GreyDog has released 2 screen shots of their upcoming College Football release Bowl Bound, layout looks pretty good.

Bowl Bound screenshots (http://www.greydogsoftware.com/)

Interesting look for the game, though I admit I'm not too happy about having to set all those budget categories. Will you get fired if you spend too much money or something?

I like the interface.

They look really nice, now let's hope the gameplay will be as good, i'm counting the days to start that FOFC multiplayer league.

They look really nice, now let's hope the gameplay will be as good, i'm counting the days to start that FOFC multiplayer league.
That is sooooo 2000 ish. :D

i love the formation screen.

it looks like certain formation your coach knows you get a bonus and the ones your coach dont know you get a penalty. but at least you able to use it if you want.

Interesting look for the game, though I admit I'm not too happy about having to set all those budget categories. Will you get fired if you spend too much money or something?
I agree - good Lord, I have devote a budget towards offensive tackles?!

I don't like that budget screen either.

It does look pretty, but I'll be waiting to hear about gameplay.

You can always outsource the budget to your AD. What this screen does is allow you to set your recruiting priorities by region and position. This gives you more flexibility when recruiting. If you desperately need OL, you can pump up your OL budget (independent of region) without having to overspend in other regions just to get some OL.

Looks good to me. Click suggest and then modify as needed. Looking forward to seeing more.

i love the formation screen.

it looks like certain formation your coach knows you get a bonus and the ones your coach dont know you get a penalty. but at least you able to use it if you want.
It's not by your coach, it's by your chosen philosophy. IE, you choose to run a "run-n-gun" style, you get a small penalty if you try and run the wishbone. The theory here is that formations that do not suit your offense will not be practiced as much in camp/during the season.

GreyDog has released 2 screen shots of their upcoming College Football release Bowl Bound, layout looks pretty good.

Bowl Bound screenshots (http://www.greydogsoftware.com/)
An update in the Sports Sim world not provided by JB? What's the world coming to?

An update in the Sports Sim world not provided by JB? What's the world coming to?


lol :)

i try but BYU 14 is pretty fast and good himself. :)

You can always outsource the budget to your AD. What this screen does is allow you to set your recruiting priorities by region and position. This gives you more flexibility when recruiting. If you desperately need OL, you can pump up your OL budget (independent of region) without having to overspend in other regions just to get some OL.
That sounds nice and all, but does Ralph Friedgen go to Debbie Yow and say, "I need more $$ for offensive linemen!" Why would anyone find this attention to detail and minutae "fun"? Why was there a need to make recruiting budgets get down to that fine of detail? Isn't it okay to make a recruiting budget and let the coach decide who he wants to go after?

That sounds nice and all, but does Ralph Friedgen go to Debbie Yow and say, "I need more $$ for offensive linemen!" Why would anyone find this attention to detail and minutae "fun"? Why was there a need to make recruiting budgets get down to that fine of detail? Isn't it okay to make a recruiting budget and let the coach decide who he wants to go after?
Prioritizing your scouting of HS and JC players is a big part of college recruiting. Again, what we are talking about here is one screen with 8 position groups and 5 total regions to prioritize. Even the most miticulous head coaches shouldn't spend more than 5-10 minutes on this decision - once a season. Plus, if you are a smaller school, you won't have the money to recruit anyone outside of your region to begin with.

What this option allows is for high-prestige teams to tailor their scouting to fit their needs by targeting positions independent of region. It also allows smaller schools to focus on one or two areas of major need to try and get the best information they can before making (what could be) a vital decision on which mid-level player to target. I don't think that asking people to spend 5 minutes in camp to decide whether or not they want to focus more on scouting offensive linemen or defensive backs is asking too much.

And, again, all this decision impacts is the quality of scouting information you get on players in that group. It does nothing to impact whether a QB, OL or DB will decide to attend your school. There's a recruiting stage later where all that gets decided.

I think the issue with the budgeting is that it will be a pretty minor decision in the scope of the entire game, but since it's one of the first screenshots that was released, my initial impression was, "This must be something really important to the game if it's the first thing they worked on!"

arles any more info on formation you can share with us?

will there be specfic plays (picture) we pick out in a playbook?

and will there be a setting to set the % to run or pass on 1st, 2nd , 3rd, 4th down and certain yards?

also game situation when winning, behind by so many points, tie, etc. will there be a setting for that too.

thanks. game looks great so far.

