1976 NFL file

[leeman67]

For anyone interested, I have taken Muscle Mike's 1976 NFL roster file (from Football-Freaks.com) and converted it for play in Maximum Football using JDHalfrack's DB editor. Although still a work in progress, I should have version 1.0 of this posted on FBMAX by this evening sometime. I'm including the team folders for unis and field art as well (I believe it was bassman58 who did the majority of these).

Names, heights, weights, jersey numbers, & skin tones should be mostly correct (please point out any errors), and the player ratings are all consistent with Mike's original file for Madden, although the ratings have been adjusted for compatibility with MaxFB. This will continue to be fine-tuned for future updates.

Any and all constructive feedback is much appreciated!

[therhino]

Thanks Leeman67. I can't wait to see them. Can we use the rosters in the MaxMod?
TheRhino

[local8h]

This is so exciting leeman67, I use musclemikes roster on madden04,
cant wait for it... thanks in advance

[Marauders]

Go Vikings!
 
The Purple People Eaters will live again!
 

[leeman67]

Thanks Leeman67. I can't wait to see them. Can we use the rosters in the MaxMod?
TheRhino
Absolutely. Go for it! [:)]

local8h wrote:

This is so exciting leeman67, I use musclemikes roster on madden04,
cant wait for it... thanks in advance

Thank YOU for the great stadiums you've been posting on your site, local8h. Quite a few are used in this file, and I should mention that as well.

I have uploaded the roster file itself so it should hopefully be available for download shortly. The readme file will provide all of the details. It looks like I'm going to have to upload the team folders individually because of their size, so I'll get working on those as well.

[leeman67]

Ok, the files are now out there on fbmax.com. The league file is under lge_nfl76.zip and the team folders are under Teams_NFL76.zip (or each division can be downloaded separately). ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: I just realized that the Cardinals and Raiders both only have 44 active players on their roster. Anyone wanting to each these teams in Quick Play should first sign at least one free agent for each team. You can leave them off the depth chart, but at least add them to the roster. Otherwise, the game will automatically add about 40 free agents to each team before you can use them in exhibition mode. Trust me, it sucks big time when you have to clean up that mess. I learned that lesson the hard way. [;)]

Enjoy!

[garysorrell]

leeman67, let me say that this is fantastic work. Wow! I think 76 was one of the first years I followed the NFL religiously. These players and teams are all very familiar to me. The Colts were in Baltimore and the Rams in LA....ah, the good times.

[leeman67]

1976 was pretty much when it all began for me too.  My first memory is Super Bowl X, which was right after the 1975 season, so '76 was the first full season that I followed. 

Thanks for the positive feedback.  Of course RIGHT after I upload the roster file, I noticed the jersey numbers for the St. Louis Cardinals are all wrong.  I must have somehow skipped over them in error.  My apologies to everyone.  I will continue to make corrections and upload an update in the next few days.  I have also updated some of the endzone and field art, and will include those updates as well. 

ON EDIT: update already uploaded with correct Cardinals' jersey numbers and skill ratings

[leeman67]

Forgot to include the Readme doc in the update, so here it is:
 
Muscle Mike's NFL 1976 Roster for Madden 04 converted to Maximum Football 2.0
Version 1.0
 
Notes about this initial upload:
- Unzip the lge_NFL76 file into your main Maximum Football folder.
- The uniform, main logo, and field art is in a separate download.  This folder (Teams_NFL76) is also unzipped into the main folder.
- All names, heights, weights, positions, and jersey numbers should be 100% accurate.  Please let me know of any discrepancies.
- The schedule is completely accurate to the 1976 season.
- Skins tones should mostly be correct with some fine tuning here and there to be done. 
- Faces and facemasks also need some fine tuning.
- Player ratings were converted using a very unscientific formula, but should be in line with MaxFB's basic ratings ranges for each skill.  There, again, may be some fine tuning to be done here.
- No work at all was done on any playbooks.  This is not my expertise, and appreciate any contributions of help or suggestions that will make these more authentic.  This affects the integrity of the depth charts as you will see.
- Speaking of depth charts: they are basically 100% accurate but some players may be out of position, particularly in the 4-3 defensive alignment.  I'm open to suggestions here on the best playbooks to use that will correct this.   The teams that use the 3-4 should be fine using the stock playbooks included with version 2.0 of MaxFB.
- Note that Tampa Bay is in the AFC Central.  This is not an error.  The Bucs and Seahawks swapped conferences beginning in 1977.  Most of you know this, but in case some didn't...
- More updates to come.  Enjoy the trip down memory lane!
 
