Quick feature hits

• New top navigation UI that replaces the older side and upper menus
• Updated in game presentation using the newer arena template with a classic view option available
• 15 scholarship rosters and additional awards including 3rd Team All Conference
• New conference types and scheduling formats
• NIL system updates with collective aggressiveness and resource allocation settings
• Transfer portal activity levels that control roster movement

Redesigned UI and navigation

Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 26 uses a single navigation bar across the top to access major screens. The goal is quicker access to common actions and more usable screen space for management views.

Updated in game presentation

The in game display uses the newer arena template introduced in Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 26. The game view supports fast forwarding through parts of a matchup while keeping results tracked and it allows you to take control during the game. A classic game view remains available for players who prefer that layout or use custom courts.

Modern era rules and league structure updates

The release includes 15 scholarship rosters added award coverage including 3rd Team All Conference and additional conference types with more scheduling formats. Screen updates and quality of life changes are included to support the new layout and league options.

If a college league is linked to Draft Day Sports Pro Basketball 26 imported players can carry over using the Pro Basketball archetype system for player type mapping.

NIL recruiting controls

The NIL system is presented as a configurable layer that lets you set collective aggressiveness choose different offer amounts prioritize recruits and allocate NIL resources. NIL and the transfer portal can also be disabled for leagues that want a different setup.

Transfer portal activity levels

Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 26 includes multiple transfer activity levels so commissioners can set how active the portal is in a league. Higher activity settings produce more roster turnover while lower settings reduce movement.

The post Draft Day Sports College Basketball 26 Adds NIL Options Transfer Portal Settings and Updated Game Presentation appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

Feature Overview

One of the central additions in College Football 26 is a coach career progression system. Players can now begin as an assistant coach and work their way up to head coach positions. Career trajectory is shaped by reputation, performance, and job opportunities that become available over time.

The game features expanded AI strategy, with CPU coaches adapting to performance trends and modifying tactics across the season. Opponent gameplans are now more reactive, offering variability and strategic shifts based on real-time results.

A new animated game view replaces the previous 2D static displays. Play execution is now visualized with animated players, providing clearer context for how plays develop and where breakdowns or successes occur. This feature also improves player movement visibility during simulations.

Recruiting mechanics have been updated with more detailed player behavior. Decommitments, transfer logic, and prospect interest are now influenced by multiple factors including coach trust level, playing time promises, program prestige, and team performance. Chemistry also plays a role in recruiting outcomes and team results.

Game planning and scouting tools have been redesigned. Users can now analyze performance trends by formation, situation, and specific play types. In-depth metrics allow coaches to better prepare each week, and adjustments can be made at the team or coordinator level.

The play design engine continues to support detailed creation of offensive and defensive plays. Users can define player routes, blocking assignments, formation shifts, and option logic. Playbooks can be built from scratch or modified mid-season for flexibility.

Custom league building remains a core element of the game. Users can create entirely fictional leagues, replicate real-world setups, or modify the structure of conferences, bowl tie-ins, and playoff formats. Rivalries, scheduling, and end-of-season awards are also configurable.

Presentation improvements extend beyond gameplay. The interface includes refined UI elements, with updated menus, faster navigation, and better data visualization across team pages, recruiting screens, and player profiles.

Injury systems and roster management tools have been enhanced. Users can track player durability, set substitution thresholds, and plan for roster turnover using redshirt management, graduation tracking, and dynamic depth charts.

System Requirements and Compatibility

Draft Day Sports: College Football 26 is built for 64-bit Windows PCs. The title supports cross-game connectivity with other Draft Day Sports football titles, allowing users to export draft classes and maintain continuity between college and pro simulations.

For fans of deep simulation and long-term program building, College Football 26 offers full control over strategy, development, and customization.

Stay tuned to GM Games for more updates on college football management simulations and the broader sports strategy genre.

…

Come discuss this latest release on our GM Games sub-reddit!

The post Draft Day Sports: College Football 26 Released for Windows PC appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

I was one of Brooks Piggott’s original testers and players of Pro Football Simulator, way back in 2012. (For the rest of this piece, I’ll refer to Brooks by his first name.) The game was marketed towards the online market; in this fashion, Brooks was ahead of his time.

Of course, time catches up with you. When Brooks joined Wolverine Studios and began to expand the game towards a broader audience (the offline market), there were some glaring holes. But of course there were; Brooks is a solo developer. He is also very responsive to his audience, and clearly very dedicated. He has been given a long leash by rational gamers, the same kind that has been afforded Markus Heinsohn, Arlie Rahn, Jim Gindin, Adam Ryland, and Brooks’ colleague and founder of Wolverine Studios, Gary Gorski.

(Author’s Note: I am absolutely pointing the term “rational gamers” at the irrational, this-game-sucks-because-you-didn’t-fix-the-small-thing-I-wanted crowd. Please note that rational gamers have issues with the games; however, the approach to those issues, and the patience given to those issues because, again, these guys generally run solo, makes them rational. I shouldn’t have to point this out, but have you met society or people?)

My issues with Brooks’ games are well-documented, because I’ve written several reviews of his games. I had major issues with how data and information was presented within the game; namely, tons of dead space on screens that could have been better utilized. I had issues with recruiting, to the point that I actually had to abandon a review. 

I can’t say I became irrational; I simply didn’t play the game. It wasn’t for me. But, compared to 2012 me, the one filled with so much hope and idealism that we’d get something deprived of us since Joe Stallings ran off with Total Pro Football…well, compared to that guy, I was Randy Quaid in Major League 2.

That brings us to now. Well, “now” is relative; I’m writing this section on August 16th. Wolverine’s First Look video for Draft Day Sports: College Football 25 released on August 12th. I watched skimmed through it, and saw some things that are intriguing. It may have something to do with EA releasing their first college football game in a decade. It may have something to do with us inching closer to my sim fantasy since 2000, that being a universe that houses baseball, football, basketball, and hockey leagues under one roof (that has expanded to include soccer, tennis maybe, golf maybe, and pro wrestling).

As I watched skimmed through that video, I thought…maybe this is finally the year Brooks and Wolverine reels me in. 

And then I thought this.

(Author’s EA College Football Rant: Thanks mainly to Reddit, but also my cracking Derby County save in FM24, I still haven’t bought EA College Football 25; I have an XBox Series S I got for free from Verizon for getting FIOS a year ago that has never been opened; I fully expected to have opened it and played a ton of College Football by now…but nope. The apparent bare bones feel to Dynasty Mode gave me the ick, as the kids and women say. 24-year-old me does not understand 44-year-old me at all.)

A note before we begin: I began writing this some time ago. Life gets in the way; in this case, getting married, a honeymoon, and several curveballs thrown at my jobs (yes, jobs) caused this to get pushed off the backburner. It is December 20th as I’m writing this; I still have not played EA College Football, though my wife did get it for me for Christmas.

Here are the front-and-center features in DDSCF25, per Wolverine’s website:

Graphics / Interface

The game has more of a DDSCB/PB feel, with a side menu akin to what you’d find in those games. There are also several buttons along the top, that send you to various other screens.

I forget those buttons along the top exist. All the time. That’s more a me thing, but I’m so used to looking along the left…they just don’t register to me. If it were me, I’d love to have everything on the left, with expandable menus for the team pages. It would simplify things into one place to look, while keeping things neat. The pages do look neat, things look more organized and sharp.

If I can train my brain into looking at the left being for league stuff, and the top being for things related to my team…that would be easier. Maybe with time, that’ll come to me.

One thing I absolutely don’t like: The Teams screen.

Why is this like this? Why is this not a simple pulldown menu with conferences and teams? This screen is an unnecessary waste of time (clicks) and space, in my opinion. I’m sure others may like it. But it’s not for me.

When looking at how pages are organized…I was very unhappy with how information was accessed in the past, and how certain areas of the game–mainly the news and media sections–were tons of empty space. So I’m going into this with trepidation, but also in seeking out the positives. One page I rather like: Depth Charts.

When you go there, you get the basic depth charts. However, in the top-right corner, there are two options: Formation View, and Quick View Roster. The Formation View is a pop-up that shows you what your lineup looks like in various formations. It’s fine.

But the Quick View Roster menu…that’s pretty great. There’s a pulldown menu with all of the positions. Click on one, and it shows you the ratings of each of the players at that position. This can help you make more informed decisions, without having to go to different screens. It’s efficient and informative. I’m on board.

Because I’m apparently a tinkerer…if I wanted to improve this one way, it would be to simply click on a position within the depth chart, rather than the pulldown menu. But it’s fine the way it is. It’s just one extra click the way it is…though you’re scrolling ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP RIGHT MY GOD THE WRIST STRAIN IS REAL

Anyway, one screen I still really don’t like: The Magazines.

The Magazines are supposed to be an easy way to learn about the world you are now in. And sure, that’s fine, to a point. But…well, what I was talking about, with regards to screens wasting real estate and not providing enough information…it’s right here.

The Recruiting Preview is just a rehash of what you can get in the recruiting section. It’s uninspiring. That’s the best I can say about it. It’s disheartening to me, as I really get immersed into a world by the media that is provided. In previous versions, the way the media was displayed and handled is, far and away, my least favorite of any game I’ve ever played. To me, it’s disconnecting from the universe. I wish it were better.

By the way, one thing I learned: If you’re in the Conference Preview issue, and click on a team…there’s no way to get back to the issue. So you have to start over. This can be frustrating if you’re in a conference that isn’t the ACC, which is where you start.

The News section of the game is slightly improved from before, though not much. Previous versions, and this may be my DDSCFPTSD going here, but I remember previous versions of the game presenting news in just lines. Here, there are boxes. The font is better, the players are clickable (this is something that was available before)…but it’s still vanilla and repetitive. That is a major turn-off for me. Just…get away from the scrolling nonsense. Go to one screen, make headlines clickable, and have news occupy boxes on the screen.

I hated this screen before. I still hate this screen. For improvements (a recruiting article is a nice touch here) made, and for the visual improvements made…this screen being the equivalent of scrolling beige is an instant disconnect.

One thing that really frustrates me, and I remember this being a major issue for me before…the lack of basic organization…and links to boxscores…for “articles” like this screen:

Seriously, what the hell is this? Who is looking at this for more than a second? This is what I was talking about before: it’s a disorganized mess. Why aren’t these broken into ranked teams and conferences, and WHY ARE THERE NO LINKS TO THE BOXSCORES?! This is a waste, and it’s a waste of my time and energy. Stuff like this breaks the experience for me. You may think I’m overreacting to this, and maybe I am. But how can you make the improvements you’ve made to make this game look better, and then just leave this like people want it?

To be honest, the news section pisses me off even more after seeing the performance and awards screens. Those look fantastic, and more like what a game with 100+ teams and a mountain of information should look like. It’s all the more frustrating that the news section, which should be a daily driver of a text-based sim, looks the way it does.

The game screen is better (low bar after what I just wrote); there are more games on the screen. The in-game screen hasn’t changed, as far as I can tell. You get the 2D screen so you can watch the game play out in real time. It takes up the vast majority of the screen, which is great. You get a scoreboard below the game, and then your coaching options on either the left (if you’re away) or right (if you’re home). Seems fine, right?

I have issues.

1. Why are there two scoreboards? That’s unnecessary, and create consequences for other aspects of this screen. Pick one or the other. 
2. The commentary is shoved off the top right. It’s small. It should be highlighted as a way to help you process the game.
3. ALL THE EMPTY SPACE BELOW THE SCOREBOARD BREAKS MY BRAIN. This could be where you put commentary. You could better line up the team stats and lineups below that screen. I’m not opposed to where it is now, but it would be better aligned if the stats and such were in that empty space.

The screen gives you plenty of information…but the amount of work your eyes need to do to go around the screen to process it all…it makes for an unsatisfactory experience. I’m fine with the information that’s on the screen, but it needs to be optimized for a more efficient user experience. Even just flipping the scoreboards, and putting the one with logos on the top, would make things a lot better, in my opinion. 

The focus should be on the field first, commentary second. The way my game is set up, the commentary is the red-headed stepchild of the screen. I’m not a fan, and hope it changes down the line.

You can enter a full-screen mode, which shows just the field, and offers pop-ups for the boxscore and PBP. I’m on board with the screen…but you can’t call plays out of it. Again, there’s still empty space surrounding the scoreboard; why not allow for playcalling to the left of the scoreboard? You could have the opponent’s formation on the other side.

Customization

DDSCF25 offers three basic modes: 

Career – Coach one school, variable level of team control, can be fired

Sandbox: Control multiple teams, adjust level of control anytime, cannot be fired

Multiplayer: Play against other people, cannot be fired

The other basic options are playoff structures (2, 4, 8, 12, 16, or no playoffs), your starting year, and toggable options to be fired, disabling injuries, disabling the 2D display, and hard mode, which is basically…well, things are harder. All I could find from research was this, taken from the WS forums.

Those seem pretty par for the course for most games. However, what comes after is rather intriguing.

The default league format is Modern College I. However, there is a custom option, which you can use–presuming you have some XML editing experience–to create your own landscape. Given the landscape of today’s college football environment, I would say this is a major plus.

Before you get on me: Yes, I know it has been around for many versions. It stands out more prominently now because of how screwed up college football has become. Also, this is the customization section of the review.

Looking at the mods section on the WS forums over time, there have been some other formats created by users. Take OOTP historical legend Tiger Fan, for instance. He created a 1970s era, 82-team format back in 2019.

As always, slybelle1, the MVP of Wolverine real world application, has their Real World Mod already linked in the First Access forum. This is a must for anyone, unless you want to go completely fictional. And that’s totally cool if you do.

Fictional Players in 2024

I need to note that you seem to need to create a dummy league first, so that the folder the mod writes to, located in your documents, will create. At least, that’s what I had to do. There is also a Documents Folder Finder app that will help you find the folder you need, if you need the help. (That said, I did test it out, and copied the location from inside that app…when I pasted the copied text into the RW Mod app, it only had DOCUMENTFOLDERFINDER RESULTS. I had to go and physically highlight and copy the location. That was my experience; yours may be different.) 

The last piece of the customization is with your head coach. There are plenty of options, though it’s pretty obvious Wolverine only purchased one facepack and clothing set for all of their games. I have no issue with that at all, as to me, it’s fairly inconsequential. I just rather enjoy that I can have my coach wear what my DDS basketball coaches wear, which is basically the chill teacher look.

(As a long-haired weirdo that wasn’t a long-haired weirdo until the pandemic, I am still terribly upset that there are no options for long-haired weirdos. We hippies just have to conform, man.

There are two additional facesets here, but this feels like an ultimate troll. It’s just fifty bald sets.)

Now, we have to come back and talk about something. Yes, you can also create your own schedule and rosters; I know that is difficult on its face here, because of how vast college football rosters are, and how difficult it would be to figure out ratings for average-to-good-but-not-great players if you tried to create a historical roster.

The same goes for schedules, and this is the more frustrating aspect of DDSCF. You can create a custom schedule using a CSV file, which is fine. However, there are concerns here. I’ve been reviewing comments regarding scheduling on the Discord, and these are all recent (though, admittedly, with DDSCF23…I don’t think they are part of an open beta period, but I may be wrong).

