.png.89070b1700d17dc29d5856f05a15adea.png)
GM Games
-
Content Count
724 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
83
Posts posted by GM Games
-
-
You can help Wolverine Studios support a great cause
Wolverine Studios is happy to announce that we have started a fundraising project to support a wonderful charity, Gamers Outreach. So what does Gamers Outreach do and why do we want to support this great cause?
Gamers Outreach is a 501©(3) charity organization that provides recreation to children in hospitals through the power of video games and the gaming community. Hospitalization can often be a lonely, isolating, and scary experience for young people. We ease those burdens by providing equipment, technology, and software that help kids cope with long-term treatment.Gamers Outreach has developed GO Karts. GO Karts (Gamers Outreach Karts) are portable, medical-grade video game kiosks that enable hospital staff to easily provide beside recreation to children who are unable to leave their rooms in hospitals. You can click here to find out more about GO Karts – check them out – they’re a really well designed item.
Given that Gamers Outreach began their work at CS Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan and that Wolverine Studios founder Gary Gorski is a graduate of the University of Michigan we felt it was only appropriate that we chose CS Mott as the hospital we would like to raise the money to build a GO Kart for.
Our community is an amazing group of people and nothing would make us happier than to be able to raise the $4,000 required to provide CS Mott Children’s Hospital with a GO Kart to give some of these awesome kids a chance to do what we all love to do so much – GAME!
If you want to get involved to help there’s two options. One is simply buy a game from us. We are going to donate a portion of each month’s sales until we have hit our goal and can deliver that GO Kart. A second way to get involved is by making a donation yourself. Please make sure that you use this link so that you are donating to our campaign.
Our community is powerful and we know the kind of outpouring of support we have had in the past when we have taken on a charitable project. We are extremely thankful to everyone who supports this really cool cause in helping us to give these amazing kids fighting through their illnesses a chance to be gamers like every other kid. Take a few minutes and watch the video on our campaign page to learn more about Gamers Outreach and the GO Kart program and help Wolverine Studios deliver a GO Kart to CS Mott Children’s Hospital.
The post Wolverine Studios Supporting Gamers Outreach Charity To Help Kids appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article -
Draft Day Sports: College Football 2017 Announced!
We have been teasing a new game announcement as the final portion of our 10th Anniversary Celebration and here it is! Wolverine Studios is very excited to announce that Brooks Piggott has been hard at work developing Draft Day Sports: College Football 2017 – make sure you are following along on our blog and social media outlets for updates about our exciting new college football game and be sure to join in the discussion regarding the game in our forums. We will be bringing more details to you in the coming weeks as we are very excited to share this brand new game with you! For now, enjoy our announcement trailer regarding the game.
The post Wolverine Studios Announces Draft Day Sports: College Football 2017 appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
-
Which MLB team was the best ever? That question has spurred endless debates over the years. The discussions can be heated, and usually someone throws in a minor league team or a Negro League club, but we’re limiting this query to the National and American Leagues. The arguments will never end, of course, […]
-
REMATCH! Last year’s finals left plenty of questions. How good was Golden State really? What if Kyrie Irving didn’t get hurt? Golden State defended their title by winning more games than any other team in history proving they were not only worthy champions but among the best teams of all time and Cleveland comes into this series healthy and well rested after not really being challenged so far while Golden State comes in after a brutal seven game dogfight.
If you recall we simulated the Eastern Conference Finals and Western Conference Finals with Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 2016 correctly predicting both of those series results so now we put it to the ultimate test. The Finals. Which team will prevail? Let’s get it on and find out!
GAME 1
The opening salvo begins with a flurry by Golden State as they race out to a 28-18 1st quarter lead led by Draymond Green who scores 13 of the 28 and picks up 3 steals in the frame. Kevin Love is not known for his defense and that clearly was an issue to start. Things spiraled out of control from there with Golden State taking a 57-33 lead into the half.
Draymond Green goes nuts in the 1st quarter
LeBron tries to keep Cleveland in it but the poor defense from his teammates is too much to overcome and his line of 18/9/8 is an afterthought in this blowout as Cleveland shoots 9/31 from deep. Green leads the way for Golden State with 21/12, 4 blocks and 3 steals while the splash brothers combine for 40.
Green swats LeBron as part of a dominant performance
GAME 2 (GST leads 1-0)
Game 2 starts with a determined Cleveland team, especially Kevin Love trying to make up for the poor game 1 performance. Love scores 8 with 5 boards in the 1st but again the Cleveland defense fails to show as Golden State scores 30.
Kevin Love with a much better performance early on to keep it close
Cleveland would cut it to three in the 2nd but turnovers would lead to back to back Curry baskets on the way to an 11-0 run. Down 7 at the break Cleveland comes out in the 3rd looking to hang close but Curry has none of it and rattles off 8 quick points. Cleveland tries everything they can to slow down the offense, even mixing in zone on two possessions but its to no avail as Golden State takes a 15 point lead into the 4th.
Curry with the tough shot over Thompson and James
Spurred on after a technical on Coach Lue, Cleveland starts making its run but Klay Thompson hits a big three to put the game safely away.
Thompson puts the game out of reach
Curry goes for 36 on 11-for-16 shooting. Green impressive again with a line of 25/6/6. Love started out hot shooting 3-for-3 but would go 1-for-6 the rest of the way and play lousy defense again as the series shifts to Cleveland.
GAME 3 (GST leads 2-0)
A must win game now for Cleveland to remain in this series. Cleveland finally figures out who can guard Draymond Green and it’s the officials as they whistle both him and Bogut for two quick fouls. With some important defensive anchors on the pine LeBron goes to work scoring 11 of Cleveland’s first 15 points and getting 16 in all in the opening quarter.
James in beast mode with 11 of the 1st 15 Cleveland points
James seemed to defer to his teammates early in this series trying to get them going but he’s a one man wrecking crew here. James nets 20 points by the half and a 52-36 lead while Curry and Thompson combine for 4-of-13 shooting in the first half. Cleveland would only miss two free throws on the night and despite a +11 4th quarter for Golden State it was too much LeBron as he goes for 35 with 11 rebounds and 4 steals.
