The Hacker's Encyclopedia 1998

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Mike Ditka Ultimate Football DOCS by Accolade INTRODUCTION A WORD FROM MIKE DITKA OK, football's fundamental. It's primitive. It's tough guys banging heads. But believe me, it's also a thinking man's game. So maybe I yell a little bit, I throw clipboards -- a little MOTIVATION never hurt anybody. But listen up: A Super Bowl-caliber team is not just a bunch of big mutants slamming around. Because football is also a game of style, grace, and intelligence. Smart football. That's REAL football. And believe me, that's what Ultimate Football is all about. Sure, it "plays" tough, the way I used to play. It's got guts, energy, raw excitement. But it also "coaches"" the way I learned to coach -- and I learned from legends. Guys like George Halas, Tom Landry. Hey, try matching wits with Bill Walsh sometime, pal. I did that a few times. I'm talking about subtle, sophisticated strategy. Knowing your personnel. Keeping your playbook on the tactical cutting edge. Taking ALL the variables into account. So ... maybe your boys have talent. Maybe they're fast & strong. Maybe they're real tough. I say SO WHAT? So are the other guys. The big question is, Can you put together a decent gameplan? Are you savvy enough to orchestrate a victory? You'd better be, if you want to tackle this man's game. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- GETTING STARTED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS To play Ultimate Football, you need the following: * A hard drive is required * 640k RAM * 10 MHz or faster AT class * VGA, MCGA, or EGA video card MEMORY REQUIREMENTS Mike Ditka Ultimate Football requires a lot of attention from your computer system. If your computer does not have 570K free RAM, you will get the error message "INSUFFICIENT MEMORY" on your display when trying to run the game. Here's why: Most computer games for IBM and compatible systems, including Ultimate Football, reside in the base 640K of RAM. DOS and related memory resident or "startup" programs, such as menu systems, screen savers, virus checkers, keyboard utilities, Microsoft Windows, PC Tools, Norton Utilities, etc., also reside in the same 640K of base RAM. Device drivers (such as mouse drivers), by and large, are also located here. These startup programs and device drivers boot from the AUTOEXEC.BAT or the CONFIG.SYS files of DOS automatically when the computer is powered up. Free RAM is the area of the 640K base memory left over after DOS, startup programs, and device drivers have loaded. What's left is where your game will run. If there is not enough free RAM left for the game, there will be problems. Even if you have extended memory above and beyond 640K , the game and DOS still reside in the 640K base memory of your system, and you can still have loading problems due to lack of free RAM. IF YOU GET THE "INSUFFICIENT MEMORY" ERROR MESSAGE: The CHKDSK command of DOS will give you information about the memory in your system, including free RAM. If you type CHKDSK (and press Enter) at the C: prompt, the last line of information will tell you how many bytes your computer has free after DOS loads (see your DOS manual for details). If you have fewer than 570K bytes free, you'll need to boot your computer "clean" (without the startup programs) to load Ultimate Football successfully. There are many ways to boot your computer clean to maximize free RAM. See Appendix 1: How to Boot Your System "Clean" for some of the most common techniques. HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION Follow the instructions below to install Ultimate Football onto your hard drive: 1. Boot your computer as normal, then insert Disk 1 into your floppy disk drive. 2. At the drive prompt for your floppy drive, type install. 3. Press Enter. 4. Now, follow the on-screen instructions. You will be prompted to designate on which drive and directory you wish to install Ultimate Football. (Default drive is C: under the directory MDF.) 5. As the game is being installed, switch disks when, and if, prompted. Then answer the Setup questions that follow the installation to be sure that you system will run Ultimate Football taking advantage of whatever special video and sound boards you may have. If you change video or sound boards at a later date, be sure to type SETUP from the directory that has Ultimate Football to update the file. STARTING THE GAME Once you've installed Ultimate Football on your hard drive, here's how you start the game: 1. Turn on your computer. 2. At the prompt for the drive (C> D> etc.) where you installed the game, type CD MDF and press Enter. 3. Type MDF and press Enter. 4. Press Enter when the Accolade Screen appears. COPY PROTECTION Broken by ONYX of RAZOR 1911. Forget this. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- PLAYER CONTROLS Ultimate Football will let you use the keyboard, keypad, mouse, and/or joystick to control the game. This manual generally refers to keyboard commands only. However, basic gameplay commands for all types of controllers are listed on the enclosed Control Card. Keep it handy for quick reference when playing. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- HOW TO MAKE MENU SELECTIONS Follow the instructions below to operate within the various menus in Ultimate Football with each type of controller: Keyboard: Use the arrow keys to highlight an option, then press Enter to select or toggle. Keypad: Use the arrow keys (2,4,6,8 keys) to highlight an option, then press Enter to select or toggle. Mouse: Move the on-screen arrow over the desired option and click the LEFT mouse button to select or toggle. Joystick: Move the joystick handle to highlight an option, then press the LEFT fire button to select or toggle. