M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

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  • Manning2Harrison
    Banned
    • Aug 2006
    • 7412

    #1

    M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

    First off, it should be clarified that 32 team control does not mean you will end up having to do all of the tasks for all of the teams. What it does mean is that you can change as much as or as little of what’s broken but can be fixed as you want to put the time into doing. How much you intervene in correcting things that are wrong with CPU team management is completely up to you. The bottom line is that it gives you options that are unavailable to you in a single-user franchise.

    Should we have to do any of these things for ourselves? Absolutely not. But unless and until EA makes acceptable fixes, the more self-help you engage in, the more enjoyable franchise should be for you, aside from the aggravation of having to do EA’s job for it.

    I don’t expect a lot of people to be as detail-oriented about their franchises as I am. For a lot of you, your spare time is precious and you just don’t have enough of it to do even half of what I do. This is just some information sharing. You might see something you didn’t know you could do and want to give it a try. You might find a fix for something that really bugs you. Take from this what you like and have the time for, and ignore what doesn’t suit you.

    GETTING STARTED

    When starting your franchise, select user control for all 32 teams. Once you’re in franchise mode, go to Settings>Franchise Options and select which of the management functions you want to return to CPU control. You’ll need to change the active team and do this for all 31 teams (or less) that you are not playing as. Except for FA and the draft, a CPU setting will still allow you to perform those functions manually.

    EDIT: DO NOT change teams while in the Franchise Options Menu- for some reason that causes a global edit. After doing one team, you have to back out from the Franchise Options menu to the main menu, change teams there, then go back into the Franchise Options. Same thing with coach options.

    EDIT 2: This idea eluded me until it was brought up because I've been rolling with everything set to USER for all of the teams for so long.

    EDIT 3: The is no longer a Draft Players franchise option. Only options are to make a pick for the CPU, or sim the pick.

    In the setup after you've selected all 32 teams, select USER for anything you want to do for the CPU teams and CPU for what you don't. Then after the franchise is started, the only settings you'll have to change are those for the team you'll be playing with, switching them from CPU to USER.

    For example, if you are going to to do the bare minimum of cutting the fake players, set Cut Players to USER and everything else to CPU. Once inside franchise mode, all you'll have to do is reset your teams settings to USER.

    Coaching Tendencies

    In the past, sim stats could be manipulated by changing the run/pass ratios and aggression levels. I’ve also noticed that lower offensive aggression means less deep balls thrown by the CPU. I’ve heard the sim engine is better this year, and how these settings affect gameplay has yet to be determined, so there will be no deeper discussion of these aspects at this time. Just wanted to put out there that 32 team control allows changes of these settings for all teams.

    3-4/4-3 Defense

    If you think a team should switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 or vice-versa, you can do that in the coach options. This will affect the team’s defensive stats, so with a 3-4 the sack leader should be a OLB and and with a 4-3 it should be a DE. This will not change the playbook a team uses in played games. If you’ve changed a team’s defensive scheme, you need to select an appropriate defense for it in the pregame menu.

    Running Back Splits

    This slider setting for sim stats actually worked in M11. If you think a team’s RB1/RB2 splits should be changed, you can do it. This come more into play in future seasons as personnel changes/ages.

    THE 2011 PRESEASON

    We got expanded rosters, and we got a whole new major headache along with that, which will be addressed in more detail below.

    Since the game was already done before teams were allowed to sign UDFA’s, EA had to resort to using fake UDFA’s to fill the expanded rosters. If you’re using any roster update from the final cut to 53 on, there’s going to be an even bigger boatload of fake UDFA’s because those, rather than the real-life guys who got cut and are in the FA pool, will be used to populate the expanded rosters.

    This is where you will need to do your first interventions if you haven’t done any prior to this point. You will want to handle all of the preseason cuts yourself to ensure that the 53 guys who made the opening day rosters IRL do so in your franchise and that no fakes make it to the regular season. When cut in preseason, the fakes disappear forever. Conversely, if they are cut during the regular season, they go into the FA pool, so preseason is the time to get rid of all of the fakes. If you want to alter any of the opening day rosters by including a real-life guy who got cut, that’s fine, but be aware that if he’s in the game, he’ll most likely be in the FA pool instead of on a roster. In the event you don’t find the player in the FA pool and want to edit a fake that has a similar height and weight, here is a team-by-team list of the 2011 UDFA signings:

    http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...gnings]NFL.com news: Team-by-team undrafted free-agent signings

    DEPTH CHART ADJUSTMENTS

    If you do nothing else with CPU depth charts, at least go into each one and see who their return specialists are. They often aren’t who they are in IRL. And in future seasons, the CPU will put star players in there, which is the exception rather than the norm, injury consideration being one factor.