LeBron would be a perfect 7-for-7 from the line tonight
James scores 35 and could not be stopped the entire game
Cleveland also shoots 8/19 from three compared to 6/26 from Golden State. Green only contributes 12 points and 5 fouls and it looks like if Cleveland wants to win they’re going to have to rely heavily on James to come up huge in points and either find some other way to defend Green than with Love or continue to attack him trying to get him in foul trouble and out of the game.
GAME 4 (GST leads 2-1)
Golden State comes out with a clear game plan – get Curry cooking and let anyone but LeBron beat them. Curry comes out blistering hot hitting on all 8 of his first attempts and piling up 23 points in the first half.
Curry comes out on fire
Despite that offensive barrage Cleveland remains only down 9 at the half. Golden State has chosen to double team James heavily this game and teammates Love, Irving, Smith and Dellavedova have answered the bell to keep the game close.
Smith with the slam on the break to cut the lead down
Cleveland tries to grind the game to a halt in the 3rd. They cut the lead to five but a Curry triple puts it back to eight instantly. This cycle repeats itself twice more with Cleveland getting it to one or two possessions immediately followed by Green and Iguodala threes. With six minutes to go Cleveland has it down to three again but back to back steals and fast break buckets end their chances of a comeback.
Barnes takes a bad pass coast to coast for the jam
Next possession, same result as Curry swipes one and takes it himelf
Curry puts on a MVP like show with 39 points on 14-of-18 shooting while Draymond pitches in 21 again for the second time this series. Love tried to make up for it on the offensive end with 23 of his own but James could only muster 14 points while being hounded relentlessly all game by Iguodala, Green and double teams.
GAME 5 (GST leads 3-1)
After delivering a crushing home loss to Cleveland in game 4 Golden State had an opportunity to finish it off at home and finish it they do. Curry comes out red hot again on his way to 39 points. Cleveland is just never allowed to get into the game despite Draymond Green finally struggling along to a 7 point game. Thompson, Iggy and Livingston all combine for 38 points and even Varejao gets in on the scoring against his old team at the end. For Cleveland they manage to free James offensively better as he’s able to get 20 shots off for 24 points but everyone else is a non-factor and Golden State repeats as champs.
Iguodala adds some offense to go with his stellar series defense
Varejao gets the last laugh with a bucket in the finals
SERIES OBSERVATIONS
At first I was a little surprised by the result. I thought this one would go six like it did last season and I was also surprised that Kyrie Irving was of very little impact in the series. Looking back at the two regular season matchups though Golden State won both of them (one by 34 points) and Irving didn’t play well in either of those games. One player who did have big games in those meetings was Draymond Green and that seemed to hold up in this simulation as well.
With Cleveland being the underdog here if they want any shot at winning it all I think this simulation shows three things that need to happen. 1) James has to be in beast mode full time. I think he has to attack the basket on every possession either for his own shot or a teammate. 2) Teammates have to make shots. Irving, Love and Smith are going to have to knock down the open looks James creates. 3) They must contain Draymond Green. It is next to impossible to try and stop Curry – maybe you can prevent him from dropping 35 on you – but they have to figure out some way to deal with Green. Can Thompson and/or Frye do a better job defending him than Love did in this simulation? Do you put James on him and put Love on Iggy or Barnes and run the risk of Green taking any liberties with James? Curry won’t score enough on his own to beat you but if Green, Klay and company are getting their points its awfully tough to outscore Golden State especially when Cleveland operates better it seems at a slower pace.
The post We Simmed It – Finals : Golden State vs Cleveland appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article -
That’s right, all you have to do is click Tweet, send the Tweet below and you will receive 3 free tokens.Suggestion for your message:
I love these pranks. Jose (Mourinho) and Josie. So funny! #mourinho @topelevenNote: You need to have at least 10 followers, and you can tweet only once.
Tweet for tokensThe post Tweet for Tokens appeared first on Top Eleven - Be a Football Manager.
View the full article -
We’re happy to publish guest posts any time someone approaches us with an idea. Here’s the latest one: Out of the Park Baseball as a Digital Game-Based Learning Project: The 1879 Northwestern League, Frank Bandle and the Omaha Green Stockings (The full article, with all of the relevant data and screenshots, can be downloaded online.) By […]
-
GM Games is pleased to announce that we will be the official host of Dynasty Manager 16 (logos & roster) files.
Dynasty Manager 16 has been created for Android and iOS. Our hub page for DM16 has more information about the new features.
As well, if anyone from the community would like their images or files hosted here, please contact [email protected]
Downloads
Instructions: To be added shortly.
NBA 2016 Rosters and Logos File (NBA2016.csv) -> Click Here
The post Exclusive NBA players and logos download for Dynasty Manager 16 (DM) appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.
View the full article -
We are celebrating our 10th anniversary this month and what better way to do it than with the biggest giveaway we have ever done! Here’s what you have to do for a chance to win.
THE PRIZE
One lucky winner will win the ultimate prize of one digital copy of every Wolverine Studios game released from June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017.FOLLOW
Follow @wolverinestudio on TwitterRETWEET OUR POST
Retweet this tweet by Wolverine Studios – don’t forget to include #TENYEARSWIN
One entrant will be chosen at random from those who follow Wolverine Studios on Twitter and Retweet our contest post.CONTEST DETAILS
One entry per person, winner will be chosen at random on 5/31/16 and notified via Twitter.The post 10th Anniversary Ultimate Giveaway! appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article -
Following up on yesterday’s blog post predicting the Golden State vs Oklahoma City series here’s a look at how Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 2016 sees the Cleveland vs Toronto series shaking out. NOTE : since Valanciunas is injured we simmed this series without him available – just to see if it would make a difference we simmed the series again with him missing just game 1 and 2 and the results of each game in the series were identical.