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- THE MAIN MENU The Main Menu appears automatically when you pass the copy protection. [Broken by ONYX of RAZOR 1911, or did I already mention that?] It displays the following options: Single Game. Match any two teams in an "exhibition" game that won't affect league standings. A good way to tune up for Season Play or the Playoffs. (One or two players.) Season Play. Choose a team and guide it through the rigors of an entire regulation 17-week league schedule. If your record is good enough at the end of the regular season, you'll continue with your team into the playoffs. In two-player mode, Player 1 choose his team at the beginning of the season, and Player 2 controls Player 1's weekly opponent through out the season. (one or two players.) Playoffs. Choose your franchise, then guide your team through four playoff rounds, including Wildcard, Divisional, Conference, and League Championship games against teams determined by the computer. The computer "plays" the other matchups and posts the results. (One or two players.) Construction Set. Edit existing teams by changing team names, uniform colors, rosters, player attributes. Or create the ultimate fantasy league with the Ultimate Football league Construction Set. Resume Single Game. Lets you continue a saved Single Game later on. Practice Drills. You can't make it to the Big Game without practice. (See Control Card for the controls.) Demo. Kick back and enjoy the bone-crunching action. Exit to DOS. This incredible option actually lets you exit from the program and return to your DOS prompt! An amazing and fabulously useful utility. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- SETTING GAME CONDITIONS Ultimate Football lets you set a wide variety of game options both before and during a game. GAME OPTIONS (PRE-GAME) Before any kickoff, you can set the following conditions for your team (Season Play or Playoffs), or both the Home and Visitors teams (Single Game): Controls. Choose from keyboard, keypad, joystick 1 or 2, mouse, or Ditka. When Ditka is chosen, the computerized version of Mike Ditka controls the opposing team. (Ditka can be selected to play Visitors or Team #2 only.) Play/Coach. Both: Call the plays, then run them yourself. you are in complete control. Coach: Here, the player directs the strategy, calling all plays. The computer then quarterbacks the team. Play: As "field general", the player executes plays that the computer "coach" calls on the Play Selection Screen. Fatigue. If Yes is selected, often-used players may not perform to their full potential as a game goes on. If you don't want your players to get tired, choose No. For more on how fatigue/energy works, see the ENERGY section. Injuries. Select Yes to make all players susceptible to injury. No means an injury-free contest. Injured players cannot be played and can remain injured for 1-4 weeks as indicated on the screen at the time of the injury. Note: If a player is injured for 1 week, that player will be out for the remainder of the current game and will be available for next week's action. In other words, the first week of an injury is considered the remainder of the current week's game. Penalties. Penalties are "called" when there is an infraction whether you choose Yes or No. however, the penalty yardage is "assessed" only if Yes is chosen. Fumbles. Choose Yes if you want fumbles to be possible during a game; No if you do not. Choosing No does not eliminate the possibility of a turnover, as interceptions are still possible. Passes. Choose Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Pro. See PASSING PLAYS for definitions of each passing mode. (When Ditka is selected as the opponent, he always passes in Pro Mode.) Quarter Length. Choose 3, 5, 10, or 15 minute quarters. Start. When you have the Game Option Screen set up the way you want it, select Start to continue. Cancel. Takes you back to the Main Menu. GAME OPTIONS (DURING GAME) Ultimate Football also lets you change certain options, during a game. To bring up the Game Options Screen before the snap of the ball or on the Play Selection Screen, press F2. Field of View. Play the game from either Telephoto or Wide Angle view. Telephoto brings you closer to the action. Wide Angle shows you more of the field and therefore more players at one time. The choice is yours. Camera Position. Play from one of the following five camera angles: Offensive View (always behind the offensive team), behind Team #1, behind Team #2, or from either sideline (East or West). Game Speed. Play the game Fast, Medium, or Slow. The faster your machine (MHz), the greater you can slow the game down. Detail Level. high, Medium, or Low. The more detail you use, the slower the game will be. You should probably run a slower machine at either Medium or Low. (Medium detail level gets rid of the stadium surrounding the field. Low detail level gets rid of the stadium, the yardage hash marks and the team names in the end zone.) Display Extras. Choose whether or not to display the huddles and/or the referee. Faster gameplay will result if you do not. Sound. Turn the game sounds ON or OFF during the action. Team #1. During a game, you can alter the following: * Controls: Keypad, Keyboard, Joystick 1 or 2, Mouse, or Ditka (Team #1 only) * Passing Modes: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Pro. * Play, Coach, or do Both Team #2. Same as Team #1. OK. Confirm the options you've set. CHOOSING A LEAGUE After Single Game game conditions are set and you select Start, you will see a file screen listing all of the leagues available to you. Ultimate Football comes with the Accolade League, containing 28 fully-rostered teams, but you can also choose leagues you've created with the Ultimate Football Construction Set. (See Construction Set, page 24 to see how to create and save your own leagues.) Select a league with two teams you want to use for a Single Game; or select the league you want to use for Season Play or Playoff action. Note: Opponents must be from the same league. You cannot pit teams from two different leagues against one another. SELECT TEAMS Once you've chose the league you want to use, Ultimate Football takes you to the Select Home Team Screen, which shows you all the teams in the league arranged according to conference and division: 1. Use the arrow keys to highlight a home team for the upcoming game. Note: You can also just type the first letter of the team you want. If more than one team begins with that letter, keep pressing that letter key until the team you want it highlighted. (For example, press the letter D three times to cycle through the teams Denver, Dallas, and Detroit.) 2. Now press Enter. The Home Team Roster appears. When you're finished with the Roster Screen (see next section), the Select Visitors Team Screen will appear. Follow the above directions to select a team and go onto the Visitors Roster Screen. THE ROSTER SCREEN The Roster Screen displays players grouped according to position, listed by jersey number and name, and ranked according to special player "attributes". To move through the roster: 1. Press the up arrow to highlight an attribute number of the bottom most player on the screen. 2. Use the right arrow to move the highlight to the scroll bar at the right of the screen. 