This is a valid concern. How a school has five straight home games, then five straight road games, makes no sense whatsoever.

Looking at this in my initial DDSCF25 save, and this is going off an extremely small sample size…I haven’t come across anything that really sticks out as immersion-breaking. Here are the main things I see…and again, this is in one season of one save. 

• Utah has games in Weeks 1-6…then an open week. This is followed by three games, then back-to-back open weeks (11-12). This wouldn’t happen in the conference schedule. It’s easily rectified by moving, say, the Baylor (Wk 4) or Cincinnati (Wk 5) games to week 11 or 12.
• Utah also goes to Tennessee the final week of the regular season. I’m not sure how to feel about that.
• UConn has back-to-back opens in Weeks 7-8. They’re independent, and there’s probably some constraint in getting a game there. 
• Liberty is off for the first two weeks, and again in Week 4. They have no open weeks the rest of the way. Again, this isn’t too much of a concern. It just sticks out, compared to other schools I’ve seen.

Where I worry about schedules, especially with these ridiculous monstrosities of conferences we have now, is in later seasons. I have no idea how the schedule turns over, and if there are set patterns in conference scheduling. But could there be a thing where Auburn and Alabama, who do play here (though in Week 12), don’t play in the future. 

(Author’s note, as I have circled back to this after the game has officially released; I’m seeing more schools with several weeks to their season before their first open week. And I’m seeing a couple back-to-back open weeks late in the season. But overall, the schedules look decent.)

Is there a way to hard-code rivalry games into a certain week of the schedule? The answer to that appears to be no. There is a place to hardcode historical games; however, that is working under the assumption that you know team IDs.

There are issues with creating custom schedules, based on what I’ve seen in comments in various places. Mainly, the issue is that there are a ton of moving pieces, and it is hard to keep track of everything…making it even easier to make a frustrating mistake. While there are some folks who have created mods and have shared (or shared but just kidding, apparently), the basic gist is that you have to have great organizational skills, a bunch of patience, and some technical ability rooting around in core files, to achieve such a thing.

So, why isn’t there an editor already? These core files don’t change that much from year-to-year. I understand why Gary Gorski doesn’t necessarily do it with his games, as he wants to simulate the current basketball universe as accurately as possible. But Brooks has always been about customization. Why can’t there be something more user-friendly to help achieve this? Why do we need to rely on the community AND have knowledge of how to properly edit the Teams.xml file to play the game the way we’d want?

If an editor cannot be built, would Brooks be willing to create a base set of configurations? I understand that’s a bunch of work; however, if you’re going to offer the ability to do it, shouldn’t you ensure that the people who wish to use it can do so without worry that they’re going to get the first 527 steps right before messing up step 528, making the rest pointless?

(Note, this actually happened. William Shanks, an amateur mathematician, counted out PI to 527 places correctly. He messed up at 528…then continued on until he got to 707. He spent decades on this. I don’t want to feel like William Shanks probably did when he realized he screwed up twelve years ago, and that the past twelve years were spent in horrible pointlessness.)

I don’t think this is an unreasonable request. It’s in the game, but it’s not very well supported. This could be, in my view, one of the biggest available features for this game. But since it’s so difficult to do…it gets underutilized. I know I want a different configuration than what we have now; I’d rather want something akin to the early 90s. But with no safety net on such an endeavor, I feel defeated before I even step out on that tightrope.

Please, Brooks…help us out on this, somehow.

The one other thing that appears inexplicable: No commish or unemployed mode anywhere? Want if I want to fast sim 10 years into the future and pickup from there? In Sandbox mode, you can fire a coach, including yourself. So I guess that’s one way around it. But there’s no way to start unemployed in this game. As someone who likes to build a history, this is disappointing.

One other thing I’m.

Gameplay / Sim Engine

The game places you into your coaching role on August 1st, before Training Camps…but after scheduling. I wrote about this in my 2023 review; it’s frustrating, because I’d like to schedule Pitt for my Penn State Nittany Lions. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not the worst thing for the first year.

You can jump into recruiting  by adding players to your targets. One thing I like: The ability to delegate recruiting. In previous versions of this game, recruiting was an albatross to me. It was haphazard, random, with no rhyme or reason to what I was attempting to do.

I also like the dashboard. One thing I’ve really not liked about previous games is how information is accessed. There was too much empty space. DDSCF25 still has some issues with dead space…but it has also improved. I like the position data and recruiting pipelines section, though I think they could be positioned better, so that no scrolling is necessary. This could be directly tied to my resolution (2560×1600), too…so take that as you will.

I do wish the positional needs were available on the main recruiting screen…even just as a “need” in the chart. There’s space next to the Target column, which would be perfect.

One thing I’ve noticed: the AI will target three recruits for every possible opening. So I have three senior wide receivers, and my staff is targeting nine receiving recruits. I really appreciate it shows you how many targets you’ve lost, which you can see under the total targets you currently have. That’s a very nice touch.

When you target a recruit, you get the basics of their scouting report, some commentary, and talking points. This is in line with DDSCB, where you are trying to pitch various things to recruits.

The in-game experience is fine; I’m sure there are improvements over the years, I have no tangible way of telling you what the improvements are. Brooks is active in the community and offers patches regularly. However, I can’t give you a statistical argument as to whether the game plays like football or not. In my experience, it does. That said, I just noticed something. It’s this.

If you can see Wyoming’s offensive formation (yes, it’s really tiny)…they’re in the Jumbo formation. Why is it suggested we run a Dime Press Zone Contain as a result? Why do I want six DBs against a run-heavy set with what is likely one receiver on the field?

I switched to a 4-3 Mike Over; sure enough, they ran a QB Dive. The next play, they went shotgun, so I switched to a nickel. They ran a RPO. On third and four at their 27, they went back to a Jumbo set. My defense…went back to a Dime Press. What do I not know about this formation that I should? Why is it suggested against a Jumbo set multiple times?

I ran it, and we stopped them. So, 4th and 4 on their own 28…here comes the punt team. My coaching staff suggested we go to the Nickel. I said sure and called it. The game overrode it and put in a punt return, so that I, the user, didn’t so something so brazenly stupid as run a nickel set on 4th-and-4 from their 28.

So…maybe there’s some hiccups with the playcalling. Again, I’m not an expert; what I’m putting here is anecdotal. But it’s something to look at early on in your own dynasty.

Overall: The basics here are recruiting and in-game coaching. That’s to be expected, and from what I can tell, it continues to do a decent job. Having a developer who continues to tweak the engine is extremely beneficial. This is one shining light for Brooks. Basically, if you like calling plays, and you like recruiting…this is for you.

Online Modes

It exists, yes. There’s not much else to say about it. This game was made for online leagues. So you can expect a reasonably streamlined experience for a commissioner, as you can see below.

Overall: There’s really not much to say here; it exists, and it does what it’s supposed to do. As I say with this section each time…this is more of a pass/fail.

Fun Factor

I won’t beat around the bush here. This game isn’t for me, specifically. I’ll explain why in a bit. That makes it hard for me to grade this section. But I think I have a way, so I’ll try.

If you like calling plays, building a system and recruiting to build that system, and look at things like the media as simply window-dressing, then this game is very much for you. Some could view this as repetitive; to that, I say…have you met text sims? Or most games? Of course they’re repetitive. The key to any good sports sim is to make it feel not that. With as much customization as there is in the game (as cumbersome as it may be to do in some cases), and with as many different ways you can build a winning program, DDSCF does more than its part to fight off repetitiveness.

However, if you like having that fourth wall setting in around you…this game will leave you wanting more. 

(I’m sure you were expecting more here. So was I.)

The best thing for you to do is use what you have just read as a small guide, but go try the demo, and see for yourself.

Official Download for Draft Day Sports: College Football 2025

Leave a comment for John or GM Games on reddit…

The post Review of Draft Day Sports College Football 2025 for Windows PC “If you like calling plays, and you like recruiting, this is for you” appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

How Has the Recruiting System Been Enhanced in Draft Day Sports: College Football 2025?

In Draft Day Sports: College Football 2025, the recruiting system has received significant updates to provide a more immersive experience. According to Wolverine Studios, the new recruiting module allows players to engage with recruits on a deeper level. This includes evaluating recruits based on various metrics and attributes, simulating a more realistic scouting process. Players can expect a more strategic approach to building their team, as managing recruiting efforts effectively becomes key to securing top talent.

What Improvements Have Been Made to Game Planning and Playcalling?

The game planning and playcalling systems have also seen enhancements in this year’s edition. Wolverine Studios highlights that Draft Day Sports: College Football 2025 now offers more control over how players can prepare for each game. The updated systems enable players to craft detailed game plans, with more options to adjust strategies based on the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. These changes aim to give coaches more flexibility in managing their teams during crucial moments of the season.

What Are the New Interface and Presentation Features in Draft Day Sports: College Football 2025?

Wolverine Studios has introduced a revamped interface in Draft Day Sports: College Football 2025. The new design focuses on making navigation more intuitive, ensuring that players can access key information and tools more easily. Additionally, the game’s presentation has been updated, with improved graphics and animations that aim to deliver a more engaging visual experience. These updates are designed to make managing a college football program feel more immersive and accessible.

How Has Customization Expanded in Draft Day Sports: College Football 2025?

Customization remains a core aspect of the Draft Day Sports series, and the 2025 edition expands on this tradition. Players now have more options to personalize their teams, leagues, and even playoff formats. Wolverine Studios emphasizes that these expanded customization options allow players to tailor their gaming experience to their specific preferences, offering greater control over how the game is played.

Draft Day Sports: College Football 2025 introduces a range of new features, including an enhanced recruiting system, improved game planning and playcalling mechanics, a revamped interface, and expanded customization options. These updates aim to provide a more immersive and strategic college football management experience.

The post Draft Day Sports: College Football 2025 (PC) – New Features Overview appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

I am a college basketball nerd. And that continues to lead me back to Wolverine Studios’ Draft Day Sports: College Basketball series.

Author’s Note: I am reviewing a FirstAccess build, which you can get by pre-ordering. This is not a review copy; I purchased the game myself.

And that, inevitably it seems, leads me back here, writing another review for you. I wrote one last year. And the year before that. I was unable in 2021, but was at it during the pandemic.

I was going to take a break this year. I am a teacher. I won’t speak for all teachers here. But I am burned out. My weekends are generally spent resting and recuperating. I also have a side gig hosting trivia nights; yes, that means I spend evenings grading adult worksheets. (I’d make a joke about my life choices, but I do rather enjoy it.)

The thought of writing a review, especially one to my standard, feels daunting. And yes, if you have read my reviews before, I admit they come across as long-winded. You may want me to get to the point. For a text sim, one with a definitive wall that is built on imagination, I believe I don’t do these games justice if I don’t attempt to bring you into the world as I see it. I admit that it is a bunch of pressure I put on myself for these. But I do not wish to commit to something unless I think I can do what I feel is a complete job.

But then UConn won a national title, and looks even better this year. The Big East has returned to, if not what it once was, then pretty damn close. And Gary Gorski, the founder of Wolverine Studios, and developer of both the Draft Day Sports: College Basketball and Pro Basketball series, added some elements to this year’s game that are intriguing. Some of those features are found here; some are in the graphic below.

And now, here I am…writing another review. Is it worth my time and energy? Is it worth yours?

Let’s find out together.

(Author’s Note: Here are the specs for running the game.

I point this out to note something for MAC users: I am playing this on Windows Parallels, a Virtual Machine program available. I had a trial to Crossover, but that was before this came out. I will note my experience playing on Parallels later.

For reference, I have a MBP M1 Pro 16”.)

(Also Author’s Note: I own handhelds. For some reason, I have a bunch of them. I almost went in and told you why I have a bunch of them, but I refrained. That’s progress.

Anyway, I will tell you that the reason I have a Legion Go is because of games like DDSCB and OOTP. The bigger screen makes it easier to read than on, say, an Ally. So here is my quick DDSCB-on-The-Go review:

The game runs great on it. The game looks great on it. Sure, the screen is smaller than you would want for the game…but it does play very well. There is one caveat, at least with my Go, so far. When you load the game, it does this weird thing where you can only see part of the screen. At first, the game starts cut off at the top of the screen. Then it shifts to cut off below the screen.

The fix for this, I have discovered, is to switch the resolution, then switch it back. That resets the game alignment, making it easy for you to play.)

Graphics / Interface

One thing to point out before I even get going: The game now pushes updates out to users, rather than users having to go to the website to download. This is a lovely addition; even lovelier is that you don’t have to accept the update straight away.

Two of the key features of DDSCB24 involve the interface. Both are rooted in getting the user to pertinent information more quickly and efficiently.

Let me start with something I really like: The Team Dashboard has gotten some enhancements. Three areas of this page–Standings, Roster, and Recruiting–have been given buttons that toggle to additional information.

Another thing I immediately like (along with a suggestion): Atop the menu on the left is a Teams button. It will allow you to check in on any team in the league.

This is a FANTASTIC addition and wonderful start, as it was rather cumbersome to get to different teams in the past. I am all about the streamlining of the user experience.

That said, I hope it’s just a start. One change I would make in the future is rooted in streamlining as well. Instead of taking you to a different screen, what not implement what was implemented with the League Media screen?

Having a menu exactly like this, but with conferences and teams, would be amazing. It would also be incredible if Conference Standings got this treatment.

(The dream would be to combine this teams toggle with the conference standings, where you can see the conference standings and select a team from a menu pullout, and not have to leave the home screen at all. But I imagine the UI would not be able to handle that kind of dynamic adjustment needed, as teams would be going up and down those menus. I’m writing this in hopes that Gary sees this and says, “Yeah, that is doable”, then does it.)

As it is, I am quite happy with this Teams screen. I do feel there is room for improvement here. One design decision Wolverine developers make, and this is way more prevalent in the football games than the basketball games…but there is a tendency to fill large areas of the game with either big pictures, or giant boxes of little text. Again, this has been much more of an issue in the football games, where I would redesign every aspect of their news and statistical leaders sections if I had that kind of ability. It’s wildly inefficient to me.

So, to sum up: Yes to the teams screen. Bigger yes to this becoming an ability to select a team or conference from a menu on the home screen. Biggest yes to dynamic menus with real-time standings.

While I am at it…conference homepages would be great. Have standings, conference-specific news, stats leaders, injuries, coach statuses (hot seat), recent results and upcoming schedule, and tournament information, all on one screen. That’s probably overdoing it, but why not shoot for the moon here?

In order to make my point from three paragraphs ago clearer, here is the Ivy League standings screen.

Look at how much unutilized space there is. This screen could be a major player in all Wolverine games. It is a good sign that Gary is willing to redesign some screens–there was a feeling that, once a screen was done, it was locked in forever–but when the game is advertised as having less clicks and more information, this feels like a missed opportunity to really build on that.

It’s possible that the team roster screen illustrates my point best. I don’t believe this was in the last version, so forgive me if it was. But this really stuck out to me:

This is very, very useful when figuring out where you need to spend the most time recruiting. Where is this on the roster screen?

