House of Games 2 (Hi-Tech Products)

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Text File | 1992-07-24 | 89KB | 2,210 lines

---------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER INTRODUCTION ............................. 1 The game disks ...................... 2 1 GENERAL INFORMATION ...................... 3 The controls ........................ 3 The playing field ................... 7 2 THE HIT RULES ............................ 8 When you are allowed to hit ......... 8 Hits during a run ................... 9 Hits during a pass .................. 10 Hits in the breakthrough zone ....... 11 Hits during a pass rush ............. 11 Hits when rushing a kick ............ 12 Summary ............................. 12 3 OPTIONS .................................. 13 Automatic signal calling ............ 13 Automatic tackling .................. 13 Game speed .......................... 13 The hit-sound option ................ 13 Pursuit ............................. 14 Blocking ............................ 14 Block handicap ...................... 14 Automatic blocking .................. 15 Left-right motion ................... 15 Playing against the computer ........ 17 How to change options ............... 18 Skipping the speed test ............. 18 4 DEFENSIVE SIGNAL CALLING ................. 19 If you want no rush ................. 19 If you want a rush .................. 20 The defensive menu .................. 22 5 OFFENSIVE SIGNAL CALLING ................. 25 6 THE PLAY ................................. 27 Starting the play ................... 27 The running play .................... 27 The pass play ....................... 29 Draw play ........................... 31 Fieldgoal attempt ................... 32 Punt ................................ 32 Kickoff ............................. 33 On-side kick ........................ 33 Scoring ............................. 34 7 HOW THE COMPUTER KEEPS TRACK OF THINGS ... 35 The score board ..................... 35 Time ......... ...................... 35 8 PENALTIES ................................ 37 9 HUMAN AGAINST COMPUTER ................... 39 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GAME OF DEFENSE ----------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION ----------------------------------------------------------------- These are the directions for playing DEFENSE, a new concept in electronic football. It is a concept that allows the best simulation of real football that has ever been made. It is to other games what chess is to checkers. Because it is more than the normal chase-game, you will have to do a little reading and practicing. Between these instructions and the PRACTICE disk, you should have no trouble becoming a pro. The main difference between this game and the others is that YOU, not your computer, do the tackling and blocking, cause fumbles, interceptions, etc. How well you call a play or a defense determines what your chances of success are. Then your skill and your reflexes let you improve those chances. There is little that can be done in a real football game that cannot be done in this game - runs, passes, screen passes, draw plays, fieldgoals, on-side kicks, blitzes, sacks, interceptions, fumbles, blocked kicks, and penalties. This game offers a range of levels of difficulty through which players can progress. It can be played by two or four players and by a humans against the computer. In order to get all of the advantages that this game offers, the playing field has to be seen from a fair distance above the ground. That means that you can't have the beautifully animated little men that run around other electronic football games. Just remember that those games have very realistic graphics but we have a very realistic football game. In the interest of saving many bytes of disk space and many pages that you would have to print out, the word "he" is used in this booklet to mean "he or she". There are no sinister chauvinistic motives involved - only economy and conservation. We suggest that you go through the PRACTICE program to get an idea of what the game is about. Then use these instructions to get a deeper understanding. Next, use the PRACTICE program to develop your skills. The last step in your training should be playing the real game, the DEFENSE program, against the computer. Then you should be ready to take on a human opponent. 1 THE GAME DISKS The game comes on two low-density diskettes or one high-density diskette. The main program is DEFENSE.EXE. Just put the disk into drive A of your IBM PC (or compatible) and enter GO or DEFENSE. You will first get a chance to set up the game the way you want to play it. Then the game will start. A tutorial program PRACTICE.EXE teaches you the game and lets you practice the basic skills. Just put that disk into drive A and enter PRACTICE. The disks also have a file DEFENSE.TXT which has this instruction booklet in it. If you can, you should print it out. The booklet is for those who want the game explained in much more detail than the PRACTICE disk does. Both DEFENSE and PRACTICE need the file SYMBOLS.PIX. It must be present on whichever disk you use to store these programs on. 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INFORMATION ----------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONTROLS The game can be played with several combinations of keyboard, joysticks, and mouse. * Two joysticks and the keyboard. The keyboard needs to be used only for things like entering plays that are not on the menu or to call time and accept or refuse penalties. The set-up sequence gives you a chance to check which joystick controls which team. See the picture below. * One joystick or mouse and the keyboard. If two humans are playing, the joystick or mouse controls the red team on the left. The player with the blue team on the right must use the arrow keys of the keyboard. If a human is playing against the computer, the joystick or mouse moves to the blue team on the right. The player can use one of them or the arrow keys. The computer always plays the red team. See the picture below. * Keyboard only. This mode works well when a human is playing against the computer. The human must then use the arrow keys. It is not the recommended way for two humans to play but it can be done. The player on the right must use the arrow keys to control the blue team. The player on the left must use the Q, A, S, and Z keys to control the red team. The player on offense must enter his signals after the defense. When two humans use the keyboard, the block handicap does not work and the first player to push a HIT button succeeds. It is also possible for other button pushes of the two players to interfere with each other. (Players should make pushes short. No holding down a button.) * Two players on a side. If you have a mouse or a joystick controlling either team, two players can play on one side. One player uses the joystick and one, the keyboard. With two joysticks, two players can play on each side. On a team of two players, one might be responsible for calling plays and directing the left/right movements. The other might do the blocking and tackling. 3 -------PICTURE OF KEYBOARD, MOUSE, AND JOYSTICK MODES--------- The pictures below show which side the keyboard (KB), joystick (JS), and mouse (M) are on in the different modes. COMPUTER vs. HUMAN HUMAN vs. HUMAN HUMAN vs. HUMAN (two sticks) ------------- ------------- ------------- / <-KB \ / KB-> <-KB \ / KB-> <-KB \ /_________________\ /_________________\ /_________________\ <-JS JS-> JS-> <-JS <-M M-> --------------------------------------------------------------- The Joystick or Mouse With a joystick, the player should make a short move of the stick and let it return to the middle. With a mouse, he should make a short movement and stop (no return to the original position). Each such movement is equivalent to one push of a keyboard button. Left or right movements during the play let you control left/right motion of your players. You can use any button on the mouse or joystick as a HIT button to make hits for blocks or tackles. The computer looks at each button several times each second to see if you are pushing it. If your push is very short, it is possible for the computer to miss it. On the other hand, you can get into foul trouble if you push it too long. A little practice will teach you how long to push. (The keyboard doesn't have that problem. A short push will do.) I you're ever not sure which team your mouse or joystick controls, it will help you to know that if you do anything with it while the play menu is on the screen, a small dash will appear under the bottom corner of the menu box on the side that it controls and in the color of its team. When using the menu to call signals, the right motion lets you move from one sub-menu to the next. At the last sub-menu, it also signals the computer that you have finished. A down movement when you are calling signals tells the computer that you want to use the sub-menu to make a selection. The colored pointers will then appear. After that, short up or down movements move the pointers up or down. Longer mouse movements can be used to move the pointer over several selections. 