the_dog_days

Bumper sticker: Proud parent of adoptees

Don't know how I missed the announcement of a Eurojank title, but I somehow did.

Not that surprising, but Piranha Bytes announced in a really round about way that Elex 2 is being delayed and from Bjorn's body language he sounds unsure if it will be done by next year.

Like sands from an hourglass, these are the days of our Jet lives. It's obvious that acting owner Chris Johnson wants the team to tank. GM Joe Douglas is reluctantly going along with this--I'm guessing he understands that when you tank in the NFL you then have to purge the roaster because even a coaching change won't win the locker room back. Adam Gase is stupid enough that he thinks he can keep his job as long as he's doing exactly what Chris Johnson wants: loosing (also, making Gase coach the team through the whole season is one hell of a black mark on Gase's career--perhaps even a career ending mark--which is why Johnson hasn't fired him). And Greg Williams sees the writing on the wall and in the last few weeks has been trying to distance himself from Gase, understanding that he'll have to justify the terrible job they've done as co-head coaches in his next interview. The only reason to watch the Jets anymore is to see how this soap opera plays out.

Next debate:

I know nothing about Burisma! Those emails were fabricated!

Was it as epic as FF6's escape sequence?

Axis Football Diaries: Week 9 vs Montreal Terrapins: You Had Me Goin' For a Minute I'm using my 'Ohio State' unies for this game. James hops on the bandwagon. I think these are actually the names of the devs. This is McGee's first interception this year. Took almost 200 attempts for the first one. They get the ball and go down to kick a field goal. They've got a great run game. Makes me feel like crap. First Quarter: 0 - 3 They throw an interception of their own here. RB/FB Hill fumbles and gives it right back. They put together a short drive and score. They score another field goal. At this point I'm scared. The terrapins are playing great and we're doing terrible. For a change of pace I even try nothing but passing on one series. I got sacked on that series. We're only down two scores, we have the ball with around 4 minutes left in the half, and we're supposed to get the ball at the start of the second half. We start by running a bit of the clock 'cause I don't like my defense's chances against their team in a 2 minute offense. The drive stalls and we have a critical 4th down where my TE Wheeler comes up with this big catch to continue the drive. We eventually get a touchdown on the drive and the final seconds of the first half run out while they try to return the ensuing kickoff. Second Quarter: 10 - 13 Third quarter is slow. Me running the clock to shorten the game and them stalling out on drives. Third Quarter: 10 - 13 We finally get a drive together and score a touchdown on catch from Merrill, the second of the two burners I signed in the offseason. Their QB Whitt throws his second INT of the game. Wheeler scores the final points of the game. Final Score: 24 - 13 In the second quarter I just knew we were about to get blown out. These guys had our number. I think they matched up well against us. Luckily we managed to hold on and come back. This is one of the reasons I like the full 15 minute quarters: when it's AI players against AI players either team can mount a comeback.

Companion: "Thanks for going with me to see my long lost son. It meant a lot to me." Main Character: "What's a parole officer for?"

If the death of humanity is conjugal love, Grim Dawn is an orgy of deep and meaningful romance.

Axis Football Diaries: Week 8 vs Cleveland Coyotes: Now in HD! Gotta pick the right helmet, jersey, pants combo for each game. That's how we started this win streak. The 'experts' don't believe in San Fran Magic. We force a 3 and out on their first possession and then go right down the field. Scored on this pass to my RB/FB Hill. They immediately fumble on their next offensive series. McGee throws a nice pass here for our second score. Busted coverage. I don't even know what they were trying to do. This was a conversion on a 3rd and 19. I settled for a field goal. The Coyoties didn't watch film of last week when I torched Tennessee on corner blitzes because that's exactly what they do here. This was a TD. They finally get into the endzone in the 3rd quarter. They're going for it on 4th every time. I was in prevent and my DE Perry gets his 2nd INT of the season. This was kinda petty given the score, but I'd spent all game setting it up with run plays. This was my first and only playaction pass or early downs pass. Final Score: 41 - 17 I'm in a three way tie for first place in tier 3 half way through the season.

