I've been playing HBD and GD for a while. When I got the free season offer a while back for a game I have not tried, I chose HD. I love college hoops. I played the first season, then bought a 2nd. Then I purchased a 2nd team. Both teams are in D2 now. But as much as I've been trying to like HD, I find it lacking. But maybe I'm just missing something. I don't like the recruiting as much as GD, and I don't see as much opportunity regarding game planning. But again, maybe I'm just missing something. If anyone has some insights, please let me know.

Not sure to answer exactly what you're looking for. But you haven't recruited many players total. It doesn't appear that (so far) you'd be putting together a contending roster. So in my opinion, winning and learning would help you decide your feelings on it. Not very much time served yet in the two current worlds you have teams

Of the 3 dynasty sims, it’s easily the ‘smallest‘, with a roster of 12 players. If you’re used to GD with it’s 50 players, or HBD with its 6 teams as part of a franchise, it does sometimes seem more limited.
That’s what I like about it though (even though I’ve not succeeded in HD in any capacity). I like that it’s only a dozen players at a time and sometimes recruiting classes are as small as 2 players. Bite sized.

Posted by hypnotoad on 8/23/2020 8:07:00 PM (view original):
Of the 3 dynasty sims, it’s easily the ‘smallest‘, with a roster of 12 players. If you’re used to GD with it’s 50 players, or HBD with its 6 teams as part of a franchise, it does sometimes seem more limited.
That’s what I like about it though (even though I’ve not succeeded in HD in any capacity). I like that it’s only a dozen players at a time and sometimes recruiting classes are as small as 2 players. Bite sized.

Yea if HD recruiting is anything like recruiting in GD..... wow. I get overwhelmed when I have a 6 man class. I couldn't imagine filling 53 spots in the same manner!

Agreed game planning is much more limited. For those who feel a bit over whelmed with all the choices in GD, its a nice change.

If you like the complexity of GD then HD can seem basic.

After the 3.0 update, HD is a much different kind of game than HBD or GD. I’ve played both, am still giving GD a try (probably in kind of the same way as you, but it really isn’t looking like it’s going to be my thing). HD is much more of a choose your own adventure kind of game now. The 3.0 updates were intended to, and largely did remove the math formula feeling of the game. You can still base your team on metrics and make decisions using careful calculations of precise analytics if that’s your thing, but you’re no longer really punished if you’d just really rather treat it as art rather than science. In my experience, in both HBD and GD, that’s not the case. The punishment for not knowing and utilizing all the intricate conventions and secret handshakes is pretty severe. IMO, it’s very possible that if you really dig those games, you may just not get into this one.

That said, I think a lot of times people just need a certain light to flip on, and it can make all the difference. For many of the new folks I talk to, it has tended to be scouting, so I laid out my method here.

As for gameplanning, I mean, basically it is what you make it. If you’re set it and forget it kind of folk, you can pick FB/press, make sure you always have a full roster with good stamina, and throw it out there. I actually had a forum thread I stumbled on as a relatively new player spark a going-on-6-year-long obsession with zone defense (actually press/zone combo, because I like to be difficult, right doggg?) which has finally started to feel like I’ve got a handle on it. I actually just referenced this thread last week with someone reaching out to me on sitemail, it’s still getting mileage, highly recommend for folks who haven’t seen it, it is the definitive zone defense discussion, IMO (especially starting toward the end of the second page).

IMO, the key to having fun in HD is having some imagination about the kind of team you want to build, develop a plan to build it, and then have fun going out and trying to execute.

Yeah, but nobody has said that it's more than just the quality of your players that makes a difference. In GD, your game planning can make a difference. And in college basketball, game planning can make a huge difference, i.e. Princeton vs. Georgetown 1989, or Northern Iowa vs. Kansas 2010. I don't see that opportunity with HD.

Game planning can make a huge difference. Again, I didn't grasp what answers you were looking for. It's hard for me to relate since I've never played GD so I can't make a comparison.

But I will add, of all skills an HD coach has, I feel like understanding the game planning is the last skill that fine tunes everything. So only having less than 10 seasons, you're not going to see it all yet.

Don't poo-poo on our game we all covet just yet! Haha. If you find out it's not for you over time, that's fair. But I'd give it more time before you can see the whole picture.

https://imgur.com/a/d0973Fy

This imgur "proves" absolutely nothing as a stand alone picture. But I feel this was my best game planning job I've done at NKU. Was able to navigate thru better teams that season to get to the final.

If you're looking to upset A+ Duke with a horrible team just by game planning each night, that is not going to happen tho. It does take talent to win. Understanding your playing sets, and how to recruit for them, is all part of the game plan as well

Gameplanning is huge. Positioning, doubles, depth chart, distro warrants 30 minutes or so if you really want to win a game. When I’m going up against elite coaches in the NT with equal teams it can be anywhere from a 40% to 60% sim based on how well we gameplan.

