Legend Bowl Update Improves Gameplay, Franchise Mode and Much More - Coming Soon to Consoles

We missed this news last week, but another Legend Bowl update has arrived featuring plenty of gameplay improvements specifically for the AI.

We’ve worked hard to improve gameplay on every level possible. AI has been heavily improved to call smarter plays, manage the clock better, know when to hold the ball or go for it on 4th down and end of half or game situations. Ball carrier running AI has also been drastically improved for more authentic running lane decision making to follow holes and nearby blockers more closely, all while avoiding tacklers.

The patch also includes a rebuilt roster with better player ratings, names, logos, increased colors, updated playbooks and more. Franchise mode also received some love with improved screens with more detailed information to make those tough roster decisions.

The update is in preparation for the upcoming console release. According to King Javo it’s releasing on multiple consoles. Don’t sleep on this game, it’s currently available on Steam for $24.99.

Check out the patch notes below.

• BRAND NEW Rosters with new creative names, hall of fame type players, team rankings reshuffled, improved roster archetypes, and much much more!
• “Legends” added to replace top players at respective positions.
• Offensive linemen speed upped to 40-60 depending on team build – passing teams 40-50, balanced 45-55, running 50-60.
• FB and HB speed floored at 70. Any default players under assigned a 70-72 rating.
• TE’s under 95 strength given a +2 strength boost.
• TE’s on running teams given a +3 strength boost.
• 2nd and 3rd string QBs were redrafted to give teams with weaker QBs a shot at a higher skilled starter.
• SS’s strength dropped 2 points – capped at 81 (legends exempt).
• Top end player speed adjusted to close the league overall speed gap.
• Run percentages set to more accurately reflect strengths/weaknesses of default team build.
• Swapped Philly’s roster with Buffalo and Los Angeles with Chicago.
• Renamed players with expanded list of first and last names, including names with apostrophes.
• Player hat colors all redone to closely match team uniform colors.
• Updated conference and division logos excluding conference logos as part of above change.
• NEW team logos added and updated Eagles and Miners with NEW alt so overrode there base logo sets and copied them as NEW custom logos.
• NEW endzone field texture added to match field texture, replacing the previous solid color.
• Auto depth chart improved to set PR and KR dynamically based on speed and skill.
• More color options now available used when creating team jerseys.
• Current roster player ratings now used to get min/max when game creates NEW players for rebuild rosters, draft class, and practice squaddies who replace retired players.
• Playbook size increased to over 750 plays.
• Over 40,000 unique first and last names added to database. Common names are now more likely to be used for more realistic player names. Player names capped at 20 chars total.
• Apostrophes, ampersands, dollar signs, etc. are now used in the game when they wouldn’t show on certain screens, so get your names up to snuff!
• Last name suffixes can now be included as part of player names when generating players.
• Time of possession added to stats export file.
• Team Run Ratio % adjusts when shuffling and rebuilding rosters from Team menu.

In preparation for consoles, we have been working hard on polishing up @legendbowlgame with a bunch of solid improvements across the game. More news coming very soon! BTW, say hello to the new Washington Eagles logo and their stud player, BUBBA SMYTHE! Let's go! 🏈 #LegendBowl pic.twitter.com/j7ocAQ78L1

