Varsity High School Football Video Game in Development - Here's What We Know So Far

[Spear]

Quote: Originally Posted by diamok

I don't mean to be negative, but I really do not see the draw to this. What will make this more interesting/different than say a college styled game or all the other BS games already on the market? I could care less if there is some urban environments that looks like a highschool, or some cut scenes of kids walking down a hallway and stupid so called "immersive" crap like that. Having a real or fake stadium that seats 100 or 10 million fake fans that I can "upgrade" means nothing as well. In highschool coaches get what they get, sure there is a little bit of "recruiting" so to speak...like maybe convinceing that really good kid who plays soccer to be your place kicker or something, but honestly, what is the real difference? Coaching in a video sports game is coaching in all video sports games. It's click this, pick that, wait for the engine to do it's thing and see the results. It's all the same as far as the "game" play of whatever sport the video game is about. Give me/us real options, not just a spreadsheet of plays to pick through, or some dropdown list of players to put in this or that slot. Boring and way over done. I need more! Off the top of my head... Can I create my own custom school and be the Athletic Director? Or at least just create a custom school? Can I hold a QB or other position camp for kids around the country that could improve my schools prestige and increase enrollment? Coaching skills that make sense and don't break the mechanics? Can I attend or send my other coaches to seminars to improve my/their skills? Not just some point system where I click to improve this or that. Can I make Halftime adjustments? How about a pregame insperational speach system? Can my star RB knock up his girlfriend and be kicked out of school? Unisex players? Rivalry games that don't just have a splash screen that says "Rivalry Game" Boooooring... Practice that can give boosts or drops in stats and don't last longer that playing a game? And so much more no other american football game does... Just asking,

We do plan on incorporating a lot of what you asked in your list. When chatting with high school coaches during our discovery process, it was apparent that there could be a strong narrative system within Dynasty Mode that would tie back to the gameplay. There are plenty of layers that will effect a dynasty including coaches attending clinics, players going to 7on7 teams, parents/families of players influencing decisions, boosters and the communities involvement.

I know it may not be everybody’s preference for a football game. But with EA bringing back College and other Pro style games available (Axis, Maximum) we thought there was a gap in the marketplace on the high school side.

There are over 1 million kids that play high school football in America every year and that number was the deciding factor when making a business case for the game. I think we can provide them a customizable and realistic HS football experience to give them a video game of their own. We do have every city with a population over 1,000 in the game.

In the next couple of months we are going to be able to show off a little more about the game and planning on having an early Steam access version of the game available at the end of the year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thescoop]

Quote: Originally Posted by diamok

I don't mean to be negative, but I really do not see the draw to this. What will make this more interesting/different than say a college styled game or all the other BS games already on the market? I could care less if there is some urban environments that looks like a highschool, or some cut scenes of kids walking down a hallway and stupid so called "immersive" crap like that. Having a real or fake stadium that seats 100 or 10 million fake fans that I can "upgrade" means nothing as well. In highschool coaches get what they get, sure there is a little bit of "recruiting" so to speak...like maybe convinceing that really good kid who plays soccer to be your place kicker or something, but honestly, what is the real difference? Coaching in a video sports game is coaching in all video sports games. It's click this, pick that, wait for the engine to do it's thing and see the results. It's all the same as far as the "game" play of whatever sport the video game is about. Give me/us real options, not just a spreadsheet of plays to pick through, or some dropdown list of players to put in this or that slot. Boring and way over done. I need more! Off the top of my head... Can I create my own custom school and be the Athletic Director? Or at least just create a custom school? Can I hold a QB or other position camp for kids around the country that could improve my schools prestige and increase enrollment? Coaching skills that make sense and don't break the mechanics? Can I attend or send my other coaches to seminars to improve my/their skills? Not just some point system where I click to improve this or that. Can I make Halftime adjustments? How about a pregame insperational speach system? Can my star RB knock up his girlfriend and be kicked out of school? Unisex players? Rivalry games that don't just have a splash screen that says "Rivalry Game" Boooooring... Practice that can give boosts or drops in stats and don't last longer that playing a game? And so much more no other american football game does... Just asking,

I've wanted a High school football game for years and if you look in my signature you'll see I've even written how I'd like it. I'm really impressed with this team. I've shared my blog with Spear and got positive feedback from him as well. I'm really excited about this title and think it will be a different kind of football game. It might not be for everyone or even for you, but this is a game I cannot wait for.

