TL;DR: I got tired of franchise mode feeling like an empty sandbox where I could cheese the system forever, so I built Front Office: a companion app that makes your save feel more like a living hockey world with memory, pressure, context, and consequences.

A little backstory

Over the years, I tried just about everything I could think of to make my saves feel more believable. I created pen-and-paper rules. I tracked storylines and stats manually with spreadsheets. I made my own restrictions for trades and roster decisions. I even used dice rolls to decide if players wanted to sign with me.

Those systems were messy, but they proved the idea worked.

> The save felt better when I had to answer to something.

Even if that "something" was a notebook, a spreadsheet, and a random number roll.

The game felt better when I stopped treating myself like an all-powerful GM who could run every part of the team with no pushback or consequence, and instead forced myself to operate inside a living hockey world.

What Front Office is

Front Office is that same idea, rebuilt properly.

The house rules became complex systems. The dice rolls became consequence logic with proper triggers and metrics. The notebook became historical memory. The fake little story blurbs became a full broadcast-style franchise layer.

EA's menus are where you execute decisions. Front Office is where you make them.

The goal is to spend as little time as possible inside EA's interface and as much time as possible actually running the franchise. You open the game to make a move, then you come back here. Front Office is the room you work in. The hockey sim is the engine running underneath it.

The game handles what happens on the ice. Front Office handles everything above it.

There were two clear things I always wanted franchise mode to do better.

It is not meant to replace franchise mode.

It is meant to make franchise mode feel deeper.

The game gives us the sandbox. Front Office gives that sandbox memory, context, consequences, and presentation.

There were two clear things I always wanted franchise mode to do better.

1. Better intel

I wanted more than overall ratings and basic stat screens. I wanted actual context.

I wanted to know:

Why a player was struggling
Whether a prospect was really developing
Whether a line was working because of chemistry or just hot shooting
Whether a veteran still had real value
Whether my goalie was saving a bad team
Whether a contract was actually good value
Whether my team was actually good or just getting lucky in the sim

That became the intelligence side of Front Office.

It looks at things like player analysis, team diagnostics, development tracking, chemistry, contracts, player value, forecasting, league context, and historical memory.

2. A universe that pushes back

The second thing I wanted was a franchise world that didn't just let me abuse the sandbox forever.

I wanted stricter rules, more events, better guidance, harder choices, and a management team that didn't just nod along with every decision.

I wanted scouts, coaches, assistants, analysts, ownership, media, and the league itself to create pressure.

Not randomly. Based on what was actually happening in the save.

That became the consequence side of Front Office.

It includes staff opinions, story triggers, pressure events, roster risk, morale-style logic, ownership demands, GM approval, league context, and RPG-style management friction.

The core idea

Front Office is built around two sides:

Intelligence: The app helps you understand what is happening in your save.

Consequence: The app makes the world react to what you do.

The goal is to answer the questions franchise mode leaves you asking, then make you curious about a few more.

With the help of free courses through the Edmonton Public Library, Google NotebookLM for research, YouTube tutorials, A monthly perscription to adderal and a lot of stubborn trial and error, I've built Front Office to the point where it is close to real beta testing.

Now I'm ready to start showing it to other franchise mode die-hards.

What the systems actually do

Front Office is built around a group of systems that all answer different GM questions.

The Player Analysis system looks at players beyond their overall rating. It tries to understand who a player actually is, what role he fits, what he is good at, where he is weak, and whether his value matches how the game presents him.

The Attribute Tag system turns raw ratings into hockey identity. Instead of staring at a wall of numbers, the app can identify traits like playmaker, finisher, puck-mover, shutdown type, forechecker, power-play quarterback, defensive liability, or shelter-required scorer.

The Chemistry system looks at whether players actually fit together. A line is not automatically good just because it has three talented players. The app looks for balance, role overlap, missing pieces, and whether players are helping each other or stepping on each other's jobs.

The Team Diagnostic system asks the question I always wanted franchise mode to answer: "Are we actually good?" It looks at whether the team's record is supported by the roster structure, whether the goalie is masking problems, whether the bottom six is getting crushed, or whether the team is winning in a way that might not last.

The Development and Trajectory systems track whether players are moving in the right direction. Is a prospect actually progressing? Is a young player ready for more responsibility? Is a veteran starting to decline? Is a player stuck because I'm using him wrong?