GAME 1
Game 1 was an exciting one from the start. Both teams kept it close through one and then Toronto opened up a seven point lead at the break proving that even without JV they were going to be able to matchup fine with Cleveland. DeRozan was terrific as he would finish with 39 points (hey nobody ever accused J.R. Smith of playing defense) but it was not enough. LeBron wasn’t losing game 1 and helped get both Kyrie and Matthew Dellavedova going in the third. Irving would finish with 26 while the Delly served up 18. LeBron finishes with 20/7, 2 steals and a block. The game would remain close until the final minute when Kevin Love would hit a huge three to put it away.
Kevin Love ices game 1 with a dagger three
GAME 2 (CLE leads 1-0)
Game 2 was over from the start as Cleveland jumped out to a 22-12 1st quarter and never looked back. LeBron was fantastic again with 25 points and shooting better than 62% from the floor. Toronto got nothing from anyone and eventually both teams just packed it in and called it a day.
It was all Cleveland all day in game 2
GAME 3 (CLE leads 2-0)
Game 3 proves Toronto does have some fight in them. Kyle Lowry finally stepped up and produced a monster 27/8 with 2 steals and a block in 40 minutes. Bismack Biyombo continued to adequately fill in for Valanciunas with a nice line of 6 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks – his defense was key down the stretch as Cleveland put together a run at the end as was Demarre Carroll’s who had 6 steals. James had 22 and Love went for 11 and 15 boards with Irving adding only 15 points. It looks like the key for Toronto to win is going to be forcing a big turnover margin.
Kyle Lowry leads Toronto to a game 3 win
GAME 4 (CLE leads 2-1)
Bad shooting seems to be a disease running through this series and when a team catches it – good night. This game was alot like game 2 except flipped. LeBron did his thing but nobody else did much. Toronto again won the turnover battle and the series shifts back to Cleveland. In a seven game series it would seem improbable that Toronto would win but if its a best of three essentially anything is possible but they need to win game 5 because they’re not going to win game 7 in Cleveland.
Toronto evens the series in a blowout
GAME 5 (series tied 2-2)
You know what this series needs? (Some offense?, a close game?, a steel cage?). Nope. Alternate jerseys! We decided to roll out both teams alternate unis for this one in hopes it would spark an interesting game. Lowry and DeRozan combined for 53 of the Toronto 95 (that means the rest of the team only offered up 42 points) and that’s just not enough to beat anyone good. LeBron went for a balanced 26/6/6 line, Irving added 22/5/5 with 3 steals and Tristan Thompson made an appearance with 12 and 13 boards with 4 steals. Toronto did not win the turnover battle this game which leaves them little chance of winning. When you don’t have more than two options for putting the ball in the basket you better play some hellacious defense and they didn’t.
Kyrie Irving sparks the game 5 victory
GAME 6 (CLE leads 3-2)
Game 6 was the perfect ending for this series – a total clunker. Toronto only trailed by 4 at the break but LeBron and Irving were just too much to handle. LeBron had his most dominant performance with a 31 and 10 double double while Kyrie was no slouch at 24 and 6 dimes. Lowry had nearly as many turnovers (9) as points (12) and as we identified earlier in the series Toronto had to win the turnover battle in order to stand a chance. They didn’t and again didn’t get much offensive output against a stout Cleveland defense and that was all she wrote as Cleveland will win in six games.
LeBron saved his best to close out game 6
FINAL OBSERVATIONS
Well this series wasn’t nearly as fun to watch play out as Golden State vs Oklahoma City. In fact it was downright boring. There were moments of intrigue here and there in games 1 and 3 but to be honest I’m surprised it went six games. Both teams shot poorly on the whole and while Toronto has been able to survive the first two rounds (in 7 games both times) they did so against teams with one really good scorer (George, Wade) so their 1-2 punch of Lowry and DeRozan was enough (barely). Cleveland is a different animal – not only do they have the best player in the East in LeBron but Irving and Love can both score not to mention the ability for a guy like Smith or Delly to catch fire. Even Thompson can put up some points now and then.
I thought maybe Valanciunas would make a difference as a scorer but when using him the results did not change (and I had the AI try to cap him around 28 minutes both to be true to life and to simulate him coming back from injury in game 3). I think the game did identify a key in the series though and that is Toronto is going to have to play some nasty defense which they are capable of and really try and grind this out if they want to win. I don’t think there is anyway they can win a seven game series without some killer defensive efforts.
I hope you enjoyed this segment and I look forward to doing some more in the future. If you did I want to give you a special chance to own Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 2016 at a discount. Just click on this link for our webstore, add DDS:PB 2016 to your cart and enter the code WESIMMEDIT for a 20% discount- the code will work through 5/20/2016. Be sure to follow along our blog and follow us on our social media outlets for more cool features like this one!
If you enjoyed the posting and would like to discuss or ask questions feel free to do so in our forum!
The post We Simmed It – ECF : Cleveland vs Toronto appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article -
Golden State vs Oklahoma City – a series hoop fans have been dying to see. We decided to take DDS: Pro Basketball 2016 to simulate this epic matchup in the Western Conference Finals. Our prediction…high drama. Read on!
GAME 1
Game 1 starts out with the home team and defending champs laying the wood to their challengers. A blowout from the start, Golden State dominates this one as Curry goes off for 40 while Durant disappears with a paltry 15 points. Russ did his part for sure with 22/10/5 and 2 blocks and 2 steals but its clear that if OKC is going to hang in this series Russ and KD have to be the mega-powers (prior to Miss Elizabeth getting knocked out that is)
Curry was way too much in game 1
GAME 2 (GST leads 1-0)
Game 2 shows that OKC is not going down without a fight in this one as they completely turn the momentum and steal a game despite being down 10 at the half. After being a game 1 goat KD bounces back and hits the game winner with 12 seconds left off a great dish by super teammate Russell Westbrook. The crowd left stunned and OKC now owns the momentum.
Durant hits the game winning jumper to tie the series
GAME 2 (series tied 1-1)
Talk about an amazing game – this time it was OKCs turn to take a 10 point lead into the half and still owned a 3 point lead with 6 seconds to go. Message to the team in the huddle – absolutely, positively do not let Curry fire a three. Leave it to Golden State though to adapt – unable to get the ball into Curry or even Klay Thompson for a tying three attempt, Harrison Barnes found option three – Draymond Green – who drilled a three from the top of the key to send the game to overtime. Turns out a lead with 6 seconds would be the worst possible thing for OKC on the night as they managed to see their 2 point lead turn into a 1 point deficit thanks to a Curry three with just 6 seconds left in OT. Their last second shot was no good and Golden State snatches the momentum back in a big way.