4 The mouse or joystick buttons can be used instead of right movement to go to the next sub-menu. After signal calling, the offensive button can be used to begin the play. If a software mouse driver is installed on your computer system, the game will respond to a mouse (even if a joystick is also installed). If no mouse software is installed, the game responds to any joysticks that are properly installed. During the set-up procedure you get a chance to adjust the joy sticks. The X and Y controls or tabs on the sticks should be put about in the center. The screen shows you the X and Y readings the computer is getting from the sticks. Move the stick all the way to the right and note the X reading. Move it all the way to the left and note that reading. Then let the stick return to the middle and adjust the X tab so that the X reading is half way between these two readings. (The numbers will move around a little.) Do the same thing for the Y (up and down) direction. If, during the game, the sticks begin to behave strangely, get back to the set-up sequence and repeat the adjustment. After the adjustment, you get a chance to test the joystick or mouse. Pushing right should make an arrow appear that points in the correct direction. (If a joystick is not behaving correctly, it might not be adjusted well. Pushing X takes you back to the adjustment procedure and lets you try again.) Pushing any of the buttons should make a sun appear. All of these characters appear on the left in red and on the right in blue, depending on which team the device controls. The device should, of course, be moved to the side that it controls. During the play, you might want to slant it toward the screen so that right and left movement corresponds to right and left movements of your players. |___________________| screen \ \ <- joystick or mouse Whether you have a mouse or joystick or just a keyboard in your system has some affect on the speed of the game. You can compensate for this with the speed setting. Also, in some situations, the computer gives the joystick a little faster control of left-right movement to make up for a little slower response to your pushing it. 5 The Keyboard The things that can be done with the joystick or mouse can also be done from the Keyboard. There are also some things that can be done only on the Keyboard. These things are calling signals with the number keys instead of the menus, accepting or refusing penalties, and freezing the screen. The following is a list of keys and what they do. A - - - - HIT-button for red (left) team. - Starts play when on offense. - Accepts penalty. F - - - - Freezes action on screen. Second push un-freezes it. H - - - - Makes a hit and stops play even when not legal. L - - - - Shifts formation left in signal calling. M - - - - Shifts formation to middle in signal calling. N - - - - Answers "no" to question in set-up sequence. Q - - - - Causes left motion on red (left) team during play. - Moves pointers up during signal calling with menus. R - - - - Shifts formation right in signal calling. - Refuses penalty. S - - - - Moves to next sub-menu during signal calling. T - - - - Time out. X - - - - Calls set-up sequence. Y - - - - Answers "yes" to questions in set-up sequence. Z - - - - Causes right movement on red (left) team during play. - Moves pointers down during signal calling with menus. 0 to 9 - Used to call signals when not using menu. * - Used during set-up sequence. * Up arrow- Causes right motion on blue (right) team during play. - Moves pointers up during signal calling with menus. Dn arrow- Causes left motion on blue (right) team during play. - Moves pointers down during signal calling with menus. Lft arow- HIT-button for blue (right) team. - Starts play when on offense. Rit arow- Moves to next sub-menu during signal calling. RETURN (or ENTER) - Calls default play if used instead of signals. - Marks end of signal calling when using number keys. - Starts play if playing against the computer. Space - Can be used as HIT-button against computer. * Note: To enter numbers, use the row of numbers at the top of the main keyboard. That way you can keep NUM LOCK off which lets you use the arrow keys on the numerical key-pad. (If you have separate arrow keys, it doesn't matter.) 6 THE PLAYING FIELD There are two things about the playing field that are peculiar to this game. The home (red) team always defends the left side and the visiting (blue) team, the right. The blue team always kicks off first. There is no changing of sides between quarters. The top part of the screen is the playing area looking down on the field. Only a part of the football field can be seen in this view. It goes from sideline to sideline and covers about 54 yards in the down-field direction. During a play, a black number near the line of scrimmage shows what down it is. On the bottom of the screen is the side-view of the entire field. It shows where the ball is at any time. There is a first-down marker and a dot that marks the line of scrimmage. If you can't see the goal posts on the normal field and you are trying a fieldgoal, you can watch that view to see whether the ball goes over the bar. The playing area is divided into defensive zones. Figure 1 shows these zones. The Rush zone is the offensive backfield zone. All plays begin in this zone. Rushing defenders to get into it if the play is a pass, a draw, or a kick. The line zone is where the defensive linemen are. There can be from three to nine of them. The linebacker zone is where the linebackers play. You can have from none to four linebackers. The safety zone is where the safeties are. Again you can have from none to four of them. If a ballcarrier is allowed through the line, linebacker, and safety zones without being stopped, he is in the breakthrough zone. In that zone, Only the closest defender still has a chance to catch him. Figure 1. Defensive Zones on the Screen Red on offense >>>>> <<<<< Blue on defense RUSH LINE LINEBACKER SAFETY BREAKTHRU Red on defense >>>>> <<<<< Blue on offense BREAKTHRU SAFETY LINEBACKER LINE RUSH 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 2 THE HIT RULES ----------------------------------------------------------------- The main idea of the game is that the more defenders are in the zone that the ballcarrier is in, the better are the chances of stopping him. The hit rules of the game were designed to make these chances be close to what they would be in a real game. They govern tackling and blocking and things like fumbles, interceptions, blocked kicks, and sacks. Tackling and blocking are done with the HIT buttons. The HIT buttons are the buttons on the joysticks or mice. On the keyboard, they are the left arrow on the right side and the A key on the left. The space bar can be used against the computer. WHEN YOU ARE ALLOWED TO HIT During the play, you will hear beeps. At each beep, the computer selects one defender in the zone that the ball is in. This is usually the defender closest to the ball when the ball first enters the zone, then the next closest defender, and so on. the computer then decides whether or not to give the selected defender an OPPORTUNITY to make a hit. That is, it gives you a signal that tells you whether or not you are allowed to push the HIT button. (The computer makes this decision by rolling its electronic dice. But the probability of it coming up saying "hit" depends on how many defenders are in the zone that the ball is in or how close the ballcarrier is to the nearest defender. We will learn more about that later.) What is the signal that the computer sends you? The selected defender will turn some color. Well, actually his pants will turn some color. If that color is the color of the defense, you can hit. If it's some other color, you can't hit. That rule applies to the player on offense as well as the player on defense. So if the red team is on defense, both players can hit their HIT buttons only if a defender turns red at a beep. If the blue team is on defense, they can hit only if the defender turns blue. If the player on defense pushes his button first, it's a good hit. If the player on offense hits his button first, it's a block. A player who makes a hit on the wrong color gets a penalty. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< < < < From now on, we will call it an OPPORTUNITY when the computer < < flashes a color that you can hit on. < < < <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< That is the hit rule in a nutshell. Let's now cover it in more detail and see how it applies to different situations. 8 HITS DURING A RUN This is how the hit rules apply when a ballcarrier is running on the ground in the line zone, the linebacker zone, or the safety zone. The defense gets three chances in each zone to stop the ballcarrier. That is, there are three beeps in a zone as long as the ballcarrier is not stopped. At each beep, the computer selects a defender, starting with the defender who is closest to the path of the ballcarrier. The computer controls the odds of being able to make tackles by how it decides on whether to give designated defenders opportunities to hit. This decision is different on the first beep in a zone than on the others. On the first beep in a zone, the computer rolls its electronic dice to determine whether to give the first defender an OPPORTUNITY. It sets the odds that he will get one by how close the ballcarrier is to the defender. (Closeness is measured in the vertical direction only no matter in which direction the runner is going. In other words, if the runner were running straight down field, how close would he come to the defender? See the illustration in Figure 2.) If the runner is facing the defender head-on, the chances of the computer giving the designated defender an OPPORTUNITY 100 percent. The chances drop off as the distance to the defender gets bigger. Q Q Q 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 XXXXX 100% 0 0 0 0 0 0 XXXXX <-------------- Center of Ballcarrier 0 0 0 0 0 0 XXXXX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Q Q Q 0% in line zone <----------------- 0% elsewhere <------------------ Figure 2. Chances of getting an OPPORTUNITY at different distances from defender (on first beep in zone only) 9 On the beeps after the