Here are some tips and guidelines for being the Commissioner of a
Football Pro '97 remote league.
Creating the League
At the beginning of a new remote league, the league commissioner
should provide all team owners with the league files. (For a list of
league files, see below.) These files must be copied into the same
directory on each owner's hard drive. We recommend that this sub-
directory be located within the \SIERRA\FBPRO97\CUSTOM directory, for
example: Your office league might keep all league files in a
directory named \SIERRA\FBPRO97\CUSTOM\MYOFFICE. Each time owners
receive a new set of league files, they should delete all previous
files from this specific league before copying in the new set.
League Files
There are nine different league files that may exist at varying
times during the season. These files will all have the same filename,
but with different three-character extensions. For example, a league
named MYOFFICE might have the following league files:
MYOFFICE.LGE MYOFFICE.LGC MYOFFICE.PYF
MYOFFICE.PYC MYOFFICE.RST MYOFFICE.DFT
MYOFFICE.TMN MYOFFICE.TRN MYOFFICE.PYR
Using the League
To use the remote league once the league files have been copied
to the directory, you MUST change the settings for QuickStart so that
the default league is the remote league. The various remote league
shortcuts (and command line options; see below) will not work properly
if this is not done.
Command Line Options
In addition to the shortcuts described in the manual (pages 196-
199), you may also use these commands (from the command line) with
remote leagues:
Command Effect
HIKE -XC Starts Football Pro '97 as a remote commissioner;
creates the GAMExxyy.IN files.
HIKE -XP Starts Football Pro '97 as a remote player; saves
GAMExxyy.OUT files when the game is finished.
HIKE -XC -UP Starts Football Pro '97 as a remote commissioner;
processes the GAMExxyy.OUT files to update the
league.
Remember: before playing a remote player game, make sure to back
up any saved game (GAME.*) files, then delete them from the FBPRO97
directory.
A Sample League Schedule
The league commissioner should set up a regular schedule for
playing games, receiving league uploads, roster moves, etc. Here is a
sample schedule:
Monday, noon. The league commissioner uploads league files
containing the results of the previous week's
games. The team owners should download these
files so they can see results and make any
necessary roster moves.
Tuesday, noon. This is the deadline for all team owners to
notify the commissioner of roster moves, trades,
free agent selections, etc. These notifications
are done by e-mail, and the commissioner
implements them on his master copy of the
league.
Wednesday, midnight. This is the deadline for all team owners whose
teams are on the road this week to upload their
custom game plans, plays, and profiles for their
upcoming game. (The games in this league are
played by the team owners who are at home.)
Thursday, noon. The league commissioner uploads new league files
containing all of the roster moves, etc., as
well as all GAMExxyy.IN files for the current
week.
Sunday, noon. Deadline for all home teams to upload the
GAMExxyy.OUT file to the Commissioner. The
Commissioner will simulate all games for which he
has not received GAMExxyy.OUT files.
Using Custom Game Plans, Plays, and Profiles
When a team owner receives custom game plans, plays, or profiles
from his opponent for this week's game, these files need to be placed
in the same directory on the team owner's hard drive as they were in
on his opponent's drive. Some leagues require all players to create a
sub-directory for each team in their league directory. For example,
the path for San Francisco in your office league might be:
\SIERRA\FBPRO97\CUSTOM\MYOFFICE\SF. The San Francisco team owner
would keep his custom files in this directory, and his opponents
during the season would copy any files he gave them into this
directory prior to their games.
Between Seasons
You may, of course, proceed with the College Draft, Supplemental
Draft, and Training Camp with any "house rules" you devise. We
recommend you use one of these two methods of resolving the draft.
1. Require your players to get together for your draft. This may be
in person or online (for example, in a chat room on America
Online, or via Internet Relay Chat). This is the best method for
a draft, because it is fun and allows the most flexibility for
your players. You may also allow them to negotiate informal
trades of draft picks.
2. Require your players to submit prioritized lists of players to be
drafted, either for the entire draft or for each round. This
method requires more organization, but may be best for leagues
with team owners who are widely separated geographically. It can
be much more economical than spending a few hours of connect
time, and it is much easier than trying to find a good time for a
large number of team owners to get together.
For Training Camp, the most practical method is for the team owners to submit lists of training time allocations for the league commissioner to enter and resolve.