Chris

Administrators
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    1,271

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    91

Posts posted by Chris

  1. Posted

    SI Games takes sports simulation on iPad, iPhone and Android to new heights with the release of Football Manager Handheld 2013.

     

    December 13rd, 2012 - Sports Interactive and SEGA are delighted to announce the launch of Football Manager Handheld 2013 for iOS and Android devices.

     

     

    This season’s release not only includes up-to-date player and competition data, it also includes a number of gameplay enhancements, many of which have been implemented as a direct result of user feedback. These include:

     

     

    - An all-new player comparison module (allowing managers to compare potential recruits against existing squad members or existing squad members against one another).

    - Player photos (in licensed leagues)

    - An increase in the number of playable leagues (from 12 to 14)

    - A player form ‘hot list’

    - The facility to promote reserve team players to the first-team squad

    - Club captain selection

    - Improvements to the in-game news, media interaction and match engine

    - Twitter support for all devices – allowing managers to share their exploits with friends

    - A host of in-game achievements for manager to strive towards

     

     

    In addition to these gameplay enhancements, there have also been a number of improvements to the user interface; in particular, specific ‘skins’ have been developed for the most popular tablet devices and retina support has been added for high-end iOS devices.

     

     

    For managers who like to accelerate their progress through the game, Football Manager Handheld 2013 allows, for the first time, the purchase of a number of ‘unlockable’ features, including the introduction to the club of a ‘sugar daddy’, the option to expand the club’s stadium, the ability to manage national teams from the beginning of the game and even taking a place on the board (giving the manager immunity from the dreaded sack). While all of these unlockables are available through the in-game store, many can also be ‘earned’ through in-game achievements as with previous iterations of the game.

     

     

    Football Manager Handheld 2013 also sees the reappearance of the popular challenges (which first appeared in Football Manager Handheld 2012) and the introduction of a whole new challenge, ‘The Dangers of Capitalism’.

  3. Posted

    I am in love with all sim sports games! I would start with some sports you like though .. and then other sports grow on you too

     

    I am impartial to which games you should try but based on ratings from our writers, I would recommend OOTP for Baseball if you like baseball, then other games like Draft Day Sports Pro Basketball 3 if you really like Basketball the most ..

     

    Overall though the soccer guys from SI Games/Football Manager are most advanced in how realistic these games are

  10. Posted

    For DDSPB3 - 2012, with Season Disk. From Wolverine Studios Forums.

     

    LOGOS: (here is a link to all of them in one nice folder you just unzip to your c:\Wolverine Studios\DDSPB3\graphics folder: logos.zip) (thank you MizzouRah)

    PLAYER PHOTOS: To complete the NBA experience, download the excellent player PHOTOS from here: https://rapidshare.com/files/4191024006/RealplayerfacesDDS3.rar (thank you buddy)

    GM Coach and Picture File: https://rapidshare.com/files/2242589808/nonplayers.rar (thank you buddy)

    COURTS: from here (rename newjersey to brooklyn): http://rapidshare.com/files/43980495...s-by-Rocko.rar (thank you rocko)

  11. Posted

    Kevin Love was a great score. He is showing versatility of a hall of famer. He is such a threat from the perimeter now too, although he should stick to being near the key for all of those boards..

     

    AK47 had a very good run with Russian National team and in Europe.. He seems serviceable. The shooting-guard area is definitely a concern. Ridnour and Rubio make a good pg 1-2 punch.

     

    Wolves are on their way .. but too bad Roy isn't the same. Could have been the game-changer for the team since the days of KG.

     

    Shved and Barea make it seem like there's way too many PG's.

  13. Posted

    Thanks for the HTML, it worked out good.

     

    What about a general discussion forum with sub-forums like the lounge, off-topic, and such. Or just add them into conversations.

     

    I think that's a good idea considering it's not sports all the time, even though for the most part it is :)

  21. Posted

    Definitely one of the Better Baseball Sims on the Market.

    November 16th, 2012

     

    It may be November, but if you’re anything like me, baseball is never far from your mind. And while console games like MLB The Show, and for many of you, the old MVP series, there are a great many players who are looking for something to fill more of the fantasy void. As a fantasy owner of eight teams, I feel your pain.

