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cdj
05-25-2011, 04:37 PM
Designer Jordan Peterson has written a blog on the official NCAA Football 12 product site showing how Custom Playbooks work in this year's game (http://www.ea.com/ncaa-football/blog/custom-playbooks).

After checking out the blog, share your thoughts here with the community.


Hi NCAA Football fans, NCAA Football 12 designer Jordan Peterson here, and I could not be happier to provide some more information about one of the many new features of NCAA Football 12: Custom Playbooks. In this particular blog, I will be walking you through the process of creating a Custom Playbook.

First, let me establish some basics for custom playbooks, and address some of the questions I have seen on the forums. You will be able to create 30 Playbooks, 15 for both Offense and Defense. These Custom Playbooks can be used in Offline and Online Dynasty, any Play Now game, and in Ranked Online games. Now, let's create a Custom Playbook!


http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/vignette/NCAABlogImages/CustomPlaybooks5-25-2011/img1.jpg

The first step to create a Custom Playbook is selecting a base playbook. This playbook will appear with all of its current plays, and audibles, once you are in the Playbook Editor. Please keep in mind that your Hail Mary, Goal Line and Special Teams plays will be associated with your base playbook, and cannot be edited. So choose wisely!


http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/vignette/NCAABlogImages/CustomPlaybooks5-25-2011/img2.jpg

This is the main hub of Custom Playbooks. From here, you will be able to view your playbook as it will appear in-game by selecting View Playbook, in addition to accessing Adding/Removing Plays, Formations and Audibles. You may also note that for each Custom Playbook there will be a maximum of 377 plays and 40 formations that can be selected. However, for those of you that prefer a more minimalistic view, you can reduce your playbook down to only 50 plays. Before we get into editing the Custom Playbook, let's take a quick look at the base playbook.


http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/vignette/NCAABlogImages/CustomPlaybooks5-25-2011/img3.jpg

From this view, you will be able to view plays that are currently in each formation, in addition to accessing Add/Remove Formations. Once you have advanced into a particular formation via View Plays, you can jump to the Reorder Plays screen and Add/Remove Formations. The functionality for maneuvering through Play and Formation views should be very familiar; it's the same functionality for Playcall in game.


http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/vignette/NCAABlogImages/CustomPlaybooks5-25-2011/img4.jpg

Now, if for some reason I wanted to add a power running game to my spread offense, Add/Remove Formation will allow you to add entire formations to your playbook with a single button press. Here you will find every formation, from every single playbook we have in the game. The options here are practically limitless.


http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/vignette/NCAABlogImages/CustomPlaybooks5-25-2011/img5.jpg

However, if you're like me, you may want to break down your Custom Playbooks even further. Selecting Edit Plays will provide an even deeper level of customization of your playbook. From here, you will be able to add any single play from the global playbook pool, or, trim your playbook down to a more manageable size. Only want to run 6 plays out of Strong I: Close? Trim it down and make it easier to find your plays.


http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/vignette/NCAABlogImages/CustomPlaybooks5-25-2011/img6.jpg

Finally, those of you that always wanted to see your plays in a particular order within a playbook, or have spent what seems like hours frantically scouring a playbook for a particular play, can now rearrange your plays on the Reorder screen. From here, you will be able to drag and drop each play and arrange your playbook so it appears exactly as you want it to in game. Never again will you have to search through a massive playbook to find the particular play you like to use in a particular situation.

And that's the final step. From there you can rename your playbook, and use it in Play Now, Dynasty, Online Dynasty and even Ranked games. Or, go ahead and create more playbooks.

I hope you enjoyed this preview of Custom Playbooks, please stay tuned for more information on Dynasty and Road to Glory in the coming weeks.

Thanks again, and remember, NCAA Football will be available on July 12th!

jwallace0317
05-25-2011, 04:41 PM
I'm getting the distinct impression that EA hasn't yet figured out how it's going to handle formation audibles in the context of custom playbooks.

Buckeye
05-25-2011, 04:48 PM
Hai Guyz! Questions-

1. If I choose to include a new formation in my custom playbook, do I have to keep all four formation audible plays in that formation or can I remove them and choose other plays as my audibles?
2. The blog doesn't mention if custom playbooks can be used in Unranked Online games. Why is this so? I would love to try a new custom playbook on an unsuspecting stranger in unranked scrimmage mode.

