Front Page Sports Football Returning - Can this be true?

[BanzaiCat]

I wish I could program this stuff. I think we could all come up with a "GrogHeads Ultimate Football* Manager" worthy of the title.

*American version

[Swatter]

I wish I could program this stuff. I think we could all come up with a "GrogHeads Ultimate Football* Manager" worthy of the title.

*American version

Its not an easy thing to do. The ideal would be the Madden 15 graphics engine marrying the career mode of Front Office Football. The resulting child would be the closest thing to real football that we have yet to see. The problem is this- making a football game with a realistic play-by-play graphical engine is very expensive. Creating a text based career engine is relatively cheap. The audience for each is vastly different and the suits that create the Maddens of the world already have a money-maker and have no reason to think outside of the box.

I think the magical formula is probably creating a solid career engine and marry that with a 2D play-by-play engine with a television angle camera and crisp animations. That is doable by an independent studio. Perhaps OOTP with do that, I can only hope.

[JudgeDredd]

I wish I could program this stuff. I think we could all come up with a "GrogHeads Ultimate Football* Manager" worthy of the title.

*American version

Its not an easy thing to do. The ideal would be the Madden 15 graphics engine marrying the career mode of Front Office Football. The resulting child would be the closest thing to real football that we have yet to see. The problem is this- making a football game with a realistic play-by-play graphical engine is very expensive. Creating a text based career engine is relatively cheap. The audience for each is vastly different and the suits that create the Maddens of the world already have a money-maker and have no reason to think outside of the box.

I think the magical formula is probably creating a solid career engine and marry that with a 2D play-by-play engine with a television angle camera and crisp animations. That is doable by an independent studio. Perhaps OOTP with do that, I can only hope.

That's all I really wanted or even expected. With no sound and a very small play window (even for the management side...not just the 3D game side) the game is simply not immersive. It looks and feels and plays blandly.

A deep, immersive American Football management sim. It is not this...admittedly I haven't picked it up after my first foray into it. I have today off...maybe I'll have a look today again.  :(

[KyzBP]

I just stumbled across a game for my Kindle called Big Win Football.  Sorry no link but there's a bunch of youtube videos and it's available for every platform.  While it's not the FM14 of American Football it is a fun and addictive little game.  It even has sound and full screen mode.  To me it says that a great American Football game can be made.  The simple graphics used in this game are more than adequate for me and the engine for this seems pretty good.  Now if it could be reworked into an FM level of depth I'd be one happy camper.

Now back to playing more of this little gem.

[Nefaro]

I just stumbled across a game for my Kindle called Big Win Football.  Sorry no link but there's a bunch of youtube videos and it's available for every platform.  While it's not the FM14 of American Football it is a fun and addictive little game.  It even has sound and full screen mode.  To me it says that a great American Football game can be made.  The simple graphics used in this game are more than adequate for me and the engine for this seems pretty good.  Now if it could be reworked into an FM level of depth I'd be one happy camper.

Now back to playing more of this little gem.

I saw this when digging around on my Kindle awhile back.  It's more of a CCG than anything, isn't it?

That's not to say it's bad, just that it's not really a football management sim. 


http://www.hotheadgames.com/games/big-win-football/about/


Also .. it's tablet only IIRC. 

[JudgeDredd]

I just stumbled across a game for my Kindle called Big Win Football.  Sorry no link but there's a bunch of youtube videos and it's available for every platform.  While it's not the FM14 of American Football it is a fun and addictive little game.  It even has sound and full screen mode.  To me it says that a great American Football game can be made.  The simple graphics used in this game are more than adequate for me and the engine for this seems pretty good.  Now if it could be reworked into an FM level of depth I'd be one happy camper.

Now back to playing more of this little gem.

I saw this when digging around on my Kindle awhile back.  It's more of a CCG than anything, isn't it?

That's not to say it's bad, just that it's not really a football management sim. 


http://www.hotheadgames.com/games/big-win-football/about/


Also .. it's tablet only IIRC.

Well there's only two screens on that link and both of them are a step up from this (at the moment).

I was reading on the Steam forums (which I normally stay away from) that the developer normally puts out 2 or 3 patches and then drops the game for the next iteration - or at least they did so with Pro Cycling Manager apparently.

I hope that's not the case. I can guarantee I won't be falling into the "The next one is better and fixed - buy that one".

[Grim.Reaper]

For those still looking for a graphical football fix, one option maybe a blast from the past.....Madden 08 which was on the PC.  Seems like a group is still keeping that updated with mods which could give you a football fix.  Of course in order to play, you would need a version of Madden 08, which you can buy and download (maybe not outside of the US) for $9.99 and then apply mods.  No idea how it plays on modern computers, operating systems, and controllers but if your desperate, might be worth a try.

Link for buying game
http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Arts-70301-Madden-Download/dp/B007XXEG5C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412420476&sr=8-1&keywords=madden+08+pc

Link to a Big Mod for Uniforms, Rosters, Graphics, etc (along with a video showing it off)
http://www.footballidiot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=16139

Link for 2014 custom roster and schedule
http://www.footballidiot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16673

Link to Mods fro Graphics (i.e. uniforms)
http://www.footballidiot.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=88

[Grim.Reaper]

And for those that play on mobile devices (apple for now), this game tends to get some good praise....

http://www.prostrategyfootball.com/

It appears their new version this year will have career play added.  I am just not much of a mobile game player, otherwise I'd likely play it.

