had one Big Gain yet, unfortunately.)

The second game I won rather handily, 35-17.

Thing is, the things that were initially pissing me off, I realized is what makes this game rather brilliant. Running is safer than passing, usually. My team (San Antonio) leads the league in rushing after two games - actually we have more than twice the yardage as the next-highest-ranked team in the rushing category. Passing? I'm dead last. And most of my dead-last yards came from my last drive of the second game, when I was already up by two TDs with the clock running out in the fourth quarter and had little to lose, so I had a pass go for 60+ yards (not a Big Gain, just a lot of good card draws thankfully).

But that's okay. I know I read somewhere that the dev said, very specifically, that the computer is not programmed to 'cheat.' Could have fooled me in that first game, and I imagine there are times in some of your games where it feels just like that. But, I'm having fun with this once I loosened up a little. ;)

What's funny is tomorrow I'm probably going to spend playing Gridiron Solitaire and finish a few other things, and pretty much ignore the Super Bowl until kickoff. I'd rather play a football game than watch that game tomorrow, actually.

[Grim.Reaper]

I found running far easier than passing as well.....went 15-1 in my first season and won the championship...however, it was on rookie level.  What level you playing on?  According to devs, we really should be playing on a higher level to be truly tested.  I just got burnt out after playing an entire weekend of it so just taking a break before I try again:)

[BanzaiCat]

I found running far easier than passing as well.....went 15-1 in my first season and won the championship...however, it was on rookie level.  What level you playing on?  According to devs, we really should be playing on a higher level to be truly tested.  I just got burnt out after playing an entire weekend of it so just taking a break before I try again:)

You know, I'm not sure what level...I never changed anything, so whatever the default is. I imagine that's Rookie.

I could see it being easy to get burned out on this. Two games was enough for me, but I'll go back to it. Ten bucks is pretty high for me so I want to be sure I get some replayability. ;D

[Grim.Reaper]

I found running far easier than passing as well.....went 15-1 in my first season and won the championship...however, it was on rookie level.  What level you playing on?  According to devs, we really should be playing on a higher level to be truly tested.  I just got burnt out after playing an entire weekend of it so just taking a break before I try again:)

You know, I'm not sure what level...I never changed anything, so whatever the default is. I imagine that's Rookie.

I could see it being easy to get burned out on this. Two games was enough for me, but I'll go back to it. Ten bucks is pretty high for me so I want to be sure I get some replayability. ;D

Yep, the default is rookie....seems like the dev is considering some minor design changes so we'll see how this game evolves.  Don't regret the $10 I spent, something to play when killing time.  I do wish they had a quick play option so when I wanted to play I wouldn't have to go into the season...maybe something for the future.

[BanzaiCat]

Yeah, quick play would be fun, get some random teams and random stats generated and go for it.

I saw the "Sim Game" option and thought, how lazy is that? This is a light football game, and you're going to sim it? LOL...

[Grim.Reaper]

Yeah, quick play would be fun, get some random teams and random stats generated and go for it.

I saw the "Sim Game" option and thought, how lazy is that? This is a light football game, and you're going to sim it? LOL...

Agreed, not sure the purpose of that in the scheme of things....

[cv81]

There are videos now of the concept game leading up to the announcement of Beyond the Sideline Football. Pretty neat if you want to check it out .. http://gmgames.org/2014/02/16/sneak-peek-videos-future-beyond-sideline-bts-football/

[JudgeDredd]

You know, that playout is the way I remember an old Commodore 64 or Amiga ST game being displayed, but in black and white. Just wee dots moving around

[BanzaiCat]

Remember Accolade's 4th and Inches?

[Grim.Reaper]

Yep, 4th and inches was one of the first football games that I played, not on an Atari:)

XOR Football
Madden Football
Super Bowl Sunday
4th and Inches
Microleague Football
Front Page Football
Pro League Football (also had a college version)
Joe Montana Football
Tom Laundry Football
etc....

Those were the days when you had choices:(