first one in a zone, the computer again rolls the electronic dice. But this time it sets the odds of giving an OPPORTUNITY by how many defenders there are in the zone. The more defenders there are, the better the chances of him being given an opportunity. You can see that the odds of getting an OPPORTUNITY on any beep, even the first one, improve with the number of defenders in the zone. Of course, a defender's getting an OPPORTUNITY doesn't stop the ballcarrier. It only means that he is eligible to hit. It means that the players are allowed to push their HIT buttons. The player on defense must then push his HIT button before the next beep. The player on offense can also push his HIT button and, if he hits it first, can block the player on defense. If the defense can make a hit without being blocked, the progress of the ballcarrier is stopped. If the hit was made on any beep other than the first beep in the zone, the play ends and there are no more beeps. If the hit was made on the first beep in the zone, what happens next depends on the zone. If a successful hit is made on the first beep in the line zone, the ballcarrier is stopped but not down. He can no longer make a gain. He can only try to keep from being thrown for a loss. So he keeps on probing the line. The beeps continue for two more beeps or until the player on defense cannot make a successful hit. For each successful hit, the ballcarrier can be pushed pushed back a little, depending on how fast the hit is made. If the defense can make three hits in a row, there is a fourth beep. If the defense can make a successful hit on this beep also, the ball is fumbled and recovered by the team on defense. If a successful hit is made on the first beep in the linebacker or the safety zone, the ballcarrier is stopped. The beeps continue for three more beeps or until the defense fails to make a successful hit. On the third hit, the ball is knocked loose. If the defense can make a fourth hit, the ball is recovered by the team on defense. Otherwise, the offense retains control. HITS DURING A PASS In a pass play, the ball is passed from the rush zone to the reception zone. The reception zone is the line zone on a screen pass, the linebacker zone on a short pass, and the safety zone on a long pass. As the ball approaches the reception zone, there is a beep and the nearest defender is selected. Just as in a run, the computer rolls its electronic dice to determine whether to give him an opportunity. It sets the odds that he will get one by how close to the defender the ball will come down. (If the left-right option is off so that you cannot move the defenders, the odds are set by how many defenders are in the zone.) 10 If the defense gets an OPPORTUNITY, the HIT button can be pushed. Again, the player on offense can push his hit button to block the defense. If the defensive player's hit is successful, the pass is incomplete. The beeps will then continue for three more beeps or until the defense cannot make a successful hit. If the defense can get hits on all four beeps, the pass is intercepted. In that case, the direction arrows change, the defenders are removed from the field and replaced by the other team's defenders, and play continues as a run with the intercepting team doing the running. If the defensive player cannot make a hit on the first beep in the reception zone, the pass is complete. In that case, the play continues as a run. The defense gets two more beeps in the zone and the rules are those of the run. HITS IN THE BREAKTHROUGH ZONE If a ballcarrier can make it all the way through to the end of the safety zone without being stopped or crossing the goal line, he enters the breakthrough zone. Only the nearest defender in the safety zone still has a chance to catch him. Until the ballcarrier reaches the goal line, there will be beeps and the nearest safety will be selected over and over. The computer sets the odds of his getting an OPPORTUNITY to one in six. If the player on defense can make a successful hit, the ballcarrier is stopped and the play ends. HITS DURING A PASS RUSH During a pass rush, a number of defenders enter the rush zone in pursuit of the passer. The computer beeps and designates defenders one at a time. The odds of each defender getting an OPPORTUNITY depend on how many rushers there are in the rush zone (even on the first beep). When one of the defenders gets an OPPORTUNITY, the player on defense can push his HIT button. The player on offense can block with his HIT button. On a pass rush, a single successful hit does not stop the passer. It takes two hits to make a sack. What's more, on a screen pass, the passer fades back only long enough to get one beep before he throws the ball so that he cannot be sacked. On a short pass, the passer fades back for only two beeps. So the defense must make a successful hit on each beep. On a long pass, the passer fades back for three beeps. In that case, the defense gets three chances to make two hits. If the defense can make two successful hits during the 11 rush, the passer is sacked. If the defense can make hits on the first two beeps, the computer continues to beep for two more beeps or until the defense cannot make a successful hit. If the defense can make a hit on all four beeps, the passer is not only sacked but fumbles and the ball is recovered by the team on defense. By the way, you will see later that the player on offense can change the direction of the pass during the fade-back to take advantage of holes in the defense's coverage. If the defense can get even one hit during the pass rush, the offense can't continue changing the direction and its aim could be spoiled. HITS WHEN RUSHING A KICK During the rush of a punter or fieldgoal kicker, a number of defenders enter the rush zone. The computer beeps and designates defenders one at a time. The odds of a defender getting an OPPORTUNITY depend on how many rushers there are in the rush zone (even on the first beep). When one of the defenders gets an OPPORTUNITY, the player on defense can push his HIT button. The player on offense can block with his HIT button. It takes four successful hits in a row to block the kick. The computer beeps three times and adds a fourth beep if the defense can make hits on the first three. If the defense can get four successful hits, the kick is blocked and, except for a point-after-touchdown attempt, is recovered by the team on defense. SUMMARY Here is a summary of the hits required for various results. HITS < ON THE GROUND > 1 Tackle 4 Fumble < ON A PASS > 1 Incomplete (on first beep in reception area) 4 Interception < ON A RUSH > 1 Stop aiming of pass 2 Sack 4 Sack and fumble 4 Blocked kick 12 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 3. OPTIONS ----------------------------------------------------------------- You can make this game very easy or so hard that it's impossible to play. You decide how hard you want to make it by the computer options you choose and the rules you play by. In this chapter we tell you what your options are and how to set them up. One option you have is whether to play against the computer or against another human. We'll start with the game against the human. AUTOMATIC SIGNAL CALLING By not selecting a defensive formation or an offensive play before pushing the START button, you tell the computer to select for you. The computer also selects your play if you go through the play menu without making a selection. Either player can use automatic play calling at any time if you elect to allow it. The plays that the computer selects are not the smart plays it would select if it were playing against a human. All it does on defense is call the standard 533 defense with two linemen rushing. On offense, it selects a play at random from the running and passing plays that are available. AUTOMATIC TACKLING You can set the computer to push the HIT button for the player on defense. GAME SPEED The speed of the game can be set to from 0 to 9 (9 being the slowest). The speed setting affects the running speed of the ballcarrier, the speed of the ball in the air, the speed of the defenders, and the time interval between beeps. The setting does not affect the game clock. THE HIT-SOUND OPTION If this option is on, the computer modifies its beeps by adding a short beep an octave higher than the main beep if the computer is giving you an OPPORTUNITY to hit. This option makes the game much easier to play because you don't have to watch for the color of the defender. You can use your ears and let your eyes watch other things. On the other hand, it removes much of the challenge from the game. 13 PURSUIT With the pursuit option on, the defenders in the zone the ballcarrier is in pursue him just as real players would. With pursuit off, defenders stay put. That makes the game look less realistic but for a beginner it might be less confusing because there is less movement. As far as the progress of the play is concerned, it makes no difference whether pursuit is on or off. COMMENT: Up to this point, without use of the options that we will get to next, the game is strictly a game of probabilities. That is, the players call the signals and start the play. Except for pushing the HIT button (if the automatic tackling option is off), the computer runs the play. Chances of stopping the ballcarrier in any zone depend on how many defenders are in it. This mode is also the easiest to play. It tests only the players' play calling skill. The next group of options make the players' reaction times a factor and add excitement to the game. They allow players to shift the odds their way with their skill. They also make it harder to play. BLOCKING To use the blocking option, the players only have to agree that blocking is to be allowed. If