Draymond Green forces OT with a huge triple
Who else? Curry delivers the game 3 dagger
GAME 4 (GST leads 2-1)
Game 4 was an all out donnybrook with 22 lead changes proving that this series is turning out to be the dream matchup we thought it would be. Curry went for 37 but it wasn’t enough to counterbalance the 56 put up by the Westbrook/Durant duo. Klay Thompson continues to be quiet so far in the series. Roberson is playing some excellent defense on him during his minutes so he’s only really putting up numbers against Waiters – that is when Curry isn’t shooting. In fact nobody on GST has had a huge game yet outside of Curry – maybe a little bit of the old “let Jordan do what he wants but stop everyone else” idea going on?
Westbrook was money from the line in the game’s closing minutes
GAME 5 (series tied 2-2)
There is starting to become an air of inevitability that this series is going the distance and is going to be decided by a very thin margin. Game 5 lived up to the hype and more. Down two with just nine seconds OKC drew up their final play likely looking for Durant but Green’s defense was just too tough. Ibaka would be able to break free for an open look over Harrison Barnes and despite being 0-for from the floor he finally found the bottom of the net and sent the game to OT. Overtime was a blistering affair with both teams notching 13 points each and a 111-111 deadlock as Golden State would setup for their final shot. This time there was nothing OKC could do as Curry got his hands on the ball and drilled a three as time expired. Curry finishes with 36/9/9 and Green chips in 26. Can Golden State close it out on the road next?
Ibaka hits his only FG of the game to force overtime
Curry…at the buzzer….ball game!
GAME 6 (GST leads 3-2)
With their backs against the wall and once again championship aspirations flickering out would this be the potential last ride for OKC especially considering what this summer holds? Not today as OKC forces a game 7 in convincing fashion. Westbrook was a beast in the first half especially helping to carve out a 74-43 half time lead. Golden State attempted a comeback as Klay Thompson finally got going but a short flurry of second half threes from Klay and Steph wasn’t enough to bring this one back and we head back to Golden State for a winner take all game 7.
Too much Westbrook to handle in game 6
GAME 7 (series tied 3-3)
This series has been incredibly fun to watch play out. Watching virtual Steph trade buckets with virtual Durant. The way Golden State can just evaporate leads by coming down and hitting four straight threes. There have been two overtimes and games 4 and 5 alone combined for 45 lead changes. The series has had everything any fan could hope for and now – who does DDS: Pro Basketball 2016 think will prevail?
Golden State takes it in seven! For three quarters of this game it was neck and neck. The lead changed hands 22 times in those three quarters alone as OKC took a one point lead into the final frame. And then….Steph went Steph. Curry destroyed OKC like a machine in the 4th on his way to 39 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. There was just no stopping him. Westbrook had 28 and Durant had a rough 22 thanks to Green’s defense. Even Enes Kanter chipped in 17 but there was just no way to stop Curry in the final frame.
The MVP does it again
FINAL OBSERVATIONS
Well the first observation is that I’ve never had as much fun watching the AI play out a series in the game. Outside of the two blowouts the other five games I could feel an excitement build as the game went on because I knew it was going down to the wire. I found myself picturing thousands of OKC fans shouting NOOOOOOOO when an 0-9 Ibaka launched a jumper that would send game 5 to overtime. I marveled at how OKC could grind out a lead only to have GST come down, whip the ball around a few times and drill some threes and it seemed like minutes of hard work building a lead was erased in seconds.
Steph Curry was amazing – he averaged 31.6 PPG in the series while Russ and Durant averaged nearly identical numbers (24.3 and 24.6). The problem for OKC was that there was never a third wheel to get them over the hump. Kanter may have been that guy – he averaged 13.1 PPG for the series but only on just about 20 MPG. The problem was it wasn’t consistent. It seemed that Ibaka/Adams would play decent the games Kanter didn’t and when those guys had a lousy game it was Kanter who was playing well. It was almost like rolling the dice every game to see which of those three would play well. However the upside seemed so much more with Kanter as he did his damage in realtively few mintues while it would take Ibaka or Adams a full compliment of starters minutes to muster up their good games. Maybe I’ll go back and play “what-if” to see how the series might play out differently with Kanter involved more. Golden State never had that problem because Steph was human in two of the seven games but Thompson and Green still combined for over 32 PPG on average per game. It’s so much easier to not have to guess at who might have a good game and you can just pencil in 65 points or so before you even start.
I hope you enjoyed this segment and I look forward to doing some more in the future. If you did I want to give you a special chance to own Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 2016 at a discount. Just click on this link for our webstore, add DDS:PB 2016 to your cart and enter the code WESIMMEDIT for a 20% discount- the code will work through 5/20/2016. Be sure to follow along our blog and follow us on our social media outlets for more cool features like this one!
If you enjoyed the posting and would like to discuss or ask questions feel free to do so in our forum!
The post We Simmed It – WCF : Golden State vs Oklahoma City appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article -
I can barely believe it myself but Wolverine Studios is ten years old today. I think that deserves a little bit of a celebration! Over the course of the next few weeks we’re going to do a number of things to celebrate including announcing what will be the first title to launch for the 2017 title line so I’m very excited about that. You definitely want to be following the blog and of course following us on Facebook and Twitter so that you do not miss out. I thought I would start with a trip down memory lane – thanks to the wayback machine I was able to find the very first post that introduced Wolverine Studios to the world.
