TV Sports Football - Manual

AMIGA PLAYERS GUIDE

BEFORE USING THE "LEAGUE" OPTION MAKE A COPY OF REEL2.
"Reel2" is not copy protected and contains league and season data.  Make
a backup of this disk.  Be sure the copy is named "REEL 2" and not
"COPY OF REEL 2" (consult your Amiga manual if you need more information
on this procedure).  Store the original in a safe location.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.
1.  An Amiga 500, 1000, or 2000 with at least 512K of RAM.
2.  A joystick connected to PORT 2.  (Some game options require a second
joystick.)

GETTING STARTED.
If necessary, boot your Amiga with Kickstart 1.2.  At the Workbench prompt
insert "REEL 1" in the internal drive and "REEL2" in the external drive
(if you have one).  The game loads automatically.  One drive users: follow
the on-screen prompts to exchange disks.  Never exchange a disk unless the
program requests it.
NOTE:  To skip the intro press your joystick firebutton.  The screen will
"freeze" as the COIN TOSS is loaded in.

MENUS AND GAME OPTIONS.
The main menu has four options:EXHIBITION, LEAGUE, PRACTICE, AND CLIPBOARD.
To select an option move the joystick up or down until until the animating
football is next to your selection, then press the firebutton.

PLAYING AN EXHIBITION GAME.
When the four EXHIBITION options appear, select one and press the firebutton.
From the clipboard menu select a "visiting" team by moving the pencil to the
desired team and pressing the firebutton.  In ONE PLAYER and TEAMMATES modes
the FIRST team you choose is the team YOU will control.  The SECOND team you
select (the "home" team) is your opponent.  For TWO PLAYER games a second
joystick, plugged into PORT TWO, must be used when selecting the "home" team.
The game loads automatically once the teams have been determined.
NOTE:  The TEAMMATES mode allows two humans to play against the computer.
JOYSTICK 1 is the offensive captain and always controls the quarterback.
JOYSTICK 2 is the defensive captain, and always controls the left inside
linebacker.  The "teammate" will be a wide receiver or running back on offense
and any player EXCEPT the left inside linebacker on defense.

USING THE LEAGUE OPTION AND EDITING TEAMS.
The Cinemaware Football League (CWFL) always consists of 28 teams.  Each team
can have either a HUMAN or COMPUTER "owner".  If you want to play in a league
by yourself simply change the ownership of one of the 28 computer owned teams
from "COMP" to "HUMAN".  Or you can compete in a league with up to 27 of your
friends; each friend choosing a team to "own" while any remaining teams are
controlled by the computer.  In multi-player leagues then,  some of your games,
depending on your schedule and the number of humans participating, will be
against computer teams and some will be against other humans.

STARTING A NEW SEASON.
Select NEW SEASON and then choose EDIT TEAM.  Now move the pencil to the
team you want to own and press the firebutton.  When the ROSTER screen
appears move the pencil to the upper right corner where it says "OWNER"
and push the firebutton once.  The owner of the team should now be: "HUMAN".
Move to the bottom of the page and select SAVE CHANGES.  This makes a temporary
copy of your new team in memory and allows you to change as many other teams
as you like BEFORE you save everything to disk using the SAVE LEAGUE option.
When you are ready to play a game, go to CONTINUE SEASON and press the button.
You will see a schedule of the current week's games.  A blue "C" indicates
COMPUTER-controlled teams.  A red "H" marks the teams that are HUMAN controlled.
(If your team is not marked with a "H" it means you forgot to change the
ownership and you must start over.)  Move the pencil to the game that features
YOUR team and press the firebutton.  This game will now be highlighted.
When you are ready to begin, choose "PLAY" at the bottom of the screen or
CLIPBOARD to exit.
WARNING:  When you begin a new season you ERASE any existing seasons on you
league disk!  You are allowed only ONE season and ONE league per disk.
(If you want to run more than one season at at time simply make an additional
copy of REEL2!)

