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4Play Studios presents: Tecmo Bowl 32


TecmoTurd

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Tecmo Bowl with 32 teams. It's here. Lots of IM conversations and whatnot went into getting this thing rolling. I initially wanted to release this as a final edit before Thursday's game, but I need to think about the amount of sleep I'm getting, so in the interest of doing it right and not putting out a rush job, and saving my sanity, I'm releasing this now, with final ratings coming in a subsequent update.

So, I'll get more into the ROM below, but know that while the ROM itself as a base ROM is completely stable, there are some incomplete ratings especially in regards to the HP attributes on FGs, as well as some potential personnel changes that might not be reflected in this thing. Consider this the 32-Team ROM thread, and I'll make another thread dedicated to our 2011 final release. All that said, this is playable, and provides you a good look at the newest member of the 32 team family!

4Play Studios is comprised of 5 people:

jstout - Tecmo Hacking Expert

WarrenMoonBomb - Chief Rater

TecmoTurd - Chief Rater

BoKnows - CEO, Canadian Tecmo Bowl Consultants

Tecmo-Mad-Brad - CEO American Tecmo Bowl Consultants

jstout - Just because the dude needs to be mentioned twice for his awesomeness. Patience, and lots of NES hacking smart, and one of the nicer guys I've met in the community make him one BAMF. (Bad Ass Mother Hubber).

The Story

The question has been asked, "why would you play Tecmo Bowl when we have Tecmo Super Bowl?" I used to say the same thing. I had gotten burned out on TSB, but always had a desire to play it no matter what, if that makes sense. With baseball coming to a close in the upcoming months, I knew I needed a Tecmo project to keep my mind occupied. One day, I stumbled upon BoKnows' site, which happens to be the greatest Tecmo Bowl resource on the planet, and it got me interested. So, I started to play. As I continued on, I felt refreshed. It was a change of pace. It was Tecmo. It was the cure to what ailed me!

Of course, by nature, I started digging. I wanted to know everything there was to know about this game, (likely one day leading to burnout of this as well, and my eventual move to a 32 team Tecmo Arcade ROM). So, I read, I playtested, and I chatted up anyone who wanted to listen about my newfound love for this game. I eventually posted on Knobbe here, and found a few folks who were interested in the game. After playing a few pickup games on the original, I started the gears turning on making my own edit for 2011, but I was hampered by the fact that there were only 12 teams. It wasn't worth it to me.

Eventually, I found myself chatting with jstout, and long story short, he mercifully agreed to add teams to the original Tecmo Bowl (probably just to shut me up), bringing us up to a full 32! Right away, I got to rating my own ROM on a local spreadsheet while jstout worked on the ROM. I wanted to be prepared. Shortly thereafter, WarrenMoonBomb started chatting with me, and I roped him into helping me. I uploaded the spreadsheet to google docs and we were able to collaborate on ratings in real time. Turns out, he was a standout partner, pulling his fair share of the work, and to be honest, we worked well together. We talked each other out of over-rating, under-rating, and resolved differences effectively.

What you see here is the output of those rating sessions. We consulted the experts, did lots of playtesting (with still more to do). There will be a final version of this ROM, so please consider the ratings portion of this ROM a beta.

You might look at this ROM and think "What? So and so is way underrated!" We took the team-based approach and had to adjust certain players down. Tecmo Bowl is a game that is very position-based, and even a slightly above average player in the right position makes the defense really good. We consulted the experts on this one. Trust us, it works. If you really just can't live with one of the ratings, make your case and we'll listen. Otherwise, play the game and have fun. Each team should have at least one positive aspect to it that makes them fun to play with. The Rams? No defense, but Steven Jackson is a beast who can run over defenders. Ok, maybe the Lions are useless, but they are in real life too.

Base Features (these are not hacks, these are part of the 32 team base ROM)

Uniform hack (P1 team uses home jerseys, P2 uses away jerseys)

Each team has their own 16 week schedule

All 32 teams from the NFL are represented (by city only to retain that "we don't have the license" feel).

WR nows show previous season's ReTD totals

DL/LB now show previous season's tackles

Team Playbooks (we left Oakland's playbook as the split-back playbook to show that the blocking has been fixed on their run 1)

There are more features, hacks, etc on the horizon, but they will all be add-ons. Also, there will be an editor (currently in-progress) that I'll make a new thread for, and we're working on a league of sorts once all the editing completes.

I hope you get as much fun out of this as we did making it happen. Enjoy!

Initial ROM - downloaded 26 times

Beta 1 - downloaded 20 times

Beta 2 - downloaded 18 times

Beta 3 - downloaded 10 times

Preseason - downloaded 71 times

ScheduleMaker.xls

4Play - TB2011 - No Hacks.zip

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Let me start off with a congratulations! I know this has been an obsession you've had for a while and I'm glad it has come true. This is hopefully just a start of a trend of 32 team roms!!! Look foward to giving this a go. Will post my review of the game shortly.

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!] mobile.png

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Thanks brother honk...as I said they are really not finalized yet. Close, but not final...you know the drill...looking forward to hearing your feedback...

I do hope that 32 teams can become possible on the SNES as well, that'd really complete the circle!