The placement is PERFECT. It’s nestled right in. That’s exactly what I want with these other screens. More useful information that fits together. It’s just fanta–

…wait a second. What is that?

Is that a ZERO-STAR player?

Holy crap. I’ve never seen that before. It’s deserved, I think. But…wow. The accurate disrespect on Carl Henry’s name…I probably should have released him to sign another recruit for next year.

Another area of change I noticed on the Team Dashboard is on the Recruits screen. You can get an overview of your recruiting efforts.

This is a great summary of what you are doing. I absolutely LOVE that you are able to access this screen for ANY team. That is fantastic, especially for dynasty authors or online leagues for creating content. This information used to be hidden, so to see it available is a boon for someone like me, who likes to write a dynasty not just about the team I am running, but the other teams in the conference and region in which my program resides.

Another very useful, and quite attractive, addition to the interface: The bottom scrollbar.

This is extremely smooth, especially since I’m running this on Parallels. It is also clickable, which is a true joy. I absolutely LOVE this.

One last major change from last year…and I think this one is the biggest and most useful. The in-game screen has changed…not from a presentation standpoint, but from a functional, game-management one. You can now make adjustments without having to pause the game, or leave the action. You can also check player stats and ratings; they show up in pop-up windows. You can see some of these adjustments in the very long GIF below. Overall, it’s very impressive.

Note: This is the fourth GIF I made of a game that was setting college basketball back fifty years. Google Docs didn’t want to play nicely. So if it feels a bit rushed, that’s why.

The only thing I’m not a fan of here: You now only have two options of game speed: Normal, and Faster. I prefer a much faster speed than what “Faster” is. I like to coach my games, but coach them quickly. So this is an L for me. 

Overall, though…big W.

There are other, smaller things I would like to see:

• Ability to text recruits from the general recruiting screen. Saves a click.
• I’ve said this before, but the ability to hover over a player and get basic information.. Saves a click.

Grade: 9.5. The additions made here are excellent. I love the news ticker and how smooth it is. I love the adjustments made to the in-game coaching screen, and how you can make changes on the fly. And I love that the game is heading down a path towards being more streamlined, with more clickable assets at your disposal.

The reason it isn’t a 10 yet is the unused real estate on too many screens. It may be just me; I don’t know. But this game could be an efficiency machine for the user, especially if you make the conference screen a data hub. There is opportunity here to use the UI to really immerse the user into the universe they are in. I sincerely hope it happens in the next version.

Customization

(Author’s Note: I am utilizing Challenge Mode as my example.)

The setup is the same as last year. You have six modes from which to choose. (Tournament Maker is found in the main menu.)

This is not a bad thing. It feels generally inclusive of every way you can play. The only suggestion I would have at this point would be to expand tournament mode, with field sizes going beyond 64. I would suggest fields of 68, 96, 128, 256, and one including every NCAA team be available in the future..This is something I’d love to have in challenge mode as well, just from a fantasy universe standpoint. I do believe expanding these tournaments would benefit the game, however…especially for content creators, who may wish to make imperialism videos.

I’m sure I’m in violation of some NCAA rule here.

Once you pick a mode (again, I’m in Challenge Mode), you will have the usual options. I wish there was an option to choose with tournaments you want to run. I know DDSCB is meant to simulate the real world experience. (Though, I would push back…promotion/relegation exists in the game. AND IT SHOULD. It’s fun.) This is just a personal preference; I could point to Fast Break College Basketball, which has this option, but it’s a different game with a different purpose. I use FBCB to run more historical leagues, whereas DDSCB gets the more detailed coaching runs.

I need to note something at this stage, because it is a mistake I make every year. There is an excellent Real World Mod, created by Wolverine forum member NCAAHoops, that is updated for each version. It is available as a full .exe, which is fantastic. This is especially true when you’re running a virtual machine on a Mac to play the game.

This is the mistake I make every year. Well, there are two. And the first one is continually frustrating. Atop your league creation menu is this bar.

It should be noted that there are TWO screens available here: The Basic Game Setup, and the League Settings. Every single time I fire a new version of this game up, I prematurely hit the green Continue button.

To me, and maybe it’s only me…this area needs a renovation. Even if Gary changes the color scheme to eliminate the variants of gray he has there, or makes for a greater contrast, that would be fine. Heck, I wouldn’t mind if the game forced you into that League Settings screen. It does not, and has not as long as I can remember.

This blends right into the second mistake. If you do not go to the League Settings screen, you cannot activate the Real World Mod into your universe.

To activate the Real World Mod, you have to click on “Use Custom File”, found in the League Building Options section. Once you click that, you will bring up a window:

From there, you can activate which of the options you wish to use (you can consult the ReadMe for what those options are).

One of the new features of the game is a toggleable option here: Modern Day Transfer Portal. I like that you can toggle it on or off; as someone who prefers legacy teams and players–I typically don’t let players declare for the draft until after three seasons, if at all–I am not sure that I would want to use this in my universe. Of course, for the sake of the review, I’ll be leaving it on. We’ll get to it later.

After that, you can create your coach, which is the same exact thing it has been for several versions now. You create your bio information, your philosophies, skill settings, and select a job.

I know this is a seemingly completed aspect of the game. But, I do have one nitpick. Please expand on the looks a coach can have. I say this as a recently-turned 44-year-old with long hair I didn’t have until the pandemic. There are streaks of gray and white intertwined with my original dark brown. I also have varying degrees of beard, which typically correlates directly to my level of burnout.

I am no longer represented in the game. I say this mostly facetiously. However, as this aspect has not been touched for years…it would be nice for some additional choices.

(One other additional choice that would be great to add: Women.)

Once you put your coach together, you have a variety of jobs from which to select. You can immediately take a head coaching job, or grab an assistant job. The schools you get offers from are directly tied to your initial skill level. For instance, in this universe, if I choose the lowest setting (Rookie), the highest prestige school I will get a HC offer from is 14. These include Longwood, Columbia, Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart.

If I choose Professional, which is the middle ground, the highest prestige school offering me is at 47. These are Arizona State, California, and Utah.

I like that there are staggered options here; you don’t have to go into your coaching career as a complete novice. Of course, if that’s your jam, go for it. I ended up going as a professional, though I adjusted my initial ratings to be a better recruiter than anything else.

For this review, I’ve decided to coach in my backyard, and take over Bryant. They’re a 15 prestige, so I am, in game terms, way overqualified to be here. But I am curious to see how the transfer portal could impact a smaller school like this…especially with my recruiting ability.

One thing to note: Customization is capped at the current number of teams. You can adjust the conferences, but you cannot customize the structure of the postseason tournaments, nor add or subtract teams from your universe. This means you cannot create an 80s-era universe. I asked Gary about this last year; he said that DDSCB is meant to simulate the current college basketball environment. I wish you could create a smaller universe, though you could probably stack a bunch of teams as independents (I don’t know what that would do to the stability of a file), but I understand Gary’s rationale.

Grade: 10. It’s been set for several versions now. The game does what it’s intended to do, which is to create a real-world environment, while offering enough variations of that (yes, pro-rel aside) to keep it fresh. While I will always yearn for the ability to play NCAA as it was, this does exactly the job it is supposed to do, and needs to do. I won’t ding a grade because of what I want, versus what the goal is. That’s just selfish. (This is what I wrote last year; I see no reason to change it.)

Gameplay / Sim Engine

The game drops you off at the beginning of summer, setting you up for recruiting. You do have an option to skip the summer, which is found in email. The game doesn’t draw attention to this option; having an alert or a pop-up at the beginning of your save would be helpful. (I treat in-game emails the way I treat real-life emails…as invitations. I’m a middle-aged introvert; I’m not too keen on invitations to much of anything.)

Before I go any further, there is one thing I want to see added to this game: The ability to select your coaching staff before you go. The game auto-allocates a coaching budget when you begin. It also allocates you coaches. This is what I was given as I took over Bryant, which has a prestige of 15.

This…this is some hot garbage. Even for a low-level prestige team, this is some hot garbage. It would be MUCH better if you are given that budget, hard-coded, at the start of your time, and sent to a couple of rounds of coach hiring. This would still be a difficult process, because low-level teams are likely not to attract too many coaches.

However, this is where things like ambition can come into play. See a young coach with high ambition and some solid skill in a couple of areas? Throw a 1st Assistant offer to them. See someone with a specific skill, like scouting, but not much else? They may be down with a 2nd Assistant role.

Heck, you could add another element here, and give these coaches some homes and built-in pipeline progression stats. Everyone starts off with a completely clean slate, which makes it even more difficult for smaller schools. One could argue that, with everyone at the same spot, any school has a chance to rise up. I counter that you aren’t starting at the same spot, due to prestige and budgets.

Adding this element, or something along these lines, achieves two things:

1. Gives every school an opportunity to enhance recruiting in a way it could not before, and
2. Makes coaches in the game actually feel useful.

I won’t say they’re totally useless. However…well, you see what I’m handed up above. I guarantee you that wouldn’t be my initial staff. Coaches are generally the most overlooked and underutilized aspect of this game anyway…adding something like this not only gives coaches a actual deeper purpose, but it adds another layer into the universe that doesn’t exist.

To me, this is a necessary mini-game. Come under budget? You get to pour that money into the program. Strike out on your top targets? You may potentially end  up with a coaching staff like what we have at Bryant. 

I typically reach out to Gary about my reviews when I’m done, and highlight what I am advocating for in future versions. Sometimes, like the daily fantasy game in DDSPB, those land and make it into the game. I hope this is one of those instances, because I really think you can turn an already-existing, nondescript aspect of the game into a feature-packed powerhouse.

There are some adjustments and additions to the gameplay experience. One place this is immediately noticed: Summer Travel.

The addition of the JuCo Jamboree is a massive win for small schools. This is especially true for a school like Bryant, which sits in the shadow of Providence and URI, and resides in a region that is not exactly a hotbed of high school talent. While I believe my preference would be the transfer portal, beggars can’t be choosers right now.

While I am writing about recruiting (I write my reviews as I play, in case you didn’t know and were wondering, there is a necessary adjustment): It’s time to expand stats. How is it that I have no idea what a recruit from Cumberland High School, a ten-minute drive from Bryant’s campus, shot from three last year? I know there are notes you get from scouts and HS coaches. But if you are at a school like Bryant, with assistant coaches Bryant has (top scout:

)…how am I to trust much of anything they say?

It would be nice, and an added layer of scouting and talent assessment, if we had their shooting statistics. Heck, I’d love for a full line of stats, along with a level of competition faced, like in OOTP. That’s asking too much, I’m sure…but a full line of stats probably is not. I would like the ability to assess a player’s percentages and shot tendencies against what the scouting report says. If a 6’9” power forward is shooting 47% from three, but on .8 attempts a game…are they being underutilized at the high school level, or is this Small Sample Size Theater? As a coach, I would have to weigh my coach assessment, the HS coach assessment (if I had that information), and the statistics…specifically, usage and percentages.

To me, that would be a hell of an added element of strategy to the game, and force a lot more deep-diving on recruits. Last I checked, this game has a lean towards college basketball nerds. I have a feeling adding this dimension would send many of them over the moon.

This isn’t to say that I want the path taken at a small school to be less bumpy. It SHOULD be incredibly difficult and frustrating. I just wish it was those things because of choices you make, not choices that are out of your control.

But, I digress.

One last necessary adjustment I would make: Change the monetary system from a state-based system to proximity-based one. For instance, Bryant is a tiny school in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It is 13 miles to Bellingham, which is in Massachusetts. So why does it cost me $550 to host a kid from Bellingham, which is closer to Bryant than Providence (16 miles)? This is something that kind of breaks the logic and immersion for me, even if I totally understand the limitations of the system.

Overall, I rather do enjoy recruiting, even if it is somewhat monotonous over time. It has been a consistent staple of this series over the years, getting tweaked here and there…but in general, very few changes have been made to this aspect of the game. Generally, that is a good thing. This is even more fun at the small school level, as you have to sift through the lower levels of recruits, looking for diamonds in the rough.

There is one aspect of recruiting that really bothers me, and again, this works against small schools. To illustrate my point, let’s take a look at Michael Brazzle, a small forward out of Bangor, Maine.  Here are the basics:

Here are his recruit rankings:

Lastly, here is his interest list:

How does this compute? How does the 155th-ranked player in NEW ENGLAND have ALL of wish-list schools in the ACC or in the DMV? How does that make any sense? I don’t necessarily expect him to be fawning over Bryant, or even remotely interested in them. He refused my invitation for a visit (though, one hack that has made it through in several versions now: If you schedule a visit from the main recruiting screen, instead of on the player page, they tend to accept; it’s not 100%, but it does happen).

However, this does not detract from the fact that he’s a TWO-STAR RECRUIT IN MAINE.

There is one screen I would love to see added to this game, especially as Gary wants to improve efficiency and screen clicks. There are two currently two viewing options: Bio and Ratings. I would love for a Pitches/Interest Rank screen be added. Show where your pitches are, how they’ve landed (color coding would be just fine), and where your school shows up in the recruits’ top ten, if they do. Recruiting does become a clickfest; this would be a solution towards that issue.

It would also be great if you could favorite recruits (yes, I know the call list exists). A simple clickable star or something would suffice.

One aspect of recruiting that has changed: NXT Hoops. I (and many others, I am sure) have asked Gary to include a centralized recruiting service for versions now. It makes its way here, which is fantastic. 

On this screen, you get the top 150-ranked recruits nationally, and the top 200 for each region. I believe this to be a solid foundation for this particular screen. Where I hope Gary builds on this is two-fold:

1) On the main recruiting screen, please add the NXT rankings next to the WSSN rankings. It would be nice to have them alongside one another, so that you can compare rankings for discrepancies. 

2) Add more information to this screen. Give us stats, the interested teams, offers, visits…give us as much as possible here. As pumping the user with information is a priority for this year’s game, this feature, while appreciated, does leave me wanting.

While I am at it, one more thing I would love to see for recruiting: A news hub. I would love to see a weekly recap of who visited what campus, who received offers, who is moving up and down the rankings…all of those things would make recruiting much more immersive than it is now. This isn’t to say recruiting isn’t immersive; however, the user has to do the heavy lifting to become fully immersed. 

So…want to save the game from becoming a clickfest? Give us a recruiting news hub.

Okay, I have yammered on and on about recruiting. Said yammering is actually symbolic of the game, though. Recruiting is the biggest aspect of the game, in my opinion. Half of your calendar year is dedicated to recruiting. You have recruiting in-season. Thanks to another addition to the game (which I’ll get to soon), you have recruiting at the end of the season.

But…there is one more thing about recruiting. And this is fantastic.

There is now an option to watch your offered recruits make their selections. I had to sweat out this decision for my only scholarship. (You’ll read more about this player in the Fun Factor section.)

Before I get to that last big addition, there is one thing I need to mention: The logic on available jobs for your coach needs to be adjusted towards a more results-based module. I simmed out my season; my Bryant squad went 12-20 (6-10). We got better as the season went on, but we were dreadful.

There are 36 HC vacancies available. The top vacancy available, prestige-wise, is Texas Tech. So I applied for it.

