Any basic tips on Gameplaning?

[DookieMowf]

Im pretty new to the FOF game and we have started a mutli league and well I seem to be strugling out the gate on how to set up a gameplan that matches my strenghs of my team.

Any help? Not asking for secrets or really indepth strag, just something I guess to get me going.


Thanks

[Blade6119]

as im sure you can tell, this forum is not to populated...head over to general discussion and post this under and "FOF related" heading and you will get the answers you want.

[mckerney]

Im pretty new to the FOF game and we have started a mutli league and well I seem to be strugling out the gate on how to set up a gameplan that matches my strenghs of my team.

Any help? Not asking for secrets or really indepth strag, just something I guess to get me going.


Thanks

I'm horrible at game planning, so I have to let my assistants take care of it. Usually if you build a team around what you want to do your gameplan will fit accordingly.

[Lucky Jim]

I think the game planning has gotten too complex in 2k4. There's too much to account for, and changing a defensive gameplan from week to week to match your opponents strengths or weaknesses would add hours to a season. In the future I wish there was some way of simply guiding your assistant in the way he sets the gameplans. You could choose West Coast or Run 'n Shoot or Smashmouth (which ideally your OC or Head Coach would have some varying proficiency in, sort of like TCY), or whatever. I find myself just letting the assistant set things as well, but wish I had some kind of say in things. As it stands it's extremely difficult to understand fully the ramifications of the intricate changes you may be making. I figure if someone's taking the time to do all the gameplanning they're probably just calling the plays anyway. In the end this aspect of the game has removed depth for me by seemingly adding it. So no tips, just whining, sorry man.

[timmae]

I have actually found the opposite to be true... I do spend hours gameplanning for my MP league but it has been nothing but fun. I can alter my plans to the team I am playing to no end. I can also 'scout' what the other team has been doing over the past few weeks and take that into account. I wouldn't have it any other way!

[Cap Ologist]

The best way to gameplan is first look at what your team has. I base my offense and defensive strategies on what my players do best. If my QB is great at short and medium passing and horrible at longer passes, then I change my passing options to reflect this. I make sure that my 3rd best WR is going to be on the field in three WR sets, I think the default is Flanker #2. A good TE and FB can usually be had for cheap, and they can be good weapons in a ball control offense. I played one season with 20% screens, 30 % 0-4, 30% 5-8 and 20% 9-12. My time of possession numbers were very high, I think my lowest for the season was 32 minutes in one game. I usually have pretty high percentages for running plays called. For normal situations, I'll run about 65% on 1 & 10, 2 & 3-7, and 3 &1-2. I'll usually go with 45 to 55 % in the other categories, with 10 for long yardage situations and anything on 4th down longer than 1 or 2 yards.

For my running game, I primarily run up the middle. I like a good ol' fashioned I'm coming right at you are man enough to stop me approach in this area. I'll go 5, 10, 15, 20, 20, 15, 10, 5 on run direction. I've found that the more you run up the middle the less runs you'll have for a loss, but you won't break as many long runs as you would if you run outside. I like ball control, so I'm willing to give up some of the possible big plays that could be made on the outside for consisten progress up the middle. For this typical game plan, I'll usually end up running the ball about 30-35 times a game with 20-25 passes.

On defense, I usually play a 4-3 defense with lots of two deep zone. I've found that this helps me make teams go on long drives of 10 plays or more to score. As far as blitzing goes, I rarely blitz. I guess I read too many Tuesday Morning QB's to enjoy blitzing anymore. I think it is better to rush with four and cover with seven. Of course, if you have DE and DT that aren't strong pass rushers, then you'd probably better try to blitz with your LB's. I usually set my blitzing to come from my OLB. I never blitz CB's, FS, or SS. I want to make teams work hard to get down the field.

I usually set my nickel percentage in the 50-60 range, my dime in the 25-30 range. I blitz 25% of the time, and I blitz more than one defender 10% of the time. I usually set aggressive run/pass to 50 each.

One of the important things about gameplanning is the situations. These are my basic normal situations. For the situations that I'm ahead, I'll jack up my running % on offense and lower them on defense. If I'm behind, then I'll lower my rushing % on offense and raise it on defense. I usually go with a 15 to 20 increase or decrease.

