Long time lurker, infrequent contributor. I am SO EXCITED for this game, and appreciate the update here. I've never been a MP player, but oddly enough, the thread from yesterday has intrigued me to try it, whenever that day comes. In the meantime, I can't wait to get my hands dirty with whatever SP product comes to market.

I've been an OOTP customer since OOTP 9, and, given your track record, I trust each and every one of you wholeheartedly. I can't wait to dig in, and thank you again!

In the meantime, I might pick my copy of FOF7 back up and run some weeks in Solecismic TV (I think that's what it was called).

Ben already covered some of it, but ...

While it remains to be seen how MP free agency will work in FOF, in OOTP leagues often online leagues slow down during free agency and only sim maybe two to three days at a time at least for the first few weeks of free agency. So basically you submit your offers and commish advances the file forward and usually by next sim you will have an answer - whether it is that another team offered better, your offer is best or if you blew them away with an offer, that they have signed.

As Ben mentioned typically the marquee stars don't sign right away, so there is often bidding wars where GMs have multiple chances to reassess and reoffer. It definitely creates more realism and immersion than the "stages" system in FOF.

Can't wait to play it Jim, thanks for the update.

Thanks Jim. I was already looking forward to this. Now, even more so.

Nothing better than competing against 31 other humans with their own styles, perspectives and tendencies. I highly suggest giving MP a chance. There are lots of great leagues out there with outstanding commissioners and communities dedicated to helping players get back and more competitive at this game.

Yes, indeed, and those of us who were solitaire players remember this just as well. It's why I didn't buy FOF7. I will buy FOF9 because OOTP won't behave this way. Even so, I lose another team just for the privilege of supporting your product.

It's lousy customer support, Jim. I have no idea why you think it's acceptable.


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It sounds exactly the same to me. The technical part of it, that is. Right now in MP, we go stage by stage, which sort of simulates sprints of like 1 or 2 weeks at a time of the off-season. In older FOF versions it was 20 stages in pre-draft free agency and 12 stages after the draft. The MP league I play in has 5 stages pre-draft and 1 stage post-draft.
For top free agents to sign later, that sounds like it would require an overhaul of the algorithm determining when and where those players are willing to sign. How many stages are used to simulate the off-season shouldn't matter that much, MP leagues will have to compromise in compressed stages to keep a decent enough pace to keep everybody interested.
I'd be really happy if that would be the case though: top free agents milking the cash hoarding teams to get the best money or cap scraping top tier team to offer a chance to win it all in one more season. And at the same time have the career backups and marginal starters not wait until late in the off-season, but settle earlier for a place that offers them good playing time for the money.

But that's getting a bit off topic, the announcement/news is what matters here.

A delayed release >>> a broken release


Take your time team. I also wouldn't announce a release date until it's about a month away.

Thanks for the update. Like many others here, I'm really looking forward to this game!

What are the odds of getting play animations in this version? I've never played FOF but from what I've gathered, the play results have always been text-only.

In my opinion, animations are the thing which can elevate a realistic sports sim into a totally immersive experience. For me it's a pretty important aspect, even it's just simple 2D animations. This is something OOTP baseball nails down perfectly, so it's definitely something I'm hoping we will see in FOF9.

I would say with near certainty that there's zero per cent chance of that in FOF9.

I'd settle for a static graphic that showed the opposing formations. That would help me visualize the game a lot when doing Solevision.


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That’s a great idea

Jim the MP community got you on Steam, i hope you remember us in this new release. :) Mr Cole with all due respect that is a question for Jim and no one else. :)

Looking at Jim's post history and given the tone of this thread I doubt he will be stopping in to answer "is X feature in?" type questions. Considering it took years for this feature to be included into OOTP, I would assume it would be similar for FOF and especially given the fact MP is not a guarantee, common sense should dictate a massive new addition like 2D won't just pop into a first iteration game.

I apologize for putting my opinion on a question directed for Jim, but there are so many new people coming into the forums who are unfamiliar with OOTP and/or FOF that I think it is important to try to keep expectations realistic of what a first release of this partnership will be.

I am not a MP and never will. I am encouraged by this post. Take your time and release a quality product. I am certain not everything I want will be there either. It sounds like it should be fun though.

I'm only in this for multiplayer leagues, that's a deal-breaker for me if not included. Praying it is!!!!

Great update Jim, thank you! I think I can speak for everyone when I say I'd rather see a release with minimal flaws in a year than a release with a ton of bugs by December. Its better for us because we can play the game without issues, which is better for you because you'll have more loyal consumers that keep buying new iterations.

Just one question, for really anyone that might have info on this, but what is the plan for graphics? (logos, uniforms, player faces, etc.)

Logos, uniforms, fictional player pictures as well as Photofit/fg pictures via Facegen, all of it as in OOTP and FHM.

this

OOTP and FOF are both the nuts, you will always get my money, thanks for update