I wanted to create a sticky thread outside of the depth chart governance thread to discuss the actual game mechanics updates that are being targeted for the next general release to get feedback and see if there are issues that you all see that need to be addressed. Your feedback is incredibly important here!

Here is what is targeted as improvements in the gameplay engine:

• Attempts to improve long passing. Long pass plays should now actually throw long passes instead of defaulting to shorter passes.
• Zone defense should be better against the run

Here are a few updates that also have been added and hopefully are working well:

• Draft player count has increased (you should have seen better players available in later rounds for the 2077 draft)
• Updated the scheduler to create 17 games with a bye week
• Of course there's the roster validation that's happening, please don't reply in this thread about that, we'll continue to use the other thread to focus on issues there.

Here are bugs that should be fixed:

• The rule YTG properly rounds - so if you have a rule set for YTG 6-7 it will execute for 5.5 though 7.5 YTG, previously it was 6.0 through 7.0 which didn't match the rounded values in the game log.
• The issue where the DL lines up offsides should be fixed (cosmetic, but annoying)
• Fixed issue where score differences greater than 64 points caused 2-point conversions to be weird

My goal for the top list is to have a reasonable improvement, not a perfect fix. Mainly for discussion is - is it better than it was, and does it introduce issues that offset any improvement? Would you be happy to have it released in it's current state (minus the depth chart stuff) or would it frustrate you because of the bad artifacts?

Just a short feedback on long passes.
I have selected 6 plays. 4 of them are now really long(er) passes, 2 didn't work up to game 6 (negative yardage).
The workables range 6 yds, 9.6 yds, 9.9 yds and 15 yds average. All long passes were used 4 or 5 times up to now (week 6).

I'm not too unhappy with the results if you're spamming long pass plays. Obviously long pass plays should be high risk, high reward.

I've glanced at the stats for the season across the league and don't see anything that jumps out as being bad. But you guys are deep in the game so please let me know if there is anything that looks bad. That said, the lack of response on this thread I am hoping means that the gameplay seems to be going well.

I want to go through another preseason with the depth chart changes and make sure there's nothing that's still broken with that - but unless something comes up I think I'll be ready to release this to all the leagues soon thereafter.

I don't why I'm the only one to respond here. Maybe you got feedback on other ways.

With the exception of the depth chart issues, I think the changes listed above could be implemented. It's not perfect, but it does look like an improvement.

I've had results that I would call reasonable with a minimal amount of long passing. I don't see it becoming a significant part of my gameplan unless my hand is forced by it becoming overpowered. I'd like to avoid that, I haven't noticed anything that suggests we are heading for that under the current changes. I can't say I've noticed anything as far as the run vs zone changes, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Thanks for the feedback. I won't make any further changes to the gameplay in the engine (unless something comes up), and we'll continue to monitor the depth chart issues. Like I said, I'd like to see one more TC/Preseason to ensure there are no other problems, and then move this into general release.

Moved projects at work, so not had a vast amount of time.

My concerns for the Zone was it's performance vs the run. I'm having lots of rushes against, but just above average yards against. Without reviewing every play, I'd say on that score, Zone is holding up better against the run than it was previously, but the acid test for game engine changes will always be when Smirt encounters them.

In general, I've no opposition to the game engine changes as long as you market them as evolution NOT revolution. Managing expectations is the key.

It's not perfect, but it's better. Maybe an explanation of the process might help.

I'd rather the changes move too slowly than too fast—first, make sure it's not worse, then check whether it's better. So even a marginal improvement would count as a win.

Overall I’ve liked the passing changes. It feels much better to see my QB push the ball downfield and it certainly looks closer to real life passing game with my QB taking 10, 15, 20+ yard shots downfield instead of the dink and dunk passing styles we’ve had for most of 4.6.

Some plays felt unusable to me but I’ve just realized that the depth chart governance keeps playing injured OL so I’m just going to let the season play out. My stats scripts also need to be remade given the changes to the download csv so I don’t have any data to back up my gut feelings.

Frankly I think any meta change for the engine will be a welcome change assuming we’re not missing anything

Utterly agree. Evolution with a good cadence is always the best approach.

Problem is, I always find myself in work situations where things need blowing up.