Welcome

[Arlie Rahn]

This forum is to talk about Brian's new game: Fast Break Pro Basketball 3. Here's an update from Brian to kickoff the discussions:

Since I mentioned it in the FBCB thread I might as well get this started. Work is progressing on the new pro game to the point where I might start having some people get involved with testing later in the month while I continue to add more stuff. The best way to currently describe the game is a cross between FBCB and Season Ticket Basketball with database that lets you start or import draft classes from any season since 1946. The other big thing right now is I'm working to make it possible to have multiple leagues running within the same game universe. Just how much the leagues interact would be up to the user but it opens up the possibility for adding European or other leagues to the game as well. Here is a basic overview for now:

Advanced Customization
*Multiple leagues can be active at once
*League sizes ranging from 8 to 40 teams
*Full customization of team and player details
*Control how many teams make the playoffs and the length of each round
*Optional developmental league for players
*Import draft files from FBCB

Historical Database
*Use league structures from 1946 through 2011 with actual team movement/expansion or custom team movement/expansion
*Player database allows you to start in any year 1946 or later and automatically import the actual players that entered the league each year into the draft pool.

Updated Game Engine and Player ratings (FBCB Style)
*Expanded player ratings give a more detailed breakdown of each player’s individual skills

Expanded Options for Online Leagues
*FTP support to allow you to upload league files from within the game.

Updated Free Agency Period
*Free agency period is extended to allow for more negotiation

More available stats/information
*Almanac shows detailed information about past seasons.

Other
*Fast sim allows automatic simulation of multiple seasons to allow you to build the league history before playing

[Astil]

Sweet. I'll be buying day 1.

[Nathers7]

Another day 1 buyer here, can't wait for the release :)

[Vatechfan24]

Yeah!!!!!!!!! Fast Break College Basketball is the greatest game which only means this game is going to be even better!

The fact you can you play any season with the real players is just amazing!!!!

[HansLanda11]

The historical database feature sounds excellent. I cannot wait to play this as I have been playing your games since 2001.

[Vatechfan24]

The historical database feature sounds excellect. I cannot wait to play this as I have been playing your games since 2001.

I always wanted to play the older version of this game but once i found out that this game was coming out i never bought it. So excited it's finally being announced! Can't wait to rewrite history.

[Pokerking88]

I wonder if there is anyway for this to be released in a combo pack of sorts with FBCB. That would save money and could help with the importing classes.

[BHK1978]

I might as well hand you my money over right now. I still play Season Ticket Basketball from time to time so I know this will be well worth the money.

[TheStroke7]

his is an awesome news. I checked the board yesterday after almost a year and I found this.
GDS games are always great, but a GDS basketball game is awesome!!!!

I want to give my 2 cents on some feature:

- If it could be possible to add other league different form NBA like a EuroLeague it is massivley important to have 2 features: 1. the possibility of having various levels in a single country with promotion and demotion 2. the possibility to decide if a league use a draft or a junior team system in which (as in Europe) every team has a junior team and takes there their youngsters.

- With the expansion teams it would be great to have the possibility to have an expansion draft.

- I like the financial part of running a basketball team, so it would be awesome to have the ability to play with a full set of the NBA salary cap rules and even to be able to create leagues with a custom rule setting.

- I am also a big fan of statistics, so the more stats we have the better it is for me.

That's all for now. I am really looking foreward to this one.

[Jaysin]

I only ever really get into basketball around play off time, but this actually sounds intriguing. I'll definitely give the demo a go when it's released.

[Unregistered]

Fantastic! Thank goodness, I thought I was going to have to buy another terrible product from Wolverine studios this year for my sim basketball fix, but I have been saved!

[Devine_Limits]

awesome now all we need is a pro football game

[BHK1978]

Fantastic! Thank goodness, I thought I was going to have to buy another terrible product from Wolverine studios this year for my sim basketball fix, but I have been saved!

If I could give you a like I would for this post because you are speaking the truth.:D

[RSA27]

Great news, can't wait to buy it. I am confused though why this is Fast Break Pro 3 instead of 2. I didn't realize a 2nd version had ever been released.

