Ideas for Play Call & Custom Playbook systems

[canes21]

I've long thought the current style of calling plays is archaic. At least this year we got the added mechanic of being able to pick our coverage shell when selecting our play, but overall the system has largely remained the same on both sides of the ball for years and years.

And don't get me started on the current custom playbook system with the gameplan situations and star ratings. While a good idea on paper back in the day, I hate how it is implemented, it's led to CPU play calling lacking variety in both games while the majority of plays in a CPU team's playbook are wasted, and creating a custom playbook is a much bigger headache than it needs to be.

I wanted share some of my ideas on how to either revamp or improve the current systems and I wanted to see if other members of the community had their own ideas they wanted to share.

Let's start on the offensive side of the ball first.

- Plays are no longer preset plays like we have now
- In comes modular play calling
- You first pick the concept you want to run
- Then the formation
- Additionally, like how coverage shells work on defense, moving the stick left or right allows you to select what type of motion you want to add onto the play you're about to run
- On top of that, moving the right thumbstick up and down also allows you to add things like play action with or without a boot, the ability to roll a pocket for any pass play by design, etc.

Gone are the days of wanting to run a certain concept out of a certain formation only to see EA hasn't created that specific variant of the play. Now, if you want to run mesh out of a certain look that you can't do already, you can build it out on a modular level.

What motions available to you on a given play call are dictated by the concept and formation chose. Obviously if you're running jet sweep concept you cannot have another motion happening at the same time. It's illegal. However, with the jet motion, you can add on a fake give to the RB, a fake toss, and other actions to make each play unique.

Defensively, it would work like this.

- You pick your base personnel group like 4-3, 3-4, etc.
- You then pick the front you want to use like over, under, etc.
- You then set your downed lineman assignments like twists, stunts, etc.
- Finally, you pick what coverage the back 7/8 are playing and can choose the coverage shell like you can now

Not too different from the current system, but a bit more free and the big thing is the ability to pick and choose what the DL does separately from the coverage which is not how it's done now. Now you can get creative with having a twist with a certain LB blitz to try and confuse the OL and get a free man in. You can pick a cover 4 but have the DL slant towards the weakside without having to try and rush that pre-snap, etc.

I know the above is a real wishlist item, but I do think modular play calling would be a nice revolutionary step that would take the game to new heights. And, seeing the CPU utilize all the tools would be wonderful. Seeing them roll the pocket more frequently if their OL is struggling would be great. Other similar adjustments to their plays would really enhance that chess match feel.

Now, if we're stuck with the current play call system, especially for the CPU, and the current playbook system, I do want to see the following changes.

- You no longer add plays one at a time
- You pick the formations you want in your playbook
- You pick the concepts you want
- Then the game automatically populates the playbook with all the plays that are of the chosen concepts in the chosen formations

And with the gameplan portion of the playbook, I'd love to see it changed as well.

- No longer rating individual plays
- You rate concepts for each situation
- You rate formations for each situation

The current setup leads to the CPU being predictable and not using the vast majority of their playbooks. The current preset playbooks are limited to 30 plays per situation max and the CPU will never call any plays not from those 30 rated plays in a given situation. And, since most situations share plays, this leads to these playbooks that are 300+ plays deep having only 30-40 the CPU will actually ever call in a game leading to 90+% of plays in some playbooks sitting there as wasted space.

If formations and concepts were what were rated instead, it instantly increases the library of plays a CPU team can choose from in a given situation and it also just makes the custom playbook creation system so much quicker and user friendly.

The reason I think it would be necessary to rate both concepts and formations and not just concepts alone is because this would limit the CPU from wanting to run inside zone and then coming out in something like a goal line look on 2nd and 5 at their own 42 yard line. Instead, rating the formations for a certain situation allows you to keep them in a look that matches their scheme when they come out and run whatever concept it is they want to run, and then it also allows you to push them towards using goal line sets only when down inside the 2 for example.

It's a way to keep the game from being dynamic to the point of being unauthentic and it just gives the CPU some guardrails to help them out.

I'd love to hear what you guys think about my ideas above and what you have in mind yourselves on how to change these systems for the better be it slight tweaks or complete overhauls like I've proposed. I appreciate anyone that took the time to read this all the way through. This is like my 3rd draft of this post. I've made it shorter each time, but really struggled to get it to be any shorter than it is now.

I think I already made a topic on here or the Madden boards before about modular play calling, so some may feel like they've read some of this from me before, but now that the game is out, the community is more active, and I had the idea on changing custom playbooks as well, I figured it was okay to revisit this idea.

[Ghost Of The Year]

I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to plays and playbooks so currently I'm fairly content with most everything we have in 25 but I wouldn't have a problem if EA incorporated any of these ideas or all of them. They are all well thought out and fundamentally sound.

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

The current setup leads to the CPU being predictable and not using the vast majority of their playbooks. The current preset playbooks are limited to 30 plays per situation max and the CPU will never call any plays not from those 30 rated plays in a given situation. And, since most situations share plays, this leads to these playbooks that are 300+ plays deep having only 30-40 the CPU will actually ever call in a game leading to 90+% of plays in some playbooks sitting there as wasted space.

If I DO have one hangup in 25, its this. I definitely want to see the cpu utilize more of their playbook. So I wish once they run a particular play, you don't see it again that game, unless its the same play, just in a different formation. The only play I want to see the cpu call multiple times in a game are XP's, FG's, and punts.

