Guides

Guides

Postby AKH » Wed Sep 06, 2017 5:12 pm

Scouting

Scouting Phase
Right before the draft there is a scouting phase. This is where you finish up and get extra knowledge on players you are interesting in.

Scouting Points
The amount of points you have to assign during the scouting phase is derived from how much of your staff budget is transferred to the scouting department.

Prior Knowledge
Teams already have some of knowledge about every players. The amount of knowledge depends on two things:
1) how prominent the player is (his draftprojection) and reflects the media hype and exposure a player has gotten.
2) the scouting abilities of your coaches, so if your coaches have high ratings in 'assess ability' you have more prior knowledge about players.

The prior knowledge is manifested in terms of 'free' scouting points that are already on the player, so if you go to a drafteeprofile, you will see a scoutreport with a varying amount of certainty, depending on the two factors above. When you scout a player it then autoassigns scoutpoints equal to the difference between the free points from your prior knowledge and 20. So for instance if you have 12 points for free on a top10 projected player, and click scout it will cost you 8 points. Because the free points are partly driven by media exposure (draftprojection) scouting lowly round 7 projected players is more expensive, but you will have plenty of points to go around.

Autoscouting
There is an 'autoscout' button that assigns any unspent points.

Asses Potential
Lastly, the coaches also have an 'asses potential' rating and will send you an email suggesting particular players they believe have high potential. Depending on the ratings of the coach the amount and quality of his tips vary.

So: coachratings add to your prior knowledge, scoutdepartment delivers extra points you can assign in the scoutingphase.

Interviews
Interviews are crucial because they unlock two things. First and foremost, they allow you to see a players personality, which is important in order to get an idea of what he likes, and assess your chances of signing. Secondly, interviewing a player reveals whether he has any special traits (listed under 'special' on his player card). Traits give various bonuses either on or off the field, and thus make the player more valuable. You can only interview a player once, but on the positive side, there is no error margin on the information you get. Scheduling an interview costs 5 scouting points.

Understanding the ratings assesments
When scouting a player, your scout will come back with an assessment of each of his relevant ratings, this means your scout wont be bothered with assessing the tackling of a QB and so on. The most important part to understand about the assesments is that they are based on the average of that particular rating across all active players of the same position. This means that if you are scouting a TE and getting an assesment of his Hands skill, the scout will base his assesment on the average of the Hands of all TE's currently in the league, excluding the draftclass. If the average of all TE's Hands are 63, and the player you are scouting has 63 hands the scout will tell you his hands are average (if he is 100% accurate). Now, because there is a lot of really bad players on really bad teams this means that those averages may be lower than you expect. If you are a top tier team, then 'average' Hands might not cut it for you if you want a pass catching TE.

Margin of error in the assesments
There are 22 (not counting 'unscouted') different assessments ordered by their relation to the benchmark. Observe that the margin of error in your scoutreport will show up in how far removed the given assessment is from the correct assessment in the ordering. This means that as you increase your report certainty the error margin will decrease, and you may be satisfied with less than full certainty when you feel the given assessment likely indicates the approximate level (i.e. the error margin is reduced and you like the indication it is giving).

List of ratings
Remember, these are dynamic and the benchmark will change depending on the playerpool, so not only will it differ between positions, it will also differ from season to season as the playerpool changes. Additionally, because of the number of different ratings, only a few points seperate each.

Unscouted,
Pathetic,
Awful,
Terrible,
Bad,
Subpar,
Deficient,
Underdeveloped,
Unexeptional,
Pedestrian,
Acceptable,
Average,
Decent,
Fine,
Good,
Great,
Remarkable,
Exceptional,
Fantastic,
Amazing,
Unique,
Mindblowing,
Incredible
User avatar
AKH
Moderator
 
Posts: 1142
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:15 pm

Re: Guides

Postby AKH » Fri Sep 08, 2017 6:05 am

Team Staff- Coaches

Starting coaches
When you start a new game, you will inherit the coaches currently on your team. However, for non CPU teams, these coaches will be under contract for only the first season. This means that you can either extend them or replace them after the season.