I think the issue with the budgeting is that it will be a pretty minor decision in the scope of the entire game, but since it's one of the first screenshots that was released, my initial impression was, "This must be something really important to the game if it's the first thing they worked on!"

Just because it has a screenshot released doesn't mean it was one of the first things worked on.

Perhaps we are saving some of the milk for when the cow is closer to being ready :).

Just because it has a screenshot released doesn't mean it was one of the first things worked on.

Perhaps we are saving some of the milk for when the cow is closer to being ready :).
I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I'm just glad to see cows take their rightful place in text sims.

That sounds nice and all, but does Ralph Friedgen go to Debbie Yow and say, "I need more $$ for offensive linemen!" Why would anyone find this attention to detail and minutae "fun"? Why was there a need to make recruiting budgets get down to that fine of detail? Isn't it okay to make a recruiting budget and let the coach decide who he wants to go after?


If maryland needs more money for offensive lineman.. they should take some money outta the Food for Friedgen fund

I like the interface, and the idea of budget splitting. It won't take longer than a few minutes. Also the formation screen looks very good.

Prioritizing your scouting of HS and JC players is a big part of college recruiting. Again, what we are talking about here is one screen with 8 position groups and 5 total regions to prioritize. Even the most miticulous head coaches shouldn't spend more than 5-10 minutes on this decision - once a season. Plus, if you are a smaller school, you won't have the money to recruit anyone outside of your region to begin with.

What this option allows is for high-prestige teams to tailor their scouting to fit their needs by targeting positions independent of region. It also allows smaller schools to focus on one or two areas of major need to try and get the best information they can before making (what could be) a vital decision on which mid-level player to target. I don't think that asking people to spend 5 minutes in camp to decide whether or not they want to focus more on scouting offensive linemen or defensive backs is asking too much.

And, again, all this decision impacts is the quality of scouting information you get on players in that group. It does nothing to impact whether a QB, OL or DB will decide to attend your school. There's a recruiting stage later where all that gets decided.
Ok, I understand the philosophy, though I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. From a design point of view, I don't see the need to split the budget based on position. I can see if a program has a particular need that it would make sense, but IMHO yearly recruiting rarely gets down to single positions like it does in basketball. You may focus on a few key positions, but by and large each class should have some of everything.

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but taking the numbers to that level of detail just doesn't seem fun to me, not unlike the time management "laundry" in TCY. To each his own.

Ok, I understand the philosophy, though I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. From a design point of view, I don't see the need to split the budget based on position. I can see if a program has a particular need that it would make sense, but IMHO yearly recruiting rarely gets down to single positions like it does in basketball. You may focus on a few key positions, but by and large each class should have some of everything.

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but taking the numbers to that level of detail just doesn't seem fun to me, not unlike the time management "laundry" in TCY. To each his own.

I think it's WAY too early to make judgement calls on micro-managing and gameplay. It's two screenshots for god's sake. Let's compliment the boys on getting this closer to release, and wait for a demo before we take shots at the gameplay.

In case this was missed the first time it was posted...You can always outsource the budget to your AD. What this screen does is allow you to set your recruiting priorities by region and position. This gives you more flexibility when recruiting. If you desperately need OL, you can pump up your OL budget (independent of region) without having to overspend in other regions just to get some OL.

In case this was missed the first time it was posted...
Right, just like you can outsource your recruiting and time management in TCY (and we know how well that works). Look, I'm not trying to bust his you-know-whats I'm just interested in the design decision surrounding this choice.

Ok, I understand the philosophy, though I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. From a design point of view, I don't see the need to split the budget based on position. I can see if a program has a particular need that it would make sense, but IMHO yearly recruiting rarely gets down to single positions like it does in basketball. You may focus on a few key positions, but by and large each class should have some of everything.

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but taking the numbers to that level of detail just doesn't seem fun to me, not unlike the time management "laundry" in TCY. To each his own.

