Pre-Formatted League Files

[NawlinsFan]

I have been working on creating pre-formatted league file sets for some time now and have recently been inspired to try and finish them. With that I will work on listing them here for consumption.

Each set will contain the data files. Before doing anything please make sure you back up your original files as necessary.

1) The included default_teams, league_info and schedule files should be copied into the default_data folder in the FOF9 game install folder. They will overwrite the files there. Note: I have included schedule files where some will be the original files while others may/will be homegrown files for alternate leagues and formats. The team_info file goes into the custom_example folder.

2) A logo folder will be included with the team graphics. Once you create the league you will need to copy all of the logos here into the saved game folder for the leagues logos overwriting the game generated files. Once done the graphics will be displayed in game.

This may be a slow crawl but I will update the list as I have them ready. Some are easy, others take a lot more time (graphics and homemade schedules). So with this let's get the ball rolling.



Canadian Football League (CFL): I started it in 2002, for a different start just change the team_info file.
- 1.01: 1/18/26 14:40 Tweaked the color bars for better clarity on team pages.

> CFL2002.zip - Google Drive


National Football League (NFL):

- 1960: Formatted by Passacaglia (see notes post in this thread)

> FOF9 1960.zip - Google Drive

> 1960 graphic set: You will need to go in game and change the logos there for now. Once I get around to it I will redo the master DL with them included. - 60logos.zip - Google Drive

Fantasy:

- NFL - 1980: A "What If" the NFL and developing USFL leagues were to sit down and agree to an expansion that would capture the new owners desire to add to a developing market. These discussions revolved around satisfying the current NFL owners, stop any potential relocations, and to expand into locations that had been tabled and discussed for future long range development. After much debate, long hours and copious amounts of alcohol the two management groups reached an agreement and the new NFL was formed to futher develop the game and bring it to hungry fans.

- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O_s...ew?usp=sharing

[NawlinsFan]

Some I have in various states -

WFL
EFL
USFL
UFL
NFL

A 40 team format
A 48 team format

[Passacaglia]

Nice! I've got some historical NFL files that let you start in various years throughout the 60s that I can contribute. And I think the game comes with schedules that would work for the 70s-90s, it wouldn't be too hard to take that stuff and format it this way so it's easier for people to grab. I don't have many logos, though.

[NawlinsFan]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Nice! I've got some historical NFL files that let you start in various years throughout the 60s that I can contribute. And I think the game comes with schedules that would work for the 70s-90s, it wouldn't be too hard to take that stuff and format it this way so it's easier for people to grab. I don't have many logos, though.

I have lots of graphics I have made and helmets. Their sctructure is limited though by the team small display. As for the default schedules I hope to do what you were doing and have a set for each year using that schedule. Who knows, one day someone may come up with a means to do an expansion in the future.

As for "what if" types:
- a 60's start with 32 teams using your player files
- a 40 team league expansion, 1) NFL/USFL merger early 80's, 2) an NFL expansion today with 5 European and 3 national teams added, and more.

The 40 team schedule is 3/4 done. The 48 team schedule is in work. Hard to do these but hey, I'm old and bored most of the time.

[Passacaglia]

Do you want me to email what I have to you so you can host it all in the same place, or host it myself and provide links?

[NawlinsFan]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Do you want me to email what I have to you so you can host it all in the same place, or host it myself and provide links?

You can send them if you like. I will group them.

Taking a break from a reformatted 40 team schedule. I have the base complete, 3 seasons for a rotation and am now reformatting it into the FOF format. Makes my brain hurt.

So I also have started a 1960 file. Graphics are in place and then I noted there is no default schedule for 21 teams. Well, I am building it now. Things move to a 22 team format in 61 and that schedule exists so it should be a little easier.

[Passacaglia]

I'm pretty sure I have a 21 team 1960 schedule if you don't feel like making it. I'll look for it. It's based on the real AFL/NFL schedule, so if you build your own, it might be cleaner.

[Passacaglia]

I had to redo some things with my 1960 schedule to fix, but it should be good now and I just sent it to you.

