Head Coach Formation Guide

[ebongreen]

As a distraction while I continue working on the English 2014 Draft guide - yes, it's coming - I offer a spreadsheet I whipped up over the weekend for the different team's offensive playbooks.

So far in my careers, I've always used a Packers playbook, in some fashion. But there are formations that I don't like/use that much that I can't delete from the Packers because they're hard-coded. (Personally I'm not much for 5-wide.) I wanted to know what playbook(s) I might use for future careers that eliminate those and allow me to add others that I'd prefer, so I went hunting.

Future versions of this spreadsheet may involve inventorying the college coach playbooks, as well as the defensive side. But for now, if you want a reference on who uses what formations at career starts, this is what I've got to offer. I hope you find it interesting and useful.

(FYI - my next career will probably involve a heavily-modified Payton Spread Attack offense. I appreciate every formation in it, with the exception of Gun Normal Offset Weak - and I think I can kill those plays if I want to.)

Enjoy!

[damonb10]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

This is some helpful information. Thanks for sharing it!

[JimK]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

Nice to see other active players. Keep up the good work Ebongreen. I'm currently using your sliders. It's still not perfect, but it's a definite improvement. It's nice to be able to run it and have to worry about the run defensively.

[ebongreen]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

Thanks Damon and Jim. Jim, I saw your post in the sliders forum, but didn't really have much to say/add. I'm glad you find them an improvement overall.

[Sanchez_Mareno]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

What do you mean hard coded?

[Mike3207]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

What do you mean hard coded?

You can't delete them from the playbook when you make a custom playbook-they're core plays of the playbook. I ran into this a few times myself.

[kdmajoslin]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

I've actually found that the hard-coded plays change to some degree each time you create a new playbook.

I've also found that if you go in and add plays before you take out any of the preset plays, sometimes you can drop plays that you wouldn't otherwise be able to drop.

[Terry_J]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

I'm sure this is a silly question... How do you add any formations to a playbook? I have tried several ways but I am stuck with a playbook that has the running formations I want or one with the passing formations. I cant find any that have exactly what I'm looking for. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated

[Mike3207]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

I'm sure this is a silly question... How do you add any formations to a playbook? I have tried several ways but I am stuck with a playbook that has the running formations I want or one with the passing formations. I cant find any that have exactly what I'm looking for. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated

The best way is to create a custom playbook. Pick a base playbook, then add plays to it. As you add the plays, you will add formations to your playbook. It helps if you can recognize what formation it is with the plays though.

[Terry_J]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

Thanks for the fast reply. I will have to try it tonight when I get off work. Where is it that you can just add plays w/o going into a formation from the base playbook?

[Mike3207]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

Thanks for the fast reply. I will have to try it tonight when I get off work. Where is it that you can just add plays w/o going into a formation from the base playbook?

After you've chosen a base playbook-there will be 2 choices-play by formation and play by play type. Play by formation will only let you add and delete plays of the formations in your base playbook. Choose a play type-say Cover 2 Zone, and it will list all the Cover 2 Zone plays from all formations in the game. Once you've added a formation, you should be able to go into the formation and add all the plays you want in that formation. The plays you have in say cover two zone will be on the right, and the ones you can add will be on the left.

One thing though, I don't think the Game AI calls plays that aren't in the base playbook. You will need to call those plays yourself.

[Mike3207]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

Ebongreen. do you still plan on adding the college or defensive formations?

[ebongreen]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

Maybe, mrs844224, but it's not a current project of mine. I'm on another hiatus from HC, which I'll explain elsewhere. :o

[cbutler0509]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

I am looking for information on the Near and Far formations. I looked over the formation guide and did not see them listed. I know that the formations are in the game. I am able to find plays for both formations and add them to a custom playbook, however they are added under the formation name "Run Plays".

Does anyone know if there is a base playbook that contains these formations? It's not in the West Coast playbook, which is where it should be.

For those who may not be aware of what I mean:

[Mike3207]

Re: Head Coach Formation Guide

I am looking for information on the Near and Far formations. I looked over the formation guide and did not see them listed. I know that the formations are in the game. I am able to find plays for both formations and add them to a custom playbook, however they are added under the formation name "Run Plays".

Does anyone know if there is a base playbook that contains these formations? It's not in the West Coast playbook, which is where it should be.

For those who may not be aware of what I mean:

There's two ways you can check each teams's offensive formations in their offensive playbook. The harder way is to start a career with each team and check their playbook. The easier way is to create a new custom playbook and choose offense-it will then show you a list of base playbooks and what formations are in them.In my limited testing, I noticed that the Bills playbook has the Near formation, but not Far.Keep creating a custom playbook and you may find one that has both.