CHOOSING "HOLD" OR "AUTO" MODES.
The right side of the weekly schedule screen has a status column that shows
whether a game is in "HOLD" or "AUTO" mode.  Notice that the games with one
or more HUMAN owners default to HOLD mode while all computer vs. computer
games default to AUTO.  This means that those games will be played
AUTOmatically, while the human games are on HOLD until a later time.
While playing your league game on-screen, all the games in AUTO mode are
actually being decided play-by-play off-screen.  Also, if you don't select
a game before you push "PLAY" all the games in AUTO mode will be resolved.
You can toggle games between the two modes by moving the pencil to the status
column of the appropriate game and pressing the firebutton.  This allows
two things: first, you can HOLD a computer vs. computer game and WATCH it
later, wither to study your next opponent or just to enjoy a big game;
and second, if your're competing in a multiplayer league and one of the
players isn't available for his game, he can elect to have the computer
simulation decide the game for him almost instantly! (NO ONE can advance
to the next week until ALL the games from the current week have been decided,
either by playing or by computer simulation.)

EDITING A TEAM.
Whenever you start a new season you have the option of editing a team.
You can change the team name and initials, owner, player names, player
rankings, and player ratings.  Just move the pencil to the item you want
to change and press the firebutton.  The flashing red cursor should appear
in the first column of the input area, and move from left to right as you
type on the keyboard.  Be sure to type slowly and deliberately.  When
entering names be sure there is a first and last name ONLY!  To enter a
name like Boom Boom Barnett, which is broken into three parts, you should
use a hyphen like this:  "Boom-Boom Barnett".  A player's last name should
not exceed 10 letters.

You can also change a player's rankings.  The RANKINGS determine the total
number of "talent points" that a player is allocated.  The best player on
your team is give 24 points, the second best player gets 23 points and so
on.  The points are then divided among four different areas:  SPEED,
STRENGTH, HANDS, and AGILITY.  You CANNOT give a player MORE or Less total
points that he was allocated.  So if a player has 20 talent points and you
have given him 5 points in each of the first three areas, the computer
will ONLY accept a 5 in AGILITY.  Also, when you change a player's RANK,
you must enter leading zeros. (The computer is expecting TWO digits.)
When you are done with your team, select SAVE CHANGES and press the
firebutton.  When you are through editing, choose SAVE LEAGUE from the
league menu to save your new team(s) to disk.  An editing session
permanently modifies the team on disk.  Several editing sessions may be
used to create a multi-player league.  When all players are satisfied with
their teams, select CONTINUE SEASON to begin league play.
NOTE:  EVEN IF YOU DON'T EDIT A TEAM, WHENEVER YOU BEGIN A NEW SEASON YOU
MUST USE THE SAVE LEAGUE OPTION!

USING THE PRACTICE OPTION.
Football is a game of fundamentals, and the only way to improve your
fundamentals is by practicing.  There are two ways to practice:

PRACTICE PLAYS:
This option allows you to practice handoffs, fake handoffs, pitches, punts
and most importantly you PASSING!  The play-calling screen will remain up
for an indefinite amount of time allowing you to analyze the play diagrams.
Once you have selected a play you can hike the ball immediately.  You will
return to the pay-calling screen whenever the play is over, for example,
running out of bounds, or following an incomplete pass.  You have unlimited
downs, on time limits, no penalties, and you are returned to the 20 yard
line after each play.  To exit the practice mode and return to the main menu,
simply reboot your Amiga.

PRACTICE KICKING:
During a game there are two ways you can kick field goals: you can have the
computer kick for you, OR you can kick the ball yourself.  A good human kicker
will have a slightly higher chance of success, so if you plan to do your own
kicking it is important to practice your timing. )See KICKING FIELD GOALS for
more details.)  To exit the kicking game simply reboot your Amiga.

