New Football Game coming this month -- Your Turn Football

[DookieMowf]

Hey Mike,

I absolutely love Your Turn Football. I have played a ton of games in the last week and half and I really think you guys are heading in the right direction. I can't wait to see what updates we will have and what other sports you all will tackle.

I posted a small "review" on the Your Turn Football thread at OperationSports. Maybe you can shed some light on my issues.

I really enjoy this game, but there are some things after multiple hours of play that annoy me.

People quitting - I'm not sure what the cutoff is, but I've had plenty of people quit on me in the first quarter when I was up and I receive zero coins. I think if people quit they should get a loss, I should get a win and receive my coins. I was up 14-0 and received no coins

You've reached your daily coin limit - What?!? I won a game yesterday and received a message at the end of the game that I reached my daily coin limit. How no idea that was even possible. How would I, as there are no rules posted anywhere. What is the limit on coins received daily? If you guys are going to keep a daily limit, there should be a counter showing us how many more we can receive.

Wrong amount of coins after a win -
Twice now I have received 500 coins instead of 1000 for a win.

A few other things - Upgrading coordinators I'm assuming gives you better play calling? There aren't any notes that say what these do when you upgrade them.

I know the simplicity of the game is part of the charm, but some of the play calls in certain situations are annoying. Maybe make it an option where you can pick your gameplan, aggressive, mostly run etc.. But certain situations be able to call run or pass only. I've had 3 and 2 and my coach calls for a deep pass. Maybe upgrading coordinators fixes that?

Getting into a game - There has to be better ways to search for people. The user ID is way too long.

Players should have a time limit - If a player doesn't play at least every 24 hours, they should lose the game and the other team be rewarded coins. I have games I started when I first downloaded the game (almost two weeks ago) and they are still sitting there.

Cash grab - I understand you guys need to make a profit, but the asking amount to spend real cash is ridiculous. Just way too much.

Once again I love the game, and you guys are on to something here. I'm sure there are upgrades and fixes that will come in the future, I just hope some of my issues are part of those fixes.

[DookieMowf]

Do you have suggestions on what you would upgrade first? My first upgrade was offensive coordinator and then I upgraded Blitzing.

For anyone who wants to play - Here is my User ID. My team
name is Waco Warlocks

fa4553dbda0b4846a23923db03ca80b1

I play a ton and will get my turns in quickly. This game is so addicting. I've had games where I've been blown out, I'm in a game where I'm up 42-7 in the 3rd and I've had games go down to the wire. Even had one go into overtime.

I've been posting like crazy on Twitter and other sites to spread the word. I think you guys have something special and I want to see it succeed.

Do you guys have a Twitter? I searched but couldn't find anything.

[wco81]

I'm not fond of the prompts to upgrade with money but I believe they need those in app purchases to make any kind of money, never mind a profit.

I play a bunch and I take it for what it is, a freemium game that is easy to play for a few minutes at a time when you have some time to kill.

But the limitations and flaws are annoying at times.

Still, maybe getting lazy and bored with gaming but it's easier to reach for my iPhone or iPad instead of booting up the console and loading Madden or some other sports game.

I wish YT success, so that they can enhance the game (even for those who never make in-app purchases) and maybe get some competition to try a similar model.

[DookieMowf]

I purchased a bit of cash and coins just to give back and beef up my team and I put my coins into upgrading my team and my coins disappeared, but no upgrade.

I also have now won two games and only received 500 coins instead of 1,000.

I also thought there was a timer. I have a few games close to 70 hours of no moves and still waiting on the other team to go.

[wco81]

I don't take too much stock in the W-L records.

For one thing, I've gotten 2 sometimes 3 wins or losses from the same game. Instead of terminating, the game goes to a scrimmage play and you run one play and it ends again, with the same result posted again.

Then in other games, I've gotten 3 or 4 offensive possessions in a row, either after turnovers or after punts, sometimes after a score and ensuing kickoffs.

So there are a lot of bugs.

Like I said, the best thing is that this game is that it's handy. I can play probably a dozen turns in the time it would take for me to boot up Madden on my PS3 and log in online. But this convenience is more a function of the nature of mobile devices vs. consoles.

However, sports games have been pretty limited on mobiles. EA has stopped making Madden for iOS but they did still release FIFA 13 for iOS.

Now, since iOS is officially supporting physical controllers via Bluetooth, there's a better chance of sports games working out better. But I'm not sure these small developers are in a position to support these things or enhance/fix their games.