the player on offense can push his HIT button before the player on defense can hit his, the defense's button is blocked and the defender on the field is knocked down with the appropriate sound effect. A legal block can be made only if a defender has been given an OPPORTUNITY. An illegal block draws a penalty. BLOCK HANDICAP The block handicap is the amount of time by which the player on offense must beat the player on defense to the HIT button in order to block successfully. (Actually, the interval is measured in the number of steps that the ballcarrier or pass receiver takes so that it is not always the same amount of time.) The block handicap can be set in the set-up mode to be between 0 and 3 steps. If the setting is very low, a player with slow reflexes would have no chance to ever make a tackle against a player with fast reflexes. A higher setting can reduce such an advantage. If both players are using the keyboard, the block handicap setting has no effect. In that case, the player who hits his HIT button first wins. 14 If a human is playing against the computer, the block handicap determines how long the computer waits to block and also to tackle. The higher the setting, the more chance the human has to beat the computer to the punch on offense or on defense. AUTOMATIC BLOCKING You can set the computer to push the HIT button for the player on offense. The effect of this is that the defense would not have the entire interval between beeps to push the HIT button, but only a short blocking-time interval. You cannot have both automatic tackling and blocking. The computer could develop a nervous condition. LEFT-RIGHT MOTION Selecting this option gives both players the ability to move things right or left. The players can use right or left movement of the joystick or mouse for this purpose. With the joystick, moving it right or left and returning it to the center is equivalent to one push of a button of the keyboard. With a mouse, it's one short motion to the right or left without returning it to its original position. If the players are using the keyboard, the player on the right can use the up and down arrows for right and left motion, respectively. The player on the left must use the Z and Q keys. The things that you can do with the right-left controls are described below. Moving the defenders The player on defense can move the defenders right or left. Only defenders in the line, linebacker, or safety zones can be moved. And only the defenders in one of these zones will move. When the ball is being run on the ground, the defenders that move are the ones in the zone into which a ballcarrier will run next. If the ball is in the air in a pass play, the defenders that move are the ones in the reception zone. (The reason why defenders stop moving when the ball enters a zone is that it no longer matters how close defenders are to the ball. That only matters before the first beep in a zone. The player on defense needs to move the defenders in the next zone into position for the first beep.) The player can begin the movement of defenders when a runner has started to run with the ball or when a pass is in the air. (If this option is not on, the computer gives "opportunities" to pass defenders based on how many defenders are in the reception zone rather than how close they are to where the ball will land.) 15 An example of how the controls work: Pushing the defensive R control starts the defenders moving to the right. Pushing the R control again makes them move faster. The control can be pushed three times for maximum speed. After that it has no affect. Exceptions to the rule are the pass defenders when the pass is in the air and linemen before a ballcarrier turns toward the line. In those cases, defenders move at only one speed. Once the defenders are moving to the right, pushing the L control stops their movement. Pushing L again, starts them moving to the left. When moving defenders reach a sideline, they don't go out of bounds. They merely bunch up. There is a drawback to using this option if the ball is being run on the ground. It diverts some of your attention from tackling. You are moving the defenders in the next zone into the path of the runner while you want to be watching for chances to make hits in the zone that the runner is in. Moving the ballcarrier When the ball is being carried on the ground, the offense's right and left motion can be used to change the ballcarrier's direction in order to try to avoid defenders. For example, pushing right causes him to veer to the right. Each push of right makes the angle greater. After three pushes, the control has no more affect. Pushing left causes the runner to go straight down-field again. Another push left makes him veer to the left. You have to be careful near the sidelines. A ballcarrier can be made to run out of bounds. Left/right motion of the ballcarrier can be begun even before he turns toward the line but not until he gets to about the position of the tackle in the line. With these controls you can change the area that he was supposed to attack. But if you make him go faster toward the sidelines, you could run him out of bounds. (If his motion is not controlled, he will not go out of bounds.) The drawback of using this option is that it diverts some of your attention from blocking. You are moving the runner to avoid the defenders in the next zone while trying to block tackles in the zone you are in. Changing the pass While the passer if fading back, the player on offense can use the right and left controls to change the reception area. (There are ten reception areas in a zone. They are numbered from 0 at the top of the field to 9 at the bottom. During signal calling, the player on offense should designate one of these reception areas when he calls for a pass play.) Each left or right push 16 moves the reception area to the next area. The controls work only while the passer is fading back. When the ball is thrown, it is too late. Be careful. You can throw the pass out of bounds if you push too often. The controls also work only as long as no rushing defender has made a successful hit. After that, they have no effect. CAUTION: You can begin re-directing the pass as soon as the ball is snapped. But there is a very short time interval after the quarterback's first steps back (4 yards) and before the start of his fade-back when the computer can miss a mouse movement. Solutions: 1. Don't worry and take a chance 2. Try not to move the mouse at that time. 3. Use the keyboard for re-directing passes. Here is an example. You are the red team, going from left to right. You have the ball and you called for a short pass to area 4. You see that the left linebacker is blitzing and leaving a big hole at the bottom of the playing area. So you quickly push right 5 times as you say to yourself, "5, 6, 7, 8, 9". The pass goes to your right sideline (area 9). The defense doesn't have a chance. (If you had counted wrong and pushed right six times, you would have passed out of bounds.) Another good reason for using this option is that the passer fades back in the direction of the original passing zone so that the pass tends to go straight down- field. Changing the passing zone during fade-back makes the pass slant. It's much harder for the defense to line a defender up with a slanting pass. The drawback of using this option is that it diverts some of your attention from trying to block any defenders that are rushing. (A good reason why the defense should often have some kind of pass rush. If there are no rushing defenders, the player on offense can focus all of his attention on picking the best spot to pass to. Of course, if you rush too much, you leave yourself open to the draw play or screen pass.) PLAYING AGAINST THE COMPUTER Another option is to let the computer be your opponent. This is a good way to practice the game. The computer always plays the red team. It always uses the blocking option and the left-right motion option. The computer doesn't cheat. It calls its plays without looking at your play call. But it does re-direct its passes to take advantage of any holes in your defense just as a good human player would. The computer always kicks on fourth down. The space bar can be used as another HIT button. When playing against the computer, the block handicap setting sets the delay before the computer blocks or tackles. The bigger the handicap the easier it is for the human player to beat the computer to the punch on both offense and defense. 