[Francis Cole]

Hi Muzamba.

A lot of questions!

Originally Posted by Muzamba

1. Will there be weekly and postseason awards handed out? (And can I safely assume that if there will be, it will be the same hardware that the NFL awards its players and coaches?)

That's the plan, though they may have to be named differently things for copyright reasons. I also don't know if for V1 we'll have the weekly awards for best TD etc.

2. You mentioned the HOF game, but will there be an actual fully-functioning Hall of Fame?

I think so, unless there is something I'm not understanding. Would OOTP be counted as having a fully functional HOF?

3. How will the Pro Bowl be handled, especially in terms of format? Even though you've stated that you want the first incarnation of BTS to mirror the NFL as closely as possible, I can't see a Pro Bowl that pits Former Player A's fantasy-drafted team against Former Player B's fantasy-drafted team

We won't be able to name the ex-players who draft the teams (I don't think?), but I see no reason why the computer couldn't draft the two teams and say it's done by two unnamed ex-players.

4. Also, will popularity, or "fan favoritism", be a factor in determining who gets selected to play in the game or will that be entirely based on stats?

The whole local/national popularity thing will probably be redesigned so TBD.

5. I already addressed this in a separate thread (so feel free to ignore this one if you already responded over there), but how will personalities be depicted in BTS? Will there be a way to distinguish troublemakers, both on and off the field?

Answered on this page above I think (a bit anyway!)

6. Will players have free agent preferences? (For instance, salary, contract length, opportunity to start, playing for a winning team, loyalty to their current team, playing close to their hometown, playing in a large market, etc.)

The whole contract thing will have to be redone, as contracts are so different in Football. For example, Total contract $ is totally misleading and is basically only of use to the media, where as in Baseball it seems it's the most important thing.

7+8. I realize you said that you only planned on including the HC, OC, and DC in the first version. However, I'm wondering whether it might also be important to include a Special Teams Coordinator, as that part of the game is separate from the offense or defense.

We said HC/OC/DC as that is all we can guarantee now, however I'd like to hope (so no promises) we'll have positional coaches in as well.

9. Knowing that there will not be a fully-developed college system until a later edition of BTS, I would suggest utilizing a modified version of the schools db that OOTP uses.

I have not seen it yet so I can't comment if we'll use it or not
We probably won't as we will need a lot of information which wouldn't be in it (like the HC of the team, the Div the college plays in etc etc).
In fact the whole DB research process is a lot different to OOTP.
PM me if you would like to help with the research.

10. How closely will the storyline engine for BTS be modelled after OOTP's?

Quite closely I think, though all the stories will have to be re-done obviously. There's also a certain style to narrative in the stories which personally I'm not too keen on at all, but maybe that's just me!


Thanks,
Francis