     

    Insert PureSim5, a baseball simulation modeled after the OOTP series that most people are aware of. If you’re not an OOTP fiend like I am, here’s the link to one of my leagues: http://www.netsportssimm.com. From there, you can get a feel for what simulation leagues look like. I’m in two of these -- unfortunately, the archaic OOTP 6.5, which is fun but can’t hold a candle to the newer versions -- and basically the gist of it is that you start a league in whatever season you want, and progress from there. As you can see, we are in the midst of the 2042 offseason. I’m the Minnesota Twins, and am trying to spend additional money because the way finances work in the game dictates that I can’t pocket any more ‘cash’. Sounds weird to associate that with the Twins, but it’s where I’m at.

     

    Actually, we did the exact same league and it crashed about 40-45 years in -- essentially where we’re at now -- so that tells you a. how long we’ve kept these two leagues together and b. that I’ve essentially played about 150-200 sim seasons (including defunct leagues). Indeed, I’ve been around the block a time or two on sim games.

     

    So let’s get down to the nitty gritty on PureSim5. At the open screen, you get five choices and ‘quit’. You can do the following: New Game, Load Game, Quick Load, Mod Files, and Options. Most of those are self-explanatory, though I think Mod Files may be an exception. The Mod Files are where you can download things such as MLB faces, logos, and ballparks, as well as fictional team logos, All-Time logos, and background images. All of these serve to make the gameplay more customizable, and most of them are inherent to previous versions of PureSim. To get a feel for the game, I’ve downloaded the face pack. Adding packs to the game is relatively simple; all you do is download it and the game will add it automatically. I recommend restarting the game to make sure the update takes, but it doesn’t appear to be necessary.

     

    One thing I noticed while tooling around the game is the discrepancy between the good players and the bad ones. The good players have consistently good rankings; free agents and poor players do not. And while this might be a Captain Obvious statement, part of me wondered if the gorge between the two is a bit too sizable. Like Madden in previous years, it serves to truly differentiate the haves from the have nots -- because let’s face it, three years ago nobody was chasing down Devin Hester from behind -- and that’s probably for the best since these players are free agents for a reason.

     

    PureSim 5 Baseball - Player Card

     

    PureSim5 Player Cards

     

    Opening a new game brings you a nice handful of options. You can start a game in PureSim classic mode, PureSim classic quick stars (you choose the number of teams, divisions, etc.), Major League Career (choose your year and format), Major League Career Tru-Transaction mode (you manage, GM makes moves as they occurred in real life), and Sandbox mode (any season 1900-present, with real players if you wish). Finally, you can choose your ratings format: 1-100, the 20-80 scouting scale, a number of 1-xx formats, and finally, no scoring whatsoever. The last option is how you want finances, market sizing, and free agency to work. You can be the equalizer with all markets the same size, or you can have it just like it is.

     

    For the intents of my review, I’ll be the Minnesota Twins -- team I’m most familiar with -- and will sim through the entire 2011 season to keep it fresh and timely. Unfortunately, a 2012 option doesn’t appear to be available yet. So we have normal market sizes, free agency, and all that goes with what I feel should be an accurate replication of the 2011 baseball season. Let’s see if I can prevent the Twins from losing 99 games again!

     

    Right from the get-go you choose your file name for a save; this is nothing revolutionary, you just have to make sure you can remember it. Then you select your team and change them off CPU. Then comes even further customization for your ‘association’ -- your league, in essence -- such as choosing size of rosters from 35-60 -- I’m using 40 like in real life -- as well as making expansion possible, allowing ratings to change in-season, and a handful of others. Here are the ones I enabled:

     

    Expansion Possible

     

    Injuries Can Occur

    Player Ratings Can Change In-Season

     

    Allow Computer AI Trades

    Use Player Photos

    Import Players Prior to their MLB Debut

     

    I also selected a strict fatigue/durability model -- as opposed to age-based -- as well as DH in the AL, five-man rotations and closers on a pitching staff, and importing players’ historical stats. Finally, I selected TRU-life for the player development engine; essentially this models what players did in that real time frame, with potential adjustments due to natural variation and the like.