3. Now use the up/down arrows to scroll through the remaining team players. The order of players listed from top to bottom in each section of the roster is important! When putting a team on the field for any given play -- no matter what formation is chosen -- Ultimate Football selects players from the top down at each position. For example: If a play calls for two wide receivers, Ultimate Football automatically takes the top two listed in the WR section of the roster. If the next play calls for four wide receivers, Ultimate Football automatically takes the first four WRs from the roster. If a player is injured, Ultimate Football automatically moves him to the bottom of his respective roster section, and he cannot be included in any play. So if you want to win, you'd better put your best players high on the roster list at each position. (To substitute existing players into the starting line- up, see SUBSTITUTIONS.) Note: You'll notice that the offensive and defensive lines are listed as complete units, rather than as individual player. Don't worry, they don't mind. PLAYER ATTRIBUTES Each player on the roster is rated on a scale of 50-99 in the following three areas: Speed. This number measures the raw footspeed of all players on the roster, with 50 being your basic lumbering noseguard, and 99 your Olympic-class WR sprinter types. Skill. With QBs (Quarterbacks), this number measures throwing accuracy. With K (kickers) and Player (punters), it gauges kicking accuracy. For WRs (wide receivers), TEs (tight-ends), RBs (running backs), LBs (linebackers), SFs (safeties) and CBs (cornerbacks), it refers to the ability to catch (or intercept) the ball. Strength. gauges either tackling (defense) or tack-breaking (offense) ability. For the kicker and punter, strength indicates how far they can boot the football. Note: A kicker with a 99 strength rating can kick a 63 year field goal. A kicker with a 50 strength rating can kick only about a 32 yard field goal. Reserve. Before a game, the far right hand column is labeled "Reserve." Each player has his own individual attribute total which is the sum of all his individual attribute numbers for Speed, Skill, and Strength. That number is locked in and CANNOT BE EXCEEDED -- thus, you cannot increase one of your player's attributes (see the next section Changing Your Roster) without having Ultimate Football automatically decrease the other attributes team keep the sum total of the attributes the same. If, however, you choose to decrease one of a player's attributes without shifting the subtracted amount to other attribute columns, you will be credited with that amount in the Reserve column. Energy. Once a game starts, the Reserve column becomes the Energy column. All players begin both the first and second half of a game totally "refreshed" -- that is, with an energy rating of 100. The more players are involved in the action -- blocking, running, tackling, etc. -- the more they become fatigued reflected by a decrease in their energy rating. Once a player's energy rating slips too far, his performance will noticeably deteriorate. To refresh an offensive player. You must put in a substitute for several offensive plays. to refresh a defensive player, you must put in a substitute for several defensive plays. Note: As in real life, different players fatigue at different rates. Keep a close eye on your team's energy ratings and always substitute for tired players. CHANGING YOUR ROSTER You can change the name of the team, as well as any individual player's name, number or player attributes. You can also move players up and down the roster, but only within their respective position areas -- e.game., you can move a particular wide receiver up & down the WR section of the roster, but you can't move him into, say, the RB or TE sections. Note: if you are going to play a single game, you may make the changes before the game -- and the changes made are only good for the current game. They are not saved. if you selected season play or Playoffs from the Main Menu, you cannot make roster changes at that time. Any changes must be made before the season or playoffs begin -- and these changes must be made through the Construction Set option on the Main Menu. Here's how to make changes to your roster: To change player attribute numbers: Use the arrow keys to highlight the attribute number you want to change, then type in the new number. To change a player's jersey number of name: Use the arrow keys to highlight the current name or jersey number and begin typing. To change a player's place in the roster: Use the arrow keys to highlight the player's position (QB, WR, ETC0, then press Enter to highlight the whole line. Now use the arrow keys to move the player up/down the roster (within his position), then press Enter to place him. (Notice that as he moves up, other players in the position automatically move down the roster, and vice-versa.) When you are done, highlight OK to save the changes or Cancel to continue without saving changes. CHANGING UNIFORMS To make changes to your team's uniforms (both home and away), select Color. You'll go to the Select Team Colors Screen. Highlight either Shirt or Pants, then press the left/right arrows until you get the color you want. When finished, select OK to confirm your choice, or Cancel to go back to the Team Roster without changes. PLAYBOOKS To peruse your team's playbook, select Playbooks. You'll be taken to the Playbooks screen (You can modify a team's playbook in the Ultimate Football Construction Set. See How to Modify Your Playbook) -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- HOW TO PLAY Now that you have set up the game the way you want, it's time to knock some heads! Note: The following refers to keyboard play only. Refer to the control card for equivalent keypad, joystick, and mouse controls. THE COIN TOSS After both teams have been selected, you'll go down to the field for the coin toss. The Visiting team will be prompted to choose Heads or Tails. Press the A and D keys (if Visiting team is using the keyboard) to move the flashing highlight over the option you want, then press the spacebar. The winner of the coin toss must now choose whether to Kick or Receive. Note: If Ditka (the computer) is the Visiting team, it will automatically make the choices above. KICKOFF See The Kicking Game for directions on how to kick-off. Note that you can select one of three different angles for the kickoff. HOW TO CHOOSE FORMATIONS & PLAYS After the kickoff, and before every