    I prefer the third down RB to be the one with the best catch rating. This is not always the guy with the highest OVR as a 3rd down RB.

    The CPU sets depth purely on OVR, but there are times when that shouldn’t be so. An example being a WR who is drafted to be the new no. 2 guy is a 78 OVR but there’s an aging, slowing down vet who’s a 79 or 80 who should really be below the slot on the DC, but he’s at no. 2. Not a big deal during preseason, but before playing Week 1 of the regular season, you should make some appropriate adjustments to the CPU depth charts- not just for starters, but the CPU does some wonky stuff in the o-line and secondary. Long snappers and who is doing kickoffs are other areas you might want to look at.

    IN-SEASON ROSTER FILLING

    Most of you would probably prefer to let the CPU sign players when injuries cause roster holes. I just wanted to mention why I do it myself in case any of you like the idea. The reason is front seven personnel appropriate to a team’s defensive scheme. If a 3-4 team has a whole at DE, it shouldn’t be signing a 4-3 end, etc. That’s just how detail-oriented I am. Another thing you can do with D-line holes in 3-4 defenses is make a temporary position change with a spare player (DT to DE or DE to DT). This particularly handy when the team would otherwise have to cut a player to satisfy Madden’s roster requirements. Temporary position changes are also handy when a team’s only FB gets injured and there’s a spare RB or TE that could fill in.

    THE OFFESEASON

    Coaching Changes

    This is one area that doesn’t really affect franchise play, or not much, anyway, and is more of an immersion thing. I like to handle coaching changes becuase I’m a franchise writer and coaching changes are part of the offseason news.

    The CPU does not fire underperforming coaches. It won’t retain them at the end of a contract, but it won’t fire them prior. At this stage I like to go in and do what I deem to be appropriate firings. The CPU also often does a poor job of rehiring head coaches that should be retained. If you want to ensure a coach gets a new contract with his existing team, you’ll probably have to do that yourself.

    Re-signing Players

    Left to their own, CPU teams are bad at retaining players. The way I do re-signings is more time-consuming than most of you would care for, but there are some quicker alternatives that will still leave fewer roster spots to be filled by fake UDFA’s.

    My method:

    Go to random.org and set the random number generator to give you a number between 0 and 100.

    Going alphabetically, you would start with the Bears. Generate a number for each player you think the team should try to keep. I use 34-100, player re-signs, 0-33 means he wants to test free agency. I usually do 4 numbers at a time and keep the yes/no results in my head, so if the first four numbers result in yes/yes/no/yes, then the first, second and fourth players re-sign and the third goes FA. It's up to you how far down the list to go. Once the FA losses are determined, you can tag one of those if you think he's tag-worthy. This method not only leaves less roster-filling to be done after FA and the draft, it generates better FA pools at the upper end of the ratings (which was my initial reason for going this route).

    Sounds worse than it really is but once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty smoothly.

    Don't want to bother with all that random number stuff? I chose the numerical re-sign/FA cutoff so that on average teams would re-sign 2/3 of the players they should want to keep. You can get that same average just by going into the list and sign two, skip one, sing two, skip one. Whether to negotiate or skip one of the "sign two" guys who declines the first offer would be up to you. If you think a team should lose half of its potential FA's, then only re-sign every other player or use 0-50/51-100 with the random numbers.


    Free Agency

    Again, this is something that I put more time into than most people will. Most of you will just want to have FA signing set to CPU for the other 31 teams and just bid on players for your team and be done with it.

    Those who find it too easy to pick up all of your FA targets, might want to consider a “house rule” as to how many guys you can sign, even with it broken down by so many in a certain ratings range. Another thing is to use the random number generator for your targets. After your shopping list is done, decide what the cutoff should be (example: 25) for being allowed to bid on the player. With the 25 example, 1-25 would mean the player can stay on your shopping list and 26-100 means he has to come off of it.