The Prospect system helps with decisions around young players. It can help identify whether a prospect should be left unsigned, kept in junior, given AHL runway, moved up the call-up board, protected from being rushed, or tested in a bigger role.

The Contract and Trade Value systems look at roster economics. A player can be good but overpaid. A player can be average but valuable because he is cheap, controlled, and fits a scarce role. A player can have trade value but not be important to your team. The point is to make roster decisions feel less like "higher overall wins" and more like actual asset management.

The Forecasting and League Context systems look at the bigger picture. Are you a contender, a bubble team, a retooling team, or a team lying to itself? Is the pressure real? Are your playoff odds supported by the roster, or are you riding luck? Who in the division actually matters?

The Historical Memory system gives the save continuity. The app should remember what happened before, not treat every screen like it exists in isolation. Player arcs, previous warnings, staff disagreements, bad decisions, good development calls, and major franchise moments should all be able to matter later.

The Story Trigger system turns real save events into franchise storytelling. If a prospect breaks out, a veteran collapses, a goalie carries the team, a trade backfires, or pressure builds around the team, the app can surface that as a storyline instead of leaving it buried in numbers.

The Staff Reaction system is where the management team pushes back. The coach might care about lineup fit. The AGM might care about asset value. The development voice might care about protecting prospects. Ownership might care about results, spending, attendance, or long-term direction.

Coach authority and lineup decisions

Front Office also treats the coach as an actual decision-maker, not just a name on a staff screen.

One thing I always disliked about franchise mode is that the GM can basically control everything. Lines, roles, deployment, ice time, special teams, scratches, call-ups — all of it.

In real life, that is not how a front office works.

The GM builds the roster, but the coach decides how that roster is used.

So in Front Office, coaches can have their own preferences, biases, systems, and lineup logic. A coach might trust veterans more than prospects. Another might reward speed. Another might overplay defensive players. Another might bury a skilled young player because he does not fit the system.

That creates tension.

You might want a prospect in the top six, but the coach might not trust him yet.
You might want an offensive defenseman on PP1, but the coach might prefer a safer veteran.
You might want to roll four lines, but the coach might shorten the bench when pressure builds.

The goal is not to take control away from the user for no reason.

The goal is to make the GM role feel different from the coach role.

You can build the team. You can pressure the staff. You can fire the coach. You can change direction.

But you are not supposed to be an all-seeing god manually controlling every single decision without pushback.

X-Factors as simulation tools

Another important part of Front Office is how it uses X-Factors.

Because this is a companion app, it cannot always directly edit the roster or force the game itself to represent every real-world effect. So X-Factors become one of the ways Front Office can simulate things the base game does not fully model.

They can represent temporary form, confidence, pressure, reputation, role momentum, development breakthroughs, chemistry boosts, leadership effects, injury recovery concerns, playoff nerves, media heat, or a player earning trust inside the organization.

For example:

A prospect on a hot streak might gain a temporary confidence-style X-Factor state
A veteran leader might stabilize a struggling line
A goalie carrying a bad team might trigger a pressure and storyline effect
A player buried in the wrong role might lose momentum
A young player thriving after promotion might earn a stronger internal role tag
A playoff performer might gain a short-term clutch and reputation boost
A player under media pressure might become more volatile

The important part is that X-Factors are not just random buffs.

They are tied to evidence, context, and duration.

A player does not just magically become better forever because of one good game. The system looks at what happened, how strong the trigger was, how reliable the evidence is, how long the effect should last, and whether future performance reinforces or kills it.

That lets Front Office simulate a living hockey world without needing to directly rewrite the game's roster file every time something changes.

It becomes a layer of interpretation.

> The base game gives the ratings. Front Office adds context, momentum, pressure, and meaning.

The Butterfly Effect system

The Butterfly Effect system is about delayed consequences. Not every decision matters right away. Some choices plant seeds. Ignoring a prospect window, delaying a roster move, keeping the wrong player in the wrong role, or making a risky trade can echo later in the save.

The Truth and Intake system is what keeps the app honest. Front Office can use screen-reading, computer vision, and OCR to read franchise screens, but it does not blindly trust the first thing it sees. Evidence gets parsed, validated, confidence-checked, and only then promoted into the app's trusted state.

The FOSN layer is the presentation side. It turns the data and storylines into a broadcast-style franchise experience with headlines, tickers, dashboard stories, recaps, pressure notes, and league context. The goal is to make the save feel like a living sports world, not just a menu full of numbers.

