What is Athletic Director Simulator 4000?

ADS4000 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 original version of the game, ADS3000, was 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 4000?

ADS4000 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.

Who is Athletic Director Simulator 4000 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 the writing, were 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!

ADS3000 and ADS4000 were built in Construct3, with supplemental code in Java and supported by Playfab.

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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