Why the hell did I, a first-year coach sporting a 12-20 career record at a tiny school in Rhode Island, get this job? Bryant was 350th in the NET this season. You mean to tell me the administration at Texas Tech thought THAT performance put me above any other candidate to get their head coaching job?

I got the job because of my ratings. That should be a part, sure. You want ratings to play a role; talent is one piece of it. But your resume matters more, in my opinion…especially when you are young and inexperienced.

The last two big additions to this game happen at the end of the season. 

In previous versions, you had one year-end task: A request to your Board for an upgrade in facilities, an increase in your budget, or more time. You still have that; however, you also have to re-recruit your roster.

The transfer portal, as we know, has blown up in recent years. To me, this is a solid, reasonable method of building a more robust transfer model into the game. Gary has indicated in the past that he didn’t intend to build NIL into the game, though I would welcome it as an option. When it comes to NIL, though, it has to be something the user cannot have any impact on. The coach could request for the Board to build a stronger NIL fund, but that would be it. It would be an interesting wild card to throw in, though, again, I would want it to be an option.

This is a great addition, though, because in previous versions, you didn’t really have this kind of opportunity. I remember being crushed in previous versions when a favorite player would just leave. At least here, I have more of an opportunity, in that I can make one of four pitches to a potential transfer candidate.

The players are clickable, so you can make a more informed decision on these guys. In my case, I made pitches to two of them. The other two…I wouldn’t mind trying my chances in the portal. I received emails from the two I did pitch; they were appreciative, but non-committal. I find that lack of definitive response intriguing.

I had an issue with transfers last year (okay, I’ve had it for several versions now), centered around the lack of information you have at your disposal. There are some changes this year that I appreciate. One thing that did make it into this year’s game is that you keep your recruiting reports, even if a coach leaves. That’s huge, as it was a massive disconnect for me as a player.

Another is that you have more options at your disposal.

These range from $100 for gauging interest, up to $1000 for a campaign (at least, these are my costs).

Unfortunately, this is where my appreciation ends. Here is who has me in their Top 5, along with their ratings:

Why do I know NOTHING about these guys? Again, I understand that my coaches haven’t scouted them, and that I can do that now. But why isn’t there a basic scouting service, like OSA in OOTP, that has a basic scouting report on these guys? Why am I going into this blind??? I know I can look at their stats. But I should have more than just this. (And yes, I know this will grow over time.) Even a chance to scout potential candidates towards the end of the season would be great; get an email of potential transfer candidates, then allow your coaches to watch some film on some of them.

As it is, I have to send kits, campaign, potentially even offer scholarships before I have a scouting report? That’s a logical disconnect, and drives me nuts.

Additionally, the email detailing players who have transferred is still terrible. There’s no organization to it on the user side. It’s just a mishmash of names; they aren’t sorted by position or in alphabetical order. There’s no designation of players you showed an interest in or put any money into, either.

Overall, the whole transfer mode in the game still breaks my brain. It’s unfathomable to me that Gary would put additional access to information a priority of the game, and still leave this as it is. 

Grade: 9. Look, overall…the gameplay is solid. It has been for a long time. Yes, there are some logic disconnects here and there. Yes, behavior management is a turnoff for me at this point. It’s beyond stale. And yes, I still hate the transfer portal. It sticks out even more now, which makes it worse. It’s the reason this score isn’t higher. However, the in-game coaching and recruiting, which make up the vast majority of the game, are still pretty great. If you want to build a program with an identity, you can absolutely do that here. When that is the main goal of a game, and the game achieves that goal, it’s going to get a high score. Just…ignore transfers.

Online Modes / Multiplayer

When it comes to online leagues, there are really two questions to ask:

1. Can you do that?
2. If so, is it easy?

The first answer is yes, you can. DDSCB has had online leagues for several versions now.

To the second question…well, I don’t run a league. Chris Valius, the final boss at GMGames, does. We had a discussion about it in last year’s review, which you can check out on your own.

He did, however, tell me that Gary has “some new league customizations around messing with league facility grades, budgets and campus visits”. 

First and foremost, I have to say this: When creating my online league file (which is basically the same as creating an offline league), the final step hung at 95%. I had to force quit the game. When I restarted, I tried to load my league…which I did with no issue, it seems. 

So that…that was weird. But it seems to work just fine, I think.

Outside of what Chris indicated to me, the only other notable change, aside from all of the other changes I’ve already discussed, seems to be this:

If a commish were running both a collegiate and pro league, this should be extremely helpful. Honestly, this isn’t something I have done, as the pro game doesn’t overly appeal to me (in general, I mean). But easier linkage between the two does have me thinking about potentially attempting this again, as I really enjoy having a full basketball universe.

Grade: 9. As far as I can tell, file upload reports for the commish are still not a thing. If that has changed, I’ll upgrade this to a 10, as this category is more of a pass/fail to me. It works, people use it, and from what I have seen, it isn’t much of a challenge to do.

Fun Factor

This game is always fun for me, and always offers a unique challenge when I play. Here’s an example from my Bryant experiment:

I don’t typically play as small schools that often. I’m a Big East nerd, and I’m a lifelong UConn fan. I also live in Rhode Island. So I typically play as UConn, though I have had a lot of fun with Providence, too. So I’m not too sure about how to recruit with small schools. I think you should offer early in the process, to ensure you get out in front of potentially bigger schools getting involved. You know, play the whole, “they were the first ones to contact me” card. (I’m pretty sure the game doesn’t reward this, but it’s fun anyway. It would be amazing if the game had added classes here, and you could hook onto a freshman early, watch them blow up, and they somehow stick with you when the time comes.)

So I did this with Bryant. I had one scholarship, and need a 3-and-D guard. I decided to offer PG Rob Andrews, a local kid from Johnston. He’s a 3* guard, ranked 218th in the class. You know, punching above Bryant’s weight. We brought him in on July 9th, so early enough in the process. He had a good visit. But it was clear enough to me that I wasn’t going to get over the hump with him.

So, I pivoted, revoked the offer, and put it on PG Noel Burke, a 6’4 guard out of Billerca, MA. He’s another 3* (329th). We offered him in late July, after he had a good visit. Again, we’re punching up, but Burke checked all the boxes, and was interested in staying closer to home. Also, nobody atop his list–St. John’s, Old Dominion, or URI–was offering him. He had one other offer, that being from Ohio.

They were also ahead of us. As we got closer to the Contact Period, I got worried. And I started to look around. Should I pivot again? There was another guard in CT, Bill Smith (3*, 274th), who also checked all the boxes. He also had a big showing at the Big Apple Showcase, though that wasn’t translating into offers. He was interested in NC State, VA Commonwealth, WVU and UConn. So I thought, maybe I could sneak in and steal him.

This is where the discussion began. Should I stay on Burke? Could I overcome Ohio? Was it too late to pivot to Smith at this stage? If I was to pivot, shouldn’t it be to a safer choice, like a few of the 2* guys who looked pretty decent? There was a 6’8 forward, James Finneman out of Maine (2*, 545th), who looked like a hell of a steal.

Once we got to the Contact Period, I visited four players: Burke, Smith, Finneman, and Richard Sanchez, a local 2* kid who had us atop his list. He looked pretty decent, though he was a poor passer for a guard, and his stats, outside of scoring, were quite minimal. I decided my plan would be to stick with Burke and evaluate the visits.

The result:
Sanchez: Over the moon.

Finneman: Very pleased with the visit.

Burke: Loved the visit.

Smith: Meh.

Burke didn’t make his decision after the first week, which forced another decision out of me. Do I go back for another visit? Or do I wait it out? It did show us as getting ahead of Ohio…so I decided to go back one more time.

You know…let that 85 recruiting charisma work for me.

The end result?

I’m pretty happy about this. It also shows that you can succeed at really small schools with higher-mid recruits. (Though, there was a rerank after I wrote this: Burke dropped down to a 2*, at 464th overall. Rob Andrews, the kid from Johnston, moved up to 4*, 124th overall; he’ll be attending Iona. I like Burke’s makeup more, honestly. Later in the season, he swung back to a 3*. I like that the list varies throughout the season.)

(Also, after I discovered the kid with no stars on my roster, I went and cut him. I ultimately signed the Sanchez kid, whose stats improved as the season went on…I think.)

By the way, that Brazzle kid I mentioned earlier, the 2* who is interested in UNC, Wake, Georgetown, etc…he’s only had one visit so far, which is to Boston College. No offers. He didn’t sign with anyone, and is not a walk-on anywhere.

It is easy to get immersed into this game. The universe created is rich, deep, and full of information and personality. While there are some quirks I would like to see an overhaul on–dealing with player behavior is easily atop that list–it is a game that is easy to pick up and play, though difficult to master.

It’s also a game you won’t play the same way twice. That’s arguably the best thing you could say about a sports game, isn’t it? It isn’t predictable, and there are many ways to find success, often within the same program.

Grade: 9.5. It feels unfair to ding two categories because of one thing. The transfer issue is enough to do that here. If Gary can overhaul that and make it more in-line with recruiting, then it’s a 10, easy. As it is, it’s close.

The Final Word: Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 24 hits with its additions in recruiting, and absolutely with its improvements to the in-game coaching screen. Having more information available to you is important in a game where you are generally blind to how players actually play. Gary Gorski and company need to continue to build on those information additions; I would much rather have too much information than not enough. But if Wolverine Studios can continue to use information to build that third dimension–adding more recruiting stats, again, is a big one–then this game should take The Leap.

That is something I have been waiting for this game to make for a few versions now. Fortunately, the steps taken with DDSCB24 give me hope that The Leap may be made with the next version.

Just…fix transfers. Please. Fix it.

Official Download for Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2024

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The post Draft Day Sports College Basketball 24 Review. It isn’t predictable, and there are many ways to find success. appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

What’s New in Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2024?

• Year-End Tasks: Manage your team’s off-season activities with the new year-end tasks feature. From recruiting and scouting to staff hiring and budget planning, oversee all aspects of your program to ensure long-term success. Make strategic decisions to position your team for future championships and sustain a winning tradition.
• Dynamic Transfer Portal: Experience the thrill of college basketball’s transfer market with the dynamic transfer portal feature. Scout, recruit, and sign transfer players to strengthen your roster and dominate the competition. Keep a close eye on the transfer wire for potential game-changing additions to your squad.
• Simulation Screen: Gain insight into player performance and team dynamics with the new simulation screen. Track player statistics, analyze game simulations, and fine-tune your coaching strategies to lead your team to victory. With enhanced simulation features, every decision you make will impact the outcome of the game.
• Recruiting History: Keep track of your recruiting efforts and player commitments with the recruiting history feature. Review past recruiting classes, evaluate your recruiting tactics, and adjust your approach to secure the top talent for your program. Build a legacy of success through strategic recruiting decisions.
• Summer Camp Planning: Prepare your team for the upcoming season with the summer camp planning feature. Organize training camps, schedule practices, and develop your players’ skills to maximize their potential. With summer camp planning, you have the opportunity to mold your team into a championship contender.
• NXT Website Integration: Stay connected with the latest college basketball news and updates through the NXT website integration. Access real-time scores, player stats, and team rankings from around the league. Stay informed and make data-driven decisions to gain a competitive edge over your rivals.

Where Can I Get Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2024?

Ready to take on the challenge of college basketball coaching? Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2024 is now available for purchase. Head over to https://gmgames.org/draft-day-sports-college-basketball-2024/ today to secure your copy and start your journey towards coaching greatness in the world of college basketball!

With its innovative features and immersive gameplay experience, Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2024 promises hours of excitement, strategy, and competition for basketball fans everywhere. Whether you’re a seasoned coach or a newcomer to the genre, this latest release offers something for everyone. Don’t miss out on the action – get your copy of Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2024 today and experience the thrill of college basketball coaching like never before.

The post Discover What’s New in Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2024! appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

I’m going to dispose of my normal two-page intro, mainly because the First Four kicks off tomorrow night, and I’d rather this be out before the NCAA Tournament kicks off on Thursday.

That said, if you’re like me, you’re in the middle of the best few weeks of the sports calendar year. From Conference Tourney Week last week, to THE BEST FOUR DAYS OF THE SPORTS YEAR (ie, Thursday-Sunday), to DOING THE SAME THING NEXT WEEK…the NCAA Tournament is, far and away, my favorite singular event of the year.

So, it’s fitting that this review is for Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 23, the newest installment of the franchise by Gary Gorski and Wolverine Studios. This year’s version has a bunch new under-the-hood, while giving you a lot of the strong program-building experience you have grown to expect from this product.

Just how well does this version stack up to previous versions? Let’s get to it.

(I bet the 3-4 of you who read my reviews on the regular are probably happy that there isn’t another 500-600 words to skim over. To the one of you that isn’t happy with this, I apologize, though I truly doubt your actual existence.)

Graphics / Interface

The game continues to rely on the GUI that has been the foundation for several versions now, and with good reason. The game is clean and sharp. I don’t need to wax romantic about it. It’s really good.

However, there is one big change, which debuted in Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 23. That is the new in-game 2D model.

The game has had a 2D in-game model for a long, long time. The players were more boxes, with sizes based on their own size. I liked it. But this…

…this is quite nice. It definitely feels more like basketball. It’s still going to be 2D in a computer basketball game, so it’ll have it’s limitations…but this screen feels way more like actual basketball than anything up to this point.

I said this in my DDSPB review, but the scoreboard in the middle is a REALLY nice touch, with the look of an actual scoreboard at the game.

I do wish there was more done with the left side of the screen, and said as much in my DDSPB review. I think I’ve settled on the PBP and coaching options trading spots, so you have more PBP showing. The coaching options don’t require as much space as needed, and putting it next to the lineup makes more sense to me than having the PBP there.

I have a couple of wishes, of course:

1) I wish we had a running ticker for news, scores, recruiting ranks, perhaps recruiting commits, etc. I would absolutely love to have scores of other games show up throughout the game. Since all games are simmed at the same time, that information is already logged. (I’ll go deeper into my wish regarding this ability later on.)

(This would also be a good candidate for some of that space on the left side, if Gary is receptive to trading the PBP and coaching options areas.)

2) Small quibble, but I wish there was the ability to reach the Coach Assignments screen from the Coaching Staff screen. It just makes too much sense to me.

3) As always, historical tournament brackets need to be in the game. There is a bit of a disconnect that you cannot see past NCAA Tournaments. It takes away from the history to me. I guess this is to try and keep the data down, but…you don’t need logos here, right? Just columns with the actual scores by region and round, then the Final Four and championship. Add in All-Tournament teams to that screen, and the Alamanc suddenly is a massive win for the game. This is where FBCB still wins, even a decade and no new versions later. This has been ignored for too long. I hope it stops being ignored, and put into the next version.

Grade: 10. The game is sharp, as always. The upgrade to the 2D screen is a major win. I rated this a ten a year ago, and the game has only gotten stronger in this regard.

Customization

Customization in DDSCB is the same as previous versions. So I’ll keep this section short (no, seriously).

You have five modes you can play. Challenge Mode makes you answer to a board, and limits the schools you can coach at the start. There is a direct correlation between your initial ratings and the schools you have available to you. So if you want to start at a bigger school, you’re going to have to up those ratings. This makes sense, though I would love to try the “High School Coach/Guy Off The Street” challenge, where you have low ratings, but get thrust into a higher-level situation. That would be a rather big challenge.