17 HOW TO CHANGE OPTIONS At the beginning of the game, you are taken through the set-up procedure that lets you set the options. If you want to make changes during the game, you can call up the set-up procedure by pushing X on the keyboard or by selecting the "Special" menu before calling a play. This menu lets you either call time out or get the set-up mode. When you are in the set-up mode, just follow the instructions on the screen. SKIPPING THE SPEED TEST When either DEFENSE or PRACTICE is started, the program tests the speed of your computer. It has to do that so that the game will run at the proper speed. If you get tired of waiting through this test each time, you can make the computer skip it by telling the program what the speed is. If you let the computer do the speed test, it will write in the lower left corner of the screen what it measured. (Example: Speed is 69) Once you know that number, you can enter it when you start the program. Just type it after the word DEFENSE or PRACTICE whenever you start one of these programs. Be sure to leave a space. If the program sees a number there, it won't do the test. Example: DEFENSE 69 <enter> 18 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 4. DEFENSIVE SIGNAL CALLING ----------------------------------------------------------------- The player on defense must call defensive signals before every play except a kickoff. A joystick or mouse can be used to select a formation from the menu on the screen. Keyboard keys can also be used for that purpose. The player can also use the keyboard to make up a formation that isn't on the menu. Pushing the HIT button or the ENTER (or RETURN) key on the keyboard tells the computer that the signals have been entered. If one of these keys is pushed without first entering signals, the computer will put in a 533 formation with two linemen rushing. A delay-of-game penalty is called if signals aren't called in 30 seconds. You will be able to pick most any formation that you might want from the menu. But in order to understand the defensive signals and to be able to enter formations that aren't on the menu if you should ever want to do that, you should read the next three sections that tell you how to enter defensive signals with the keyboard. First you should decide on whether or not you want to call for a pass rush (or kick rush). IF YOU WANT NO RUSH If you don't plan to rush, all you need to do is enter your defensive formation. You must enter three numbers. They represent the number of linemen, linebackers, and safeties, in that order. But there are limits to how many players you can have in the zones. (The computer doesn't let you enter numbers outside the limits) Here are the limits: Number of defenders allowed in the zones Line zone 3 to 9 defenders Linebackers 0 to 4 defenders Safety zone 0 to 4 defenders So, if you enter 632, you will have six linemen, three linebackers, and two safeties on the field. That adds up to eleven. You get only one chance. There is no way to erase a number once you have entered it. If you don't enter enough men, you penalize yourself. If you enter too many, the referee will penalize you five yards. If an opponent always attacks the same area of the line, you can shift the linemen into that area. Entering L, R, or M before the 19 number of linemen shifts them left, right, or toward the middle. For example, entering M632 will give you the 632 formation with the linemen shifted toward the middle. You can still change your mind and call for a rush but if you still want to do without one, push the HIT or ENTER button to let the computer know that you have finished. IF YOU WANT A RUSH If you want a pass rush, things are a little more complicated. First you must enter your defensive formation just as you would for no rush. But you can, if you want to, precede any of these numbers with a letter-button R, L, or M. If you enter an R before the number, the formation will appear on the screen shifted to the right. An L gives you a shift to the left. If you enter an M, the formation will be shifted toward the middle. The main reason for this option is that it lets you blitz linebackers and safeties without leaving big holes that the offense can pass into. For example, suppose you want to blitz the middle linebacker and the right safety in a 434 formation. Instead of entering 4 3 4, you could enter 4 M3 R4. Your defensive formations would then be more evenly spread after the blitzing defenders leave. After your formation is entered, you can set up your rush. RUSHING LINEMEN Pushing the B key (for "Blitz") or any function key tells the computer that linemen are to rush if the play is a pass. Only some of the linemen penetrate the offensive line. The number of linemen who penetrate depends on the total number of defensive linemen. Once you pick the number of linemen, you have no more control over how many will penetrate and which ones they will be. The computer decides. Rushing linemen who will penetrate the line if a rush is called. 3-man line 1 4-man line 1 5-man line 2 Note: The linemen who penetrate 6-man line 2 are selected randomly 7-man line 3 by the computer. 8-man line 3 9-man line 4 20 Next you can call for linebackers to blitz. You can blitz with any or all of the linebackers. Whereas you have no control over which of your linemen will get through into the rush zone, you do control which backs do the blitzing. You designate any linebacker with his number counting from the top of the field and enter his number if you want him to blitz. For example, if you want the top two linebackers in your 434 formation to blitz, you would enter 1 2. If you wanted just the bottom linebacker to blitz, you would enter 3. Next you can call for safeties to blitz by pushing the B or a function key a second time. Blitzing safeties are then designated the same way as linebackers are. When you have finished, push the HIT or ENTER button. The selected defensive formation does not appear on the screen until both players have pushed their HIT or ENTER buttons. The play begins when the player on offense pushes his HIT or ENTER button again. When the play begins, blitzing linebackers and safeties move up to the line. If the play turns out to be a run, they will become linemen and no defenders penetrate the line to get into the rush zone. If the play turns out to be a pass or a kick, blitzing backs and the rushing linemen penetrate into the rush zone and can make hits. If the play is a draw, blitzing backs and rushing linemen penetrate the line but, because the play is a run, have no chance to make hits. If you just push the HIT or ENTER button without first entering your signals, the computer will call the standard 533B defense for you. But first you should get you opponent to agree to allow that. Here are some examples of defensive signals that the Blue team (defending the right goal line) might call. A 533 formation with no rush 5 3 3 HIT (or ENTER) A 443 formation with one lineman rushing 4 4 3 B HIT (or ENTER) A 920 formation with five linemen rushing 9 2 B HIT (or ENTER) A 443 formation, one lineman and bottom linebacker blitzing 4 4 3 B 4 HIT (or ENTER) 21 A 443 formation, one lineman and bottom linebacker blitzing (will leave smaller hole) 4 L4 3 B 4 HIT (or ENTER) A 344 formation, one lineman and both outside safeties blitzing 3 4 4 B B 1 4 HIT (or ENTER) A 533 formation, two linemen, middle linebacker, and middle safety blitzing 5 3 3 B 2 B 2 HIT (or ENTER) A 533 formation, two linemen, middle linebacker, and middle safety blitzing (leaves smaller holes) 5 M3 M3 B 2 B 2 HIT (or ENTER) A 920 formation, five linemen and both linebackers rushing 9 2 0 B 1 2 HIT (or ENTER) Maximum rush. One lineman and all backs blitzing 3 4 4 B 1 2 3 4 B 1 2 3 4 HIT (or ENTER) THE DEFENSIVE MENU Using the defensive menu is easier than using the keyboard. The menu has three sub-menus (the special menu, the color menu, and the play menu). Push right on the joystick or mouse to move from one of these sub-menus to the next. Or use the right arrow or the S key on the keyboard. We will call that "pushing RIGHT". You can only go right. You can't go back. The special menu The special menu has two items - Time, and Set-up. Time stops the game clock and Set-up puts you into the set-up mode. Push down on the joystick or mouse to use this menu. Or use the down arrow or the Z key on the keyboard. Since you have to go through Time to get to Set-up, time-out is automatically called if you select the set-up mode. The color menu To prevent your opponent from reading your signals, the game provides you with ten colored pointers to your menus. You can decide which color to use for your real pointer. The others are dummies. When the game begins, the white pointer is the real one. You can use the color menu at any time to select a 22 different color. Use the up or down motions of the joystick or mouse to move the pointers up or down. Or use the up and down arrows or the A and Z keys of the keyboard. We will call that "pushing DOWN" or "pushing UP". Whichever pointer is on top - opposite the single black pointer - when you quit the color menu will be your real pointer until you change it again. Of course, you should make your opponent look away when you do this. The play menu The defensive play menu gives you a list of twenty defensive formations to choose from. You see them ten at a time. Every time you move the pointers ten times in either direction, you get to see five other formations. An example of a formation is 4R4L3B1B3 632 3<332 On the left, you see the formation as you would enter it if you were using the keyboard (except that arrows and diamonds replace the R, L, and M keys that you would use to shift the formations right, left, or center). In this example, you are calling a 443 formation with one linebacker and one safety blitzing. The linebackers and safeties are shifted so that the blitzing backs won't leave big holes. The middle column shows where the defenders will be if the play turns out to be a run. That is, all blitzing backs will be in the line. In the example, you will have six in the line, three linebackers, and two safeties. The column on the right shows what will happen if the play is a pass or a kick. In the example, three defenders will be rushing and you will have three in the line, three linebackers, and two safeties. You will probably ignore the left column and use only the two columns on the right to make your decision. To select a defense, move your pointer to it and push RIGHT again. If you select a formation with no safeties against a punt, there will be no runback. You will get the ball where it stops. If you push RIGHT without ever pushing DOWN and getting the pointers, you will get the default formation which is a 533 with two linemen rushing. You also get the default formation if you push ENTER before finishing the menu selection. 