GD and HD are fundamentally different experiences. HD is simpler and easier to keep up with, which is my personal preference. For those who desire or require more engagement, GD and HBD offer increasing levels of depth.

I don't think you're missing anything. I personally like HD better than GD, but GD has a very loyal following and I can see why.

Posted by bjschumacher on 8/23/2020 7:00:00 PM (view original):
I've been playing HBD and GD for a while. When I got the free season offer a while back for a game I have not tried, I chose HD. I love college hoops. I played the first season, then bought a 2nd. Then I purchased a 2nd team. Both teams are in D2 now. But as much as I've been trying to like HD, I find it lacking. But maybe I'm just missing something. I don't like the recruiting as much as GD, and I don't see as much opportunity regarding game planning. But again, maybe I'm just missing something. If anyone has some insights, please let me know.

the main part of strategy in HD outside of game planning and recruiting talent is really the team building / planning process, where you need to construct a roster with synergy and then set them up accordingly (which i differentiate from opponent-specific game planning, which i think most just call game planning).

getting your talent to gel and be effective is the hardest and richest part of the game, IMO. probably the hardest bit is roughly a fact, but personally its my favorite part.

i don't know what kind of person you are but i kinda thought this was all sort of nonsense fun game stuff, not really a fit enterprise for intelligent adults (but ok as a side hobby), until i saw a guy win 8 titles in 9 years and 5 straight. well i didnt really see him do it as much as i became aware he had just done it. to me that meant the game was very deterministic and there had to be major differences between what he did in that moment and what normal high end coaches were doing. the way i view all games is to garner my interest for a serious undertaking, is they at least need to 1) converge quickly with skill and 2) have a really high ceiling. then #3 is some nebulous human emotion BS about having some connections to my interests or what i find 'fun' or whatnot. what i can tell you for sure as someone who understands serious gaming, is #1 and #2 pass the test.

Posted by gillispie1 on 8/26/2020 3:50:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bjschumacher on 8/23/2020 7:00:00 PM (view original):
I've been playing HBD and GD for a while. When I got the free season offer a while back for a game I have not tried, I chose HD. I love college hoops. I played the first season, then bought a 2nd. Then I purchased a 2nd team. Both teams are in D2 now. But as much as I've been trying to like HD, I find it lacking. But maybe I'm just missing something. I don't like the recruiting as much as GD, and I don't see as much opportunity regarding game planning. But again, maybe I'm just missing something. If anyone has some insights, please let me know.

the main part of strategy in HD outside of game planning and recruiting talent is really the team building / planning process, where you need to construct a roster with synergy and then set them up accordingly (which i differentiate from opponent-specific game planning, which i think most just call game planning).

getting your talent to gel and be effective is the hardest and richest part of the game, IMO. probably the hardest bit is roughly a fact, but personally its my favorite part.

i don't know what kind of person you are but i kinda thought this was all sort of nonsense fun game stuff, not really a fit enterprise for intelligent adults (but ok as a side hobby), until i saw a guy win 8 titles in 9 years and 5 straight. well i didnt really see him do it as much as i became aware he had just done it. to me that meant the game was very deterministic and there had to be major differences between what he did in that moment and what normal high end coaches were doing. the way i view all games is to garner my interest for a serious undertaking, is they at least need to 1) converge quickly with skill and 2) have a really high ceiling. then #3 is some nebulous human emotion BS about having some connections to my interests or what i find 'fun' or whatnot. what i can tell you for sure as someone who understands serious gaming, is #1 and #2 pass the test.

I'm with gil. Not trying to be *that* guy, but there is a reaaaaally high ceiling to teambuilding and game-planning paired together.

I'm certainly a decently high end coach (5 titles, 7 NC Games, 9 F4s in last 20 seasons of D1 Wooden--albeit with an A+ baseline A++/A+++ prestige school in a soft recruiting area...which is changing!!) enough to have a bit of a sense about how I can reach this ceiling. Sometimes I hit this aspect of the game out of the park, and sometimes I really drop the ball.

So just an update on how I'm feeling about HD. I've recruited a few more of my own players, and I've picked up a few more tips from reading the forum threads. Learning more about player distribution, and how to set the +/- in my zone defense. So I'm liking this game a lot more now. Now I'm checking my HD scores when I wake up in the morning before I check my GD and HBD scores.

+1

Posted by bjschumacher on 9/19/2020 4:51:00 PM (view original):
So just an update on how I'm feeling about HD. I've recruited a few more of my own players, and I've picked up a few more tips from reading the forum threads. Learning more about player distribution, and how to set the +/- in my zone defense. So I'm liking this game a lot more now. Now I'm checking my HD scores when I wake up in the morning before I check my GD and HBD scores.

Dont just check the score. Read the PBP!!!