Great job by the Tiburon team, btw! NCAA '12 looks good feature wise!

souljahbill
05-25-2011, 04:48 PM
For the regulars here, no new info. Still my favorite addition for '12 though.


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souljahbill
05-25-2011, 04:49 PM
2. The blog doesn't mention if custom playbooks can be used in Unranked Online games.

Of course they can be used in unranked games.


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ram29jackson
05-25-2011, 04:53 PM
simply fascinating,...15 entire offensive playbooks with names , very interesing idea. 3 is probably enough for me ..?

xGRIDIRONxGURUx
05-25-2011, 04:57 PM
im starting to get the feeling that formation audibles will be disabled... im so very not happy about that feeling either... seriously... i thought they were waiting this long to roll out a solid blog about it because they were getting the kinks out... mi hoping that im wrong because i am near certain that it wouldnt be that big of an issue to have customizable...

"E"

coogrfan
05-25-2011, 04:57 PM
I'm getting the distinct impression that EA hasn't yet figured out how it's going to handle formation audibles in the context of custom playbooks.

I strongly suspect that formation audibles will be disabled when using custom playbooks.

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 05:01 PM
That would be a MAJOR blow to the functionality of those playbooks. To the point of almost making them useless.

At the very least they ought to make it so that you can access the default formation audibles if you don't delete those plays from your playbook.

jwallace0317
05-25-2011, 05:04 PM
Damn. Just seems ridiculous not to be able to designate different formation audibles for each formation you include in your playbook. Sort of the essence of "custom," lol.

beartide06
05-25-2011, 05:04 PM
Even though it's not new news, I'm still pretty pumped to be able to attack my opponents from a great variety.

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 05:05 PM
Yeah. If there are no formation audibles, it will completely ruin this feature.

ram29jackson
05-25-2011, 05:12 PM
Yeah. If there are no formation audibles, it will completely ruin this feature.


completely ruin ? naaaaaaww, maybe more of a disappointment but not a - completely ruin hah

souljahbill
05-25-2011, 05:13 PM
These are the audibles assigned to the right stick, right?

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coogrfan
05-25-2011, 05:16 PM
The reason I'm dubious about this is because I seem to remember that in the ps2 versions (at least up to NCAA 06) using a custom playbook disabled the formation audible feature. Note that this is pure speculation on my part, I am not aware of anything official from EA on the matter.

coogrfan
05-25-2011, 05:16 PM
These are the audibles assigned to the right stick, right?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Correct.

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 05:17 PM
completely ruin ? naaaaaaww, maybe more of a disappointment but not a - completely ruin hah

If you don't have formation audibles, you can't really use this at all on defense with the way that people play no-huddle and throw so many formations/motions at you. And on offense you can't really use it either because it's basically going to be impossible to put together a meaningful scheme unless you want to operate out of one formation all game.

I am not being over-dramatic here. If you cannot use formation audibles with custom playbooks, then custom playbooks will be completely ruined.

souljahbill
05-25-2011, 05:19 PM
Correct.

Are these not customizable now? I've never set up my audibles because I rarely use them.


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rhombic21
05-25-2011, 05:22 PM
Are these not customizable now? I've never set up my audibles because I rarely use them.


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Formation (aka "quick") audibles are not customizable right now. You can customize 5 additional audibles, but the formation/quick audibles that are tied to each formation in the game cannot be changed.

Without these audibles, it is basically impossible to make any kinds of checks/changes at the line that are necessary during a game, unless you use one formation all game (which defeats the entire purpose of using custom playbooks in the first place -- if you're just going to use one formation all game, then you can probably find a base playbook with that formation and the plays you want in it).

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 05:24 PM
To clarify, it won't ruin the feature if it is still not possible to customize your formation audibles, so long as there is at least some mechanism for using them with custom playbooks (i.e. you can access the audibles if you keep those plays in your custom playbook). If, however, it's like last gen apparently was (last gen's custom playbooks couldn't be used online so I never used them), and you can't use formation/quick audibles at all with custom playbooks, then there will be no point in creating a custom playbook.

oweb26
05-25-2011, 05:27 PM
If you don't have formation audibles, you can't really use this at all on defense with the way that people play no-huddle and throw so many formations/motions at you. And on offense you can't really use it either because it's basically going to be impossible to put together a meaningful scheme unless you want to operate out of one formation all game.