     

    Random thought at this point: Wow. This game is very thorough on the front end. The final piece before starting the game is to import the major league players from the season that you’ve chosen. So far, the setup for a game might turn off people looking for a more basic interface, but if one can get past the intro, there are clearly options for players looking for all different playing experiences. Additionally, you can update some, not all of the options as your season goes along, so don’t fret making too many hasty decisions when starting up the game.

     

    Spring training is the first activity that awaits prospective players, and it’s basically just a simulation of the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues that we’ve grown to love as baseball fans. I’ve never really known anyone to enjoy these parts of games anyway, so I don’t think simulating through the spring is much of detraction. Before opening the season, PSPN -- clever, huh? -- posts its preseason power rankings -- Twins 22nd -- and an annual “most feared hitters” list. It’s a pretty cool feature, even if I don’t agree with the methodology (batting average and home runs? yuck). There’s also a “frugal or fancy free” feature that profiles team payroll. Again, cool feature, but not exactly necessary. Onto the season! We’ll be using the real 2011 schedule.

     

    At the season opening screen, you can do a number of things. You can edit your association notes -- essentially a notepad -- as well as check season stats on an ESPN-like interface. It’s pretty cool, to be honest.

     

    PureSim 5 Baseball - PSPN Coverage

     

    ESPN..err we mean PSPN Coverage!

     

    Let’s have a peek at the roster and front office options. From the front office you can edit a lot of things -- keep in mind, I’m on commissioner mode -- such as GM and manager tendencies, as well as managing every single part of your roster. It’s really an in-depth, well done aspect of the game.

     

    For this review, I’m going to try to improve the Twins club from within, using the best 25 men at my discretion to try keep the Twins from repeating their worst season in club history. Just for fun, I tried out the trade interface, and the Angels offered Tyler Chatwood for Danny Valencia. That seems like a pretty good offer, and leads me to trust the engine behind this game pretty well. Similarly, hitting ‘shop player’ will suggest a handful of players that other teams are willing to offer you. At this point, I have to tip my cap to whomever programmed the game engine, as this is well done.

     

    Before I start the first game, I survey my front page with lineups and so on. The ‘Ask a Scout’ feature is pretty cool, where you can consult your local ‘scout’ on how he sees fit to update your team.

     

    In the interest of brevity -- you’re clearly laughing at this 1400 words in -- I’m just going to start with the rosters as-is. Strangely, player stats for 2011 -- such as Joe Benson’s cup of coffee -- are in the game. For me, that makes 2011 rosters a bit strange.

     

    Options for each individual game, as well as yours, are QuickSim and PSPNCast, which is similar to GameCast on ESPN. On your own game, you can also manage, which is the third option. I’ll manage game one before I sim for a bit. Game one features Carl Pavano and Ricky Romero, and before the game you get the option to alter your pitcher and batting lineup, as well as weather conditions and a few ‘quick facts’ before heading into the game interface.

     

    The home page lists your lineup, the defensive players on the field presently, and some stat interfaces as well as a list of roster options available to you -- pinch hitters and relievers, essentially. Every time you strike ‘enter’ the game progresses one more step. You have the option to hit the B key (bunt), L key (lineup), 2 key (to steal second or third with 3 button, based on your base running situation), H key for hit and run, and much more. It’s really in-depth.

     

    In the first inning, Alexi Casilla reached via a single, Delmon Young was hit by a pitch, and Jim Thome singled to center. I’m given the option to run on Corey Patterson (84 arm) with Casilla (71 speed). I went aggressive and scored, but this is a pretty cool option. So far, I’m really digging this game, and we’re just a few hitters in, even though the batting lineup with Joe Mauer hitting seventh and Jim Thome playing third is, shall we say, a bit odd.

