As many of you know, today is the sixth anniversary of Solecismic Software. Six years ago today, also on a Friday, I left the cubicle farms of corporate America, uncertain of my future, feeling incredibly self-indulgent.

My goal at first was to learn. To learn how to create and produce large projects. To learn as much as possible about football. To learn about my own strengths and limitations.

Front Office Football was the result of that learning. I sit here six years later surprised that I've survived six releases - five of the original product and one of The College Years. And surprised that I'm still football-only, as my original long-term plan included releasing games in all four major sports (including curling).

I still don't know what the future will bring. I still am only about 50% sure what my next project will be. And I intend to start work on it full-time within a month. But it's been a great ride, and I'm also surprised how much enthusiasm I still have for this work. Six years of often 80-hour work weeks isn't so bad when you get to work on a project that's this challenging and exciting.

I want to thank everyone here for their continued support of Front Office Football. Without you, this couldn't work. The money I've made has allowed me to stay out of the cubicles, and even allowed Angela to take care of the baby full-time this past year. All added up, I've probably done about as well financially as I would have sticking with the corporations, so this is a huge plus.
I'm releasing Front Office Football 5.0c today. It's available for download right now. For those of you on 5.0b or earlier, just download the executable (SkyDog has it mirrored already) and run the self-extracting zip. Sorry about the size (for those of you with phone modems), but this is a necessary evil. Existing careers can continue without incident, and there's a list of fixes and new features at Solecismic.com.

Woo hoo!

Thanks, as always for the hard work.

If I got as much pleasure out of ever dollar I spent as I do out of the dollars I spend on Solecismic products, I'd be the happiest guy on earth.

Congrats, Jim. Sunday night, I remembered that we were closing in on Freedom Day, and was wondering what, if anything, you were going to post on your site as a gag. But of course, I forgot about it until now.

The following items were fixed or added for version 5.0c of Front Office Football 2004 (the patch also includes all fixes from earlier versions):

1) Added HTML generation for universes.

2) Added screen showing specific scouted player ratings and ability to make quick depth chart changes.

3) The AI should choose starters when choosing to franchise players.

4) Resigning of player without free agency rights reflected properly on transactions screen.

5) When going through player list, erase scouting window so that retired players don't have the ratings of the last player listed.

6) Do not allow players to be released during the free agency periods. This is because the free agency module can't insert them once the free agency period has begun. Since the AI never released players during this time, it's only an issue for multi-player leagues.

7) Players who are not under contract, but have less than four years of experience, should be listed as unsigned, but not as restricted free agents.

8) Illegal forward pass penalty on fourth down no longer results in fifth down.

9) Minor pre-play offensive penalties on fourth down and short are no longer declined.

10) AI teams fill their roster properly under very rare circumstance when the top free agent at the position is also first in the player file.

11) Proper substitution of quarterbacks, according to playing time set in depth chart.

12) Sacks added to total plays in box score, players given credit for a pass play when result is a sack.

13) Quarterbacks are now receiving kick holding ratings when imported.

14) Fullback run percentage limited to 40, as indicated in instructions.

15) Draft order properly places playoff teams not appearing in Front Office Bowl.

16) Box score always shows final drive when in play-calling mode.

17) Cap properly calculated, with respect to teams with more than 53 players, when making offers to rookies.

18) Players winning season awards properly given blue team highlight in multi-player mode.

19) Algorithm for deciding between 3-4 and 4-3 defense rewritten.

20) Out of memory error fixed when loading some careers of more than 50 years. Note that this fix may well break some third-party utilities. But this, and any other fix, will not affect existing careers.

21) Easter egg "RookieShow" created to add text to scouted attributes for rookies (easter eggs can be accessed from Ctrl-Shift-F10).

22) Force teams to resign a higher percentage of their free agents and raise the AI threshold for releasing players.

23) Clean up the stadium renovations screen when toggling between renovations and new construction.

24) All references of awards should be 1st and 2nd Team, not String.

25) Tweak algorithm that chooses players of the game and players of the week.

26) Add counter for inactive players to roster screen.

27) Don't allow player to change ticket prices outside the pre-free-agency stage.

28) Add popups and confirmations that reflect potential conflicts and affinities when offering a contract.

29) Tweak AI so that teams call about 1-2% fewer passes. Slightly raise rushing gains to compensate.