I am not being over-dramatic here. If you cannot use formation audibles with custom playbooks, then custom playbooks will be completely ruined.

I think you are being a tad bit over dramatic, but I do see what you are saying. I have to say it will be a bit disappointing very disappointing, I still dont see it ruining it too much, not to a point of making the feature useless. It does kind of negate the term "custom" playbooks. Maybe "almost" custom would be a better term.

Why do we think audibles aren't in the game again?

ram29jackson
05-25-2011, 05:28 PM
If you don't have formation audibles, you can't really use this at all on defense with the way that people play no-huddle and throw so many formations/motions at you. And on offense you can't really use it either because it's basically going to be impossible to put together a meaningful scheme unless you want to operate out of one formation all game.

I am not being over-dramatic here. If you cannot use formation audibles with custom playbooks, then custom playbooks will be completely ruined.


you can still scroll to pick plays between snaps,while on defense, right ?
I understand your point dude..but i'm German and pessimistic and yet every one of your posts seems more negative then me haha i am sure that the follow up thing they brought up after "lets do custom playbooks " was " what happens to formation audibles?" I doubt we will be disappointed about the result of that meeting

CLW
05-25-2011, 05:32 PM
I agree the audible "issue" is problematic but not a "game killer" IMHO. I'm trying to recall what the answer was to "linked" plays being brought over. I.e. if I bring two linked plays into my new custom playbook will they remained "linked" (i.e. set each other up)?

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 05:35 PM
you can still scroll to pick plays between snaps,while on defense, right ?

I'm sorry, but that's just not a viable solution. Also, without formation audibles it would be impossible to check into a running play at the line of scrimmage if the defense comes out in an unexpected formation/alignment. Or conversely it would be impossible to check out of a running play and audible to a passing play.

I can tell you right now that if there is no way to use formation audibles with custom playbooks, then the feature may as well have not been added to the game at all, as far as I'm concerned.

There is simply no way to run a realistic offensive or defensive scheme on this game without formation audibles.

Buckeye
05-25-2011, 05:39 PM
I would rather they make it mandatory to keep those four plays in each formation in your custom playbook than disable them. As Rhombic mentioned, it is a big PITA playing defense w/o the formation audibles and the ability to quickly switch to a base man under/cover 2/cover 3 defense :smh:

Edit: ^^ +1 to the post above as well. Switching from a called outside zone play to a formation audible inside zone play, switching to a quick 3 step pass if you see a blitz...losing the ability to do a lot of this stuff will make me stick with a stock playbook.

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 05:41 PM
I would rather they make it mandatory to keep those four plays in each formation in your custom playbook than disable them.
I agree with this completely. Obviously the optimal solution is to just allow people to customize the formation audibles too, but the solution you describe above would be far superior to simply disabling formation audibles altogether.

gschwendt
05-25-2011, 05:45 PM
Until we hear a definitive answer, let's hold off on getting too excited about formation audibles. I definitely understand the complaints thus far but no sense in getting overly upset about it yet. Not to say that anyone has, I just know that it can easily turn to that.

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 05:47 PM
When do you expect to hear a definitive answer on this? I thought we were supposed to find out today with the blog, but they didn't address it one way or the other.

steelerfan
05-25-2011, 05:51 PM
Until we hear a definitive answer, let's hold off on getting too excited about formation audibles. I definitely understand the complaints thus far but no sense in getting overly upset about it yet. Not to say that anyone has, I just know that it can easily turn to that.

Agreed. Just like everyone getting upset that they couldn't create a new coach with their TB team if they got fired. That proved to be false, maybe this will too.

gschwendt
05-25-2011, 05:52 PM
When do you expect to hear a definitive answer on this? I thought we were supposed to find out today with the blog, but they didn't address it one way or the other.
We've reached out again particularly since it wasn't answered in the blog.

