Simulation Football isn’t dead yet! With EA’s failure (and admitting to their failure) to provide any new updates to Madden 21’s franchise mode, football fans will be looking elsewhere to find a new and fun simulation football game. I had the privilege to interview the development team behind Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football 2020 and it was amazing. For all you fans looking for a new taste of football video games, Maximum Football 2020 is where you should go. For everyone who wants a new college football game, Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football 2020 brings the fun of recruiting and building a dynasty back with their college dynasty mode. The game offers a level customization that EA has failed to deliver time and time again. Every team in Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football can be customized so you can create the team you’ve always wanted. The interview goes over the goal of Maximum Football, how development is based completely on community feedback, the customization and the new Maximum Football Sim Leagues. Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football gives the football video game community another option and it’s a damn good option too. Here’s the interview I had with the development team.
Why did you start this project?
David Winter, our game’s founder, has been in the video game industry for a number of years. After working at several studios (including EA), he decided to venture out on his own, which led to his newly formed company, Canuck Play, releasing Canadian Football 2017. Then Dave decided to resurrect his old Maximum Football series, with the launch of Maximum Football 2018, which has ultimately become Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football after partnering with Hall of Fame Quarterback Doug Flutie. The console market has been starved for more football video game options and that was a major factor for the birth of the project.
What was the goal when this project began?
The goal has always been to provide simulation football game with extensive customization – allowing the user to create their own universe. This includes options such as selecting the rule set (College Football, US Pro, Canadian), customizing logos, selecting players and more.
How big is your team? What are some challenges that the team has faced in development both before the pandemic and during the pandemic?
We are a small team of 5. We have been fortunate that the pandemic hasn’t affected us too much as most of us work remote anyways
How does the Unity Partnership help the development of the game and the future of the game?
Our partnership* has allowed us to enhance the game’s performance (framerate), in-game lighting, improve player movement, add custom receiver animations, the replay system and overall prepare us for the next generation of consoles.
*To learn more about the partnership of Unity and Canuck Play, you can view the case study at https://unity.com/es/case-study/maximum-football
The level of customization in the game is amazing, how will it continue to be expanded upon?
For 2020, we’ve added in a brand new play designer, so users can now customize the offensive and defensive plays they want to run. We’ve also added a new 32-team league structure into the game, which allows users to customize all the teams within the league.
For 2021 and beyond, we are looking at adding new player models, which will open up additional customization options (i.e. various equipment styles).
How has community feedback helped the process of developing the 2020 version of the game?
All of our development is driven by community feedback. We have a very active Discord server and Patreon program, where our community provides us with feedback, such as feature requests and bug reports, to help guide our development.
You’ve been involved in the community on Twitter (Chatting with NotTheExpert about adding the Dingos into Maximum Football just as an example) how much do you pride yourself on community interaction and listening to what your fans want?
We are all originally fans of football video games, so we feel like we’re members of the community ourselves. Maximum Football is truly a community driven game, so we are always looking for ways to incorporate elements that fans are seeking. As such, we stay active on all our social media platforms (Patreon, Discord, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit) and are constantly taking in user feedback. Content creators are always vocal about wanting more from football video games and we’re happy to work with them in anyway we can.
I’ve read about the Maximum Football Sim Leagues on your website. Would you like to go into more detail about how they will work? Such as amount of people involved, what each role will do (Conference Commissioner, Community Contributor, Team Owner/Athletic Director, Coach and Player)
The Maximum Football Sim league is a web-based, online league, where users register a player, a coach or athletic director into the league. The league will consist of 130 college teams and all games are a CPU vs. CPU simulation, which we will live broadcast on Twitch and YouTube, with a live commentary team. While the league occurs outside of the core game that you’d play on your console, we are excited to roll this out for the community
Within the game, users can select the type of role they want to pursue: Player, Coach, Athletic Director or Conference Commissioner.
– Player: Users will get to select the player’s name, position, jersey number and physical characteristics for either a 3-star recruit (free account) or a 4 or 5-star recruit (upgraded account). After selecting the player’s basic information, the user will be asked to select various player archetypes, which will determine their starting attribute points. All the new recruits will take part in a recruit all-star game and then the players will go through the recruiting process with the Coach users. After being offered a scholarship, players will progress through the season with their team, have the ability to purchase additional XP or gain XP rewards for being active in the community.
– Coach: Users that want to be a Coach will set up a coach account. Coaches will need to be “hired” by an Athletic Director of one of the teams and will then be responsible for assembling the roster by offering scholarships to Players. In-game, Coaches will design plays using the Play Designer and build the team strategy (depth chart, pass/run percentage, audibles, etc.) for the CPU’s execution.
– Athletic Director: Users will act as the “owner” of their college team, making decisions for branding (uniforms, logo, team name, etc.) and assigning the Coach (either hiring a Coach user or assuming the role himself/herself).
– Conference Commissioner: we are also seeking users that will become conference commissioners and assist the league staff by answering questions and managing the teams/players in their conference. The Conference Commissioners will also be responsible for live streaming and broadcasting their conference games.
In addition to the user roles within the game, Community Contributors will promote the league by providing commentary, writing articles, recording podcasts, etc.
Overall excitement and what can we expect from the game in September?
We’re extremely excited to get the game in the hands of football fans in September. We are still waiting on an official release date, which will be finalized once we complete the certification processes for Sony and Microsoft. We expect gamers will really enjoy our overhauled gameplay improvements, brand new play designer, dynasty mode 2.0 and all the visual and movement changes that Unity has implemented. See you on the field soon!
Again, I’d like to thank the development team behind Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football for taking the time out of their busy schedule to do this interview. They love the community and are here for the simulation and franchise football fans. We will be doing a giveaway for a PS4 Code for Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football 2019 on our Twitter so check it out for your chance to win!
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