30) Tweak AI for selection of Hall of Famers. More at most positions, fewer quarterbacks.

31) When moving, teams are properly charged for stadium costs.

32) When successfully renovating, support for a new stadium drops more significantly.

33) Text when offering a player a contract in mutli-player mode now fits special information window when you have already made an offer.

34) Tweak injury routine so that injury prone players don't receive quite as many of the new injuries.

35) Description of two-point conversions in play-calling mode now correct.

36) Punters should not be making tackles on short punt returns.

37) Add "any non-kicker" as an option for position on the recommendations screen.

38) Fix problem where the draft class isn't created in certain leagues with starting dates prior to 2003.

39) Free agency signings outside of the free agency period in multi-player mode should be determined by the value of the offer. Ties now go to the team closest to the player's home town.

40) Stadiums with construction underway at beginning of the game no longer have to wait past 2003 if starting date is prior to 2003.

41) Position changes added to transaction log.

42) Position change limit reduced to two per season per player, but limit reset after each season.

43) Contracts with very heavy backloading no longer given as much consideration by players.

44) Tweak to AI allows better clock management when trailing late in game by exactly three points.

45) Careers of the top players in the league may run a little longer.

46) Sort the team names properly on the records screens.

47) Give more weight to future potential of quarterbacks in draft AI (though teams that are happy with their quarterback still aren't anxious to draft them).

Wow.

Happy anniversary!!! :)

FM

Great work with the new patch, but greater work in making Solecismic a successful full-time job. It must feel great knowing you have that independence, and that you have a legion of text-sim nuts excitedly awaiting your every move.

bravo.

28) Add popups and confirmations that reflect potential conflicts and affinities when offering a contract.

I REALLY like this one. Makes my job much easier.

Congratulations, Jim, and thanks.

Great news all around and I'm sure I speak for most everyone here when I say thanks for all the hard work.

Thanks a ton from FOFL; the in-season FA correction will save everyone a lot of work!

Thanks, Jim.

22) Force teams to resign a higher percentage of their free agents and raise the AI threshold for releasing players.

29) Tweak AI so that teams call about 1-2% fewer passes. Slightly raise rushing gains to compensate.


34) Tweak injury routine so that injury prone players don't receive quite as many of the new injuries.

43) Contracts with very heavy backloading no longer given as much consideration by players.

44) Tweak to AI allows better clock management when trailing late in game by exactly three points.

45) Careers of the top players in the league may run a little longer.



These are my favorites, which should help to make this a significant upgrade. I'll be firing up one more new career before OOTP6 hits in about a month.

Anybody tried the "RookieShow" Easter Egg yet? I'm not quite sure I understand what this does...

Thanks for the great work, Jim. It makes me all warm and fuzzy seeing one of the bugs I reported just a few weeks ago making it into the fix list. (#40) :D

Great news Jim (patch 5.0c) and even more important: CONGRATULATIONS for SOLECISMIC's success through the years.
Being still here and actually, stronger than ever after 6 years, is the trademark of business champions.

Congrats.

Jim - thanks for all your hard work.

Congratualtions too on your six years of freedom :)

Fantastic!

(and thank goodness for memory sticks!)

wow.

Was the bug for the team with the lowest ID number getting the free agent before anyone else fixed?

Anybody tried the "RookieShow" Easter Egg yet? I'm not quite sure I understand what this does...

Thanks for the great work, Jim. It makes me all warm and fuzzy seeing one of the bugs I reported just a few weeks ago making it into the fix list. (#40) :D

I'm wondering the same thing. And why is it an "easter egg" and not a feature. If someone can give us a report, that would be great.

happy anniversary!

Was the bug for the team with the lowest ID number getting the free agent before anyone else fixed?
Yes (#39)

dola--

I also want to know what "rookie show" does

Nice! And congratulations on all your success, Jim. And many thanks as well!

dola--

I also want to know what "rookie show" does


I'll third that. Can someone hook us up with a screen shot?

Congratulations Jim

Nice job, I look forward to getting home and installing and playing.

great news, jim. thanks, and congratulations.

i don't know if you've made this commitment yet, but i have vowed to never work in an office environment (let alone in a cubicle) again. too much politics and not enough working for my taste. i prefer designing at home. no half-witted boss telling you how to do your job.

i do miss those big office pools, though, especially with march madness right around the corner. :)

Woohoo! An Easter Egg! :)

Jim is the American Dream. Quits his cubicle grind, works at home, and does what he enjoys. It can't get better than that. :)

Excellent. Great news Jim. Maybe now I will finally fire up a solo career. I just need to find the time.