WolverineJay
05-25-2011, 05:58 PM
Well all we can do is wait and see at this point, but like others have said I was really hoping for this to be cleared up today. My choice is the ability to choose the formation audibles, but at least being forced to keep the current ones in my base playbook would be a better alternative than disabled formation audibles.

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 06:12 PM
We've reached out again particularly since it wasn't answered in the blog.

Thanks. Do you have any sense of what the possible outcomes are? Is the struggle right now to move from being stuck with the base formation audibles to being able to customize the audibles, or is it to simply make formation audibles accessible with custom playbooks at all? What was the functionality of this feature as of the last time that community day attendees played the game?

Colossal28
05-25-2011, 06:18 PM
it's absurd to say the feature would be ruined or should not have even been added, to some of us, this is the biggest add by far this year. I'd happily take custom playbooks over audibles this year, even though they're not definitively out.

Would it be so bad if neither Offense or defense could audible, that means you'd actually have to guess what the other person was running before hand? Sounds like a challenge to me. Knowing that I will likely be attacked by people claiming I don't know what I'm talking about, yes I've played every iteration of the game and am very competitive online.

To me, custom playbooks is the big add, and formation audibles is the tweak, not the other way around.

ram29jackson
05-25-2011, 06:23 PM
I'm sorry, but that's just not a viable solution. Also, without formation audibles it would be impossible to check into a running play at the line of scrimmage if the defense comes out in an unexpected formation/alignment. Or conversely it would be impossible to check out of a running play and audible to a passing play.

I can tell you right now that if there is no way to use formation audibles with custom playbooks, then the feature may as well have not been added to the game at all, as far as I'm concerned.

There is simply no way to run a realistic offensive or defensive scheme on this game without formation audibles.



I agree with your details. I'm just saying if gameplay improves, this game will be as fun as last year and I can wait a year for that change if needed. Besides, with the ability to design your playbook on offense, youll be less likely to audible out of a play. On defense , i tend to just hot route a couple guys if I want a change in assignment from what I see.

the thing that fascinated me was, I never saw a 4-3 where the corners manned up while the LBs were in zone.....sorry, just rambling

gschwendt
05-25-2011, 06:24 PM
Thanks. Do you have any sense of what the possible outcomes are? Is the struggle right now to move from being stuck with the base formation audibles to being able to customize the audibles, or is it to simply make formation audibles accessible with custom playbooks at all? What was the functionality of this feature as of the last time that community day attendees played the game?
I'd rather not speculate on it... I don't really want to paint the devs into a corner. Trust me though, I'm anxious to get an answer as well.

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 06:31 PM
I'd rather not speculate on it... I don't really want to paint the devs into a corner. Trust me though, I'm anxious to get an answer as well.

Thanks.

Pig Bomb
05-25-2011, 06:54 PM
I don't have to be a big audible guy on offense... the computer generally knows whether I'm running or passing, not using an audible makes the game just that much more challenging.
More import to me is the fact that I can put all my favorite formations into one book... edit the order...cut out plays..etc.... that is truly awesome.

However, I designed an offense last year [The WolfBone] that does use audbiles all the time- so it would be awesome if I could really take it to another level this year using formation audibles.


http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/9738/wbv2011.jpg

older version of WolfBone

http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/6683/wbv41.jpg

Buckeye
05-25-2011, 07:05 PM
it's absurd to say the feature would be ruined or should not have even been added, to some of us, this is the biggest add by far this year. I'd happily take custom playbooks over audibles this year, even though they're not definitively out.

Would it be so bad if neither Offense or defense could audible, that means you'd actually have to guess what the other person was running before hand? Sounds like a challenge to me. Knowing that I will likely be attacked by people claiming I don't know what I'm talking about, yes I've played every iteration of the game and am very competitive online.

To me, custom playbooks is the big add, and formation audibles is the tweak, not the other way around.

Bolded mine. Nothing personal, just trying to present a different (personal) point of view here-

If the approach for NCAA is to move towards becoming a football simulation style game, then having the ability to formation audible is a very integral part of football gaming strategy - regardless of whether the game has custom playbooks. NCAA '11 has it, '12 may or may not when using a custom playbook.

