Section 10 Team Files Much of the realism of Head Coach is a result of having all probable play results calculated based upon player abilities. Player ability is just one type of information that is provided in each team file. Within each file is stored a great deal of information that allows Head Coach to model many factors of the team and of the team performance. There are two ways to edit a team file. You may select "Edit a team" from the Head Coach master screen. Additionally, you may use any text edit (Ed, for example) to build or modify a team file. However, to use a text editor you must first understand the format of a team file. Team File Format The team file is a text file containing a series of lines, each of which is either a data line or a comment line. All lines of the team file, except the player lines (explained later), must begin with either a dollar sign ("$") or a dot ("."). Comment Lines Comment lines begin with a dollar sign ("$"). Head Coach ignores the contents of the line. This allows you to place comments and explanations in the team file. Data Lines All data line entries except the players' abilities are stored on one line, with an identifying field at the beginning of each line. The actual player abilities are recorded on up to 45 consecutive lines of one player each. The type of data on each line is specified by a three-character identifying sequence at the beginning of each line. The identifying sequence begins with a dot (".") followed by a two-character data type. Table 10-1 lists the data types available, along with information required for the type. For example, the following line specifies that the punter has jersey number 10 and has a 41.2 yard punting average: .PU 10 41.2 The values on each line must be separated by at least one blank. Character data such as team names, player names, and the home stadium names can be stored in two ways. If the name does not require a blank character to be stored ("Smith,J", for example) the name is recorded without any quotation marks: Smith,J If however, the name requires blanks ("COUNTY STADIUM", for example), the name must be enclosed in quotation marks: "COUNTY STADIUM" Comments on Data Lines Head Coach also allows you to place comments on a data line. Placing a dollar sign ("$") after the data instructs Head Coach to ignore the remainder of the line. You may therefore place comments on any data line, after the data. For example: .ND 34 $ This team uses 34 mostly, but some 43 This line specifies that the normal defense for this team is a "34". Head Coach will ignore all characters following the dollar sign ("$"), which allows you to place a special comment on the line. Specifying Colors In Head Coach, the team file specifies the team color information for both home and away jerseys. For both the home and away jerseys, colors are recorded for the jersey and for the letters on the jersey. Therefore, four colors must be recorded: Home Jersey Home Letters Visitor Jersey Visitor Letters The colors are recorded as a series of three numbers, each of which must be a number between 0 and 15. The three numbers represent the amount of: Red Green Blue For example, black contains no color, so the color value for black is: Red=0 Green=0 Blue=0 Therefore, to build your own team, you must determine the values for the red, green, and blue that constitute the color you wish to see. On your Amiga, a simple procedure to determine color coding is to use the "Preferences" program. Following the instructions in your Introduction to Amiga, activate the Preferences program and use the mouse to set the color bars for one of the color blocks. When you have obtained the color you like, you can determine the amount of red, green, and blue by counting the number of "clicks" from the left that each color slide bar is set. The slide bar at the left end represents a color value of zero (O); the extreme right is a color value of 15. Perform this procedure four times to determine the four colors that you want. The following paragraphs describe each of the types of data lines. NA The ".NA" line contains one field of information, the name of the team: .NA REBELS .NA "FIGHTING MAVERICKS" HF The ".HF" line contains three fields of information: 1. Name of the home field 2. Type of stadium: "I" -- Indoor Stadium "O" -- Outdoor Stadium 3. Type of surface: "N" -- Natural Grass "A" -- Artificial Grass For example, if the home stadium name is "BROWN MEMORIAL STADIUM", which is an outdoor stadium with artificial grass, enter: .HF "BROWN MEMORIAL STADIUM" O A ND The ".ND" line specifies the normal defense that the team uses. This allows Head Coach to recommend a standard playbook when the game begins. There is only one field of information, and the value must be either "34" for a "34" normal defensive alignment or "43" for a "43" normal defensive alignment. For example: .ND 43 This specifies that the team normally uses a "43" defensive alignment. HJ, HL, VJ, VL The ".HJ", ".HL", ".VJ", and ".VL" lines each contain three fields of information: the amount of red, green, and blue for the colors of the home jerseys, home letters, visitor jerseys, and visitor letters. For example: .HJ 0 4 10 .HL 7 6 7 .VJ 15 15 15 .VL 0 4 10 These specify a jersey that is blue with gray letters at home, and white jerseys with blue letters on the road (away, visiting). PU The ".PU" line specifies the statistics of the team punter. This line contains two fields, the jersey number of the punter and the average yards per punt: .PU 8 39.9 This line indicates that the punter wears jersey number 8 and has a 39.9 yard average. FG The ".FG" line specifies the statistics of the team field goal kicker. The field goal statistics are also used to predict extra point and kick-off performance. The line contains three fields of information: Kicker jersey number Number of field goals good Number of field goals attempted For example: .FG 3 18 22 This line indicates the jersey number of the team field goal kicker is 3, and the kicker has been successful on 18 of 22 attempts. KR The ".KR" line specifies a jersey number for a kick-off return player, and the