374 replies to this topic

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

[UPDATE - 02 . 15 . 09] VERSION 1.4 - FINAL

>> FIXES:

- A couple player name misspelling corrections.
- Fixed the R&S Shoot Formation QB Scramble play (Notably on NWE/DET).

>> CHANGES:

- Added Jstout's AC/PC Hack
- Added Jstout's Player Condition Hack
- Globally decreased by one notch QB AC.
- Globally increased by one notch K RS.
- Globally increased by one notch K AKB.
- Jeid's Roster Spreadsheet update included (Version 1.4).
- MASSIVE graphical branding of "Tecmo Super Coach" throughout with NEW Chalkboard motif, among a ton of other graphical updates, changes, and additions. SPECIAL THANKS to Elway for all of his great graphic work.

**As always, these changes can be opened using the same game save file currently being used without losing data.

RECOMMENDATION: For best results, play this Rom using 6-to-7 MIN QUARTERS.

>> THE MAJOR CHANGES:

A. Current NFL roster overhaul (2008-09)
B. Complete playbook response overhaul
C. Removal of individual ability boosts
D. Removal of the boost blitz, replaced with a standard ability blitz / defensive back shutdown
E. Player ability points universally altered to suit the coaching format
F. Strategic situational play calling
G. Playbook RUN and PASS slot fusion (**see below)

**Playbook Changes: I've taken four plays from each RUN #4 and PASS #1, and exchanged them for one another, so that there are equal rushing/passing plays per each of those slots. I'm also exchanging two plays from each RUN #3 and PASS #2, for extremely heavy-based/variety-based teams, such as Arizona and the like. The latter of the two new option play slots will actually allow for a Reverse play to make sense in a playbook. These changes have been made to help make CPU play-calling less predictable, and to add offensive playbook identity to a team.

>> HACKS USED:

A. Shorter FGs
B. More accurate FGs
C. Shorter Punts
D. Punt coverage boost decreased
E. Quickness used as MS for INT and Fumble recoveries
F. QB AC/PC split
G. Player Condition updated each play
H. Kicking meters removed

[ View the attached READ ME file for a complete Tecmo Super Coach gameplay breakdown! ]

Attached Files

•  Tecmo Super Coach 2008-09.zip   902.28K   504 downloads

[bruddog]

Not a fan of coach mode but the play logic you fixed sounds bad ass. I'm curious as to the specifics of what you changed in the defensive reactions. It always seemed like a big pain to figure out where all the defenders actually end up on the field with all of the move commands. Did you come up with a quick and dirty way to figure it out?

How long did this take you? Very cool man!

One thing I was tinkering with in regards to the "boost blitz" was to have the varying amounts of players boost blitzing (i.e often having both middle Lb's drop into coverage) into coverage more often. Always wanted to fix the LB3 sack problem.

Another idea I was tinkering with was having a safety sneak up to the line if you called run on defense or have a lb drop back if you called a pass 4 long pass.

One comment I have is that I'm not sure there is a fundamental difference between pass 1 and 2 slots versus 3 and 4 slots unless you really altered the playbook heavily. But I agree with the way you went about it. however I think might be simpler to just break it out between pass and run the way tecmo plays work.

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

I'm tired as shit right now, so I'll respond more thoroughly tomorrow. But in regards to the defensive playbook reactions--yes, I've altered every play in the game to coincide with the same strategic defensive call schematic.

(When choosing run 1 for example...)

RUSH PLAY: A B B B
PASS PLAY: C C D D

(Or pass 4...)

RUSH PLAY: A A B B
PASS PLAY: C C C D

The letters used above, obviously, aren't the same in game. Just example schematics. I'm considering making RUN 4 a constant goal line defense. That'll be worked through once I finish coding the final two remaining rushing playbooks.

[TecmoTurd]

Somewhere, Mr. Beef has to be smiling.

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

Why is Mr. Beef smiling, good sir?

[TecmoTurd]

He's the Commish of the CIA, which is a straight up coaching league. I'm sure this could take that league to new levels if they used your rom.

I'm not in the league, so I don't know if they would use it or not, but I bet it'd spice things up a bit...

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

Well, my hope is that this ROM will be satisfactory to anyone looking for a good coaching experience. There are a lot of people within this Tecmo community who know their stuff (regarding football and re-coding Tecmo) much more than I do. I'm hoping this will be of interest.

[TecmoTurd]

Nice job, man, I'm sure it'll be a hit. MY hope is for a 32 team SNES rom. Not enough love for the SNES...

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

Honestly, the only real difference (issue) i have with the SNES version is completely cosmetic. The game engine is just about the same. However, The cut scene visuals (with the lag-time inbetween processing the scenes is longer as well), the FX sounds, and gameplay music pitch irk the living Jesus out of me. Like nails on a chalkboard. Quality game though.

[TecmoTurd]

I prefer the graphics, and the non-flashing that plagued the NES. There's a small group on here who prefer it, but we're a minority...either way, I'll be fine with a 28 team rom. I'm not bent out of shape about 4 missing teams, although it'd be cool...

[elway]

Coaching sounds fun, I think I'll have to try it someday.

[Bad Moon Rison]

It sounds like great work, despite your SNES bashing.

I was in Mr. Beef's CIA and won both seasons 1 and 2. I am definitely looking forward to this.

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

It sounds like great work, despite your SNES bashing.

I was in Mr. Beef's CIA and won both seasons 1 and 2. I am definitely looking forward to this.

It's mainly the music/fx/nostalgia factor! I swear.

[jeid1]

This sounds really interesting... looking forward to it.