In real life football there are sight adjustments (checking to a quick slant or bubble, for example), calling more than one play in the huddle and 'killing' the first one if the defense doesn't show the right look, etc. This aspect of football is already fairly well represented in NCAA with formation audibles.

So while we wait for official confirmation, the possibility of not having audibles in custom playbooks makes me a little disappointed (not upset, but disappointed) and may affect my decision to use the new custom playbook feature. I too buy the game every year and enjoy it as much as I can, and I am definitely looking forward to buying it again this year.:nod:

PS: One could argue that custom audibles that are not tied to the called formation are not very 'sim' - teams don't just audible from Singleback Doubles Curl Flat to I-form Twins PowerO on the field very often, if you get my drift.

xMrHitStickx904
05-25-2011, 07:18 PM
When I do custom playbooks, I always set my audibles, 3 for pass d, 3 for run d I believe, so not having formation audibles isn't a big deal. If we have it, great. if we don't, not a big deal for me. I can make my own adjustments at the line for any situation anyway, that's how i've always played.

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 07:59 PM
Would it be so bad if neither Offense or defense could audible, that means you'd actually have to guess what the other person was running before hand? Sounds like a challenge to me. Knowing that I will likely be attacked by people claiming I don't know what I'm talking about, yes I've played every iteration of the game and am very competitive online.

Not to continue to hammer this home until we know more, but is this what you think teams do in real life? Every single offensive and defensive system that is employed at the DI level (and even at most high schools, to be honest) has a mechanism to check out out one play and into another (without having to change the entire formation).

Do you really think teams get to the line and then just throw their hands up in the air and run plays that they know aren't going to work when they "guessed wrong" in the huddle? As an OU fan, you of all should know that this isn't how modern offenses (or defenses) operate, given how much we audible at the line in real life. Basically the only time you see that in real life is if a team is trying to snap the ball before their opponent can get lined up right.

Here, see if you can count the number of times OU audibles (or at least pauses to check for a potential audible) at the line.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2JDkwv8Law&feature=related

ram29jackson
05-25-2011, 08:56 PM
Not to continue to hammer this home until we know more, but is this what you think teams do in real life? Every single offensive and defensive system that is employed at the DI level (and even at most high schools, to be honest) has a mechanism to check out out one play and into another (without having to change the entire formation).

Do you really think teams get to the line and then just throw their hands up in the air and run plays that they know aren't going to work when they "guessed wrong" in the huddle? As an OU fan, you of all should know that this isn't how modern offenses (or defenses) operate, given how much we audible at the line in real life. Basically the only time you see that in real life is if a team is trying to snap the ball before their opponent can get lined up right.

Here, see if you can count the number of times OU audibles (or at least pauses to check for a potential audible) at the line.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2JDkwv8Law&feature=related

actually, I would have wanted to find the video of Peyton Manning and Ray Lewis audibling against each other haha

rhombic21
05-25-2011, 09:06 PM
actually, I would have wanted to find the video of Peyton Manning and Ray Lewis audibling against each other haha

But my point is that this isn't something that only a handful of elite players, like Manning and Lewis, do. It's a major part of virtually every offense and defense at the collegiate level. For example, many defensive playcalls include automatic checks/audibles if the offense comes out or motions into a particular formation.

The formation audibles feature is a really good one that fairly closely approximates what teams do in real life (it would be perfect if we could choose custom audibles for the formation audibles). Without it there is no way to replicate the playcalling strategy that real teams use (on either offense or defense). And for that reason, it needs to be implemented with custom playbooks.

baseballplyrmvp
05-25-2011, 09:26 PM
But my point is that this isn't something that only a handful of elite players, like Manning and Lewis, do. It's a major part of virtually every offense and defense at the collegiate level. For example, many defensive playcalls include automatic checks/audibles if the offense comes out or motions into a particular formation.

The formation audibles feature is a really good one that fairly closely approximates what teams do in real life (it would be perfect if we could choose custom audibles for the formation audibles). Without it there is no way to replicate the playcalling strategy that real teams use (on either offense or defense). And for that reason, it needs to be implemented with custom playbooks.

especially the run&shoot. and its a vital part to my playcalling as i come out with the intention of passing every down, but if i see 5 or less in the box, i quick audible to a run. i use the formation audibles more than the traditional audibles anyway, so it really hampers the strategy. it doesnt ruin the custom books feature, but its not the ideal situation.

ram29jackson
05-26-2011, 02:18 AM
But my point is that this isn't something that only a handful of elite players, like Manning and Lewis, do. It's a major part of virtually every offense and defense at the collegiate level. For example, many defensive playcalls include automatic checks/audibles if the offense comes out or motions into a particular formation.

