Computer Controlled Teams

[Brockleigh]

David,

I had a question about computer controlled teams during the course of a season.

Let's say I made a real dumb mistake and cut one of my best players during a season and did not notice. No matter what category you pick, he's the best player at that position.

How long can I expect for him to stay on the list of Unsigned Free Agents? Will The CPU teams immediate take notice he's on there and one of them snap him up, or would the only chance of him being signed by someone else be if a team suffered an injury at that position?

[David Winter]

The computer team would need a reason to go into the free agent pool to grab that player.
 
You do bring up an interesting idea though, in that computer teams should check once in a while to see who becomes available. But right now that doesn't happen.

[Brockleigh]

Thanks, Dave.

I'd hope that would be something that could be incorporated sooner rather than later in terms of new features, because as it stands right now, the free agent pool just ends up serving as a giant Taxi Squad for the human controlled players.

I am fully aware, however, that this might become something of a nightmare to code.

[David Winter]

I am fully aware, however, that this might become something of a nightmare to code.

 
It does introduce some unique challenges. I'll just leave it at that [:)]

[Brockleigh]

... and as long as this is a wish-list item and I can fantasize all I want...

I noticed when I held my USFL draft to kick off the second season, that while I had amended and adjusted my draft profile to fill the holes on my team, the computer controlled ones had not. Ther were all still using the first three rounds of the draft to select QB's, then the next two on RB's then the next two on WR's, etc.

I'd be kinda cool to have the CPU teams adjust their draft profiles based on need and to fill the holes in their rosters.

[David Winter]

This is likely because they don't have team profiles to draw from. I'm not sure what roster size you're using, but lets say you're using 53 (as an example). There needs to be a collection of 53 man team profiles of various setups so the computer can draw from them and not have to rely on the stock (and rather vanilla) team profile.

BTW, the 'draft profile' is no longer in the game. It has been replaced by a 'team profile' that has a broader use. Not only does a team profile determine what position to pick when in the draft, but also determines the character of your team. For computer teams, this is important because it gives the AI a profile to use when selecting players and maintaining depth charts.

The more team profiles you have, the more variety in team characters you'll have.

A couple of the private beta testers created a collection of team profiles for 45 man rosters and the teams were very different in their character. Some were very run centric, others were very passing minded, others were fairly balanced, while others still stocked up on strong defenders to compensate for weaker offenses.

So I think in this case, your wish may have been granted, there just are no team profiles created for this roster size.

[Brockleigh]

Ooooh, cool.[8D]

I've been using 45 man rosters. I'll be looking forward to this at the end of the next USFL season... or wait, is this something I'll have to reset my league to have take effect?

[David Winter]

No. You shouldn't need to reset anything. Just create 45 man team profiles (I think nmleague has a bunch already, maybe shoot him a PM). When your next season starts the profiles should be in use. You may have to change your draft rounds value to match his profiles. I'm working to remove that dependency.

[Brockleigh]

Awesome. Thanks, Dave.

[Marauders]

Brockleigh,
 
In a human league (not the 80's band), that player would have to be waived, and he would be picked up quickly.
 
A good league always adds more realism, but it would be nice if there was a GM front end even for abandoned teams.