Hiring/Firing Coaches
You Hire and Fire coaches during the staff signing phase at the beginning of each season. There are two weeks (sims) in this phase.

Public Options / Signing coaches from other teams
As with NFL you can attempt to hire away coordinators from other teams, but (because of the IRL rule that allows teams to block lateral moves, which we assume they will do, as they do in real life) ONLY to be your headcoach.

This means that for ONLY the first coach signing sim, there is a chance to bid on other teams' coordinators - these are listed in the 'public options'. When the first staff signing sim is run, those who have bids will make their decision. If you had a bid for one rejected, you then have the opportunity to sign from your private options in the second sim.

Private options
The 'private options" for every position are staff only you have the chance to sign, and can do so in either staffsigning week 1 or 2.
All you have to do is pick the one you like.

Autofill
If you sim past staffsigning without having filled your staff, the AI will fill the staff for you.

Out of Money?
If you do not have money left on your budget to fill a coaching position, your team will promote one of your position coaches to serve for the season. While they are cheap, this is not recommendable.

Coach Retirement
Most unemployed coaches will get jobs elsewhere. Only the most succesful/reputable unemployed coaches are kept in the leaguefile for next season, where they will appear as private options for the teams they would most like to play for.

Coach Progression
Most coaches start out mediocre (do not let the ½, 1 and 1½ stars mislead you, this is the norm) depending on a range of factors (including but not limited to factors such as , success, intelligence, morale) your coaches will progress and become better.

Coach Attributes
Intelligence – affects for a range of things including scouting, training, and playcalling
Preparation– affects playcalling and strategy
Discipline – Matters for dealing with players with low morale and low work ethic, affects tolerance of players with negative traits
Motivating – Matters for morale and on field performance
Loyalty – Matters for contract extension and for the likelihood he will accept job offers from other teams (if he is a coordinator)
Leadership – matters for on field performance, morale
Charisma – affects chance to sign players and morale
Flexibility – affects efficiency when forced to use other schemes than his preferred one
Coach Offense – affects playcalling, training
Coach Defense– affects playcalling, training
Assess Potential – used for finding high potential players in the draft
Asses Ability – used to generate base knowledge of players in the draft
Scouting– used to generate base knowledge and finding high potential players of/in the draft
Youngsters – affect training on young players
Attention to Detail – affect training of elite players
Development – affects all training
Physical Training – affects Physical and athletic training
Position Training (QB, OL, LB, DB etc) – affects training of the specific position
User avatar
AKH
Moderator
 
Posts: 1142
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:15 pm

Re: Guides

Postby AKH » Sat Dec 23, 2017 6:25 am

GamePlans
Gameplans reflect what you practice and prepare for a game. Some give a variety of small bonuses in different situations or when players perform specific tasks. Some affect ball distribution and some affect how the game is called.

Each coach will have his own preferences on this, so if you are letting coaches call your games (or playing in a league with custom playbooks/gameplans disabled) be sure to consider this when hiring a coach. A coach's preferences here also affects the kind of plays he will have in his playbook.


Offense
Attitude
Affects playcalling, a little more likely to go for it on 4th down and onside kicks. Also affects penalties.

Focus
Affects successrate of selection AND the inverse.

Tempo
Affects clock consumption.

Passing
affects succesrate for selected range, with minor penalties to the others.

Pass to
Affects targeting of players and minor bonus to passing.

Primary Receiver
Affects targeting on passes.

Running Focus
Minor bonus to run type.

Running Backs
Affects performance on given task.

Backfield
Affect distribution of snaps.

Tight Ends
Affects performance on given task.

Defense
Attitude
Affects tackling, Fumbles, missed tackles, interceptions, penalties.

Focus
Minor bonuses/penalties versus play type.

Primary Coverage
Affects performance of players coverage.

Defensive Line
Affects performance on given task.

Linebackers
Affects performance on given task.

