Coming August 2013
Before I get into the details of the app, I first want to thank my family for the tremendous sacrifices they've had to make to allow me time to deliver this app. I could not have done it without their love and support. And I also want to thank my co-workers from my "day job", who never stopped believing in me, encouraging me, and sharing their ideas with me. Moving back into a software engineering role after more than a decade in management was a tough decision and a humbling experience for me. But it turned out to be a very rewarding choice, and I've made some great new friends as a result.
So without further adieu, let's see what the Versus Sports Simulator is all about!
How the App Works
Team ratings and rankings are updated weekly during the regular and post season for each sport. Game predictions and the Game Simulator are also updated weekly, based on the revised team ratings. So predictions and simulator results are always fresh and up-to-date.
Each team is assigned three numeric ratings relative to their league (or division, in the case of College Football). The ratings are Overall, Offensive, and Defensive. Ratings are assigned on an academic scale of 60 to 99 (nobody's perfect). Letter grades are also assigned to allow faster assessment of team ratings.Available Features
Versus Sports Simulator covers 700+ College Football teams, 300+ College Basketball teams, and every NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL team. The app's main features are available from the tab bar at the bottom of the screen. Team, conference, and divisional rankings are available for free, as well as team "Report Cards" and game results. Subscriptions can be purchased for each sport to access premium content, which includes weekly game predictions and unlimited Game Simulator uses.Predictions and the Game Simulator are available in a limited fashion without a subscription. Subscriptions can be purchased from the App Store by clicking on the "Purchase Sports" menu option.
You must be connected to the internet to access any of the available features in the app.
Team Rankings
The Team Rankings page shows you the ordered ranking of teams within a given league. You can search for a team by clicking the Search button in the upper right corner of the screen. To view a team's "Report Card", simply tap the team you want to view.
Team Report Cards
Team "Report Cards" are available for free for every team in every league. You can also access each team's game results by tapping anywhere on the Report Card. Tapping on the results will return you to the Report Card. Report Cards for any team can be shared freely on social media (Facebook, Twitter) by clicking the Share icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Conference/Divisional Rankings
Conference rankings are provided for College Football and College Basketball. For all other sports, Divisional rankings are provided. These rankings depict the relative strength of each conference or division among the others in the league. For College Football, all Conferences are ranked together to give you a view into how the various divisions (FBS, FCS, D2, D3, and NAIA) relate to one another in terms of relative strength.Paid Subscription Features
Predictions
Game predictions are published weekly after the computer algorithm generates the revised team ratings. Use the date slider at the top of the screen to scroll through the days of the week. You can click the "drawer" at the bottom of each prediction box score to view more details about the prediction, such as predicted points spread and total points. Without a paid subscription, only one prediction is available per sport per day. If you purchase a subscription, every prediction for every scheduled game is made available to you for the duration of the subscription.
Game Simulator
The Game Simulator allows you to simulate match-ups between any two teams, regardless of whether or not the two teams are scheduled to play each other. You can choose the home team or select a neutral venue. In all sports except MLB, the venue you choose will affect the predicted result. The Game Simulator will predict the final score between the two teams and also show you a side-by-side comparison of each team's ratings, rankings, statistics, and superlatives. In the case of college football, where there are multiple divisions that do not significantly overlap in game play, the numeric and letter ratings associated with each team will be displayed relative to each team's respective division (FBS, FCS, D2, D3, or NAIA). The number of teams you may use for game simulations is limited without a subscription. When you purchase a subscription, every single team in every league will be unlocked and the number of simulations you can run is unlimited.
Game Simulator results can be shared on social media (Facebook, Twitter) by clicking the Share icon in the top right corner of the screen.
Conclusion
Weekly game predictions and unlimited game simulations will be available by subscription only. Both "30-Day Premium" and "Season Pass" subscriptions will be available for each sport via in-app purchase from the App Store.Thank you for taking a first look at the Versus Sports Simulator for iPhone. Indeed, I've got some great things planned for the future of the app. I need a vacation first, though, and then I plan to start working on the next set of features.
Credits
iOS Programming: Steve Pugh, CompughterRatings.comUI Design: Wren Lanier, Bramble
Looks good, can't wait for it to get out there.
ReplyDelete