The formation audibles feature is a really good one that fairly closely approximates what teams do in real life (it would be perfect if we could choose custom audibles for the formation audibles). Without it there is no way to replicate the playcalling strategy that real teams use (on either offense or defense). And for that reason, it needs to be implemented with custom playbooks.

I dont disagree at all. I just thought the Manning -Lewis thing was a more common example actually.

Koach Vonner
05-26-2011, 09:42 AM
I do wish that they would have formation audibles. :(
However, I don't think that by not having them that this is going to totally ruin the custom playbooks. I'm still excited about this feature and can't wait to create my playbook!! :))

cdj
05-26-2011, 09:48 AM
We have received clarification on Formation Audibles:

The CPU will assign audibles based upon plays that are remaining in the set to match each type of formation audible.

xGRIDIRONxGURUx
05-26-2011, 09:52 AM
that is actually GOOD news then.. if i set up my system correctly my formation audibles will work well... thats better than NOT having any at all... happy with that and expect full customization next year...

"E"

Pig Bomb
05-26-2011, 09:53 AM
We have received clarification on Formation Audibles:

The CPU will assign audibles based upon plays that are remaining in the set to match each type of formation audible.

OK now you one of football gaming guru futha muckers tell me what the heck that means!

xGRIDIRONxGURUx
05-26-2011, 09:55 AM
if you have a dive then the run quick audible (right stick down) will defualt to that... and so on..

"E"

CLW
05-26-2011, 09:55 AM
OK now you one of football gaming guru futha muckers tell me what the heck that means!

:nod:

gschwendt
05-26-2011, 09:59 AM
OK now you one of football gaming guru futha muckers tell me what the heck that means!
What I read it as, if you remove the HB Dive from I-Form Normal, it will then grab one of your other run plays to fill that Run formation audible. How it decides which run to fill it in, I'm not clear on but I'm willing to bet it just goes to the next run play in the formation. The trickier part will be how it handles Deep Pass and Quick Pass formation audibles... are those plays tagged appropriately?

Either way though, I think this is probably the best solution available short of allowing us to fully customize formation audibles.

souljahbill
05-26-2011, 10:00 AM
OK now you one of football gaming guru futha muckers tell me what the heck that means!

LMAO!

It means if the default play is not in your playbook, the CPU will pick a play in your playbook that matches the criteria.


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JBHuskers
05-26-2011, 10:01 AM
OK now you one of football gaming guru futha muckers tell me what the heck that means!

Funny when I first read this I read it as mutha ******* ;) :D

PDuncanOSU
05-26-2011, 10:02 AM
What I read it as, if you remove the HB Dive from I-Form Normal, it will then grab one of your other run plays to fill that Run formation audible. How it decides which run to fill it in, I'm not clear on but I'm willing to bet it just goes to the next run play in the formation. The trickier part will be how it handles Deep Pass and Quick Pass formation audibles... are those plays tagged appropriately?

Either way though, I think this is probably the best solution available short of allowing us to fully customize formation audibles.

Although it's not likely to have a formation with no run plays (even pass heavy formations would likely include a draw play) I wonder what the cpu would do to fill the run formation audible.

Buckeye
05-26-2011, 10:05 AM
Thanks guys! That's good news. Wonder what happens if a formation doesn't have any, say, PA Pass plays in the custom playbook? How does the CPU assign a play to the formation audible in this case?

Edit: Fellow buckeye fan beat me to it :)

gschwendt
05-26-2011, 10:06 AM
Although it's not likely to have a formation with no run plays (even pass heavy formations would likely include a draw play) I wonder what the cpu would do to fill the run formation audible.
I'm assuming it will just keep that slot empty.

coogrfan
05-26-2011, 10:08 AM
I strongly suspect that formation audibles will be disabled when using custom playbooks.