The basic options have not changed: Standard or Pro/Rel.

Please, don’t do what I do every time a new version comes out, and overlook the menu at the top of the screen. It always hides in plain sight, and I miss setting up the finer details of a universe as a result. This is something I wish were on the left, to allow it to stand out more. However, I can reach a logical conclusion that this is way more about me than about the layout of the menu.

Here are said finer settings. Again, this has been consistent for several versions. One thing to note is the 1-100 Adjusted vs Real scale. The adjusted scale sets the ratings for the college basketball universe, while the real scale sets the ratings for the overall (pro included) basketball universe.

In order to use the NCAA Real World Mod, you need to toggle the “Use Custom File” option under Association Building Options. When you check that box, a window will come up, giving you five options to choose from.

Next, you create your coach. This is the same as previous versions as well; you go through each screen, starting from the basics, moving to your general coaching philosophies, then your skills and potential, and finally a coaching job.

Note: Your ability to pick a school in Challenge Mode is directly tied to your ratings as a coach. So, if you want to coach at a bigger school, you’ll have to start at a higher talent level.

Clearly, this serves the game well. It’s been in place for a long time. There isn’t anything I can think of that would improve this process. One addition I would love to have, and I imagine this could be done through a mod akin to the Real World mod, would be to add support for previous NCAA setups. This exists in Fast Break College Basketball, and I found that to be a lot of fun. (I’m also a sucker for the old Big East and smaller, regionalized conferences.)

I spoke to Gary about this, and he was not convinced that this would be something used by enough people to make it worthwhile. (I think he’s still snakebit by the Euroleagues thing in DDSPB a few years ago.) I understand his point, but I would also point out that this portion of the game is complete, as far as I can tell. It hasn’t been touched for a while. Building support for a couple of older models and NCAA Tournament structures (say, the 32- and 64-team formats) could be beneficial to prevent the game from feeling stale. Building support for this would also be a one-off, no? Like, you set it, and once it’s complete, it’s always there. You wouldn’t need to touch it again. 

That was already done in DDSPB, where you can play in any historical NBA setup, or replay any year from 1976 onward. 

Gary does a great job of building a current world environment. However, this is one area where I think his rigidity towards staying in just the current world may work against him. There is very likely a portion of the community who don’t buy DDSCB, and stay playing a decade-old FBCB, because they don’t like the current world of superconferences. (Honestly, I spent a few years playing FBCB far more because of this exact thing, and go back to that game from time-to-time because of this.)

One way to perhaps open this up for inclusion, without disrupting the current structure, is to utilize the tournament maker area of the game as an experimental ground. Right now, there are only three kinds of tournament you can utilize: 16, 32, and 64. Why not give that area of the game is makeover, and allow for ANY format, up to 358 (the current number of men’s D1 teams).

Let me explain my thought process here: I have no idea how difficult that is. My simplistic coding brain thinks that, if you can code any format to 16 teams, you can code any format, because you would be utilizing the same 2-16 team format for anything beyond 16…just multiplying how many times you have to do it. If it could be created in Tournament Maker (and yes, I’m influenced by the videos I see on YouTube; Bordeaux has a bunch with NCAA14, and NattyKash created a ridiculous college hoops one). To me, it’s an easier path towards opening up DDSCB to more customization in this realm, if Gary is worried about setting the current state of things back.

Grade: 10. It’s been set for several versions now. The game does what it’s intended to do, which is to create a real-world environment, while offering enough variations of that (yes, pro-rel aside) to keep it fresh. While I will always yearn for the ability to play NCAA as it was, this does exactly the job it is supposed to do, and needs to do. I won’t ding a grade because of what I want, versus what the goal is. That’s just selfish.

Gameplay / Sim Engine

There has been much done under the hood for this year’s version of DDSCB. Here is what the Wolverine page says:

I’m going to briefly discuss the in-game experience, because the main focus of the changes are in other areas. The in-game gameplay and AI is still solid; if you like coaching in-game, you will greatly enjoy DDSCB. I feel like my coaching adjustments have a definitive impact on the game, for better or worse. As far as a coaching sim goes, this is, if not the best game, on the short list of the best in the genre. There aren’t many changes to this area of the game, which is why I’m not writing much about it here.

As far as changes to the game (at least, those advertised):

First and foremost (as that’s what you encounter first when you enter the game), let’s talk about the update to facilities management.

The old system was to email the board, ask for upgrades, and that was it. (Note: You still meet with the board at the end of the year, and can request upgrading the facilities.) The overwhelming majority of the time, you were denied. So this is light years ahead of where things were. And I think these are smart changes. With “Amenities”, the game addresses NIL without incorporating it into the game (which is something Gary indicated he was hesitant to do, and I can understand why). Giving you more control over your training and wellness is extremely important, especially in years where you don’t have many scholarships to fill. 

I did that here with my Providence squad, because I only have two scholarships to fill. Did I make the right choices? Do I have a good balance? No idea. I’ll find that out.

I like this, and look forward to seeing how this impacts my roster over the course of the season. I have one request, though: have the amount of scholarships needed to be filled available on the screen. It would be helpful to have that info there.

The recruiting portion of the game has also gotten…not quite an overhaul, but there are some differences. They reflect the current aspect of recruiting in the world of information, where you know who’s in on what player, what visits players have taken, and so on. This has been added in DDSCB, which should help inform you on where you stand with a particular player as you get deeper into the process.

You can see that Lavar Hyde has visited four schools, and that we’re a bit below a couple of other schools. It’s really early, of course, but it’s nice that it’s there.

However, I still have a big bone to pick with this. This is progress in recruiting information; we should know who is going where, who is looking at who, etc. But we live in a world of information. We have the “NXT 150”, which provides rankings…but provides no basis for those rankings. Why don’t we have their scouting reports?

I would love to see recruiting get a bigger overhaul. I want to see a full senior season worth of statistics: shooting percentages, turnover rates, offensive boards, shots taken…you get the hint. I also want to see scouting ratings from the start, perhaps based off of the NXT service, or some other static service. It makes sense, because we have 830948390483 scouting services out there…I can look up the scouting reports of just about any high school senior out there. Juniors, too (and some sophomores).

I know, for some, this may feel like a regression back to when we purchased scouting services. I don’t see it that way. The next progression is where you make coaches and hiring coaches more nuanced. Do you want to run a program through a big man? Find a coach that is good at coaching up big men. Do you want a coach that is good at teaching the motion? Find a coach that specializes in that offense, or works well with guards.

Then, have a static service…but how accurate you can get depends on two things: 1) How much you put into scouting a specific player, and 2) How good your coaches are at scouting. Right now, I think coaches are pointless. I’m sure they serve a purpose, but I still can’t find a tangible reason for giving them much of a reason to pay any attention to them, other than the only point is to get the one with the most good ratings.

So, there are two issues at play here: 1) There is a disconnect between coaches and roster-building, and 2) We *still* don’t have basic reports. This would serve both. I know you get more reports as you go to camps and stuff, but it’s a severe logic disconnect to think you’re a college basketball coach in this age, and that you know NOTHING about the skills of some players. This is even more true if you’re a coach at a school with higher prestige. No way in hell does any coach in the Big East not have basic access to a scouting report of every player in the country.

The crux of my argument: I’m the coach at Providence, and I don’t have access to a three-star recruit from Bristol, RI. Make that make sense to me.

Recruiting is fun, but this stuff frustrates the heck out of me, because it disconnects me from the universe. Of course, I’d also want to be able to start scouting juniors, too (Gary is well aware of this). I would settle for having a better foundation to start recruiting, but one that forces you to utilize other areas of the game (coaches on your staff) to be effective.

One of the other areas that has had changes made to it is the transfer portal. According to the website, there is player talent dispersal, and players “make better decisions on where to transfer in order to meet the items they are looking for”. This is fine, except…you are still left in the dark of the items they are looking for. So, to the user, nothing visually has changed.

Leon Jefferson is atop this list. Keep note of that.

I’d like to see one of the following:

1) Have a basic scouting report on all players already (again, we live in an age of information…you mean to tell me that a kid who went to Pitt is someone my Providence coaching staff doesn’t already have basic information on? It’s a logic disconnect.), OR

2) Have the first round by strictly scouting and contact ONLY. No signings until Round 2, OR

3) Have in-season reports on potential transfers across the board, which would come out of your recruiting budget. On the roster bio page, you could add some kind of transfer potential meter, so you have an idea of who you may lose, but also who you may be able to replace them with if you do lose them. 

To have transfers kind of dumped on you (both in who leaves, and then the suddenness of who you go after, while trying to scout them) disconnects me from the game. I get it if that’s the point, but I don’t understand why it would be. It disrupts the roster-building concept, because I’m forced to try to learn about someone I might not have even have a chance of getting unless I blindly hand out a scholarship. Sure, stats are present, but that doesn’t tell the entire story. What if the player doesn’t work for my offense? What if he’s disruptive?

If we’re playing a game where the key is to make informed decisions, then we should have the information necessary to make those informed decisions before we need to make those decisions…not while we make them.

One other thing that is absolutely necessary: A report from round to round. I scouted/contacted everyone who was Top 5 in the above screenshot in Round 1. Here is what Round 2 looks like:

I can’t even tell who isn’t available anymore, because the email of the transfer list has no rhyme or reason to it.

So not only do I not know why I had a sizable list of players who had PVD in the Top 5 shrink to just one from the first round to the second, but I have an unsorted mess of a list of who actually did transfer. I’m guessing the reason my list shrank is because I didn’t blindly offer scholarships to players without scouting reports, which is incredibly self-defeating.

I’ll be honest: I hate this. It’s an area I would completely skip if I didn’t have to replace, you know, 20-25% of my roster. This isn’t a game-killer (this existed last year, and I blindly threw out scholarships), but when I bring up the information disconnect and how it negatively impacts the user, this is what I mean.

Even if these are players I’ve recruited in the past, I don’t have access to their scouting reports unless my team plays theirs during the season. Make that make sense to me.

This needs to change next version. It’s not a hope to me; it’s a need.

Grade: 8.5 Again, the in-game coaching experience is fantastic. That’s a 10. Recruiting is still good, though I’ve said, for multiple versions now, that the concept of incomplete information no longer makes sense. If Gary wants to properly simulate a real-world experience, this needs to have been addressed by now. There is no bigger example of this than the transfer portal, which just no longer makes sense to me, from design to implementation. It detracts from the experience, and one that NEEDS a long look at for the next version.

Online Modes / Multiplayer

The game has the ability for multiplayer. Normally, I leave it at that.

However, since I have the Commissioner of CBGM, GM Games head Chris Valius, at my disposal…why not pick his brain on this? He uses the game to run a large online league, one I was once apart of (unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep up with the schedule, because it is a really fun league).

While talking with Chris a couple of weeks ago that I might ping him for a take in this section, he said, “the term multi or online means different things to different people.”

Me:

CV: In the world of online gaming, we see different styles of multi player, such as mmo rpg online role-playing video game in which a very large number of people participate simultaneously. This also requires the internet and a host server maintained by the company itself. 

Then there is the idea that you could patch in and play just one or two of your friends. While possible, the onus is on one person to know the in’s and out’s of networking and get an FTP server configured with proper directories. Real-time is not available for this type of multi player online in DDSCB23 and functions through file import/export method.

While possible to play and pickup against your friends, you need someone to take charge and build a server, import your friends files, advance the days. While this may be laborious for a couple of average gamers, it does work effectively for large online leagues for those with the patience to wait.

Me: What does DDSCB do well, when it comes to multiplayer?

CV: What DDSCB does well in multi player, is that with the right hosting , the dedication of the commissioner, you can have an exciting experience that can host a human for almost every college basketball team. The CBGM is the featured WS league and has the most participants and history in this regard.

Me: How difficult was it for you to create CBGM?

CV: Crafting the CBGM was more difficult as it was created to replicate the real life of the NCAA. Media based website, real teams, some exported stats for people to follow, but the main difficulty is that is does require daily advancing from the commish perspective, but is quite passive on the user end after key moments pass by, such as recruitment, transfers, or coach hiring. 

Me: How is managing CBGM now?

CV: Since CBGM is based on using the game for most of the key transactions, it makes life easier for the commissioner as there are no trades to monitor in terms of their compliance. There are several steps to get the hang of the website reports and finding out who has submitted during the mandatory days (self reconciliation of the ftp server that is not provided by the game, knowing the team ID’s numbers from a referencing file to know who submitted or not), this kind of maintenance does add to the labor where-as DDSPF provides a last updated report, with if the file has been uploaded etc.

Me: What could DDSCB do better with this mode?

CV: The easier it gets for commissioners right now, the easier it’ll get for 1 or 2 people to compete with their friends. It is still very technical but the more utilities for the commissioner to monitor the activity of others of what’s happening on the server, would begin to simplify the task of being a host. Besides the learning to FTP network part of things.

Grade: 9. Normally, this is a pass/fail for me. Does it work as intended? This answer is more of a “Yes…but.” The technicals are here, but I’m going to ding a point in this case for not having upload reports akin to DDSPF/CF. I was used to this with OOTP and their myriad reports and mods. Gary did not make his games with an online league focus when he began making his games, and this is one way that shows. Overall, setting up a college hoops league as an online league is hard, and DDSCB handles it well enough. But in order to run a league of such a size, the commissioner should have as many tools as necessary to make handling the day-to-day particulars as easy as possible. Not having these tools available for league accountability is something that I hope shows up in a patch, rather than a new version.

Fun Factor

I have had a ridiculous amount of fun in my 25 years of playing in this community. Of course, there are some memories that stick out. I once created an online league, back in 2003, in OOTP 4 and 5 that played out 100+ years before we took up our teams. The sixteen owners who started on the ground floor created players that showed up over the history. That league, the American Baseball League, was crazy fun.

I know I’ve written this before, but these reviews are digestible, so to think anyone remembers anything I say here is absurd…but with FBCB and FBPB, I wrote a 1000+ page story chronicling the college and pro career of one player whose ratings were totally maxed out. I took Derby County to the pinnacle of the football world, and took Penn State to a national championship in Gridiron Glory using Bowl Bound College Football, and ran my first podcast, back in 2005.

I write all of that to say this:

DDSCB is the game that brings me the most consistent fun, version-to-version, of simply running a program. It is in the within the spectrum of features and challenges that keep things fresh, but not overwhelming, or totally static or stale in repetitiveness.

Most games in this genre tend to hold a specific purpose for me. For OOTP, it’s playing to create a history. I can get bogged down by the micromanaging, and that can get in the way of my enjoyment (yes, I know, there’s an option for that). When it comes to FBCB/FBPB, it’s solely playing out a season to see what happened. This is especially true of FBCB; I love it, perhaps more than any other game, for playing out a quick season or ten, just to see the trends and see programs rise and fall.

However, for letting myself get immersed in the minutiae of a universe, while making the decisions that impact my chosen program, there is no better choice for me than DDSCB. My issues with recruiting and transfers aside, I am able to make a deeper personal connection with this series than with any other management franchise.