USING THE CLIPBOARD TO STUDY LEAGUE STATS.
To use the CLIPBOARD option you must have a league-in-progress on your league
disk.  Statistics generated during EXHIBITION games will NOT be saved.  The
CLIPBOARD menu gives you the following choices:

VIEW SCHEDULES:
This is a weekly schedule of league games.  The "+" and "-" buttons at the top
of the screen allow you to go forward or backward in the schedule.  Move the
pencil to the "button" of your choice and press the firebutton.  Scores of
games that have already been resolved will appear on the weekly schedules. 
Those in red indicate losing efforts while the blue scores mark victories. 
When viewing playoff schedules in mid-season, teams will appear according to
the current standings.

VIEW STANDINGS:
The STANDINGS screen allows you to analyze the record of every team in every
division.  From left to right you can see:  Wins, Losses, Ties, accumulated
Points For, and accumulated Points Against.  Also, by moving the pencil up
and clicking on a team, you can view it's schedule.  The schedule shows a
complete list of opponents, and tracks scores of games that have already
been played.  At the bottom of this screen is the "OPPonents WIN PCT".
This is calculated by adding up the total number of opponent victories and
dividing  by the number of games.

LEAGUE LEADERS:
You can view LEAGUE LEADERS in six catagories.  Move the pencil to the category
you wish to study and press the firebutton.  The upper half of the screen will
now display the top ten performers in the league in the category you selected.
The numbers highlighted in red indicate the "STAT" by which the performers are
ranked.  Each STAT at the top of the screen is a "button" and can be clicked on.
For example, if you call up the LEADING RUSHERS, you will first see the ten
players with the most rushing ATTempts.  To see which rusher has the highest
"average per game" move the pencil up to the stat: "/GAME" and press the
firebutton.

STATS BY TEAM:
Complete stats are kept for each member of every team in the CWFL.  To look
at a team's stats first choose STATS BY TEAM from the CLIPBOARD menu.  When
the team menu appears select a team.  The first "page" you will see is a
comprehensive analysis of the team's overall performance thus far in the
season, including TURNOVERS (TRN) and a breakdown of the total scoring by
quarters.  The second page is accessed  by choosing IND.OFFENSE at the lower
left of the TEAM STATISTICS screen.  The third page is IND.DEFENSE and the
last is the team's ROSTER. At any time you can return to the CLIPBOARD menu
by moving down to the lower right and selecting CLIPBOARD.

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME.
After you have chosen the type of game you want to play, and following the
PRE-GAME SHOW, you are ready to begin.  TV SPORTS:FOOTBALL was designed to
be easy for beginners, so the game will play all by itself, even in the
TWOPLAYER mode.  Until you move the joystick to "take over" the computer
will always try to control the flashing player.  On offense the player
with the ball will always flash, and once you have "taken control" by
moving your joystick, the computer cannot regain control, even if you
release the stick.  For information on controlling the defense see
"DEFENSE".

THE COIN TOSS.
The VISITING team always makes the initial selection of HEADS or TAILS.
The team that wins the toss can choose whether they want to KICK or RECEIVE.
(The team that RECEIVES the opening kickoff will KICKoff to start the
second half.)

THE OPENING KICKOFF.
The right halfback of the RECEIVING team will get the ball after the kick.
After he "returns" the ball upfield and either scores a touchdown or is
tackled by the defense, the play ends and the PLAYCALLING SCREEN appears.

THE PLAYCALLING SCREEN.
The playcalling screen is not only used for calling plays, but also
functions as a scoreboard showing: the game clock, team names (the small
football icon marks the offensive team), the score by quarter and the
total score, the DOWN number from 1-4, the yards TO GO for a first down,
and the position of the football ON the field. (The arrow after the word
"ON" indicates which half of the field the ball occupies.  If it is
pointing UP it means the football is past the 50 yard line and in the
UPPER half of the field.  Conversely, if it points DOWN it means the
ball is more that 50 yards from the opponent's goal line.)
Also displayed on the playcalling screen is a small red box marking the
quarter from 1-4, and 6 red lights showing the number of timeouts
remaining for each team.  Each team is allowed 3 timeouts per half.