[yeah826]

First day buy for me let me know if you need any testing im always willing to help out.

[Brian Nichols]

Great news, can't wait to buy it. I am confused though why this is Fast Break Pro 3 instead of 2. I didn't realize a 2nd version had ever been released.

Bah that is confusing everyone :) Technically there was FBB, STB/FBBSE, and now this version.

[Vatechfan24]

Man this game can be called "Fast Break Basketball 9,000" and it's still going to be the greatest basketball gave ever!!!!

If it's anything like the College version then i will never get any work finished!

[fredreed]

Please do not put down wolverinestudios or the games that they make because like greydogsoftware both companies make a lot of great games for us play with. If your goning to put down wolverinestudios that's fine but please keep your negative comments to yourself and focus on posting what the subject is about. Fast break pro basketball 3 will be a great game when It comes out however like any that comes out It will likely have many bugs that need to fixed first prior to playing it. Brian has talked about it for quite a while now but we have be very patient with him like with all developers when developing a game.

[muns]

Please do not put down wolverinestudios or the games that they make because like greydogsoftware both companies make a lot of great games for us play with. If your goning to put down wolverinestudios that's fine but please keep your negative comments to yourself and focus on posting what the subject is about. Fast break pro basketball 3 will be a great game when It comes out however like any that comes out It will likely have many bugs that need to fixed first prior to playing it. Brian has talked about it for quite a while now but we have be very patient with him like with all developers when developing a game.

I doubt there will be many bugs. He didnt have a lot in his last release with FBCB 2010, and im expecting it to be more of the same this time as well.

I like the rest of your post about being positive though!

MUNS

[Vatechfan24]

Please do not put down wolverinestudios or the games that they make because like greydogsoftware both companies make a lot of great games for us play with. If your goning to put down wolverinestudios that's fine but please keep your negative comments to yourself and focus on posting what the subject is about. Fast break pro basketball 3 will be a great game when It comes out however like any that comes out It will likely have many bugs that need to fixed first prior to playing it. Brian has talked about it for quite a while now but we have be very patient with him like with all developers when developing a game.


Who was putting down wolverine studios? They make great games!

[Unregistered]

Who was putting down wolverine studios? They make great games!

Both me and BHK did, and I still stand for what I said.

Wolverine Games decided against making a have decent editor, to allow for the community to make a good historical mod, and decided to make DLC for there game instead.

I'm thankful that FBPB is coming out, and even happier that it's coming out with historical data for free. I think it's fair to bring up the comparison here, because its obvious that one of the two studios is trying to rip people off, while one is trying to just make a great game

Also, GDS tends to take care of there customers and the bugs there games have, Wolverine Studios doesn't offer anything but an appology.

[HansLanda11]

For what it's worth I am also among the folks who were dissapointed with the pro basketball game. I probably won't be purchasing any wolverine studios games in the future after feeling like I wasted my money but I do hope that they can make some mass improvements to their product and I wish them well.

On a side note I'm very excited for FBB3!

[BHK1978]

My main problem with the Wolverine Basketball game was (I am not talking about the current one but the second one.) they announced that the game was coming out in 2009 and then the game did not come out until a year later. And much like the first version of the game, the second one was riddled with bugs. Then if you complain about said bugs you have posters over there who attack you because you complained about the game.

I have bought seven games from GDS and I think I have run into a bug maybe two or three times and Adam has taken care of it right away. With the Wolverine games that I own, some of them are unplayable because they have so many bugs in them.

I am sorry to take this off topic but I am not sorry for having an opinion on the subject.

[Vatechfan24]

Well back to the topic at hand! How many of you out there played/are still playing the first Fast Break Basketball game? I've always wanted to buy it but obviously now I'm going to wait for the new one.

What is the best feature from the first game that you liked the most and hope it transfers over to the new version?

[RatedRKO16]

I have a question about the game.. will we be able to human control as many/all teams if we want to? Like a commissioner mode?