Ownership and franchise pressure

One of the big consequence systems is ownership.

Front Office treats each team owner as more than a background label. Each owner can have their own personality traits, priorities, budget attitude, patience level, and risk tolerance.

Some owners may want to spend aggressively. Some may care more about profit and stability. Some may demand playoffs. Some may push a rebuild.

That means the GM does not always get full control. An owner can:

Veto a trade
Block a major signing
Refuse to retain salary
Set a spending limit
Demand a playoff push
Force a rebuild direction
Pressure the GM to move a player
Reject a long-term contract
Push back against tanking
Interfere when media pressure gets too high

The goal is not to make ownership annoying for no reason.

The goal is to make every franchise feel different.

Running a rich, aggressive, win-now team should not feel the same as running a cheap, patient, rebuilding team. You are not just managing players. You are managing the room above you.

GM approval rating

Front Office also tracks a GM approval rating.

This is not meant to be a simple "you won, number goes up" meter. It keeps tabs on the full pattern of how you manage the franchise.

The app tracks things like team performance, playoff results, trade outcomes, contract decisions, prospect development, draft success, cap management, staff trust, owner confidence, media pressure, fan reaction, roster stability, missed warnings, and long-term franchise direction.

The idea is that every GM builds a reputation.

Different groups judge you differently:

Ownership cares about wins, money, playoff revenue, and whether you followed the mandate
Coaches care about roster balance, lineup stability, and whether you gave them a team that fits the system
Scouts and development staff care about whether you protected prospects and used the pipeline properly
Fans and media care about star players, playoff success, rivalries, streaks, collapses, and big controversial moves

So GM approval is not just one number. It is a pressure system.

It helps answer: Does ownership still trust me? Am I surviving because the team is winning, or am I building real trust? If I miss the playoffs, do I still have enough goodwill to keep my job?

Front Office should make the GM seat feel like an actual seat.

You are not just building a roster. You are building a record.

What is already built

This is not just an idea document anymore. The core app is already working as a prototype.

Right now, Front Office has working routes and screens for:

Dashboard
War Room
Depth chart
Lines
Player detail
Team overview
League news
Upload / Input Desk
History

The core engine layer is also built in first-pass form. That includes systems for:

Player analysis
Attribute tagging
Chemistry
Team diagnostics
Development and trajectory
Prospect state
Contract intelligence
Trade value
Forecasting
League context
Historical memory
Story triggers
Staff reactions
Coach authority and lineup logic
X-Factor state simulation
Ownership pressure
GM approval
Decision consequences

One of the biggest pieces already working is the screen-reading layer.

Front Office can use computer vision and OCR to read franchise screens as evidence, validate what it sees, and only promote trusted information into the app. A screen is treated as evidence first. The system reads it, parses it, checks it, assigns confidence, and only then lets it affect dashboards, player cards, War Room recommendations, storylines, or engine output.

screen evidence → interpretation → validation → trusted game state → front office intelligence

That is what separates a cool-looking dashboard from an actual franchise intelligence system.

FOSN presentation layer

Front Office has a presentation layer called FOSN — basically a fictional broadcast network for the franchise universe.

Instead of a plain grid of cards, the dashboard is built around things like a lead headline, next-game context, a news ticker, quick recap strip, data health, action queue, franchise pulse, personnel watch, roster pressure, team and player snapshots, and storyline surfaces.

When you open the app, you should immediately understand the state of your world.

What is happening? What is changing? What needs action? What is the main storyline? What decision is staring you in the face?

The War Room

The War Room is where I want the app to feel the most like a real internal meeting.

Staff members can disagree. The AGM may care about asset value. The coach may care about lineup fit. The development voice may care about protecting prospects. Ownership may care about results, spending, attendance, or pressure.

The app has a deterministic staff council and consensus meter so recommendations are not just random text. A strong consensus should feel different from a conflicted room.

The goal is to make franchise decisions feel less like "click button, move player" and more like walking into a room where different voices are pushing different priorities.

Live game graphics overlay

This one is closer than most people would expect.

Front Office is building a live game graphics overlay that runs while you are actually playing. The goal is a custom broadcast layer sitting on top of the game with things like:

Scorebug
Ticker
Penalty clock
Game context
Player notes
Storyline callouts
Broadcast-style presentation

But it has to be restrained. Live play stays clean. Stoppages, intermissions, replays, and pauses are where the deeper broadcast panels come in. The overlay should enhance the game, not fight it.

