OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Beyond the Sideline Football go beyond SOM FB and DKS FB!

ZMan · 04-09-2014, 12:00 AM

I think imagination is still king when it comes to these text simulations. So I'm cool with dots, boxes, X's and O's, etc.

'Tis true that baseball is far easier to visualize from a plain text description (think about listening to a baseball game on the radio, vs. football). There are just a lot fewer moving parts to keep track of in your head.

I've seen a number of games that employ dots and boxes and simulations of movement on the gridiron / basketball court / hockey rink, etc. And the biggest detractor with a lot of these games, at least on the football side, is the speed of movement. It often either comes off ploddingly slow (anyone remember NES Play Action Football?) or feels herky-jerky in the kind of way that takes you out of the versimilitude.

But I think that if you could get those dots/boxes to move in something really closely approximating real time, imagination could do wonders to fill in the details. Because if it ran at that kind of speed, it really would allow you to envision a breakaway touchdown, or to see a huge tackle by a defender.

And if you had something that ran at real speed (perhaps with an option to have it run slower?), you'd then want to give users more visual aids for determining what those heroic gladiator dots are doing.

I would enjoy having the option for visible but semi-transparent tracking lines (perhaps white lines for the offense, yellow lines for the defense) showing the movement of every player during the play (perhaps you could have check-down options for the screen to track All 22, All But Linemen, Skill Players Only, etc). If you had tracking lines, you might cut down somewhat on the "floating ghosts" effect that you get when you just have a bunch of dots/boxes moving at once.

And if you had tracking lines, think of how much that would benefit watching replays within the game. It could yield major strategic benefits, too, that would really enhance gameplay. Like the coordinators perched above the field, you could watch a replay and see at a glance how well covered your team's receivers were, which linemen are being double-teamed, where the pressure against the QB is coming from. And you could adjust your gameplan accordingly.

Throw in color coding for the player with ball possession, and I'd be more than happy with a system like this.

04-09-2014, 12:00 AM	#25
ZMan Minors (Double A) Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 107	I think imagination is still king when it comes to these text simulations. So I'm cool with dots, boxes, X's and O's, etc. 'Tis true that baseball is far easier to visualize from a plain text description (think about listening to a baseball game on the radio, vs. football). There are just a lot fewer moving parts to keep track of in your head. I've seen a number of games that employ dots and boxes and simulations of movement on the gridiron / basketball court / hockey rink, etc. And the biggest detractor with a lot of these games, at least on the football side, is the speed of movement. It often either comes off ploddingly slow (anyone remember NES Play Action Football?) or feels herky-jerky in the kind of way that takes you out of the versimilitude. But I think that if you could get those dots/boxes to move in something really closely approximating real time, imagination could do wonders to fill in the details. Because if it ran at that kind of speed, it really would allow you to envision a breakaway touchdown, or to see a huge tackle by a defender. And if you had something that ran at real speed (perhaps with an option to have it run slower?), you'd then want to give users more visual aids for determining what those heroic gladiator dots are doing. I would enjoy having the option for visible but semi-transparent tracking lines (perhaps white lines for the offense, yellow lines for the defense) showing the movement of every player during the play (perhaps you could have check-down options for the screen to track All 22, All But Linemen, Skill Players Only, etc). If you had tracking lines, you might cut down somewhat on the "floating ghosts" effect that you get when you just have a bunch of dots/boxes moving at once. And if you had tracking lines, think of how much that would benefit watching replays within the game. It could yield major strategic benefits, too, that would really enhance gameplay. Like the coordinators perched above the field, you could watch a replay and see at a glance how well covered your team's receivers were, which linemen are being double-teamed, where the pressure against the QB is coming from. And you could adjust your gameplan accordingly. Throw in color coding for the player with ball possession, and I'd be more than happy with a system like this.