play, the Play Selection Screen will appear, prompting both the offense and defense to choose a formation, then a play. Each team has eight offensive and eight defensive formations. Each team also has eight offensive plays for each offensive formation; and four defensive plays (or strategies) for each defensive formation. Since the screen only shows four formations or play/strategies at one time for both offensive and defense, press the Spacebar to toggle to the remaining four formations or plays. Each team has a unique set of offensive formations and plays. Note that the route of your primary receiver is marked in yellow. Secondary receiver routes are marked in blue. TO SELECT A FORMATION OR PLAY Press the key that corresponds to the character in the lower right corner of the on-screen box containing the desired formation/play. To start the formation and play selection process over again after you have already chosen either one, press SHIFT. The game will return to the beginning of the formation selection process. Note: If both teams have chosen their formation and play, you still have about 1 second to change your mind and press SHIFT before the game continues on to the field. "FLIP-FLOPPING" OFFENSIVE PLAYS All offensive formations (except the "punt" and "field goal" formations) can be "flip-flopped" by pressing the SHIFT key before a formation is chosen. This will create a mirror image of the formations. HOW TO CONTROL PLAYERS BEFORE THE BALL IS HIKED After both side choose a play, Ultimate Football goes to the playing field. When both teams reach the line of scrimmage, the offensive team controls the QB, and the defense controls the defender with the flashing indicator above his head. OFFENSE Once the offense is set at the line of scrimmage, you may repeatedly press the SHIFT key to cycle through your offensive "receivers" (WRs, TEs, and RBs) to see which players are lined up at which position. The order that the names of these "receivers" appears on the screen is the same order that they will appear when you go into pass mode. When the ball is hiked, you are always given control of the QB -- even if you snap the ball when one of your "receivers" is highlighted. once the ball is handed off or passed to another player, you gain control of that player. Remember: On offense, you always control the player with the ball. DEFENSE Ultimate Football lets you take control of any of the visible defensive players prior to a snap. As soon as the defense is lined up, repeatedly press the SHIFT key to move the flashing indicator from position to position until it is above the player you want to control at the snap. Remember: You take control of the indicated defensive player at the snap! So be quick in making your selection! HIKING THE BALL Press the Spacebar to snap the ball. If the play calls for a man to go in motion, he will do so, and the ball will be snapped 3 seconds later. RUNNING THE BALL The quarterback may hand off the ball to a running back by moving toward the running back and pressing the Spacebar. The ball will not be handed off to the running back if the distance between the QB and RB is too great. As soon as the QB hands off the ball, use the appropriate controls (see control card) to direct the movement of the running back. PASSING THE BALL Passing depends on which of the following modes you select: BEGINNER. Use the appropriate controls to move the quarterback as soon as he gets the snap. To pass: 1. press the Shift key. This temporarily freezes the action and displays an isolated camera shot of the play's primary receiver. Note the defensive coverage and the flashing "ring" which is where the QB will attempt to throw the ball. 2. To scroll through all receivers, keep pressing the shift key. 3. When the receiver you want is displayed, press the spacebar. The QB will automatically throw to the flashing "ring" and the designated receiver will automatically run to that spot. Note: Actual completion of the pass depends not only on the presence of defenders, but also on the Player Attributes of the QB and receiver. INTERMEDIATE. Same as Beginner Mode, except when you press the Spacebar to throw the ball, you immediately control the designated receiver. Then it's up to you to guide him to the flashing "ring." ADVANCED. Live action. Here you must choose a receiver while your quarterback contends with a fierce pass rush. When you press the Spacebar to throw the ball, though, the designated receiver will still automatically run to the flashing "ring." PRO. The Ultimate Football challenge. Live action, live pass rush, plus you immediately control the designated receiver once you press the Spacebar to throw the ball. Guide him to the flashing "ring," and good luck. Advanced and Pro passing modes show the flashing "ring" immediately after the ball is passed -- not before the pass as in Beginner and Intermediate modes. HOW TO RUN THE DEFENSE When on the playing field, a flashing indicator appears above the defender you currently control. You can cycle through and control the other visible defenders by continually pressing the Shift key (not how the indicator moves from player to player). To immediately switch control to the defender closest to the ball carrier, press the Spacebar. Defenders automatically tackle the ball carrier when they are close enough. When you control the closest defender to the ball carrier, pressing the Spacebar will make him dive an extra yard to tackle the opponent. INSTANT REPLAY After every play, you can view an instant replay by pressing F3. Doing so will take you to the Instant Replay Screen. At the Instant Replay Screen, you can replay your last play from four different camera angles. In addition, the following special functions are available: Rewind: Instantly resets the play to the beginning. Rev: Reverses play to the beginning. Stop: Stop replay. Play: Run the replay. Speed Control: Run replay at your choice of the following speeds: 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1 (regular), 2 (double), or 3 (triple). Select >> to advance replay. Select << to reverse play. Frame: Select > to advance play action one frame at a time. Select < to reverse play action one frame at a time. To select any of these options, use the A or D keys on your keyboard to highlight the desired option button, then press the Spacebar. Press Esc at any time to exit the Instant Replay and return to the game. THE KICKING GAME The key to a successful kicking game is mastery of the Power Bar, the kicking tool used in Ultimate Football. A