     

    Now, with Pavano on the mound and a runner on, I have the option to check the lineup, walk a guy intentionally, pitch around him, change my infield and outfield positioning, and do a pitchout or a pickoff move. Again, very thorough, as the Blue Jays score a pair of runs to make it 2-1. Now I’m not going to bore you with how the game turned out, so I’ve auto completed to the end of the game. Final score: Minnesota 4, Toronto 3 in 12 innings. Glen Perkins got the win, so for the fun of it, I checked his ratings. 85 stuff, 79 control, and 70 velocity. The 52 endurance is a bit high, perhaps mixing his starting days with his closer days into making him a possible rotation candidate, but even games like MLB The Show goof this sort of thing. I can’t complain too much.

     

    I’ve opted to simulate through April at this point. The game pauses to give you options, such as pausing to see new issues of the PSPN magazine, and to let you know if there are injuries or trades proposed. On the left side of the screen is an overlay updating you on statistical leaders, such as Jered Weaver with the most wins, Fausto Carmona with the most walks, and even some team stats, such as Denard Span with a .372 OBP. This really helps the game have a good MLB feel to it.

     

    At the end of April, the Twins are 13-16. Not good, but fortunately only a game-and-a-half out of first place. So basically, bad Twins and a bad division, just like 2011. Another pause the game makes is for scouts to evaluate talent periodically each month, which is a pretty cool feature. Oddly, simulating a month stopped at June 3, so I’m thinking it goes month-to-date rather than calendar month. No matter, as the Twins enter June in first place 30-27, with a three-and-a-half game lead on Detroit.

     

    Now, we’ll move onto the All Star break, which takes us through July 10. Hold up; the Nationals are interested in trading for Scott Baker on June 21. Let’s take a look, shall we? The Nationals gave a list of one-for-one trades they would make. This list includes Tom Gorzelanny, Wilson Ramos, and.....Stephen Strasburg? Well, I’d be a fool to pass that up, but I think it’s a negative strike against the game engine, as this would never happen. In fact, up until the break, I got offers on every single major player on the Twins roster -- I didn’t take or even look at any of them -- as well as guys like Ben Revere and Trevor Plouffe. I like to envision this as how Terry Ryan’s phone might ring, but if the deals were anything like Baker-for-Strasburg, then you could probably assemble an All Star team in no time.

     

    Fast forward to July, and from what I gather, there is no All Star game, just an All Star Break. Not a huge mark against the game, but an oddity to be sure. The stats at the break seem pretty reasonable, with the exception of Joe Mauer hitting .252/.333/.319 with just 3 home runs. What’s pretty cool is the game calculated his WAR (-0.1), wOBA (.300), and that he’d thrown out 49 percent of all attempted base thieves. As a huge sabermetrics geek -- I work for Fangraphs after all -- these are wonderful additions to the game engine.

     

    PureSim 5 Baseball - Sabermetrics

     

    Sabermetric reports!

     

    Now we’ll simulate through August 31 to have a peek at the roster expansion options. On the way as we approach the trade deadline, plenty of deals proposed make sense, such as Span to Tampa Bay and Morneau to Toronto. I like to see a trade engine in games that can at least be somewhat realistic -- Strasburg notwithstanding. A quick peek-in during late July shows the team under .500 at 52-54 and still leading the Central. Yikes. It also showed 14 complete games for Cliff Lee in Philadelphia, which seems a bit high.

     

    On September 1, a note pops up alerting the GM to make his call-ups to get to a 40-man roster, which I just auto’d. At a 40-man roster, you’ll obviously have to move some guys around to get them work, but it’s extremely realistic. On September 28th, the Twins clinched the division with a 78-83 record, and it led to a matchup with Boston in the ALDS. Obviously, after September you have to send players back down for a 25-man playoff roster. With little surprise, the Red Sox dispatched the Twins in three games. In game seven of the World Series, Roy Halladay outdueled Ervin Santana, and the Phillies won the World Series.

     

    PSPN gives awards at the end of the season in a pretty cool format, and there are plenty of awards, such as Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and a handful of others. Afterwards, when you head to the offseason, a prompt comes up with a score out of 1,000. For instance, my Twins score was 635, and three straight years under 500 will result in a GM being dismissed, which is a cool, if simple element of realism. After a pre-offseason evaluation of talent, we’re ready to start the offseason, which I’ll attempt to abbreviate to keep you reading.