Are there things that can be improved here? Of course. In addition to what I wrote about recruiting and transfers, I really hope that the press conference feature that debuted in DDSPB this year not only finds its way into DDSCB, but replaces the texting model that currently exists. I think the path towards building more immersion in this franchise is by building stronger, more dynamic relationship models. I think the press conference model can be expanded to interpersonal relationships, where coaches can talk with players about recent performances, relationship issues, playing time, role on the team, etc. You can also create more dynamic relationships with coaches, either through strict press conferences (commenting on teams after games, or perhaps being asked questions about other teams in your conference, etc), or through a more dynamic scheduling model.

I have laid all of this out to Gary privately, and will continue to champion for this to find its way in the game. I do think the one area that has become stale is with roster management in-season, especially when two players butt heads. That hasn’t changed for several versions now, and I think it sticks out in a negative way now.

As always, my suggestion for having “real-time” simming would be lovely. That’s where you sim the day but hide the scores, so you can go back and replay the games, and have the ability to jump in and out of games as you wish. This was in FOF several versions ago, and was a lot of fun. This would be awesome during conference tourney week, or while looking at bubble games…even just having a real-time sim screen, like OOTP, would be great. Since all of the information is already stored, I think this is feasible. (I know, when Gary and I talked about this before, he indicated that it wasn’t doable because he couldn’t have games start at different times. That’s totally fine. I do think this is something a lot of players would use, though.)

I have also made a case for a tournament pick’em, which can get your coaching staff points, or maybe even some late-season recruiting bumps, akin to the Daily Fantasy in DDSPB, as well as allowing the user to have a vote in the weekly Coaches Poll. Additionally, I suggested that users who go to see a recruit play gain access to a conversation with that recruit’s HS head coach, which can shed more light on the player.

I know I’m not alone in making suggestions for this franchise; DDSCB has a very dedicated community that continuously works to raise this game with every version. It helps that Gary Gorski is one of the most receptive and responsive developers in this branch of the gaming tree.

Grade: 9. If you like college hoops, this game needs to be in your library. I do think the disconnect with incomplete information, with regards to recruiting, and most definitely with transfers, can be enough of one to inhibit your total immersion in this version…but I could also be in the minority here.

The Final Word: If you want a solid college basketball experience, you can do a lot worse than DDSCB. You’ll also be hard-pressed to do much better. It isn’t perfect, and some things I consider flaws are becoming more glaring with each passing version, but I enjoy the coaching, and the connections I get to make with each individual team I coach. That still does it for me. I think it will for you, too.

Official Download for Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2023

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The post DDSCB 23 Review – Connections I make still do it for me. I think it will for you, too. appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

I say that to say this:

I really, really want a college football game I can really get into.

Note: Team logos are not licensed from Wolverine Studios. The images displayed are from a community-driven modification.

I’ve been watching YouTube videos of NCAA 14 Revamped. I have looked into getting an XBox or PlayStation only for that game. I have begun reading details for the next NCAA game (potentially out next year). I downloaded the PS2 mod and downloaded NCAA ‘06.

I long for the days of my NCAA dynasties, and how immersive that can be.

That brings me to Wolverine Studios’ Draft Day Sports: College Football 23. In last year’s DDS: Pro Football 22 review, I brought up how I tried to get into this game several years ago, and could not. There were several reasons for it, the UI being the biggest issue for me. 

With the somewhat recent unilateral UI changes at Wolverine, and my absolute desire to have a full-fledged sports universe, I am giving this another shot. Brooks Piggott, the developer of the Wolverine football line, has always had an ear to the community. He also has taken a different approach to make games, at least early on, then Gary Gorski, the founder of Wolverine and developer of the basketball line of games. Piggott focused his games towards online leagues over the solo effort. So there are features in his games like custom plays and playbooks, which are excellent editions.

However, the games always had difficulty scratching my dynasty itch. Will this year’s version be the game that finally breaks through for me? Let’s find out.

For those wondering what is new this year, these are the chief features, according to the CF23 page:

I should note this before I get into the rest of this piece: I am running this on a MacBook Pro (M1 Pro 16), using Parallels Pro (granted, this was easier to swallow with a teacher discount). On regular Parallels, the game runs fine. Screens can take a second to load, but they’re fine in general. On Pro, the game runs very smoothly. I’m still figuring out games that are more graphics-intensive, but if you have a Mac, you aren’t totally shut out from playing this game, nor any games from Wolverine Studios.

(Note: I am not advising anyone to drop $100 in order to play these, or any other, PC games. There is a free trial, so you can try it for yourself if you are interested.)

Graphics / Interface

As I wrote earlier, all Wolverine Games carry the same UI now. I said this was a good thing when it was first introduced in the basketball games in 2020. For this game, it’s a great thing.

The interface is smooth and easy to navigate. All screens are clean and generally self-explanatory. And the back button works, something I had an issue with in DDSCB22. That’s bigger than you think.

Overall, it’s sleek and easy to use.

That said…I have issues that are slowly turning me into Randy Quaid in Major League 2. First…why is recruiting separated from the sidebar on the left? It’s a big part of the game…perhaps the biggest. The first time I played this game, I couldn’t find it. Why is it not in the top part of the sidebar? It should be the first thing under the action buttons. The search feature should move to where recruiting is now. I just clicked on it; it is the first time I have.

Where games-by-Brooks need to really improve, to me at least, is in its presentation of information. The news section is really frustrating in how much wasted space there is. There is just one column of articles. Why, exactly, is there this much-wasted space? They could combine three screens into one here: You could add performers of the week, news, and the new rankings.

Staying with the news…why are players and teams not clickable in that section? That thing should be a hyperlinked minefield of information. For that matter, why are there no full names in the news section? What news section starts off an article with “Baker, H – LB from Georgia”?

In the end, the news and media fail the game, because they fail the player. I go to those sections to get immersed in my universe. I want to be drawn in by the storylines going on around the league. I want a headlines section. Did #1 fall? Was there a major conference upset? Was there a recruiting coup? I want to be overwhelmed with the amount of information that can come my way.

Instead, we get ONE COLUMN OF REPETITIVE INFORMATION WITH NOTHING YOU CAN CLICK ON FOR MORE INFORMATION.

You know what? I did turn into Randy Quaid from Major League 2. That absolutely infuriates me. It makes what should be an amazing and robust area of the game feel like a last-second add-on. And this is happening in multiple products by Brooks, which tells me he’s treating it like it’s a non-priority.

I want this to get better. I would be happy to help this area of the game get better because it needs to get better. It can be little things like, in the conference preview section, why is there no preseason all-conference team? No Heisman odds? No draft rankings? 

Those things would immensely improve the game and the need to accumulate information at the start. Instead, we get a “Season Preview” magazine that doesn’t really preview anything. Sweet, you get positional grades. Why aren’t the starters listed? Heck, you’ve got enough space to go with the two-deep. You could even turn that into a pull-down menu of sorts, where you click on the position, and you get the depth chart and the grades of each of the players, along with career stats.

The game does so little with so much in this regard. It disconnects me entirely, which is a shame, because the game is deserving of more.

(Note: I get that there are people who don’t care about that aspect of the game. I am also understanding that I am just one person, and that my take on this game should be treated as such. My point is that, with games of this genre, where the visuals are secondary to content, the way the content is set up and presented in DDSCF and DDSPF is so distracting from the rest of the game, it causes me to put it aside in favor of other games. This is a good game, as you’ll see if you read the rest of the review and, more importantly, try it out for yourself. Which you should do. This is simply a point I have made in more than one review, though.

In my opinion, if this game is to progress into something that becomes a must-play, this is the biggest area that has to be addressed. It isn’t a wish list thing to me. It is an integral part of the user experience. It is currently broken.)

As I want to end this on a positive (because, so far, I have absolutely not done that), I want to make a suggestion that I believe would lift this game up into an immersive powerhouse.

That is, of course, RedZone.

I am certain I wrote this in the DDSPF22 review I wrote back in January. Front Office Football had this as a part of its game years ago, where you sim the week (but hide the scores), then you could go and watch the games play out in relative (to the game) real-time. You could jump into individual games, or just watch them as a whole.

Out of the Park has had Real-Time Sim for years. The online league I play in, MLBPro, was the first league to be a literal daily league (even in the offseason, the league has always played the current actual day only). This wouldn’t be possible without Real-Time Sim being a thing, because that’s maybe the biggest selling point for the league…the fact that there will be an opportunity to watch your game play out in (again, sped-up) real-time, as well as all other games on the schedule. The league runs it at 8pm EST, every night.

If DDSCF were able to have this (okay, if all Wolverine Games) were able to have this, it would add a sets-it-apart dimension to the game. Imagine watching Rivalry Week play out when you’re in charge of Michigan, and you’re sitting at #6 in the polls, with #2 Ohio State in town and a spot in the conference championship on the line. 

Not only that, but since your league is in a four-team playoff, you also have had an eye on #7 Oklahoma State (in Bedlam with #8 Oklahoma), as well as on #3 Oregon, who is on the road at #24 Oregon State.

Meanwhile, #5 BYU is watching while hosting #11 Notre Dame, knowing that there is a path into the playoffs if things all shake out well enough.

Now, imagine everyone on Slack or Discord, watching this play out live on the interwebs, with all games playing out at their scheduled times (as what happens with OOTP). The BYU and Oregon coaches would go into the late afternoon slate of games knowing what has happened to Michigan, while Oklahoma State/OU (who plays in the prime time game) would have the entire league watching them, especially after Oregon State picks off Oregon and Michigan takes down the Buckeyes, creating all sorts of chaos.

Whether you are in a solo league or online league, this would single-handedly bring new players to the game. I say this with all the confidence in the world. (I also think it would do the same for the basketball games.) If head-to-head coaching is not a thing that can happen (the oldest of heads will still remember the pain that was the OOTP5 head-to-head journey, which ended with the most dispiriting of thuds), then this is the next best thing. All the game needs (I think) is to add game times that go into the script, and a third party could create a utility that does the same thing, if the powers that be don’t find this worth pursuing.

Grade: 6/10. If this were on the interface alone, it would be a 10/10. However, there needs to be a fundamental shift in how the details of the league are presented. In my opinion, everything about the news needs to be completely redone…from the templates of news pieces shown (both the quality of writing, and quantity of pieces available), to the way news gets presented on-screen. This disconnects me from the game, which is the last thing the game should do.

Customization

DDSCF23 has a bunch of options for customization, and they are generally excellent. At the start, you have three base options: Career Mode, Sandbox, and Multiplayer. The main difference between Career Mode and Sandbox is that you cannot be fired in Sandbox.

The biggest addition, at least when it comes to customization, is the added playoff options. In fact, one I am *really* excited to try, and impressed Brooks has added so quickly, is the 12-team playoff. It was not in the original release, but included in the most recent update. The 16-team playoff was added in the original update.

This is also where major props need to be given. The game does NOT release with official teams and logos. None of Wolverine’s games do; you need to be officially licensed in order to do so. However, at the release of every game, there is always a third-party release that includes all logos, teams, and home fields/courts (obviously just the field, not stadiums). In DDSCF23, coaches are also added.

(Note: Real players and coach images are not included. Remember, this is a third-party app, generally supported/curated by one person, or a very small group of people. While I am aware that these things exist in NCAA Football Revamped, it would be a rather monumental effort for such an effort here.)

Once you’ve selected your basic setup, You will then go into your coach setup. (Note: I have not tried this on my PC laptop, and perhaps I should…on a M1 Mac Pro in Parallels, the initial roster creation process does take a little time. The game is creating some 15,000 players at the outset.

The ways you can create your coach are pretty extensive, and something I would like to see more of in the basketball games (things like how a coach coaches particular position groups would be fantastic, as well as what type of players they prefer at positions).

Okay, so that doesn’t seem like a very extensive customization section…just the basics, playoff teams, etc. Go to the main menu (three lines in the top-left of the screen), and click on “League Options”.

Customization. Overload.

This borders on OOTP-level customizing insanity (well, it waves at the border, while OOTP looks at it, scoffs, and sets up an amateur league in Lincoln, Rhode Island…technically, a scoff is an acknowledgement of existence, which is how DDSCF should view this exchange). 

Options that can be changed in DDSCF range from how players are labelled in 2D games to how much activity the transfer portal typically gets (ranging from low to very high). There are a couple I like toggling on, mainly related to allowing for complete control of positional changes. (I also unlock the depth chart, though, to be honest, I really don’t know what that means.)

I also toggle the “Disable Hiding of Scores” option off.

Okay, so there are a ton of options there. But just you wait, friend. DDSCF isn’t done. The options screen has a menu at the top.

Okay, that’s awes–

Oka–

My goodness.

I actually really like the “Fog Level” here. What this does is condense your ratings down to from on a 1-100 scale to three other options, with 1-20 ratings being the foggiest.

I wonder how this impacts your coaches’ ability to scout players, especially in recruiting. (This is one reason why I would love for a recruiting coordinator and greater opportunities to scout recruits, such as camps, high school film, etc. This is where I think DDSCF should be borrowing HEAVY from DDSCB. More on that later, though.)

Overall, users should be really pleased with the options available for customizing. There is one thing that I would add, though, that I think would really enhance the overall experience.

I would allow for customization over how the playoffs get set.

I would allow for the user to set which conferences get an automatic bid (note: this was apparently put in, something I just learned; it is turned off by default for the Real World Mod). I would set up options that allow for how at-large teams are selected. Heck, I might even allow users to set up exactly which teams make it. (I don’t know if this feature is available for multiplayer leagues, but it absolutely SHOULD be. Could there be a more realistic online league experience than bickering over whether or not BYU beating Michigan State makes them more playoff-worthy than Mississippi State defeating a three-loss Auburn team on the road?

Grade: 9.5/10. The only thing missing from this, and I’m listing it here, is historical setups. That’s it. If Brooks can add formats to led us to where we are now, that would be awesome. I would love to have the original Big Ten, or the Pac-8. (I also want these in DDSCB). If Brooks does not want to pursue that, then setting up a streamlined process of importing/exporting data, including the league structure, would be a fantastic addition for the future.

Gameplay / Sim Engine

Your career starts in Training Camp. And your learning curve is steep. You have to learn your coaching staff, your team, and consider redshirts.

(Note: I would probably open the game with staff hiring, as well as with an email detailing your roster strengths and weaknesses, and what offensive and defensive styles might be best to look for in a potential coach. I write this as someone who hates coach hiring, too. Unless the team is already setting you up by putting players in your program that generally work well with your coaches, because they presumably recruited them to the program, then starting here makes things a giant wild card.

I actually have asked this on the forums, so assuming I remember that I asked this, you won’t see this at all. 

Update: Brooks responded and said that rosters are mostly randomized. Not sure how I feel about that, but okay.)

(One More Note: If you go to League Media, and click on “Staff”, you can see every coach in the league, as well as their rating and reputation, as well as their previous job. I have two suggestions here: Add a column that says their background; all three of my coaches have college coaching backgrounds. I wanted to see if anyone has a high school coaching background, if that even exists.