23 The entire menu of defensive formations is shown below. Because we can't make arrows here, L, R, and M are used in place of arrows and diamonds (which is strictly correct only if the blue team is on defense). FORMATION RUN PASS _ 3 4 4 344 344 3 4 4B 344 1<244 4 3 4B 434 1<334 4 4 3B 443 1<343 5 3 3 533 533 _ 5 3 3B 533 2<333 3R4L4B1B4 533 3<233 6 3 2 632 632 3M4R4B23B1 623 4<223 3L4R4B4B13 632 4<232 _ 7 2 2 722 722 4M3M4B2B14 722 4<322 3R4L4B13B24 722 5<222 Good against punt 8 2 1 821 821 7 2R2BB1 821 4<421 _ 7 4 B 740 3<440 For inside 8 yardline 8 3 830 830 For inside 8 yardline 9 2 B 920 4<520 For inside 8 yardline 9 2 B12 1100 6<500 For fieldgoal rush 7 4 B1234 1100 7<400 For fieldgoal rush_ 24 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 5. OFFENSIVE SIGNAL CALLING ----------------------------------------------------------------- The screen will tell you when you should call your next offensive play. The player on offense has to do that before every play except a normal kickoff. If time is in, you have to be finished before the 30-second clock times out. In this chapter we tell you how to call plays. In a later chapter, you will learn about the plays. Calling offensive signals from the keyboard is a matter of entering two numbers. If you use the numeric keys and not the menu and you are playing against a human, you MUST WAIT UNTIL THE PLAYER OF DEFENSE HAS FINISHED CALLING SIGNALS. The first number selects the play. You have nine plays to choose from. They are numbered from 1 to 9 as shown in the table below. THE OFFENSIVE PLAYS 1 - run 2 - draw 3 - screen pass 4 - short pass 5 - long pass 6 - fieldgoal kick 7 - punt 8 - kickoff* 9 - on-side kick * kickoff play is automatically set by the computer You do not have to enter the play on a kickoff. The computer does it for you. The second number you enter designates a target area. Imagine the field divided into ten equal horizontal strips or target areas as shown in Figure 3. They are numbered from 0 at the top of the field to 9 on the bottom. You need not enter a target area if the play is a kick of any kind. If you do, the computer will ignore it anyway. If you forget to select a target area on a run or pass play, the computer will select one for you. After you have pushed one or two numbers, push the HIT or ENTER button. If you push the HIT or ENTER button without entering a number, the computer will select a running or passing play at random. 25 Using the menu is just as easy except that you don't need to wait until the defensive signals have been called. Just move your pointer to the play that you want. Then push RIGHT. Pointers will then appear by the list of target areas. Select one of them and push RIGHT again. When a player has finished entering signals the word DONE appears on the appropriate menu. When both players are done, the formations appear on the screen. The play begins when the player on offense pushes the HIT or ENTER button again. Your selection is not final until you push the RIGHT control and get the "DONE" message on the screen or the menu disappears. Likewise, if you use the keyboard to call signals, the choice is not final until you push the RETURN (ENTER) key. That means that, if you entered a play and realize that you made a mistake and can't go back and fix it, you can stop and switch to the other method of calling signals. This works only on offensive signals. FIGURE 3 The target areas ____________________________________ 0 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 5 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 8 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 9 _____________________________________ 26 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 6. THE PLAY ----------------------------------------------------------------- STARTING THE PLAY When both the offensive and defensive players have entered their play signals, the defensive formation appears on the field. Play begins when the player on offense pushes the HIT button. If the clock is running, players have thirty seconds from the end of the last play to start the next one. (There is a 30-second clock that runs between plays when time is in.) If the 30-second clock runs out, a "delay of game" penalty is called on the player who didn't get his signals entered. If both players let the clock run out, time-out is called and no one gets a penalty. Either player can stop the game clock by calling a time-out with the T key on the keyboard or by selecting TIME on the "Special" menu. Players must keep track of the number of time-outs called. Each player gets three per half. Additional free time-outs can be called by mutual consent of both players. Beginning the play starts the ball moving on the field and the bottom-display. The yardline and gain displays also keep track of the ball location. The gain display shows gains as positive numbers and losses as negative ones. THE RUNNING PLAY (play 1) At the start of a running play, the quarterback runs backward about four yards, then hands the ball of to a running back who runs sideways toward the target area. At that point, the defenders can be moved right or left to intercept him. The offensive right/left movement can be started when he gets past the position of the offensive tackle. When he gets to the target area, he turns down-field and runs toward the line. That's when the player on offense should begin left/right movement. Remember, the chances of being hit when he gets to the line get smaller the farther away he is from a defender. At the same time, the defenders in the zone that the ballcarrier will be entering next (in this case, the line) can be moved sideways by right/left controls of the player on defense. When the ballcarrier gets to the line, a beep is heard and the defender nearest the path of the ballcarrier turns some color (at least his pants do). If it is the color of the defense, the player on defense has the OPPORTUNITY to push his HIT button to try to stop the progress of the ball. 27 If the player gets a hit, the ballcarrier's progress is stopped. But if player on offensive is able to push his HIT button first, the defender is blocked and the ballcarrier continues to run. If either player pushes the HIT button on the wrong color, a yellow flag appears and a referee who points to the offending side. In that case, play goes on and a penalty will be called when the play is over. If neither player pushes a HIT button, the ball carrier just goes on until the next beep is heard. When the second beep is heard, the next nearest defender to the path of the ballcarrier gets a color. This time, the probability of his getting the OPPORTUNITY to hit depends only on how many defenders there are in the line zone. Again, the players can use their HIT buttons according to the hit rules. If the ballcarrier is not stopped at the second beep, there is a third beep and the next nearest defender gets a chance. Again, the chances of him getting an OPPORTUNITY depend on the number of defenders in the line zone. In the line, the ballcarrier advances two yards between beeps. While the ballcarrier is running through the line, the player on defense can move the linebackers sideways with the right/left controls in case the runner makes it through the line. If the ballcarrier gets through the line (three beeps) without being stopped, he enters the zone of the linebackers. Here, the action is similar to that in the line. Again there are three beeps. On the first beep, the chances of the closest defender getting an OPPORTUNITY depend on how close he is to the ballcarrier. On the other two beeps the chances depend on how many linebackers there are. The number of yards gained by the ballcarrier between beeps is three yards in this zone. If the ballcarrier makes it through the linebacker zone, the same process is repeated in the zone of the safeties except that the ballcarrier makes five yards between beeps. If he makes it through that zone, only the closest safety continues to chase him until the goal line is reached. During that chase, periodic beeps are heard. The chasing defender has only a low probability (1 in 6) of getting an OPPORTUNITY. The runner makes six yards each beep in this zone. If the player on defense has put no defenders in one of the zones, there will be no beeps. The ballcarrier can cross that zone with no chance of being stopped. If it is the safety zone that has no defenders in it, there are no beeps in the breakthrough zone either. That is, there is no defender left to chase him to the goal line if he gets through the safety zone. If the ballcarrier reaches the goal line at some earlier point in this process, play is, of course, halted and a score is recorded with appropriate sound effects. 