1989 Classic Roster M17

[Iteachpercussion]

File Name: 1989
PS Tag: Iteachhistory78

Later today I will be uploading the 1989 season roster for PS4. I know it is late in the year with all of the M18 hype, but I wanted to test some new formulas and and such so I decided to go ahead and make this roster. I had made a 1989 roster for M15, so you may have played it as well.

Roster details:
All 28 NFL teams are complete. The 4 expansion teams are based on CFL rosters. You will even notice a couple of future NFL players there as in 1989 they played in the CFL.

Equipment is true to life; bigger shoulder pads, neck rolls, etc..

Free agents have been reduced so that they will only be backups if the CPU was to sign them. Several backups at each position have been renamed and equipment adjusted.

Ratings:
For the most part this roster uses a rating system that is similar to Madden. There are SOME differences:

QBs: QBs are rated lower. The top QB, Joe Montana, has an OVR of 86. Many QBs are in the 70s and 60s and are still starters. This helps to give a more true to life experience. QB completion percentages were much lower in 1989 than they are today. The average was about 54%. Montana was at 70%. QBs will still perform quite well in game. This also helps if you sim any games.

WRs: Overall the WRs are lower, but not unreasonably so. Starters are mostly in the 80s and upper 70s. Backups drop into the 60s. Their release rating is lower than normal Madden. This helps to create the historical difference of a slightly more aggressive NFL than today.

DBs: DBs are rated a little higher especially cornerbacks press rating. Again, this helps to create better coverage and historical accuracy.

K/P: These folks have higher awareness, but lower Power and Accuracy. The result is a similar OVR rating, but hopefully more true to life kicking and punting. I am still working with these ratings to create accurate ratings. Punter's power is something I really want to fix, and I know needs more adjustments. In 1989, Punters averaged 40.7 yards per punt.

I will also post coaches names, my suggestions for playbooks and schemes. Stay tuned!

[Iteachpercussion]

I have attached a PDF which has all of the coaches, playbooks, schemes and player types. These are of course just suggestions, and may alter slightly based on testing.

I recommend setting some formation subs to help rotate RBs on CPU teams when you play them. It does not make any difference if you sim the game, unless you start the game and supersim, then the formation subs seem to work. I will try to put together a list of teams and players who should get some carries.

One change to the playbooks: Change the Cardinals from Balanced to TB Buccs playbook. Keep the scheme and other info as is on the PDF.

Another playbook change: The PDF mistakenly has Washington as a 3-4 defense, change to 4-3 with 4-3 Attack scheme.

In terms of sliders: you should be able to use whatever you are used to. I recommend JoshC1977s.
Regardless of the sliders you use, you need to read Josh's slider post about game planning and before you play each game. It makes a difference! If you have set up a 32 team CFM (I HIGHLY recommend doing so) you do not need to fire your coach. Simply switch to control the coach for the team you are about to play and do the game planning as Josh outlines. Then do the same for the team you are going to control. Then, Play the Game. Since you are technically controlling all 32 teams, it makes the process quick and easy. It is worth it!

[Iteachpercussion]

The roster is now live!!! Please let me know if you have any questions about the roster. I have done one season sim, after setting everything up as shown in the file I uploaded. The results were VERY good! Playcalling was great for the sim and stats were very good.

I will continue to test and if I make any adjustments I will let everyone know.

Also, if you find any mistakes in the roster please let me know. Things such as misspelled names, wrong numbers, a wrong skin color.
If you have a ratings suggestion you can let me know, but the ratings are based on my observations and formulas based on real life stats. As a result I cannot promise I will change any ratings.

Please also let me know if you like the way the roster plays and how the playbooks and schemes are working for you. I do appreciate the feedback!

Have Fun!

[JoshC1977]

Dude...awesome stuff!!!! I am definitely going to have to fire these up this weekend.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[Iteachpercussion]

Quote: Originally Posted by JoshC1977

Dude...awesome stuff!!!! I am definitely going to have to fire these up this weekend. Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

I hope you enjoy the roster. Please let me know what you think and how it plays for you. I have done very limited actual game testing with this roster. Usually I play several games with different teams as I put things together, but this time I just did the roster and only played a couple of full games and then a few practice sessions.

I ran a simulation test to see the results. I have been analyzing them since then. I have been comparing real life to the sim stats. Overall, things are tolerable. Some adjustments could be made, but mostly pretty good. I usually run at least three full sims to get a decent sample size of play calling and such.

[Armor and Sword]

You are a beast!!! Can't wait to play with this!!!

Thank you as always!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[Iteachpercussion]

I am going to be adjusting punters and kickers a bit more to see if I can get better results. I am going to make the changes in CFM and report back.

If I get the results I am hoping for I will let everyone know so that you can make the changes as well. I may go back and changes in the Madden Share roster, but I know some of you might have already downloaded the roster by that point and started your CFM set-up.

I will keep you updated to any changes!

[Iteachpercussion]

I have been doing sim testing most of the day. The results, overall have been good. In terms of play calling based on the set-up I attached, the average variation, in terms of run/pass, is 2% in favor of pass. In other words, Madden causes the CPU to call pass plays 2% more often than the actual 1989 season. Of course that is the average, so some teams are quite off. The Lions are the biggest culprit and it is because of the playbook. Even thought the real Lions used the Run and Shoot, they still ran 48% of the time. That might have something to do with Barry Sanders. lol However, Madden is not smart enough to know that and instead goes off of the playbook and scheme alone and tends to run only about 38% of the time. The only option is to change the playbook.

Passing numbers are pretty solid, a little too good for 1989, but not horrible.The main QBs are throwing right about 60%. That is good for the top 15 QBs in 1989. They could throw a few more INTs, but I think it is balanced fairly well at this point.

Running backs are where they should in terms of yardage. Seeing as Madden does not rotate RBs correctly, some guys get too many carries. The yard per carry is a little high but, again ok. Looking at the top 15 running backs, the average is 4.43. That is pretty solid!

WR are good with only a couple of guys over 90 receptions. In 1989 only Sterling Sharpe had 90 receptions. One sim I ran, Steve Largent had 92 and Sharpe had 91. Everyone else was 80s and below. I am happy with that.

Sacks are a little high in total and individually too high. In one sim Reggie White had 32 sacks! In the real season Chris Doleman led the league with 21 sacks. There were actually only 7 guys with 15 or more sacks.
The solution to this problem is to drop pursuit ratings for the top rushers. I will test with that change and see how it goes.

Punters kick too dang far! I have lowered KPW and it did not solve the problem, though it restricted the Longest punts, the average was still high. I am going to try to lower KAC as well and see if that combo helps.

Kickers are all over the place. I thought I solved the issue, but I was wrong. Still testing, but without killing the kickers OVR it may not be possible to fix.

Back to the lab!