Sorry if this has been answered. I'm hoping so. :)

[HansLanda11]

I have a question about the game.. will we be able to human control as many/all teams if we want to? Like a commissioner mode?

Sorry if this has been answered. I'm hoping so. :)

I'm pretty sure the answer is yes because how else would we be able to run an online league without this feature.

[Antonin]

Great news. I'm looking forward to this one.

[yeah826]

I am definitely looking forward to this game

[Brian Nichols]

I have a question about the game.. will we be able to human control as many/all teams if we want to? Like a commissioner mode?

Sorry if this has been answered. I'm hoping so. :)

Of course :)

[RatedRKO16]

Of course :)

Awesome! Day 1 buy for me!

[Jack Hood]

Been waiting for a pro B-Ball game from greydog for 6 years I am looking forward to it very much Mr. Rahn!

[D16NJD16]

Will we be able to play past seasons with retro players?

[RatedRKO16]

Will we be able to play past seasons with retro players?

Yes, that is listed under features. :)

[Steam☆Odin]

Glorious news.. I wonder if we can make a league with promotion/relegation system?

[bigfiasco]

chalk up another day 1 buyer. cheers guys

[Guardian]

Can't wait for this. Looking forward to it.

[Unregistered]

I've been pondering some questions the past few days about different things. Here's the biggest questions I've come up with.

The 3 Point shot. With historical rosters, I imagine there is a chance that we may get something along the lines of what OOTP baseball has, with a already intergrated way of having not only teams but also rules showing up at the right time as well. I'm hoping that if we can play since the beginning of Pro Basketball, that not only rules like the 3 Point shot, but other rules over the years come in effect too.

The Detroit Badboys. Is there any chance of this happening in game? Meaning, will fouls change over the years. Back in the earlier ninties (and of course before), you could get away with near murder compared to today. I'd love to see some replication of this, although admittely I'm not sure how. Here's hoping something along these lines can be recreated.

Larry Bird's draft year. When Larry Bird was drafted, he didn't actually go to the Celtics until the next season. I'm sure everyone knows this, but I wonder how this will be taken acount of in game form. If, it's as in real life, it's a real possibility that you could draft Larry number 1 the first year, and then somehow be able to draft Magic the next. While an awesome possibillity, I wonder if that's whats going to be possible or if Larry and Magic are going to end up in the same draft.

[yeah826]

You can already take away the three point shot in the college game he just gave the option. Also I read somewhere in another forum that he was planning on taking account for the pace that was played in the earlier eras.

[Brian Nichols]

As mentioned, it will be possible to disable the 3 point shot. The historical mode should have the option to auto adjust rules based on the year.

The whole Pistons thing followed by Pat Riley's teams of the mid 90s presents an interesting challenge to replicate. That will be something I'll have to think about. I've been trying to figure more ways to allow you to impact what your team is doing defensively so that could end up being a solid way of adding like a physicality setting or something.

The draft year vs first year of play thing is something I'm aware of but haven't coded yet. Even recent players with injuries like Oden and Blake Griffin are affected. I suspect the code for this could be shared with code that would simulate that foreign players often don't come to the league right away.

[Unregistered]

As mentioned, it will be possible to disable the 3 point shot. The historical mode should have the option to auto adjust rules based on the year.

The whole Pistons thing followed by Pat Riley's teams of the mid 90s presents an interesting challenge to replicate. That will be something I'll have to think about. I've been trying to figure more ways to allow you to impact what your team is doing defensively so that could end up being a solid way of adding like a physicality setting or something.

The draft year vs first year of play thing is something I'm aware of but haven't coded yet. Even recent players with injuries like Oden and Blake Griffin are affected. I suspect the code for this could be shared with code that would simulate that foreign players often don't come to the league right away.

Wow, thats just great news all around. I imagine it'll be difficult to implement a physicality setting that will work in multiple different generations, but boy would it be awesome.

The draft year thing I imagine will be alot easier... sorta. I suppose it could go either way. Oden and Blake you imagine could easily just have not gotten injured, but I suppose you could also say that Larry could have also just came to the league a year earlier for the right price. Although as a Boston boy, I don't really believe that myself.

