Gabe : How difficult was it to implement the salary cap function? No game up to this point has been able to effectively capture it like Front Office Football. Most games that have salary cap functions are rather skeletal in nature, and does not go into the amount of depth that your model does.

Jim : Thanks. It's something I spent a lot of time on, but once I had an idea I liked, it really wasn't very difficult. The salary cap used in professional football is extraordinarily complex. I didn't want to try to duplicate it exactly. So I removed some of the little things that I felt didn't add to the gaming experience such as tricks with amortization, and (yes) escalator clauses, escape clauses and performance bonuses. But I wanted to keep the key elements, which allow you to renegotiate contracts to stay under the cap, and force you to make the tough decisions about veterans who demand a lot of money. The code that keeps other teams under the cap (the salary cap AI) is about as complex as any code in the game. It has to, first, ensure that every team has a quality starting quarterback, second, ensure that the team does not lose top-quality young players, and third, make intelligent decisions about which free agents will help the team the most.

Gabe : Alright, let's get into the meat and potatoes of Front Office Football. First off, a question that most gamers who are a fan of this genre will ask: Can this game be used in an internet league?

Jim : No, there is no multi-player support.

Gabe : On your web site, you mention that each new game has a "random beginning". How does this affect game play?

Jim : In order to keep the game fresh, I wanted players to face a new world every time they start a new game. So a certain portion of the ratings for each player are randomly generated each time you begin a new game. For rookies, about half of each rating changes, for veterans it's much more static. This means that every time you start a new game, you'll have to scout every player on your team and learn about your league anew. You won't be able to find rookies who turn out to be stars every time, and you won't be able to dismiss every seventh-round pick as a mere nuisance.

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