New Front Office Football in the Works

Grim.Reaper · November 20, 2015, 07:26:40 PM

Looks like American football management sims continue to get more love....a little ways off, but glad to see the improvements being mentioned.....

Message from the developer....

I wanted to provide an update about my progress with Front Office Football.

Front Office Football Seven was released in mid-December of 2013. On a Friday the 13th, no less. While the game's "spreadsheet" look has made it very difficult to get reviews, I'm happy that people are still enthusiastically playing – and we're now 17 years after the first version was released.

Thanks to you, I received approval to put Front Office Football on Steam this February. As a result, 2015 will be our most successful year since the days when EA Sports was publishing the game.

Over the last few months, from comments I've made and the second artwork contest, I think it's obvious that I'm working on a new version of Front Office Football.

This is by far the biggest version to date. I've redone huge portions of the game. Play-calling and game-planning are completely new, and bear almost no resemblance to the current game. I'd like a product where you can quickly and effectively make smart play calls in much the same way professional coordinators and coaches plan for games.

I had hoped to release this product (at the time, it was called Front Office Football 2016) around the start of November. However, that would have required hitting beta in early October. In mid-October, I was very close to having the product "feature-complete," which many people call alpha. But it felt rushed. I wasn't happy with how the new modules were integrating with the game engine, and I'm not convinced that the play-calling is quite "right" yet. There isn't enough opportunity to deviate from a game plan that's not working properly. Since you'll call a game much like the AI will call a game, this is a fairly big deal.

I also did a lot of graphics work, mainly putting in a completely new menu system that will allow you to quickly get anywhere in the game once you're familiar with it. Plus, I now use "modeless" windows in most places in the game. So if you want to compare player windows, you can. If you have screen space (even a second monitor) and want the statistics window up all the time, you can do that. However, I'm not convinced that's ready for prime time yet, either. There's something funky with how it works on Windows 10 – something I noticed with Up and Down the River's modeless windows as well. So it's probably something simple that I did wrong – I've spent far too much time looking for it.

It's turning out that this new version is requiring more code work than any two previous versions.

Releasing a football game in December is not ideal. So I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would push FOF 2016 into, well, 2016. It will get done. I'm not sure when I'll release it. My wife and I will be moving next year, so that will take up a lot of time. But I'm fairly certain the new game will be out by fall. Too much has been done (and really some very exciting work) not to eventually get it out there.

So, what about the here and now?

I want to have a 2015 game. I normally put out a new roster file and schedule every year – usually around this time of year. And I need a break from the insane new development schedule I was on.

So I've just started work on a 2015 roster file. I will add the 2015 schedule, tweak the coach file. I won't be patching FOF 7, except for the new extra point rule.

This should be ready well before Christmas, though I won't make any promises. I think it will help Steam sales to have a 2015 game out there. As always, updates will be completely free for existing customers. I will provide the update both for the ViaTech version and the Steam version.

Anyway, that's the state of development right now. Again, I'm really excited about what's going into the new version. I may well share a few screen shots at some point. In the meantime, maybe I'll get a bit of a chance to relax and enjoy the current season.

Thanks again for all your support.

Nefaro · November 21, 2015, 12:17:44 AM

QuoteI've redone huge portions of the game. Play-calling and game-planning are completely new, and bear almost no resemblance to the current game. I'd like a product where you can quickly and effectively make smart play calls in much the same way professional coordinators and coaches plan for games.

Oh please Baby Raptor Jesus, YES!

It needs a massive overhaul in that department, to make it feel more like the actual sport rather than the current Random Encounter Die Roll Chart you have to create. That pulled me out of the immersion faster than Manning getting pulled from his starting QB position.

So.. he's hoping to put this out in February? Sounds like he's already behind his original planned date, but with these changes I'll wait as long as it takes to get it right.

Grim.Reaper · November 21, 2015, 07:07:53 AM

I think he stated to hope and have it out before next fall....so a big window when it may be released. He never has been a person that is predicatable so who knows but glad he is making the changes.

Arctic Blast · November 21, 2015, 11:55:38 PM

Nice! This, plus the new PFS coming from Wolverine, gives me hope.

Grim.Reaper · June 04, 2016, 05:49:17 AM

Read recently the developer ended up stopping development for a few months so seems like this one might be even later.....American football management games continue to be illusive.

Nefaro · June 04, 2016, 09:21:54 AM

Quote from: Grim.Reaper on June 04, 2016, 05:49:17 AM
Read recently the developer ended up stopping development for a few months so seems like this one might be even later.....

Ugh. Again? :(

I wonder if this means it re-started since then, or whether there will be another years-long hiatus?

This was supposed to be the version which finally started addressing some of the big warts, too.

Grim.Reaper · June 04, 2016, 10:34:27 AM

He said he "hopes" to restart by end of month...but no ETA...he never gives up a release date until it nears completion...just hoping at least done by start of football season.