CALLING PLAYS.
When you are ready to call a play, whether you are on offense or defense,
refer to the two joystick icons in the lower half of the screen.
To choose a formation simply move the joystick DIAGONALLY toward the
formation you have selected.  When both side have made their decision,
the offensive and defensive PLAYS are displayed.  Again, move the joystick
diagonally to make your selection.  If you have not called a formation or
play in fifteen seconds the computer will call one for you.  However, if
no joystick input was detected on the previous play the computer will begin
calling plays in a about five seconds to expedite gameplay.
TV SPORTS:FOOTBALL, over a period of time, actually "learns" your playcalling
tendencies.  So whenever YOUR team calls plays on its own (say you had to
leave the room for a few minutes) the computer attempts to make the same
choices you would have made.
NOTE:  YOU CAN DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF OFFENSIVE PLAYS BY REVERSING THEM.
TO DO THIS, HOLD DOWN THE FIREBUTTON WHILE CALLING YOUR PLAY.  THE PITCH
LEFT NOW BECOMES A PITCH RIGHT, CROSSING PATTERNS TO THE LEFT BECOME CROSSING
PATTERNS TO THE RIGHT, AND SO ON.

CALLING TIMEOUTS AND PAUSING THE GAME:
To call a timeout you must push the firebutton on your joystick before a
formation is selected!  The game is now in PAUSE.  To return to play, push
the firebutton again.  Timeouts are useful because they stop the game clock
until the START of the next play.  The game clock will also stop automatically
at the end of every quarter and following an incomplete pass, a run out of
bounds, or a change of possession.

OFFENSE.

THE QUARTERBACK:
As the Quarterback you are the initial ball handler and are responsible for
making last second decisions "at the line."  One decision a quarterback must
make is whether to send his wide receiver in motion.  To do this just move
the joystick left or right before the play begins.  You can "hike" the ball,
and initiate play, as soon as you hear the quarterback calling "HUT HUT--".
There are TWO ways to hike the ball:

PUSH THE BUTTON:
Pushing down on the button to hike the ball means you want the quarterback
to follow the diagrammed play and make a handoff or pitch at the earliest
opportunity.  You CANNOT pass the ball if you hike it with a button press.
As soon as the running back has the ball he will begin to run automatically.
Move the joystick at any time to "take control".
(To make handoffs from the SHOTGUN formation you need to hold the button
down for at least 3 seconds.)

PULL BACK ON THE STICK:
If you want to throw a forward pass you MUST hike the ball by pulling back
on the stick.  This gives you total control over the quarterback.  You can
drop back, roll to the left or right, or even attempt to run the ball. (A
quarterback sneak.) You CAN make handoffs and pitches by pushing your joystick
button whenever a running back is near.

THROWING THE FORWARD PASS:
While controlling the movements of the quarterback BEHIND THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE
(the position of the ball when the play started) release the joystick so the
quarterback stops moving to enter PASS MODE.  By moving the joystick left
and right you can make him "point" to virtually any spot on the field.
(TO BREAK OUT OF THIS MODE AND RUN YOU MUST MOVE THE JOYSTICK EITHER UP OR DOWN.)
To pass the ball in the direction you are pointing simply press and HOLD your
joystick button.  The green "x" shows you where the ball will land, and marks
the middle of the "catchable range".  As long as you hold your finger on the
button the "x" will continue to move up the field. The STRENGTH rating of the
quarterback determines how far the ball can ultimately travel.) At the moment
you release your button the "x" will stop moving, the nearest eligible receiver
will be "activated" and begin running towards it, and the ball will be halfway
between it and the quarterback.  It is VERY important to "lead" your receivers.
This means that you should throw the ball far enough in front of them so that
they get to the "x" the same time the ball does.  Practice throwing passes in
the PRACTICE mode first.  And expect to throw a lot of interceptions in your
first few games.  After a while you will learn to "read" the defense, and your
interception rate will go down while your pass completion percentage goes up.