28 So you can see that the probability of getting a chance to stop the ballcarrier in any zone depends on how many defenders the player on defense has put into the zone. Whether he can capitalize on an OPPORTUNITY and actually make a hit depends on his reflexes and those of the other player. In addition to the basic scheme we have just described, the defense can get other bonuses. If a hit can be made on the very first beep when the ball first enters the line zone, forward progress is stopped at the line, but the runner still tries to find a hole. For each additional hit that can be made in succession, the ballcarrier goes back a yard or two. If the defense cannot make a hit on one of these beeps, the ballcarrier is down and the play ends with no gain or with a loss. If three hits in a row are made, the computer gives the defense a fourth beep. If the defense can make that hit too, the ball is fumbled and recovered by the defense. Otherwise, play stops when no hit is made after a beep. In any zone other than the line, the defense is also given a chance to cause a fumble if a hit can be made on the first beep in the zone. After the defense makes the hit, ball movement is stopped but beeps continue. As long as defenders keep getting opportunities and the player on defense makes hits without being blocked, the beeps continue up to four. That is, if the defense can make four successive hits, the runner fumbles and the defense recovers. When the play finally ends, the runner is down and a whistle is heard. Here is a table that shows how many yards the ballcarrier makes between beeps in the different zones. Yards Gained Between Beeps line zone 2 linebacker zone 3 safety zone 5 breakthru zone 6 THE PASS PLAY (play 3,4 or 5) When a pass begins, the ballcarrier (quarterback) again goes back about four yards. Then he fades backwards and sideways in the direction of the target zone. At the same time, defenders that have been picked to rush the passer move across the line of 29 scrimmage and follow the passer. Beeps are heard, as in the running play. After each beep, a rushing defender turns a color. The probability of his getting getting an OPPORTUNITY to hit depends on the number of rushing defenders. If he gets an OPPORTUNITY, the player on defense may push the HIT button and the player on offense may hit his HIT button to attempt to block. But the ballcarrier is not stopped by a first hit. It takes two hits to sack the quarterback. (The first hit does stop the player on offense from changing the target zone.) What's more, the quarterback passes the ball after only one beep if the play is a screen pass. For a short pass, the quarterback fades back for two beeps. For a long pass, he takes three beeps. That is, the defense has no chance to sack if the play is a screen pass, only two chances on a short pass , and three chances to make two hits on a long pass. If the defense can make three hits in succession they are given one extra chance. If four hits can be made in succession, not only is it a sack, but also a fumble recovered by the defense. During the fadeback for a pass, the player on offense can change the target zone. Each move of the right/left controls raises or lowers the target zone by one. It is possible in this way to pass the ball out of bounds. HINT: It is easier for the player on defense to move a defender directly into line with a long pass if the pass goes straight down field, as it is likely to go if the target area is not changed during the fadeback. Changing the target area during the fadeback not only allows the offense to pick a reception point that is far from a defender but makes makes the pass slant across the field and makes defense more difficult. When the ball is thrown, a ball appears on the screen and moves to the target area. During the flight of the ball, the player on defense can move the defenders in the reception zone left or right with the left/right controls. (The computer knows which is the reception zone and moves the correct defenders.) The reception zone for a screen pass is always the line zone (about one yard from scrimmage). A short pass goes to the linebacker zone (about eight yards from scrimmage). A long pass goes to the safety zone (about eighteen yards from scrimmage). When the ball approaches the reception zone, the closest defender in that zone is selected. The probability of his getting the OPPORTUNITY to hit depends on how close the defender is, vertically, to the destination of the ball. If the defender gets the opportunity and the player on defense pushes the HIT button without being blocked, the pass is incomplete. Otherwise, the pass is complete, the ballcarrier appears where the ball lands, and begins running down field. Play continues from that point as a running play. 30 The game also allows for interceptions. If the pass is incomplete (by virtue of a hit on the first beep in the reception zone), beeping continues for up to three more beeps. If the defense can get three more hits in succession, the ball is intercepted and a running play starts in the opposite direction with the other team's defenders now appearing on the field. If the interception is in the endzone, it's an automatic touchback and the intercepting team gets the ball on the 20. Below is a table that shows the lengths (in yards from the line of scrimmage) of the different kinds of passes. These are the minimum gains that can be made if the passes are completed. PASS YARDS FROM LOS Screen 1 Short 8 Long 18 If the passing team is any closer to the other team's goal line than the 8-yard line, a long pass will go over the end of the endzone. If you are on defense, this also means that you don't need to have any safeties at all if the ball is closer than the 8. In fact, you would be wasting defenders if you left them back there. If the passing team is closer than the 5-yard line to their own goal line, the passer will go out of the endzone if a long pass is attempted. DRAW PLAY (play 2) A draw play is a running play in which the defenders that were picked to rush are purposely allowed to penetrate the line of scrimmage, but have no chance to hit the ballcarrier because there is no fadeback. If the offense calls this play and the defense is not rushing, the statistical formula that decides whether to give an OPPORTUNITY adjusts the probability in favor of the defense (as if there were two more defenders in the line than there really are). If it were not for this penalty, the player on offense would be tempted to use a draw play in place of every running play instead on only when he expects a heavy pass rush. So if this play is called in anticipation of a heavy pass rush and there is a rush, the play should make good yardage. But if there is no rush, the chances of making a gain are smaller than they would have been on an ordinary running play. 31 FIELDGOAL ATTEMPT (play 6) A fieldgoal attempt begins like a pass except that the ball goes straight back for 9 yards. Rushers are allowed to cross the line of scrimmage and given chances to make hits. Four successive hits must be made in order to make a block. A blocked kick is always recovered by the defense at the point where it is blocked. When the kick is made, the small ball on the bottom-display flies toward a goal post. If the ball clears the crossbar, the kick is good. If the line of scrimmage is close enough for the goal posts to be seen on the screen, you can also tell by watching the ball on the field whether the kick is good. The processor sets the probability of a successful attempt depending on the distance to the goal posts. The probability is 95 percent if the line of scrimmage is the three yardline and zero at the fifty yardline. The defense is not penalized for a heavy rush, as it is on a punt. The only reason for caution is that the offense might do a draw or a screen pass play (fake kick) if they expect a maximum rush. Conversion After a touchdown, the scoring team can try for a conversion from the three-yardline. The normal way is to do a fieldgoal attempt for one point (point-after-touchdown). The team can also try for two points by doing a running or passing play. PUNT (play 7) A punt begins like a fieldgoal attempt. The ball goes back about 10 yards while rushing defenders are allowed to penetrate the line and are given chances to hit. If four successive hits can be made by the defense, the kick is blocked and recovered by the defense. If not, the little ball kicked and can be watched best on the bottom display. If not a touchback, the kick is turned into a running play for the receiving team when it lands. In a real game, if the receiving team rushes with more defenders to try to block the kick, there will be fewer of them to block for the receiver. This is simulated in this game by placing the new defenders on the field by turning around the receiving team's defensive formation. Linemen and blitzing backs will then be in the zone closest to the receiver when the runback begins. (If the receiving team does not intend to try for a block, they will have a better chance for a long runback by putting fewer men on the line.) 32 The distance of a punt is randomly chosen by the processor between 30 and 50 yards from scrimmage. If the kick lands more than about two yards into the endzone, it automatically becomes a touchback and is placed on the 20 yardline. If there is a runback, defenders are placed on the field by the processor in three zones that the ballcarrier must run through just as in a running play. KICKOFF (play 8) A kickoff is also seen best on the bottom-display. The processor places the ball on the 35 yardline and automatically calls the defensive formation and the kickoff play. The player on offense need only push the START button. (If he enters any play other than a kickoff or a short kick, a penalty will be called.) The ball then flies toward the other team's goal. If the ball lands more that about two yards inside the endzone, it is automatically a touchback. If not a touchback, the kick is turned into a running play for the receiving team when it lands. The length of the kick is randomly selected by the processor between 55 and 75 yards. If there is a runback, defenders are placed on the field by the processor in a 5,3,3 arrangement, so that the ballcarrier must run through zones of 5,3, and 3 defenders. Except at the first beep in a zone, when the proximity to the nearest defender counts, the chances of getting an OPPORTUNITY are 50% in all zones. (That's true for all run-backs.) Both players can use right/left controls to move the ballcarrier and the defenders. If the defense has no safety at all, there is no one to catch the ball and the receiving team gets the ball where it lands. ON-SIDE KICK (play 9) Normally, the player who is kicking off does not have to enter a play selection for a kickoff. But if he enters a 9 before he pushes the start button, the kick will be a short kick. Such a kickoff travels about 15 yards. Nine defenders will appear in the first zone into which the receiver must run. The kicking team's chances for getting the ball back by getting four hits in a row and causing a fumble are about 12 percent. Watch out! The first beep comes very quickly. 