Beyond fixing bugs, there are so many possibilities for improving the gameplay. For instance, like you mentioned, being able to select run or pass for a specific play (too many times, it calls a run or short pass when you're behind and running low on time and you've selected Mostly Pass or Aggressive, it will choose too many run plays).

Then of course, the other problem is that you get two options for each pass play, either to wait for the primary target or to have the QB select the receiver. Too many times the QB throws to coverage or don't even look at wide open receivers. Why not let you select secondary receivers simply by touching in the area where he is? Often the defense is swinging most of the defenders to one side of the field so there are receivers left wide open on one side and it will still try to force the pass to the side where there is coverage.

I found this to be the case regardless of the Vision rating of the QB. I spend $23 on one top QB (didn't pay for additional bucks, used $23 of the $29 you start with). So I have little reason to believe that purchasing more bucks for better players would be worth it.

When I get matched up with players who are like +50 or more against me, I simply resign and look for more even matches. I think the upgrades on the defense and special teams are better since they're permanent. So I've upgraded every one of those categories, including the Coaching ones, to level 2, which is the most you can get to with coins. Level 3 requires $100 per category. Especially if I find that an opponent has an advantage against my team in these upgraded attributes, I know he's spent real money so I don't bother to play in those matches.

[DookieMowf]

I don't take too much stock in the W-L records.

For one thing, I've gotten 2 sometimes 3 wins or losses from the same game. Instead of terminating, the game goes to a scrimmage play and you run one play and it ends again, with the same result posted again.

Then in other games, I've gotten 3 or 4 offensive possessions in a row, either after turnovers or after punts, sometimes after a score and ensuing kickoffs.

Whoa, I haven't noticed that, but I also haven't been paying much attention to my win/loss record.

I did record another win just now and got zero coins because it said I reached my limit. I sure wish I knew what that limit was so I could stop playing once I know I am not going to receive coins once the game is finished.

So now I have gotten 2 wins (which I know were wins, up big in both) and got zero coins and two wins where I only got 500 coins.

When I get matched up with players who are like +50 or more against me, I simply resign and look for more even matches. I think the upgrades on the defense and special teams are better since they're permanent. So I've upgraded every one of those categories, including the Coaching ones, to level 2, which is the most you can get to with coins. Level 3 requires $100 per category. Especially if I find that an opponent has an advantage against my team in these upgraded attributes, I know he's spent real money so I don't bother to play in those matches.

Wow, $100 to get above level 2? That's crazy.

[TheTruth]

Then of course, the other problem is that you get two options for each pass play, either to wait for the primary target or to have the QB select the receiver. Too many times the QB throws to coverage or don't even look at wide open receivers. Why not let you select secondary receivers simply by touching in the area where he is? Often the defense is swinging most of the defenders to one side of the field so there are receivers left wide open on one side and it will still try to force the pass to the side where there is coverage.

I was going to suggest the touch on receiver you want to throw to as well. I mostly run because it is almost pointless to try to throw. especially the makeup ground the defenders have once the ball leaves the qb hand. they are superhuman...mini flash gordons.

[Mike_S]

Hey guys! Thanks for the discussion on the game, and the kind words. I was out-of-town for a week and just catching up now. I'll try to respond to a lot of the stuff...

People Quitting/Timeouts: The cutoff is 7 days for friends and rematches, and 3 days for first-time strangers. We may update this in future. Coins for games that timeout are based on how much of the game was played before the timeout. Tighter/Custom Time Limit is a possible-for-future feature that could be implemented in future.

Daily Coin Limit: Right now it's 3000 coins per day. We are playing around with it to find the best balance. We need this to avoid people gaming us badly via multiple accounts. The wrong amount of coins after a win you saw were likely due to the Daily Coin Limit.

Upgrading Coordinators helps play-calling. Your team will still follow the strategy you select, but your play-calling will have some awareness of what the opponent is doing and make slight adjustments accordingly. It really helps with making/preventing Big Plays more than anything, and preventing/forcing three-and-outs.

Audibles/Timeouts/Ability to call key plays yourself are on our roadmap for future, if we get far enough to implement them.

Better accounts/ways to challenge friends: Also on the roadmap, but it's a huge overhaul. If we get there we hope to allow e-mail, phone, and username challenges, etc. as well as Facebook. We put in userID because it was quick and easy to get in and at least gives you the ability to play with friends, albeit in a painful way, but at least it's better than nothing.

Cash Grab: I personally have not spent a dime on the game and my team is currently 15-12 against a wide variety of opponents, with only 2 blowout losses. Note that in my case I have completed 27 games -- roughly 5-6 hours of real-time entertainment in total -- for free. We are a small underfunded company, and if people want to spend cash we give them the option to do so.