[KyzBP]

I just stumbled across a game for my Kindle called Big Win Football.  Sorry no link but there's a bunch of youtube videos and it's available for every platform.  While it's not the FM14 of American Football it is a fun and addictive little game.  It even has sound and full screen mode.  To me it says that a great American Football game can be made.  The simple graphics used in this game are more than adequate for me and the engine for this seems pretty good.  Now if it could be reworked into an FM level of depth I'd be one happy camper.

Now back to playing more of this little gem.

I saw this when digging around on my Kindle awhile back.  It's more of a CCG than anything, isn't it?

*Edit*  After looking at their website it does appear to be a mobile only game.

That's not to say it's bad, just that it's not really a football management sim. 


http://www.hotheadgames.com/games/big-win-football/about/


Also .. it's tablet only IIRC.

It's definitely a CCG with a football management theme.  I would argue that it's a football management sim on par with this new FPS game.  At least you can change players names.  The thing I was getting at though was that something like this could be married to an updated version of FPS 97 or 98 and presto, you'd have a playable, and probably enjoyable game.  I just can't figure out why any developer would release the crap that Cyanide did and then proudly stand behind it.  We all know that a great football management game can be built, it's been done before, and I think that's what's so frustrating.

When I was looking for a good link to attach I saw one that said "BIG Wing Football for the PC".  I didn't check it though but I assumed it could be played on Windows.

[Nefaro]

For those still looking for a graphical football fix, one option maybe a blast from the past.....Madden 08 which was on the PC.  Seems like a group is still keeping that updated with mods which could give you a football fix.  Of course in order to play, you would need a version of Madden 08, which you can buy and download (maybe not outside of the US) for $9.99 and then apply mods.  No idea how it plays on modern computers, operating systems, and controllers but if your desperate, might be worth a try.

Link for buying game
http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Arts-70301-Madden-Download/dp/B007XXEG5C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412420476&sr=8-1&keywords=madden+08+pc

Link to a Big Mod for Uniforms, Rosters, Graphics, etc (along with a video showing it off)
http://www.footballidiot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=16139

Link for 2014 custom roster and schedule
http://www.footballidiot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16673

Link to Mods fro Graphics (i.e. uniforms)
http://www.footballidiot.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=88

I think you still need a 360 controller to play that on PC.  Just FYI.

It's cool that people are making mods and keeping it up to date, however.  Still an option since I don't have a console, but it's still much more action focused than I'd prefer. 

The first Madden game I owned was on the C64, back in the 80s.  Eventually got sick of some of the series' AI oddities somewhere in the early 2000s, especially after they gained a monopoly on the official NFL licensing when their gameplay started getting serious competition.  I think the 2k series' final year (in which they offered the console version at half price) scared the shit out of EA and forced them to pull their sole licensing jackassery because 2k's gameplay was actually more representative.  Far fewer breakout passes & such.. fewer exploitable plays against primarily AI-run defenses for those, as an example.  So they monopolized the lawyer way.  ::)

:: Rant Off ::



TL:DR = 

I believe Madden practically requires a console controller to run since it's so action-oriented.  Not sure how deep the team-building stuff is.  It may also use some of EA's DRM.  So plan accordingly.

[JudgeDredd]

When I used to play Madden on the PC, I always used a controller.

[KyzBP]

I think Madden 2004 (maybe 2005 or 06) had a Coach/GM mode.  You didn't have to play any of the positions just draft'em and turn'em loose.  You could still call the plays though.  That mode disappeared somewhere along the line and I haven't played it since.

On a side note:  This Big Win Football is incredibly fun.  The automated play calling is great and you can get through a game in 0-10 minutes depending how much you want to watch.  It seems light years ahead of the new FPS when it comes to play selection and player AI.  I'm very impressed with it considering it's a little tablet game.

[Nefaro]

Looks like they just updated the game with some essential fixes.  Any owners wanna give it a run and see if this stuff was fixed in this patch?

Patch notes:

Hi everybody,

The game has just been updated! Here is the changelog of this first patch:

- The game now starts from day 1 and not from day 4 (the draft is now available from the first season )
- New camera choices for 3D view (replays and interactive games)
- Navigation facilitated in replays (previous and next buttons, timeline of the game easier to use... )
- Fixed some yard values in the actions comments (including penalties)

In interactive games:
- Choice between ALL games in the playbook
- The games can be filtered by type ( Passing or Rushing in attack / Man Cover or Cover Zone in defense)
- Possibility to make a choice at 4th down (punt, field goal or normal game)
- Possibility to do an Extra Point after a touchdown
- Text "1&Goal" displayed instead of "1st&10" when the team is next to the endzone

- Game launched in windowed mode by default
- Games launched in 2D if the graphics card is not compatible with the 3D view
- Language choice now saved (for those who play mostly in French)
- Various translations errors, styles, display bugs fixed...
- Several bug fixed ( games that never launched , various crash problems , etc.)

We are now working on a database editor as many of you have requested, as well as continuing to polish the game. A new patch should come next week.

Thank you for your patience and your support,

http://steamcommunity.com/app/316700/discussions/0/613938693119319421/

[JudgeDredd]

It is better.

I can confirm

• New choices of camera, angles 1 through 5, front, side and back
• Lots more plays (all? I don't know - but a lot more)
• Plays can be filtered to passing and rushing
• Choice of 4th down, punt or field goal
• Game launched in wodnow mode

I can't comment on the rest

The play view is still very small and there's still absolutely no immersion (for me)

[JudgeDredd]

I started a new game to check the draft out and I got this - so I can't select a team!



That was using the Official database (choice of official or random) - I don't remember that choice before


*edit*
I tried again using official and got the list this time