33 SCORING Points are scored in this game just as in a real game. Here are the ways to score. o Touchdown (6 points). The ball is carried or passed into the defense's endzone. A fumble or blocked punt is recovered in the offensive team's endzone by the defense. o PAT (point after touchdown) (1 point). The team that scored a touchdown place-kicks the ball over the goalpost from the three yardline. o Two-point conversion (2 points). The team that scored a touchdown runs or passes the ball into the endzone from the three-yardline. o Fieldgoal (3 points). The ball is place-kicked over the goalpost on a normal down (not after a TD). o Safety (2 points). The offense's ballcarrier or passer is tackled in the offensive endzone. 34 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 7. HOW THE COMPUTER KEEPS TRACK OF THINGS ----------------------------------------------------------------- THE SCOREBOARD While you run all of these plays you just learned about, the computer keeps track of possession, down, yards to go, yards gained, scores, time remaining, the 30-second clock, quarters, and all other aspects of the game. These things are displayed on a scoreboard screen that alternates with the play screen. The scoreboard appears after the play ends. It goes away after the signals for the next play have been called. The bottom-screen display that shows the cross section of the field with the ball location, the yardline, gain, and number of hits stays on the screen all of the time. TIME The game clock works much like that of a real game. The clock is started when a play begins. The clock is automatically stopped when any of these things happen: * first down * penalty * missed fieldgoal * touchback * out of bounds * 2-minute warning * score * incomplete pass * end of quarter * Time-out is called * Both players let play clock expire In all of these cases, the clock will not start again until a new play is begun. If no play is in progress, the players can tell whether or not the clock is running by looking at the time display or the 30-second clock. If they are not running, then time is out. The 30-second clock starts running down when the scoreboard screen appears unless the game clock is stopped. If the clock is running, players have 30 seconds to start the next play or a "delay-of-game" penalty is called. If neither player calls signals in time, the game clock stops and no one is penalized. 35 The game does not keep track of time-outs taken by the players. The players must keep track of them themselves. Each player is allowed three time-outs in each half with additional time-outs allowed by mutual consent which are charged to neither player. After four 15-minute quarters the game ends unless the score is tied. In that case another quarter starts with the blue team kicking off. It is up to the players to decide whether overtime will last one quarter, five minutes, or until there is a score (sudden death). At the end of the fifth quarter, the scoreboard flashes the END OF GAME message and you are instructed to quit the game and start a new one. These messages can be ignored and you can play on if you want. The only way to start a new game is to quit the program and start again. To quit, type X to get the set-up mode and then type Y twice. Or you can push Esc. 36 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 8. PENALTIES ----------------------------------------------------------------- The computer detects fouls such as illegal hits, calling illegal formations or plays, and not getting the play started on time. It calls appropriate penalties and, if the play was allowed to finish, tells the players of the consequences of accepting or refusing the penalties. This information is printed on the screen. It then waits for the player who was fouled to push the A for ACCEPT or the R for REFUSE. Here is how a typical penalty message might look: HOLDING - RED 10 YARDS ACCEPT: 1 down and 10 on the blue 35 REFUSE: 2 down and 8 on the blue 27 ACCEPT OR REFUSE? Blue push A or R The severities of the penalties depend on the phase of the play when the infraction occurred. If the foul happens early in a play, the penalty is lighter than when it happens later. An illegal hit can be made by either the offensive or the defensive player. After a play, players can usually see where an illegal hit was made because there a defender of the wrong color can be seen to have made a hit or to have been blocked. (If you want to keep the field screen from disappearing after a play, try to push the F key as soon as possible. Push it again to let the game go on. Although most penalties are actually for illegal hits, they are given names like "holding", "unnecessary roughness", or "offside". The main categories of penalties are as follows: * Delay of game (not getting signals called on time) This infraction is called before a play begins and results in a 5-yard penalty from scrimmage. * Illegal procedure (calling illegal signals) This infraction is called before a play begins and results in a 5-yard penalty from scrimmage. 37 * Illegal hit during a rush (pass, fieldgoal, or punt) This infraction stops the play as if the foul occurred before the snap of the ball. The penalty is 5 yards from scrimmage (except that an offensive penalty on a kick for the extra point after a TD is 15 yards). * Illegal hit at pass reception or during a run The penalty for this infraction depends on where the foul occurred. It varies from 5 yards from scrimmage to 15 yards from the point where the play stopped. * Illegal hit during a runback (interception, kickoff, or punt) This penalty is always 10 yards marked from the point at which the play stopped. * Offsetting penalties (both players making illegal hits) If the infraction occurred during a runback, the penalties cancel each other and play continues as if there were no penalty. If the foul occurred at any other time, the penalties cancel each other and the down is replayed from the previous line of scrimmage. 38 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 9. HUMAN AGAINST COMPUTER ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this chapter, we talk about the differences between the computer game and the human game and what the computer as an opponent does differently from a human opponent. The computer always defends the same goal (the left one). It controls the red team. You control the Blue on the right. You can use the space bar as another HIT button. The human player kicks off at the beginning of the game. The human player always pushes the start button to begin a play, even if he is on defense. He pushes it when he has finished calling the signals, which puts the formations on the screen. He pushes it again to begin the play. If the clock is running, he has 30 seconds to start a new play. (Almost any key can start the play when playing against the computer.) The computer uses all available options. That is, it uses right/left motion and it blocks on offense. The computer calls its signals very quickly so that the human is the last to enter signals. (No, the computer doesn't cheat by looking at what play the human is calling before it calls its own signals.) Because the computer's reflexes are much faster than yours the computer's maximum left/right speed on offense and defense is made slower and its reversing speed on offense is also made slower than that available to the human player. It wants to give you a fair chance. When you are playing against the computer, the block handicap is no longer a handicap put on the offense. It is a handicap that is put on the computer whether it is on offense or on defense. The handicap can be set from 0 to 3 steps. The bigger the handicap, the longer (the more steps of the runner or receiver) the computer delays before making hits. The computer does not commit infractions. It gets no penalties. It is not sporting to rush against the computer when it is punting or kicking a fieldgoal with more than six defenders. (The computer always kicks on fourth down. It is not smart enough to try a fake kick when playing against a madly rushing opponent.) If the human rushes with more than six, the probability of getting an OPPORTUNITY to hit is limited to 50% for each hit. That is, he gains no advantage by rushing more than six. 39 How does the computer stack up against a human? Under normal circumstances, the computer picks its plays and defenses with as much intelligence as a human player would (sometimes more). It does not normally take into consideration the time left to play or the score. When these things become important, the human would probably call more sensible plays. But after a play starts, the computer is probably faster at picking out the holes in pass defenses and taking advantage of them. When it comes to avoiding defenders or moving defenders in the path of the ballcarrier, the computer is probably not much better than a human at normal game-speeds. It does have one big advantage. It doesn't have lapses of concentration. You won't catch it missing a chance to hit because it wasn't paying attention. In addition the the block handicap, game speed is what determines whether you can beat the computer. At a very low speed, you can beat it hands down. At a very high speed you don't have a chance. Unless you get a kick out of beating up on computers or vice versa, you should set the speed and handicap in the middle so that you have a fair contest. Enjoy the game. 40