Congrats on the sixth anniversery of Freedom Day.

Wow, six years! My wife and I just started our own business and are just about to hit the magic 1 year.

FOF is the best, I never grow tired of it. Which is amazing. Most games bore me in short time, but FOF2004 is quite the best.

One thing that is interesting in your post is that you have 5 releases of FOF the pro game, and only 1 of TCY. If you go 51% in favor of TCY2 development, all clocks will stop, the earth will tilt even more on it's axis, and I will have an extra beer at dinner time! Or any time!

One fix I don't see is the 0 rating all TE's receive when importing from TCY(I think it's in big-play receiving).
Otherwise great, downloading now.

You can check out the new FOF HTML at www.WigFL.com

I tried RookieShow, but it didn't seem to do anything

I tried RookieShow, but it didn't seem to do anything

Same here.

Here are some screenshots from the new patch

Affinity/Conflict Notice (http://www.geocities.com/fofdynasty/Affinity.html)

Any Non-Kicker Sort (http://www.geocities.com/fofdynasty/Non-kicker.htm)

Updated Stadium Construction Dates (http://www.geocities.com/fofdynasty/Stadium.html)

Position Change Transaction Log (http://www.geocities.com/fofdynasty/Position.html)

I'm still not sure what the easter egg does yet. Will post as soon as I figure it out.

I remember when #1 came out I thought of how long I had waited for a game like it to arrive. FOF is easily my favorite game of all time. Just glad you had the vision to live your dream so we could also.

Trade me a quarterback in IHOF.

Trade me a quarterback in IHOF.

I'll trade you one of mine. :)

I'm still not sure what the easter egg does yet. Will post as soon as I figure it out.

http://cuervo72.majecc.net/Rookieshow.gif

The numbers defining the low/high of the blue range.

What a list. Seems like the kind of thing I would expect to see in a completely new version of the game, not just a patch. Happy Freedom Day!

http://cuervo72.majecc.net/Rookieshow.gif

The numbers defining the low/high of the blue range.


Thanks

http://cuervo72.majecc.net/Rookieshow.gif

The numbers defining the low/high of the blue range.

That actually helps a lot...

How many times can we show the image?

From Keller, Texas. I can spit there from where I sit.

I'm not sure I consider that a "cheat". I mean, the graph is divided into 4 quarters, so you kind of know what the numbers are, within a pretty small range. And it's going to be the same for every player - all you are doing is putting an exact number where you might have already figured a range within 5 points or so. That's the way I did it - a guy with a small bar "maxed out" to the far right had an estimated range of around 80-100.

I like it. I might use that regularly.

wow, not being able to release anyone during free agency changes things A LOT. a WHOLE LOT.

10) AI teams fill their roster properly under very rare circumstance when the top free agent at the position is also first in the player file. :)

Excellent! I wish I was at home and not at work!!!

One question, once we do this easter egg, does it show the numbers for everyone all the time? ..or do we have to enter it for each player we want to see?

Although I guess I like the 'guess work' part of it without the numbers as well.

Thanks again Jim, ever since I found FOF2, I've been enthralled with all of your products.


Todd

37) Add "any non-kicker" as an option for position on the recommendations screen. (Confetti falls from sky)

I tried RookieShow, but it didn't seem to do anything

How did you make it work?

I pressed ctrl-shift-F10 and then it asked me for a "secret code". What is the secret code? Thanks.

I have to agree with pyser. Looks like we'll have to make our cuts during the staff hiring stages? I think that's a HUGE deal, since I like to know what players are requesting, before I start making cuts. I suppose we could wait until after free agency is over to make some of those cuts, but that means we might not be able to sign as many free agents as we like.

How did you make it work?

I pressed ctrl-shift-F10 and then it asked me for a "secret code". What is the secret code? Thanks.

Try this: RookieShow

Clicking on "Personnel - I Formations" in the Depth Chart and Game Plan window brings up the Roster Attributes screen.