I would also add more positional coaches. I know that can make things way more tedious, but read me out: I wouldn’t make those playable except for two things: promotion and hiring from another school. I would also allow for your coordinators to hire coaches, so that you don’t have to go that deep. As I said, I hate coach hiring stages. But it would be awesome for you to unearth some high school coordinator that because a QB whisperer for you at James Madison, and watch them transform your mediocre 2* QB, and transform your program, until you lose them to UVA.)

(Okay, I have a second note: I would love it if you could adjust your schedule before your first season. I generally play as Penn State (WE ARE); my initial non-conference opponents are

Week 1: at James Madison (this wouldn’t happen)
Week 2: at Tulane (this definitely wouldn’t happen)
Week 3: at Air Force (okay, WTFMR)

Note the date. It is MARCH. The schedule should not be set, and the game should not be locked (which it is). I would love to be able to schedule Pitt (a natural rivalry that has been rekindled), and teams more to my style of scheduling (similar-or-higher prestige teams). Brooks recently said on the forums that the scheduling aspect of the game is difficult. So, put it in the hands of the user from the start.

I also think you should be able to contact schools, and vice versa, about scheduling. But, a good first step would be to allow for user control in the first season. Okay, moving on.)

Once you run training camp and redshirt, you jump into the regular season, and things are pretty standard from there (in a season progression sense).

The options here are pretty solid, though, of course, I have suggestions here. Mainly, I would want the Top 25 to be more prominent here, and I would love for a ticker or top news and scores along the bottom of the screen, or even in the dead space next to the playoff bracket.

(I also want the Top 25 to be preserved for the league and team history. It is not right now; I don’t know how difficult it is to keep, but it is…I don’t think upsetting is the right word here, but with context, it’s upsetting. It would be great to be able to see how teams rise and fall over the course of time, and having to manually chart this is kind of defeating. Again, this is an immersion issue.)

One note here: Before you go start playing or simming games–especially if you sim games–go into the depth charts and ensure they are set. (They are not set by default.) Also, go to the strategy screen, and make sure you have things as you like. As I am doing just the review here, I am being more hands-off with this process. But the game planning defaults to the head coach. In one test, my PSU team was utter crap, because of James Franklin.

(I actually like him in general, but PSU fans will still identify with this.)

Once I changed the primary game planning and calling to the coordinators, my team went on a run to the playoffs. So, to me, there is definitely a difference here.

The big explicitly advertised change is revamped depth charts and substitution logic. (I say explicitly because Wolverine also lists “multiple new improvements to match those included in DDSPF”. Okay. Lucky for you, I’m a generous researcher.)

I’m guessing they mean the fifth bullet point here, though it could also be discussing the social archetypes. I don’t know if those were in the previous version; I am guessing they were not.)

Regarding the packages and substitution logic, I have no way of knowing if they are working as intended, outside of what I see on the forums. I don’t see any pitchforks out, so I am guessing the community is pleased so far.

What I do see, and this is important (and indicative of this community overall) is Brooks consistently on the forums, in conversations, discussing everything everyone brings his way. His dedication to building the best possible game for the community is quite impressive.

The rest of the in-game product is as recent versions have been. The 2D model is good, though I wish for the entire screen to get revamped. As I said with DDSPF, I don’t think the space is utilized for peak information and efficiency. Oddly enough, I also think the field should be spaced better.

The hash marks are too narrow, aren’t they? Like, not-to-scale narrow. This causes the action in the middle of the field to be really condensed and cluttered. You don’t need to move the hash marks out too far, but I think it would make a big difference.

(To anyone who tells me that wouldn’t be realistic, I would point out that you are watching bubbles slide around a computer screen in a way that is supposed to imitate football. I think we can suspend reality enough to make watching the plays a bit more clear, can’t we?)

With regards to the personalities, that’s just noise to me. I have no idea what’s under the hood on this, and I haven’t seen anything that leads me to believe I need to pay any attention to this. In basketball games, personalities are at the forefront. This makes sense; it’s a smaller roster, and therefore, every piece to that puzzle needs to fit well for there to be success.

I have no idea what a “careful workaholic” is, or a “bland survivor”. I had thought there was a rundown of what these things mean, but I can’t find it. This is still the only time I have seen someone at Wolverine discuss it on the forums.

To be honest, I have no idea how these impact anything, if at all. I’m inclined to believe they do absolutely nothing, because I don’t see any evidence of it.

So, if that’s the case, take it out. If it isn’t the case, explain it. I know I’ll come across as selfish and bitter, but this feels like it was thrown in. If so, especially with the little improvements that can be done to improve immersion overall…I don’t get that. I don’t think it’s good prioritization…you’re sitting on the only college football game out there (for another year), and you’re choosing to ensure users know a QB is a “Lazy Schemer”, instead of ensuring your history is as complete as can be?

Oof.

Recruiting is another entire game itself here; there is a pretty solid guide to assist new players. When I last attempted this game (DDSCF17), this was the area of the game that broke me. That stinks, as I love recruiting in the old NCAA Football games, and have come to like it in DDSCB. Being able to delegate actions (and knowing where they are, something I couldn’t figure out in DDSCF17) is a great option if you are more of an in-game coach, or simply want to outsource that aspect of the game.

I think this game has a ton of growth potential. The emailed reports can be packed with more information, especially with a big one: how they are playing this particular season. Where are the high school stats? Does that slow down the game too much? (That’s a serious question.) I hope that is more of a resource decision, and not a design one. I want to know the kids who go to Elite 11. I want to know what players I am recruiting that are all-conference, all-state, etc.

Furthermore, and this is where I hope they go in the future…I want to talk to the kid. Employ the texting system used by DDSCB. I know, it’s more players…but you don’t have to necessarily talk to everyone. But it’s a way to get more easily attached to players, and…you know, better immerse yourself into the universe.

But, and I’ll write about this later…there are some cause-and-effect issues regarding the gameplay that drag this down for me.

Statistically speaking, I don’t see many outliers, which is a good thing. Of course, this is all anecdotal. You can see league averages and such in the League Office window, found in the mini menu to the right.

Grade: 7/10. The game seems to play as it did in previous versions. I think people are still learning how what has been done under-the-hood has affected the overall game. The reason I give this a 7/10 is that, while the sim engine is solid, I think the gameplay aspect has further improvements to be made. A good portion of those improvements can be made with more complete information, as well as improving the immersive aspects of the game that would bring me more into the universe.

But, and I’ll write about this later…there are some cause-and-effect issues regarding the gameplay that drag this down for me.

Online Modes

Brooks’ original vision for his games, as I wrote before, was to be primarily an online game. So, naturally, there is the opportunity to create an online league. If you are interested in starting or joining a league, I recommend joining the Wolverine Discord. 

As with DDSPF, DDSCF has a solid commissioner portal. That includes the Configure Teams section, which makes most of what a commissioner needs to be rather easy.

One thing that needs to be addressed is that you can only create a player if your roster is under the roster limits. This applies to the commissioner screen as well, which seems counterintuitive and prohibitive to creating recruits. (Yes, I am aware you can edit recruits. It is still a curious decision, to not allow to create a recruit.)

Grade: 10/10. It does what it says it does, and seems to do it in a straightforward, easy-to-implement manner. For commissioners, online leagues are 95% administrative, 5% games. So making the administrative duties as easy and as stress-free as possible is the most important thing a game can do. DDSCF seems to do that.

Fun Factor

I asked for some feedback from users on the Wolverine Discord. This is what one person said:

I asked some users what they thought of this version. One person who has played multiple versions said something that struck a chord with me:

“There is almost nothing available to help someone learn how different things in the game work or what they are. No glossary for stat abbreviations. No explanation of how depth charts work. If my starting QB is hurt do I have to take him off the depth chart to use the backup instead? Or will the game do that for me?

“What if my team sucks? How do I make it better? There’s no way to tell really where the problem is. You get an email telling you who performed well which is cool, but there’s no after game stat report to tell you how each player on the team did (like in BBCF).”

He went on to say that “it’s a game where I’m supposed to run a college football program but it still doesn’t feel like I’m doing that”.

That is where I am with the game. If you want to call plays, there is a ton of fun to be had. If you want to be in an online league, where there is interactivity with other people and you can get direct feedback on your actions, you will have a great time.

In solo mode, though…the learning curve is steep, because I have no idea what the lessons are. I don’t know how to address problems. I don’t think I get enough feedback from my coaches to inform me. I don’t think I get enough scouting information in recruiting to know which recruits I should go for, especially if I am coaching a small school.

With the basketball games, you see a complete correlation between your actions and the results. This is backed up by the information you receive. That is missing here, and, as a solo player, it leads to me automating too much of the game to feel like I am getting a worthwhile experience out of it.

The foundation of the in-game aspect is there. The roster building needs to feel like more than a star-grab, though. To me, that comes through the myriad suggestions I have made throughout the piece. It is very difficult to get immersed when there are parts of the game that seem to go out of its way to keep you from getting immersed.

Once more, I do need to point out that Brooks’ original gameplan was to serve primarily online leagues. However, since you have a solo mode, you have to address those needs.

These dots need to be connected. I really want there to be a solid college and pro game that link up. While this links with DDSPF, they don’t feel at all connected to one another.

Grade: 6.5/10 solo; 9.5/10 online. Why two grades? There is a pretty good foundation here, overall. But I cannot get past the “what am I doing?” phase. And no matter how many compromises I make internally, I cannot get myself immersed into the game. I have not been able to make connections with the players on my own team; I don’t really have a grasp on how they are doing from game-to-game. (How is “Value Per Snap” calculated, anyway?) I am not making connections with the recruits. I cannot find a way to emotionally invest myself in the way I can with DDSCB.

I really do think there are a lot of simple ways to get there in a short amount of time. But this becomes a death-by-a-thousand-cuts situation for me to play solo, unfortunately.

In an online environment, where you can interact with others and fight over the same players, and have (presumably) a more dynamic media section? Yeah, I can absolutely see that being fantastic. But that should be in solo mode, too.

Final Word: When I was asked to write a review for DDSCF several years ago (either for 17 or 18), I ended up tapping out. It was such a tedious, frustrating experience. That is gone here; the game flows very well. If you want to call plays, create plays, be in an online league…DDSCF is a solid option for you. Remember, I am just one person, who plays games a certain way. What I have issue with, you may not.

The best thing for you to do is use what you have just read as a small guide, but go try the demo, and see for yourself.

Official Download for Draft Day Sports: College Football 2023

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The post DDSCF 23 Review – A solid option and flows very well appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

What’s new in 2023?

Wording is courtesy of Wolverine Studios – One of the most important parts of college football of course is recruiting. Every season is a competition to see who can bring the most five star recruits to their program and to see who ends up being overrated and to see which teams have developed players who were not rated very highly and turned them into future pro draftees. The addition in the real world of players transferring at higher rates has changed the landscape of college football and we have made changes this season to mirror that as well in our recruiting feature.

We have added more recruiting periods to be able to handle additional transfers of players, we’ve changed the system to use dollars instead of points to allow for more immersion and we have added the ability for players to decommit in some situations to truly give you a realistic experience.

Big changes have also carried over to the field itself in this year’s version. We have updated the in game logic to allow defensive players to better cover movement in motion plays, we have new counter strategy options to allow you to gameplan even more specifically for your next opponent, there has been a revamp of depth chart packages, usage and weights to make things more intuitive and give you even greater control

image

We have worked hard to update the substitution logic giving you new choices over which players to use and when to use them when designing your packages. It all adds up to you being able to fine tune your strategy in even greater detail giving you the opportunity to truly build a team and plan that fits your vision.

One of the most fun and engaging new additions to the game is the addition of the Trophy Room. Now you can look at a glance and see all of your past bowl glories as well as awards your teams have racked up over time. There’s nothing like looking back and seeing just how awesome you have been! And if that trophy case looks a little empty to you then it is all the more encouragement to get to work to start filling it.

One of the most fun aspects of a simulation game like DDS: College Football 2023 is the ability to create your own game world. Our games have always thrived on having a massive amount of customizable options. One of the biggest debates in college football is the playoff system. Is a 4 team playoff enough? What would the college football universe look like if there was a 16 team playoff?

You get to make that call in DDS:CF23. Maybe you miss the good old days when the playoff didn’t exist. We’ve got an option for that too!

Finally, you will be able to link your league with the future Draft Day Sports: Pro Football 2023 for a totally immersive game universe. Bring rookies in from DDSCF and track your college universe without ever having to leave DDSPF.

Grab a copy of DDSCF23 with -10% off First Access code FIRSTDOWN right here https://gmgames.org/draft-day-sports-college-football-2023/download/

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The post ‘Draft Day Sports: College Football 2023’ The need to know on FirstAccess! appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

I’ve been putting Wolverine Sports’ Draft Day Sports: College Basketball ‘22 through its paces for this review. When you do a review for a game, it’s difficult…because you don’t exactly have a lot of time to get totally in-depth. This compromises the way I like to play, as I think it would for anyone who indulges in this sim community (can you even really call it a text-sim community anymore?).

I’ve run through a season as the Providence coach, one that was absolutely underwhelming. I had a raw roster, and got overzealous with my scheduling. That put us in a hole that we could not get out of, even with a late surge in the Big East (sweeping Villanova, who would go onto the Elite Eight, in the process). 

A loss to St. John’s in the first round of the Big East tournament ended our year at 14-17, and a pretty perturbed board. The only redeeming bit of the year is that I managed to land a five-star point guard recruit. (One of my other recruits, though, appears to be a total bust.)

After that, we had four players transfer out; we struggled to restock the cupboard, as we enter (currently) our second go at recruiting.

And…well, I think I’ve got one.

For the moment, though, I’ll digress. We should get people up to speed on this year’s offering by Gary Gorski and Wolverine Studios first.

Those who are diehards in the community know the company, and this title, well. Gorski has been making basketball games under his parent company since 2005. The game got mainstream exposure thanks to the pandemic, when people (including the Worldwide Leader) turned to Wolverine to find out what could have been in the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Gorski believes in building a program through effective cohesion, culture and coaching, rather than  a ratings grab. It’s an approach that, as a basketball player and coach, I wholeheartedly admire. I won’t profess to understand much about coding and the difficulty that comes with creating a dynamic universe that causes you to constantly make choices that directly affect your standing among your players and board of directors; I think it’s something Gorski pulls off quite well, and continues to improve as the game churns out version after version.

This year’s version focuses heavily on improving the transfer portal, something that has had a growing impact in all of college sports, but is magnified in basketball, due to the smaller roster numbers, and an obscene number of D1 teams. This is a timely focus; according to this Sportico piece, D1 transfers went from 534 in 2012, to 942 in 2020. That number skyrocketed to 1,464 a year ago, due to the one-time rule (where players don’t have to sit out a year the first time they transfer)..

I’ll get to other improvements as this review progresses. If you want a quick list, click here. (Just, you know, open it in a new tab.)

Graphics/Interface

Wolverine Studios has used the Au interface for its games for a few years now, so those who have played previous versions will be used to the layout at this point.

If you have not played this game before, the interface is clean, well-designed, and easy to navigate. The information available to you is easy to digest.

One area I will always highlight is the Insights section. It’s a wonderful place for information; I wanted to draw attention to the Team Sheet, a DDSCB21 addition that needs more love. It’s a beautiful screen, both in its visual appeal, as well as in its practicality.