I'm looking forward to more info in the future and even more the finished product! :D

[RatedRKO16]

I suspect the code for this could be shared with code that would simulate that foreign players often don't come to the league right away.

Are there going to be development/foreign leagues for these players to progress in? This is a very nice touch that I hadn't even thought about but it seems the 2nd round of the draft is completely foreign players these days. Then we don't see them debut for a couple of years.

[Brian Nichols]

The game is being setup to handle multiple leagues running in one save. The idea is to make it possible for both development leagues and foreign leagues to be used.

[Ric Flair Guy]

Is there an update on the status of this game or an ETA on a release date? I'm debating if I should buy DDS: Pro Basketball 3, or wait for this one to come out.

Thanks.

[RSA27]

A weekly update would be nice, even if its something like "not much progress made" or "Some progress made, been working on etc." Short and simple is more than enough for me. I have been dieing for a new basketball sim, and without wanting to start any kind of argument I don't have a desire to spend my money on a third DDSPB game.

[thamolas]

Been waiting for a pro B-Ball game from greydog for 6 years

As have I and I look forward to it very, very much!

[jwill1225]

Defiantly looking forward to the game. I was wondering if players imported from FBCB will keep all there college stats. Would we be able to see there averages from there freshman year to there senior year?

[mvanhorn]

Count me in.

[Brian Nichols]

Defiantly looking forward to the game. I was wondering if players imported from FBCB will keep all there college stats. Would we be able to see there averages from there freshman year to there senior year?

Yes, the player stats along with any awards won by the player are included in the imports.

[yeah826]

Hey since we are in the middle of the free agent period what rosters will up when the game is released.

[yeah826]

Also will there be a version of the olympics on the game that would be so awesome if that was on there :)

[Brian Nichols]

I'd expect the historical database to include data through last year and then a separate roster file for starting with rosters going into the 2012 season.

Something like the Olympics is still at least another version out. The multiple league setups will need some time to get more detailed.

[RA27]

With free agency in full swing, I have a fever and the only prescription is more Fast Break Basketball.

[RA27]

I was curious about the historic leagues. When importing real players from the past how will their athletic ability be determined. It seems relatively easy to translate actual stats to objectively create their skills, but athletic ability seems somewhat subjective. What I mean, will Michael Jordan start out his career as a freak athlete and then progressively become less athletic, and if so did you have to actually sit down and manually decide each players speed,quickness,jumping etc. for every year, or is their some kind of system you worked up to use their stats to judge athletic ability?

[yeah826]

From what I remember of the college basketball game when you create players based off of stats on the ratings generator it gave a pretty good indication of there athletic ability. Plus in all honesty this will be the first basketball game Ive seen that will have a full historical leagues in it. Im sure with time and the version after this will be improved upon to create better stats.

[yeah826]

Hey will there be summer league in this game??? and any updates

[Brian Nichols]

Summer league is not currently in the game although it would be an option at some point. The past week has been very slow for development. On the 4th I had to watch one of my pets pass away unexpectedly and I had to go in this week to the dentist for the first time since the late 90s for a root canal with more work needed. While that has slowed me down, needing to pay for it may speed things up :). It never hurts to have a little extra motivation.

[Frank_Vest]

Sorry to hear about your pet, Brian. My sympathies.

Wanted to say that I am a huge fan of the college game and am giddy with excitment at the prospect of playing the pro game.

[Pokerking88]

Summer league is not currently in the game although it would be an option at some point. The past week has been very slow for development. On the 4th I had to watch one of my pets pass away unexpectedly and I had to go in this week to the dentist for the first time since the late 90s for a root canal with more work needed. While that has slowed me down, needing to pay for it may speed things up :). It never hurts to have a little extra motivation.

