Play Action and Motion?

[coachcbjii]

Do you guys think these will ever be a features that could be implemented in the pro and college games?
I know a lot goes into the game physics but these two features could add a lot to gameplay immersion.
Thanks for all you do

[AKH]

I would say it is very likely that these will make their way into the game at some point. Cant promise its next version, because we want to write good pre-snap logic and movement. Some early steps toward this are already in with the new disguise coverage option, that shifts some defenders (but not showing them moving).

But yes, I think these will be there at some point not too many versions away.

(notice you can already emulate presnap motions when editing the plays.xml by using the <start> command to move players around pre-snap.)

[Thefatcat]

I don't mean to be rude but going out of bounds and play action are basic game concepts, should they not be in the game by now?

[regenerator]

Not to mention Hail Mary and onsides kick!
Well, onsides is sorta...

Also, out of bounds is pretty much implemented. One of the ways I know this, ironically enough, is bc of a defect I have encountered where the QB will randomly scramble all the way to the sidelines, straight out of bounds, almost as if he just can't wait for the end of the play to hydrate, resulting in a beautiful 10 yard loss!

[AKH]

So yes, out of bounds is there, but there are some issues, I know Brooks has been tinkering with it, and one of the issues may have been field width, and we can probably go in and check the late game logic to make the trailing team's players prioritize it more. Onside kick is also there.

With respect to play action, the main reason it isnt there is because we want to do it properly. We could easily have named/designated a bunch of plays as playaction and added some simple superficial modifier to make them slightly different resultwise. Our customers would have been none the wiser and we wouldnt be having this discussion. However, we take the game engine pretty seriously and dont wanna add things without (trying to) do it properly. A physics based engine where we track the location, movement and awareness of each player, plus the need to add presnap on field graphics means a not insignificant amount of work is needed to do it properly, we want it to not just be tinkering with numbers but logic for actual behavior on the field. And, as I said above, we totally agree that things such as these belong in the game and will get in there eventually, but only when we have time to put an effort into it.

Should we have prioritized it earlier over other features? Maybe. But (to us, at the time) it felt like other things were bigger impact additions to the game, rather than spending a lot of time writing logic tailored to 30-ish plays (or however many play action plays there would be in the default playbook).

In sum: We agree it should be in the game. It will eventually be in the game. We have chosen to be honest (instead of adding a patchwork quick solution) because we want to do it properly.

[coachcbjii]

AKH, Great response! I appreciate the honesty and community involvement you and Brooks have always displayed in building this game. It is refreshing. You always have my support as the product continues to grow in the right directions. Kudos! Cannot wait to see what comes next!

[regenerator]

I agree with everything coachcbjii just said! Yes it rly means so much to us when you guys give us a lot of information like this on forum fixes and enhancements. Sometimes all it takes is a real belief that some feature you like will be implemented eventually to keep you hanging around through the years and months, and I know for me I tend to have positive feelings like this many times just based on the attention you guys give in your forum responses