Hack's Plays v3.4.3 Released

[Mykal]

Ive never seen open slots
but I agree with Hack's description (roster view and formation view are not on the same page)

in my roster I always have at least one KR and insert him to return kicks on roster view
but the formation view never puts him in on auto (always have to do it manually)
otherwise I end up with a 250lb linebacker returning kicks (madness[:'(])

Auto fill is only good for a starting point, you always have to play with after that

[DAWUSS]

ORIGINAL: garysorrell

In Roster View, the AI will always have 2 players at each DB/SA/CB
In Formation View, you will see one or two spots open if there are 6 or more DBs
In the pic below, the team has 10 DBs....hit Autofill and this is what it does.

Sometimes I wonder if the teampos.dat needs work. I had the problem with 2 spots being open on a 8man punt return, even with a 53 man roster. I changed the setup in teampos.dat and it seems to have solved it.

Of course, if no one else is seeing this problem, it is just me.

I get it too... Normally I just use the formation subs to correct any mistakes

[Tullius]

in my roster I always have at least one KR and insert him to return kicks on roster view

KR is an intersting topic. The default stock team profiles for a NFL type league and a roster size of 53 will have a KR. These profiles were made by me a long time ago. At that time a KR could be used not only as special teamer. He could play every other position like in RL. At least, so is my memory. In the NFL a typical KR will listed as HB, WR or DB.

But now i have noticed that now the AI will use a KR only as KR. Then he is unnecessary. I would delete him from every profile. The AI will take a HB, WR or DB and you have saved a valueable roster spot.

[Mykal]

Yes I noticed the same thing, which is a real draw back
but I just like having thet "specialist" on the roster
I know he costs a roster spot
but I counter-act that by making it a league rule (which I enforce Manually)
all teams must carry a KR - so all my teams are in the same boat, so to speak.

[regenerator]

'm thinking of doing it soon but that will require that i edit every playbook.

the situations that would need to be added are the following:

1st down 2-5, 6-10, 11-15, 15+
2nd down <1, 2-5, 6-10, 11-15, 15+
3rd down <1, 2-5, 6-10, 11-15, 15+

each of those will have to be created for 1-3 minutes, :30-1 minute, <:30 seconds.

that would be a total of 42 new groups and there would be approximately 30-40 plays per group. each group would have to be moved up the group list also to ensure that it takes priority over other plays. that would be at least a two weeks worth of left clicking and right clicking. if only i could add all the plays at once!

what groups do you want to see added for a two minute drill?

i might be able to not get so detailed with yards per down and just do an "any" 1st, 2nd, and 3rd down with 1-3 minutes, :30-1 minute, <:30 seconds. that would cut it down to 9 new groups instead of 42.

i could also do six groups instead which include an "any" down, "any" yard for 1-3, :30-1, <:30, and 3rd <1 for those times also.

can you give me an idea of what type of groups you want to see added?

Actually, I'm not as concerned about the plays in a group as much as I am percentages of run vs. pass. To often, I see running plays in inappropriate situations at the end of the first half.

I understand the load of work would be substantial either way, but perhaps I could help you with the busy work? The ideal situation for me would be to see the profiles you described-

1st down 2-5, 6-10, 11-15, 15+
2nd down <1, 2-5, 6-10, 11-15, 15+
3rd down <1, 2-5, 6-10, 11-15, 15+

for 1-3 minutes, :30-1 minute, <:30 seconds.

As far as plays in each group, couldn't you simply copy and paste a lot of this? In other words, fill one group with plays befitting a 2-minute offense (such as sideline passes, etc), then do a lot of "Save As" to create your other profiles? Wouldn't that save a lot of work?

I assume you know this, but if you didn't fill in the plays, but at least put in the new scenarios in the profiles as place-holders with the assigned run/pass percentages, then test the new scenarios, the profile will choose from the entire playbook. At least, that is what I have experienced

[hack153]

when you use "save as", the plays in the group keep duplicating and plays you don't want get added.  no one know why this happens.   wish the "save as" worked.  it would save me tons of work!

when you create a group without plays the percentages are supposed to work.  from what i've seen, that doesn't work either.  i've even tried only adding runs plays, but again, the percents were off. 

gary or old coach, you want to chime in on this? 

for right now, i have edited Coach Davis Jr. by adding these groups:

3rd down <1 yard, 1st half <:30
any down, any yard, 1st half <:30,
3rd down <1 yard, 1st half :30-1,
any down, any yard, 1st half :30-1,
1st down <1 yard, 1st half 1-3 min
1st down, 2-5, 1st half 1-3 min
1st down, 6-10, 1st half 1-3 min
1st down, 11-15, 1st half 1-3 min
3rd down, 15+, 1st half 1-3 min

