Crunch League Football v1.0
(C) 1990 by Stephen David
An Introduction to Crunch League

Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Crunch League Football is a unique on-line football simulator.  It allows
players on a bulletin board to coach teams against those of others using the
bulletin board.  The player can set up the roster and plays for his team and
have the computer simulate a realistic game for him.  Following is a brief
discussion of how to play the Crunch League and how it works.  For those of
you who don't know much about football, there is another text file discussing
the game itself.

Starting Out
~~~~~~~~~~~~
   As soon as the sysop has announced the beginning of a new season, it is a
good idea to create a team as soon as possible, due to the fact that there are
only a limited number of teams each season.  The sysop may decide to have a
password in order to log on.  This is usually because he wants to keep
the game within a select group, and in order to play it is necessary to ask
him for the password.
   Once logged on, it is necessary to select a team name.  Depending on how
the game is configured, there are two ways that this might be done.  Usually,
the sysop has set it so the player may choose the name and city for his team.
In special cases, however, he might decide to select the team names and cities
beforehand, in which case the player must choose a team from the list of names
given.
   The next step to creating a team is by far the most important - the draft.
This is done in four rounds, each round with slightly less skilled players in
it than the preceding one.  The coach is allowed to choose two players in the
first round, five in the second, eight in the third, and ten in the fourth.
Different positions are abbreviated in the following way:

Offensive Abbreviations:               Defensive Abbreviations:
  QB   Quarterback                       DB   Defensive Back
  RB   Running Back                       S   Safety
  WR   Wide Receiver                     LB   Linebacker
  TE   Tight End                         NG   Nose Guard
  OT   Offensive Tackle                  DE   Defensive End
  OG   Offensive Guard                   DT   Defensive Tackle
   C   Center
   K   Kicker

(Refer to the general football information file for more information about
these positions.)  There is a required number for each position during the
draft in order to make it possible to have a starting player for each
position in the game.  It is important to fill all these requirements for the
team (seen by pressing '0') as soon as possible.   It's also a good idea to
select more important players (QB, RB, WR, and TE) early because their
abilities play a bigger role in the game.
   The next step for creating a team is to set up its default plays.  A team's
plays usually depend on the skills of its players.  Teams with better
quarterbacks and receivers should use passing plays more often, while teams
with better runners should use running plays.  Defensive plays, although
partially based on a team's ability, also depend on the strategy of the team
it is playing.  For the description of the different offensive and defensive
Crunch League plays, refer to general football information.  It is possible to
refer to a team's list of players at any time by pressing '?'.
   The remaining questions for default plays are more specific.  They also
depend a great deal on the team's statistics.  The first question deals with
when to substitute players.  In order to switch players often, keeping them
fresh, the stamina level at which they are switched should be high.  This has
drawbacks, however, because the better players on a team will not be able to
play as much.  Finally, there are two questions dealing with kicking.  A team
will drive until the fourth down and then decide whether to kick or continue
driving.  If a team had a good kicker and a mediocre offense, they would want
to punt if they were more than a few yards away from the first down line at
the fourth down.  On the other hand, if they had a strong offense, they would
want to set the determining line further back.  The situation is similar for
kicking field goals, except it puts the team in relation to the end-zone.  A
team with a strong offense would have no reason to attempt a field goal within
twenty yards of the goal line, but a weak offense would.  The distance should
be too great either, especially if kicking or defense are not to good, because
the ball could be lost close to the kicking team's own end-zone.
   The last step for creating a Crunch League team is to set up its offensive
and defensive rosters.  Each player who can play and has not been chosen
already will be listed for each position.  After each name and number, the
player's abilities will be listed in parentheses in the same order they are in
on team lists (i.e. pass/receive/kick, block/run, tackle, stamina, balance).
Once the roster has been set up, the team is complete and ready to play Crunch
League Football!

The Menus
~~~~~~~~~
   Crunch League Football is set up on a system of menus to make playing it as
simple a possible.  A menu selection is made by pressing the first letter of
the selection's title (e.g. press 's' for the S>ports Page).  The main menu
has a selection of several sub-menus, each one described in detail below.

Current and Default Setup
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Choosing these options from the main menu allows a coach to view, and change
if he wants to, his plays and rosters.  The current setup is the setup for
the next game.  This can be used in order to use a special strategy in the next
game.  After that game, however, the current plays and rosters will be reset to
the defaults.  Changing the default setup will change what the current setup
will revert to after the next game but NOT before then.  Changing plays and
rosters follows the same procedures as described above in setting up a team.

Help
~~~~
   Choosing the help option from the main menu will allow a coach to view
either this or the general football text file.

The Sports Page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   The sports page menu allows a coach to view information about his and other
Crunch League teams.  It has several selections to choose from.  Current
rankings will display the rankings of Crunch League teams, by division, so far
in the season.  The record books are descriptions of Crunch League games
played so far in the season, divided by week.  By selecting the most recent
week, the coach can see exactly what happened to each team in the last Sunday's
games.  Choosing the schedule option will display the schedule of games for the
week specified.  At first, only the regular season's schedules will be listed,
but as the results of post-season games come in, later week's schedules will
be set up and can be displayed.  The final option, view team, allows a coach to
view the statistics of his and other teams.  After a team is chosen from the
list, information about the team's record and players' abilities will be
listed.  This option is helpful in setting up the strategy to use when playing
other teams.

How the Crunch League Works
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Every Sunday night, the games for the current week in the Crunch League are
played.  During the regular season, each team will play every other team in its
division twice, once at home and once away.  The outcome of each game is based
on several factors: the plays used by each team, the abilities of players on
each team, trends, and luck.  Each play is run individually, and important ones
are recorded in the game description.
   As soon as the regular season has ended, the playoffs begin.  The first
place teams of each division play each other in a kind of single elimination
tournament for the league championship.  If two or more teams are tied for
first place in their division, the team that will go on to the playoffs is
determined by a points gained:points given up ratio. If there is an odd number
of divisions in each league, a second place, wildcard team will be randomly
chosen to play as well.  If there is only one division, the first place team
is automatically made league champion.  The final game of the season is the
Superbowl.  The two league champions play one final game to determine the
Crunch League champion team.  If, of course, there is only one league, the
champion of that league is automatically made the Crunch League champion as
well. After the Super Bowl is over, the coveted Crunch League Most Valuable
Player award will go to the best player.

Play Crunch League Football!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Enjoy playing the Crunch League as much as you want.  Tell the sysop how
much you enjoy it and encourage him to register it.  Thanks for using this
fine CrunchWare product!