And no body watched.

Just saw Dak dislocate his foot live.

Axis Football Diaries: Week 7 Tennessee Bloodhounds: Do not. Blitz. The Corners! Axis struggles with coding defensive movement. Pass completions were too high so as a band aid fix they lowered QB accuracy and WR catching because that's far easier than recoding the whole defense position by position. Anyway, both teams struggle in the first quarter. Quite a few yards but no points. First Quarter: 0 - 0 Both teams finally come to life in the second half. I score a touchdown and a field goal and they kick a field goal. The Bloodhounds have a solid run game. I'm jealous. I get the ball after they kick a field goal and my RB/FB Hill fumbles. They get the ball on a very short field but have to settle for a field goal. I get the ball and on a 3rd and 3 I call a pass. They blitz the corners. My WR Cook catches a 66 yard bomb. They get the ball back and kick another field goal. I use my two minute offense to drive down and kick a field goal with 1 second left in the half. Second Quarter: 20 - 9 The only thing that happens in the third is us completing another long pass on a corner blitz, again. Third Quarter: 27 - 9 Bloodhounds put a really good drive together mixing up the run and pass. They score a touchdown and convert on a two point try.* I get the ball back and don't even mean to, but on a third and long I call a pass. They countered with a corner blitz. Six points to us. They go on a final drive and score a touchdown. They didn't bother trying for 2 or kicking the onside kick as there's less than 2 minutes left in the game, they're out of timeouts, and there's a 10 gap. Final Score: 34 - 24 Sharks Current Record: 5-2 *This was a bug. I tried to back out of the special teams plays to change to goal line defense but it acted like a skip play button.

Axis Football Diaries: Week 6 vs Vancouver Mallards: Wherefore art thou, Running Game? We get the ball first and go three and out. It isn't until midway through the quarter that either one of us get on the scoreboard. I kicked a field goal. Later in the quarter Sharks finally get into the endzone. First Quarter: 10 - 0 Their offense is doing terrible. Luckily for them their defense forces a fumble inside my 40 yard line. After a short drive they score. We get into the endzone once more before half. Aside from the fumble everything seems to be going our way. Second Quarter: 17 - 7 They get the ball to star the second half. Picking up right where they'd left off, they drive down the field and kick a field goal. Due to a critical third down drop my offense fizzles out for the quarter. Third Quarter: 17 - 10 I'm suddenly getting a lot of penalties called on my offense.* Can't seem to put together a drive. Keep punting it to them, giving them a short field to work with. Late in the quarter my offense looks like they're done shooting themselves in the foot. I get within field goal range. On a 3rd and 3 I came out in 3 wide and for some reason the AI decides the best counter is a goal line formation. Blitzing the corners was cute but my QB torched them for a 26 yard bomb. I'm thinking the game's over but as soon as they get the ball the Mallards one up us with 75 yard strike of their own. We get the ball back and manage to run the rest of the clock out. Final Score: 24 - 17 I've been in several comebacks and would-be comebacks already this season. This was the first time I was the team ahead. At one point it looked like we were gonna destroy these guys but midway through the 4th I was certain that the AI was trying to give the Mallards the game. *Penalties are RNG. You never see a player commit a penalty. If a player's position coach and coordinator have a high value in 'discipline' players get a modifier of sorts to help them avoid (I guess) rolling penalties.

