Hello, and welcome, to the Football Legend June 2023 Dev Update! It has been 4 long months since our last post, and I am excited to share everything we've been up to. We've been hard at work preparing the game for the upcoming Early Access release. The original goal was to have an Early Access version available by the end of 2023. I am happy to say that we are still on track for achieving this! I have been polishing things up, fixing a ton of bugs, and improving the simulation engine. I've been adding in the final few systems that were missing. I've been making the hard decisions on which features are not going to make the initial Early Access release. I have spent a lot of time playing through the game and figuring out what needs tweaking. It has been a blast play-testing the game I have spent the last couple of years building! I simply cannot wait for you to get your hands on it soon! And now...I proudly present to you some of the new features that have been added in the past few months. [h2]Defensive Gameplan[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43362445/9ae061ab01a2afc6c213aaafd4b817944d841d55.png[/img] A massive overhaul was made to defensive gameplans. Your defensive gameplan allows you to set up exactly which plays you will run in each different situation you will encounter. If you have a talented linebacker that can rush off the edge, you can control exactly how often you blitz him. If you are about to face a team with a mobile quarterback, adjust your gameplan to use more QB spy coverages. Handpick the plays that perfectly align with your team's strengths, personnel, and preferred defensive philosophy. From aggressive blitz packages to conservative coverage schemes, the choice is yours. Choose from all types of coverages - Cover 2, Cover 3 Cloud, Man To Man, Press 1, and many more. You can double up coverage on your opponent's best receiver, blitz multiple defenders, run buzz coverages to stack the box, and much more. This all culminates in giving you total precision over how your defense will operate. But...as always, you can choose to focus on other things, and let your staff build the gameplan for you. [h2]Defensive Play Diagrams[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43362445/d1575af441c23945fad3f1640dade8d3b96035dc.png[/img] Announcing the addition of defensive play diagrams. These handy diagrams give you a visual representation of what each player will be doing in each play. The diagram provides a comprehensive overview of your team's defensive formations, coverage schemes, and player assignments. You can strategize the perfect defensive setup like never before. [h2]Team Overview[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43362445/b5142ba64ef483d3cf454f7cb2c8d2fe9457edb7.png[/img] The Team Overview screen has been completed. This birds-eye-view dashboard lets you quickly review the details on a team. You can scan the team's best players, review the team's schedule, view game logs, track pending free agents, see the injury report, and much more. [h2]Player Ratings[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43362445/a943e40518e437f3ef9b890de761ae7cb713bbbd.png[/img] The display of player ratings have been redone, and are now grouped by type (rushing, receiving, blocking, etc...). The rating is given a color based upon how skilled the player is. This makes it much easier to quickly analyze a player's skills. [h2]AI Improvements[/h2] The whole point of this game is to realistically simulate football. There has been a ton of work put in to improving the core football simulation engine. [list] [*] The AI for offering free agents contracts has been vastly improved. The outcome of the offseason free agency period is now much more realistic. Teams now make intelligent and thoughtful decisions on which free agents they approach to sign. [*] Every play has certain strengths and weaknesses, and improvements were made to the simulation engine for this. You'll be punished for running a Cover-1 defense against an empty Shotgun set on 3rd and long. You'll be rewarded for stacking eight in the box on 3rd and short. [*] The complexity of the football simulation engine has been vastly improved. More factors than ever have been incorporated into the simulation. The height of your wide receivers matters. The hangtime of your punts matter. The ability of your running backs to pick up blitzes matters. Some quarterbacks struggle delivering short passes, while thriving on the long ball. [/list] [h2]Quality of Life Improvements[/h2] An inefficient and clunky UI is the kiss of death for sports management simulator games. We know this. We put a lot of effort into streamlining how you navigate through the game: [list] [*] On the Offseason Workout Report screen, a new section has been added to display the best and worst performers. This lets you quickly see who has made the most progress in the offseason, and who has dropped off fast. [*] When your coaching staff has a vacancy, a new process has been added to help you navigate through filling the position with the best candidate available. [*] When reviewing tables of stats, a subtle highlight is now applied to any player on your roster, any time your team is listed, and any time your coach is listed. This helps immediately identify relevant data to you. [*] Improvements were made to how drilling into player stats works. Analyzing player statistics is now much more streamlined, and takes less "clicks" to get the pertinent information. [/list] With these groundbreaking defensive coaching features, and everything else that's been done, we've taken football management simulation to new heights. We are dedicated to building the most realistic and expansive football management simulator ever created. Stay tuned for more exciting updates as we continue to refine and enhance the game, ensuring an immersive and unparalleled football management experience. Get ready to lead your team to glory, as you rise through the ranks of the football world and become a Football Legend! Until next time, keep strategizing, keep innovating, and keep dominating! Beef Developer of Football Legend