Playbook Creation

[hibby]

I usually set the variance to 1 or 0, hit 200 plays and click go!

Sometimes, I'll do the above and also use the guided playbook button to further refine targets/formations etc. to better suit personnel.

I figure that out of 200 plays with a reasonable fit, I should be able to get 60+ at least solid plays, with enough diversity not to get familiars, whilst being able to get the guys I want involved targeted.

So far, so good. Not totally optimal I guess but it's served me up to this point and I've done okay.

Now then, trying to create a playbook from scratch, adding 10 or 20 plays at a time, targeting specific formations, players, running lanes etc. etc. and trimming them down and then adding another 10 or 20 plays targeting someone else or a different route etc. how the HECK do you know which are the newly generated plays?

Especially if you have like 30 or 40 plays already loaded and checked for fit etc. Am I missing something or are we really expected to sift through every play each time we generate additional ones?

Help? Thoughts? Discuss YOUR playbook creation process?

[joe the wanderer]

Not exactly answering your question, but here's my method:

All my existing plays have a suitable nickname (113 XZ Bomb, 212 Tecmo Bowl Special, etc.). You can only give a nickname during the playbook creation stage.

If I add a new play, I don't give it a nickname. This way I can easily tell during the season which plays are new.

When next year's training camp rolls around, I look at the plays without a nickname, the ones I added last year. If I decide to keep them, I give them a nickname. If not, delete.

[Ushikawa]

It doesn't tag the new plays as you have already seen so not sure what we can offer to help...perhaps think a bit more carefully about tightening up the parameters when you add plays (heavy sets short passes or something like that but there will likely still be plays that slip through the cracks especially using a 1 or 0 fit).

[hibby]

Thanks guys.

There doesn't seem to be an 'easy' way to add plays in chunks, merge saved chunks together or anything like that, or keep track of what new plays have been added to a PB that already has 500, 100 or 150+ plays installed. There's some creative ways to help but yeah...

I got a bit more feedback over at the RZB - the link is below for reference, for anyone that might find it useful.

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[tzach]

i'd just rex the playbook and get 200 plays in one go, unless you know what you are doing. i've seen people do more harm when trying to tinker with the playbook then the opposite

[hibby]

Originally Posted by tzach

i'd just rex the playbook and get 200 plays in one go, unless you know what you are doing. i've seen people do more harm when trying to tinker with the playbook then the opposite

Hey mate.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I've been doing up until now, but it felt like I've lost a step recently, so I wanted to delve a little deeper.

No doubt I'll do more harm than good but it 'should' be fun either way.

[Dawgfan19]

Agreed that Rex does a reasonable job of creating a PB. And with 200 plays, there will be plenty to put together a good GP.

However, when you feel ready for the next level, try this:

1. From the game created PB, remove any play that is not a Best Fit or Solid. Then, create new plays that are a better fit for your offensive play style. You can also adjust the threshold so that more Best Fit and Solid plays are generated. But be sure there are enough variety of plays in the 113, 122 and 212 sets to avoid familiars in the GP. You may need a few Good fit plays for that variety.

2. Most offenses try to target WRs more frequently. With that in mind, I usually try to include different pass routes that target ZX and XZ so that the wideouts have more primary and secondary targets. It’s not a ton of work as you only need around 15 to 20 plays.

[hibby]

Originally Posted by Dawgfan19

Agreed that Rex does a reasonable job of creating a PB. And with 200 plays, there will be plenty to put together a good GP.

However, when you feel ready for the next level, try this:

1. From the game created PB, remove any play that is not a Best Fit or Solid. Then, create new plays that are a better fit for your offensive play style. You can also adjust the threshold so that more Best Fit and Solid plays are generated. But be sure there are enough variety of plays in the 113, 122 and 212 sets to avoid familiars in the GP. You may need a few Good fit plays for that variety.

2. Most offenses try to target WRs more frequently. With that in mind, I usually try to include different pass routes that target ZX and XZ so that the wideouts have more primary and secondary targets. It’s not a ton of work as you only need around 15 to 20 plays.

Thanks for the reply Dawgfan.

Point 1 was pretty much my plan and whilst it's probably something quite obvious, I'd never really considered point 2 to that extent but it's certainly something I'll be looking at.

I'm a bit in limbo at the moment though as the league year just flipped and my OC retired, so I have no idea what scheme I'll be using yet.

[Kodos]

Implementing this is a little cumbersome, but I adopted a naming convention that helps me manage my playbook, and allows me to spot newly generated plays easily. Here’s a sample play name:

X(00-04a) Y(19-26b) 113 Str Shot BES

X and Y are the positions of the primary and secondary receivers (the first one listed is the primary target, the second is the secondary target). The numbers in parentheses are the route lengths. "a" means the route is run toward the sideline, "b" means toward the center of the field, "c" is straight down the field. The 113 is the formation, Str is the alignment, Shot is shotgun and BEST means it is a best fit play.

Run plays get named like this:
Run 22 - I Strong SOL
This way, the runs all sort together in order by hole when you sort by play name.


Doing this makes the plays sort by primary receiver and route length.

Anyhow, that's how I imposed order on my playbook. Not that it has translated to a ton of success on the field. But it at least allows me to know what the main components of a given play are at a glance.

[jamesUMD]

I know there was a really great post about how to create a playbook to emulate certain NFL teams I used for one league and the structure of the game plan came out great. The results so far are a little mixed, but I think it's me not having the right guys for the scheme.

[finkellll]

NFL Playbook Emulators for FOF 8.2a - Front Office Football Central


I keep it bookmarked for when I get inspired to do more than a single guided generation at the start of the season, but I'm not the best at gameplanning so I tend to leave it be.