(Upgrade Cost: The third level of each upgrade is 100 Bucks, which is of course not $100 real money. Each upgrade is stronger than the one before. Similar to our other categories, you are not required to buy the upgrade to enjoy the game and have a competitive team.)

Twitter: I don't think we have one right now, hopefully will have one soon.

QB Read: Higher Vision Rating will have a HUGE effect on where the QB Read passes go. I'm sorry your experience didn't show this; note that your new QB only plays is NEW games you start while he is on your roster, he does not replace your old QB in games that are already in progress, that's likely why you didn't notice as much of a difference as you expected.

Matching Against Significantly Better Opponents: We hope to have an improved matching system in future to minimize cases where you match against opponents who are much better than you. That said, if you DO find yourself matched against someone who's way better, try to play the way an overmatched team does in the real NFL -- ball control, field position, mistake-free offense, and gambling now and then on defense. I have won at least two games where my opponent was +40 or more against me by playing this way; it's tough, but it should be.

Touching on Receivers: We experimented with systems like this earlier in development, and it caused a lot of problems. When there were multiple receivers in the area, inadvertent tap location, covering action on the field, etc. We did lots of testing and the system we went with worked the best for most users, and also let player ratings still have a significant effect on the game.

Bugs:

- If coins disappeared without the upgrades appearing, quit the app entirely (close it from bottom bar on iPhone, or Force Stop on Android from settings menu) then try again. Most likely either the upgrades will then appear or your coins should be back. If that fails, e-mail our support link and we'll try to rectify it.

- End-of-game Win/Loss/going-into-scrimmage/Multiple possessions problems: This has to do with slow server response time due to our technical partner. We are aware of it and hope to fix it in future, but it's difficult since our partner's priorities are not our own, and we are not yet making enough money for it to be worth their while to prioritize us. Luckily, these issues are mostly rare and can often be avoided either by playing on a stronger network and/or shutting down other open apps on your phone (to free up memory).


Hope this info helps you understand why things are like they are... Right now we have limited ability to work on the game, but we're still trying to get into position where we can greatly improve this game as well as to create other fun sports games. If you like the game, please continue to spread the word on message boards, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks so much!

[DookieMowf]

Thanks for the reply, all helpful information. The 3000 coin limit. I have 30 games waiting on my turn at the moment. I am sorry if my cash grab comment came off rude, I didn't mean it to. I know you guys have to make a profit as well. I spent cash the other day, just to support and of course help my team out as well. As long as things progress, I have no problem buying a few coins or cash every so often.

Thanks again,
Brandon

[Mike_S]

No problem, and thanks again for the support! We love users who have 30 games going at the same time!!

[DookieMowf]

No problem, and thanks again for the support! We love users who have 30 games going at the same time!!

Haha I am 12-11 at the moment. Now I am just trying to balance the games each day so I don't lose out on coins.

[wco81]

I just don't play the games which are late in the 4th quarter.

Then finish them the next day to get the coins.

But I don't need coins now, have over 30k and it only requires about 3-4k in coins to renew the contracts of the players.

I've seen a few plays where a player with 7 or 8 speed rating was able to go the distance and not get caught, not get gained on. But for the most part, you can get away with slower players.

You have to get a decent catch rating or else they will drop too many passes. Good arm strength is a good idea too.

The most expensive players are around 2k in coins (then it goes to bucks). But the difference in ratings between a 2k and a 1k (or less) players do not seem to be that great. Sometimes a "value" player shows up for under 1k who's got decent all-around ratings.

[DookieMowf]

I just don't play the games which are late in the 4th quarter.

Then finish them the next day to get the coins.

But I don't need coins now, have over 30k and it only requires about 3-4k in coins to renew the contracts of the players.

I've seen a few plays where a player with 7 or 8 speed rating was able to go the distance and not get caught, not get gained on. But for the most part, you can get away with slower players.

You have to get a decent catch rating or else they will drop too many passes. Good arm strength is a good idea too.

The most expensive players are around 2k in coins (then it goes to bucks). But the difference in ratings between a 2k and a 1k (or less) players do not seem to be that great. Sometimes a "value" player shows up for under 1k who's got decent all-around ratings.

That's what I've been doing, finishing a few games every day and just having them line up to finish the next day.

Wow, how do you have so many coins? Over 30k? Are you getting contracts for longer periods? I've been doing 5 day contracts.

What is your user ID so we can get some games in.

