**NFL Head Coach 09 Developer Q&A Thread**

[Donny_Moore]

Quote: Originally Posted by ahunter5

I'd like to know a little bit more about the scouting. I know that your GM's rating affects how many players you can scout, but how does scouting actually work? Do you watch the senior bowl? Do you get to watch the drills at the combine? Are these things displayed graphically or textually? Also, how are GM's ranked? When they've been written about, it's always within a 1-5 scale. The video from pastapadre suggested a 0-99 scale. Does this just get broken into fifths (0-19, 20-39, 40-59, 60-79. 80-99)? If so, is there a difference between a 20 and a 39? At what point is potential revealed? It seems as if potential is the key to the draft and the preseason, as undrafted FA's are brought into training camp to compete with the active roster. I'm assuming the potential isn't displayed at that point, as that would defeat the purpose. Does the potential reveal itself at the opening game? Do players have to obtain playing time to reveal their potential? Excepting injuries and playing time, will players always reach their potential? Can poor coordinators stunt players' growth? Wow, that's a lot of questions... Thanks for any answers you can provide.

GMs - 0-99 scale for overall. They are rated 1-5 in some individual ratings however.

The overall is more a reflection of how good the GM is in a very general sense, rather than being the sole number that dictates how good the GM is at various things (scouting, trading, etc.). We instead look at those direct ratings to determine how good the GM is at trading, etc.

The overall is split up into tiers for things like determining job security or promotions of assistant coaches for example.

Potential is revealed only after the individual workouts during the scouting phase and through the draft. You will only have a select few guys to scout at this stage as well, so you will have to be really smart who you scout. Only exception to this is the Special Skill that unlocks all Potential Ratings for certain players (this is very costly in terms of dev points for GMs to obtain however).

Once you get to training camp phase and towards the start of the regular season, then potential is revealed for all the rookies who you have not already scouted to 100%. So you will constantly be faced with the decision to either cut the rookie who you are waiting to unlock his potential versus the veteran who is already established and a known quantity. It adds a cool element to training camp and makes it that more important to get those guys some playing time early in preseason games.

No, players will not always reach their potential at all. The players still have to be productive NFL players to reach their potentials. They do this mostly via stat accumulation and also practice time. When they get hurt, they don't progress whatsoever.

Yes, coordinators play a big role in development, as well as position coaches and the head coach. We made the position coaches the most important component of progression, then coordinators, then head coach. The thinking was that the higher up you go, the less hands-on time coaches get with players. So a coach like Alex Gibbs in is rated as a guru for all of the OL positions where a rookie offensive line coach in the league is going to be rated a 1 or 2, therefore not getting near the progression points as the 5 rated across the board Alex Gibbs.

I’ll try and get a video of the scouting process up soon so you can check it out first hand instead of me get any more long-winded.

[ahunter5]

Quote: Originally Posted by Donny_Moore

GMs - 0-99 scale for overall. They are rated 1-5 in some individual ratings however. The overall is more a reflection of how good the GM is in a very general sense, rather than being the sole number that dictates how good the GM is at various things (scouting, trading, etc.). We instead look at those direct ratings to determine how good the GM is at trading, etc. The overall is split up into tiers for things like determining job security or promotions of assistant coaches for example. Potential is revealed only after the individual workouts during the scouting phase and through the draft. You will only have a select few guys to scout at this stage as well, so you will have to be really smart who you scout. Only exception to this is the Special Skill that unlocks all Potential Ratings for certain players (this is very costly in terms of dev points for GMs to obtain however). Once you get to training camp phase and towards the start of the regular season, then potential is revealed for all the rookies who you have not already scouted to 100%. So you will constantly be faced with the decision to either cut the rookie who you are waiting to unlock his potential versus the veteran who is already established and a known quantity. It adds a cool element to training camp and makes it that more important to get those guys some playing time early in preseason games. No, players will not always reach their potential at all. The players still have to be productive NFL players to reach their potentials. They do this mostly via stat accumulation and also practice time. When they get hurt, they don't progress whatsoever. Yes, coordinators play a big role in development, as well as position coaches and the head coach. We made the position coaches the most important component of progression, then coordinators, then head coach. The thinking was that the higher up you go, the less hands-on time coaches get with players. So a coach like Alex Gibbs in Houston is rated as a guru for all of the OL positions where a rookie offensive line coach in the league is going to be rated a 1 or 2, therefore not getting near the progression points as the 5 rated across the board Alex Gibbs. I’ll try and get a video of the scouting process up soon so you can check it out first hand instead of me get any more long-winded.

Wow. This is unreal. Everything I can think of is here. Could this be the first time that the EASports slogan rings true? "If it's in the game..."

I love that the position coaches will play the biggest role in progression. Many QB's credit their QB coach more than their head coach for their development.

The game sounds incredibly well thought out and researched. I'd love to see a video of the scouting, though everyone else seems to be clamoring for another game video. Hit the game video first -- safety in numbers and whatnot. You've sold me on the game weeks ago, and I don't mind waiting a bit.

With the GM's ranked 1-5 for trading, does this mean that I will be able to fleece a poor trading GM (cough, Millen, cough), while the Pioli's of the world won't give me anything? Or will the poor trading gm's just not trade that often?

[x1Blumpkin1x]

Quote: Originally Posted by ahunter5

With the GM's ranked 1-5 for trading, does this mean that I will be able to fleece a poor trading GM (cough, Millen, cough), while the Pioli's of the world won't give me anything? Or will the poor trading gm's just not trade that often?