     

    After retirement, ranking of players, updating the almanac, listing individual and team records broken in-season, and talent evaluation, we’re ready to begin the offseason. The draft picks aren’t totally listed in a way that’s easy to find players, but the menus sort quite easily, based on talents and bonus demands. After the draft is completed, free agency starts, and the list pretty much accurately resembles last offseason’s list, with players like David Ortiz, and Jamey Carroll, but also some oddities like Alex Rodriguez. All in all, most things make sense, with the exception of Kevin Kouzmanoff asking for $3-plus million per season. And now, we’re back to the beginning.

     

    All told, this is a fun game as long as you aren’t 100 percent committed to reality and realism. I’d definitely recommend it as a sim if you’re looking for something to supplement OOTP or something of the like.

  22. Posted

    Review of Football Manager 2013 by Nick Tylwalk

     

    Still catering to the obsessed, but now with more to offer casual players

     

    There's no such thing as a worldwide holiday for fans of soccer sims (or football, if you prefer), but if there was, it would probably be the day a new iteration of the Football Manager series goes live. As it always does, Sports Interactive's labor of love attempts to capture the beautiful game, and specifically, managing a club or national team in pretty much any country that plays soccer, in more detail than any other title would dare to try. But while hardcore fans have a few new things to look forward to in Football Manager 2013 (FM2013), the big focus for the latest release is a host of features designed to help people who aren't longtime devotees give the game a shot.

     

    That's not necessarily a bad thing, as one of the traits shared by the last decade or so of Football Manager games is their daunting, all-consuming complexity. Any good sports sim can be a time sink, but not many can tie up hours of your life in-between each match. Let's just say there's a good reason why memes popped up about wives threatening to leave their husbands over too much time spent with Football Manager.

     

    To combat the problem of marriage-wrecking commitment, FM2013 introduces a whole new way to play with Football Manager Classic. This mode is different enough that it could be (and almost was, according to the developers) its own distinct game, but it's essentially a way to enjoy the experience of running your own team without several layers of the details that the series has built up over the years.

     

    The interface for Football Manager Classic is the first thing that grabs your attention. Though it’s similar to the one used by the full-featured mode, it’s easier to read – literally, as the font for every screen is bigger – and much of the information is presented in a more intuitive, highly visual fashion. Important bits of news still come to your inbox, but the game also summarizes tidbits from around the world of soccer and presents them in a newsletter, where you can click on any story and blow it up in its own pop-up window.

     

    That world is smaller, too, as launching a new career in Football Manager Classic allows you to choose just three countries in which to ply your trade. This helps things simulate at a much faster pace, as does the simplified gameplay. There’s less of an emphasis on training, and the tactical options are also streamlined a bit. Media interaction is limited to single questions that go straight to your inbox. Matches can still be played in the 3D engine, so there’s nothing missing from the match day experience.

     

    The FM2013 team has been quick to point out in interviews that the Classic mode is different than just allowing the assistant manager to handle tasks you’d rather not sully yourself with in standard mode, as those aspects of the game are actually removed from play altogether. The goal is to enable players to get through a whole season in a relatively sane amount of time, and it succeeds beautifully on that front. Whether realism suffers as a result of the streamlining remains to be seen, but it’s easy to imagine people who just want to win a league title with their favorite club team making this their preferred mode.

     

    Hardcore sim fans will probably take a less enthusiastic view of something else that Football Manager Classic introduces to the series, which is an in-game store. The idea of having additional content purchases on top of a full-priced game is controversial enough, but some of the items on sale here really do let players “cheat” the game: An option to see all the players in the game without scouting them, an automatic override of a boardroom decision, and even a direct infusion of transfer funds, to name a few. Most of these boosts can be unlocked by accomplishing certain goals while playing, but their presence alone seems like it has the potential to be a divisive topic.

     

    FM2013 also offers another way to play in smaller chunks of time by borrowing the challenges from Football Manager Handheld. These are relatively short scenarios requiring you to complete a specific task, like saving a floundering team from relegation or living up to the board’s goals despite suffering a nasty rash of injuries. A fifth challenge is already available through the in-game store, which makes sense as a method of delivering even more content down the road.