Version 1.1 Update:
- Fixed St. Louis Cardinals jersey numbers and skill ratings on their LB's and DB's.  These were missed in the first upload.
 
Thanks to:
- Muscle Mike (from Football-Freaks.com) for doing the real front-end heavy lifting of creating these rosters in the first place.
- JDHalfrack and his DB editor for allowing me to do this within a reasonable amount of time.
- bassman58 and many of the other uniform modders out there.
- local8h for the awesome stadiums he's created.
- David Winter for having the vision to create such a great product as MaxFB, along with his understanding of the pc football gaming community and what it really demands.
- everyone in the Maximum Football community interested in seeing the full potential of this game, and the many different modifications that are being done to make this game even better than it already is.

Lee Bryner
"leeman67"
lee.bryner@ge.com
ljbryner@gmail.com

[garysorrell]

Hey leeman67, in 76 the Bucs were actually in the AFC West.

http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/standings.nsf/Seasons/1976

[DONMVP]

yep garysorell is right about that . I just looked it up . In fact i remember going to there game in oakland that year believe it was 49 to 16 , raiders.

[leeman67]

Hey leeman67, in 76 the Bucs were actually in the AFC West.

You are correct Gary. See, I got confused myself about the '76 alignment. My mistake. I will make this correction to the league file. This should not affect the schedule, which is accurate (and trust me, the '76 Bucs are not likely to contend for either division title [;)]).

[leeman67]

Damn, it did affect the schedule.  Basically, it reset the schedule to what it originally was.  And it took me a while to make the schedule the first time editing the database.  Oh well.  I'll re-do it and provide another update in a few days.  I'm on version 1.2 right now (just uploaded to FBmax).
 
 

[leeman67]

Version "1.3" just uploaded to FBmax (as "NFL76 1.3.zip"). Just a heads-up to everyone that this is a large download. It includes the league database itself along with the Teams folders, Player Photos, and a few of the stadiums I've been working on. I'll continue to add more of these as separate downloads.

Here is what is updated:

- Revised a few of the ratings ranges to improve the statistical realism. Still need help with playbooks. A standard pro-set O with a base 4-3 D is what should be used for most teams.
- Re-did the schedule (again!) and hopefully it keeps this time.
- Also had to re-do a few depth charts. For some reason, a few of these had re-set to default even though I have them all under user-control (don't know why that is, but it has made this whole project extra tedious).
- A little fine-tuning of the unis for the Bears (darker navy blue) and the Cowboys (pants color corrected).
- Added a few custom stadiums: Busch, Texas, Riverfront, and 3 Rivers. These are also available as separate downloads. More to come (hopefully)!
- Included player portraits for many of the key players on all teams. These will mostly be offensive & special teams starters who you might occasionally see a portrait of during the game when they score, kick off, etc. Thank God for Ebay. [:'(]

Enjoy,
Leeman67

[echolodge]

Your work on this project is really appreciated. Thanks a lot for making the game even more enjoyable.

[Mrgravyard50]

After a long time away I finally came back to Max and tried this roster..  WOW!!
I do have a question tho, -  If I wanted to change a couple of things  such as change a roster  can it be done without screwing up the file ?
Thanks Leeman 67  Great Job!!!!!!

[GFeros]

Nice work, can somebody post screen shots. Thanks.

[leeman67]

Thanks for the compliments. I should have continued fine-tuning this however, because it's far from perfect. I just got away from this game for a while (maintaining a Madden 08 1976 franchise journal over at football-freaks.com is taking most of what little free time I have these days), and am now starting back into it a bit.

I do have a question tho, - If I wanted to change a couple of things such as change a roster can it be done without screwing up the file ?

Not sure if I understand the question completely. Are you talking about player ratings, depth charts, etc?

One other error I noticed in my last version of this - the schedule. You might find that New Orleans is scheduled for two games in week one (oops!). Just replace them with Atlanta for the week one game vs. Minnesota using the Schedule Editor. Sorry for that error.

Leeman67

[Mrgravyard50]

Well I what I want to do is this. 1st I have never been able to make a league of my own. And I want to change some teams like the Bears to the 85 Bears or The Ravens to 2000 team or Cleveland to the 64 Browns. But Keep the Steelers and the Raiders and Minnesota. Would that screw this up?

[leeman67]

Sorry Mrgravyard50, I wish I knew.  Perhaps someone else in the community here can provide that answer.  I don't know of a way to export individual teams away from a league file, except that you can (I believe) add and remove teams between seasons.  The problem there is that would require advancing through at least one season and seeing those players on the 76 teams age one year, and some even possibly retire so your rosters are messed up.  Which doesn't help of course.  [&:]