description and some examples of how to use the Power Bar are provided below. The Power Bar runs vertically on the left side of the screen during kicking situations and is comprised of two sections: Distance Zone. The upper part, the distance zone, determines how many yards your kicker kicks the ball. This zone is divided into 10 yard increments, up to 50 and sometimes more yards. How high this yard number goes depends upon the Strength attribute of your kicker (see Player Attributes.) The greater his strength, the farther he can boot the ball. Direction Zone. The lower part of the Power Bar, the direction zone, determines where the ball will go after it is kicked. Notice the arrows pointing left at the top of the direction zone, and the arrows pointing right at the bottom of the direction zone. In between the two arrows is a dash, which represents a straight kick. To the right of the dash is the football shaped kick indicator. TO KICK THE BALL 1. First, press the Spacebar. You'll notice the kick indicator begin to rise. 2. After the indicator enters the distance zone, press the Spacebar again at the distance desired (10 for 10 yards, 20 for 20 yards, etc.). The indicator will now begin to descend. 3. When the indicator re-enters the direction zone, press the Spacebar a final time to direct your kick right, left, or center: To kick right: Press Spacebar when the indicator reaches the bottom half of the direction zone. The closer to the arrow pointing right, the farther right the kick will go. To kick left: Press the Spacebar while the indicator is still in the top half of the direction zone. The closer to the arrow pointing left, the farther left the kick will go. To kick center: Press Spacebar exactly when the indicator reaches the dash in the middle of the direction zone. Still confused? See the Kickoff, Field Goal/PAT, and Punting sections below for examples of each. But first let's consider the final factor in any type of kicking game: The wind. WIND See the American flag fluttering at the top of the Power Bar? That's your wind gauge. If the wind is blowing left or right, you'll need to compensate by using the direction zone of the Poser Bar. It's tricky, but fun. Here's how it works: Watch the flag closely as you prepare to kick. When you hit the Spacebar to start the kicking sequence, the flag will "freeze" blowing in the direction of the wind at the time of the kick. If it's blowing right, compensate by aiming further left, and vice-versa. KICKOFF There are three angles that you can kick the football on a kickoff. The on- screen gauge that shows you the angle is located team the bottom left of the screen, below the kicking power bar. Use the W and X keys (your up/down controls) to adjust the angle of the kick. You'll notice the numbers on the kicking power bar change with each different angle. The large the numbers, the farther the distance for a kick. To kick a squib kick, set the angle so that the line indicator is almost horizontal. Experiment with all three angles; you'll find you can accomplish almost any type of kick. [Doesn't look like you can do an onside kick though...] Now, let's say you want to kick the ball high and only 30 yards straight down the middle of the field. Here's what you do: 1. Note the line through the ball in the window beneath the Power Bar. Use your particular controller's up/down controls to set the line at it's steepest angle. 2. Press the Spacebar to make the kick indicator in the Power Bar rise. 3. When the indicator reaches the number 30 in the distance zone, press the spacebar again. The indictor will now start to descend. 4. Press the Spacebar once more when the indicator reaches the dash in the middle of the direction zone. FIELD GOAL/PAT OK, there's 10 seconds left in the game, you're down by two points, and you're lined up on the left has mark for a 35 yard field goal.. Here's what you'll need to do to win the game: 1. Press the Spacebar to make the kick indicator in the Power Bar rise. 2. When the indicator reaches between the numbers 40 and 50 in the distance zone, press the Spacebar again. (if you go over 50 it's all right. But don't go much under 40 or else the kick will come up short.) The indicator will now start to descend. 3. Because you're on the left side of the field, your place-kicker needs to kick the ball to the right. So press the Spacebar once more when the indicator gets near the right arrow at the bottom of the direction zone. PUNT You have a fourth down at mid-field, and you want to try a 40 yard "coffin corner" kick to the left. Here's what to do: 1. Press the Spacebar to make the kick indicator in the Power Bar rise. 2. When the indicator reaches the number 40 in the distance zone, press the Spacebar again. (If you go over 40, then you'll punt the ball too hard and it will probably into the end zone for a touchback.) The indicator will now start to descend. 3. Press the Spacebar again just as the indicator passes the left arrow at the top of the direction zone. Your punter will now kick the ball approximately 40 yards toward the left side of the field. SAVING/QUITTING GAMES To save (or quit) a game in progress, press Esc anytime during the game. A menu will appear asking whether or not you want to save the game. Highlight and select Yes if you do, or No if you don't. If you want to return to the current game, select Resume. Important Note: Individual games can have only one save location at a time. For example, you may save a game in the first quarter or in the second quarter, but you cannot save the same game in both the first quarter AND in the second quarter at the same time. RESUMING A SINGLE GAME To resume a previously saved Single Game, game go to the Main Menu and select Resume Single Game. You will be returned to your saved Single Game at the exact place it was saved. TIMEOUTS Press T to call a timeout. Each team gets three timeouts per half. Either team may call a timeout on either the playing field before the ball is snapped, or on the Play Selection Screen. When a timeout is called the game returns to or stays on the Play Selection Screen, and the game clock is stopped. The 45-second clock is reset to 45 seconds and counts down. OVERTIME Any Single Game or regular season (weeks 1-17) Season Play game that is tied after four quarters goes into the Overtime period. Overtime begins with a new coin toss and ends after one quarter of play or when either team scores -- whichever comes first. Overtime games, therefore, can end in a tie. Each team is given two timeouts for the overtime period. SUDDEN DEATH Playoff games that end in a tie after four quarters go into Sudden Death. Sudden Death begins with a coin toss and ends after the first team scores -- no matter how long it takes. Each team is given three timeouts. SUBSTITUTIONS To substitute a player during the game (keyboard controls): 1. Press Q while on the Play Selection Screen. 