Very sorry for your loss, pets are like family and it is awful to lose them.
Ouch with though root canal too, the dentist we go to is old school so we don't get numbed besides novacaine :/

[Brian Nichols]

My dentist has done a great job so far. They offer both novacaine and nitrous. Not enough to knock you out but it definitely relaxes you during the process. When they went to start working the dental assistant asked if I wanted the gas too. I asked how much more that would cost and she said $10. I told her I absolutely wanted the gas too in that case. The first root canal is now done other than placing a crown on the tooth. I at least got in before there was a bad infection or anything like that. Just the toothache and the shooting pulses down into my jaw were bad enough. In terms of actual treatment the worst pain was actually when the dental assistant was poking around inspecting my other tooth that is partially broken. She hit a certain spot and I about jumped out of the chair. They don't think that tooth needs a root canal though. I'm going back in for a full exam tomorrow though so who knows. I just know that not feeling what I was feeling last week is worth every penny. Anyone putting off dental work, just remember that it was way cheaper to fix before it starts hurting.

[RA27]

As someone who recently lost their dog after 12 years, and who has had painful dental work done I empathize completely. Hope you feel better soon.

[Pokerking88]

My dentist has done a great job so far. They offer both novacaine and nitrous. Not enough to knock you out but it definitely relaxes you during the process. When they went to start working the dental assistant asked if I wanted the gas too. I asked how much more that would cost and she said $10. I told her I absolutely wanted the gas too in that case. The first root canal is now done other than placing a crown on the tooth. I at least got in before there was a bad infection or anything like that. Just the toothache and the shooting pulses down into my jaw were bad enough. In terms of actual treatment the worst pain was actually when the dental assistant was poking around inspecting my other tooth that is partially broken. She hit a certain spot and I about jumped out of the chair. They don't think that tooth needs a root canal though. I'm going back in for a full exam tomorrow though so who knows. I just know that not feeling what I was feeling last week is worth every penny. Anyone putting off dental work, just remember that it was way cheaper to fix before it starts hurting.

Definitely. Thankfully we get free dental care since my mom works at a dentist :p

[Antonin]

With free agency in full swing, I have a fever and the only prescription is more Fast Break Basketball.

Excellently said! :)

Every evening when my wife and are watching NBA TV we are constantly amazed: "He's going WHERE?? For HOW MUCH!!??" We are looking forward to the new season.

[The Bus]

Has there ever been a thought to include also women's leagues into the setup?

[yeah826]

I remember someone making a mod on the college game to make a women league

[RatedRKO16]

Are we seriously talking about a women's league??

[yeah826]

Nope not really i rather see other things than a womens league that seems more like a waste of time considering the other things that could be worked on.

[Brian Nichols]

If someone wanted to play a women's league only, it would be reasonably easy to do using alternate first name files and by adjusting the height modifiers for the player generator. Running it in the same save as the men's leagues would be more difficult.

[RA27]

I am waiting for someone to ask if this game will be able to run a space jam-esque league where NBA superstars play against aliens bent on world conquest.


On a side note, if you have time could you make it possible to run a sim league like I just mentioned above.

[RatedRKO16]

If someone wanted to play a women's league only, it would be reasonably easy to do using alternate first name files and by adjusting the height modifiers for the player generator. Running it in the same save as the men's leagues would be more difficult.

Thank you!!

[Antonin]

I enjoy the WNBA, but I would greatly prefer to see the game that is currently being worked on. FBB is still fun, but I'll be very happy when the new version arrives.

[muns]

Thank you!!

the name files are already out there as a womens mod was made for the college game. So the hard part has already been done.

Petrel explains what he did in this post here as he worked hard on that mod (which was fantastic btw)

http://www.fbbgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8940

[jwill1225]

I hope players imported from FBCB are as good as the rookies the game creates. I feel like in a lot of games this is not the case.

[mediocre man]

I am new to the sim basketball world, but have been playing Diamond league baseball for years. When will this product be ready, and will it give me the same interaction that DMB does?

Thank you

[johnloch]

Brian, I'm "Honny118" from the old FBB board. I'm so excited that FBB will be coming back soon and really look forward to contribute by making historical mods (as what I did before!) after knowing that there will be a full season replay system.

