XOR NFL Challenge was GREAT!

Enforcer · 05-07-2015, 12:28 PM

I would love for this to be something like that....

XOR would closely predict many nfl games.. it was VERY good

james17 · 05-09-2015, 02:51 AM

Definitely one of the better football sims. It was a blast to play and I wish it was still around.

RawIsDan · 05-09-2015, 10:46 AM

It's still around:

Download NFL Challenge - My Abandonware

Enforcer · 05-09-2015, 05:22 PM

Yes but it would be nice to remake it... I hope BTS is kind of this way with the following added:

career mode- check
multiplayer- check
multiplayer that allows you to call the plays- ??

I understand why ootp does not have this.. 162 games but football being 16 games I hope you can at least have the choice to play vs a human in a career online league..

That would be a PERFECT game for all my friends and I who live al over the world

gglennwill · 05-27-2016, 06:24 PM

My office partner and I played an entire season with that game. Absolutely loved it, although it had some play calling flaws. So cool to see the X's and Os moving around!

TribeFanInNC · 05-27-2016, 06:33 PM

Definitely played me some XOR NFL Challenge back in the day.

mking55 · 05-27-2016, 07:17 PM

I read an article in a sports magazine in 1984 where Dan Marino was going to play Joe Montana in this game. I was fascinated. I called everywhere in Toronto looking for this game and finally I found it. $100! (that's more than $233 today). I didn't care, I had to have it.

I was not disappointed and it was worth every penny. I lost many nights sleep just playing. The only flaw in the game was that a good running game could defeat a good passing game. The AI was a passing fool so I stayed on the ground.

The X's and O's were brilliant because you couldn't correctly design really looking players to take the field. The X's and O's were easier to manipulate and after all when a coach diagrams a play, he uses x's and o's and not pictures of the other team.

My kids (who were very young) became orphans for a while. Eventually I rejoined them because all good things must come to an end. Best and most exciting game I ever played and worth every expensive penny.

bama80 · 05-29-2016, 01:23 PM

I am surprised to see posts about the first sim of football, XOR’s NFL Challenge, after all these years – I thought it faded into the dustbowl of memories. I just finished grad school in 1988 when a buddy of mine introduced me to NFL Challenge. Fortunately my academics were safely behind me because if I would have seen this sim while a student I would have never finished. LOL. Whether you played against the computer, HTH, or simply watched the computer play call against itself, NFL Challenge was, for its time, immersive. There’s nothing quite like sitting side-by-side with your opponent having to make a play call with the clock winding down. Yeah, I know everything is web-based now, but back in the day if you have a road game you literally travelled with your floppy disks. Hee hee.

NFL Challenge was a simulation of professional football, but also had a Greatest Teams add-on disk (e.g., 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1972 Miami Dolphins, etc.). Two additional but less well known product offerings were the College Alumni Team and College Team add-on disks, which my buddy and I published through XOR in 1990-1991. I still have the 5.25” floppies hidden somewhere in a closet. LOL.

It’s probably asking a lot for a football sim to be all things to all users. Like peeling back the layers of an onion, at its core the sim should produce realistic results for a season when just the AI is playing itself. The challenge, pardon the pun, occurs when gamers get involved and try to exploit vulnerabilities in the game engine in HTH, which can produce skewed results. We developed house rules for NFL Challenge that limited the number of times you could call certain defenses such as FS Blitz or short-yardage defenses such as Inside Charge, Buck Strong and Buck Soft, because they were overpowering and opponents would just use those defensive play calls without experiencing any negative consequences. Anyway, good times!

I currently play Action PC Football and Front Office Football in separate online leagues. Both sims have their strength, but leave me wanting in some areas. Perhaps BTS can become what NFL Challenge Premium Edition never did, a football sim for the ages.

TheSchwami · 01-08-2017, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by james17

Definitely one of the better football sims. It was a blast to play and I wish it was still around.

You have no idea how good a sim this was. Bought the original for $100, best money I ever spent on a "game". The rapid sim mode allowed you to play 100 games in a matter of minutes.

Just one example, the 1988 SB 22 or Scab Bowl, Skins vs Buncos. The Challenge predicted Skins would blow out Denver BIG with a 94% probability. I laid down heavy.

Denver jumped out early 10-0, didn't sweat at all. So confident, end of Q1 10-0, I called and doubled down with my bookie and got +10 points, (Wash was +7 to start the game), he thought he was getting a good deal.

The 2nd quarter was history, 35 unanswered points 35-10 at half. Called him again, gave him +6 points for the 2nd half, and doubled down again. Final 42-10. In the days before caller ID, my phone rang, I knew who it was, he asked "WTF did you know about this game?" Tight lipped and holding back a LOL, "Oh I was just playing around, even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then."

The bookies hated me. The "Game" paid for itself thousands of times over. I hated the day XOR went off the grid, in all these years, not even Madden with all its variables has been able to come close. Enjoy.

sentry85 · 01-08-2017, 04:00 PM

does anyone remember a pc version of madden from around 1985 or 1986? searching the interwebs they are saying the first madden was released on apple in 1988. i can remember playing this on a tandy computer with floppy disks when the disks were floppy.

Statsman1 · 01-10-2017, 01:57 PM

Was XOR NFL Challenge (1985) related at all to what came after from Micro Sports?

NFL Pro League Football (1989, then again in 1991) look very similar (though the later ones, obviously, had more animation)...but I can't find any info that shows XOR became, or sold the rights to, Micro Sports.