I know I'm the author on this post, but I don't want it to get lost that WarrenMoonBomb put in a lot of effort in helping me with the ratings. He deserves equal credit for that...we had a lot of good conversations throughout the course of this, and learned a lot about the game mechanics...

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very impressive. thanks to everyone who made this happen.

ps - is there a way to give teams 8 plays instead of 4? also, could you make it where passes aren't intercepted all the time? :lol:

but seriously, I can't wait to give this a real try later tonight.

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8 plays, not on the docket. StY tuned for more hacks and set patches. They might just cover some of the things you are asking.

that was just a joke. I can't wait to see what you guys have come up with.

Tecmo Bowl was my first love....it took me a couple of years (mainly my high school friends) before I switched to TSB.

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Fun, fun and fun! I played the Wii version a while back, and the memories of the old days only made the game playable for a short while. The 12 teams were a huge setback. This version makes the game worth playing again.

The interception thing could get old quick, but at the same time it adds to the arcade feel that the game definitely has!

The game times are great, I breezed through my first game, but still felt like I had time to think about my plays. I played the the Bears and we scored a combined 44 points. (See story down the page)

I have no problems with how the Cowboys speed was. Maybe Ware, Spencer and Ratliff could use a bump in ratings, as the Bears ran rather easily on me. LB Brady James and Orsklandsjhxbski and Spears of the DLIne could be toned downed a little to even it back out, since them 3 are average at best. But if you left the Cowboys rating the way they are I'd be ok by that also.

9 on 9, here's a question, are ya'll going with the best 9 on that side of the ball?

In my first game against the Bears, I've thrown 2 INTs, down 21-20... Bears driving, ball at the 8, 2nd and goal... Newman picks the ball off in the endzone!! I put a 6 play drive and Hit Miles Austin and get in FG range... And David Beuhler kicks a game winner!! I love it!

One last thing, I love the popcorning on this game..

Will be playing this between hacking sessions.

Thanks guys.

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!] mobile.png

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Ratings aren't final yet, but some of your feedback will still apply...it's noted, thanks! The INT thing is something I didn't like at first either, but it grew to be part of the charm. It evens the playing field for the defense because the offense is pretty risk free otherwise (no fumbles!). That being said, stay tuned for more info on the subject.

Also, if you want, I can juice the game to make it even harder when you get to that point...these will all come in the form of set patches sooner or later, but for now, let me know and I can spin that up...

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P.S. The HP was rated with popcorning in mind, but we will have to be toning some of that down, as if you play vs. anyone with 88 HP (Ware, Dumervil), anyone 56 or lower will get flattened, and on field goals/XP, it makes it impossible to make it, so we will be tweaking that a bit, but most of the gameplay popcorning should stay the same...

The nice thing about the juice is that you can juice HP, which makes 1P games vs. the CPU a lot harder because the DL breaks through and doesn't give you a lot of time to think about your pass...not good for MAN vs. MAN play, but MAN vs. CPU it will help.

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P.S. The HP was rated with popcorning in mind, but we will have to be toning some of that down, as if you play vs. anyone with 88 HP (Ware, Dumervil), anyone 56 or lower will get flattened, and on field goals/XP, it makes it impossible to make it, so we will be tweaking that a bit, but most of the gameplay popcorning should stay the same...

The nice thing about the juice is that you can juice HP, which makes 1P games vs. the CPU a lot harder because the DL breaks through and doesn't give you a lot of time to think about your pass...not good for MAN vs. MAN play, but MAN vs. CPU it will help.

Have u thought about only juicing hp on fg offense, so the rest of the game can stay. Its an idea me dh are looking into. It seems to bring the hp down just for one small facet could be a negative. Just a thought.

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!] mobile.png

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Have u thought about only juicing hp on fg offense, so the rest of the game can stay. Its an idea me dh are looking into. It seems to bring the hp down just for one small facet could be a negative. Just a thought.

Actually, I think we wouldn't bring hp down, we'd increase HP on the OL side. Original ROM had minimum of 56, and we have some guys at 32. Even at 56, an 88 HP guy could flatten. I'll note this and see what can be done about it...

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Congrats to everybody involved, I'd like some input from anybody who's interested. Right now we only have one team with the fixed 2-RB playbook, the Raiders. That might not be the best for them, but I think it's alright for now. The other teams who I would consider for the LA's playbook are the Jets, Saints, and Panthers.

The Saints might seem to be pretty odd at first, but I feel bad for leaving Pierre Thomas out, and they did have a pretty sweet rushing offense last year. RB 2 slot is almost a receiving slot anyway, so Reggie Bush would work there as an 8/3/3 back.

Jets had the most Rushes, least passes, and Greene and Tomlinson will share a backfield. Carolina has two great Backs with Stewart and Williams.

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I can't seem to select "2 Player" or "Coach" modes. I'm using Nestopia 1.39 if it matters and I tried both keyboard and controller and neither worked.

My friend always bitches that my group of guys only play TSB and he loves TB. The 12 teams was the hurdle. The updated rosters will blow their minds too!

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You need a second controller setup. I'll test 2P mode tonight, but I didn't think there was an issue. Stay tuned.

Also, the FG hack is completed as previiously discussed, as is an INT hack that uses a defender's special ability. Thanks jstout.

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!] mobile.png

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