    What I do:

    I have FA signing set to USER for all teams. After the FA pool is generated, I go into it and list the top 5-12 players by position. My last franchise was an interactive one in which I had other real people acting as GM's for other teams, so I would have to post the FA list for them to make shopping lists, and I happen to have a list or two handy on the HDD. Here's the QB's from 2016:

    QUARTERBACKS

    Diondre Borel, 91 (R1 comp to Chargers) DAL
    Jay Cutler, 86 CIN
    Carson Palmer, 84 BUF
    Matt Flynn, 73 GB
    David Garrard, 72 ATL
    Chase Daniel, 71 CAR

    (My CBA had no RFA's, but it did have comp picks. You see Diondre Borel from Utah St. there because my 2011 draft class was a generated one in which I changed every player into a real life one, and Borel was the only one who fitted by height/weight)

    That's the final version of the list, showing who signed the players, which was posted in the franchise thread so the GM's could see who went where. The original version had each team who was going to bid on the player listed to the right of his name. For CPU teams, I went through their rosters to determine who they should bid on. Once the list was complete, it was random number time again. The high number gets the player. That gives every team an equal shot, unlike CPU bidding where the best teams seem to get most of the best players. After it was determined who was going where, I would start with the Bears and work may way down through the teams and put in a bid for each FA they were going to sign, then advanced to the end of the FA period.

    With the new bidding system, it's going to be impossible for me to get everybody signed during the bidding process, so after it's over I'll use the team management screen to sign the remaining players before going on to the draft.

    After the draft, I go back to the team management screen for each team, find the roster holes, and fill them without going through the random number process a second time. You could skip this part by assigning "fill rosters" as a CPU function but then you're probably going to have some fake UDFA's picked up. Before this fake UDFA mess, the main reason I filled roster holes myself was to sign front 7 players appropriate for a 4-3 or 3-4 defense.

    Another thing I do before determining where the FA's go is make some position changes in the pool. This is mostly aging CB's to FS/SS, 3-4 ends to DT's or DT's to 3-4 ends, 3-4 OLB's to 4-3 DE's, and 4-3 DE's to 3-4 OLB's, OLB/MLB switches, and changes of O-linemen's positions, like T to G.

    The Draft

    Unless their priority sliders are changed, CPU teams draft by projection. With classes imported from NCAA, the projections are simply a top-to-bottom list of what the imported player’s OVR is going to be, without regard to position. That’s how punters get drafted sixth overall. If the best available player has an OVR higher than any player at his position on a team’s roster, the team will draft him regardless of any common sense considerations.

    Draft logic is much less of a concern with Madden-generated classes because the OVR and the projected round of the players are hard-coded- they will be they same every time that class is imported, unlike the varying results you get when importing NCAA classes. Even if you assign players to every scouting slot for every CPU team, the scouting will have no bearing on how the CPU drafts. It will not know any of the player’s ratings. It will only know where the player is projected to be picked, and draft accordingly. And in generated classes, projection does not necessarily correlate with OVR. There will be early round busts and late round steals.

    Back to NCAA classes. If you want the CPU to draft better, you have two alternatives. One is to draft for all the teams yourself for however many rounds you want to do that. I’m confident that most who are going to make the effort of doing 32 team control are not going to cheese the draft so a certain player falls to them, but do as I do and draft for each team as if it were my own. I even have teams trade up or down when there is no real sensible or value pick for them when they go onto the clock. One thing should do is you are going to have multiple rounds of user draft picks is save often. When doing a draft with all 32 teams set to USER for drafting, Madden 11 locked up on me at least once per round. This did not happen once I was through with drafting for the CPU teams and started simming their picks, but I still saved at the end of each round as a precaution.

    The option other than picking for the CPU teams is to adjust their position priority sliders. They are found in the coaching options, the same place you go to adjust the run/pass splits. For example, if a team needs a kick or punter but you don’t want it to draft one until any sooner than the 4th round, then set the priority so that at least three other positions of need have a higher priority.

    For those who use Madden draft classes from year 1, but would like to rename players to a real one who has a similar height/weight, this is a great source:

    Get the latest NFL Draft prospect rankings from CBS Sports. Find out where your favorite all stacks up against the 2026 class and view expert mock drafts.



    Post-Draft Roster Filling

    This will happen automatically with the setting at CPU, but it will be with fake UDFA’s. Each presaeason, you’ll need to repeat the process of cutting the fake UDFA’s in order to force the CPU to meet its needs with real players from the FA pool.

    I have roster filling set to USER for all teams for one main reason. You’ve all seen that when injuries cause a team to fall below Madden’s artifcial roster requirements for a particlar position, the user gets a notice that “Coach J. Blow, your team does not have enough X” and you get the option of signing the player yourself or letting the CPU do it. I like to retain that option for when a DE needs to be signed, so I can sign one that’s appropriate for the team’s defensive scheme.

    ******

    There you have it. I don’t expect most of you who try 32 team control to do even half as much as as I do. But if you get even one thing out of this that enhances franchise mode for you, then this has served its purpose.
    Last edited by Manning2Harrison; 09-04-2011, 08:34 AM.
  • Jasong7777
    All Star
    • May 2005
    • 6415

    #2
    Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

    This thread should be stickied.

    Thanks alot. This is usually how I like to play my franchises.
    Redskins, Lakers, Orioles, UNC Basketball , and ND Football
    PSN: Jasong757
    Xbox Live: Monado X

    Comment

    • 37
      Fear The Spear
      • Apr 2011
      • 10346

      #3
      Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

      Originally posted by Manning2Harrison
      First off, it should be clarified that 32 team control does not mean you will end up having to do all of the tasks for all of the teams. What it does mean is that you can change as much as or as little of what’s broken but can be fixed as you want to put the time into doing. How much you intervene in correcting things that are wrong with CPU team management is completely up to you. The bottom line is that it gives you options that are unavailable to you in a single-user franchise.

      Should we have to do any of these things for ourselves? Absolutely not. But unless and until EA makes acceptable fixes, the more self-help you engage in, the more enjoyable franchise should be for you, aside from the aggravation of having to do EA’s job for it.

      I don’t expect a lot of people to be as detail-oriented about their franchises as I am. For a lot of you, your spare time is precious and you just don’t have enough of it to do even half of what I do. This is just some information sharing. You might see something you didn’t know you could do and want to give it a try. You might find a fix for something that really bugs you. Take from this what you like and have the time for, and ignore what doesn’t suit you.

      GETTING STARTED

      When starting your franchise, select user control for all 32 teams. Once you’re in franchise mode, go to Settings>Franchise Options and select which of the management functions you want to return to CPU control. You’ll need to change the active team and do this for all 31 teams (or less) that you are not playing as. Except for FA and the draft, a CPU setting will still allow you to perform those functions manually.

      Coaching Tendencies

      In the past, sim stats could be manipulated by changing the run/pass ratios and aggression levels. I’ve also noticed that lower offensive aggression means less deep balls thrown by the CPU. I’ve heard the sim engine is better this year, and how these settings affect gameplay has yet to be determined, so there will be no deeper discussion of these aspects at this time. Just wanted to put out there that 32 team control allows changes of these settings for all teams.

      3-4/4-3 Defense

      If you think a team should switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 or vice-versa, you can do that in the coach options. This will affect the team’s defensive stats, so with a 3-4 the sack leader should be a OLB and and with a 4-3 it should be a DE. This will not change the playbook a team uses in played games. If you’ve changed a team’s defensive scheme, you need to select an appropriate defense for it in the pregame menu.

      Running Back Splits

      This slider setting for sim stats actually worked in M11. If you think a team’s RB1/RB2 splits should be changed, you can do it. This come more into play in future seasons as personnel changes/ages.

      THE 2011 PRESEASON

      We got expanded rosters, and we got a whole new major headache along with that, which will be addressed in more detail below.

      Since the game was already done before teams were allowed to sign UDFA’s, EA had to resort to using fake UDFA’s to fill the expanded rosters. If you’re using any roster update from the final cut to 53 on, there’s going to be an even bigger boatload of fake UDFA’s because those, rather than the real-life guys who got cut and are in the FA pool, will be used to populate the expanded rosters.

      This is where you will need to do your first interventions if you haven’t done any prior to this point. You will want to handle all of the preseason cuts yourself to ensure that the 53 guys who made the opening day rosters IRL do so in your franchise and that no fakes make it to the regular season. When cut in preseason, the fakes disappear forever. Conversely, if they are cut during the regular season, they go into the FA pool, so preseason is the time to get rid of all of the fakes. If you want to alter any of the opening day rosters by including a real-life guy who got cut, that’s fine, but be aware that if he’s in the game, he’ll most likely be in the FA pool instead of on a roster. In the event you don’t find the player in the FA pool and want to edit a fake that has a similar height and weight, here is a team-by-team list of the 2011 UDFA signings:

      http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...gnings]NFL.com news: Team-by-team undrafted free-agent signings

      DEPTH CHART ADJUSTMENTS

      If you do nothing else with CPU depth charts, at least go into each one and see who their return specialists are. They often aren’t who they are in IRL. And in future seasons, the CPU will put star players in there, which is the exception rather than the norm, injury consideration being one factor.

