This is my vision of how I would like to play the game: Are you all on the edge of your seats? :eatpop:

I'd like to start a game and select or create a fighter. Then progress him through the years of his carear. Like signing a manager, deciding what gym to train out of, and who I want to fight. Maybe there could be an option to let my manager, based on his ratings, to sign me to fights.

Then, while I am doing this, it would be cool if in the background, all the other fighters are getting fights causing rankings to change, championships to change hands, etc.

In short, I'd like to control just my fighter, and in the background, having all other fighters carears controled by the games AI.

Is the new game going to be anything like this?

I think that the direction is to allow just that but with you being the manager rather than the actual fighter. Sort of the difference between OOTP and ITP. It would be great if both aspects could be done in one game; the wider the possibilities the more potential market for the game.

I see this version just being the manager end of it ... gotta save some thing for TBCB4 right?

It would be nice if both options were in there but I'm not sure that it will get done in one version.

It would be nice to have the options

1) open (how we play now)

2) career (with once you click on career then you are given options of A) play as manager B) play as fighter)

Yeah, ideally everything should be optional.

Cap

This idea is excellent as well -

I completley like both - It is a must for me to have things as they are now - Where we have complete control over our whole universe, which fighters are in, who is fighting who, etc, etc. (just as is now....with of course some added tweaks / features to the engine itself).

But it would be great to have a second option (almost a second game within a game)...where you could play / run the game as you describe above.

i like this way

I'm not picky... and I like TBCB, so there isn't too much I would change.

I would like:

More detail of cuts/swelling.

The graphics should better represent body punches, uppercuts...ect. Sometimes when I'm quick simming, I don't read the commentary and instead turn the sim speed up and watch the 2 fighters go at in the ring while keeping my eye on the round score. Problem is, you can't really gage too well on whats going on in the commentary by watching the two fighters square off in the ring. I know this is a text based sim, and I don't expect it to look like EA sports, but maybe just a few more pics in the graphics folder for body punches, uppercuts, jabs... ect.

historical purses - lifetime earnings.

Just curious. If the ring graphics can show a knockdown, why can't it show a left hook or a body punch? I'm sure there's a good technical reason. (Please reduce the number of knockdowns scored with a body punch.)

By the way. This is the 1st of May!!!!

Cap

Based solely on my subjective experience in watching fights for 40 years, I'd say that knockdowns by way of body punches happen about 5% of the time. In TBCB they happen about 25% of the time.

My biggest request for the new version is to simply have a self-sustaining boxing universe that the AI controls. Boxer profiles are randomly generated into the universe and boxers follow a linear career path. The closest thing I can relate to this is the old boxing game TV Sports Boxing (You can play this game freely now in DOSbox or an amiga emulator: http://www.cinemaware.com/clsgame_tvboxing.asp ). That game had the most developed boxing universe I've ever seen. Unfortunately the fighter profiles were all hard coded so they ran out after a period of time. The other thing related to this is that the game should have a 'date' system in place to show the passage of time and some sort of history.

One of the hardest things to achieve in a universe like this is how to pad a fighter's record. You really want to avoid having two potential superstars fight after only a couple fights. Perhaps the quality of the fighters manager gives them better matchups. An organic world like this where I could take over as any fighter's manager would be a dream come true. I think the current implementation of TBCB is very awkward, but I still enjoy it very much.

Also, KEEP THE GAME LEAN. Take out the DRM!!! This is a simulator, video animations are a complete waste. Instead, have many more fight shots- even better, create something like what tvsports boxing has.

I have many more ideas for improvement, but I think a better foundation should be created first and having a living universe would be a massive improvement.

This is exactly where the old style used to work just great - When we had two small antimated boxing figures (each with their own correct color for the assoicated boxer....there were four or five color categories).

But more importantly....The view of the ring was from "above". You saw the ring from above looking down. Both antimated boxers moved around the ring, threw punches....and basically showed who was pressing the fight, if a fighter was trapped in a corner (and which corner), etc, etc, etc.

I have never understood why this style was taken out.....(let alone replaced with what we currently have).....Hell, what we have now, the two boxers standing from the side view.....(that is what Lance Haffner was using way back 15 years ago with his Text boxing sim).

The antimanted boxing figures from the above ring view would be a big improvement.

Liked most of your post but ??? this part because the biggest foundation in any boxing game is the game engine itself and there isn't a better one out there.

The "living universe" is exactly what the RPG will be designed to do.

I think if you polled a dozen forum communists here about what they want in TBCB 3, you'd get a whole bunch of different visions. The starting point though has to be that the fight results are realistic. From there we go in different directions for the most part. I like the idea of the game AI controlling other fighters, but I'd like to be able to step in (mob-like) and control another fighter's path for at least a few fights. Now, the question is what else should the Game control?

Cap

A true RPG game the game should control everything but the fighters you manager
It should control new fighter creation and development, scheduling, purses, where the fight takes place, rankings, who fights for titles, injuries, aging
etc etc etc

Pretty much anything needed for a boxing universe should be AI controlled

Now the player should be able to step in and make changes as they desire
Im hoping they take a page from OOTP in this reguard by giving you a very small area to control but allowing you to control almost anything.


I dont really see the need for a 'open' mode either if
Now if significant engine changes are going to occur I see the need
Otherwise if you have no interest in the career mode portion of the game then why not just keep playing TB2?
I dont really see how the engine could improve anyways beside alot of minor peripharal stuff

If there is no open mode then I don't buy TBCB3. That's why the need is there for an open mode.

With the hardcore group of simmers we have here, complete RPG mode should definitely be an option to turn on or off.

The perfect scenario would be the module approach Jim and Andreas have discussed to allow you to customize your level of roleplaying. From a completely open mode where you are the universe god all the way up to total RPG where you are a manager or promotor and only control your stable of fighters. In between these extremes could be 2-5 options for increasing the amount of roleplaying or things that the CPU controls.

We will need to keep the open mode. There are certain to be improvements in the game such as auto-scheduler capabilities, purse tracking, et cetera that will interest those of us who like the open mode. I think the key with this version will be to make it somewhat like OOTP in terms of being able to control small parts or the whole thing - there is really no good reason to cut out any segment of potential buyers if they can be reasonbly accomodated.

Well, I'll fix that by buying two copies to cover the one you won't buy.....


j/k

You really have to have an open mode since many people would only be interested in that. I got bored silly with it. I would like to manage a stable of fighters competing with by buddy that stops by for a few beers and some game (since 1984!). We've been making up house rules for years to get the management aspect and I just can't WAIT until it's incorporated in the game.

If there are going to be improvments to the core game then an 'open' mode would need to be in.
I think I said that in my original post

I have dozens more ideas for the game but dont want to waste the time posting them until I know more how this game is going to shape up

From my understanding it will be a little like OOTP in the fact that you will have setup options at the start. One of those options will be Open or Career. If you choose open it will be very similar (with improvements) to what we have now.

That simply has to be included in the game because I know I will mess around with the RPG but I will continue my universe in the open mode. I think there are a lot that will do the same.