Skills Ratings Question

[jdhalfrack]

Okay, this question is for anyone, but specifically addressed to David.

Would it be possible to get a Position by Position breakdown of exactly what skill ratings are and are not used for each position? Some are obvious (like kicking is not used for a quarterback). I only ask because I find that some positions have high ratings in areas that don't seem to match that position.

Basically, I am working on a formula for an "Overall" rating for my editor. I'm having good success and accurate results, but I am confused by some positions. I don't want to include skills into a rating that don't get included into the game's programming (if that makes sense).

Thanks guys!

JD

[David Winter]

For the most part all skills are applicable to all positions. The exceptions are;
 
KAC, KST as you noted is only for kickers.
PSA, PSS, PPR are applicable to any player throwing the ball.
CAT is used for any player that could be catching the ball (including DB's).
COV is used for any defender that is covering an offensive player on a pass pattern.
 
The rest are common. Speed, agility, blocking, discipline, etc...

[simmer]

What skill(s) would be the second most important attribute for offensive lineman and centers. I'm trying to cut down on the amount of sacks and I would think blocking would be a major one. Would agility be the next in playing a role in the positioning to make the block?  I have a second question? When the defenders get into the back field and the QB starts to scramble, he oftens gets sacked. Why does'nt he throw the ball away to avoid this. Does discipline play a role in his decision making?

[David Winter]

Speed and agility are the two skills used to determine how well a player moves, so if your players are not getting into position well enough, those would be where to start.

Discipline is only used for penalties. There's a full description of how the skills are used on page 45 of the manual. It also details how the blocking and passing is calculated and how the skills effect those actions.

[simmer]

Thanks Dave

[SmilinJack]

I'm disappointed. I thought Discipline was used to determine if my guys EARNED a DUI or Felony drug possession charges and would be arrested or at the very least suspended or brought before a Congressional chat up about their B12 shots...NO?

SO MUCH FOR REALISM![;)]

Huh...

SmilinJack

[jdhalfrack]

I guess I'm looking for a little more detail. Like basically, if I plug a random player into a QB position, what ratings specifically could the game look for regardless of what play is about to be chosen?

For example, I would assume a QB's overall rating would be some combination of Speed, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Endurance, Discipline, Blocking, Pass Strength, Pass Accuracy, Pocket Passer, Catching, and Hands. Now, obviously, some of those matter WAY more than others. If I were to rank them in order of importance, I would do the following:

1. Pass Accuracy (PAC) --> For obvious reasons
2. Pass Strength (PST) --> For obvious reasons
3. Intelligence (INT) --> A dumb QB with good skills is just as bad as a smart QB with bad skills
4. Discipline (DIS) --> A QB with amazing skills but lacking discipline is not a good QB
5. Speed (SPD) --> All QBs need to move around whether they stay in the pocket or if they are a scrambler
6. Hands (HND) --> QBs have a tendency to run, whether they intend to or not, and when they do, you do not want them to fumble
7. Agility (AGI) --> QBs have a tendency to run, whether they intend to or not, and when they do, you want them to be agile
8. Strength (STR) --> A generic skill that should be included in all player's OVERALL rating (some higher than others)
9. Endurance (END) --> although endurance is good, in the OVERALL rating of a player's SKILLS, this should barely be included
10. Blocking (BLK) --> A QB blocks (every now and then), so including blocking in the OVERALL is neccesary, but not very high
11. Catching (CTH) --> on the off chance you run a QB receiving trick play (when they get implemented)
12. Pocket Passing (PP) --> not even sure this rating means anything or if it's just a tendency

So, after looking at that list, I came up with this formula for an OVERALL rating for a QB:

(((PAC - 50) / 10) * 6.00) +
(((PST - 50) / 10) * 5.00) +
(((SPD - 50) / 10) * 3.40) +
(((HND - 50) / 10) * 2.90) +
(((AGI - 50) / 10) * 2.40) +
(((STR - 50) / 10) * 2.00) +
(((END - 50) / 10) * 1.15) +
(((BLK - 0) / 10) * 0.25) +
(((CTH - 40) / 10) * 0.25)

Take the total of what you got and multiply it by ((INT + DIS) / 140).

It seems a little confusing at first, but it gives some pretty accurate results. For those of you who know the formulas they used to get the Madden Overall player ratings, you'll notice that this is loosely (VERY loosely) based off of those. You'll notice I didn't use PP at all (because it isn't really a determining factor of how well someone plays the game, just how they play the game.

My dilemma is that I am not 100% sure of what skills I need to be using in each position (I do not own a manual?). Any help would be appreciated (as well as feedback on my QB formula). I will post a spread sheet on here in a little bit that has my formulas for QB, WR, RB, and TE. Then, you guys can experiment with some numbers (for those of you who do not like typing in long formulas on your own).

JD

[jdhalfrack]

Here's a spreadhseet that will generate and "Overall" rating for QBs, WRs, OLs, RB, and DLs. I am working on a formula for each position so that my editor will eventually be able "auto-fill" depth charts based on an Overall rating for each position. I'm looking for some feedback on how you think the formulas turned out. In the spreadsheet, to view the actual formula, select the entire sheet and choose to "unhide" cells (I hid the cells to remove some of the clutter).

Let me know what you think.

JD

P.S. When downloading the file, change the extension to ".xls" instead of ".txt"

[simmer]

how do I download this?

[micvik]

I'm having trouble downloading this aswell

*Edit*
Oh, OK I got It.

This a great start. One suggestion for the future is that you could link a certain set of ratings to specific playbooks. So if my team has an option playbook the editor would automatically use the overall ratings for that style of QB.

Keep up the fantastic work jdhalfrack