Player Radio
Affects penalties, teamplay bonuses and more.

Match CBs to WRs
Affects play selection, will attempt to have at least as many CBs on the field as there are wrs. (i.e. selecting 335, nickel and dime plays when offense lines up in shotgun and spread.)
User avatar
AKH
Moderator
 
Posts: 1142
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:15 pm

Re: Guides

Postby AKH » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:05 am

Training

Training Camp
Spring camp is the place where your players have the opportunity to prepare for the season. The training camp thus has its own sim/stage at the beginning of the season, after signing day. Improvementwise, training camp is the sim, where your players have the best opportunity to improve.

Regular Season Training
During the regular season your players will train weekly, but due to the amount of other stuff occupying young people's minds during a school year, gains will be lower here.

Training Schedules
Training schedules are where you can create different training regimens, customized to particular positions or players. You can create as many training schedules as you want, allowing for a great deal of micromanaging if you so please.

When you take over a new team, all your players will be assigned to a default schedule. If you cannot be bothered to micromanage training, you can either change the settings on the default schedule and leave the players there, or just ignore it, and the players will use it as is. The default schedule (starting from patch 2) will be an alround schedule, that makes sure players get a decent amount of training across the board, and prevents the most prevalent negative side effects, such as regress and fatigue/whine.

After you have created a schedule, and set its settings (remember to click 'save') you can assign as many players as you want to it.

Observe that a player cannot *not* be on a schedule, so if you delete a schedule that still has players assigned, those players will be moved to a default schedule.

If a player is injured he wont train - you dont need to take him of a schedule or create a lighter schedule - the game will just let him sit out that particular training session.

Schedule Settings
A training shedule has four settings you can set.

Position Drills
This aspect focuses on the skills necessary for the players position. So even while QBs and LBs do not have use for the same skills, you can put them on the same schedule, and the game will make sure they train the relevant skills for their position.

Athletic Training
This aspect focuses on developing the athleticism of players, mainly the speed and agility ratings.

Physical Training
This aspect focuses on developing the physicial shape of the players, mainly the Strength and Stamina ratings.

Game Tape
Having players watch game tape and do mental reps on plays helps them prepare for upcoming games and develop their intelligence.

How many points should I assign?
The combined total of the 4 aspects you can assign to a schedule is 25 points. However, if you assign too little to a given aspect, your players may regress. If you get close to 25 in total, you run the risk of injuries, and depending on their personalities players may start to complain and lose morale (the effects of which may propagate and yield further negative effects). As you will see on the default schedule, the AI is running with a total of 22 points, which will largely avoid negative effects.

Training Emails
After training camp, and each week during the regular season, your coaches will get back to you (in your email) with a summary of the most notable player performances in training organized by training aspect. At the top of the email you may occasionally see a few players highlighted that have either boomed or busted recently.

What determines if a player progresses
Obviously the training schedule matters. In addition to this, there are a lot of factors, but two things are worth highlighting. The first is that personality matters a lot, and certain of the off-field player traits (listed under 'special' on the player card) can have a big impact. The second is that the players current ability in a given rating impacts how easy it is to progress. If the player is at a level where simply teaching him the basics will yield a big improvement in his performance (i.e. a newbie LB learning to tackle properly will be able to progress from 50 to 55 in tackling with relative ease). Conversely players who are already close to perfecting a given aspect of their game will have a difficult time improving more. This is especially true for the more bodily ratings (i.e. an olympic sprinter might need to train for months to shave just a couple of hundred ms of his 40time, similarly getting a WR to increase from 96 to 97 in speed is super difficult).
User avatar
AKH
Moderator
 
Posts: 1142
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:15 pm

Re: Guides

Postby AKH » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:06 am

Ratings
Here is an updated version of the explanations in the pdf help.

Strength - Key attribute for making tackles, breaking tackles, holding blocks and breaking through blocks. Influences chance to force/avoid fumbles.

Agility - Key attribute for dodges/cutting when running with the ball. Affects tackling. Influences catches/interceptions. Affects ability to adjust in blocking.

