Scripting plays

[astarr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Poetique

I've got a few favorite offensive plays, but I only have about 10 I would actually search for in a playbook. Guess I'm kinda like Denzel from Remember the Titans... I don't need a ton of plays if I'm viciously efficient with a handful on offense and defense. Sounds like a good idea to get a little more enjoyment out of the game though... but Madden's AI is so horrible I don't think I could bring myself to bother with such a thing.

I gotcha. Actually, that is why I started scripting plays. If you are "viciously efficient" with a few plays then you should force yourself not to use them. I rarely "script" the same play twice. I would only audible if it is a key point in the game and I have the absolute wrong play called.

It got boring to me to use the same 10 to 15 plays all the time. Eventually I am going to expand to using 5 or 6 different playbooks, and I am going to purposely pick some of the playbooks that I don't like to force myself to learn to use them.

I understand this isn't for everyone, but I thought that it may be interesting for some to consider, and some of you may give me some ideas to make it even more robust and life-like.

Thanks for your feedback, BTW.

[Senator Palmer]

Yes astarr, you answered my questions and I've got a few more. I, like you, like to key on the other team's individual player ratings. I'd like to know which player ratings you key on the most and do you find that the AI plays to them.

For instance, I had a game against the Texans. Schaub is rated 90 for short and medium accuracy and like mid 70s for the deep throws. I schemed to take away the short throws with zones and didn't fret about the deep stuff. Well he hits me for a bomb with of all people Kevin Walter who has 82 speed against Jonathan Joseph who is a speed burner. Andre Johnson I could see, but Kevin Walter? I did have success with the rest of my gameplan however.

Oh, and from one strategist to another, defensively do you have a scheme for a team with a good TE? 4-3 playbooks are thin on short zones, you almost have to go man-to-man and a good TE eats up any linebacker over the middle and I've seen TE brackets beaten by drage routes too.

Good thread by the way. I've always loved the chess game of football and stuff like this keeps really keeps me engaged.

[Poetique]

Quote: Originally Posted by astarr

I gotcha. Actually, that is why I started scripting plays. If you are "viciously efficient" with a few plays then you should force yourself not to use them. I rarely "script" the same play twice. I would only audible if it is a key point in the game and I have the absolute wrong play called. It got boring to me to use the same 10 to 15 plays all the time. Eventually I am going to expand to using 5 or 6 different playbooks, and I am going to purposely pick some of the playbooks that I don't like to force myself to learn to use them. I understand this isn't for everyone, but I thought that it may be interesting for some to consider, and some of you may give me some ideas to make it even more robust and life-like. Thanks for your feedback, BTW.

It's boring to me too, but unfortunately Madden is programmed so badly I don't have much of an option.

I ask Madden on offense because I can get yards with just about any play of any playbook... the CPUs defensive abilities swing from unrealistic efficient, to completely ignorant. There's no happy medium in between, so on any given play I'm probably getting at least 5 yards on a pass, or non at all. I suppose by asking Madden all the time though that has giving me the knowledge necessary to run almost any play... too bad I almost never need to.

On defense, thanks to the way the 3-4 plays (or lack thereof, due to the epic failure of the so called "blocking logic" in madden) there honestly aren't that many plays worth using at all. Then still there are some others that simply are inefficient for almost every situation, and for whatever reason human A.I. defenders this year can't cover their zones to save their lives on some plays. Not to mention offense is less important than defense in my opinion, so with defense being the staple of my game I tend to focus more on perfecting upon "perfection."

[astarr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Senator Palmer

I, like you, like to key on the other team's individual player ratings. I'd like to know which player ratings you key on the most and do you find that the AI plays to them.

Well, I waited until the latest roster update to start my Franchise because they updated a lot of the uniform stuff as well as the Crabtree signing and Edwards trade. I don't gameplan or script during the Pre-season, I use the Pre-Season to simply work on plays I like and figure out my own strengths. For example, I am the Seahawks and I like my 3rd TE's speed, so I sub him in and see how I want to use him. I am probably going to eventually work him into double TE sets that have the 2nd TE running routes.

All that being said, I played my first "Season" game two days ago. It was against the Rams. Defensively, I simply went into the game trying to take away Stephen Jackson (Bulger was hurt so Boller played). I did a lot of run blitzing trying to stop Jackson before he got a head of steam up. Even on Harris sliders he busts tackles like crazy. Did a good job, but their TE broke two long receptions because I missed my coverage assignment (I use LOLB exclusively as long as he is in the game).

This may get long, but I will try to answer the question of what I look at as far as ratings. For me, the 49ers are next.

First I look at the passing game which is the QB, WR, and TE (the Running Backs I will look at their CTH and CIT rating when I look at them for the running game). With the QB I look at his speed, agility, accel to see haw he is moving in the pocket and running. Then I look at Arm strength, deep, middle, and long accuracy. Finally I look at his injury rating to see how deep to go on the 2nd stringer.

Then I look at the WR/TE. I look at their SPD,STR, ACC, AGI, CTH, and CIT. I also glance at their TRK rating to see who I need to watch for breaking cb's tackles. I figure out if there is someone that is so fast I need to use a particular CB to assign coverage to. I look at the WR's to see who is a spd WR vs a slow tough WR just to see if I can cheat and keep my LB's in the game on coverages vs bringing in Nickle and Dime backers. For the 49ers they have a couple all-around WR's and a couple strong WR's. Then they have Vernon Davis, but their back-up TE is a decent receiver, so I will have to account for him in 2 TE sets. However, I should be able to deal with their speed because nobody is super fast.