CATCHING THE FOOTBALL.
The "x" on the field marks the middle of the catchable range.  The closer an
offensive player is to the "x" when the ball comes down the better chance he
has of catching it.  However, if a defensive player is there at the same time
it is possible that, based on the HANDS ratings of the two players, the ball
will be "KNOCKED DOWN" or even "INTERCEPTED".  To try a diving catch push the
firebutton and the player you are controlling will dive in the direction he
is running.  Sometimes this is the only way to catch a ball that has been
overthrown or underthrown.  Practice diving catches in the PRACTICE mode
before attempting one in a game situation.

RUSHING (RUNNING).
There are two types of running plays: runs up the middle and runs to the
outside.  Running up the middle requires a good offensive line; it is their
responsibility to open a "hole" for you to run through.  When you find the
hole, get through it as quickly as possible, before the linebackers have a
chance to react.  Running to the outside requires more speed and quickness.
Whenever you carry the ball you should NEVER just run right at a defender.
Let him get close, then cut to the left or right and try to avoid him.
This works best when your AGILITY rating is better that his.

RECOVERING FUMBLES.
Fumbles are a random occurrence based on the STRENGTH of the tackler, the
HANDS of the ball carrier, and the severity of the "hit". (Diving tackles
cause almost twice as many fumbles as regular tackles.) After a fumble,
the FIRST person to push and hold his firebutton will recover the ball.

PUNTING.
Punting the ball is similar to throwing a long pass from the SHOTGUN
formation.  Hike the ball by pushing the firebutton OR pulling down on
the stick.  When the punter catches it move your joystick left or right
to point in the direction you want to kick.  Then hold the firebutton down
to punt the ball.  For a long kick try to release the firebutton just as
the ball leaves the punter's foot.  The better your timing the farther
the ball will travel.  If you are near your opponent's end zone, you will
want to aim the kick to go out of bounds near his goal line.  Don't let
the kick go into his end zone, however, or it will be a TOUCHBACK and the
offense will get the ball on the 20 yard line.

KICKING FIELD GOALS.
There are two ways to kick a field goal.  You can let the computer attempt
the kick (if so, hike the ball by pushing the firebutton), or you can try
to kick it yourself (hike the ball by pulling back on the stick).  Both
attempts will be based on the ratings of the kicker and the timing of the
kick, but the computer will only use "above average" timing, so a human
with a little practice could be more consistent.  There is a box in the
lower right corner of the field goal screen with a picture of a football.
Use this as a guide to WHERE on the football you want to kick it.  As soon
as the ball is hiked a horizontal red line will begin to move from the
bottom of the football to the top.  While it's moving you can slide the
vertical blue line in the diagram left or right with your joystick.
Before the fed line goes past the halfway point on the football, push the
button to stop it.  The spot where the fed and blue lines intersect is
the spot on the football that you are kicking it.  So to kick the ball
high and short you would stop the red line near the bottom of the football
diagram.  To kick it long and low (the lower it is the greater chance it
has of being blocked, see BLOCKING FIELD GOALS) you would leave the line
at the halfway point WITHOUT GOING PAST.  If you go past the halfway point
you will "top" it and send it tumbling along the ground.  To kick to the
left you should aim the blue line to the RIGHT side.  And if the goal posts
are to the right you should position the blue line to the LEFT.  If you
attempt a straight kick but it sails off to the left or right the kicker
probably has a low ACCURACY rating.  The POWER rating will determine the
maximum distance a kicker could kick, although no field goals may be
attempted beyond the 50-yard line. (The kicker's ACCURACY rating is figured
by adding his HANDS and his AGILITY together and dividing by two.)

DEFENSE.
Before the quarterback hikes the ball you have several defensive options:
you can "control" any of the four defensive backs or linebackers you wish,
you can move the defense around, and you can change the assignment of any
player to "BLITZ".