Here's some notes:

1. For the NFL schedule, I set it up so that the 1960 schedule is the way it should be, and every season after that goes the same way, but based on rank. So for example, in Week 1, the Cardinals play at the Rams. In 1959, the Cardinals were 6th in the East, and the Rams were 6th in the West. So in 1961, that game will be 6th East vs 6th West (though home/away will flip). For the AFL, since there was no season in 1959, I just made it alphabetical, but kept it based on standings for future years so that the same exact schedule doesn't repeat.
2. Dallas is an expansion team, sensibly in the West (I think that's the only year they are ever in a Western division). In 1960, they played every team in the league, while everyone else played teams in their own division twice. In future years, whoever is 7th ends up doing that.
3. I threw in some logos and a 1960_coaches file that I found laying around. The logos seem to be PNG, so I think they need to be saved as BMP to work -- I don't know where I got them from, but it might have been you, actually. I know that I made the coaches file, but I don't remember what kind of quality it is.
4. The Oakland Raiders actually played in Kezar Stadium in San Francisco that year, so I have their city as being San Francisco.
5. There are 6 weeks of preseason games, and I made this schedule static, so it's completely the same every year (but home/away flip). That made sense to me since these games seem focused on rivalries. Also, there's only 15 weeks of regular season (12 games for the NFL, 14 games for the AFL). That feels like a high ratio of preseason to regular season weeks, which would be pretty annoying to me, but I'm keeping it like this for accuracy. I invite folks to remove preseason games. But be careful! I've found that every team needs to have at least one preseason game otherwise you get crashes. The advice customer support has given me is that there should be a minimum of two preseason weeks, since there's processing for player development, and it's required for teams to cut down to 60 players.
6. There's some weirdness in the calendar that I needed to iron out. In 1960, the AFL started the regular season while the NFL was still playing preseason. FOF doesn't let you do that. Also, both teams played 6 weeks of preseason games, but they were different weeks. I made it so that regular season games happened on the weekends they were supposed to. The AFL starts the weekend of 9/11/1960 and ends 12/18/1960, and the NFL starts the weekend of 9/25/1960 and ends 12/18/1960. I had both leagues play 6 weeks of preseason ending on 9/4/1960, so that it ends the weekend before the AFL regular season is scheduled. Also, the Super Bowl A) has to happen even though it didn't in 1960, and B) can't be moved from mid-February. The league championships have to be two weeks before that, so end of January. That means a lot of rest between when the regular season ends on 12/18/1960.
7. I've been going for accuracy here, so to that end, I put in Redskins for the team in Washington. If that offends, see #8.
8. Feel free to change anything you want, or anyone using this can ask us how to change things too!

[NawlinsFan]

Added a 60's logo set for the 1960 file.

[NawlinsFan]

I finished a first year schedule for a 40 team league with a focus on division and conference games being more meaningful. Ran through a number of decades and all seems to function. I hope to have a WIP league posted sometime tomorrow if I can get them ready. First run will be a functional schedule that works. My plan is to expand it to include a rotation of divisions for more immersion.

First two "what if" planned leagues:

- What if the NFL and USFL initiated a merger expanding the primary league to reduce competition with a start year of 1980.

- What if the NFL expanded in 2000 adding the teams from across the nation.

Ok, back to work.

[NawlinsFan]

Added a "What If" league. The schedule is completely functional as is but I do hope to expand on it to include some alternate division rotations. Id used and you find anything glaringly wrong please elt me know, until you do, have fun.

[NawlinsFan]

Ok, believe I repaired the schedule and the default teams file. Tried to do a better job doing Q&A but have no doubt there may still be errors. So if any are noted let me know.

This initial release does not provide a player or QB file, yet. If I get one generated for it I will include it later.

[Passacaglia]

Hey, I just sent you a set of files for 1966 if you want to post that.

If anyone has ready any of my stuff, you probably know what this is, but it's 1966, over and over again, although the home/away flipped each year. It's based on standings, not index, so the schedules will change each year as the standings change. Pre-merger, so AFL and NFL teams don't play each other (except preseason) until the Super Bowl. Since it's 1966, Super Bowl I is correctly called Super Bowl I in the game.

It's got a 1-game preseason for everyone instead of the "real" preseason because I hate preseason. I have the full preseason around somewhere if anyone wants it, though.

It's got some logos I made -- the AFL logos are in a flashier font than the NFL to represent the time period better.

Salary cap is set super-low to represent the time period, probably too low. But users can feel free to fix it, or ask me to fix it for them if they don't feel comfortable doing that.

I also added a 1966 coaches file. It's a little wonky, since some of the unemployed coaches are still players in 1966. It's not needed by the game, so if you don't like it, you can either delete the coaches you're annoyed by, or you can just not use the file.

[Passacaglia]

I also just sent you my 1989. You could actually use this for any year from 1976 to 1994. Well, really, you could use it for any year you want, but this setup is meant to most closely match 1989. The teams are indexed so that if you start in that year, the regular season will look exactly the same as it did in 1989.