Axis Football Diaries: Week 5 vs Washington Senators: Our Butt Fumble Game I'm not sure, but I think the Senators are from supposed to be from the state of Washington and not DC. Either way, it was raining hard all game. They jumped out to a 10 point lead helped by Hill my FB-turned-RB-turned-FB-turned-RB fumbling. Last time shifted him from ballcarrier to blocker was after another fumble. Thing is, he's a better runner than the actual RB. I thought I'd give him another shot 'cause my ground game is so bad. First Quarter: 0 - 10 They score again and at this point I'm thinking we're gonna get blown out. I finally manage to get on the board half way through the 2nd quarter. I immediately go for two 'cause I don't see us winning this without some huge help. They go three and how and kick back to me. I start driving get down just outside of field goal range when one of the WRs drops a pass in open field on 3rd down. It was a hard decision to make, but I punted because I didn't want to give them a short field with a minute on the clock and all their timeouts. Second Quarter: 8 - 17 In the first half there were five dropped balls by my team. The weather is really affecting my guys. I get the ball to start the first half and go on a long, time consuming drive and score. I went for and converted for 2 points. They get the ball and start driving. Just running the ball down our throats. The drive finally stalls out and they have to kick a field goal. Third Quarter: 16 - 20 We went from down 17 with no offensive production to only down by four and on fire. I'm feeling pretty good. Right now I just want to make sure I don't leave too much time on the clock. I get the ball to their 40 call a pass play and somehow my RB gets called for offensive holding when he was running a route. 1st and 20. I call another pass and the QB completes a short pass to the TE for 10 yards. Another pass and QB nearly gives me a heart attack throwing to his RB in double coverage (complete for 7 yards). Third down and 3. The defense brings the house but my QB gets the ball off to the TE in the flats. Hits him right in the hands and he drops it. I'm just outside of field goal range. This time I go for the field goal and it hits the uprights. They go three and out and punt the ball back to me. They pin us down inside our 15. We go on an epic drive.* Doing a good job of both running and passing. With less than a minute left in the game we're inside their 20. I'm taking my time. I want to score with as little time left as possible. On a third and goal I take a timeout with 4 seconds left. Call a short pass. Usually the slot on an in route is wide open. That's where I'm hoping the QB goes. Snapped ball. QB drops back. They're blitzing. Slots covered but the TE on a shallow drag is wide open. I'm screaming at my screen for him to throw it to the TE but the QB just drifts in the pocket and takes a sack ending the game. Final Score: 16 - 20 *We went 77 yards on 13 plays taking up 8:21 minutes.

Axis Football Diaries: Week 4 vs Winnipeg Devilcats: My First Win Streak The Devilcats and Sharks are evenly matched on paper but this quickly turned into a blowout. First drive we practically sail down field for a touchdown. I'm still not sure why the were in goal line defense but I'm not complaining. They go three and out and we get the ball back and score again. First Quarter: 15 - 0 The Devilcats put together a couple of little drives but both times have to kick field goals. My guys score twice once more and both times I go for two. I'm a little two point happy since lose to St. Louis. I should probably cut that out. Second Quarter: 33 - 6 This is getting ugly. I'm calling good plays and my players are executing them. I'm slowing the game down and leaning on the run game just to get both teams out of here without any major injuries. I score another touchdown but go for the extra point. Third Quarter: 40 - 6 Winnipeg puts a real drive together and scores their first touchdown. They kick the ball deep but I'm lined up for the onside. My return lets the ball bounce a few times before finally picking it up and I'm inside my own 15 yard line. Three plays and punt. Winnipeg puts together another drive, this time starting at their own 45 yard line, and score another touchdown. I get the ball back and run out the rest of the clock. Fourth Quarter: 43 - 20 Even with the lopsided final score, the game wasn't even as close as that. This was an ol' fashion beatdown. The outside linebackers I signed after the Miami game came through for us. They had 9 and 10 tackles respectively. I noticed the biggest difference between them and the two guys I benched is they're quicker to the ball and better tacklers. Whereas the first duo would react too late for throws to in the flats and then fail to make the tackles, these two realize what's going on sooner and rarely miss tackles. In both situations there's usually a completion for the other team but the first guys would give up 7 -15 yards each pass completed. New guys give up around 3 - 7 yards. It was nice to have a big win but now I kinda expect us to get whipped up on in the next game.