CHANGING PLAYERS:
You can change defensive players (BEFORE the play only), by pressing the
firebutton.  Keep pressing it until the player you want to control is
flashing.  Be careful not to push the firebutton after the quarterback
begins to call "HUT HUT--" or your player will DIVE and you won't be able
to control him until he gets up again.

MOVING THE DEFENSE AROUND:
While a player is activated you can move him anywhere on the field you
wish, EXCEPT across the line of scrimmage.  If you move across the line
and make contact with an offensive player you will be called for
ENCROACHMENT.  Or if you past the line when the quarterback hikes the
ball you will get a OFFSIDES penalty.

CHANGING A PLAYER'S ASSIGNMENT TO "BLITZ":
Before the ball has been snapped, activate the player who you want to
BLITZ, then hold down your firebutton and pull DOWN on the stick to
change his assignment.  It won't matter if his assignment was already
BLITZ, and you can change as many players as you like, or have time to
change. (It's sometimes a useful strategy to BLITZ a cornerback if there
are no wide receivers lined up opposite him on the field.  But be
careful that the offense doesn't send a wide receiver in motion, or you
could leave him uncovered.)

DIVING TACKLES:
To make a diving tackle, just push your firebutton while the defensive
player you control is moving and he will dive in the same direction.
There are advantages and one big disadvantage in attempting a diving
tackle.  The advantages are: diving tackles cause more fumbles, it may
be the ONLY way to catch a speedier player, and if you hit the ball
carrier head on you will push him back several yards.  The big disadvantage
is that you are committing yourself, because you only get one chance to
make the tackle.  If you miss you could be giving up a touchdown.

BLOCKING FIELD GOALS:
It is very difficult to block a field goal.  It must be a low kick and
your timing has to be perfect.  Move you joystick left and right to
position the middle linebacker between the kicker and the goal posts,
and just after the ball is in the air push your joystick button to jump.


HINTS AND STRATEGIES:

1.  There HUNDREDS of variations on each offensive play.  Use the PRACTICE
mode to experiment.  And during a game, learn to "set up" your opponent
by running a different variation of a play the defense is used to.  For
example, pitch the ball to your left halfback two or three times; then,
when you need a big play, "roll" to the left like you normally do on a
pitch play, but when the defense moves down to contain the run, stop
and fire a quick pass up field to your wide receiver.

2.  On DEFENSE, the computer players will respond to the pass more quickly
when you've called "PASS DEFENSE".

3.  Football is a game of "reading and reacting."  Learn to read the
defense BEFORE you begin each play, and especially AFTER the play has
started.  There is a BIG difference between passing to a man who is in
ZONE coverage and a man who is being covered MAN TO MAN.  If you don't
like what you see down field, try to "dump off" a short pass to the
nearest running back, or keep the ball yourself and run with it.  If
the DEFENSE is blitzing and you can't find an open receive, try to
throw the ball out of bounds, it beats being "sacked" behind the line
of scrimmage, and it's certainly better that throwing an interception.

4..  Remember that a 6-1 defense, while not allowing many holes to open
in the offensive line, gives you only ONE man deep.  This isn't a lot
of protection if the QB comes up in the SHOTGUN and decides to throw a
bomb.  Be careful--DON'T GET BURNED! (The 4-3 has TWO men deep, and
the 3-4 has FOUR deep men.)

5.  If you don't like the initial play of formation you've selected
on the PLAY-CALLING screen, you can choose a new one as long as the
play or formation you want is still visible on the screen.

6.  If you don't have time to play all 16 games on your schedule,
let the computer play the first 8 AUTOmatically.

7.  If you decide to run a multi-player league elect one player, or
even a non-player, to be the Commissioner.  The Commissioner's
responsibilities could include: collecting a small "entry fee" from
all the contestants (for buying trophies etc.), maintaining a videotape
library of each game (players could then use the library to scout
their next opponent), and setting time limits for every game
(contestants have a week to resolve all games before the commissioner
user the AUTO play mode.)

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