There's already a 28_6_16 setup in the game, so you'll need to overwrite that stuff in your default_teams and league_info file, and replace the schedule that comes with the game with the one I included. I guess you can use all those actually, but the difference with this is:

1. Like I said, it matches 1989. So you've got the Los Angeles Raiders (not Oakland), and the Phoenix Cardinals (not St. Louis or Arizona).
2. This is the big deal imo -- my schedule file has no bye weeks. 16 games in 16 weeks. I do have two weeks off between the regular season and the playoffs, but that can be changed easily if you don't like it (but not mid-career).
3. This has 10 teams make the playoffs, like it was from 1978 to 1990. Easily changed if you don't like it (but not mid-career). FOF doesn't allow re-seeding, so the winner of the wildcard game plays the #1 seed.

It's got a 1-game preseason for everyone instead of the "real" preseason because I hate preseason. I have the full preseason around somewhere if anyone wants it, though.

Salary cap may be lower than you like, to represent the time period, probably too low. But users can feel free to fix it, or ask me to fix it for them if they don't feel comfortable doing that.

I also added a 1989 coaches file. It's a little wonky, since some of the unemployed coaches are still players in 1989. It's not needed by the game, so if you don't like it, you can either delete the coaches you're annoyed by, or you can just not use the file.

And full disclosure, the logos are actually just 1977 logos I found on here. Not much has changed, the most significant is probably the Bengals.

[Passacaglia]

I just sent you another one. This one is 1978-1989. Start whatever year you want (you'll have to create the info file for it, or ask me to do it).

So, this is the exact schedule for all the years where the NFL played 16 games in 16 weeks -- before this, in 1977, they played only 14 game, and after this, in 1990, they started adding bye weeks. It's the exact schedule, so if you pick up any year in 1978-1989, you'll get that exact schedule. In the next years, 1990-2001, it's the same as 1978-1989, but home/away are flipped. Because of this, there's no games based on standings like the real NFL does (and like my previous 1989 file did) -- you just replay these 12 seasons, then 12 seasons again with home/away flipped, then 12 just like the first 12.

Playoffs were 5 teams per conference -- 3 division winners and two wildcards. FOF requires that the winner of the wildcard game plays the #1 seed -- not a big deal to be different from the real NFL imo.

I kept the start of the season the same as it was in the real NFL. For example, in 1984, the season started September 2, but in 1985, it started a week later, September 8. FOF fixes the start of the playoffs to mid-January for this setup, so in 1985, there are two weeks off before the wildcard game, and in 1984, there are three weeks. We can't really match the NFL here, and this is the way I think is best to do it, but if anyone wants to see something different here, let me know.

FOF requires that all games are played on Sunday, but the games are in order of when they happened. For example, Week 1 1978, The Giants and Buccaneers played on Saturday the 2nd, 12 other games were played on Sunday the 4th, then the Colts and Cowboys played Monday night. So the Giants and Buccaneers game is first to show up, and Colts vs. Cowboys is the last. Time order is preserved here, too -- so 1 PM games come first, then any 2 PM games (these are most likely due to blue law, and stop in 1984), then 4 PM games, and Sunday night games if any.

The exception to this is 1982, which includes games that weren't actually played. I've included the games that would have been played if there were no strike. I have the day they were scheduled, but not the times. I couldn't find the original schedule anywhere on my own, so I asked AI, and it gave me one, but it had only days, not times. I could have found the times for the games that were played and put them in, but I didn't. If anyone really wants it, let me know. Or, if anyone wants the schedule with the missed games removed, let me know. You'll have a "strike year" every 12 years, which could be kinda cool. I also have days, not times, for the missed game in 1987, but the rest of the games have times. These times work great for 1978-1989, where you'll see more west-coast games coming later, but that will fall apart for 1990-2001, then come back together again for 2002-2013.

Thanksgiving follows the same pattern. Detroit and Dallas host games from 1978-1989 -- Detroit gets the early game, Dallas gets the late game. The games are played exactly on Thanksgiving weekend, and they'll show up as the first two. In 1990-2001, Detroit and Dallas will play AWAY games. But they'll still show up as the first two. I *think* those games will be Thanksgiving weekend, but I'm only like 98% sure.

Preseason is just 1 game of inter-conference rivalries. If the regular season starts later that year, there's a week off after the preseason.

Salary cap in the league info is set to 23.2M, which is what I think it should be for 1988. Feel free to change it, and change minimum salaries with it. I didn't create the xxxx_info files, because I figure you'll all want to choose your own cap.

This schedule file is also called 28_6_16, so you'll need to replace the file that comes with FOF. The file FOF uses is fine, it just has bye weeks.

The names in the default_teams file are based on 1988, so you may want to change the Los Angeles Raiders to Oakland, the Indianapolis Colts to Baltimore, and the St. Louis Cardinals to Phoenix if you want it to look like a different year.