Axis Football Diaries: Week 3 vs Miami Warriors: You, Me, and Dupree I played this game a few hours after the week 2 game. I drank quite a bit in-between the two (not related to losing--I had fried chicken for dinner and every Southerner knows you can't have fried chicken with out alcohol). Not using this for as an excuse for my amazing playcalling but rather as an excuse for my temper tantrum of roaster changes after the game. Miami isn't a particularly good team. Feeling I'd learned my less from last game I decide to open up the playbook earlier. On my first possession I went right down the field and scored a touchdown and went for 2 without hesitation. They're moving the ball pretty good but their qb is no Chandler (St. Louis' QB). First Quarter: 8 - 10 with me driving. I score two more touchdowns in the second quarter but for some reason didn't go for 2 after either. This was probably where the alcohol was kicking in because I remember very little past the 1st quarter. Second Quarter: 22 - 10 I'm leading. I'm feeling good for a number of reasons. I start to take the air out of the ball and run the clock. Upon Miami's possession (this is one of the few second half details I can remember) I noticed that my outside linebackers were frequently out of position and getting abused in the flats. I try changing coverage, rotating guys around but it seems like there's nothing my guys can do to stop the RB from catching out of the backfield. I'm starting to get a little angry even though I'm leading after we give up a touch down and I noticed that for some half my defensive backfield and all my linebackers thought the best way to defend against the pass in a goal line situation is to run out the back off the end zone. Third Quarter: 29 - 17 Now that I notice it my linebackers are terrible and it's driving me nuts. I remember little to nothing of this quarter except being so mad. Looking at the score card they scored two touchdowns in the 4th but only got 6 points on each. I can't even remember if those were because of missed extra points or because they went and failed to convert for 2. Final Score: 36 - 29 I threw the ball a lot more in that game. My run game was as bad as ever (worse considering I ran far fewer times). But I was so upset with the defense coming out of that game I did something I was avoiding in the first place: went to free agency and bought two new linebackers. I didn't want to do this for several reasons among those is it's easy to buy wins by stacking up on talent in free agency but also the two backers I hired were the two best free agents available. To my now sober mind this kinda feels like cheating. Because the game auto saves I can either cut the guys and take the cap hit, trade them for even more picks, or just roll with it and pretend this was apart of my master plan and not me making a fuss. I'm leaning towards the latter. (This was all after I'd identified a really good linebacker in college scouting earlier that week, too.)