Arm - QB key Attribute for getting a ball to a receiver. Higher Arm means more completions. Factors more on long throws.

Intelligence - Key attribute for awareness on the field. Helps QBs assess and react to blitzes, pull down throws, throw ball away to avoid sacks, avoid interceptions. Helps ballcarriers find holes, react to defenders movements. Key attribute for defenders to assess run vs pass and adjust behavior accordingly, especially getting out of coverage in reaction to runplays. Helps tackling by anticipating ballcarrier movement. Helps interceptions. Affects ability to adjust in blocking.

Accuracy - QB accuracy with his throws. Increases completion pct and lowers interception rate. Factors more on short throws.

Tackling - Defensive attribute for bringing down a ball carrier.

Speed - Key attribute for ALL players.

Hands - Key attribute for making catches and interceptions. Affects handplacement in blocking. Helps avoid fumbles.

Pass Blocking - Attribute to make successful pass blocks.

Run Blocking - Attribute to make successful run blocks.

Endurance - Key attribute for all players. Higher endurance players can stay on the field longer. Factors in on injuries and ability to avoid performance drop late in games.

Kick Distance - For kickers this affects FG pct at longer distances. For Punters this affects punt distance.

Kick Accuracy - For kickers this affects FG pct. For Punters this affects killing the ball inside the 20.

Overall – Overall rating. In DDSCF the game defaults to absolute overall.

Leadership – Allows player to improve the team’s morale. Motivates players to play better. Quells lockerrom mumbling. Lets players lead by example, for instance by standing tall in the pocket and take a hit, or fighting for that extra yard.

Work Ethic – Affects training

Competitiveness – How hard the player plays during the game. Affects morale when winning or losing. Affects performance in crunch time. Contested catches (both defense and offense). Affects training.

Team Player – Plays to win and less for accolades. Affects how well players gel as a team, thereby improving performance.

Sportsmanship – Players attitude towards the other team. Affects penalties.

Disposition – Temperament of the player, good locker room influencer, also affects penalties. Minor affect on development of young players.

Morale – Affects player temperament and performance. Winning games, winning awards all improve morale. Losing, not starting or getting injured and such can detract from morale. If morale gets low enough the player is more likely to affect the locker room negatively.
User avatar
AKH
Moderator
 
Posts: 1142
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:15 pm

Re: Guides

Postby AKH » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:06 am

AKH wrote:Note on missed tackles and dropped passes
A common misconception is that when looking at a players stats, and seeing that he doesnt drop many passes or miss many tacklers, is the conclusion that his tackling or hands (and related ratings) are good enough, and no significant increase in performance would be related to better ratings. As stated; this is a misconception. Players with better ratings in tackling and hands will be able to haul in passes / make tackles, that would not be classifed as dropped/missed if they werent succesful. There are plenty extra catches/tackles the player could have made, than those that become listed as dropped/missed.
User avatar
AKH
Moderator
 
Posts: 1142
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:15 pm

Re: Guides

Postby AKH » Sun Dec 01, 2019 10:31 am

Moved this here for quick reference - will go through and update any outdated info at a future time.
User avatar
AKH
Moderator
 
Posts: 1142
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:15 pm

Re: Guides

Postby AKH » Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:31 am

Heres a rough overview. 'Hybrid' versions will incorporate elements not in the 'core' groups.

////OFFENSE
West Coast
Formations: Mixed
Plays: Short Passes and outside runs

Power
Formations: Iform, proset, twoTE + little shotgun
Plays: Lots of running - mixed passing

Balanced
Formations: Mixed
Plays:mixed

Vertical
Formations: Mixed
Plays: Long/medium passes + Inside runs

Spread
Formations: Spread, Shotgun, TwoTE
Plays: Lots of passing, mainly outside runs + lots of QB runs
User avatar
AKH
Moderator
 
Posts: 1142
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:15 pm


Return to DDS: Pro Football 2020 General Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests