Software:Front Office Football

From HandWiki
Developer(s)Solecismic Software
Publisher(s)Solecismic Software
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release1998
Genre(s)Sports (American football)

Front Office Football is a series of sports management games where the player directs an NFL football team. It was designed by Jim Gindin, as part of his one-man company, Solecismic Software, founded in Redmond, Washington on February 20, 1998.[1]

Series

It has had seven sequels: Front Office Football 2, Front Office Football 2001, Front Office Football 2002, Front Office Football 4, Front Office Football 2004, Front Office Football 2007, Front Office Football 7, and Front Office Football 8. A college football version titled Front Office Football: The College Years was released in 2001. Having received many favorable reviews over the years, it has been called the most realistic American football simulation for the computer.[2]

Front Office Football 2004 was the first version that allowed for multi-player capability, resulting in the creation of several on-line leagues.

Front Office Football 8 was released on November 23, 2016.

In 2018, Gindin announced after years without a publisher following being dropped by EA Sports, he had joined forces with Out of the Park Developments.[3]

On June 11, 2020, it was announced that Solecismic Software and OOTP Developments were parting ways.[4][5] Full ownership of the FOF9 code was given to Gindin to develop the next version of Front Office Football, which Gindin released on Steam on October 31, 2023.

Gameplay

The series revolves around the player managing an American Football team. The player plays the role of the general manager, and is tasked with leading the controlled team to success. The main goal of the games in the series is to win the Front Office Bowl, which is supposed to represent the Super Bowl.[1] Excluding Front Office Football: The College Years, all of the games mirror the NFL. The series does not include any other football leagues.[6]

The player is also tasked with managing the team's finances. The player can manage the contracts of the team and staff and control the ticket prices. If the team doesn't make a profit, the player can be in danger of being fired.[7]

The series also allows the player to be a coach, by creating game plans and calling plays.[7]

Presentation

Unlike other sports games, such as EA's Madden NFL, the series does not feature sophisticated graphics. Instead, the games are mostly text-based. The in-game matches are represented through a scoreboard.[8] The game does not feature any music or sound effects.[6]

Features

  • A realistic trading system that allows the user to trade with other teams.[1]
  • An aging system that dictates how long players' careers last, depending on their positions.[1]
  • A draft system where users can select college players to build their team.[1]
  • A system where users can track statistics from many different categories. Players can sort by different categories.[1]
  • A play calling system where users can select plays during games and strategize.[1]
  • A Free agency system where users can sign free agents. Each player has their own preferences on their loyalty and desire to play for a championship team.[1]
  • Nearly 10,000 American cities that players can be from. Their hometowns can have an influence on their free agency decisions.[1]
  • Depth Charts where users can control the personnel of their team.[1]
  • A film room where users can view breakdowns of every game.[1]
  • A player rating system that rates players in 53 different skills. Instead of showing the true ratings of players, the users see the ratings through the eyes of their coaching staff.[1]
  • A salary cap that users have to take into consideration when building their teams.[1]
  • A system that allows users to relocate teams to other cities and build new stadiums. Each city has its own economic rating.[1]
  • Team chemistry that affects players based on how they feel about other players on the team.[1]
  • History and statistics on every player that has played and been drafted in the league.[1]
  • A power rating system that ranks teams based on Solecismic Software's custom power rankings.[1]
  • Multiplayer League support that allows up to 32 users to compete in a league.[1]
  • A system that allows quarterbacks to have access to more plays as they learn more about the game.[9]

Features added in Front Office Football Eight

  • A system that allows users to create an offensive playbook consisting of up to 200 plays. The user has the option to let the AI create a playbook for them.[1]
  • Charts that allow the user to select starters based on personnel.[1]
  • A system that allows users to write scripts for plays for every situation.[1]
  • Instant history generation that generates up to 50 seasons of history for the user's league.[1]
  • Enhanced Multiplayer: increased security and shortened load times.[1]
  • Player cards that allow quick access to all information about a player.[1]
  • Graphs that highlight potential dynasties.[1]
  • Playoff probability simulator that allows the user to see any team's chances to make the playoffs.[1]
  • New Menu Interface.[1]
  • The ability to take advantage of multiple monitors.[1]
  • A system that highlights any quarterback controversies taking place in the league.[1]
  • Quote of the day.[1]

Reception

Awards

  • The editors of Computer Games Magazine nominated Front Office Football: The College Years as the best sports game of 2001, but ultimately gave the award to High Heat Baseball 2002.[10]
  • Original game nominated for Computer Gaming World's Sports Game of the Year, 1999 Premier Awards.[1]
  • Original game received Editors' Choice Award, 4 1/2-Star Review, Computer Gaming World, January 1999 issue.[1]
  • EA SPORTS Front Office Football (FOF2) received Editors' Choice Award, 4 1/2-Star Review, Computer Gaming World, January 2000 issue.[1]
  • Front Office Football 2001 received Editors' Choice Award, 4 1/2-Star Review, Computer Gaming World, March 2001 issue.[1]
  • Original game named Winner, Strategy Category, Ziff-Davis Shareware Awards[1]
  • Original game nominated for Sports Game of the Year, (CNet) Gamecenter Awards for 1998.[1]

Criticism

Games in the series have been referred to as a better alternative than Madden when it comes to managing a team.[11]

A common criticism is that the games are lacking when it comes to graphics.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 "Front Office Football: A Windows PC Football Simulation". http://www.solecismic.com/frontofficefootball.php. 
  2. ↑ "Front Office Football Review", Gamespot, http://www.gamespot.com/pc/sports/frontofficefootball2004/review.html
  3. ↑ "Out of the Park Developments Announces Front Office Football - Sports Gamers Online" (in en-US). Sports Gamers Online. 2018-02-28. http://www.sportsgamersonline.com/out-of-the-park-developments-announces-front-office-football/. 
  4. ↑ "Changes Ahead" (in en-US). 2020-06-11. http://www.solecismic.com/frontierblog/uncategorized/changes-ahead/. 
  5. ↑ "Important Announcement" (in en-US). 2020-06-11. https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/showthread.php?p=4657519#post4657519. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rost, Patrick (2014-03-28). "Front Office Football 7 -- Signing busts and drafting losers at its finest" (in en-US). https://gamingtrend.com/feature/reviews/front-office-football-7-signing-busts-drafting-losers-finest/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Front Office Football Eight on Steam" (in en). https://store.steampowered.com/app/547900/Front_Office_Football_Eight/. 
  8. ↑ "Front Office Football Eight Review (PC) - Operation Sports". https://forums.operationsports.com/reviews/853/front-office-football-eight/. 
  9. ↑ "Front Office Football Seven on Steam" (in en). https://store.steampowered.com/app/344340/Front_Office_Football_Seven/. 
  10. ↑ Staff (March 2002). "11th Annual Computer Games Awards". Computer Games Magazine (136): 50–56. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Game Review: Front Office Football | Football Outsiders" (in en). https://www.footballoutsiders.com/reviews/2007/game-review-front-office-football. 
  • Solecismic Software The official site of Solecismic Software
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

Template:Atari



Reviews



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Front_Office_Football&oldid=735662"