Section 3 Your First Game This section describes how to start your first game, using the ability of Head Coach to allow simplified calling of plays. A few introductory comments: Throughout this manual boldface words, such as this, are defined in the attached glossary. If you have an Amiga with 512k of memory, all of your selections will be made by typing on the keyboard. If you have at least 1 meagabyte of memory, you may choose to use the mouse to make choices. When keyboard examples are shown in this manual, your typed response is underlined. All keyboard responses require typing a few characters and then pressing the RETURN key. The RETURN key must always be used. For all keyboard responses, you may type uppercase or lowercase letters. Head Coach can be played: * between two players (player-controlled teams) * between a player and the computer (computer-controlled teams) * both teams can be computer controlled and you can sit back and enjoy the game! To play a game, the participants enter play calls and commands. First the offensive team calls the offense, then the defensive team calls the defense. The probable play results are predicted, the play is executed, and, if desired, the play execution is displayed on the screen. When using one computer to play a game, always have the offensive player at the computer. When two players are playing each other (neither team is a computer-controlled team), experience has shown that the player who is on offense should sit at the computer, and the defensive player call aloud the defensive choices. That is, the offensive player at the computer enters both the offensive and defensive choices and commands. Whenever possession of the ball changes, the two players exchange places. If, however, you are using audibles (see Section 7, Dot Commands, the .AU comand), the defense must enter the defensive call without the offense knowing the call. Whenever the ball is being advanced toward the opponent's goal, the ball movement is from bottom to top on your screen. Starting the Game After following the instructions in the preceding sections, Head Coach displays a series of questions. Your responses direct Head Coach how to start the game. This section presents the responses you must enter to start a two-player game (no computer-controlled teams). If you are playing alone, you must make both offensive and defensive calls. To quickly start your first game, proper responses are shown with brief explanations. Detailed descriptions are found in the appropriate sections. If you are using the mouse for team selections, Head Coach displays the team files available on your disk. Use the mouse to click first the home team, and then the visiting team, as instructed. If you are using the keyboard to make team selections, Head Coach begins by asking if you would like to see a display of all the teams on your game disk. Because there is no need to see the display for your first game, respond by typing an "n" as follows: Would you like to see the current team files displayed (y or n)?: n Head Coach then instructs you to type in the name of the team that is the visiting team for the upcoming game. If your are in the mouse mode, click BULLDOGS. If using the keyboard, type the team name BULLDOGS and press RETURN as follows: Enter the name of the VISITING team data file: BULLDOGS When the team file is read from the disk, you will be given a scouting report summary of each team. If in the mouse mode, you will be instructed to select both the visiting and home teams. Then you will be asked for the playbook and game plan choices. Playbook and game plan information is gathered first for the visiting team and then for the home team, using the keyboard. The playbook is a disk file that contains the plays that can be called, by name, for the given team. Head Coach comes with two standard playbooks -- standard and beginner. For this first game, tell Head Coach to use the beginner playbook: The standard playbook for the BULLDOGS is "standard43" Enter 'S' for the standard playbook, 'B' for the beginner playbook, or 'E' to enter the playbook name:b Press RETURN. Next, Head Coach asks which game plan you would like to use. A game plan is a computer file that defines the plays that will be called in specific situations. Head Coach provides standard game plans that you can use to get started. Head Coach next displays: The normal game plan for this playbook is "standard" Enter 'N' for the normal game plan, or 'E' to enter the game plan name:n Press RETURN. So far your responses have provided the information Head Coach needs about the visiting team. The same questions are also required to get the home team established: Getting ready for the HOME team... Would you like to see a display of the teams(y or n)?: n Enter the name of the HOME team: LONGHORNS The standard playbook for the LONGHORNS is "standard43" Enter 'S' for the standard playbook, 'B' for the beginner playbook, or 'E' to enter the playbook name:b Press RETURN. The normal game plan for this playbook is "beginner" Enter 'N' for the normal game plan, or 'E' to enter the game plan name:n Press RETURN. You have now instructed Head Coach to start a game between the visiting BULLDOGS team and the home team LONGHORNS. The team file for the LONGHORNS indicates that the LONGHORNS home field is an indoor stadium. Head Coach next asks you if the home field is the location of the game. For this first game it is, so respond as follows: Is the game being played in the LONGHORN STADIUM (y or n)?: Y Because the game is being played in an indoor facility, no weather information is requested. Next Head Coach asks you to enter a number between 1 and 9999. Enter 1 as follows: Enter a number between 1 and 9999:1 It's almost game time now. The winner of the coin toss is displayed. The team winning the coin toss is told the current weather information and given a choice of receiving, kicking off, or defending a particular goal. Because weather is not a factor in the indoor stadium of the LONGHORNS team, the team with the choice (for example, LONGHORNS) will choose to receive as follows: BULLDOGS you have a choice to receive, kick off, or defend a goal Enter 'R' to receive the kick off 'K' to kick off or 'D' to defend a goal: R The LONGHORNS chose to receive the kickoff, so the other team (for example, BULLDOGS) are given the choice of which goal to defend: Enter 'N' to defend the north goal or 'S' to defend the south goal: N From now on, the way to select plays and enter commands depends upon the current