      I prefer the third down RB to be the one with the best catch rating. This is not always the guy with the highest OVR as a 3rd down RB.

      The CPU sets depth purely on OVR, but there are times when that shouldn’t be so. An example being a WR who is drafted to be the new no. 2 guy is a 78 OVR but there’s an aging, slowing down vet who’s a 79 or 80 who should really be below the slot on the DC, but he’s at no. 2. Not a big deal during preseason, but before playing Week 1 of the regular season, you should make some appropriate adjustments to the CPU depth charts- not just for starters, but the CPU does some wonky stuff in the o-line and secondary. Long snappers and who is doing kickoffs are other areas you might want to look at.

      IN-SEASON ROSTER FILLING

      Most of you would probably prefer to let the CPU sign players when injuries cause roster holes. I just wanted to mention why I do it myself in case any of you like the idea. The reason is front seven personnel appropriate to a team’s defensive scheme. If a 3-4 team has a whole at DE, it shouldn’t be signing a 4-3 end, etc. That’s just how detail-oriented I am. Another thing you can do with D-line holes in 3-4 defenses is make a temporary position change with a spare player (DT to DE or DE to DT). This particularly handy when the team would otherwise have to cut a player to satisfy Madden’s roster requirements. Temporary position changes are also handy when a team’s only FB gets injured and there’s a spare RB or TE that could fill in.

      THE OFFESEASON

      Coaching Changes

      This is one area that doesn’t really affect franchise play, or not much, anyway, and is more of an immersion thing. I like to handle coaching changes becuase I’m a franchise writer and coaching changes are part of the offseason news.

      The CPU does not fire underperforming coaches. It won’t retain them at the end of a contract, but it won’t fire them prior. At this stage I like to go in and do what I deem to be appropriate firings. The CPU also often does a poor job of rehiring head coaches that should be retained. If you want to ensure a coach gets a new contract with his existing team, you’ll probably have to do that yourself.

      Re-signing Players

      Left to their own, CPU teams are bad at retaining players. The way I do re-signings is more time-consuming than most of you would care for, but there are some quicker alternatives that will still leave fewer roster spots to be filled by fake UDFA’s.

      My method:

      Go to random.org and set the random number generator to give you a number between 0 and 100.

      Going alphabetically, you would start with the Bears. Generate a number for each player you think the team should try to keep. I use 34-100, player re-signs, 0-33 means he wants to test free agency. I usually do 4 numbers at a time and keep the yes/no results in my head, so if the first four numbers result in yes/yes/no/yes, then the first, second and fourth players re-sign and the third goes FA. It's up to you how far down the list to go. Once the FA losses are determined, you can tag one of those if you think he's tag-worthy. This method not only leaves less roster-filling to be done after FA and the draft, it generates better FA pools at the upper end of the ratings (which was my initial reason for going this route).

      Sounds worse than it really is but once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty smoothly.

      Don't want to bother with all that random number stuff? I chose the numerical re-sign/FA cutoff so that on average teams would re-sign 2/3 of the players they should want to keep. You can get that same average just by going into the list and sign two, skip one, sing two, skip one. Whether to negotiate or skip one of the "sign two" guys who declines the first offer would be up to you. If you think a team should lose half of its potential FA's, then only re-sign every other player or use 0-50/51-100 with the random numbers.


      Free Agency

      Again, this is something that I put more time into than most people will. Most of you will just want to have FA signing set to CPU for the other 31 teams and just bid on players for your team and be done with it.

      Those who find it too easy to pick up all of your FA targets, might want to consider a “house rule” as to how many guys you can sign, even with it broken down by so many in a certain ratings range. Another thing is to use the random number generator for your targets. After your shopping list is done, decide what the cutoff should be (example: 25) for being allowed to bid on the player. With the 25 example, 1-25 would mean the player can stay on your shopping list and 26-100 means he has to come off of it.