I remember getting NFL Challenge then grousing to my parents that our pathetic little computer wouldn't run it. My dad did not believe in "fancy colour screens" to run Bedford Accounting, so we weren't getting one.

05-07-2015, 12:28 PM	#1
Enforcer Minors (Double A) Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: New Smyrna Beach, Fla Posts: 156	XOR NFL Challenge was GREAT! I would love for this to be something like that.... XOR would closely predict many nfl games.. it was VERY good

05-27-2016, 07:17 PM	#7
mking55 All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Boading, China Posts: 1,249	I read an article in a sports magazine in 1984 where Dan Marino was going to play Joe Montana in this game. I was fascinated. I called everywhere in Toronto looking for this game and finally I found it. $100! (that's more than $233 today). I didn't care, I had to have it. I was not disappointed and it was worth every penny. I lost many nights sleep just playing. The only flaw in the game was that a good running game could defeat a good passing game. The AI was a passing fool so I stayed on the ground. The X's and O's were brilliant because you couldn't correctly design really looking players to take the field. The X's and O's were easier to manipulate and after all when a coach diagrams a play, he uses x's and o's and not pictures of the other team. My kids (who were very young) became orphans for a while. Eventually I rejoined them because all good things must come to an end. Best and most exciting game I ever played and worth every expensive penny. __________________ Why do you live in Boading? Somebody has to. http://adventuresinjurong.wordpress.com/

01-10-2017, 01:57 PM	#11
Statsman1 Major Leagues Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Marmora, Ontario, Canada Posts: 332	Was XOR NFL Challenge (1985) related at all to what came after from Micro Sports? NFL Pro League Football (1989, then again in 1991) look very similar (though the later ones, obviously, had more animation)...but I can't find any info that shows XOR became, or sold the rights to, Micro Sports. I remember getting NFL Challenge then grousing to my parents that our pathetic little computer wouldn't run it. My dad did not believe in "fancy colour screens" to run Bedford Accounting, so we weren't getting one. __________________ Statsman1 Last edited by Statsman1; 01-10-2017 at 02:50 PM. Reason: ...I was a little apostrophe happy...

05-09-2015, 02:51 AM	#2
james17 All Star Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,306	Definitely one of the better football sims. It was a blast to play and I wish it was still around.

05-09-2015, 10:46 AM	#3
RawIsDan Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 11	It's still around: Download NFL Challenge - My Abandonware

05-09-2015, 05:22 PM	#4
Enforcer Minors (Double A) Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: New Smyrna Beach, Fla Posts: 156	Yes but it would be nice to remake it... I hope BTS is kind of this way with the following added: career mode- check multiplayer- check multiplayer that allows you to call the plays- ?? I understand why ootp does not have this.. 162 games but football being 16 games I hope you can at least have the choice to play vs a human in a career online league.. That would be a PERFECT game for all my friends and I who live al over the world

05-27-2016, 06:24 PM	#5
gglennwill Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 289	My office partner and I played an entire season with that game. Absolutely loved it, although it had some play calling flaws. So cool to see the X's and Os moving around!

05-27-2016, 06:33 PM	#6
TribeFanInNC Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 4,019	Definitely played me some XOR NFL Challenge back in the day.

05-29-2016, 01:23 PM	#8
bama80 Bat Boy Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: DMV Posts: 2	I am surprised to see posts about the first sim of football, XOR’s NFL Challenge, after all these years – I thought it faded into the dustbowl of memories. I just finished grad school in 1988 when a buddy of mine introduced me to NFL Challenge. Fortunately my academics were safely behind me because if I would have seen this sim while a student I would have never finished. LOL. Whether you played against the computer, HTH, or simply watched the computer play call against itself, NFL Challenge was, for its time, immersive. There’s nothing quite like sitting side-by-side with your opponent having to make a play call with the clock winding down. Yeah, I know everything is web-based now, but back in the day if you have a road game you literally travelled with your floppy disks. Hee hee. NFL Challenge was a simulation of professional football, but also had a Greatest Teams add-on disk (e.g., 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1972 Miami Dolphins, etc.). Two additional but less well known product offerings were the College Alumni Team and College Team add-on disks, which my buddy and I published through XOR in 1990-1991. I still have the 5.25” floppies hidden somewhere in a closet. LOL. It’s probably asking a lot for a football sim to be all things to all users. Like peeling back the layers of an onion, at its core the sim should produce realistic results for a season when just the AI is playing itself. The challenge, pardon the pun, occurs when gamers get involved and try to exploit vulnerabilities in the game engine in HTH, which can produce skewed results. We developed house rules for NFL Challenge that limited the number of times you could call certain defenses such as FS Blitz or short-yardage defenses such as Inside Charge, Buck Strong and Buck Soft, because they were overpowering and opponents would just use those defensive play calls without experiencing any negative consequences. Anyway, good times! I currently play Action PC Football and Front Office Football in separate online leagues. Both sims have their strength, but leave me wanting in some areas. Perhaps BTS can become what NFL Challenge Premium Edition never did, a football sim for the ages.

01-08-2017, 04:00 PM	#10
sentry85 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: south Florida Posts: 83	does anyone remember a pc version of madden from around 1985 or 1986? searching the interwebs they are saying the first madden was released on apple in 1988. i can remember playing this on a tandy computer with floppy disks when the disks were floppy.