Grim.Reaper · October 08, 2016, 03:43:55 AM

Well, the developer has been publishing some tid bits about next version, at least a sign the game is not dead yet....really hoping this comes out this year but as usual the developer remains pretty silent.

http://www.solecismic.com/frontierblog/author/admin/

JudgeDredd · October 08, 2016, 04:45:36 AM

What happened to the "football" ;) game from the devs of OOTP?

Grim.Reaper · October 08, 2016, 04:48:34 AM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on October 08, 2016, 04:45:36 AM
What happened to the "football" ;) game from the devs of OOTP?

Ever since they had to change developers (previous has health issues), things have been pretty quiet and slow...they appear to be in no rush to release and zero possibilities for this year and I would say very little possibility for next year. Its a shame, was really looking forward to it.

Nefaro · October 08, 2016, 06:33:50 AM

Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 08, 2016, 03:43:55 AM
Well, the developer has been publishing some tid bits about next version, at least a sign the game is not dead yet....really hoping this comes out this year but as usual the developer remains pretty silent.

http://www.solecismic.com/frontierblog/author/admin/

All the little adjustments will be nice. But I would purchase the next FOF if the only new feature it had was a redone playbook setup that resembles actual football, and not a randomized table of percentages you enter. That has been a huge glaring immersion-busting FOF issue for me. Not the UI.

Despite mention that the playbook/gameplan change has been planned, I'm still concerned about it actually getting done well, if at all, anytime soon. Judging by how hot/cold the developer is about further FOF development, and his hiatuses. He should probably strike, now, while the offerings are still very thin. I have a feeling other NFL text sims will be showing up and growing in the next few years.

Grim.Reaper · October 08, 2016, 07:24:57 AM

Quote from: Nefaro on October 08, 2016, 06:33:50 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 08, 2016, 03:43:55 AM
Well, the developer has been publishing some tid bits about next version, at least a sign the game is not dead yet....really hoping this comes out this year but as usual the developer remains pretty silent.

http://www.solecismic.com/frontierblog/author/admin/

All the little adjustments will be nice. But I would purchase the next FOF if the only new feature it had was a redone playbook setup that resembles actual football, and not a randomized table of percentages you enter. That has been a huge glaring immersion-busting FOF issue for me. Not the UI.

Despite mention that the playbook/gameplan change has been planned, I'm still concerned about it actually getting done well, if at all, anytime soon. Judging by how hot/cold the developer is about further FOF development, and his hiatuses. He should probably strike, now, while the offerings are still very thin. I have a feeling other NFL text sims will be showing up and growing in the next few years.

Besides OOTP, I doubt much NFL games will come out.....the landscape has been baron for years so can't see it changing besides the normal cast of characters. Even though Madden is largely an arcade game, even its management features get stronger. An Axis football, that will never make it:)

Nefaro · October 08, 2016, 09:22:09 AM

Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 08, 2016, 07:24:57 AM

Besides OOTP, I doubt much NFL games will come out.....the landscape has been baron for years so can't see it changing besides the normal cast of characters. Even though Madden is largely an arcade game, even its management features get stronger. An Axis football, that will never make it:)

Dunno. That other tablet-to-PC port came out not long ago, and is planned to be expanded (for the PC version?) in the future. I'd have it already if not for the high price point. Plus the Wolverine/PFS thing is continuing to be improved AFAIK.

Unlike years past, there is actually a new career football sims occasionally coming out. Even though they're not as feature complete yet, the genre's offerings have been on the increase.

Grim.Reaper · October 08, 2016, 09:48:09 AM

Quote from: Nefaro on October 08, 2016, 09:22:09 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 08, 2016, 07:24:57 AM

Besides OOTP, I doubt much NFL games will come out.....the landscape has been baron for years so can't see it changing besides the normal cast of characters. Even though Madden is largely an arcade game, even its management features get stronger. An Axis football, that will never make it:)

Dunno. That other tablet-to-PC port came out not long ago, and is planned to be expanded (for the PC version?) in the future. I'd have it already if not for the high price point. Plus the Wolverine/PFS thing is continuing to be improved AFAIK.

Unlike years past, there is actually a new career football sims occasionally coming out. Even though they're not as feature complete yet, the genre's offerings have been on the increase.

Pro Football Strategy (recent one) seemed to flop on the PC and because of how generic it is, can't see that having a long interest...and certainly if the developer keeps it at $35. And don't get me started on Wolverine:) At least they are actively developing the College game, but no mention of any plans for Pro yet.....before I trust in them again, will really need to see how the College version pans out.

Yes, we have seen a couple of new football entries, but they still seemed to be trending on the light side (mobile, arcade, and not seriously deep) but trust me, I really do hope there are more in the future or at least one that really grabs me:) My biggest hope right now is FOF 8 even with its warts.

Grim.Reaper · November 15, 2016, 06:23:39 PM

Latest news from the developer.....really hoping it is soon.

My intention is to let people know, one way or another, whether FOF8 will come out this year by the end of this week. If it will come out, it's not that far off. If it won't, I'll have a 2016 player file and coaching file completed by the end of November and I'll add it to FOF7 (however, if FOF8 is coming, FOF7 will not be updated).