I've never been happier to be completely wrong about something. :))

Pig Bomb
05-26-2011, 10:24 AM
well this sounds good then...I'll be able to work with this

xGRIDIRONxGURUx
05-26-2011, 10:29 AM
this actually works out top notch for me and my Loaded Gun stuff... would still see custom formation audibles

"E"

psusnoop
05-26-2011, 10:46 AM
This is good news, nice to hear. Thanks for looking into this guys.

CLW
05-26-2011, 10:58 AM
Yeah this will be workable most likely. Ideally, we would be able to choose our formation audibles to have a 100% custom playbook. However, the ability to audible out to different plays (even if selected by the CPU) should be fine for year 1. Hopefully, they work/fix this issue and allow for us to pick/choose our own audibles in 13.

morsdraconis
05-26-2011, 11:03 AM
At least we aren't stuck with the old shitty formation audibles.

Koach Vonner
05-26-2011, 11:48 AM
This is fantastic news. If you have a Spread and Pass Happy Style playbook like me I guess they would just add in the Zone Read or HB Draw. That's a great play for a change of pace.
RB "Slow" Screen is the best way. Or a Shovel Pass!!

Any of you Community Guys who get all the special privileges know if they put in the "Shovel Pass" this year?

WolverineJay
05-26-2011, 12:38 PM
I'm glad that we can use formation audibles in our custom playbooks, but I'm also curious as to what criteria the CPU AI will use in selecting my formation audibles. For instance if I have hb dive, inside zone, lead draw, power 0, hb stretch, and hb counter in my I-formation set and decide to scrap the hb dive play will the game automatically choose another inside run like inside zone or lead draw? Or will the game just choose the next run play in the order that they appear in my I-formation set? If it is the latter then we can easily come up with a workaround by ordering our plays in such a way as the game automatically selects the formation audibles that we would.

Pig Bomb
05-26-2011, 01:17 PM
I'm glad that we can use formation audibles in our custom playbooks, but I'm also curious as to what criteria the CPU AI will use in selecting my formation audibles. For instance if I have hb dive, inside zone, lead draw, power 0, hb stretch, and hb counter in my I-formation set and decide to scrap the hb dive play will the game automatically choose another inside run like inside zone or lead draw? Or will the game just choose the next run play in the order that they appear in my I-formation set? If it is the latter then we can easily come up with a workaround by ordering our plays in such a way as the game automatically selects the formation audibles that we would.

I was just thinking the same thing...I bet we can find a way to get the plays we want due to the ability to re-order and/or trim down the number of plays.

xGRIDIRONxGURUx
05-26-2011, 01:28 PM
per salukifan on another site...

im going to try this out to see if this may be a "work around" for this situation...


not a 100% this will work but bare with me,

my theory for basically getting your formation audibles how you want.

first assign all 5 user audibles to plays in goal line, special teams, or hail mary.

that means you don't have any user audibles assigned to your formations. so you can delete every play in a formation you want then.

add back your four formation audibles.

if you want a IZ as your base run, put it in before any other running plays.
if you want Middle Slants as your short pass or stick add it next. for the short pass
if you want Smash as your deep pass add it next.
if you want PA Read for you PA add it next

don't add any more plays yet.

then add the formation audibles for all of your formations.

save your book, this should lock in those plays, as removing all of the plays before hand "should" clear the default logic.

then leave the playbook tool, the blog said, you had to have 50 plays in your book so that is basically the 23/30 "have to's" and 20 to 27 regular plays, which basically gets handled with 7 formations 4 FAs x 7 sets = 28 so one over the bare min.

go back in tot he playbook tool and finish customizing your book and re-ordering your plays, setting user audibles etc.

Now in theory this should would, will it maybe, but hell I'm gonna try it first thing with the demo if we get to use custom playbooks with the demo, that is. if not first thing on the 12th.

"E"

blkkrptnt819
05-26-2011, 01:50 PM
Formation (aka "quick") audibles are not customizable right now. You can customize 5 additional audibles, but the formation/quick audibles that are tied to each formation in the game cannot be changed.

Without these audibles, it is basically impossible to make any kinds of checks/changes at the line that are necessary during a game, unless you use one formation all game (which defeats the entire purpose of using custom playbooks in the first place -- if you're just going to use one formation all game, then you can probably find a base playbook with that formation and the plays you want in it).

