I am really liking EA Sports: NFL Head Coach.
Basically, you have a set number of tasks you can perform each week (It starts in Feb and you go through the coach & player re-sign period, Free agency period, the Draft, summer camp, and the pre-season before the first game). You also have to design your playbook, but your offensive & defensive coordinators will suggest tweaks each week in the game planning session.So you have to make choices.
For instance, Running Offense vs. Defense practice (full contact is a larger increase but non-contact reduces risk of an injury) and you will execute the plays you practice better (both the offense and the defense). Practice a play enough and it becomes a "Money Play".
Or, you can train individual players, such as Offensive Line vs. Defensive line, Backs vs. linebackers, or the QB and the Receivers. This kind of practice increases a player's potential. Players are rated on a scale. For instance, my Receiver may have an overall rating (there are sub-ratings such as speed, hands, etc) of 62-79. Individual practice may raise that to a scale of 70-90, but he may only be operating at 83. In order to push his performance to the top of his limit, you must practice the plays, so the game really simulates a lack of time and make you plan. Do you increase a player's potential, or do you ensure he's performing at the top of hi current potential for the Sunday game? You coaches will prefer a guy who is playing at 79 on a 50-80 scale over a guy who is playing at 85 on a 79-99 scale. Apparently if he is not at the top of his game he'll make mistakes, even if his current number is higher than the guy with lower potential, but who is giving a max performance. It's some very intricate math.
In addition, you have to spend time with player's agents, your coaching staff (who will make suggestions and will lose trust in you if you don't accept their opinion, or if you ream them after their section performs poorly in a game). You also have to set aside time to scout players (you can scout the current teams, free agent pool, waivers roster, or next year's draft candidates. If you want to make a trade, or accept a proposed trade, you have to set aside time to do so (at the expense of a practice session).
On game day you choose the offensive or defensive plays to run (or your coaches will do it if you are busy talking to players). You can give strategies to individual players (such as telling the backs to bounce to the outside for the next play, the next series, or the rest of the game), or you can make audible play changes from the line. The plays run and you don't control the movement of the ball (good for an old-guy like me who doesn't want to play nintendo).
So far the game is a hoot. I'm the HC for the Detroit Lions and I have the toughest defense in the NFL. It outscores my offense 3:2 in points. I've won 3 of 3 regular season games (Oakland, Seattle, and Pittsburg) and Won 2 and tied 1 pre-season. The end-goal of the game is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame ahead of Landry. Some of the games I've played have been more exciting to watch than the real NFL games.
Topic: 2 New Games (Read 2302 times)