[wco81]

5-day contracts. I have some WRs and TEs who just cost like 600 coins or so. Probably have too many games going within the contract period.

I mean potentially, you can get 15000 coins in 5 days? But my 6 players probably cost 3000 or so every 5 days?

Team name is Penguins.

[DookieMowf]

5-day contracts. I have some WRs and TEs who just cost like 600 coins or so. Probably have too many games going within the contract period.

I mean potentially, you can get 15000 coins in 5 days? But my 6 players probably cost 3000 or so every 5 days?

Team name is Penguins.

I need your team ID # mine is - fa4553dbda0b4846a23923db03ca80b1

Team name - Waco Warlocks

It's the only way to challenge at the moment.

[wco81]

Wow, that's pretty ugly. Didn't realize it was that crazy.


Edit:

That appears to be the device UDID:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/as ... one-udids/

It's not a secure thing to pass out. I've edited the post to remove mine, may want to do the same.

[Mike_S]

Don't worry -- our User ID is NOT the internal device UDID. (The UDID is not allowed to be used in games anymore, and you will be immediately/automatically rejected by Apple if it used in your app.)

Sorry that the User ID is long and painful to use, it is fallout from our tech partner and as I said before a "quick band-aid fix" for playing people who aren't your Facebook friends.

The best thing to do is either send the User ID to someone via text, where they can copy it and then paste it into the game. Use Start A New Game/User ID/Send ID. In this case (using a message board) you could try to copy it from a mobile browser window and then paste it in.

[wco81]

OK, then:

87558cf3ae024cab9a0db93bc7b485c7

[DookieMowf]

Setting my favorite formation - Will it give me different play calls?

[Mike_S]

Setting my favorite formation - Will it give me different play calls?

Kind-of, sort-of. It won't necessarily alter the run/pass ratio or who the ball will go to, but it will affect the pattens that the key runner or receiver will run, or where they start from. It will use your favorite formation more often on plays where it makes sense.

You can definitely use this to a strategic advantage depending on the strengths/weaknesses of the various players in your lineup as a whole, and/or to negate or counterbalance the strategic tendencies of an opponent's defense, similar to how real-life teams use power formations or the spread to their advantage in real life.

But it's definitely a pretty advanced feature and the effects are subtle. Experiment with it for a game or two and see what you think. Like your lineup and upgrades, it will only take affect for new games and not affect games where you've already taken your first turn.

[DookieMowf]

Setting my favorite formation - Will it give me different play calls?

Kind-of, sort-of. It won't necessarily alter the run/pass ratio or who the ball will go to, but it will affect the pattens that the key runner or receiver will run, or where they start from. It will use your favorite formation more often on plays where it makes sense.

You can definitely use this to a strategic advantage depending on the strengths/weaknesses of the various players in your lineup as a whole, and/or to negate or counterbalance the strategic tendencies of an opponent's defense, similar to how real-life teams use power formations or the spread to their advantage in real life.

But it's definitely a pretty advanced feature and the effects are subtle. Experiment with it for a game or two and see what you think. Like your lineup and upgrades, it will only take affect for new games and not affect games where you've already taken your first turn.

Very interesting. I will have to toy around with that and see the differences.

I just sent you a game request. Somehow I missed seeing yourr Game ID the first time I read through this thread. I am Waco Warlocks

[DookieMowf]

Mark, I know you said we can win up to 3000 coins a day, what time does the day start over? There are some nights I am up late and want finish a game, but I've already won my 3000 for the day. What time does the day start over, is it midnight pst?

[DookieMowf]

I know you have a cap on daily coins, but I think it should be raised, or get rid of the cap. I have been managing my games, so when I play in the morning, I can finish up my 4th quarter games and get my coins for the daily early on, I then play the games in order from 3rd quarter to 1st quarter, so each day I have a few games in the 4th quarter to finish. Well today I have played three games in the third quarter that I was winning and the other team resigns, which wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have my 3000 coins for the day. Those are coins I earned and should be able to get.

I know you are afraid of people playing a ton and racking up coins, but isn't part of the game, you want people to continue to keep playing? If I want to finish 10 games in one day, I should be able to and receive my coins instead of worrying about losing out on coins.

[DookieMowf]

Wow! I just lost everything on this game, everything! I was 47-17, had 26,000 coins some cash, my upgrades were all at least 2 etc... Game froze so I just backed out and when i got back in, every single thing was gone. It started me fresh. What a bummer as I was loving the game. So messed up.

[Mike_S]

Talk to Dave at Customer Support. We will do what we can to recover your stuff.