Play Creation

[JimK]

Prima has a free sample of their strategy guide on their website. Under the play creation section--which is the section they let you peek at--it lists all sorts of options that I don't find in the actual game. Block and release, press coverage, etc. The only things I can do when I make a play are to pick between man/zone coverage or blitz, and then pick from about 10 pre-made zones.

Am I missing something or was the play creator greatly simplified after the strategy guide was written? I've heard people on here talking about having their corners press and I know there is a press attribute, so it made me wonder. I get no option to employ press coverage in the play creator.

The press coverage is just one example that jumped out at me. There was a lot of logic on there that I don't see in my actual play creator, like play action, block and release, etc.

[ebongreen]

There's a boatload of things the play editor can't do, or that you can't do with created plays - like flip them right-to-left, specify press coverage, usefully specify mid-range zone schemes, assign linebackers to blitz certain gaps, certain basic pass routes like corner, chip-block/conditional routes, etc.

My recommendation to most folks (on which I'll elaborate at some point in my advice thread) is to avoid it under most circumstances, and use it only during games to draw up specific plays.

[xannash]

I spent about 2 hours in the play creator when I first started the game and then came to the conclusion that it was just about worthless. It had so many things that I couldn't do with it, I decided it wasn't worth the time trying to figure out what I could do with it.

[JimK]

Yeah. Do any of you remember the old Front Page Sports games? There was a Front Page Sports Football. I think it was maybe 98. In certain ways it was really primitive, but in other ways it was better than NFL Head Coach. The play creator was much better. You could do just about anything with that thing.

[JimK]

This raises yet another question, though. It seems to me that the pre-made plays have logic that can't be duplicated in the play creator. I recently remade all my nickel plays because I didn't like the default personnel package. I really hope it didn't foul up the logic of some of the plays. It already looks like my DC won't call any of the created plays. My theory is that he calls plays based on formation and he doesn't know what formation the created plays are.

[ebongreen]

My hunch is that by making your mass substitution, you've broken the play-call logic (not that there was lots of that to begin with on the defense's side, especially in the two-minute drill).

The "easy" way to deal with the substitution problem is, at the beginning of each game's first defensive series, visit the player-substitution screen for some play of that formation and put the player you want in the right slot. I've done this regularly in nickel formation to put my LOLB in for either my ROLB or my MLB, mixing up the amount of time played and giving one of the other players a break; I've also done it in the Packers' Full House formation to use my #2 fullback instead of the #2 halfback.

The substitution stays in effect for the remainder of the game, and then you re-set it the next time you play through. *shrugs* Not ideal, but it seems a lot easier than the heck you've put yourself through trying to hard-code it. :-,

As far as custom play editors, I remember the one that was in Madden 04(? - I think). Oh, I had such fun with that thing. *sigh*

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

Quote: Originally Posted by JimK

This raises yet another question, though. It seems to me that the pre-made plays have logic that can't be duplicated in the play creator. I recently remade all my nickel plays because I didn't like the default personnel package. I really hope it didn't foul up the logic of some of the plays. It already looks like my DC won't call any of the created plays. My theory is that he calls plays based on formation and he doesn't know what formation the created plays are.

Have the players "Mastered" the plays? Also, have you had any success with them in a game? I think that until your coordinators get "used" to a play and it is mastered they wont call it. Also, what level is their play calling skills? One other thing, do they have the special skill for game film analysis and Strategy skill. I have found this impact the ability of the coordinators to call a wide variety of plays.