Welcome To Wolverine Studios!Posted : Friday, May 5 2006In 2001, I created a website to showcase what I felt was going to be the best basketball simulation game to ever hit the PC. I had never programmed a game, never taken a class beyond high school in computer programming and knew nothing of the computer gaming industry except that I bought games and liked to play them. I was teaching myself how to program and was confident that I would be able to create the basketball game I always wished existed. Very few people visited the site and the project never saw the light of day but not for lack of trying. The project, then titled Franchise Hoops, was scrapped when I was given the opportunity for my first real experience in the gaming business, the opportunity to join .400 Software Studios.That opportunity led to another with Grey Dog Software which has led me to this – Wolverine Studios. Five years and three published games later I’m back at the way I came into this industry – on my own. Along the way I had the opportunities to see what to do and what not to do. I learned from working with some of the best and most successful developers in our small but growing niche of the industry. Markus Heinsohn, Arlie Rahn, Adam Ryland – they have all done something big in the world of text sims and nobody more so than Markus. Developing games gave me an avenue to speak with the other great developers as well – the people like Jim Gindin, Marc Vaughan, Shaun Sullivan. People that I one day hope to be mentioned along side of. I consider myself very lucky to have had those opportunities and they all deserve credit for helping me bring you the type of games I have with Total Pro Basketball and Total College Basketball.As I now look to the future with Wolverine Studios I can say that the possibilities seem endless. I’ve had the opportunity to work with and talk to the best – now its time to try to become one of them. It will take time but I can promise two things from myself and Wolverine Studios. You’re going to get great games and great service. My goal isn’t to create a game that you think is fun and makes it into your rotation of games to play – its to create the games you start playing and before you know it you realize its three in the morning. I also will continue to offer individual support to any and all of my customers whether they’re playing games I produced here or elsewhere. Unlike at the large development studios, here your voice counts and in fact I encourage you to communicate with me, especially on the forums here. Your feedback is important to me and you can expect the same level of activity and support both in the forums and through e-mail that you have always gotten from me.This venture is literally brand new – so new that the website is still being constructed but I thank you for visiting today. I ask that if you do anything you register for the forum today. The first title to be released by Wolverine Studios will be Total Pro Golf and in May the TPG Course Designer will be released here free of charge to the community in preparation for this summer’s release of Total Pro Golf. To everyone I’ve had the opportunity to work with and everyone who has purchased one of my products and is here today reading this, thank you. Thank you for your support through the years and thank you for your continued support with this new venture. With that, I welcome you all to Wolverine Studios – expect big things from this place. See you in the forums!In many ways Wolverine Studios is still that company that started ten years ago. The company has obviously grown – we’ve published 28 titles in that time – and I still feel we’re in the early innings of building and growing a brand but the addition of new titles and comments about our recent games, especially those regarding Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 2016 as the Out Of The Park of basketball sims gives me hope that Wolverine Studios is ready to ascend to new heights and that the next ten years will bring even more success for the company and will bring many great gaming hours to our loyal and supportive fans.
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of Wolverine Studios in some fashion for the past decade. Guys like Bryan Swartz, Tim Plum, Danny Drickman, Tim Moungey and Paul Yuan who did so much for the company over time all the way to the people we have working with the company today like Brian Van Wyk and Brooks Piggott, all the volunteers and beta testers and of course the tremendous customers and fans we’ve had along the way. A huge thanks of course goes to my wife Jamie who has had an enormous amount of patience over the years during all the late nights and release crunch times. This has been a heck of a trip so far and I hope that we can continue to provide our customers great games and great service – the things I set out to strive for ten years ago are the same goals we aim to meet today. Here’s to the next ten years!
The post Ten Years In The Making appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article -
This is a guest post written by Community Member Holy Goalie. He’s @gamergoalie on Twitter and you can find him on the GameHounds Podcast. TALES FROM THE HISTORICAL LEAGUE: PART TWO When we last left the Tales from the Historical League I was playing as the 1970 Boston Bruins, and had just lost a home pre-season […]
-
Every winter brings with it a flurry of free agent signings, and this past baseball offseason was no different from years past. Opening Day 2016 saw many pitchers on the rosters of teams they didn’t end the 2015 season with, including a group of ten starters who are among the best in the game. The […]
-
Famous baseball manager Out of the Park Baseball is here for another annual representation. What can lead developer Markus Heinsohn and his studio do to one up the build from last year?
Last year included the first time that official MLB logos have been made available. Many users though felt this wasn’t that much of an upgrade as there are quickstarts or modifications available to provide the same experience.
OOTP has made things more convenient now. With the entire MLBPA roster set, this game is as MLB as it comes. Heck, MLB might as well buy the whole studio at some point when it’s branded this much.
Here is the excerpt from the full new features in OOTP 17:
OOTP 17 runs on PC/Mac/Linux and, like last year, it features the American League and National League logos, the World Series trophy, team logos and jerseys for all 30 MLB teams, over 150 MiLB league and team logos, and historical MLB logos.
“Every year we make the most exciting, most immersive baseball management game in history even better, and OOTP 17 is no exception,” said lead developer and lifelong baseball fan Markus Heinsohn. “We’re thrilled to have the game fully licensed by MLB.com, MiLB.com, and the MLBPA, and we can’t wait for armchair GMs to try out the amazing new features available this year.”
New Features
In addition to the MLBPA license allowing the use of realistic FaceGen images of all MLB players, OOTP 17’s new and improved features include:
2016 Opening Day Rosters
The brand new 2016 roster sets include all Opening Day MLB rosters, via a free update to be released shortly after Opening Day, as well as the complete minor league system down to the rookie leagues. Will Jake Arrieta build on his historic 2015 performance and lead the Chicago Cubs to the promised land? Can David Price help turn around the fortunes of the Boston Red Sox? Will Johnny Cueto give the San Francisco Giants the boost they need? Can Mike Trout recapture MVP honors in the AL? Can Bryce Harper get even better in his 5th season? Will Giancarlo Stanton regain his form after his season-ending injury in 2015?
All MLB (and more than 2,000 MiLB) player ratings are based on ZiPS, the projection system created by well-known baseball writer and SABR member Dan Szymborski. The remaining MiLB players are rated manually by OOTP’s established research team.
OOTP 17 also features several US independent minor leagues and eight international leagues in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Cuba, Italy, Australia, and The Netherlands. All of those leagues feature real rosters, with countless hours of work invested in researching realistic player biographical information, statistics, and ratings.