Will definitely cast my eyes over here everyday to check with the development progress.

[Brian Nichols]

I am new to the sim basketball world, but have been playing Diamond league baseball for years. When will this product be ready, and will it give me the same interaction that DMB does?

Thank you

Information about a release date will come as the beta progresses. Its my (mis)understanding that DMB is more of a replay simulation for past seasons. This game is more of a career simulation where much of the game is based around roster management and setting your team strategy. It will still be possible to coach each game if you want that sort of detail during the season.

[yeah826]

Hey will we be able to choose the options on the league for the style of play played during certain time periods like the fast pace of the 60s or the slow down pace of now??

[Brian Nichols]

That is the goal. For settings like this my general plan is to give the user the chance the option to tweak while also making it possible to import settings from a certain year by selecting that year in a dropdown box. This is what I've already done for the league specific rules.

[jwill1225]

Nice to see the game is progressing, I'm looking forward to it. I was curious if the ability to expand the league will be in the game? If so, would we be able to place this team wherever we want?

[Brian Nichols]

Yes expansion both automatic and manual will be in the game. You should be able to do most things within reason. The characteristics of the team are pretty open. Making one division have 10 teams while another has 5 probably wouldn't work though.

[yeah826]

Wow this game is becoming the ootp of basketball we need to tell more people about this

[jwill1225]

Yes expansion both automatic and manual will be in the game. You should be able to do most things within reason. The characteristics of the team are pretty open. Making one division have 10 teams while another has 5 probably wouldn't work though.

that's good to hear. I had Some more questions about European leagues, will NBA players be able to play in Europe, like college players who don't make it? will we be able to draft a player out of Europe and have him stay there for a while to see if he develops?

[thamolas]

Wow this game is becoming the ootp of basketball we need to tell more people about this

I hope so. It would be a sports sim dream come true if it lives up to that lofty title.

[SK rulez]

I'm european so i'm most interested in the European part of the game.

a. we'll have the chance to play international competitions like Euroleague?
b. there will be the real foreign players limits?

As an european i can help the programmers' team for the database part of the game, like correct names and colors of the teams, arenas, championships' format, foreigners limits, something like that.

[thamolas]

I'm european so i'm most interested in the European part of the game.

a. we'll have the chance to play international competitions like Euroleague?
b. there will be the real foreign players limits?

As an european i can help the programmers' team for the database part of the game, like correct names and colors of the teams, arenas, championships' format, foreigners limits, something like that.

SK, I don't work here and I might be dead wrong, but what you're proposing sounds like a mod - a potentially fun mod.

[SK rulez]

SK, I don't work here and I might be dead wrong, but what you're proposing sounds like a mod - a potentially fun mod.

Oh, I don't know how many real stuff can be put into the game without be suited about a copyright violation. I guess that without the players' names and the logos (yeah, adding this can be a good fan mod) something can stay in the game.
For FBCB 2010 there were the names of the college teams and the conferences.

And for sure, to have the correct championships' formats and rules is an important part of the game that it's not related with copyright.

[Pokerking88]

I forget, so I don't know if this has been posted before (knowing me it is on the OP) is there going to be an import feature from FBCB to this?

[johnloch]

I forget, so I don't know if this has been posted before (knowing me it is on the OP) is there going to be an import feature from FBCB to this?

Yes. The new pro game allows import of draft files from FBCB.

[jnm224]

I have a suggestion regarding computer-generated drafts.

There should be a way for the talent level of the incoming draft class to affect the AI's behavior (e.g. less likely to trade draft picks for the coming year if the AI believes his team is in the lottery or even tanking to get a better draft pick if they are close enough to the bottom of the league).

[yeah826]

I wonder if there are going to be owner personality types on the game like say the type of owner who set a limit on the amount of money he's willing to pay like if he doesnt want to go over the salary cap you may have to let go of your star player to keep the owner happy. Also there will be ways to convince him to change his spending habits. Then there are owners who dont care how much you spend but have high expectations so you may be on the hot seat alot if you dont do well.