[mestevo]

Quote: Originally Posted by diamok

I don't mean to be negative, but I really do not see the draw to this. What will make this more interesting/different than say a college styled game or all the other BS games already on the market? I could care less if there is some urban environments that looks like a highschool, or some cut scenes of kids walking down a hallway and stupid so called "immersive" crap like that. Having a real or fake stadium that seats 100 or 10 million fake fans that I can "upgrade" means nothing as well. In highschool coaches get what they get, sure there is a little bit of "recruiting" so to speak...like maybe convinceing that really good kid who plays soccer to be your place kicker or something, but honestly, what is the real difference? Coaching in a video sports game is coaching in all video sports games. It's click this, pick that, wait for the engine to do it's thing and see the results. It's all the same as far as the "game" play of whatever sport the video game is about. Give me/us real options, not just a spreadsheet of plays to pick through, or some dropdown list of players to put in this or that slot. Boring and way over done. I need more! Off the top of my head... Can I create my own custom school and be the Athletic Director? Or at least just create a custom school? Can I hold a QB or other position camp for kids around the country that could improve my schools prestige and increase enrollment? Coaching skills that make sense and don't break the mechanics? Can I attend or send my other coaches to seminars to improve my/their skills? Not just some point system where I click to improve this or that. Can I make Halftime adjustments? How about a pregame insperational speach system? Can my star RB knock up his girlfriend and be kicked out of school? Unisex players? Rivalry games that don't just have a splash screen that says "Rivalry Game" Boooooring... Practice that can give boosts or drops in stats and don't last longer that playing a game? And so much more no other american football game does... Just asking,

Ultimately it won't be the game for everyone, they've got a vision and an idea of where they can fit in a suddenly busier landscape of football titles - now to see how they execute and the value proposition that vision produces.

[khaliib]

TBH a lot of the doomsday folk surrounding another football game not named Madden being viable, are honestly just Maddenized to that product line.

It’s the same ideology that says an football game will not be viable without the NFL/College Branding, when the data clearly shows that the “Branding” is not what keeps gamers invested, it’s the gameplay experience & quality of depth that leads to desired replay ability.

Fun Fact:
There where more non-FBS schools created in NCAA Teambuilder Suit than the Branded FBS schools the game was branded with.


Three core things “must” be addressed in any other football game that’s developed and I believe are non-negotiable, esp for NG Consoles.

1) Gameplay - player movement must be near current genre standards & can not move like PS3/Xbox standards
-- I didn’t purchase an NG Console to play PS3/Xbox movement games, no matter the depth that may be there

2) Graphics - same premise as #1 above
-- NG Graphics will give a game a lot more Grace concerning other deficient areas in the game

-- every sports title utilizes this Grace for its game

3) User Customization Suite
-- this gives the User the power to be creative while also providing them tools to extend the life the game, as the Developer continues to developed its product.


If an High School Football game can provide these three things, it will be a viable football alternative, esp free from guardrails/restrictions that branded licensing can impose on a game developer.

Definitely will keep an eye open.

[TarHeelPhenom]

Just now seeing this and reading through the entire thread for the first time. I'm definitely intrigued and welcome any alternative football games. I'll definitely be giving it a go. I do have a couple of questions with regards to it being authentic high school football. So I'm from the state of North Carolina and the way it works around here is we have 4 Classifications:

1A, 2A, 3A, 4A

1A schools are the one with the least enrollment and 4A is the most. So my question is, how will this play into Dynasty Mode? Will a 1A(small) school have significantly less players on it's roster as opposed to a 4A(big) school? Will there be Two Way Players?

Also, we have programs here in North Carolina who have feeder programs starting at Pop Warner where the high school coaches institute their offense scheme into the Pop Warner program; so that by the time the kids get to high school, they are ready to roll. Example, there is a very successful team here that runs Wing T. In the Little/Pop Warner leagues, all teams run Wing T.

So, my question is will the high school teams have specific playbooks? Will the type of play be based on state? Will there be different classifications based on state? I know some states go all the way up to 6A, 7A too I believe? Will the competition in the state of Texas, California, and Georgia be better than competition in the state of North Carolina?

I don't know if this is possible, or something that you guys would look into, but I think it would be really cool, that even though there is no college game to go with it, that your kids being recruited somehow plays into the Coach's Prestige. If you are a Coach that's known for putting out D-1 prospects, then that increases prestige that then allows better jobs to open up.

Very intrigued!

[Spear]

Our latest development update!

[Spear]

Update from March:

[Kingd803]

Whoa this is awesome.

I have some suggestions.

On QB animations and gameplay - I’d like to see a two tier animation system here. What I mean is this. The QB has a dropback animation style and and throwing style. Maybe a handful of each that can be randomized. Think NBA2k jump shot creator

Examples would be Marino and Favre guys who dropped back like that. Brady and Montana more a textbook style. Johnny manziel how he held the ball really high and tight. How they’re teaching kids now.

This will give QBs a feeling of uniqueness.

I’d also like to see QBs with a special strong arm animation. Guys with absolutely elite arms. Maybe if they have that trait they’ll have a special animation that’ll play for them throwing and it’s just more powerful. Maybe it could give them a stay boost.

Last suggestion is gear. I’d like to see many different helmet styles and jersey styles. Old school helmets and facemask from the 80s and 90s. Along with an option for bigger pads and loose sleeve jerseys.