Historical minor leagues
OOTP has always featured the most comprehensive historical play available in a baseball management game, and OOTP 17 makes a huge leap forward in that area with accurate historical minor leagues from 1919 through 2015. Now when a player starts a league in the past, their team will have the correct minor league affiliates, including rosters full of real players, thanks to a new database containing over 150,000 MiLB players.
As the historical seasons pass by, the minor leagues evolve as they did in real life, with teams moving cities, changing their names, and switching MLB affiliations. For example, the Sacramento River Cats began in 1978 as the Oakland A’s AAA affiliate, switched to several other teams (including a second stint with Oakland) between 1979 and 2014, and became the San Francisco Giants’ AAA affiliate in 2015. Those changes will now be accurately represented in OOTP.
Beautiful redesigned game interface
OOTP 17 features a redesigned user interface that makes it easier than ever for armchair GMs and managers to get the information they need and access important game functions.
Improved 3D engine with moving player symbols
OOTP’s 3D in-game view has steadily improved since it was introduced in v15, and this year it’s better than ever, with improved MLB stadium models and player symbols that move around the field as the action happens. This is the next step toward showing 3D players on the field.
Automatically generated game headlines and recaps
OOTP has always featured a robust news system that reports on exciting events from around the league, and now it also offers an automatically generated headline and recap after each game, just like a real world news article.
Historical exhibition mode
Ever wonder how great teams of the past might fare against the modern era’s best clubs? That has always been possible in OOTP by creating a custom league, but now such “What if?” scenarios can also play out in a new mode that’s as simple as choosing any two historical teams and playing a single game or a series.
New GM and manager preferences
AI-controlled GMs and managers are even smarter in OOTP 17: They now evaluate players in unique ways, and GMs now have individual trading tendencies, so some wheel and deal on a regular basis, some prefer to stand pat, and others exhibit a mix of behaviors. In addition, GMs now have unique preferences for drafting, scouting, and development, so they’ll apply that personal style to their teams when setting budgets.
Recoded scouting algorithms
Scouts have always added realism to OOTP by introducing some “fog of war”: As in real life, they might be spot-on in a player evaluation, or they could be very wrong, and often they’re somewhere in between. That part of the game has been improved so it’s more realistic, offering an even greater challenge than before.
More realistic player career curves
OOTP 17 features even better player development algorithms, so their career arcs will feel more realistic than ever.
Better trading with defined team needs
Need to bolster the bullpen and bring in someone to create a platoon at third base? Players facing such situations can now define their team needs and expect other GMs to make trade offers accordingly.
AI improvements in trading, roster management, and dugout decisions
Opposing GMs and managers are now even better at trading, handling their rosters, and calling shots from the dugout during games. In addition, the game simulation engine has been improved for even more realistic results.
Redesigned in-game defensive engine
OOTP 17 features even more defensive shift options for human managers to choose from, allowing the AI to also better mimic many real world managers’ tendencies.
Multi-core processor support for fast sim speed
OOTP’s simulation engine, which was already the quickest in the sports text sim world, is now up to 40% faster than before, thanks to support for multi-core processors.
The post OOTP 17 hits the market (PC, Mac, Linux) appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.
View the full article -
It is the most magical time of year. The leaves are returning to their homes. The days are getting longer. The NCAA Tournament, at least by the time this has been published, will be in full swing. And, of course, Spring Training. Spring Training also means another tradition: the impending release of Out of the […]
-
The buzz is through the roof for Out of the Park Baseball’s new Historical Exhibition feature, and why not? Never before has a game allowed you to pit the greatest team in baseball history against one another. Combined with OOTP’s unmatched simulation engine, we’ll soon have definitive answers to some of the greatest “Who’s the […]
-
This post was copied with permission by the original author, TroyF. The original post can be found at http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=3089352&postcount=91
After spending a ridiculous amount of time with this game, I’m going to write a quick review here for anyone who is either on the fence or is curious about purchasing it.
I’m going to start this off by saying, if you want to cheat the game, you can. You can rerun the lottery 20 times until you get the #1 pick. (and I did this on occasion as I was testing the game) You get really good with drafting and you can take second rounders and develop them into players some teams will give a #1 pick for. Some of those teams end up in the lottery. The one dynasty I built started with some cheating (I’m going to get the #1 pick no matter what) and continued because I got very lucky with trading very good players for lottery picks. Some of those lotteries I won by luck and ended up with a high pick. That helped stock my team up and I never had to deal a ton of salary cap issues because of it. Keep in mind, I cheated to get there and abused the game AI in ways Gary could not have foreseen to do this. If you get good and want to trade your 8th player in your rotation for a potential lottery pick, enjoy. This review is for the FOFCers who want a challenge.
The first thing I’ll say about this game is that if you play with none of the fail safes (you allow yourself to get fired, you only GM the game and hire the coaches, etc) it is brutal.
Take a mediocre team where the owner is impatient and a spend thrift and see if you can survive three years. I’m betting most of you won’t until you learn the mechanics of the game. Even then, you will be challenged. Let’s say you try to rebuild your first season and you get to the draft and find it is a weak draft with no superstar available. Without hitting the lottery in free agency, you will end up being crappy again. You hire a high priced coach to help you win a few close games. The next year you do get lucky and draft an amazing PF who posts up to the basket 65% of the time. Your second best player likes to post up 60% of the time and your PG loves to drive the lane. That high priced coach you hired loves to play fast. Ummmmm. . . good luck with that.
Team building in this game matters. I’ve said it in earlier posts, but changing the chemistry of the team can have very bad consequences. One year I had a dream team. A dominant PG who could score and pass. A SF who was one of the best all around players I have ever seen in the game. (he averaged 24.6 points, 7.8 assists and 8.4 rebounds a game at the age of 23) A low post guy who excelled at offensive rebounding. A PF/SG who were top level defenders and had low ratings in scoring, but good ratings in shooting. Perfect complimentary players.