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

Jesus. One last set of run plays left to alter the responses for. Not that I under-estimated the work involved at all, but I definitely under-estimated how anal retentive I was going to be about this whole process.

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

Update: Holy moly. On the 4th Run Playbook, admittedly, I began re-using a few custom defenses of plays that are nearly identical to their counterpart in an earlier playbook, but utilize a different 'back or wide-reciever on a reverse. It only made sense to me. PHEW!

What this means is that I'm done with the first complete draft of the new custom responses to each playbook. I'll spend the next day or two going back over the playbooks and cleaning up any small issues they may have. Other fixes will be done as I continue working on other aspects of the ROM. As it is, the bulk of the playbook work is done, and will likely stay this way until future updates after the initial release of the ROM.

I played a few quick downs to test a couple of things, and dare I say, "woah." This is definitely a new coaching experience. Pull up your pants, ladies--because this game means business.

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

Update:

So, so. After finishing the first draft of the new playbook responses by the defense, my housemate and I discovered that some tinkering was needed. Let me fill you in.

EXAMPLE: Originally the conception was, for instance, if the offensive player picked RUN 1, and if the defense picked any RUN but RUN 1, they would select a thorough 'RUN defense'. If the defense picked PASS 1 or 2, the offense would pick up a medium amount of yardage. PASS 3 or 4 would result in a better amount of yardage. The same goes for if the offense picked a PASS play, but in reverse, obviously.

However, we found that by it's nature, this rom packs a naturually harder defensive punch. This changed some things.

RESULT: We found that this pattern lent to the latter two RUN plays, or the first two PASS plays being picked much more often due to their sheer general defensive capabilities. The scope was too narrow. The game was a little too constricted. So we opened up our ideology.

CHANGES: We discovered a much better middle ground, both conceptually and in action. Here's a visual schematic.

NEW EXAMPLES: Let's say RUN 1 is chosen by the offense...

[ A ] [ B ] [ C ] [ C ]
[ C ] [ C ] [ D ] [ D ]

>>RESPONSE LEGEND:
A: Blitz
B: Solid RUN defense
C: Medium gain
D: Better gain

Now instead of every other RUN play lending a solid RUN defense, the idea is that the latter two RUN plays will always be a casual blend. 'Safety picks', if you will (same in reverse for the PASS plays), which are better for '1st down' selections, relying more on the sheer assets of your defensive talent to make a play.

EXAMPLE PASS: If PASS 4 is chosen...

[ D ] [ D ] [ C ] [ C ]
[ C ] [ C ] [ B ] [ A ]

Now here's an example if some of the 'Safety picks' are chosen:

EXAMPLE RUN: If RUN 3 is chosen....

[ B ] [ B ] [ A ] [ C ]
[ C ] [ C ] [ D ] [ D ]

...and vica versa for PASS...

[ D ] [ D ] [ C ] [ C ]
[ A ] [ C ] [ B ] [ B ]

Basically, this patterns creates more flow to the game. It opens up play selection options, and creates more of that counter-balance chess match we were initially going for. The run game has been opened up for more realistic yardage gains.

NEW RESULTS: The RUN game seems very balanced now. The play selection process, and defensive response process works wonderfully. I really couldn't be any happier, barring overall refinement of the playbook responses in future updates after I release the intial build to the public.

***PROBLEMS***: There are some problems that have reared their ugly heads though. The RUN game, as I said, is kickass now. The flow of the RUN game feels great. The only problem is the A.I. of the players themselves during the passing game.

Defenses coverages are more thorough in the backfield during the PASSING game. In Tecmo Super Bowl's coach mode, as many of us know, the QBs make awful choices, in terms of who to throw the ball to (open WRs vs. covered WRs), which results in many incomplete passes. This A.I. issue of the QBs throwing bad balls to covered WRs creates an inbalance in the effectiveness of the PASSING game vs. the RUNNING game. Jacking up the QB stats did nothing for the intelligence of the QB, obviously. And I'm sure I'm not lucky enough to live in a world where someone has invented a "better coaching QB hack", where the QB makes smarter choices of who to throw the ball to.

***POTENTIAL FIX***: The only potential fix I can think of is to jack up the WR reception ability, where covered receptions become an accepted part of the game. I suppose in the actual NFL, this change would make sense, as many receptions are covered man-to-man receptions.

I'm open to suggestions though, if anyone has one. Or if anyone knows how to make the CPU smarter while in coach mode, so that the QB throws to the open man, instead of the covered WR, let me know.

That's all for now! PHEW! Let me just say though, this game is taking quite a beautiful step towards an amazing coaching experience.

[StalkingButler]

This sounds amazing and may be the sole reason I get back into Tecmo.

Me and three other guys in my dorm hall with my extreme overuse of Microsoft Excel are doing a 4 team fantasy league with the original rom right now. I'm 2-0 after two weeks, even though my Montana and Rice have sucked and combined for 6 pts in week 2. Neal Anderson was two time player of the week for me though with 469 total yards and 7 tds in 2 weeks. These guys I'm doing this with would be down for coach mode Tecmo, since we can't play real games without me blowing them out most of the time. Can't wait for this thing.

[philleyOphish]

So, Yak, how far away are you on this? I don't mean to rush you to put out a product that hasn't been tested properly.
But, Just curious as to how much longer you have to go.
very interested.

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

I'm visiting a longtime tecmo buddy of mine next week, and we're likely to playtest the heck out of this thing. from that playtesting, i'll have a much better idea of what needs to be cleaned up for the initial release. i'm thinking i'll have a release ready by christmas. i'm pumped some people are pumped, though.