This update is all about adding more variety and personality to each school. Previously, the endgame for each school would be level 10 in everything, and all the top schools would be pretty similar. Now, each school has an archetype, which changes the range of levels for each attribute, and a fanbase type, which affects how fanbase passion changes over time.
School archetypes are definitely a big change, which is optional when starting a new game. Each school has an archetype, of which 12 exist for now. They effectively change the min and max level of each attribute by applying bonus levels, and each archetype has 10 bonus levels to distribute. For example, "Party School" will give +5 College Life, +2 Marketing, +2 Stadium, +1 Facilities, and +0 Academics. A "Balanced" archetype will give +2 levels to each attribute, and this is how schools will act when archetypes are off, or in legacy saves. You will notice that for those saves, the range of levels for each attribute has been changed from 1 - 10 to 3 - 12. This is expected, as I've shifted the domain of levels to accommodate school archetype bonuses. The underlying bonuses remain (mostly) the same. For example, Level 8 Academics in this patch has the same bonuses as Level 6 Academics in the previous patch; the level has just been shifted up by 2.
This should help give more personality to each school, and more variety in the endgame, when you have max level of everything. If you have suggestions for more school archetypes, feel free to post on the Steam forums, the Reddit, or Discord!
Another cool change that will only apply to new saves is a revamped fanbase passion system. Now, fanbase passion has points like other attributes, and changes based on the team exceeding or missing expectations. You'll be able to see how much the passion changes in the Year Summary stage. Additionally, each school has a fanbase type, which affects how the fanbase passion changes each year. For example, "Volatile" fanbases will gain (and lose) more points each year than "Stubborn" fanbases. This adds another layer to each school, and gives you another thing to consider when perusing job offers!
The other option you'll see when creating a new game is for "School attribute costs". Previously, the max amount of money for each school attribute was $80M. I've added this setting so you can adjust it as you see fit, by including options for $120M, $160M, and $240M. Each changes how slowly school attributes are leveled up, by increasing the cost between each level. I've changed the recommended setting for this to $120M, but you can still play on the $80M setting by selecting "Discounted (quicker leveling)". Maintenance costs remain the same between all settings.
I've included a few other minor improvements and bug fixes, which I've listed below. I'm planning to tackle improvements to the coach carousel next, but that could change.
Features
- Added school archetypes
- Adjusted normal school level range from 1-10 to 3-12
- Revamped fanbase passion system for new saves
- Added school fanbase type
- Added "School attribute costs" setting to adjust school leveling speed
- New "School Updates" page UI to be easier to use and more clear
Improvements
- Adjusted realignment to prevent top teams from moving down conferences
- Added tackler to play summary text when applicable
- Added retired icon (palm tree) to coaches in coaching tree table
- Improved endzone playcalling so deep passes aren't called
- Changed icons for Facilities and College Life, brightened Facilities color
Bug fixes
- Fix team roster needs and recruiting needs not matching up in the UI
- Fix some text around seniors being draft risks
Happy July 4th and thanks for playing!