selection mode. Earlier you were told that if you have at least one megabyte of memory of your Amiga, you may choose to enter play calls and commands with the mouse. If you have 512K of memory you must use the keyboard. If you have at least one megabyte you may also choose to use the keyboard. When making choices you will be choosing either an offense, defense, or a dot command. A "dot command" is a special kind of input command, beginning with a dot ("."), that specifies some action to be taken. Head Coach provides many game playing options in the form of dot commands. A few are described in this section. Dot commands are described in detail in Section 7, Dot Commands. Next you are instructed to enter a dot command, either ".KO" or ".RPn." If you are in mouse mode, you see a selection box with: Run Pass Play Action Miscellaneous This is the offensive play selection menu. To enter a dot command (.KO in this case), click the "Miscellaneous". You will then see a screen display of all the dot commands. To make a dot command selection, double click the desired command "KO". You must click the KO selection twice. Later when you are ready to make a play selection, click either "Run", "Pass", "Play Action", or "Miscellaneous" as appropriate. For the run, pass, or play action, the screen will show all the playbook plays for that type of offensive play. Following the playbook choices of that type of play is a list of the dot commands. If you are on defense in the mouse mode, you are presented with the following selection box: Man Zone Blitz Miscellaneous By providing the miscellaneous box, you can always enter a dot command. If you would like to switch between keyboard and mouse mode, use the .KM dot command, described in Chapter 7, Dot Commands. If you are in mouse mode, click "Miscellaneous" and then double-click KO. If you are using the keyboard, respond with the kickoff dot command as follows: Enter either .KO or .RPn (playbook mode): .KO You have decided to kick off. There are two types of kickoffs: normal or onside. If you are in mouse mode, click the appropriate box that is presented to you. If in keyboard mode, make your choice with the following response: Press RETURN for a normal kickoff or press 'O' and RETURN for an onside kick: Press RETURN. When you press RETURN, you see the kickoff and the kickoff return. The game is under way! Calling Plays After the runback of the opening kickoff, you are ready to send in your first play. Take a few seconds to study the scoreboard that is displayed at the bottom of your screen. You have time to study the scoreboard because the 45-second delay of game clock is not running. The following are displayed: current score, ball possession, ball position, down, yards to go for a first, and time-outs remaining. The beginning playbook that you requested contains a set of basic football plays to call. Section 4, Playbook Files, describes the two playbooks (beginner and standard) provided in Head Coach. For now, here is a partial list: SWEEPR - Running play wide to the right SWEEPL - Running play wide to the left DIVER - Running play inside to the right DIVEL - Running play inside to the left DRAW - Looks like a pass, but it is a run BOMB - The "BOMB" -- long pass FLOODS - "Flood" type pass to the strong side (right for this formation) FLOODW - "Flood" type pass to the weak side (left for this formation) SCREEN - Looks like a long pass, but is a short pass HBPASS - Looks like a SWEEPR, but the halfback throws a pass Head Coach requests that you enter your offense. If the game is in mouse mode, use the procedure previously described. If in keyboard mode, call the play by typing the name of the play and pressing RETURN. To begin the game, call a SWEEPR: BULLDOGS enter offense (playbook mode):SWEEPR The "(playbook mode)" indicates that you may call the offensive plays by using the playbook name (SWEEPR) directly. This is described in more detail in Section 4, The Playbook. Now you must make a defensive call. Here are a few defensive calls to try: REGL - Normal, "safe" defense with no particular gamble RUSH - Extra good against the rush, but weaker against the long pass ZONE3 - Good pass defense with 3 players protecting deep ZONE4 - Good pass defense with 4 players protecting deep RDWS - "Red Dog" (rush) the weakside and strongside linebackers DBLW - Double cover wide receivers -- good pass defense against wide receivers GOAL - Strong running defense normally used when the offense is about to score, or when very short yards are needed for a first You now see the request for a defense. For your first call, start with a REGL defense as follows: LONGHORNS enter defense (playbook mode):REGL With the offensive and defensive plays called, the play will be executed (complete with quarterback calls) and displayed on the screen. When the play has been executed, the result of the play is displayed. The cycle of calling offensive and defensive plays continues. Dot Commands Before you begin to call plays on your own, a few of the dot commands need to be explained for you. All commands are preceded by a dot "." -- so they are called "dot commands." All of your responses to offensive and defensive plays will be either a play call, which does not begin with a dot, or a dot command. Some of the more common dot commands are: .CT - Enable or disable a team to be computer controlled .FG - Field goal attempt .PA - Point after touchdown attempt .FK - Free kick following a safety .KO - Kick off .RP - Instant replay .TO - Call time out Refer to Section 7, Dot Commands, for a detailed description of each dot command. Penalties A penalty will probably be called in your first game. When a penalty is called, and the play is over, Head Coach displays the penalty and the team that committed the foul. The team with the choice must then indicate whether the penalty will be accepted or declined. The team with the choice must enter either "A" to accept the penalty or "D" to decline, and press RETURN as follows: LONGHORNS: Enter "A" to accept or "D" to decline: A‚ If you are is mouse mode, penalty choices are made by using simple boxes. In this example, the LONGHORNS team has decided to accept the penalty. The penalty yards are marked off against the opposing team, and the down remains the same. If the LONGHORNS had decided to decline the penalty and have the play results marked off, you would have entered "D". You have called one offense and defense and seen the play result. You are now on your own. Call some offenses and defenses -- have fun!