C'mon, this isn't even close to the time management in TCY. That was something you had to do for every player on the team. This is a relatively simple one screen breakdown that you do once a season and that's it. I'm guessing I'll spend less than 2 minutes on that screen every season.

I think you already answered the reason for it. While I agree position recruiting isn't as prevalent in college football as in basketball, it still exists. You still need to find that QB to replace the Junior you have coming up. It would be nice to concentrate scouting in the areas that you need. If I have a couple freshman RBs that are studs, I'm not going to give that position the same degree of attention as I would for a position where I'm in dire need of an upgrade or replacement.

Ok, I'm obviously in the minority. I'll take my ball and go home now :)

It's obviously very early to comment, but this looks to be one of those "tinker with it only if you feel the need" elements. Seems like you'll get a balanced level of recruiting funding emphasis as the default.

I still want more info on career stat tracking and a comprehensive almanac.

I like the idea a lot to be honest, like people are saying it's only once a season and it will be very useful for the years that I often have in TCY that I don't manage to recruit a stud d-lineman or corner to emphasise a little more on that position for next year.

I am also very encouraged by the formation screen (as long as this doesn't turn out to be another TPF multi-screen nightmare) The impression I get is that the formation bonuses are tied into your philosophy. Either way it's a very nice idea if done right.

The game looks great!!

Looks very promising - I look forward to giving it a go :D

I like the budget idea, maybe we'll get a college FOOTBALL game instead of Recruiting 101. :)

I like the budget idea, maybe we'll get a college FOOTBALL game instead of Recruiting 101. :)
I sense bitterness...

Not really bitterness I really WANT to like TCY, so many folks do......but everytime I break it out and tell myself I'm going to get into I either:

-Get part of a season in doing the recruiting myself and give up due to the constant recruiting.
OR
-I allow the computer to do it and within a season or two I've taken a top 20 school and they are now a bottom 20 school(maybe not that bad but they suck).

My dyslexia has me reading this title every time as Bound Bowel screenshots released

Not exactly the same thing...

I still want more info on career stat tracking and a comprehensive almanac.

Yeah, me too. Can't wait to see some screens about stats.

Not really bitterness I really WANT to like TCY, so many folks do......but everytime I break it out and tell myself I'm going to get into I either:

-Get part of a season in doing the recruiting myself and give up due to the constant recruiting.
OR
-I allow the computer to do it and within a season or two I've taken a top 20 school and they are now a bottom 20 school(maybe not that bad but they suck).

I like the constant recruiting, I just think the interface and not letting the user call the plays is a real hinderance and deal breaker for me.

TCY/FOF could really use an FM-style interface.

Yeah, me too. Can't wait to see some screens about stats.
If stat tracking is as good as TCY's then I'll make the jump. If it's as good as TPF then I'll reconsider on the purchase.

Will it be possible to let the AD do ALL of the scouting, and just coach the actual games yourself?

Has that Greydog style to it.. which is good. Can't wait for some more information on the game.

Wonder if it will come out before the next version of solecismic software?

Will it be possible to let the AD do ALL of the scouting, and just coach the actual games yourself?
Yes. You can assign your AD to handle the budget and assistants to handle the recruiting. Of course, you can also assign your assistants to call the plays and setup the gameplan, and only worry about the budget and recruiting if you so desire.

What kind of release date are you looking at? 4weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks? Just generally curious, i wouldnt want you to get specific, but Fall is pretty generic.

What kind of release date are you looking at? 4weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks? Just generally curious, i wouldnt want you to get specific, but Fall is pretty generic.

I don't expect Arlie will answer this with any real information, but I can tell you with no authority it should be released in late August or early September. If there are delays, it would be later of course.

It will be released sometime in the fall ;)

I don't expect Arlie will answer this with any real information, but I can tell you with no authority it should be released in late August or early September. If there are delays, it would be later of course.


So, you're saying somewhere around Christmas, then?

It will be released sometime in the fall ;)

Note he doesn't say fall of WHAT YEAR.

So, you're saying somewhere around Christmas, then?


yes...although it could possibly be earlier or later depending on how much time it takes to develop.