DEV BLOG / SHOWCASE
My draft strategy has a price tag
Chicago's first roster takes shape on Android, with portraits, contracts and the salary cap alongside each pick.
Game screenshots
I can talk myself into almost any player during a fantasy draft. The difficult part is admitting that twenty favorites might not make a sensible team. I want Idleball to keep the roster and the money close enough together that I can’t conveniently forget one of them.
The draft-menu post covers the initial screens. This one follows the roster through the same Chicago draft on Android.
One pick becomes ten
Chicago’s first selection is Jack Harper, a running back with Superstar status and a $25.18m annual salary. One starter down, nineteen places left. The roster summary shows the salary commitment immediately, alongside the room left under the $300m cap.
At the halfway point, all nine starter places are filled and there is one reserve. Salary costs total $64.36m. That leaves $235.64m in cap room; the big number at the top of the game is the club’s funds, which is a different thing.
After fifteen selections, there are six reserves and $221.59m of cap room. The empty places are disappearing, but every new player comes with a contract. There is a team taking shape instead of just a list of names I like.
From an empty roster to fifteen selections
The roster and salary-cap summary at the start, after the first selection, halfway through and late in the same draft.
A face, a role and a contract
The player rows are the part I’m particularly pleased to see working on a phone. Charlie Cu Miller is the quarterback at $3.45m a year. Below him are Harper, Fernando Rodriguez and Miguel Gonzalez, with their positions, current ability and annual salaries.
I can read who is on the team without opening four different screens. That works for me.
The players behind the totals
The roster list pairs each player with a portrait, role and contract.
Out of the draft room
The draft is complete. All nine starter places and eleven reserve places are filled, with $92.67m in salaries against the $300m cap. Chicago is at the Season 1 pregame screen with no games played. AutoSim is off. The next kickoff waits for confirmation, which gives me a chance to look at the team before I ask it to do anything. It is probably wise to find out what this roster looks like before becoming loudly opinionated about its performance.
From the draft room to pregame
The same Chicago run, after the initial draft finishes.
There are still crowded layouts to work through. Watching the blank roster turn into a team is a good feeling. Now I have to make sure all those players are worth what their contracts cost.