     

    The standard Football Manager mode also got plenty of attention from Sports Interactive, though most of it feels like it was in the 3D match engine. Along with improved animations that add a greater sense of realism to the action on the pitch, a series of drop-down menus at the top of the screen make it easier than ever to adjust tactics or make substitutions on the fly. Pop-up windows announce bookings and other events during simmed portions of the match, and scoring updates from other games going on at the same time let you know if you are moving up or down the table. Real time advice from your assistant manager and ongoing updates on your players’ body language give you even more guidance on what moves to make.

     

    As always, FM2013 has done extensive research on leagues all over the world, and you can choose to manage in over 50 countries. Individual player training has been redone to allow each athlete’s regimen to be controlled in fairly exhaustive detail. Press conferences and player interactions have sadly received few tweaks aside from the choice of tone you use when addressing people (calm, reluctant, passionate, aggressive, etc.), and a wider range of questions from the media is at the top of this reviewer’s wish list for next year. As it stands, talking to the press is kind of a catch-22 – too important to team morale to skip but too tedious to be fun.

     

    Transfer negotiations haven’t changed too much either, with the exception of a little more insight into how different agents affect the process. The Football Manager games have always handled the transfer business in admirably realistic fashion, no small task considering how crazy it can get in real life. Many players routinely turn their noses up at leagues they consider beneath them, and it’s not hard to find others who have inflated senses of their own worth. Taxes have been added to the game’s financial model to keep rich teams from abusing the system too much, something supporters of smaller clubs no doubt wish would happen more in the actual sport.

     

    Both the standard and Classic modes can be played online against other human managers, and the game’s Steam integration makes it easier than ever to find a league to join. SI also added Versus mode for quicker head-to-head action, including tournaments of up to 32 teams and small leagues of two to six teams. It’s not quite a substitute for the late, lamented Football Manager Live (lamented by this reviewer anyway), but it is the widest array of online options we’ve seen in the series to date.

     

    About the only thing that remains absent from FM2013 is the player likenesses and logos from the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and a few other competitions, as their rights remain tied up in other games. Fortunately it’s easy to get them into your copy of the game, as the community of modders to assist you with image files remains active and vibrant.

     

    Soccer arguably depends on stats less than any other major sport, so it can’t be easy to create a soccer sim that is heavy on realism while also remaining fun to play. Somehow Sports Interactive has been pulling it off for years, and with the additions to FM2013 making it more playable than ever, it should remain as addictive as ever this season.

     

    http://www.gmgames.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=64:review-football-manager-2013&Itemid=219

  23. Posted

    Review of Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 3

    Could a Basketball GM sim revolution be on the horizon?

    November 8th, 2012

     

     

     

    Stats and analytics aren’t just for baseball nerds any more. The geeks have made their way into basketball.

     

    Due to its endless statistics and 162 games worth of data, baseball has traditionally been the sport that was the most popular in the text sim world. With analytics and stats now taking hold in basketball front offices and the hoops blogosphere, could a basketball GM sim revolution be on the horizon?

     

    If it is, one of the games leading the charge will be Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 3 (DDS: PB3), the latest offering from Gary Gorski at Wolverine Studios.

     

    DDS: PB3 features a completely revamped user interface, artificial intelligence, contract rules and the introduction of season disks that allow you to start with a full league history and import draft classes.

     

    The second version of Gorski’s pro game was excellent and more than filled my need for a fun, realistic and challenging NBA sim. I recently started playing the third version, so let’s take a look at how it stacks up:

     

    Great Look

    The first thing you notice after firing up DDS: PB3 is how great the game looks. It’s the GM sim version of a picturesque painting that hangs on your living room wall.

     

    I don’t play GM sims for fancy pictures and graphics, but man, when the game looks good, it really ups the immersion factor. The studio-type setup during the draft and office-type of layout during the season really sucks you into DDS: PB3 and makes it easy to connect with your team and individual players.

     

    Everything is laid out well, too. There’s a lot to do in this game, and it’d be a major hassle if you had to click 10 different times to do certain tasks. Thankfully, you don’t have to. It might take you a little bit to figure out exactly what you have to do and when you have to do it, but once you get your bearings, getting where you need to go is simple.

