1993 Madden 17 PS4

[Culture Rot]

Quote: Originally Posted by Iteachpercussion

When I use Play Now, I have a season file. I use the actual schedule from the year I am playing. I play or watch every game. I keep track of stats on an excel spreadsheet. I keep game stats, individual stats, team stats and standings. I keep track of injuries from the game and will also have random injuries which could occur between games. I can make roster decisions when needed, including changing QBs when one is not playing well. Anyway, it has become my preferred way to use classic rosters simply because of the amount of control I have and especially with custom playbooks.

Can you explain this a bit more bud?

[Iteachpercussion]

Quote: Originally Posted by xlatinoheatx

Can you explain this a bit more bud?

Sure. Here is what I do:

I have an excel file that I have saved for this purpose. I find the actual season schedule for the year I am going to play. I copy and paste the schedule into an excel file. I play every game on the schedule, or at least watch a CPU vs. CPU game. I use the two controller method to change uniforms and playbooks for each game. I use my wife's PSN profile and I make sure I have downloaded all of my created playbooks to her profile as well. Using a die roll, I determine which team I will be. Example: odd=away even=home. I then use a die roll to determine weather: 1=rain/snow 2=clear 3=party cloudy 4=overcast 5=partly cloudy 6=windy
I play/watch the game.
Then I have another tab on my excel file for game stats. I keep track all of the major stats for each game. I then have a tab to keep track of standings and injuries from the game.
Another tab I have for offensive team stats. I keep track of yards rushing, passing, sacks, turnovers, pass plays, run plays and points scored. I keep the same stats on another tab for team defensive stats.
Then, each team has its own tab. I keep track of each players major stats. I do not keep track of Oline stats, though that would be easy enough to add in.
It takes a lot for the initial setup but I have a blank file saved and then just have to create the schedules.
You can go as in depth as you like as well. If you do not want to keep all stats and just wins and losses, you can do that. If you want to deal with injuries you can. I will even make die rolls to determine injuries from "practice." If a player is having a bad couple of weeks, I will bench them, or at least roll to see if they get benched.
I really like the complete control that I have. I can even make trades from real life, or make die rolls to determine trades or signing free agents. I just make a new roster save so I do not mess up the master roster file for the year. In the event you play through an entire season, you could even create the major draft picks, figure out retirements, free agency etc...

Why do this instead of just play franchise? That is a question I get from time to time. The reason is again total control. With the way EA has set up CFM, your control is limited. Even if using a 32 team control, you are still limited in playbooks. The decision to not allow custom playbooks for CPU controlled teams is absurd in my opinion. It kills immersion for me. I cannot stand to see pistol formations while using classic rosters. Just like for the 1975 roster, I hate to see the shotgun.

I will see if I can get a version of my master file attached in here and then you can see it and modify it for your own personal use. Or whoever wants to use it.

Now there are some down sides. You cannot really sim games. You cannot create coaches. The commentary does not really fit. But those are minor for me. As good as the commentary is this year, I do not think it is great. You still here the same lines over and over, so I have it turned off. I prefer to here the hits and the crowd. The coaches are the one thing I wish I could change, but when they are shown, I just imagine they are assistants and not the head coaches. The inability to sim games is not a problem for me either, as I enjoy playing the games and using different teams. It does not bother me to lose games and I try to make realistic playcalls. For instance, I was playing as the Steelers (a team I really hate) against the 49ers. The game was close, but I lost. What I really loved is I lost in a realistic way. I had created some turnovers to keep the game close, but Steve Young and Jerry Rice were just too much. Young threw for 344 yards and Rice had 7 catches for over 100 yards. It was great!

[Ebpmd]

If you edit a current teams playbook, can that then be used in CFM? As opposed to creating a new playbook which cannot be used?

[Iteachpercussion]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ebpmd

If you edit a current teams playbook, can that then be used in CFM? As opposed to creating a new playbook which cannot be used?

You can not actually "edit" a current team's playbook. It creates a new playbook instead. When you click on "edit playbook" it only gives you the choices of the custom playbooks. It is frustrating and makes no sense to me.

[Ebpmd]

They sure make it tough on those if us who enjoy classic rosters and old school football.

[fsu32]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ebpmd

They sure make it tough on those if us who enjoy classic rosters and old school football.

return to old school NFL stats (circa 1993):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3W9JN6umLg

the roster that I edited needs to have all QB's awareness (-15) to get these stats. Running Back's stats are kinda high, whilst FF are GREAT.

need to edit kicker's KPW (-7) AND KAC (-3).

ITP does not endorse what I have done, as these rosters are my editing scale. for sliders, I play on AM with qb acc at 35 - fumbles at 10 - cpu defense goes: 20 (PR)/35 (INT)/80 (PC) and tackling @ 45.

[Ebpmd]

ITP... I'm going to uses your method and play games in exhibition mode since CFM is not too realistic with so many non existent teams and inability to use era specific play books. With that being said, I only want to play the games if a single team and sim all other games. What quarter length do you suggest to get accurate sim stats?

[Ebpmd]

ITP... You mentioned your method for selecting weather conditions. If you check under box scores in profootball reference.com they give the weather conditions for each game