Leading the second group, was a mid first round pick who was a major steal in the draft for me. Scoring rating of 7 and good numbers across the board. I was slowly working him in with the idea of him earning a starting spot the following year. Well, my starting PF went down with an injury. At the time I was 15-3. The kid moved into the starting lineup. Instead of coming on as a scoring option when one of my three stars was out, he was now playing WITH those three stars. Instead of having a defensive, unselfish PF, I had an offensive guy who wanted shots, leaving with 2 guys at 8 in scoring, 1 with a 7 and one with a 6.
Was I still good? Of course I was. They are still stars. It wasn’t 15-3 good though. Over the next 18 games I went 11-7. Over the course of the season I grabbed the number 2 seed and then went out in the conference semis. If I were playing most any other sports sim, the loss of that player would have had a minimal impact. In this game, that was a soul crushing blow. As a side note, my team stayed intact for the next season and went 64-18. They lost 3 games in the playoffs and won the title.
Having simmed countless seasons and drafts, I made just about every mistake you can make. Build a team who should run and shoot threes. . . and have a slow down coach coaching them. Build a deep team and have a coach who likes a short bench. Then the combo PG/SG I thought could give me a solid 15 minutes a game ends up on the bench and throws a fit to the coach because he isn’t getting playing time. Too many post players, too offensive minded, too defensive minded. . . name a mistake and I promise you I made it.
At the end of the day, that’s the amazing thing about this game. Your mistakes have real consequences here. And to me they don’t feel like “cheap” consequences.
If you like basketball and text sims, you should give this one a try.
The post A Fan’s Look at Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 2016 appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article -
As per the press release from Wolverine Studios, GM Games is providing an update on their new College Basketball release.
March means one thing to college basketball fans – NCAA TOURNAMENT MARCH MADNESS. Here’s your inside look at what to expect in the latest version.
A WHOLE NEW LOOK
The most noticeable change in DDS:CB 2016 is the all new UI. Redesigned to be a much brighter and more intuitive interface the new UI gives you access to more data with a premium on functionality. For our users looking to make the most out of large screen resolutions you have a bevy of new information windows displayed to you and for all users you will find that we have redesigned screens like the Recruiting Player Card or the Team Strategy pages to make the information easier to read and easier to use. We assembled a team of some of the most hardcore DDS:CB fans out there as part of the development process and all these great little tweaks and improvements to functionality and navigation are direct suggestions from this team. After all, who knows what would make the game better than the gamers?
NEW IMPROVEMENTS – MORE IMMERSION – MORE FUNCTIONALITY
We’ve added some all new items to the mix this version that will bring you deeper into the game world while letting you enjoy it more freely. With so many players in the college basketball universe it may seem like a daunting task to keep track of them. Enter the all new league news stories relating game by game performances of the top players as well as impressive individual efforts by the rest of the association’s players. Now you’ll really be able to keep tabs on who the best players are in your game world and know more about them.
Speaking of keeping tabs – have you ever found it a tiresome task to remember what instructions you have given your players? You know you assigned your star point guard a tutor because otherwise he’s going to be a star towel waiver when grades come out but you don’t remember when you did it and you don’t want to let him go even a week without tutoring. Well check out the redesigned Coach Notepad – you still have a section for keeping whatever notes you like; important reminders like to check the clock and see if its 2AM again when you have to get up for work the next day but now the game is going to populate your notepad with notes about all of your players who are “on instruction” so you have all that info in one location and can access it from any screen you want.
We’ve added some new reports as well like the Team Stats page which will now let you compare your team to others in your conference or across the entire association stat for stat in one easy to use and easy to access report.
We also have taken steps to make the gameplay a better experience. Users with large resolutions will now get a view of both the players in game and on the bench in the main game window and hotkeys have been added to control the speed and playback of the game. For those who are anti-mouse click these new hotkeys will be exactly what you are looking for.
KEEPING UP
There have been many changes in the college basketball world since the last version of the game and we’ve made sure to reflect them in DDS:CB 2016. Games employ new shot clock and timeout rules, we’ve updated all of the conferences with the proper teams and either changed or added new conference tournament structures to account for the way things currently stand. It is not just the rules that have changed though – we have gone through and updated the simulation engine as well to account for a more modern day pace and style of play. If you had mastered your game planning before don’t worry – you still have all the offensive and defensive features you’re familiar with at your disposal but we have modified some items in the engine to make their impacts felt on an even more realistic scale.
BATTLE FOR RECRUITS
Everyone knows that college basketball starts with the recruits you bring in and in DDS:CB 2016 we’ve altered the recruiting landscape some to strengthen the AI and up the challenge to you. One thing long time gamers will find is that your coach’s recruiting ability doesn’t increase as fast as it used to. On top of that we’ve made the AI even smarter in trying to determine which recruits it should go after. Plus with the recruiting difficulty option you can select just how tough you want the AI to be so that you can customize the challenge for your enjoyment.
INTEGRATE WITH DDS: PRO BASKETBALL 2016
You don’t have to lose track of your favorite players after their collegiate careers come to an end. You can export your players to our pro game and watch their careers continue on.
The post Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2016, Now available (PC) appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.
View the full article -
It’s Time To Dance!The wait is over – Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2016 is now available. Take control of your favorite school and experience March like never before. Develop your own game plan and style, scout opponents and most importantly recruit players from across the nation to build your team into a powerhouse. Experience the thrill of getting to the big dance and cutting down the nets forever etching your school’s name in the record books.
For more details on the improvements in DDS: College Basketball 2016 please see our recent blog post about the game. You can click here to read it.
If you’re ready to dive in or just want to take the demo out for a test spin, see the File Downloads section on the official DDS: College Basketball 2016 page.
Ready to purchase? Visit the webstore – there is even special offers if you already purchased DDS: Pro Basketball 2016 or add DDS: College Basketball 2016 to your cart for a special offer on DDS: Pro Basketball 2016.
March is here and the madness is calling – are you ready to lead your team to tournament glory?
The post Experience Tournament Glory in DDS: College Basketball 2016 appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article -
March means one thing to college basketball fans – MARCH MADNESS – and nobody does March like Wolverine Studios. Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2016 is preparing to launch this week and here’s your inside look at what to expect in the latest version of the #1 college hoops game out there.