So when is version D going to be ready? :)


Can we go to Krustyworld?
No!
Can we go to Krustyworld?
No!
Can we go to Krustyworld?
No!
Can we get a new FOF2004 patch?
Oh, all RIGHT!

:D

Try this: RookieShow

Thanks. I didn't notice it do anything but I'm guessing that during the draft more-specific data on the draftee players is shown.

Are there any other easter eggs? Are they documented somewhere?

Just a heads up to anyone who made bitmap changes. You'll need to do them over after installing the patch.

The new HTML is kewl!

Does anyone know where a mirror site is? I keep getting a timed out message

Phenomenal update Jim, thanks for all your work these past years!

Congratulations on your success.

Don't want to be too schmaltzy, but you really are an inspiration to all of us who want to go through life on our own terms.

Best wishes for your continued success.

Does anyone know where a mirror site is? I keep getting a timed out messagehttp://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/FrontOfficeFootball2004.exe

Sorry guys, I was out of town all day up until now (in North Georgia), and have to go down to South Georgia later this evening. Jim gave me word of the impending patch release a few minutes before I left town this morning. Talk about a kid having to wait for Christmas. Looking forward to starting a new career tomorrow morn.

WOW!

That's awesome. I could see about 10 or 15 right off the bat that look extremely helpful to me personally.

This just makes the FOF2004 and MP experiences even better.

Congrats to Jim and family. Keep up the great work!!!

Excellent update, it's not very often that I pick the winning horse :)

Beta-Max / VHS
Amiga / PC Clone

I picked a winner finally! FOF2K4 over TPF!

Roderick

Jim,

Great work, great news and thanks for all the "fun" we have w/ FOF.

good work.. thats my weekend sorted out now :D

I dont want too take away from all of these great fixes and i have to say FOF is by far the best football sim engine out there....

please improve mulitplay.

Can we please, please, please have a patch that will allow us to save the changes made to our team?

Once again Jim, thank you! Happy Aniversary! (Now all I gotta do is wait for my new DSL modem to come so I can return to the internet at home...Grrr... No internet make John something something...)

DSL make Dutch happy. Hope make Big John happy too.

Very good update Jim. I only wished that the game logs would reflect all the information we receive on formations, blitzes and agressive run/pass def etc. that you can see during the actual gameplay. For multiplayer gameplanning, this would help immensely. Perhaps this can be something for 5.0d?

Great job, Jim. Thanks for the continued work on this excellent game.

I want to thank everyone here for their continued support of Front Office Football. Without you, this couldn't work. The money I've made has allowed me to stay out of the cubicles, and even allowed Angela to take care of the baby full-time this past year. All added up, I've probably done about as well financially as I would have sticking with the corporations, so this is a huge plus.
Score one for the good guys. :)

#2 which is found under depth chart and game plan as "roster attributes" is an amazing addition. That just cut down a fair amount of work for me. I'm sort of surprised there hasn't been more feedback about that feature yet.

#2 which is found under depth chart and game plan as "roster attributes" is an amazing addition. That just cut down a fair amount of work for me. I'm sort of surprised there hasn't been more feedback about that feature yet.
Just for you, I'll comment on this..and in all seriousness...

Nice!!! :)

I was just noticing this new addition, helps you to see the bigger picture of individual players and compare.

#1. I just played around with the HTML exports. They are very extensive and include a lot of surprising information such as past drafts and well designed team pages. I like it with my team colors, but some of the other team colors makes it look pretty bad, but outside of the colors issue, I think it's a great addition.

#2. As mentioned, the Quick Switch and the entire Roster Attributes screen is just better to look at and to work from. I like it a lot, even if it does remind me of Madden a little. :)

#11. Hopefully the QB subsition routines are normalized with this one. I'm glad to see it mentioned.

#26. Added a counter for inactive players on the roster screen. This may not seem like anything much, but when I'm flying through a single-player career, this is a great help.

#28. Adds pop-ups to inform you of potential conflicts or even affinities between your team and a free agent. That's something I haven't seen yet, but I'm looking forward to it!

#34. Tweaking the injury prone routine to save players from getting dinged with too many new injuries will hopefully work as I think it will. I have seen so many people just become your injury nightmare from one injury that makes them practically worthless to keep around after the "big one". Hopefully, this will make you want to give these guys a chance once in a while.

