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mbsports -> RE: Out of the Box: The AI (9/30/2008 11:20:11 PM)
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To me the limitations are widespread beyond gameplay itself. Concerning gameplay the limitations that seem to be most pressing are issues such as not having the option included. It is one of the most historically utilized offenses but nowhere to be seen. For the U.S. College and High School game this immediately rules out an offense used throughout. Another issue would be the onside kick. Onside kicks are a material part of the game of football, but lacking here. Every week you'll see the onside kick used somewhere, but not in MaxFB. I won't rag on the command based system because I think it is very solid. The issue I think is that there's no real "if" clause during a play, because in reality that "if" clause defines a lot of the gameplay issues. You're seeing it do what you tell it to do, but not necessarily something you'd expect. An "if" clause would have allowed for further development of playbooks within the community. The beauty of MaxFB and this community is that tremendous work has been done to exist within the rules and to get something that resembles the game of football with some rules that don't correspond. It is what it is.
Minor quibbles would be - not being able to select a stadium for a championship game, the schedule creator being scatterbrained, not being able to set your uniform prior to a game, not being able to set start times, not being able to get a weather report, not being able to shut off the cpu from changing rosters. Draft is kind of a cluster as it is built on the same team profile framework which I don't think does justice to team managment.
Outside of the gameplay itself though is where I personally experience major issues with the status of Max FB. Classification and specialized players are a reality and football, but again missing. This discussion has taken place many times, but when MaxFB doesn't list FB as a spot, doesn't list OT/OG/C as spots it is denying the reality of modern football. Players specialize in those positions and not being able to classify them as such actually shortchanges other parts of the simulation and creates more work for the user whereas a more comprehensive system would have given a much more robust level of familiarity. I'm not judging whether the system used in the NFL, AFL, CFL, NCAA, and most minor leagues is correct or not, I'm saying it is what it is and Max FB not following the reality that those leagues portray is a detriment. I'll also point out that the output is horrific and quite frankly beyond workable for most commissioners. The fact that there are active leagues is a testament to ingenuity, sweat, and brain power. Guys have taken almost nothing and fashioned it into nice pretty pages in a variety of ways. While I find that encouraging I never found it something that got the level of attention it needed. Longevity for MaxFB is partially predicated on league play and the lack of output makes it extremely difficult to recommend. I can't tell someone you should use this instead of Madden, but you may need to go to school for database analysis for a few months to get what you need out of it. Player management is not effectively implemented, so for instance if you wanted a realistic league you'd do all of that outside of Max FB. The ability to work effectively in Access or Base or DB Commander appears fairly mandatory.
I would call the graphics & sound lacking but adequate. I mean if you use it, you're not doing so with the intent of getting beautiful pictures. You know what you're getting so I consider that fairly innocuous.
The default stadiums and playbooks are also fairly antiquated at this point but the community has thankfully kept up rather well. Constants files turned out by the community as a whole experimenting are pretty good at this point and continue to get refined.
Overall you have to consider Max FB almost as a couple different products.
It has so many pieces that there just wasn't time to build in and so much focus on one off tweaks and issues that the development path for a single person wasn't actionable. That's unfortunate but I would say what was produced is amazing for the criteria. If you like to tinker, you like to test, and you're ready for a little frustration on occasion Max FB is fine - you'll enjoy what you can do that you can't anywhere else. The problem is that 90% of the football game/sim community doesn't want a hybrid that you can work for months on to get a reasonable game of football. If they're forking over 40-50 bucks they want 40-50 buck quality. For some of us it's worth it, for me it is because I do tinker and I do want to provide a complete set of leagues that offer something different. For many others though, it will quickly become a coaster for their Madden Beer drinking.
My Ratings
Idea: 10
Gameplay: 6
Layout: 4
Management: 3
Output: 1
Modability: 10
Community: 10
Overall: 5.5
It is what it is - specifically a wonderful idea with some pretty sizable implementation holes that won't/can't be addressed.
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