I'm not gonna lie I thought u were being dramatic because I was thinking u were saying if these are not customizable it's a feature killer but if they not in the custom playbooks at all you are right and it's a feature and for me a game killer becaue this is the thing that excites me most.

blkkrptnt819
05-26-2011, 02:08 PM
Funny when I first read this I read it as mutha ******* ;) :D

I did too.

blkkrptnt819
05-26-2011, 02:11 PM
We have received clarification on Formation Audibles:

The CPU will assign audibles based upon plays that are remaining in the set to match each type of formation audible.

It would have made more sense to allow us to pick a play out of the plays that fit the critiera. Is there a way to "fade the deck" so to speak so we can pick which of the run plays available we want in the slot.

rhombic21
05-26-2011, 02:17 PM
I am definitely relieved to hear this. I guess the only question is what criteria the AI will use to select the formation audibles, but as long as it approximates something reasonable, I will be satisfied.

classic
05-26-2011, 02:18 PM
no formation auds i think will make the feature somewhat useless ...alot better to scheme when the formation auds are there ..why cant EA ever give us something in full..always leave one or 2 things out to mess it up

Kwizzy
05-26-2011, 02:23 PM
no formation auds i think will make the feature somewhat useless ...alot better to scheme when the formation auds are there ..why cant EA ever give us something in full..always leave one or 2 things out to mess it up

I think there is a TON more going in to Custom Playbooks than you realize. If the only issue people have with the feature this year is not being able to customize the formation audibles and having the CPU set them for you, I think the Devs will be happy. Sometimes it's better to do a little bit less really well than to bite off more than you can chew and have it all be broken.

rhombic21
05-26-2011, 02:25 PM
The trickier part will be how it handles Deep Pass and Quick Pass formation audibles... are those plays tagged appropriately?

I would imagine that these plays are already tagged in some way, at the very least for AI playcalling purposes. Also, if you do playcalling by play type on NCAA '11, they already have plays sorted into "Quick Pass" and "Play Action Pass" categories.

blkkrptnt819
05-26-2011, 02:43 PM
I would imagine that these plays are already tagged in some way, at the very least for AI playcalling purposes. Also, if you do playcalling by play type on NCAA '11, they already have plays sorted into "Quick Pass" and "Play Action Pass" categories.

I imagine all the plays are tagged so they can be used in select play by type.

classic
05-27-2011, 12:31 PM
I think there is a TON more going in to Custom Playbooks than you realize. If the only issue people have with the feature this year is not being able to customize the formation audibles and having the CPU set them for you, I think the Devs will be happy. Sometimes it's better to do a little bit less really well than to bite off more than you can chew and have it all be broken.

from what i was reading that there wouldnt be any formation auds at all ...now if that is the case then it is a waste...but if the cpu generates formation auds after u put your plays in then it is all good i can live with that and plan my offense accordingly after that

Pig Bomb
05-27-2011, 01:39 PM
From EA....

Custom Playbooks – Formation Audibles

How are formation audibles set? Formation audibles are set automatically by the CPU for each formation in a custom playbook. The CPU will pick the play out of those in the custom playbook's formation that most closely matches that particular formation audible.

classic
05-27-2011, 02:34 PM
From EA....

thanks man ...now im hype to make my own playbook and now if the zones work how they say they will NCAA and madden will be great...now this might be a dumb question but i saw someone had brought it up at another forum and it wasnt answered there so im sure one of u will know...but i would assume we will be able to use our playbooks in practice mode lol ...it didnt say it in the blog but by them saying play now modes that practice would be included

Jayrah
05-27-2011, 06:33 PM
I am definitely relieved to hear this. I guess the only question is what criteria the AI will use to select the formation audibles, but as long as it approximates something reasonable, I will be satisfied.

:) WOOHOO!!!

xMrHitStickx904
05-28-2011, 08:40 AM
yeah this will workout great, and I imagine this will work on D too. I'll make sure to add some base plays/formations to have some good formation audibles until we can fully customize them in '13. So glad I have a PS3 and a 360 now, can't wait to play everyone.