I hardly ever play man to man even if I have great cover corners. I like to keep everything in front of my guys and let them come up and make tackles. I don't have a lot of experience in blitzing and man to man, but my guess would be that you would want these to go hand in. If you blitz alot, then maybe try playing more man to man. I think that you would have a better chance of interceptions or passes defensed.

One more thing, make sure that your nickel and dime guys are good at interceptions.

Hope this helps, I guess this will pretty much hurt my chances of playing in a MP league anytime soon. Good luck!

[g206029]

Actually it sucks to spend 8 hours on a gameplan to have it NOT make a difference on the outcome of the game (LOL)

I'm 5-3 on my MP season but have been blown out in two of those games on game plans that should have keep me balanced but resulted in 6 turnovers(LOL).

While it has remained enjoyable It has revealed the shortcomings of the game (like the lack of offensive, defensive philosophy--Play-Action, Smash Mouth, West Coast, Cover 2 of Tampabay and the 4-3 Bump-N-Run Miami uses). People say you can recreate these systems but I challenge that as the tools available don't really allow you to accurately assess how well you've implemented these stabs at philosophly---other than a fouled up win-loss record.

I personally think there is some invisible weighting to everything adding to the 'realism" of the game (if you want to call it that). But it's time FOF took the next step and made the interface more intuitive. I mean just try setting up your 4.26 OLB (stud) to blitz the passer frequently in this game and see how successful that campaign is.

Of course, most claim that much isn't shared on these boards because of MP gaming. Could be true BUT if you still need the players to make a scheme work how could sharing that info hurt? Unless of course the real keys to unlocking the game aren't based in football at all but rather pure stat and probability (smile)

I guess a ranted a bit :)

Gameplanning is claimed to be an art form here yet in my years of playing FOF, I've realized my best records with the Scouts setting my team up--

[Cap Ologist]

Actually it sucks to spend 8 hours on a gameplan to have it NOT make a difference on the outcome of the game (LOL)

I'm 5-3 on my MP season but have been blown out in two of those games on game plans that should have keep me balanced but resulted in 6 turnovers(LOL).--

Gameplanning really has nothing to do with turnovers. It is possible to do the things you want, it just isn't very easy to do, with the possible exception of play action since we can't tell if that's what happens in a pass play or not. But I have been able to set up defenses that model Tampa's and Miami's based on the personnel that I had.

As far as telling how successful these things are, the best tool is the in the box score info. If you're defense is making people put together long (12-15 play) drives, then you are doing pretty much what Tampa Bay does with their defense. You can also tell alot about your offense too with passing breakdowns and rushing breakdowns. The information is there, it just takes some time studying to find it.

I wish you could just select preformed packages, like I want to run the West Coast offense with Tampa's Cover 2 defense or I want to use the run and shoot with Pittsburgh 3-4. However, I think that the way we do it makes the game more realistic in that it makes it more of a coaches league which the NFL is becoming. Especially in multiplayer, the team that scouts their opponents from week to week and understands what they like to do can do a Belichick and slow them down and this can provide the slight edge between two teams with equal talent.

[Warhammer]

I beg to differ. Gameplanning can make a big difference on game day. However, it is just one part of the puzzle.

For my Hartford Grizzlies in the IFL, I have a solid, not spectacular team. My coaching staff is solid, not great. My OL is above average, I have an outstanding (maybe the best) DL in the league, my skill players on offense are average at best, and I am starting a rookie QB who is 14/39 right now. My CBs have potential, but are young, my safeties are some of the best in the league. LBs are average, not great.

Even with a good defense, I have been lackluster in that area. I have a solid run D, but nowhere near the best, and I have been average against the pass. The last two weeks, I went up against some of the best passing offenses in the game. I tweaked my coverages, and upped my passing D %s, and saw both teams throw for under 50% completion % against my D. The first game saw me give up a couple of big throws, so I changed my coverage schemes to match my secondary's strengths. The last game against the a top 3 passing team, my D buckled down, and allowed only 210 yards through the aid. Their avg. per attempt was 2 YPA lower than their average for the season!

Granted, my offense has suffered compared to the first two weeks of the season, but part of that is due to a change in the offense because of the loss of my starting QB. That is my next hurdle, but I will get that tweaked as well. But, it has done exactly what I want it to do, move the ball, and not make mistakes.