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What is Athletic Director Simulator 3000?
ADS3000 is a computer game meant to simulate what it’s like to actually run a D-I athletic department. Players are asked to respond to dozens of scenarios that an AD might face, from hiring new coaches to fundraising, talent management to broadcast rights questions, facility improvements to angry parents, and more. Players must manage the department’s budget, their Directors’ Cup ranking, and their support on campus and among fans.
The game is text-heavy, and meant to resemble old games from the DOS and Apple IIe era of the 1980s.
How can I play Athletic Director Simulator 3000?
ADS3000 runs in a web browser. While the game was designed for desktop play on a PC or Mac, it can run on a mobile device. At a future date, the game may be released on Steam and potentially video game consoles, but for the immediate future, it is web-only.
After July 22, the game will revert back behind our paywall. Only users who are Premium Extra Points subscribers, or D1.classroom subscribers, will be able to play the game.
Who is Athletic Director Simulator 3000 for? Why did you do this?
We spent the time and energy to build this game, primarily, to serve D1.classroom students. There have been dozens of excellent college sports video games over the last 20+ years, but generally, they don’t focus much on the key administrative decisions that go into running an athletic department. We wanted to make a fun way to help students understand the key issues in college sports…and how there usually isn’t a “right” answer that works every time.
During the development process, we also learned that many regular ol’ fans are excited about the game as well, and we wanted to make sure we could serve them as well.
We think this game will be fun and worthwhile for students, instructors, fans, indie developers, and more.
Wait, aren’t you, like, a sportswriter? How did you make a computer game?
The original version of ADS3000 was built by me, mostly as a joke, in Python…but the response was so positive that the D1.ticker team quickly began to look at ways to make the game a reality.
The game pseudocode, design, and virtually all of the writing, was done by me. The game’s music was arranged by Corbin Cupp. The game’s code and pixel art was built by Chris Hatten. Others in the D1.ticker executive team provided question help, testing, and other support. It was a collaborative effort for sure!
This version of ADS3000 was built in Construct3, with supplemental code in Java and supported by Playfab.
I have ideas for future changes to Athletic Director Simulator 3000!
Wonderful! We plan on continuing to support the game on a very regular basis over the next several months, adding new questions and adjusting the game’s balance every week.
If you have suggestions, (new features, new questions, balance feedback, etc), we’d love to hear them. We have a form set up here for game feedback.
If you are an artist, programmer or musician who would like to help with future editions of ADS3000, we’d love to talk. My email is Matt @ ExtraPointsMB.com.
Okay, where do I go to actually PLAY the game?
First, make sure that you’re logged in to your paid Extra Points account.
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