2. Seven players' names appear at one time. To scroll through the rest of your roster: Press D to move the flashing highlight to the scroll bar at the far right, then either the W or X key to scroll up or down. Ultimate Football automatically activates and puts a checkmark next to the players needed for the current formation chosen. Press A to move the highlight back to the roster list. 3. Now move the highlight bar (by pressing the W or X keys) over the player you want to substitute into the game, then select him by pressing the Spacebar. The highlight bar will flash faster. Remember: In picking a lineup for any given play, Ultimate Football starts at the top of the roster for each position, then moves down. So the idea is to get your substitute amongst the checkmarked players at the top of the position list. 4. Use the W key to move the player up the roster list. As the selected substitute moves up, players above him move down a notch. 5. When the highlight bar is where you want it, press the Spacebar one final time to set the substitute's new roster position. 6. Select OK to confirm the changes you just made, or Cancel to nullify all changes. Either choice will return you to the Play Selection Screen. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- SEASON PLAY So you think your team is ready to go, eh? You may have designed a playbook that would dazzle Lombardi, and you've run through so many practice drills that your players speak in starting cadences. OK! Sounds like you're ready to grind through a 17-week schedule. Then, if your record is good enough at the end of the regular season, you'll continue on into the playoffs -- and the World Championship could be yours. If you lose any playoff game, however, your season is over and Ultimate Football fills in the remainder of the Playoff tree to reveal the ultimate winner. 1. Select Season Play from the Main Menu. The file screen listing all your available leagues will appear. 2. Select the league you want to use. If the league you choose is currently involved in Season Play, you automatically go to the point in the season that you left it. If the league you choose has not begun Season Play, the Game Options menu will appear. 3. After setting your options, select Start. 4. Now select the team you want to lead through the season. If you are playing with two players, Player 1 must choose the team to lead through the season, while Player 2 will automatically be Player 1's opponent the entire 17 weeks (and into the playoffs). Thus, Player 2 will actually control a different team each week. 5. After choosing your team, the schedule for Week No.1 will appear. Your team will be highlighted. Here you can do any of the following: * Play: Go down to the field and lead your team through four quarters of Ultimate Football. * Simulate: If you just want to see the final results of the current week's schedule, use the arrow keys to select Simulate. The final scores of all that week's games will appear, INCLUDING THE ONE INVOLVING YOUR TEAM. You must select Play if you want to play out your game on the field. (See Byes below.) * Options: Select this to change the Game Option settings. * Teams: Select to view the current standings of your league. * Reset: This will reset the current league back to Week No.1 and erases any weekly progress that had been made. * Quit: Returns to the Main Menu. * Prev/Next: View the upcoming schedule for upcoming weeks, or review the scores of past weeks by using these options. Note: Season Play is automatically saved when selecting Quit. BYES Each team plays a 16 game schedule, although the season itself is 17 weeks long. This is because each team has a 1 week "bye". When the weekly schedule appears and your team is not listed, that week is the "bye" week for your team. To continue on to next week's action, highlight SIMULATE and press Enter. Also, if your team wins its division at the end of the 17-week schedule and has a record good enough to skip the first game of the Playoffs, the first week's results will already be displayed. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- PLAYOFFS Playoffs is a 4-game mini-season that pits the team of your choice against tough playoff action. (It is not a method for curtailing Season Play and taking that league into the playoffs.) Your team will begin with the Wildcard game, and if successful continue on to Divisional, Conference and finally League Championship games. If you lose any game, however, the playoffs are over and Ultimate Football fills in the remainder of the Playoff tree to reveal the ultimate winner. 1. Select Playoffs from the Main Menu. The file screen listing all your available leagues will appear. 2. Select the league you want to use. If the league you choose is currently involved in Playoff action, you automatically go to the point in the playoffs that you left it. If the league you choose has not begun Playoffs action, the Game Options Menu will appear. 3. After setting your options, select Start. 4. Now select the team you want to lead through the playoffs. (In two-player mode, both players must choose teams from the same conference.) When you're done, you'll see a Playoff Bracket Screen listing your team(s) with the other clubs picked by the computer to be in the playoffs. 5. In two-player mode, the two selected teams go head-to-head in the first round (Wildcard game) of the playoffs. The winner of that game advances and the loser's team is eliminated, but the losing player will still control the next opponent of the winning player. Here you can do any of the following: * Play: Go down to the field and lead your team through four quarters of Ultimate Football. * Options: Selecting this will allow you to change the Game Options settings. * Reset: This will reset the current league back to the Wildcard game (the first playoff game) and erases any progress that had been made. * Quit: Returns to the Main Menu. Note: Playoffs are automatically saved when selecting Quit. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- CONSTRUCTION SET Sure, the Accolade League is great. That's why we put it in Ultimate Football. But maybe you want to customize a team or two. Or maybe you want to create your own league, one with players and teams that more closely mirror the actual NFL. Or one that adheres to some bizarre aesthetic criteria known only to yourself. You want a custom league, with custom teams. Here's what you do: LEAGUE CONSTRUCTION MENU Select Construction Set from the Main Menu. You'll get the League Construction Menu, which lists the following items: CREATE LEAGUE To create a brand new league, you must first copy an existing league, then re-name and modify the copy. Select Create League to get a list of your existing leagues. Highlight the one you want to copy and modify. Or you can highlight New at the bottom of the screen to make a copy of the original Accolade League. Then press Enter. To Create League Screen will appear, displaying the conference/division groupings of the league you copied. note that "TEAM NAME 001" appears in the league name slot. To name your league: Use the Up arrow to highlight the league name slot, and press Enter, and type away. Press Enter again when you're finished. To customize your teams: Select individual teams and modify to your heart's desire. (For detailed instructions on how to modify a team, see Team Construction below.) MODIFY LEAGUE To modify a league, select this option to get a list of your existing leagues. Highlight the one you want to modify, then press Enter. The Modify League Screen will appear, displaying the name, conference and division groupings of that league. Now use the arrow keys to highlight the team you wish to modify and press Enter. The Team Construction Screen will then appear. (See Team Construction below.) DELETE LEAGUE Selecting this option brings up a list of your existing leagues. Simply highlight the league you wish to delete, then press Enter. A checkmark will appear next to the league you chose to delete. Now highlight OK at the bottom of the screen and press Enter to delete the league, or highlight Cancel and press Enter to return to the League Construction Menu without any changes. RETURNING TO MAIN MENU Selecting this option, you'll be shocked to learn, actually returns you to the Main Menu. TEAM CONSTRUCTION After you select the team you want to customize, the Team Construction Screen will appear, displaying the selected team's roster of players (similar to the Roster Screen shown before). Here you can change almost anything -- the Team Name, the Player Number and Name, and all three Player Attributes (Speed, Skill, and Strength) of any player on the roster. You can also change the order that the players are listed within each position group. To learn how to make changes to a roster, see The Roster Screen. Also note the four options at the bottom of the screen. They are: Playbook. Select Playbook to examine and/or modify the selected team's playbook. For more on this, see the next section, How to Modify your Playbook. Color. Takes you to the Select Team Colors Screen, where you can change uniform colors (pants and jerseys) for both home and away games. Just highlight either Shirt or Pants, then press the left/right arrows until you get the color you want. When finished, select OK to confirm your choice, or Cancel to return to the Team Construction Screen without changes. OK. Select OK to confirm your team modifications and return to the Modify League Screen. Cancel. Select Cancel to nullify all modifications that you've made and return to the Modify League Screen. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- HOW TO MODIFY YOUR PLAYBOOK Defense is like a big dog -- sometimes you bite it, and sometimes it bites you. When the teeth marks on your ball carriers get really bad, it's time to modify the playbook. You can add up to 16 custom plays to each team's playbook. But remember that each playbook holds a maximum of 68 plays, so you'll probably have to delete existing plays before you can add new ones. THE MODIFYING PLAYBOOK SCREEN Select Playbook at the bottom of your Team Construction Screen. The Modifying Playbook Screen will appear. Note the options displayed at the top of the screen, and the four windows containing playbook diagrams at the bottom. Also note the flashing red box around the currently highlighted window. Use the arrow keys to highlight the selection button you want, then press Enter. Here's what each button does: Modify. Change the currently highlighted play. Takes you to the Play Architect Screen, where you can edit player assignments. Note: To modify an existing play, you must duplicate it first, then modify the duplication. Duplicate. Makes a copy of the currently highlighted play and inserts in into the playbook. Rename the copy at the Play Architect Screen (See play Architect below) and use it to create a modified version of the original play without having to re-assign duties for every single player. Delete. Zaps the currently highlighted play out of your playbook. Note: If you hit Delete by accident, don't worry. Just select Cancel. Ultimate Football will ask if you want to save changes made to the current team's playbook. Select No, and your playbook will be restored to the way it was before you made changes. New. if there's room in the playbook, this option lets you diagram a new play from scratch. You'll go to the Select Formation Menu, where you choose the formation you want. Then the Play architect screen appears, with players lined up in the chosen formation, ready to be assigned new duties. (See Play Architect below.) Previous/Next Page. Use these options to flip through "pages" of the playbook. Each page contains a maximum of four plays. Formation. Lists the current formation of the plays displayed on the screen. OK. Confirm all playbook changes. Return to Team Construction Screen. Cancel. Cancel all playbook changes. Return to Team Construction Screen. PLAY ARCHITECHT Once you've decided whether to modify an existing play or create a new one, the Play Architect Screen will appear. Here's where you can piece together a new offensive scheme... and cop yourself a "genius" label in the process. PLAYBOOK DIAGRAM [upper left hand corner] This box displays the actual diagram that you'll see on your Play Selection Screen in game situations. Changes you make on the "chalkboard" (see below) are instantly reflected in the diagram. The route of your primary receiver is marked in yellow;secondary receiver routes are blue. CHALKBOARD [Large box on right of screen] Here's where you draw up the plays. Primary receiver routes are gray; ball carrier paths are red; handoffs are indicated in blue. All other