team average kick-off return: .KR 28 18.9 This line specifies that player number 28 is considered the team kick return player, and that the team averages 18.9 yards per kickoff return. PR The ".PR" line specifies a jersey number for a punt return player, and the team average punt return: .PR 14 12.3 This line specifies that player number 14 is considered the team punt return player and that the team averages 12.3 yards per punt return. PL The ".PL" line indicates that the following lines contain the player information. There must be at least 22 lines, and at most 45 lines. Each player line contains, at a minimum, the following fields of information: 1. Player Jersey Number 2. Player Name 3. Position 4. Overall Rank The position can be one of the following: OT -- Offensive Tackle OG -- Offensive Guard CR -- Offensive Center TE -- Offensive Tight End WR -- Offensive Split End and Flanker HB -- Offensive HalfBack FB -- Offensive FullBack QB -- Offensive QuarterBack DE -- Defensive End DT -- Defensive Tackle NT -- Defensive "Nose" Tackle LB -- Defensive LineBacker CB -- Defensive CornerBack DB -- Defensive Deep Back The player name field may contain a player name without blanks, or, if blanks are required, a player name surrounded by quotation marks. The overall rank is a rating of the players' ability. The lowest ranking is 1.0, the best is 5.0, and an "average" player ranked 3.0. For example: 71 "James, B" OT 3.6 This specifies player #71 is named "James, B", is an offensive tackle and has an overall rank of 3.6 Internally, Head Coach uses eleven player abilities: 1. Ability to pass block 2. Ability to run block 3. Ability to catch a pass 4. Running speed 5. Running strength 6. Passing strength 7. Passing accuracy 8. Tendency to scramble while passing 9. Ability to defend the run 10. Ability to defend the pass 11. Ability to rush the passer 12. Tendancy toward injuries You can place only the jersey number, name, position, and overall rank on a player line. If that is all you place on the line, Head Coach takes each player's overall rank and, based upon the position, determines the categories listed above for each player. If you would like, after the minimum player information, you may place at least one space, the character "+", another space, and the twelve ranks for the player. In this manner, you may more accurately describe a player. For example: 7 Jones,W QB 4.0 + 1.1 1.1 1.3 3.8 2.8 4 4.0 3.0 1 1 1 3 This assigns Jones, W an overall rank of 4.0 and specifies all twelve categories. For example, the passing accuracy is 4.0, and the tendency to scramble is 3.0. The "template.team" file on your "headcoach1" master disk includes comment lines to help you in completely specifying player abilities. You may choose to described all ranks on any, some, or none of the player lines. Each line is processed separately. LO, LD, LK, LP, LR, LQ, and LF These lines specify player lineups: LO -- Lineup for offense LD -- Lineup for defense LK -- Lineup for kick-off LP -- Lineup for punting LR -- Lineup for kick-off return LQ -- Lineup for punt return LF -- Lineup for field goal attempt Each of the lineup lines contains 11 jersey numbers, representing the players in the lineup. The lineup entries must be placed after the .PL and the player entry lines. Following are descriptions of the player positions stored in each of the 11 jersey number positions for the various lineups, with an example for each: LO -- Offensive Lineup: LG LT CR RG RT TE SE HB FB FL QB .LO 74 61 60 53 55 17 80 35 32 81 9 LD -- Defensive Lineup For a 43 defense: RE RT LT LE WO MI SO RC WS SS LC For a 34 defense: RE NT LE WO WI SI SO RC WS SS RC .LD 75 99 93 97 56 50 27 34 43 41 29 LK -- Kickoff Lineup Players from left-to-right, ending with kicker: .LK 74 61 60 53 55 17 35 34 80 81 8 LP -- Punt Lineup Players from left to right, ending with kicker: .LP 75 99 93 97 56 27 34 43 29 80 6 LR -- Kickoff Return Lineup Players from left to right,3 rows, starting with row 1, then row 2, and row 3: .LR 75 61 60 53 55 17 34 35 27 80 32 LQ -- Punt Return Lineup Players from left to right, ending with kicker: .LQ 75 75 99 60 17 56 41 43 35 32 80 LF -- Field Goal Attempt Lineup Players from left to right, ending with kicker: .LF 60 61 53 55 99 97 74 75 35 1 3 Remember each line, except the player lines, must begin with either a dollar sign ("$") or a period ("."). Creating Team Files for Real Teams To create team files that represent actual professional teams, you need to obtain: Team statistics Player rankings Team statistics are widely available from a number of publications, usually appearing on newsstands in late summer. These publications will usually include the statistics you need for Head Coach team files: Team punting average Team field goal performance Team punt return average etc. Obtaining realistic ratings of offensive backs and receivers is not difficult, because league standings of these categories are normally published. However, obtaining player ratings for linemen and defensive players is a bit more difficult. Fortunately, some publications, while not providing an actual player ranking number, do discuss at length individual players and their abilities. Therefore, to build real professional team files: Collect some publications that list team rosters, statistics, and discuss a‚l‚l‚ categories of players. Determine, usually from the publications, the name of the home field, and the colors the team uses at home and on the road. Publications usually provide information to determine the lineups required. After you've collected your data, you have two methods to build a new team. You may select "Edit a team" from the Head Coach master screen and select "Edit a team" from the "Project" menu of the team file editor. Additionally, you may use a text editor to build a team file. Suggestion: make a copy of an existing team file or the template team file, naming the copied file the name of the team you want to buld. Use your editor to edit the new team file. Remember, player rankings: 1.0 represents the worst ranking of players that play. 3.0 is for "average" players. 5.0 is for the best players.