Axis Football Diaries: Week 2 vs. St. Louse Racers: Are We the Cowboys Now? This one is long because the game was easily the most fun and most challenging sim football game I've played in a long time. This game was tough. After winning the coin toss I elected to kick and get the ball to start the second half. That was probably the best coaching decision I made all night. They promptly took the ball right down the field. Made my defense look like the warm winds beneath their wings--there to lift them up rather than hold them back. Got all the way into the redzone and then threw a pick in the endzone. Pretty sure it was 'cause their QB forgot there was a defense on the field and thought he was throwing a touchdown to his own guy. All I felt was relief for 3 plays and then I punted the ball right back to them. Then they scored. It starts dawning on me that these guys are competent and I might be in trouble. I score on the next possession but I have no faith in my defense. Deciding my best chance of winning is to get the maximum number of points in each drive, I go for two instead of kicking the extra point. This was my first coaching mistake. At this point as a team the Sharks have around 60 - 70 carries but they average less than the 3 yards needed to convert and the vast majority of those carries weren't against a goal line defense. None of this occurs to me as I bring out the jumbo set and call a run. I even audible to another run once I see the defensive formation. Good playcall but the AI apparently has the field vision of Trent Richardson 'cause he ran right into a defender and came up an inch short. First Quarter: 6 - 7 The Racers 10 unanswered points early in the 2nd before I finally get back into the endzone. I go for 2 again but this time get it. Just before the half ends I mange to score a third touchdown. Second Quarter: 21 - 24 It feels like nothing I'm doing on defense is working. Coverage, man, 4-3, 3-4, zone blitz, shifting alignments pre-snap. Nothing. I come out in the second half determined to take the air out of the ball and reduce the overall number of possessions of each team. It starts to work. I manage once to hold St. Louis to a fieldgoal by baiting them into a delay of game. Third Quarter: 28 - 27 The tide has turned. I eat up a ton of clock moving down field to kick a field goal. Racers get the ball and for the first and only time in the game my defense gets a three and out. The punt is high and one of the blockers bumps into the returner. Muffed punt. Then he kicks the ball. Then the blocker kicks the ball. It rolls and bounces into a group of players and they're kicking the ball. This is soccer now. Bad soccer. American soccer. Finally one guy bends down and picks up the ball.* The only positive on this play was all that kicking send the ball back their way about twenty yards. They go down and score again. 5 minutes left in the Fourth: 31 - 34 I run the clock. Taking my time down the field. Drive stalls out after a dropped pass by my RB on third down around their 30 yard line. It's a makeable fieldgoal but I don't like my chances in overtime with this defense. I go for it on fourth. Good snap. Good blocking. WR wide open in the flats. This guy is one of the two burners I signed in free agency. I'm torn. This feels like his fault for dropping the ball but it could also be a coaching lapse in having that guy run that route in that situation. Ball turns over on downs. We're under 2 minutes, I only have 2 timeouts, and my defense had one 3 and out all game. I'm not sure why the AI called a pass on that play, but I do know why there was no one around: I was angerly sending the house on every play trying to force a turnover. They score another touchdown. Then RNG taunts me one last time by missing the extra point leaving them up by 9. With seconds left on the clock and no way to draw even the game was already over. But if I'm gonna go out I'mma go out like a chump. I drive the ball down field. Pass, pass, pass. Even using some cheesier plays that I swore I wouldn't. As the final seconds run out my QB hits a WR deep down the middle of the field. Out of sheer spite I went for 2. Mostly to make sure they're defense got yelled while watching the film later. Final Score: 39 - 41 *Now that I think about it, I should trade for this guy. After all, what will we do if we ever fumble again?

I think they're a five man team. I recently joined their discord.

Not yet though the devs say that is a goal some time in the future. I don't know if they meant they were going to patching in to AF20 or if its a plan for future games. If I were to guess I'd say future games.

Axis Football Diaries: Week One vs. New York Barons This was a test case for my new ugly-yet-effective gameplan. I went into this game knowing that I was going to ground it out and then take my shots in the air. My QB is a highly talented guy but because of his accuracy problems he's not someone I trust at this point to be the focal point of the offense. First quarter is ugly 0 - 0. QB has a high completion percentage and high yards per-attempt but few attempts. Meanwhile my FB-turned-RB already has something like 15 carries in one quarter but only 30-some odd yards and one fumble. Second quarter picks up with a good drive and a field goal. My defense is terrible but apparently my playcalling is good enough to stifle NY's offense. Mid way through the quarter I finally get into the endzone. To close out the first half my team runs the two minute drill to drive down and kick another field goal. We go in a half 13 -0 and I'm feeling real good. My FB/RB Hill finally tried my patience and I swap him and Childs back into their original spot. This was after a third and short where Hill ran directly into a defender when there was open field. At this point though I feel like the run game is pretty pathetic. It's definitely what we'll be hanging our hat on this year, but I'm still gonna run it more often than not if only to keep those passing lanes open for my QB. Third quarter is a lot like first quarter. Neither team does jack. Early in the fourth I kick two more field goals and already start to take the air out of the ball. NY manages to score a TD it garbage time and the game ends 19 - 7. Ugly game but it proved that despite the apparently talent deficiency of the team, there is a formula to winning with this team. At this point I'm thinking there's a good chance I could go undefeated this season. How wrong I was.