— King Javo (@KingJavo_SH) September 8, 2022

GAMEPLAY

• Ball carrier running AI improved to fix issue where they would choose side line paths versus running through holes or upfield.
• AI clock management heavily improved to call timeouts when appropriate, kneel, spike, run out the clock, and run certain plays based on quarter, score, and time left on clock.
• Offensive playcalling AI logic improved for better pass/run situational coaching.
• Defensive playcalling AI logic now utilizes offensive personnel when choosing what formation to call which heavily improves matchups.
• Short yardage defensive playcalling AI changed to only show up on more goaline type situations to avoid big play exploits.
• QB AI no longer kneels when near own touchdown, thus avoiding a safety.
• Smarter late game offensive play calling to not run unless short yardage.
• Team no longer punts the ball before halftime when they can run the clock out to avoid a punt return.
• Improved two point conversion AI play calling based on when leading or trailing in the 4th quarter.
• Field goal playcalling now factors in kicker strength and skill, along with wind to determine when AI chooses to go for a field goal.
• Punt defender AI updated to spread defenders out for better punt coverage.
• More skilled punters try to kick the ball to the sideline more often in hopes of getting a coffin corner kick.
• Teams now spike ball to save time even when timeouts left.
• Teams no longer run the ball on 4th and 15 conversions, 4th and long, 3rd and long situations.
• Teams no longer decide to go for 4th down in weird situations.
• ASK COACH play call menu now select two plays based on the situation and personnel (if on defense other team has chosen play) and two random plays to give you better play calling help during games.
• Quarterbacks run to avoid pressure chance increased to allow for more runs and potential sacks.
• Catching slightly bumped up to decrease the amount of dropped passes.
• Sacks where the QB fumbles now count as a sack.
• Touchdowns now count as a 1st down team stat.
• Kick and punt return stats no longer get nerfed by touchbacks.
• Balls that hit field goal posts now display a “Doink” popup.
• NEW “Rattled” popup shows when receiver drops the ball due to close defenders pressuring player.
• NEW “Duck” popup to illustrate when QB is under pressure when throwing a bad pass.
• Fixed cosmetic issue where safety would not register during score banner popup sequence.
• Formations with a “NOSE TACKLE” position (3-4, DOLLAR, QUARTER) now grab top SKILL DT, instead of just using RDT.
• Punter stat issue fixed where it would show 2 punts or 2 touch backs when only 1 punt happened.
• Swapped LT and RT buttons so strafe and grab swapped.
• Fixed tutorial issues and NEW buttons for swap LT RT.
• Attempt to fix ball deflect SFX repeating constantly on deflections.
• Added logic to try and fix issue where returner runs out of bounds at goaline.
• Attempt to fix issue where player gets stuck in block animation with nobody to block.
• Quarterbacks no longer balloon ball in the air when throwing away to the sideline.
• Championship game endzone logo colors now match home and away team endzones, instead of just being home team’s color.
• Fixed issue where controlled player was unable to strafe prior to snap.
• Attempt to fix issue where ball deflection sound effect would occur repeatedly over a short time period.
• Added code to limit the super crazy fast ball deflections that vibrate on players.
• Players try to do swat animation only once now per throw.
• Fixed PA audio cue says pass incomplete upon the defense making an interception
• Fixed QB throwing too fast on screen plays, thus causing pass to be incomplete.
• Defensive popup messages now disappear when PASS COMPLETE message appears to avoid confusion on whether the receiver caught the ball or not.
• Removed interceptions (unless tipped ball drill) within 1.5 yards of line of scrimmage and between line left and right sides, so basically on the line.
• QB throws away to closer sideline when throwing ball away with LT.
• Attempt to fix issue where gamepad vibrates after a play is dead.
• Fixed graphical issue where field goal holder ball sprite was showing incorrect football type.
• Player max speeds were getting significantly tanked when players had speeds of 74 or less. This has been fixed to allow for more control over how you rate SPD in the game.
• Fixed Home team turns it over on downs (crowd cheers when they should boo).
• Fixed 3rd horn doesn’t stop immediately once the ball is snapped and will continue on thru the play and into the next until the clip is done.
• Fixed player sprite incorrect image issue I noticed on stiff arm and juke moves.
• Gamepad rumble lasting too long after play issue fixed.
• Gamepad Right stick moves added in for ball carrier and defender.
  • Ball Carrier
    • UP = Truck
    • PRESS = Hurdle
    • DOWN = Dive
    • LEFT/RIGHT = Juke

• • Defender
    • UP = Jump
    • PRESS = Truck
    • Down = Dive Tackle

• NEW player soft traits added to Player wire, Free Agency, and Draft popups.
• Fixed issue where highlighted players showing incorrect names during Free Agency, Player Wire, and Draft popups.
• NEW option added to forfeit a draft pick when no better player is on the board and you wish to skip that round.
• Draft grid total rows per page decreased by one row so ticker doesn’t cover up last row.
• Injuries no longer get erased when playing or watching a game during the playoffs.
• Fixed MVP rushing and punting stat issues when looking at Hall of Fame screen.
• Increased chance of more than 2 week injury from 5% to 7%.
• Fixed team record issue on franchise ticker when you flip to a NEW season.
• Team Run Ratio % now adjusts before the start of the next season based on QB, WR, TE strength vs HB, FB, OLINE strengths.
• During off-season, players get get dyed hair chance when personality trait greater than 95 and 2% chance.
• Fixed issue where new players created during retirement and draft would not show correct player model colors immediately and would require a reload of the franchise file in order to see it.

USER INTERFACE

• Player rating bars range from 50 – 99 now to illustrate finer player ratings since most players are rated 50+.
• Roster sheet snapshot added to team select, NEW tournament, and NEW franchise screens.
• Player Editor now has overall, mobile qb, rookie, and star icons so you can easily see how editing a player’s skills affects his abilities.
• Game stats UI move up a hair to center to the screen better.

SETTINGS

• NEW “League Settings” menu under the “Team” menu allows you to edit league, championship game, conference, and division labels all from within the game.
• NEW “FPS 100%” setting to show a crowded stadium with static fans to help improve performance on lower end machines.
• NEW “Show Plays” setting added to the GRAPHICS section to show offensive and defensive play calls during a game.
• Window resolution setting no longer gets stuck at 1600 x 900 after restarting the game.
• Updated controller help file screen to show NEW LT RT swapped button layout.

MISC & BUG FIXES

• Fixed MAJOR memory leak issue related to play calling during a game.
• Fixed various messages on newspaper and field stats that we’re either too long or had incorrect team/player names.
• Fixed issue where team kneels on 4th down causing a turnover.
• Fixed safety issue where returning team get 2 points instead of kicking team.

• Steam Cloud added to sync everything inside of your “legend-bowl/data/” directory. This may interfere with modding outside of the game, so keep an eye out.
• Steam Deck fixes.