For the running game I start with the OLine. I look at their strength, and blocker ratings, then I look at their athletic package (SPD, ACC, and AGI) to see how to attack them. For example, against the 49ers, their Oline looks to be pretty strong with their LT being easily the most athletic lineman. I am going to use quicker defensive lineman and call stunts to hopefully get them to move their feet. I don't know if it will work, but it gives you an idea of how I will attack them based on their ratings.

Then I look at the RB's and FB's. For the RB's I look at SPD, STR, AGI, ACC, TRK, Juke pkgs, CTH, CIT, STA, and INJ. FOR FB, I will also look at their BLKG ratings. Gore, obviously is a beast inside and outside. Coffee is a good back-up, and, going by memory, their fullback looks to be just a blocker who is slow and has bad hands. Now, again going by memory and not referring to my notes, I believe Gore is a factor in the pass game. So, it is good that I don't have to worry about the fullback out of the backfield.

So, my defensive gameplan is going to revolve around stopping Gore and taking my chances in the pass game. Hill doesn't have a good deep rating, but he is good short and mid. I will start out in a 4-3 cover 3 to watch the flats. I will put my strong line in with Kerney, Mebane, Red Bryant, and Lawrence Jackson to stop the run. I will key on Gore and watch the linemen's first step to see if it is a run play or not. If Gore breaks off big chunks, then I will have to go into run blitzes. As LOLB, on run plays I have to remember to be disciplined to hold down the outside. So, I will usually go to the outside of the RT and if he engages me in a block, I just try to get the RB to turn inside and let my help get there.

I will do another post with how I attack the opposing teams defense. Hope this isn't too long and boring.

[Senator Palmer]

No, no, not boringa at all, this is good stuff. Post the 49 results when you play. I've practiced against them a lot. Crabtree in the slot gives me fits because he's matched against my third corner and I'm hesitant to switch any of my starters because Morgan is a threat and Isacc Bruce, while not a burner is great intermediate.

It's Davis that give me the most trouble because he can get deep. When you play, let me know how you work against their 3 receiver sets. I hate to go to nickel too because of Gore and it leaves Davis in Man against an LB.

[astarr]

Attacking them defensively. I start out by looking at their DLine. I look at their SPD, STR, TAK. I glance at their AGI and ACC. If they have a great rusher who isn't very strong, I will attack that position with the running game. This week with the 49ers, their top DT is out, and their backup is really weak, so I am going to attack them with runs up the middle. Once I establish the middle I have a couple of piches and stretch plays called. Justin Smith is good in both pass rush and run D, but I should be able to beat him to the outside.

With the LBackers I look at Spd, Str, Tak, Mcv, Zcv. For the Niners it don't get better than 52 all around. Lawson is fast, but not as strong. Takeo is good all-around, but Haralson is poor, especially in coverage, so I will attack him in the run and pass.

For the defensive backfield, I will look at the usual "athletic" ratings, and then TAK, CTH, CIT, Coverage Ratings. For the Niners, Clements is good, but their other corner isn't as good. As far as their safeties they have one good in coverage, and one good in run support so I will try to exploit that.

So, offensively I am coming out of the gate with 8 of the first 10 plays being run plays primarily attacking the middle of the D. Then I will work in play action. I want to use the Gun more this week than I did last week. I expect them to blitz with Lawson, Spikes, and Willis, so that gives me a chance to stand back and pick them apart using my TE.

I play on Fast spd, I use Harris sliders, so I have about 3 seconds to get rid of the ball. Hasselbeck is my QB, so I am not going to escape their LB's if they blitz because of their great speed.

I also allow myself to trade for players on the Trade Block, so I picked up Jonathan Stewart by trading Edge, Rob Sims, and my first round pick. So, he is good inside and good in the pass game.

Well, that wraps it up. Hopefully that wasn't too dry and boring.

[astarr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Senator Palmer

Post the 49er results when you play. It's Davis that give me the most trouble because he can get deep. When you play, let me know how you work against their 3 receiver sets. I hate to go to nickel too because of Gore and it leaves Davis in Man against an LB.

Will do. I don't know that I will get to the game today, but I should by tomorrow night, hopefully.

I am interested to see how Davis and Crabtree work, as well. Having notes is definitely going to help me approach the 2nd game I play against them since they are in my division. I actually am hoping Bill Harris updates his sliders before I play. I just read that he is going to do some heavy adjustments to tip the scales in the CPU's favor.

I gotta tell you, though, scripting plays is so much more interesting. I purposely put in plays that I know going in is going to be tough to make successful. In my first game, I put in a HB slip screen, that I actually got the pass off prior to the rush getting to me that went for a TD. However, a PA pass that I had dialed up (without a FB route) just took way too long to develop so I got sacked big time and just prayed I wouldn't fumble. I did kill the Rams, but they aren't a very goood team.

BTW - I probably won't past stat for stat recap, but will do a small recap for you. When you post stats it seems to turn into a flame war of "it's so unrealistic" or "I'm way better than you and I play on HOF with their sliders maxed and me on 0." I've had a lot of fun with this game, and I rather enjoy it. I am just an above-avg to good player, not great. I read the safeties a little and usually can tell if they are in Zone, Man, or a Combo D. I do have progressions for each play. That is as far as I go, though. I am not an all-Madden performer.

[Howie75]

I started scripting plays last year (only on offense). I thought it was cool, as I would use some diverse plays and also would try to establish certain things to set up plays later in the game.

I used to like the ask coach feature a few years ago when it was separate from ask madden. I liked that too as it helped diversify my playcalling.

Anyway, I would habitually script the first 15 plays and then have a few in reserve for later use in certain situations. I think I might do it again this year.