Axis Football Diaries: Preseason I took over for the San Francisco Sharks. They are among 5 of the worst teams in the league. I chose them because I didn't plan on keeping any of their top five players. First up, I replaced one scout with a new guy who was better at evaluating. Then hired a few new position coaches that were better as developing players. Next I bought a nationwide scouting report and began looking for players who fit the Shark way. My biggest targets are offensive linemen and defensive backs. Found a really good DB early on. Hopefully I'll be able to pick him up in the draft. Next came trades. Got rid of my QB and a fourth round pick for a first round pick from Chicago Lakehawks (who were qb starved). Then I traded my top two WRs to the Philadelphia Express for their first rounder this year and a first next year. Finally I packaged my middle linebacker and tightend for a first from the New York Barons. Trading Final Count: -1 QB, 2 WRs, 1 MLB, 1 TE, and a 2020 4th round -- + 3 2020 1st round draft picks and 1 2021 1st rounder With stocking up on picks and cleaning house done, I signed a few free agents. I got one monster left tackle but then got out bid on a really good left guard. Those two together with my one good right tackle already on the roaster could've anchored my o-line for years but alas I only got the tackle. Then I signed a couple of speedy WRs to replace to two I traded. They're both really fast by have below average catching ability (this would come back to haunt me). And finally I signed a young QB with a crazy strong arm and good awareness but poor accuracy. I'm kinda proud of how I signed him for a 5 year deal only worth 700k. That would never fly in the NFL. Oh. I guess I also signed a tightend just to fill a roaster spot. I set my practices to maximum intensity and put strong emphasis on speed and strength training and watching film. This should in the long run result in my guys getting faster, stronger, and smarter. Next I focused on defense because my D is so bad they'll need it. Lastly I shifted a few guys around on my roaster. Mostly moving my larger RB to FB and my smaller and faster FB to RB. I also made sure the faster WRs were my third and fourth in the depth chart to take advantage of LBs and safeties. This team is clearly not very good on paper, but in the end, despite dumping a chunk of the coaching staff and trading the top four or five players, I feel like I like the team that I have now and more importantly, I like the teams future with all those picks.

I'm playing Axis Football 20. I was a huge fan of the 05 - 07 Madden games. Those were easily the deepest franchise modes in simulation football. Madden since has slowly stripped away features down to the sad franchise mode they have now which is nothing more than asset flips with minimum features--they treat it like a loss leader for ultimate team builder microtransaction mini-game. Axis Football is an indie football simulation series made in unity that focuses on franchise mode. Many of the features in past Madden games are available in AF20. On top of the normal signing, trading, and drafting players you can hire and fire coaches including coordinators, position coaches, and scouts--you can even promote and demote from within your own coaching staff. Scouting for the draft happens year round. You get your broad basic scouting reports and then start to identify real prospects over the course of the season. While you can play the games you can also coach and switch back and forth between playing or coaching for each game if you so choose. In coach mode you call the plays, make the audibles, change hot routes, and sub players in and out. This is the mode I play in. It can be frustrating at times. I just gave my RB 34 carries for a whopping 52 yards. He kept running directly into defenders even when there was open field. This, I suppose, is what happens when you try to get clever and move your FB to RB because he's the fastest ballcarrier on the team. The league is tiered and you always start out in the 3rd tier. If you make your tier's playoffs and win you get to faceoff against the lowest ranked team in the tier above you. Win that game and the following season you'll start out in tier 2. So going worst to first is at least a three season process. This adds a sense of build up and real team growth over time that's very lacking in Madden. There is PvP. You can play games against one another (I wouldn't given there's so much cheese in this game things could quickly devolve into players spamming the cheapest tactics to win--this is one of the reasons I like to play in coaching mode) or play in coach mode against one another. This is particularly cool for people like me who are better playcallers with terrible stick skills. Very good game though still slightly overpriced at $30 USD. If you love franchise modes in simulation football grab this game if it drops to around $20.

This was from back in May so I don't know if it was posted before, but it's new to me.