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

[Ninjoid]

Thanks for all the info and your time Josh...the game is sounding fantastic. Having 'worked' for Sports Interactive over here in the UK as a home based tester for their highly successful Football Manager series (I also tested Eastside Hockey Manager - NHL) I can appreciate all of the time and effort that goes into getting the depth and accuracy in the game... I say 'worked', it was a labour of love for a free copy of the game, but the best of all was having the chance to have your input heard by the designers and seeing it acted upon. That's why I think EA's presence on the OS boards recently is a major step forward - as can be seen from the interaction not only here but on the Madden board.

Great to know that you'll be staying on here when the game is out as well - you never know it may need a patch ;-)

Few more for you Josh -

1. When does the game actually go gold? You must be in the codelock position fairly soon.

2. Approval Rating - presumably each franchise/owner will have a minimum rating by which they can fire you? For example a lenient owner make let you rating dissolve down to say 10 before firing you, whereas an Al Davis type may fire you at so 40 or so?

3. Are you given any warning of imminent firing? eg. Will the owner call you for a hypothetical meeting and say if things don't improve you're out?

4. Looking at the presentation video you need skill points to upgrade coaches' skill - how do you earn these skill points? Is it tied into your overall approval rating?

5. Gameplans at the start of a game where you can pick 3. Again from the video it say 6 remaining against each for Tony Dungy. Two questions from this - is the number dependant upon your coach's skills and is the number remaining how many you have over a season?...if so does this reset if you make the playoffs? Be awful to get to the playoffs and have none remaining...hope that makes sense Josh.

If I think of any other questions I'll let you know
Cheers
Mark

[Ninjoid]

Hi Chris,
Great to have you guys over here on the boards. Just a few questions at the moment:

1. Camera Angles in game - I've seen there are a couple (Cinematic/Tv Broadcast), are there any others?

2. I'm guessing that the cpu will stick to the playbook and tendency of a team, however during a game is it constantly monitoring for weaknesses in my playcalling? If so presumably it will adjust in accordance with it's tendency? (Think that's clear! lol)

3. Coaches - do they suggest plays in real time during a game?

Thanks
Mark

[Blazelore]

Will players have off the field issues aside from injuries?

[ohyeahbaby123]

Thanks for doing this Josh!

My questions:

1. Why is there all this talk about signing coaches? I thought the whole point of the game is to be the coach. And last time I checked I don't think coaches sign themselves haha.

2. (I know this probably isn't in but I'll ask anyway) Is it possible to get fired, then be signed to a staff as an Offensive/Defensive Coordinator?

[Blazelore]

I'm starting to find it funny that every question I ask you you just skip over it. If you can't discuss that topic then say so.

[Chris_Staymates]

Quote:

When you create a play during a game, what is usually the success rate of the players running the play correctly? (Ex: receivers running the right route)

All of your created plays will come into your playbook at an initial Level of Learned. This means that no one is going to run the wrong route, but it also means that your players won't get the full benefit of Mastering the play (read: HU-HU-HUGE boost ). We decided this was much better than spending a bunch of time creating a play that your player's would botch anyway...I think you'll agree.

Be careful though, just because the play comes into your playbook as Learned doesn't mean it will stay there. You have to keep the plays fresh in your player's minds or it will fall down in the Unlearned state in which it will be susceptable to your players doing just about whatever they feel like.

[Blazelore]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chris_Staymates

All of your created plays will come into your playbook at an initial Level of Learned. This means that no one is going to run the wrong route, but it also means that your players won't get the full benefit of Mastering the play (read: HU-HU-HUGE boost ). We decided this was much better than spending a bunch of time creating a play that your player's would botch anyway...I think you'll agree. Be careful though, just because the play comes into your playbook as Learned doesn't mean it will stay there. You have to keep the plays fresh in your player's minds or it will fall down in the Unlearned state in which it will susceptable to your players doing just about whatever they feel like.

Wow that's amazing. That's so realistic! Repetition is the key when learning anything. Just wow!

[Blazelore]

2 questons

1) Practice Squads?

2) Waivers?

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blazelore

Could you see Head Coach as totally interchangeable with Madden in the future? For instances would you ever entertain the option of allowing Madden players to complete their offseason using Head Coach?

Good question. I have no idea if this is possible in the future.

I kind of like this game and how it's different than Madden, but I'm biased.

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blazelore

What feature would you love to put in next years game that didn't make it this year? I ask because it seems like you cover everybase of simulation and the NFL's off season.

Good question. There are some things we wanted to do that we didn't have time to finish. I know a lot of people asked about an online leagues type of feature. We wanted to make sure the overall game was solid before we tackled something like that.