      What I do:

      I have FA signing set to USER for all teams. After the FA pool is generated, I go into it and list the top 5-12 players by position. My last franchise was an interactive one in which I had other real people acting as GM's for other teams, so I would have to post the FA list for them to make shopping lists, and I happen to have a list or two handy on the HDD. Here's the QB's from 2016:

      QUARTERBACKS

      Diondre Borel, 91 (R1 comp to Chargers) DAL
      Jay Cutler, 86 CIN
      Carson Palmer, 84 BUF
      Matt Flynn, 73 GB
      David Garrard, 72 ATL
      Chase Daniel, 71 CAR

      (My CBA had no RFA's, but it did have comp picks. You see Diondre Borel from Utah St. there because my 2011 draft class was a generated one in which I changed every player into a real life one, and Borel was the only one who fitted by height/weight)

      That's the final version of the list, showing who signed the players, which was posted in the franchise thread so the GM's could see who went where. The original version had each team who was going to bid on the player listed to the right of his name. For CPU teams, I went through their rosters to determine who they should bid on. Once the list was complete, it was random number time again. The high number gets the player. That gives every team an equal shot, unlike CPU bidding where the best teams seem to get most of the best players. After it was determined who was going where, I would start with the Bears and work may way down through the teams and put in a bid for each FA they were going to sign, then advanced to the end of the FA period.

      With the new bidding system, it's going to be impossible for me to get everybody signed during the bidding process, so after it's over I'll use the team management screen to sign the remaining players before going on to the draft.

      After the draft, I go back to the team management screen for each team, find the roster holes, and fill them without going through the random number process a second time. You could skip this part by assigning "fill rosters" as a CPU function but then you're probably going to have some fake UDFA's picked up. Before this fake UDFA mess, the main reason I filled roster holes myself was to sign front 7 players appropriate for a 4-3 or 3-4 defense.

      Another thing I do before determining where the FA's go is make some position changes in the pool. This is mostly aging CB's to FS/SS, 3-4 ends to DT's or DT's to 3-4 ends, 3-4 OLB's to 4-3 DE's, and 4-3 DE's to 3-4 OLB's, OLB/MLB switches, and changes of O-linemen's positions, like T to G.

      The Draft

      Unless their priority sliders are changed, CPU teams draft by projection. With classes imported from NCAA, the projections are simply a top-to-bottom list of what the imported player’s OVR is going to be, without regard to position. That’s how punters get drafted sixth overall. If the best available player has an OVR higher than any player at his position on a team’s roster, the team will draft him regardless of any common sense considerations.

      Draft logic is much less of a concern with Madden-generated classes because the OVR and the projected round of the players are hard-coded- they will be they same every time that class is imported, unlike the varying results you get when importing NCAA classes. Even if you assign players to every scouting slot for every CPU team, the scouting will have no bearing on how the CPU drafts. It will not know any of the player’s ratings. It will only know where the player is projected to be picked, and draft accordingly. And in generated classes, projection does not necessarily correlate with OVR. There will be early round busts and late round steals.

      Back to NCAA classes. If you want the CPU to draft better, you have two alternatives. One is to draft for all the teams yourself for however many rounds you want to do that. I’m confident that most who are going to make the effort of doing 32 team control are not going to cheese the draft so a certain player falls to them, but do as I do and draft for each team as if it were my own. I even have teams trade up or down when there is no real sensible or value pick for them when they go onto the clock. One thing should do is you are going to have multiple rounds of user draft picks is save often. When doing a draft with all 32 teams set to USER for drafting, Madden 11 locked up on me at least once per round. This did not happen once I was through with drafting for the CPU teams and started simming their picks, but I still saved at the end of each round as a precaution.

      The option other than picking for the CPU teams is to adjust their position priority sliders. They are found in the coaching options, the same place you go to adjust the run/pass splits. For example, if a team needs a kick or punter but you don’t want it to draft one until any sooner than the 4th round, then set the priority so that at least three other positions of need have a higher priority.

      For those who use Madden draft classes from year 1, but would like to rename players to a real one who has a similar height/weight, this is a great source:

      Get the latest NFL Draft prospect rankings from CBS Sports. Find out where your favorite all stacks up against the 2026 class and view expert mock drafts.



      Post-Draft Roster Filling

      This will happen automatically with the setting at CPU, but it will be with fake UDFA’s. Each presaeason, you’ll need to repeat the process of cutting the fake UDFA’s in order to force the CPU to meet its needs with real players from the FA pool.