I'm curious about this too. I have read that you can only trade players that teams put on the block. Would a poorly ranked GM have a bad team road map and therefore potentially put up solid players to trade even though they really shouldn't?

I think I would take a video of the full scouting process before another full game video. But either one is fine. Thanks for the info.

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by x1Blumpkin1x

I'm curious about this too. I have read that you can only trade players that teams put on the block. Would a poorly ranked GM have a bad team road map and therefore potentially put up solid players to trade even though they really shouldn't? I think I would take a video of the full scouting process before another full game video. But either one is fine. Thanks for the info.

No, it's not that drastic. A poorly rated GM will only overvalue or undervalue players slightly.

Putting players on the block just facilitates a trade. You can still try and trade for any player in the game if you want to. And CPU teams will only make offers for the players YOU put on the block.

[x1Blumpkin1x]

Ah ok. I thought we could only trade for players on the CPU's block, but they only trade for our players on the block. Makes sense that we can try to trade for any player from a CPU team.

So a CPU team putting a player on the block basically takes the place of a GM calling you offering a player trade? Or will a GM sometimes contact you about trading a specific player?

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by x1Blumpkin1x

Ah ok. I thought we could only trade for players on the CPU's block, but they only trade for our players on the block. Makes sense that we can try to trade for any player from a CPU team. So a CPU team putting a player on the block basically takes the place of a GM calling you offering a player trade? Or will a GM sometimes contact you about trading a specific player?

If they put a guy on the block, they then look around the league to see if that player would be an upgrade at that position on another team's roadmap. If so, they send the player up in the clipboard and you can decide if you want to negotuate for him.

[x1Blumpkin1x]

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh_Looman

If they put a guy on the block, they then look around the league to see if that player would be an upgrade at that position on another team's roadmap. If so, they send the player up in the clipboard and you can decide if you want to negotuate for him.

Makes sense. Thanks.

[thesimulator]

Quote: Originally Posted by Donny_Moore

He's a goner at that point.

Crap, I am screwed. Looks like I'll be seeking out the college ranks for an OC.

[thesimulator]

Quote: Originally Posted by Donny_Moore

GMs - 0-99 scale for overall. They are rated 1-5 in some individual ratings however. The overall is more a reflection of how good the GM is in a very general sense, rather than being the sole number that dictates how good the GM is at various things (scouting, trading, etc.). We instead look at those direct ratings to determine how good the GM is at trading, etc. The overall is split up into tiers for things like determining job security or promotions of assistant coaches for example. Potential is revealed only after the individual workouts during the scouting phase and through the draft. You will only have a select few guys to scout at this stage as well, so you will have to be really smart who you scout. Only exception to this is the Special Skill that unlocks all Potential Ratings for certain players (this is very costly in terms of dev points for GMs to obtain however). Once you get to training camp phase and towards the start of the regular season, then potential is revealed for all the rookies who you have not already scouted to 100%. So you will constantly be faced with the decision to either cut the rookie who you are waiting to unlock his potential versus the veteran who is already established and a known quantity. It adds a cool element to training camp and makes it that more important to get those guys some playing time early in preseason games. No, players will not always reach their potential at all. The players still have to be productive NFL players to reach their potentials. They do this mostly via stat accumulation and also practice time. When they get hurt, they don't progress whatsoever. Yes, coordinators play a big role in development, as well as position coaches and the head coach. We made the position coaches the most important component of progression, then coordinators, then head coach. The thinking was that the higher up you go, the less hands-on time coaches get with players. So a coach like Alex Gibbs in is rated as a guru for all of the OL positions where a rookie offensive line coach in the league is going to be rated a 1 or 2, therefore not getting near the progression points as the 5 rated across the board Alex Gibbs. I’ll try and get a video of the scouting process up soon so you can check it out first hand instead of me get any more long-winded.

I agree with ahunter5, the preparation and strategy you guys have takin on here, was frankly something I thought we wouldnt see till a few more years.

In terms of us being forced to make a decision to cut/keep a rookie, puts us in the same situation as a coach. In a way that a game has not done before.

The pyramid progess scheme with positional coaches is fantastic. Most Head Coaches are hands off anyway and delegate. Wow its actually going to matter what OL coach I choose LOL

[J.R. Locke]

Quote: Originally Posted by Larry_Sellers

Good call jcrain, let's bash these people for finally putting in a play creator in a next-gen football game. They don't think of every single last thing to add to play creatir in year one, so what. Are you seriously raising a fit about not having all these things. Are they important, of course, love to see themk in there. Is it enough to even make me think twice about purchasing this on August 12th, absolutely not. Let's get special team plays and flea flickers and whatnot in for Head Coach 2010 and we are gravy. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the coach team is not staffed like the madden team. so to even have a play creator before madden is a feat in of itself.

My point is they use a play creator to make plays in Madden, NCAA and Head Coach....why not make it available to the user? The same play creator they use exactly as it is. That is what I want in a game. Other folks want other things I want a true play creator that is not limited.

They have had a limited play editor before. I have played Madden on the PC they didn't change the thing for 4+ years! Sorry if I am less than certain they are going to add anything in the next 4 years....hell it took them 3 years on next gen to get the play editor in the game and it isn't even in the actual game!

So yea I am going to raise a fit about it.