Front Office Football

FOF doesn't have touchdown dances or extensive animation or most things one can find in the John Madden Football series. In fact, there's hardly any graphics at all. The game stresses general manager decision making (such as signing free agents and deciding how often you want your team to go out of the shotgun formation), rather than how fast you can hit the button to break tackles. As such, you (the "general manager") don't actually control the quarterback or players, but rather the gameplan and decision-making process. Realistic sim results and the ability to play extended careers (I played up to the year 2110 once, for example) are the priorities, instead of graphics.

To illustrate what FOF is about, Gindin explains on the company website (solecismic.com) how he initially developed the first FOF:

"Not only do I know that Corey Dillon ran for 4.8 yards per carry in 1997, but that 12.8 percent of those runs were for two yards and that the standard deviation for those running plays is 8.2 yards. That means he's a fairly explosive runner. In Front Office Football, those raw statistics translate into ratings that make him perform in a similar manner."

FOF is very similar in style to the Championship Manager soccer series. In fact, CM's head programmer, Marc Vaughan, often posts on the FOF message boards. It's a rather niche series. Call it "geek football" if you will. It's certainly not for everyone.

The original Front Office Football came out in 1998. Front Office Football 2 was released in August 1999 and Front Office Football 2001 was released in November 2000. Both of these sequels were done in cooperation with Electronic Arts (EA Sports). All 3 games were simulations of the NFL.

On July 8, 2001, Solecismic released Front Office Football: The College Years (FOF: TCY). This is Gindin's first attempt at a college football simulation game.
TCY was not done with EA Sports, as Gindin felt doing it alone would allow him to better create his own ideal game.