      I have roster filling set to USER for all teams for one main reason. You’ve all seen that when injuries cause a team to fall below Madden’s artifcial roster requirements for a particlar position, the user gets a notice that “Coach J. Blow, your team does not have enough X” and you get the option of signing the player yourself or letting the CPU do it. I like to retain that option for when a DE needs to be signed, so I can sign one that’s appropriate for the team’s defensive scheme.

      ******

      There you have it. I don’t expect most of you who try 32 team control to do even half as much as as I do. But if you get even one thing out of this that enhances franchise mode for you, then this has served its purpose.
      Can't believe i read the whole post lol....but there was a lot of useful info that was mentioned so it's worth it ...I will try to emulate u step-for-step cause i want to run a long,successful, realistic franchise..It's just unfortunate that this has turned into our job instead of EA's....Nevertheless thanx a bunch for this post...U seem to know what ur talking about
      Steelers | Seminoles | A's | Rockets | Avalanche | Wildcats, Hoosiers | Liverpool

      Comment

      • djc27osu
        Rookie
        • Mar 2011
        • 12

        #4
        Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

        If you take control of all 32 teams for the franchise how does trading work? If my main team I was using is say the Bengals could I just go offer and accept any trade I wanted or is there an option/setting that allows the other 31 teams to accept or reject trades I offer using Cincy?

        Comment

        • Manning2Harrison
          Banned
          • Aug 2006
          • 7412

          #5
          Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

          Originally posted by djc27osu
          If you take control of all 32 teams for the franchise how does trading work? If my main team I was using is say the Bengals could I just go offer and accept any trade I wanted or is there an option/setting that allows the other 31 teams to accept or reject trades I offer using Cincy?
          Yes, youl'll be able to make any trade you want. Just don't cheese your trades, which is easy to do in a single-team franchise. If it's any help, the interest meter still works, so you definitely shouldn't do anything that's in the red for the team you're trading with.

          Comment

          • Matt10
            Hall Of Fame
            • Apr 2006
            • 16634

            #6
            Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

            Very nice, Mud
            Youtube - subscribe!

            Comment

            • Manning2Harrison
              Banned
              • Aug 2006
              • 7412

              #7
              Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

              Originally posted by Matt10
              Very nice, Mud
              Thank you, sir. Nice to see someone recognizing the Mudcat.

              Comment

              • dirtguru
                Rookie
                • Aug 2010
                • 303

                #8
                Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

                Excellant info!!!

                I have been doing 32 team franchise control since Madden 10, not yet for M12 but most likely will have to as cpu offseason programming/logic has been completely unrealistic.

                I would like to add that as I became familiar with each teams rosters and coaching tendencies I discovered a new level of immersion developing weaker teams.

                For anyone inerested in multiple offline franchise seasons some level of 32 team control is neccesary to maintain at least a somewhat realistic form of league parity.
                Once I got the hang of it the whole offseason process described by the OP takes me approximately 12 hours to complete for Madden 10/11.
                Pay close attention to depth charts during preaseason as cpu will completely screw that up [ex-punter at #2 QB]. Check injury reports after all regular season games and adjust depth charts as you like, teams with depth at certain possitions will adjust realistically, others will not or can not due to cap issues. In those cases you can move players from other positions as noted by OP.

                Comment

                • PanthersGM305
                  Pro
                  • Dec 2010
                  • 563

                  #9
                  Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

                  I also like to pay attention to the details of football IRL compare to Madden EA Sports Football. This is allot of work , But its a very good solution to the problem at hand fake UDFA's filling NFL Rosters. One things is EA is using PD players & Brandon LaFell faces in a couple of this year generated rookies. I hate the number # calling due to last year MD11 did not have this problem, the lost of the weekly recap takes the life out of the UI in this mode. There is allot theyve improve on this years game but they fell short once again giving us complete control over the CAP, Edits, Contracts ,I miss Tony Bruno is PS2 Madden where during non game time you can see how the rest of the CPU run teams are doing it felt more realistic during UI. I guess i will have to set a side 4 hours to set all this up and start a franchise that some what sim's the NFL current season.

                  Comment

                  • PacMan3000
                    MVP
                    • Jul 2002
                    • 1807

                    #10
                    Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

                    Really interesting post, Manning. Have a couple questions:

                    1) I attempted to control all 32 teams just to try it out for the very first time. One thing I noticed was that even when I set the other 31 teams settings to CPU, some of them kept jumping back to USER. So I felt like I had to change every team's settings and save the franchise after each and every team's setting was changed.