A WHOLE NEW LOOK
The most noticeable change in DDS:CB 2016 is the all new UI. Redesigned to be a much brighter and more intuitive interface the new UI gives you access to more data with a premium on functionality. For our users looking to make the most out of large screen resolutions you have a bevy of new information windows displayed to you and for all users you will find that we have redesigned screens like the Recruiting Player Card or the Team Strategy pages to make the information easier to read and easier to use. We assembled a team of some of the most hardcore DDS:CB fans out there as part of the development process and all these great little tweaks and improvements to functionality and navigation are direct suggestions from this team. After all, who knows what would make the game better than the gamers?
NEW IMPROVEMENTS – MORE IMMERSION – MORE FUNCTIONALITY
We’ve added some all new items to the mix this version that will bring you deeper into the game world while letting you enjoy it more freely. With so many players in the college basketball universe it may seem like a daunting task to keep track of them. Enter the all new league news stories relating game by game performances of the top players as well as impressive individual efforts by the rest of the association’s players. Now you’ll really be able to keep tabs on who the best players are in your game world and know more about them.
Speaking of keeping tabs – have you ever found it a tiresome task to remember what instructions you have given your players? You know you assigned your star point guard a tutor because otherwise he’s going to be a star towel waiver when grades come out but you don’t remember when you did it and you don’t want to let him go even a week without tutoring. Well check out the redesigned Coach Notepad – you still have a section for keeping whatever notes you like; important reminders like to check the clock and see if its 2AM again when you have to get up for work the next day but now the game is going to populate your notepad with notes about all of your players who are “on instruction” so you have all that info in one location and can access it from any screen you want.
We’ve added some new reports as well like the Team Stats page which will now let you compare your team to others in your conference or across the entire association stat for stat in one easy to use and easy to access report.
We also have taken steps to make the gameplay a better experience. Users with large resolutions will now get a view of both the players in game and on the bench in the main game window and hotkeys have been added to control the speed and playback of the game. For those who are anti-mouse click these new hotkeys will be exactly what you are looking for.
KEEPING UP
There have been many changes in the college basketball world since the last version of the game and we’ve made sure to reflect them in DDS:CB 2016. Games employ new shot clock and timeout rules, we’ve updated all of the conferences with the proper teams and either changed or added new conference tournament structures to account for the way things currently stand. It is not just the rules that have changed though – we have gone through and updated the simulation engine as well to account for a more modern day pace and style of play. If you had mastered your game planning before don’t worry – you still have all the offensive and defensive features you’re familiar with at your disposal but we have modified some items in the engine to make their impacts felt on an even more realistic scale.
BATTLE FOR RECRUITS
Everyone knows that college basketball starts with the recruits you bring in and in DDS:CB 2016 we’ve altered the recruiting landscape some to strengthen the AI and up the challenge to you. One thing long time gamers will find is that your coach’s recruiting ability doesn’t increase as fast as it used to. On top of that we’ve made the AI even smarter in trying to determine which recruits it should go after. Plus with the recruiting difficulty option you can select just how tough you want the AI to be so that you can customize the challenge for your enjoyment.
INTEGRATE WITH DDS: PRO BASKETBALL 2016
You don’t have to lose track of your favorite players after their collegiate careers come to an end. You can export your players to our pro game and watch their careers continue on. Even better when you purchase both games at the same time you get an immediate savings! Check out the special offer when you add DDS:CB 2016 to your cart. If you already own DDS: Pro Basketball 2016 you won’t be left out on the savings – when you put DDS:CB 2016 in your cart then enter your personal info including the same email address you used when buying DDS:PB 2016 and then enter and apply coupon code CBDEAL and you will save 25% on DDS: College Basketball 2016.
GET READY TO DANCE
Get the ladders out and get ready to cut down the nets – DDS: College Basketball 2016 is almost ready to launch. Get ready to take your favorite school to the big dance!
The post Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2016 appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article -
This is a guest post written by Community Member Holy Goalie. He’s @gamergoalie on Twitter and you can find him on the GameHounds Podcast. I am lucky enough to have watched Bobby Orr play. Well if you consider turning 49 next month, lucky. I was intrigued by FHM2, but I thought it would be to hard to […]
-
Out of the Park Developments, an official licensee of MLB.com, MiLB.com, and the MLBPA, today announced “16 in ’16: Baseball’s Tournament of Champions.” This unique competition will determine which Major League Baseball team truly is the greatest of all time, thanks to the new Out of the Park Baseball 17 Historical Series feature and the […]
-
Out of the Park Baseball 17, an MLB.com licensee, offers a stadium full of exciting new features, starting with a Major League Baseball Players Association license that allows us to include Facegen images for all MLB players. You’ll also find 2016 Opening Day rosters, logos for all teams and leagues in MLB and Minor League […]
-
This is a guest post by Dan Glickman. Dan is a freelance writer, journalist, and blogger from Rochester, NY. When not searching for a job, watching baseball or playing video games, he runs The Baseball Continuum. Not much is known of the baseball culture of Greenland. It is, after all, Greenland, one of the coldest […]
.png)
[Wolverine Studios] Summer Sale at Wolverine Studios
in GM Games News
Posted
Summer is underway and with all that vacation time we know it’s prime time to get in some quality gaming! We’re making it easy on you with our summer sale. We’ve reduced prices across the board giving you savings of up to 50% off – no coupons or discount codes required. Just go to our webstore and add your favorite games to your cart and check out.
Don’t forget, every time you make a purchase from us you’re helping to support our fundraising efforts to build a medical grade gaming cart for the kids at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. To read more about our fundraising efforts check out our blog post or if you happen to have a few extra bucks this summer think about donating it directly to our cause. We’re going to be donating a portion of each month’s sales to the cause until we can build that cart!
Whatever you do, act now. Summer goes by quickly and so does our summer sale. These great games will satisfy your hunger for gaming this summer and don’t forget to be on the lookout for information coming up on Draft Day Sports: College Football 2017.
The post Summer Sale at Wolverine Studios appeared first on Wolverine Studios.
View the full article