Quote:
The first step is to fix the blocking schemes both rushing and passing. This was my core idea behind NCAA Playbook and in writing these articles I’ve been trying to come up with a plan to use the existing game engine to improve the offensive and defensive interactions.
As mentioned the blocking scheme is paramount, next however the defensive reaction to the different types of blocks utilized in the blocking scheme must be addressed and from what I see most of the fundamentals are there to make this work.
The great thing about defensive football is every player has a rule based upon his position in the defensive scheme, how well that player plays his position is largely dependent on his awareness within that scheme.
For example, a defensive lineman fires off the ball stepping first with his gap side foot and recognizes the offensive lineman executing a reach block, he must now widen with his second step, fighting to maintain outside leverage, diagnose the play, disengage from the blocker and pursue the ball carrier.
This scenario would play out in the game first by the offensive lineman being assigned the reach block in the plays creation, now at the snap of the ball the offensive lineman would first take a lateral step then with his second step attack the outer half of the defensive player. How quickly he would be able take these two steps would be dependent on his run block footwork rating (RBF) which already exists in the game.
At the same time the defensive lineman will step with his gap side foot, recognize the reach block then widen with his second step as I mentioned above. Here the awareness rating would come into play when the defensive lineman must recognize the type of block being executed. The higher his awareness the quicker the player would take his complementary step. Conversely, the lower his rating the easier time the offensive lineman would have of initially winning the block. In this case the offensive player would be able to gain outside leverage.
At this point the players now collide, with each player trying to create movement. Here the hit power rating would come into play. The player with the higher hit power rating would gain an advantage in creating movement and fitting into the block or stunning the blocker, possibly allowing the offensive player to drive the defender out of the hole or the defensive player quickly disengaging the blocker. If hit power is equal there would be an initial stalemate with little movement. Here I would like to see the additions to the tackling engine added here where weight, momentum and angle are factored in when creating the initial movement or pop.
Now that initial movement has been created there will be a couple factors that determine the ultimate winner of the block. First the initial winner of the block must be factored in, if the offensive lineman was able to reach the outside shoulder of the defender or if the defender was able to maintain outside leverage they must be given an advantage. Next, the winner of the second part of the block must be factored in, if the offensive player had the higher hit power and was able to fit into the block even after losing the footwork battle he should now have the advantage as he will be in position drive the player out of the hole. Conversely, if the defensive player loses the initial footwork battle but has a higher hit power rating, he is able to stun the blocker and will now have the advantage in regaining his gap responsibility.
Now this is where player strength will come in, if the offensive player has been able to fit into the block by having the higher hit power rating he will now have a weighted advantage over the defensive player and if he has a higher strength rating than the defensive player he will now be able to create movement. Also, due to the offensive player having a weighted advantage over the defensive player he could potentially have a lower strength rating than the defensive player and still create movement. The same scenario would play out on the defensive side, if the defender was able to maintain outside leverage and stun the blocker due to having the higher hit power rating he is now able to lock out the blocker and maintain his gap responsibility. Even if the offensive blocker has the advantage by being able to fit into the block this does not mean the defender has lost the battle. If the defender has a higher strength rating than the offensive lineman and is able to overcome the offensive lineman’s advantage as a result he can now lock the blocker out and take the advantage.
Now that we have a winner on the block the play is still not over and the defender is still going to try and disengage from the blocker. The defense is at a disadvantage in that it does not know where the ball is going and here and must diagnose the play before breaking the block and pursuing the football. This is where the defender’s play recognition rating comes into play. The higher the play recognition the quicker the defender is able to move to the next step which is breaking the block, the lower the rating the longer he will be held up on the block attempting to diagnose the play and the longer the blocker would have a chance to refit and gain control of the blocker. This would entail adding a block refit rating or just simply leaving the defender locked up on the blocker until he is able to diagnose the play. If the defender is at a disadvantage at this point he will attempt to regain his gap responsibility as he will need to accomplish this task before he can diagnose the play.
The defender is now ready to either break the block or regain his gap responsibility. I would like to see ratings assigned to each of the different types of moves a defender can use to break a block or use during a pass rush as well as the players tendency to use each of them, but this is about utilizing the ratings already in place. The defenders break block rating will be the key, if the defender is in control of the blocker he will require a much lower break block rating to be able to disengage, however if the offensive player has the advantage the defender would need a higher break block rating to fight back through the blocker and regain control of his gap responsibility. Additionally, if the defender is unable to either break the block or regain gap responsibility but the weighted score for each player is within a certain amount of each other the defender would have the ability to lunge after the ball carrier and possibly get a tackle.
At this point there are three possibly outcomes: the defender has defeated the blocker and now will utilize his pursuit rating to pursue the ball carrier, the defender and blocker have a stalemate where neither wins but the defender still has the potential to stick an arm out and possibly make a tackle, or the blocker wins and is able to control the defender.
This would require animations for each of the block types and complementary defensive reactions and new code to handle the weighted score from each step of the block to determine the eventual winner. In the end however you would have a blocking interaction system that would be true to life and provide a much better experience for the gamer.