                    So obviously, this was very, very tedious. Have you run into that issue?

                    2) About the UDFA's...I understand the concern that they pop up and take roster sports during your first season. But when you're in year 2, and you're playing with Madden generated draft classes, then that means that your rookies AND your UDFA's are "fake."

                    At that point, why would it be such a nuisance to have the UDFA's populate all 32 teams' rosters?

                    Comment

                    • Armor and Sword
                      The Lama
                      • Sep 2010
                      • 21789

                      #11
                      Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

                      I am diving into this. Your guide is great!! I will take on 2 teams in each conference as my teams and manage the rest
                      (cpu teams) to keep the league balanced.

                      I only plan on drafting the first three rounds for all 32 teams then go CPU for the remaining 28 teams and continue to draft for my 4 teams.

                      I think this will no doubt allow me to enjoy franchise mode to the fullest. I will use the random number method for all teams who are resigning pending free agents. That is the most critical part of doing 32 team control, especially this year with the UDFA debacle.

                      Then I will make a shopping list for my main team (Dolphins) and go to the auctions.


                      I am not thrilled I have to do this....but it is a solution/workaround to the very wonky AI logic in franchise mode.
                      Now Playing on PS5:
                      CFB 26 Hurricanes/Fresno State Year 2
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                      MLB The Show 25 1985 Yankees Year 1
                      Oblivion Remaster



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                      Comment

                      • Armor and Sword
                        The Lama
                        • Sep 2010
                        • 21789

                        #12
                        Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

                        Originally posted by PacMan3000
                        Really interesting post, Manning. Have a couple questions:

                        1) I attempted to control all 32 teams just to try it out for the very first time. One thing I noticed was that even when I set the other 31 teams settings to CPU, some of them kept jumping back to USER. So I felt like I had to change every team's settings and save the franchise after each and every team's setting was changed.

                        So obviously, this was very, very tedious. Have you run into that issue?

                        2) About the UDFA's...I understand the concern that they pop up and take roster sports during your first season. But when you're in year 2, and you're playing with Madden generated draft classes, then that means that your rookies AND your UDFA's are "fake."

                        At that point, why would it be such a nuisance to have the UDFA's populate all 32 teams' rosters?

                        The FA pool is getting flooded with quality veteran players because the CPU rather keep these UDFA who have 85?? next to their overall in the pre-season vs a veteran with a solid known 72 overall.

                        Then after the ratings are reveled after the pre-season ends the cpu teams are filled with 40-50 overalls as primary back-ups.

                        Huge issue.

                        So this will solve it.
                        Now Playing on PS5:
                        CFB 26 Hurricanes/Fresno State Year 2
                        MLB The Show 25 - 2025 Yankees Year 1
                        MLB The Show 25 1985 Yankees Year 1
                        Oblivion Remaster



                        Follow me on Twitch
                        https://www.twitch.tv/armorandsword

                        Comment

                        • PacMan3000
                          MVP
                          • Jul 2002
                          • 1807

                          #13
                          Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

                          I see. So the problem isn't that it's fake players populating rosters, but rather BAD players landing roster spots over quality vets?

                          For anyone who has done free agency, can you offer an idea of how many solid players don't get signed? Are we seeing quality QB's, LB's, DB's, etc languishing in free agency for years and years? Or, are we seeing one of two good guys per position, and the rest are a bunch of pretty bad veterans?

                          Comment

                          • PacMan3000
                            MVP
                            • Jul 2002
                            • 1807

                            #14
                            Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

                            Also Manning, in addition to my questions on page one, are you completelty sure that if, for example, I only want to control and scout for the Browns, and opt not to scout any players for the other 31 teams, that that won't cause the CPU controlled teams to draft poorly because I didn't scout for them?

                            I noticed that when I set the scouting setting to CPU for the other teams, and went back to see who they scouted, they didn't scout anyone.

                            And can you also talk about the scouting feature for the user. Because I've heard people say it's good and it gives you a decent amount of info. Others have said they'll scout players only to discover they're all drafted by round 2, and then they're just blinding selecting guys?

                            Comment

                            • silv504
                              Rookie
                              • Nov 2009
                              • 126

                              #15
                              Re: M2H's 32 Team Control Franchise Handbook

                              Thanks for the guide.
                              "I'm not always right but I'm seldom wrong"

                              Comment

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