#37. Adds any "non-kicker" to recommends. Okay, it doesn't seem to work right, but it's a great idea that no doubt will be working soon enough.

#39. Free Agency outside of FA periods in MP fixed. That's good news for IHOF, not good news for Sachmo of the CFL who has about 5 guys on his team that could have been on mine if my team number was higher. No more, now I will get those guys I offered $400k for!!! :)

#41. Position Changes added to transaction log. Nice feature to save us from watching good talent get flushed down the toilet because it's "in the game". ;)

Oh, and there might have been something else to "tweak" MP that makes me happy.

All in all, this is a "big" patch with lots of fixes and features for everyone to get something positive out of. Well done!

Confirming Rhone Ranger's reported bug. With the new patch installed, trying to set my I-formation Personnel (directly below Roster Attributes in Depth Chart window) takes me to the Roster Attributes screen. I'm guessing that's not the way it's supposed to be.

Woo hoo!

I can't quite put my finger on why, but this post made me smile.


Congratulations on six years of independence, Jim!

Great patch. The only part I don't like is not being able to release guys during FA. Generally, I like to be able to attempt renegotiating before I decide whether to cut guys loose or not. Now I'm stuck, being unable to sign FA's until FA ends and I can release guys to get under the cap.

It's a pretty big problem, actually, but, nonetheless, this is a great patch.

What about releasing injured players? Is that a rule in the NFL that you can't do that?


Todd

What about releasing injured players? Is that a rule in the NFL that you can't do that?


Todd

I believe it is, although the NFL has some additional options for dealing with injury-related roster moves (i.e., injury settlements).

phone modem sucks... Fortunately for me DSL has been made available last Tgursday in my little town => ordered Friday morning => expecting the DSL modem next Friday :D

Happy Anniversary Jim. Take Care of the family !

I believe it is, although the NFL has some additional options for dealing with injury-related roster moves (i.e., injury settlements).
Hmmmm.... can't CPU teams do this in FOF? I've seen some injured players in FA, which btw, is a cheap way to get a good player on your team. :)


Todd

Hmmmm.... can't CPU teams do this in FOF? I've seen some injured players in FA, which btw, is a cheap way to get a good player on your team. :)


Todd

I suspect that the injured players you've seen in FA got there as a result of not having their contracts renewed, rather than an outright release. But I've never looked very hard at this and thus can't be confident about it. Anybody else looked at this?

I suspect that the injured players you've seen in FA got there as a result of not having their contracts renewed, rather than an outright release. But I've never looked very hard at this and thus can't be confident about it. Anybody else looked at this?
Great point Fonzie!

That could be it... I'll check it out.


Todd

Anyone else having problems with the download from solecismic's link?

Anyone else having problems with the download from solecismic's link?

Skydog posted a mirror site link somewhere in this thread. If Solecismic's site isn't working you could try that.

Skydog posted a mirror site link somewhere in this thread. If Solecismic's site isn't working you could try that.
I must be losing it, thanks. When i saw that, it exaclty matched the link he has on the Sportplanet homepage that matches the 5.0b, and I dismissed it. D'oh.

Skydog, could you update the front page?

tanks

I must be losing it, thanks. When i saw that, it exaclty matched the link he has on the Sportplanet homepage that matches the 5.0b, and I dismissed it. D'oh.

Skydog, could you update the front page?

tanksMy bad. I was out of town most of the day yesterday, and through about mid-day today. Forgot to do it. Done now.

bump.....un-stick....archive.

Kickass, thanks Jim!

This patches the game to 5.0D (at least when you click the little imfo icon in FOF that's what it says)

This patches the game to 5.0D (at least when you click the little imfo icon in FOF that's what it says)You got some catching up to do. Read the very top sticky thread. :)

I suspect that the injured players you've seen in FA got there as a result of not having their contracts renewed, rather than an outright release. But I've never looked very hard at this and thus can't be confident about it. Anybody else looked at this?

Yes, this is exactly right. Having thier contract expire while injured is how they got there. Happened many times to my players.

Yes, this is exactly right. Having thier contract expire while injured is how they got there. Happened many times to my players.
Ok, thanks... thought I was getting ripped! :)


Todd

The "inactive players" count is a great addition to the team roster screen. I think the ability to filter out players who are not currently under contract would be just as nice, though.

Congrats on your six years of freedom Jim!:D