The Team Sheet, simply put, breaks up your record into quadrant wins and losses. Again, I know this was in last year’s game, but this is the kind of stuff that makes me love this game so much, it is deserving of extra attention.

One thing, though…some other screens could use better highlighting. The efficiency screens, for instance, when using Providence…they don’t come out so well.

Another screen that deserves special attention is the rankings screen. It’s a brilliant screen.

I’ve said this in previous reviews, but I really want to get individual lineup statistics (or the option to see what different combinations of individual players do together, or without another player. I hope that can make it into the next round of basketball games. When trying to build a cohesive program or franchise, figuring out the winning combinations of players, or figuring out what is NOT working, would go a long way towards building a more immersive environment.

Another addition that deserves mention is the Recruiting Class Rankings. This gives you a visual representation of recruiting across the nation…

…or within your conference.

Five things on this:

1. Make sure you click to the right of the team name to see the recruits for that program.
2. Players are clickable to their profile! This is excellent.
3. The recruit’s ranking should be next to their stars; I know their ranking is a fluid situation, but this is one way to make this screen more complete.
4. Gonzaga’s coming off a 38-0 season, and signed the #2, #5, and #8 players in the nation.

MARQUETTE SIGNED LEBRON POSTER. Holy crap. I tried contacting him; he told me to lose his number. I don’t care. This is my new favorite player in this universe, outside of the kid I’m going to talk about in a bit.

There is also a recruiting summary found in your team menu, which I like.

The only quibble I can make is the same one I made in my Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball ‘22 review, which makes it a bit unfair here. So I’ll be brief. I think the space can be better utilized on some screens, so that you can get more information on one screen. (And, in total fairness to Gorski, he and I have discussed ways to improve this on some screens, something I have dropped the ball on; I plead guilty but ask for mercy, due to being a middle school teacher and coach and, therefore, being a bit delirious nine months out of the year.)

Grade: 10. The interface is sharp and consistent. The screens are dynamic and vibrant. While there are a few areas of the game that could stand to display more information, or streamline the presentation, it’s nothing that detracts from the experience whatsoever. Wolverine nailed this layout.

Customization

Customization has always been an interesting aspect of this game; some things are hardcoded (such as the number of teams); however, there are more options for customizing your world this year.

The major customization additions include recruiting difficulty (there’s a brutal option, which I may do when I want to hate myself and all the choices I’ve made in my life), job pressure (you can start with low, normal, or high…again, if you’re a gaming masochist, have at it), as well as illegal recruiting activities.

At some point, I’ll probably run a dynasty where I’m nothing but shady and illegal. I find it interesting that I don’t seem to have the courage to do it now.

One holdover, and something I wish would make its way to the pro game, is promotion/relegation. It’s something I’d greatly enjoy at the pro level. I did it in the college game when it was first presented, and may return to it in this version. It’s a fun changeup.

One thing I would like to see in a future version is more dynamic scheduling, especially when it comes to rivalries. I would love to be able to schedule rivalry games that develop as your game plays out…perhaps even hardcode them into the schedule. I know the game doesn’t ship with the actual NCAA teams (there is an amazing mod that takes care of this, and then some)…but Philly without the Big 5 scheduled breaks my brain.

I did notice, in running Providence, that URI is on my schedule yearly. That’s great; I’d just like the opportunity, and perhaps this comes with the AD (or perhaps in having the ability to contact another school), to set up rivalries as the game plays out. You could build a rivalry with another school over a couple of years, but there’s never a guarantee that they’ll be available for you the next season.

Grade: 10. There are a bunch of ways you can play this game, whether it be formats or adjustments you make in the difficulty or options. Sure, there are some things I’d love to see (an easier way to customize things like conferences or individual schools, for example…or a way to port out into a spreadsheet, then port back in)…but for a game with such a large landscape, the options available to the user are quite solid. The additions this year only enhance it.

Gameplay/Sim Engine

The biggest additions to this year’s game are as follows:

1) Transfer Portal: As stated before, the transfer portal has become much more of a dynamic variable to the real life game. The same exists here, as players no longer need to sit out a year if they transfer.

This is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you could lose players for a variety of reasons, even if you do everything right. Playing time/roles and issues with the coaching staff appear to be the two biggest factors. Gorski highlights some of the playing time in a post on the Wolverine Studios forums, where he says this:

This was the case when I lost four players (my starting and backup PGs, and two deep reserves)  to the portal…all apparently due to issues with me.

Welp. On the plus side, I could improve my program, right?

Maybe. There are a multitude of factors that play into a player transferring in, I’m sure…stuff like playing time, recent success, roster makeup, etc. There’s also a disconnect at the beginning of the transfer session that I’ll discuss below.

The portal moves quickly, of course. Players are transferring right out of the jump, which means you better have your gameplan and act quickly…otherwise, you can and will miss out on players who could be solid contributors to your program. My initial strategy to this was to go after players who had experience at positions of need (for me, this was in the backcourt). I also scouted a bunch of guys who had size I was looking for, in hopes that their scouting reports would come back positive enough for me to pursue…if they weren’t snatched up, of course.

(That happened to me a few times.)

Overall, I like it. It feels like controlled chaos to me, which is probably how it should feel. I think,  for most players, this is a solid addition. The mechanics to it are solid, I think (apart from the one disconnect I talk about at length below), and Gorski is, in my view, the best developer around when it comes to workshopping parts of his game with the community. Even if he isn’t on board with an idea (and he’s not been on board with more than a few of my ideas over the years), he’s more than happy to discuss it with you, and come to a true conclusion.

The one part I wish existed for this, and this is because I’m a niche player of this game, is the ability to set parameters for the volume of transfers. Historically, I go super old-school with my play…I turn off early declarations and go for legacy players. (I also know I’m in the severe minority for this.) I like having super teams and rivalries that are built on continued battles by teams who could see the same core for multiple years. 

So, for me, the ability to toggle how much this happens would be beneficial. (Of course, I also see it as a way to add a new wrinkle in my own setup, as players who get blocked by stars at their position could have an opportunity to have a career, as well as to spite the program that didn’t give them a chance. So, I could easily warm to this concept.)

(You can toggle it off entirely, which I do appreciate, though I’m inclined to keep it on.)

2) Coaching Advice: I’ll be honest…historically, when it comes to coaching in DDSCB, I’ve generally subscribed to the “set it and ignore it” rule. It seemed like something that was there simply because it had to.

In DDSCB22, you can get more from your coaches, based on the role they have. This is good, practical design, aided by the understanding that the quality of information you receive is based on how good your assistants are.

My guess is, based on the assistants I have below, I’m…yeah, this isn’t looking good for me. (Good thing I’m a damn savant.)

Other adjustments to this year’s gameplay, according to Wolverine, are below. I’m greatly intrigued by the defensive intensity and steals logic, and to see how this can negatively impact you if you either aren’t good at coaching defense, or don’t have a roster that can deal with the variables of tight refereeing.

I realized I haven’t even gotten to the in-game screens yet. That’s how impressed I am with this year’s version. The in-game screen is as it has been: well-designed, putting the emphasis on the on-court action. Here’s a clip:

Of course, there are some aspects to gameplay that can be improved upon and added. One thing I think needs to be added is that you should be aware when other schools have offered a recruit you’re after. This shouldn’t require you signing up for better service; we all live with the internet and a 24/7 news cycle, with multiple sites (Rivals, 247, MaxPreps, etc) that are devoted to this. I lost out on a recruit I was interested in, because he gave Texas Tech a verbal before I ever offered him; this was in early September, mind you.

Getting blindsided by that doesn’t make any sense to me.

One other thing that should be in: you should have a basic scouting report on everyone. I want to be able to go look at teams I don’t play and see the standouts on their teams; not being able to kind of damages the immersion to me. 

(This is also the issue I alluded to in the transfer portal section. There is a Transfer Preview magazine issue in the media section; I forgot about that, though I also wonder how much it would have helped me in my own situation.)

I don’t know the reasoning behind this (I can and will be asking Gorski about this, but I’m also on a deadline); my speculation is that it’s due to your staff resources.

If so, that’s understandable…to a point. But there’s too much that doesn’t make sense. Take Seton Hall, for example. They’re in the Big East with Providence. I have the scouting reports that my staff accumulated on last year’s team. That’s all well and good.

However, I don’t have their freshmen’s scouting reports. This fails to make sense; we’re in the same region, recruiting the same players. For instance, they have Stephan Horton, a 6’1 guard from Winsted, CT. He was rated 508th overall in last year’s class. 

The very first thing I did when I entered recruiting was to go into every New England state and scout all recruits 3* and up, and some 2*. In addition, Horton would have ended up at some camps in the northeast, no? My staff were at those camps. So why don’t we have at least a basic report on him?

To me, this system of hidden information, even at its basic level, is misplaced in an age of information. It doesn’t have to be ACCURATE information; I’m totally okay with my staff having inaccurate or dated reports, because we haven’t seen a player in a while (or because my staff is inept). In fact, that helps with the immersion (and I think would create a great importance to scouting roles on a staff). But to have nothing…that wouldn’t play well in even a game from 1992.

Why does it play now? I’m sure there’s a logical reason; I’m just struggling to find it.

Lastly, and this came to me as I was writing up my section on the kid I’ll talk about in the Fun section…maybe there should be three different recruiting rankings; this could reflect the different systems we have now, and, once again, add to the immersion, and the difficulty, that comes with recruiting.)

Also, since the thought hit me (can you tell my writing structure, and my general structure in life, is not to be the most planned out?)…my dream would be to see the ability to design plays and inbound sets. Granted, I’m also a coach, and I do admit to having spent copious amounts of time in the past designing inbounds sets and sequences…but man, this would be the dream (outside of head-to-head coaching, which…I still have bitter feelings about OOTP6 and H2H, so I’ll steer clear).

Grade: 10. I think my questions on the incomplete information are valid, and it’s a conversation I’ll look to have in the future.. But it doesn’t take away from the gameplay, which is stellar, and has been for a long time.. I am looking forward to studying the defensive adjustments Gorski has made to the engine, and see where that goes.

Online Modes

One area where this franchise has lacked over the years is with online leagues. Having a strong, consistent basketball community is difficult; having been a part of a few, I know. This was something Gorski didn’t put a lot of energy into in the early years, choosing to focus on the gameplay and aim things towards the solo enthusiast.

That worked out, but it has caused the online component to stagnate.

In recent versions, there has been work done to attempt to reach out to online players. To help on the DDSCB end, there are now prompts and pop-ups that help commissioners know when to adjust things in the college game, so that it stays aligned with the pro game.

When it comes to leagues, I know they’re out there. Hell, the overload of the very site you are reading this one runs one. You can check it out here. It looks very in-depth, honestly; I’m very likely to join it.

(This league, like pretty much all of them out there, utilize DDSCB21; expect leagues to transition to DDSCB22 within the next couple of months. Also, you can check for new leagues by going to the Wolverine Studios message board; however, currently, the only one advertised on the regular is the one linked above.)

Grade: 9. Adding in the prompts and checkpoints is a major addition for this area of the game. That’s good enough to nab the highest grade I’ve ever given out in this section of either the college or pro basketball games.

Replay & Fun Factor

Okay, back to my original premise to this piece.

I think I found one.

That is…I think I found a diamond in the rough.

Early on in the second season of recruiting, I was looking at my email on the national camps..and I was handed this little interesting nugget.

A Rhode Island kid (from Cranston, one town over! Look, in Rhode Island, not all the towns are one town over (which I know is a very New England thing to say; I’ve lived here 15 years now…I’m a New Englander). Some towns are two towns over). However, I didn’t recall a Rhody kid being a top recruit this year. There was just one 4* recruit (PG Larry Worthing).

So…who is this kid?

At the time, he was a 3* recruit, 395th in the class. But when scouted…well, he looked pretty decent. He’s undersized, but there’s a lot he does well…including my biggest thing: two-way ability. 

So, I kept tabs on him. Then, I got the Big Apple Showcase report.

Let me get this straight: An undersized guard from Cranston was the MVP at the Georgia Superstar Camp…then turns around and is named to the All-Big Apple team?

It gets more interesting; you’d think his star would rise due to this. It went totally the other way: as of September 25th (where the game is as I write this), he’s ranked 527th. He lost a star, according to WSSN.

Here he is, early on in recruiting:

And here he is in September:

Now, you can say, this isn’t realistic. This kid should have shot up. You can be right about that; there are likely some weird dice rolls that took place that caused this kid to fall. This is also where you have to suspend reality, or remember that this game, like all games in this genre, is really predicated on dice rolls and probability.

(You could also say that is the result of additional scouting and film watched; maybe, though why would his national ranking fall? I would think the narrative would be that this kid is unheralded and skyrocketing up the rankings.)

(Postscript: After he signed with me, he went back up to a 3*, and is now ranked 304th in the class. Interesting, especially given that a couple of his grades actually got mildly worse.)

(PostPostscript: By Christmas, he got up to 217th. Of course, the big man I recruited has fallen in the rankings. I’ve been having slight buyer’s remorse because I’m looking at the shiny center who sits 61st nationally, has me at the top of their rankings, and…yeah, I should stop. This is already 20+ pages.)

Of course, I do have a few suggestions, all related to improving immersion. The biggest method, I think, towards that end is to  improve the recruiting history section. Okay, add a recruiting history section. There isn’t one. Recruiting is a HUGE part of the game; I’d say it’s 40-50% of the game…higher if you don’t get too in-depth on in-game coaching. This should be reflected in the almanac by the following:

• Yearly national recruiting rankings by team
• Yearly national recruiting rankings by player
• Team summaries for recruiting by star rating
• Conference summaries for recruiting by star rating
• Players who have gone pro for each program (might as well throw that in this section)

This is, in my opinion, the single biggest thing missing from the current game. I’m writing this without verifying it (sacrilege, I know), but I recall this being in Fast Break College Basketball, which hasn’t had a release in, what, a decade?

(I also believe the almanac should keep every team’s roster and stats by season. I know this may be a conscious choice to keep the files and load times from going too long…but technology has likely outkicked the coverage on this one. I think the majority of players would rather have too much immersion than too little. In capturing a league’s history, there is currently too little immersion ability to me.

Grade: 10. All of this, of course, highlights the simple fact that this game is *fun*. The ways it can be played are seemingly endless. Want a challenge? Go to a small school and build a legacy, or go to a big school and raise the difficulty level. Want to set up an old school environment? You’re set there. Want something totally different and go with pro/rel? You’re set there, too.

With the Universe mode, you can even set up multiple coaches in one universe, so that you could run both a small school and a large program…or set up shop in a mid-major conference with some friends. 

Closing: If you’re a basketball fan, you should already have this. If you’re new to it, though…be careful. I missed this year’s Selection Show because I was too busy studying Greg Arnold and deciding if the small forwards I recruited could play other positions.

Draft Day Sports: College Basketball ‘22 should be a part of your library. It should also be pinned to your taskbar, so you can access it more easily.

(Final Postscript: I got fired from Providence after two seasons. I mean, it was earned…but still. Bah.)

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