2nd down <1 yard, 1st half 1-3 min
2nd down, 2-5, 1st half 1-3 min
2nd down, 6-10, 1st half 1-3 min
2nd down, 11-15, 1st half 1-3 min
2nd down, 15+, 1st half 1-3 min

3rd down <1 yard, 1st half 1-3 min
3rd down, 2-5, 1st half 1-3 min
3rd down, 6-10, 1st half 1-3 min
3rd down, 11-15, 1st half 1-3 min
3rd down, 15+, 1st half 1-3 min

[garysorrell]

I had asked David this a long time ago. The profiles are supposed to use the percentages, regardless. If there are plays in there, they will use those plays. If no plays are in a situation, it is supposed to go grab whatever it needs from the play pool.

The situations are something I have yet to get a good grasp on. I have set up 2 min drills, kill the clock, etc. I dont know why but they sometimes just dont work. And yes, I have seen the game ignore the percentages, even when it was something simple like a 1st and any 100% run. Wasnt anything else there that would have conflicted with that.

Also, has anyone tried playing with NO playclock? That is apparently broken also. You get constant delay of game penalties.
I always use a playclock, but if it is an option, it should work. Definately something we didnt apparently look at in beta testing. Stuff like this ticks me off. Makes me mad at myself more than anything. But there are so many things to check, stuff can slip by.

Anyway, im working on some 8man books. I am definately going to be looking at what is up with situations. I have been making plays to fill them, havent worked much on the situations other than some really basic stuff.

And thanks DAWUSS, glad to hear it isnt just me. I wish we didnt have to handle it ourselves. I wont use a league larger than 6 or 8 teams, because I dont want to micromanage too many rosters.

[hack153]

glad to hear i'm not the only one going crazy over these situation issues!

[Mykal]

certainly not just you guy's
situations drive me mad too, sometimes they just dont happen how you set them up and seem to be ignored
and the no fieldgoals in situations is a real big oversight

and I'm with ya Gary, if its their it should work
which brings me nicely around to canadian players and imports again
the imports rule still doesnt work (the game doesnt enforce it), despite me raising the issue with David
and his reply of: its something I'm looking at, I guess thats all he did...... look
and newly generated players are always American, which really ticks me off
and creates a whole load of work for me each time I set up a league

seems odd to me that the basic canadian stuff doesnt work
in a game that was designed by a canadian and originally aimed at canadian rules football.......... [&:]

[SJ9R]

Hack,

I read your notes regarding the use of your plybooks if we are coaching/ playing. Are your playbooks designed to be changed each week depending on who the opponents are? I set up a league of 12 teams. I was planning on using your profiles for the computer teams. Can I set up one of your playbooks for each team for the entire season? Or do I need to change them from week to week depending on what offense they are going against? I would much rather just set them and forget them for the season.

Thanks!

[garysorrell]

Well, im not Hack, but I can say that once you assign a playbook to a team, then thats it. Thats the playbook that team goes with until you the user changes it.

There is no in-game feature or AI that knows what playbook a team is facing, and makes adjustments.

Now that being said, Hacks playbooks are well balanced against each other. He has created them with a common set of groundrules. All of the playbooks seem to have defenses that can handle what the other playbooks offenses throw at them.

[hack153]

ORIGINAL: SJ9R

Hack,

I read your notes regarding the use of your plybooks if we are coaching/ playing. Are your playbooks designed to be changed each week depending on who the opponents are? I set up a league of 12 teams. I was planning on using your profiles for the computer teams. Can I set up one of your playbooks for each team for the entire season? Or do I need to change them from week to week depending on what offense they are going against? I would much rather just set them and forget them for the season.

Thanks!

my playbooks are designed to be coach specific, which should also be team specific. i understand that in real life, coaches change their game plans depending on which team they are facing. however, that is not possible to do in this video game unless you make several variations of one coach.

my playbooks are designed to be what a coach would use as a general game plan. i think that is the best thing i can do in this video game to make it as realistic as possible.

[SJ9R]

Thats what I am looking for.&nbsp; Thanks!

[hack153]

I have added a 1st & 2nd Hald 2 minute / hurry up offense to Coach Davis.  I will also be adding it to Coach Wilson. 

It contains several variations of:

3rd <1
3rd and Any
Any and Any

This is the maximum coverage I can provide for these situations without adding millions of groups.

I'm not sure how many groups I have added, but it's a lot.  I also re-assigned some groups and deleted some others that were covered with the new 2 minute drills. 

I have not worked on every playbook because I was to get some opinions of the added 2 minute drill.  I should be finished with Davis in a week or sooner.