assignment paths are marked in black. The flashing player/position is the one currently selected for editing. ASSIGNMENT BOX [lower left hand corner] Here's where you assign a basic "player duty" to the currently selected (flashing) position. Here's a quick rundown of possible assignments: Hand Off. Player with ball (usually QB) hands ball to another player (usually RB). Man in Motion. Player moves parallel to line of scrimmage before the snap. Block. Player moves to designated spot, then sets up tot block at one of three angles. Run Block. Player runs in direction of arrow, actively seeking out defenders to block, until whistle blows the play dead. Secondary Receiver. Your QB will also consider this player a potential passing target. Note: As in real football, some "player duties" cannot be assigned to certain positions. For example, interior linemen are not eligible receivers. So, only those duties available to the highlighted position are displayed in the Assignment Box. You can also take a live-action look at your newly designed play. Here's how: View. Watch a dummy walk-through drill of your new play, with no defense on the field. Practice. Run the new play against a live & hungry defense. The bottom four options confirm, undo, or nullify changes. New. Wipes the slate clean, giving you an untitled play screen and a formation with no assignments. Undo. Undoes the most recently edited player assignment, restoring previous assignment. OK. Confirms play as diagrammed, enters it in your playbook, then returns to the Modifying Playbook Screen. Cancel. Cancels any changes, returns to Modifying Playbook Screen. HOW TO DESIGN A PLAY 1. Use the arrow keys to move the on-screen pointer onto the Chalkboard over the position (QB, RB, WR, etc.) to which you'd like to assign a duty. Press Enter. That position will flash. 2. Move the pointer into the Assignment Box over the "player duty"" (i.e. Hand Off, Block, etc.) that you wish to assign to the flashing position. Press Enter. The selected assignment turns black; all other available assignments are gray. 3. Move the pointer back over the selected (flashing) position and press Enter. The pointer will turn into a "crosshair" cursor. 4. Move the crosshair in the direction you want the player to move. The cursor will drag a "rubber band" from the player's set position to indicate his path of movement. 5. To make a "cut" (change directions): Move the crosshair over the desired spot of the cut, then press Enter once. The cursor will now drag a new "rubber band" from that spot. Any player can make up to three (3) cuts. To complete an assignment: Move the crosshair over the place where you want your player to end up. Press Enter twice. (Iff he's already made three cuts, you'll only need to press enter once.) To designate a hand off: You should have selected the current ball carrier in Step 1, then selected Hand Off from the assignment box in step 2. Move the crosshair back over the ball carrier until the cursor flashes very fast. Press Enter. Move the crosshair to the spot where you want to execute the handoff -- the cursor will flash faster when it's over a spot where a handoff is possible -- then press Enter. (The cursor must be over the path of a player before you can designate a hand off to that player.) To change the angle of a block: If the currently selected (flashing) position is assigned to block, his path (as drawn on the Chalkboard) will end in a line rather than an arrow. The player will set up to block at that spot in a direction perpendicular to that line. After you've set a blocking assignment for a player, you can change the angle of the block by moving the cursor back over Block and pressing Enter. There are three possible angles: left, right, and straight down field. 6. To name your new play (or rename your modified play), move the pointer over the name of the play displayed in the Playbook Diagram and press Enter. Then type your new name (up to 12 characters) and press Enter again. Now you can select View to see your team run through the motions of the newly designed play, or Practice to see how the play fares against a live defense. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE If you have any questions about Mike Ditka Ultimate Football and you can't find the answers in the manual, too bad. IF YOUR GAME DOESN'T LOAD PROPERLY [Check to make sure you did everything right, and check your free space.] IF YOU GET GARBLED GRAPHICS (OR NONE AT ALL) If you load the program and nothing appears on your screen (or what does appear seems garbled), you may not have specified the proper graphics type for your system. * Check your hardware manual to make sure your computer can run this game. * Re-read the Getting Started section, and make sure you've specified the correct graphics option for your computer. IF YOU HAVE A SUPPORTED SOUND BOARD, BUT GET NO SOUND Ultimate Football supports the popular sound device (AdLib, SoundBlaster, and Roland) for the music. If you have one of these but get no sound from it: * Make sure you've chosen the correct option when you installed the program. * Check to make sure the sound board is properly seated in it slot. IF YOU HAVE A MOUSE, BUT IT DOESN'T WORK WITH YOUR GAME Ultimate Football will utilize a mouse for input control if it sees one. If you have a mouse connected, but it doesn't work: * Make sure the mouse driver (mouse software) has been loaded before starting our program. * Double-click to make sure it's plugged into your computer. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- APPENDIX A: HOW TO BOOT YOUR SYSTEM "CLEAN" [You're on your own on this.] -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- As of Thursday Morning (10-31-91), there are three releases on this game to be found on the boards... Razor 1911, THG, and USA. The Razor 1911 version works fine. If you run the SETUP program to pick different sound options, etc, it will create a batch file called MDF.BAT. In order to use this, you have to rename the Razor DITKA.COM to MDFB.COM. The THG version apparently works fine. (I have not seen this one.) The USA/Fairlight version does not work for a lot of people. There is an extracted crack file from the THG version that can be applied to the USA release to correct the problem. I have heard that if you boot with no device drivers, TSRs, etc. the the USA version will run properly. -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- /\ /\ /\/ / \// \/ Docs keyed by The Ghost Wind / /\ \ -*- R A Z O R 1 9 1 1 -*- / /\/\/ \/ -+- -+- -+- -+- -+-