     

    Playing the Game

    Ok, so the game looks good. How does it play?

     

    The short answer is very well. Statistics are realistic and it feels like you’re getting a very real-world simulation of professional basketball.

     

    The first thing I noticed is improvement in the play game screen. I thought playing your games in the second version was a little clunky, but thanks to the new gameview mode, playing your games in DDS: PB3 is much smoother. Stats, play-by-play, subs, strategy options and the court are either all on your screen or just a click away.

     

    One thing I would like to see added is the ability to call specific plays or call for specific players to try and score. For example, for each possession, I’d like to call for the ball to be dumped into the post to Dwight Howard, or simply select Kobe Bryant if I’d like the offense run through him on a possession.

     

    It wouldn’t always have to work out as I call it, but I think that option would make the user feel like they have more control over the game. I like to feel like I have the power to actually execute some of the strategies that form in my head.

     

    You do have some control over what your team does in-game (defensive sets, offensive sets, subs, etc.), but it could be a little more specific.

     

    Solid AI

    Want to try and trade Michael Beasley for a first-round draft pick? Not going to happen. The AI is strong and difficult to trick.

     

    When simming games, sometimes I question why certain players shot so often or don’t shoot enough. Having a play-by-play log for each game would help simmers better understand the why and how of each contest. But you’re not completely powerless in what your players do, either.

     

    If you choose to control your team as a coach in addition to being a GM, you can set your philosophies to favor fast breaks, jump shots, zone defenses, crash boards, etc. You can also run certain types of offenses.

     

    If you think Derrick Rose is shooting too many 3s, you can call him and tell him to stop shooting so many 3s and drive more. He might even listen to you.

     

    Navigating the NBA’s financial system can get a little tedious, but the game offers the option for a simplified system if you don’t want to deal with the ins and outs of Bird rights and the luxury tax.

     

    Digging Deep

    Basketball is a simple game. You take a ball, you shoot it in a hoop, you run down the court and try to prevent your opponent from doing the same. However, there are all kinds of intricacies that take the simplicity of the game itself and make it much more challenging.

     

    DDS: PB3 captures this. The game feels really simple from a basketball-sense, but forces you to think beyond just finding five guys who are good at putting a ball in a hoop.

     

    I feel like I have the most success in DDS: PB3 when I either a) develop an overall philosophy and acquire players that match it, or B) change my philosophy to match my players. You can’t just cobble together five guys with overall ratings about 3.5 out of 5 and think you’ll win.

     

    Ratings matter, and not just the overall rating. If you find yourself only looking at the overall rating, you’re going to get burned. You need to build a team with players that complement each other in order to be successful.

     

    A strategy that I use is trying to always win the points in the paint battle every game. That means I favor shot blockers and strong defenders in the front court and a point guard and/or small forward who likes to drive to the hoop. I supplement this with a 3-pointing shooting specialist off the bench and a defensive specialist.

     

     

    Sounds simple enough, right? Well, putting a ball in a hoop sounds simple, too. But it’s not.

     

    Final Word

    DDS: PB3 is the best professional basketball GM sim I’ve played and likely will only get better when Gorski starts releasing season disks that incorporate the full history of basketball.

     

    Realism, immersion, easy-to-navigate and easy-on-the-eyes screens and menus, stats, and challenging AI, it’s all here.

     

    It’d be nice to have a little more control over the in-game action and some additional data to pore over after each game. More options for customization would also probably attract more players. Those faults are hardly deal breakers, though.

     

    Basketball GM sims might not ever reach the popularity of baseball sims, but who cares? It’s pointless to compare the two sports, anyway.

     

    DDS: PB3 is an excellent GM sim. Period.

  25. Posted

    Then you are junkies like the rest of us who think we can do a much better job of putting together a winning team :) or at least give it our best shot..

     

    Welcome aboard. Actually I watched your Google People Meeting of you and Brad Cook. We'd welcome anyone else you know and loves these games to bookmark or visit the site.

     

    Talk to you soon