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ghost Of The Year

I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to plays and playbooks so currently I'm fairly content with most everything we have in 25 but I wouldn't have a problem if EA incorporated any of these ideas or all of them. They are all well thought out and fundamentally sound. If I DO have one hangup in 25, its this. I definitely want to see the cpu utilize more of their playbook. So I wish once they run a particular play, you don't see it again that game, unless its the same play, just in a different formation. The only play I want to see the cpu call multiple times in a game are XP's, FG's, and punts.

I feel like I remember someone testing in Madden a few years ago whether or not the play call cool downs and limits applied to the CPU teams as well and came to the conclusion they did. Maybe I am remembering wrong, and I've never looked into it myself, but this could potentially be a way to somewhat aid the CPU play calling in terms of being more dynamic.

It would at least help with situations like where I've seen the CPU run jet sweep 3 times in a 4-play span for little success. If the play call cool downs/limits applied to them, I could do something like a 10-play cool down to make it so I wouldn't see them run a jet sweep again until the next drive at least.

[ggsimmonds]

I'm content with in game playcalling, but what I do want improvement on is out of game scheme and player management.

First things first we absolutely need out-of-game saveable formation subs. Apologies if this sounds overdramatic but its absence is inexcusable.

My wish item is a similar vein to yours, just a different track. Give me procedural playbooks.

There'd be a scheme screen where you set your options and then press square or something to generate a playbook based on your selections.

For defense the options would include things like base shell, 1 gap vs 2 gap, number of down lineman, base front, zone vs man slider, blitz frequency slider, blitz aggressiveness slider, "exotic" slider, matchup preference (i.e. how to matchup with elite WRs), run/pass priority

Offensive options could include preferred personnel group, shotgun vs under center slider, QB play, run blocking scheme slider, pass philosophy, run/pass ratio, creativity, tempo.

In conjunction with this we add the player archetype preferences. Do not lock it into a predefined set of groups. Every position offense and defense is open to allow me to select whatever archetype I wish. If I want to run a Air Coryell system using small route runner WRs let me.

Then to get more wishful this wouldn't exist as a standalone option for a user coach. All these settings would be part of a coach's bio. We could then layer coach specific attributes in as well, such as rigidity of system vs influence of talent (say I run a pro style offense but land a Lamar Jackson type recruit, do I adjust or have him try to run my pro style offense?).

Then right before training camp playbooks for all coaches get procedurally generated based on these parameters.

Then we throw in coach attributes for things like skill in gameplanning, adjustments, playcalling aggressiveness, etc.

As far as actually calling plays in game, that wouldn't change much if at all. But I think this pipedream would allow for AI teams/coaches to show individuality and feel more lifelike.

[Haze88]

Not only would I prefer this, I'd argue the first step should be personnel on offense as well since that is actually how it's done. Personnel, motion and formation are usually linked since, barring things like a fast motion, you are usually motioning into the true formation from the one you lined up in, then the concept. Also double motions are legal, the first man just has to be set. APF 2K8 had this right and EA never has, but this would be a neat way to get it in. The problem you run into is every concept, at least in a 2x2, can and is run on both sides without switching the formation, another thing you could do in APF 2K8 with a post snap audible, so that might bloat the plays a bit, never mind adding things like switch releases, PA tags, and the like. The amount of time it would take to get playcalls in would probably be too long for the average casual gamer and never mind tagging plays with special routes(contrary to popular belief, this is not what hot routes are, at least not in a traditional sense) or any of the other multitude of things that goes into a offensive playcall. The defense, however was in the 2K football games and is much easier to pull off since it is merely 3 steps and I have no idea why EA has never lifted it, besides the fact that they would have to overhaul how defenses attack gaps since even 2K8 did this poorly and obviously it's more programming work since you are functionally splitting the defense into 2 units as opposed to one big one for the play calls

[somecoach]

A major problem is that there only seems to be about 30 plays in each scenario that the computer will even call in coach suggestions even if you add the stars to plays.

[Hooe]

Count me in on the modular playcalling bandwagon. That’s the entire idea of the West Coast offense, and as Canes21 discussed in his topic post it works for defense as well.

Brett Kollmann just today published a video briefly explaining the defense Jesse Minter ran at Michigan in 2023 (Minter is now with the Chargers) and the advantages of installing a modular defense.



I think this concept something I’ve been trying to work towards without really understanding how to do it because my grasp of football has always started from the EA Sports games and their rigid heavy baked play calls only editable with Mortal Kombat dial-a-combos of hot routes. This video, even though it’s only an overview, really made the idea of modular defense click for me and now I want to call plays this way lol.

[Collegefbfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hooe

Count me in on the modular playcalling bandwagon. That’s the entire idea of the West Coast offense, and as Canes21 discussed in his topic post it works for defense as well. Brett Kollmann just today published a video briefly explaining the defense Jesse Minter ran at Michigan in 2023 (Minter is now with the Chargers) and the advantages of installing a modular defense. I think this concept something I’ve been trying to work towards without really understanding how to do it because my grasp of football has always started from the EA Sports games and their rigid heavy baked play calls only editable with Mortal Kombat dial-a-combos of hot routes. This video, even though it’s only an overview, really made the idea of modular defense click for me and now I want to call plays this way lol.

Man, that was a thing of beauty. And I 100% agree. Wonder if I could do anything close to this in CFB 25...