The broadcast identity is already built inside FOSN. The overlay is the part where that presentation layer reaches into the actual game experience.

It is nearly ready. It is on the short list.

What still needs work

I want to be honest about the current state.

This is not a polished public beta yet. Some screens still need visual cleanup. Some workflows need smoother UX. Some modules need more real franchise-save testing. Some triggers need to be refined and properly tuned.

The computer vision and OCR layer works, but it needs real-world calibration across different setups, screens, resolutions, capture methods, and user habits.

That is part of why I'm posting now.

I don't just need people to say "this looks cool." I need franchise-mode die-hards who can tell me what feels useful, what feels wrong, what feels too busy, and what information they would actually want before making a GM decision.

What is coming next

The near-term focus is making the single-player companion experience reliable, useful, and fun to test. Next priorities include:

Expanding screen-reading coverage across more franchise screens
Hardening OCR and computer-vision validation across different displays
Polishing the Input Desk so the evidence review workflow feels like part of the product
Roster spreadsheet importing
Full editor
Custom teams and custom leagues
33-team draft mode
Better roster-pack support
More dashboard and War Room polish
Better modding support

33-team draft mode

One major feature I want to build is 33-team draft mode — a full fantasy or expansion-style draft environment where users can build a league from scratch, evaluate every team, and draft with actual Front Office intelligence.

I want this to feel less like "pick the highest OVR player" and more like a real expansion room. Things like positional scarcity, contract risk, team identity, age curve, line fit, prospect runway, long-term cap shape, and contender versus rebuild direction.

Drafting should be a strategy problem, not just an OVR sorting exercise.

Custom teams, custom leagues, and the full editor

Another huge piece is custom teams and custom leagues. Support for custom team identities, custom rosters, custom divisions, custom league structures, fictional leagues, historical leagues, and community roster universes.

The full editor is one of the most important long-term tools. Import roster packs, edit players, build teams, adjust contracts, add prospects, update attributes, and create custom databases without digging through code.

If users can build and share roster packs, custom teams, historical leagues, fictional leagues, broadcast themes, and draft classes, then Front Office becomes more than one app.

It becomes a platform for franchise maniacs

Long-term vision

Long term, I think this could also become the framework for an online league / connected GM mode.

Imagine multiple users running teams in the same league environment, with Front Office acting as the commissioner layer, data hub, trade desk, news network, and historical archive. Each GM manages their own team, submits moves, negotiates trades, tracks league storylines, and sees the league evolve through shared dashboards and FOSN-style coverage.

I'm getting way ahead of myself here but the foundation points in that direction. The vision is bigger than a dashboard. The vision is a franchise-mode operating system.

What I'm looking for

I'm looking for people who love franchise mode and would actually enjoy testing this kind of thing.

Ideal testers are people who play deep franchise saves, care about realism, notice when sim logic feels off, like roster building, prospects, contracts, and long-term team planning, enjoy giving feedback on whether advice feels useful or dumb, and understand that this is still a prototype.

I'm especially interested in feedback like:

Does the True Value rating match how you think about players?
Do the line chemistry notes make sense?
Does the War Room feel useful, or just cool-looking?
Do the staff disagreements feel believable?
Do coach lineup choices feel believable, or do they feel like the app is fighting the player?
Do X-Factor states feel earned and realistic, or too gamey?
Do the owner demands make the franchise feel more real, or just restrictive?
Does GM approval make decisions feel like they have weight?
Do the storylines make the save feel more alive?
Does the dashboard show what matters first?
What information would you want before making a trade, call-up, extension, or lineup change?
What should the app never pretend to know?

The dream version of this is a companion app that makes franchise mode feel like a real living sports universe.

A save where your prospects have arcs. Your veterans decline. Your staff remembers your decisions. Your owner has expectations. Your approval rating reflects your choices. Your media reacts to pressure. Your dashboard tells the truth. Your franchise has history. Your choices carry weight.

And the numbers finally mean something.

That's Front Office.

It is still early, but it is far enough along now that I'm ready to start showing it, getting feedback, and finding people who want to help shape it into something franchise-mode players would actually use.

If you're interested in testing, giving feedback, or just following the project, drop a comment or DM me.

u/djcrunchberry

I was today years old when I discovered you could do this.

Front Office Dev Diary: The NHL 26 Franchise Mode Overhaul App